proba
float64 0.5
1
| text
stringlengths 16
174k
|
|---|---|
0.999989 |
InfoQ has spoken with Elixir creator José Valim, Elixir creator and maintainer, about Elixir current status.
What is your current involvement in Elixir development?
José Valim: I am involved full-time on Elixir, as part of my job as director of R&D at Plataformatec, the company behind Elixir. But this is far from being an individual effort. The Elixir Team is composed of five developers, including myself, responsible for developing and maintaining the language, and we have had more than 580 community contributors in the language repository throughout the language history.
Could you summarize what drove Elixir development in the last year?
Valim: Elixir is a stable language since we have reached 1.0, back in September 2014. This means our improvements have been incremental and mostly focused around improving the development experience and filling in the gaps found by companies running Elixir in production.
How do you see Elixir adoption in the industry and in open source projects?
Valim: Adoption is always tricky to measure but we can see a consistent and healthy growth in the community and industry. Today we see multiple Elixir conferences in the United States and Europe as well as yearly events showing up in Latin America and Asia. I have just arrived from ElixirConf US 2017, which happened in Bellevue, WA, with 600 attendees. About five times the number of attendees we registered three years ago in the first ElixirConf US.
The growth in the community can also be seen in hex.pm, which is the package manager for Elixir and the Erlang ecosystem. We are close to cross 5000 packages which have already surpassed 120 000 000 downloads in total.
In the industry, frameworks such as Phoenix and Nerves have helped Elixir grow into the web and embedded spaces respectively. Plataformatec also sees an increased interest in consultancy gigs and software development requests from clients running or planning to run Elixir in production. We have distilled many of those experiences in the upcoming Adopting Elixir book, which discusses experiences and tell stories from companies around the world in their journey to adopt Elixir.
In which direction will the language evolve?
Valim: I have recently described in my keynote at ElixirConf US 2017 how the language will continue evolving with productivity, maintainability and reliability in mind. In particular, the next Elixir versions will include a Code Formatter, to unify the code styles used by companies and the community. We are also working on adding property testing principles to Elixir, which will aid developers in writing throughly tested software that is designed with intent.
|
0.999997 |
The following is based on my personal workflows - you may have to adjust to account for your own equipment and software.
My first decision is the type of project - what equipment and software will I be using? The first decision is whether to use my camera or my scanner.
A few loose photos - these are best done with the scanner since they are pressed flat, no reflection problems and, depending on the size of photo, can be done at higher resolution that my camera can do.
Document for Imaging - this depends on the type of document, but if it less than legal size paper and can be pressed flat, then I generally choose the scanner.
Document for OCR - for a document that I want to convert into editable text - then my scanner together with my optical character recognition (OCR) software is the best choice. I can also do OCR from digital camera images, but a scanner is much preferred since it is often "mated" with the OCR software and can do higher resolution for better OCR accuracy.
Delicate Photo Albums - for a photo album that I don't want to remove the pages, or try to squish down flat, or is too big for my scanner - then the camera is the best solution.
Large and/or in-place objects - large includes things like paintings and quilts, family items that can't be scanned can be digitally photographed.
|
0.960777 |
Create 2D Grace plots of the dispersion curves for each spin system.
y_axis: Option can be either `r2_eff' which plot `r2eff' for CPMG experiments or `r1rho' for R1rho experiments or option can be `r2_r1rho', which for R1rho experiments plot R2.
num_points: The total number of points to generate the interpolated dispersion curves with. This value has no effect for the numeric CPMG-based models.
extend_hz: How far to extend the interpolated dispersion curves beyond the last dispersion point, i.e. the nu_CPMG frequency or spin-lock field strength value, in Hertz.
extend_ppm: How far to extend the interpolated dispersion curves beyond the last dispersion point, i.e. the spin-lock offset value, in ppm.
interpolate: Either by option `disp' which interpolate CPMG frequency or spin-lock field strength, or by option `offset' which interpole over spin-lock offset.
This is used to create 2D Grace plots of the dispersion curves of the nu_CPMG frequencies or spin-lock field strength verses the R2eff/R1rho values. One file will be created per spin system with the name `disp_x.agr', where x is related to the spin ID string. For each file, one Grace graph will be produced for each experiment.
Four sets of curves of R2eff/R1rho values will be produced per experiment and per magnetic field strength. These are the experimental values, the fitted values, the interpolated dispersion curves for the fitted solution, and the residuals. Different dispersion models result in different interpolated dispersion curves. For the numeric models which use CPMG-type data, the maximum interpolation resolution is constrained by the frequency of a single CPMG block for the entire relaxation period. For all other models, the interpolation resolution is not constrained and can be as fine as desired by setting the total number of interpolation points. Interpolated curves are not produced for the `R2eff' model as they are not necessary.
For R1rho models, graphs can be interpolated against Spin-lock offset, but this feature is not available for CPMG experiment types. It is also possible to select values on X-axis of `Effective field in rotating frame w_eff (rad/s)' or `Rotating frame tilt angle θ (rad)'.
For R1rho models, special Y-value R2 R1rho can for example be plotted as function of w_eff. R2 is calculated as: R2=(R1rho - R1 cos^2(θ)) / sin^2(θ).
|
0.999951 |
How To Find The Right Home Siding Contractor.
Finding the right home siding contractor can be difficult, and the consequences of picking a bad one can be significant. Some simple steps can guide this process and lead to a satisfactory outcome.
Research is the critical first step in hiring a siding installation company or contractor. First, you need to understand the job you're asking them to do. Online research can be helpful here. Which siding material you plan to use is a critical decision. Understand the pros and cons of your chosen material and be aware of any common concerns. Determine approximately how many hours this job may take, based on similar projects online. This estimate is not a hard and fast rule, but it can be used as a sanity check. If the estimate from the contractor comes back with a significantly different time frame, it may be worthwhile asking for more explanation as to the job. Investigating possible contractors is the second part of this step. Online resources again offer the best return for the time, with online forums, community groups, and general review sites all providing possible options and feedback about others' experience with those contractors.
Once you have a short list of potential contractors, it's time to contact them. In person or phone is fine; the important things here are to determine what kind of working relationship you will have with the contractor and their experience. They should be confident and informed, but they shouldn't bowl you over with jargon, dismiss you, or speak over you. A contractor who is difficult to have a conversation with isn't likely to be easy to work with. Ask about the material you've chosen, and make sure that they install that particular type of siding and have the colors available that you want. Confirm their experience with the specific type of siding, as there are different installation procedures for each, and familiarity with one type isn't necessarily good enough. Additionally, it is important to confirm that they are appropriately licensed and insured and have any appropriate certifications. Discuss the project and arrange for estimates from the ones you feel comfortable working with.
The remaining contractors should be able to provide a written estimate for you to review. This may include the approximate length of the work, the rate they will charge, and the material costs. It may also simply be a flat estimate. In general, more information is better, so a fully fleshed-out estimate is likelier to be accurate when compared to an off-the-cuff flat estimate. You should compare the various estimates and decide on a final choice. It may be helpful to ask for assistance from friends or family who have experience working with contractors to help you review the estimates.
|
0.973853 |
Child labour refers to the employment or involvement of children in any activity that deprives them of their childhood rights and exposes them to tasks meant for an adult or activities that has tendency to harm them mentally, physically, socially or morally. While this may gravely interferes with their ability to attend school regularly, it is a menace that exposes the minors to the inhumane beginning or wrong information at their unwitting stage of life.
Globally, child labour is considered exploitative and several legislations across the world prohibit it. Though, these laws do not consider all works by children as child labour. Of course, there are activities necessary for the cultural, moral and educational upbringing of children such as family and household duties, supervised training and so on.
Every child at his or tender age needs to be exposed gradually to household duties such as sweeping of the floor as one of the first things to be done every morning, watching of plates, petty cleaning of the room and so on. In the typical African countries, it is believed that one of the attributes of a well nurtured and cultured child is to know how to do these things which they believe is part of the pride of such child when he or she becomes an adult. But as much as this activities might be good for them, they still advice that the children should only embark on these works with the supervision of their parents in order to make it safe enough for them.
Recently, a research by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) had it that in the world’s poorest countries, around 1 in every four 4 children is engaged in child labour, the highest number of which 29% lives in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2017, four African nations (Mali, Benin, Chad and Guinea-Bissau) reportedly witnessed over 50% of children aged 5-14 working. According to the research, agricultural sector is the largest employer of them.
I know somebody would ask who are the employers of Labour of 5—14years old children. However, the majority of child labour experiences is found in rural settings and informal urban economy. Higher parentage of these children are predominantly employed by their own parents and guardians, rather than factories. Many of the parents see the children as tools to helping them achieve greatly in their farming endeavours. There is alarming percentage of these children hawking around the streets day and night, a good number of them are servants in the unstandardized restaurants and the likes while a few of them are apprentices under the roadside menial service providers.
- Poverty and unemployment of parents.
- limited access to education or sound information.
- Repression (parents hold to the belief that they can do what they like with their children).
- Low and unsteady enforcement of laws against child labour.
- Unconcerned attitudes of people around whom child labour is taking place.
- Unsteady campaigns against the menace etc.
There are occasions when poor families and their children rely upon the labour of their children to improve their chances of attaining some basic necessities. More than one fourth of the world's people live in extreme poverty, according to 2005 UN statistics. The intensified poverty in parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America causes many children in these parts of the world to become child labourers. Existing laws or codes of conduct are often violated there.
Another problem that makes child labour painfully exist in our societies is because when we witness it in our neighborhood many of us would not even bother to report it to relevant authorities. It makes no meaning to many people when they see children in such future-killing labours.
Child Labour remains a problem that should not be tolerated anymore. It consequences go beyond such children and their immediate families. The socioeconomic future of every country relies on the children of today. If many of the unwitting children are left in the wrong orientations today, tomorrow of such countries is at risk.
As many parents are not rightly informed on their own part, government of many countries also are insensitive to the future of their countries by paying little or no attention to the programmes and policies that would have empowered their children. The fees for elementary schools are not even affordable for some parents who have one or two children in the public schools and thereby making their children to soon get thrown to the streets for survival.
In some African countries, government and political office holders are much more concerned about who is going to succeed them after leaving the office than who will succeed their nations when their generations are no more.
Children getting exposed to sound education, right cultural and moral codes as timely appropriate is not just their right, it is an investment into their future and the tomorrow of their nations.
Discouraging child labour should not be about campaigns alone or about pointing to enacted laws in the regards. It should be made practicable and realistically obvious in government plans, in our actions and dispositions to such situation when we witness it around us.
1. In order to save the children from this menace, there should be laws prohibiting anybody who has not relatively attained the age of an adult and or a prescribed level of education from getting employed or engaged in the activities that may be referred to as child labour.
2. Governments and well-to-do community members should come together to make education free or affordably accessible for the children. One of the problems affecting governments from doing this is wrong impression of the relevant leaders. Some political office holders would say they did not ask anybody to give birth to their children, believing that once you have given birth to a child you must be ready to take all responsibility. The fact is that the children they fail to take good care of today would become nuisance and source of threats to the nation’s security and economy tomorrow.
Government and well-to-do community members can synergise to make school fees free or affordable for children. Free or subsidised provision of school uniforms and free meal are possible just to encourage the children of the unprivileged parents in the public schools.
3. All of us should not silent about it when situations of child labour are witnessed around us. We should always see the act to be very future-killing and harmful to the nation at large.
Child labour prevents children from enjoying a normal and healthy childhood. It can also prevent them from getting no or smooth education.
Apart from reporting to the relevant authorities when such cases are noticed, you and I can also assist in stopping child labour by donating to the less-privileged in our society.
|
0.941908 |
Pitt, William (1759–1806), known as Pitt the Younger. Prime minister. The second son of William Pitt, earl of Chatham, was an intellectually precocious but physically delicate boy. He was educated privately and at Cambridge. From an early age, his father supervised his upbringing, paying particular attention to skill in public speaking. He also introduced him to politics and although the younger Pitt qualified as a lawyer there was never any doubt that he would follow a political career. He entered Parliament in 1781 and soon made his mark in the Commons. He was a critic of North, whom he blamed for the loss of America, and advocated both economical and parliamentary reform. Pitt's basic political convictions mirrored those of his father. He upheld the king's right to choose and dismiss ministers; he detested party, and he believed that the secret of British prosperity lay in the maintenance of the balance between king, Lords, and Commons established after 1688. He was keenly interested in financial and commercial questions and knew the writings of Adam Smith and Richard Price. When North fell in 1782, Pitt refused a merely subordinate station in Rockingham's ministry. After Rockingham's death, Pitt became chancellor of the Exchequer under Shelburne. He deeply resented Fox's alliance with North, yet he was wise enough to refuse George III's invitation to head a ministry after the fall of Shelburne, preferring to bide his time until a more propitious moment. The crisis over Fox's India Bill gave George III and Pitt their chance. Pitt agreed to become prime minister provided that a public demonstration of George III's hostility towards the Fox–North ministry indicated where the king's confidence lay.
When Pitt took office in December 1783 few thought his ministry would survive. He faced an opposition majority in the Commons. But several factors worked in his favour. He had the unflinching confidence of the king; the Fox–North coalition was unpopular; and he was able to win over opinion in the Commons. He called the opposition's bluff over their threat to refuse supplies and he was able to distance himself from the unpopular Shelburne. At the general election of 1784 Pitt won a decisive victory.
During his peacetime administration he achieved much in the fields of fiscal, economical, and commercial reform. He cut customs duties and stimulated trade, set up a sinking fund in the hope of paying off the national debt, and put government loans and contracts out to tender. Having established his mastery in public finance he negotiated a commercial treaty with France and ended Britain's diplomatic isolation by entering into alliance with Prussia and Holland in the aftermath of the Dutch crisis of 1787. But there were frustrations and disappointments. Pitt's proposals for a moderate reform of Parliament were defeated; he was compelled to drop his scheme for free trade with Ireland; plans to improve the defences of Portsmouth and Plymouth had to be abandoned; the abolition of the slave trade had to remain an open question within the government. These set-backs reflected Pitt's acceptance of conventional ideas about the role of the crown and the functioning of the cabinet, and his vulnerability to shifts of opinion among the country gentlemen in the Commons. Pitt did not see himself as a party leader and neglected to build up a party within Parliament. This made him all the more dependent on the support of the king and unable to overcome opposition on controversial questions within the cabinet. His position was threatened in 1788 when the illness of George III presaged a change of government. But Pitt saw off the Foxite challenge. He studied precedent, stood forth as the defender of the rights of the king and the privileges of Parliament, and insisted that Parliament had the right to decide who should be regent and on what terms. When the king recovered in 1789 Pitt seemed invincible. He knew when to yield to political pressure, as over the impeachment of Hastings, and was adept at turning the ideas of others into practicable policies. By 1789 the confidence and prosperity of the country had been restored after the humiliation of the loss of the American colonies.
When the French Revolution broke out in 1789 Pitt was sympathetic to reform in France but was determined to stay out of European complications if possible. As late as February 1792 he affirmed his expectations for fifteen years of peace in Europe. But with the collapse of the French monarchy and the aggressive policies pursued by the French republic his hopes were shattered. He was under pressure from those who feared radical movements in Britain and Ireland, especially when these were seen to be inspired by Jacobinical ideas. The outbreak of war in 1793 was a disaster for Pitt. His hopes for further reform were indefinitely postponed and he became transformed into ‘the pilot who weathered the storm’, a symbol of the nation's resistance to the French republic and empire. The war was long, arduous, and inconclusive. Though loyalism was the dominant feeling in Britain there was much economic distress and rebellion broke out in Ireland in 1798. Pitt had tried to appease Ireland by granting civil rights to Irish catholics and enfranchising the catholic freeholders in the Irish counties. Though the rebellion was crushed, Pitt was convinced that the credibility of the Dublin Parliament was destroyed. He carried an Act of Union with Ireland, hoping to follow it with catholic emancipation. He was thwarted on the catholic question, partly by the opposition of George III, partly by hostility within his own government, and partly by the unpopularity of catholic relief in Britain. He resigned in 1801, giving general support to Addington's ministry from the back benches and approving the peace of Amiens when it was signed in 1802.
During his years out of office he was criticized for failing to build up his party. He had recognized that a more dominant role for the prime minister was a desirable accompaniment of cabinet government, but when Addington left office in 1804, Pitt once again felt the constraints of the contemporary system. Despite their differences Pitt wanted to bring Fox into a coalition as foreign secretary. George III vetoed this appointment. As a result, the Foxites and Grenvillites refused to serve. Pitt's health was now in decline and the strains of office wore him out. He built up a coalition to defeat Napoleon, but hopes of a decisive end to the war were dashed by Napoleon's victory at Austerlitz in 1805. On 23 January 1806 Pitt died. He left behind him a band of younger men whose talents he had recognized and fostered and a legend which shaped popular Toryism in the early 19th cent. Yet, to the end of his life, Pitt regarded himself as an independent Whig. With a little ingenuity Victorian conservatives and liberals could claim to stand within the Pittite tradition when it was expedient for them to do so. In this sense Pitt became part of a national mythology.
—— The Younger Pitt: The Consuming Struggle (1996).
"Pitt, William." The Oxford Companion to British History. . Encyclopedia.com. 10 Apr. 2019 <https://www.encyclopedia.com>.
William Pitt, 1759–1806, British statesman; 2d son of William Pitt, 1st earl of Chatham. Trained as a lawyer, he entered Parliament in 1781 and in 1782 at the age of 23 became chancellor of the exchequer under Lord Shelburne. At the fall (1783) of the coalition government of Lord North and Charles James Fox, who was to be Pitt's lifelong rival, Pitt was made prime minister by George III. He overcame strong opposition in Parliament, where the king's interference was sharply resented, and a long-postponed general election (1784) gave him a parliamentary majority. Pitt's policies included reduced expenditures, new taxes to decrease the national debt, and lower customs duties in accordance with the theories of Adam Smith. He also advocated parliamentary reform but failed (1785) to secure Parliament's approval of it. His India Act (1784) strengthened the government's powers there but left patronage in the hands of the East India Company. His Constitutional Act (1791) divided Canada into Upper and Lower Canada and sanctioned the institutions of the French Canadians in the latter province. Pitt's popularity increased steadily; when the king became temporarily insane (1788–89), the prime minister was able, despite the efforts of Fox, to prevent the establishment of an unlimited regency and remain in office. His liberal policies ended when Great Britain became involved in the French Revolutionary Wars, followed by the Napoleonic Wars (see Napoleon I). When the French Revolution began (1789), Pitt's desire was for peace and neutrality, and after France finally declared war (1793) on Britain, he failed to foresee either the length or the seriousness of the conflict. Within Great Britain he suspended (1794) habeas corpus and enacted other repressive legislation to halt radical agitation. His military coalitions against France (1793 and 1798) were unsuccessful on land, although the British navy won some overwhelming victories, and his financial support of Britain's allies brought on a monetary crisis. Rebellion in Ireland hampered the war effort and convinced Pitt that the solution to the Irish problem lay in the parliamentary union of Ireland with England, accompanied by Catholic Emancipation, so that Roman Catholics might hold office. The union was achieved (1800) by wholesale bribery, but the king then refused to approve Catholic Emancipation, and Pitt resigned (1801). He was recalled (1804) as prime minister to repel an expected invasion by Napoleon, which never materialized. He organized a third coalition against France, but Horatio Nelson's great naval victory at Trafalgar was soon followed by the defeat of Britain's allies at Austerlitz (1805). The latter news is said to have hastened Pitt's death.
"Pitt, William (1759–1806, British statesman)." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. . Encyclopedia.com. 10 Apr. 2019 <https://www.encyclopedia.com>.
William Pitt, 1708–78: see Chatham, William Pitt, 1st earl of.
"Pitt, William (1708–78, 1st earl of Chatham)." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. . Encyclopedia.com. 10 Apr. 2019 <https://www.encyclopedia.com>.
William Pitt was a politician of tremendous influence in Great Britain for more than forty years. He opposed the unfair taxation of the American colonies in the critical years leading up to the American Revolution (1775–83), and advised settling the quarrel with them so they would remain part of the British empire. As leader of the British government, Pitt led Britain to victory over France in the French and Indian War (1756–63), gaining Canada and the Mississippi Valley for the British empire. He was known as William Pitt the Elder because his son also served in British government.
William Pitt was born on November 15, 1708, on fashionable Piccadilly Street in London, England, where many rich and high-born people lived. He was the younger son of Robert Pitt, a wealthy country squire, and his wife, Harriet Villiers. His was a political family. His father was a member of Parliament (see box on p. 366), occupying a seat for the county of Cornwall in the House of Commons. His grandfather was Thomas Pitt, who had been governor of Madras, India (at this time, England was making India part of the British empire). Much of the family wealth came through Thomas Pitt's service in India.
William Pitt was educated at Eton, a famous boys' boarding school, and at Trinity College, a part of Oxford University. Pitt did not graduate because he began to suffer from gout, a hereditary (inherited) disease that caused painful swelling of the joints. Upon the advice of his doctor to seek out warmer climates, Pitt traveled to Italy and France. He then studied law at the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands.
Because Pitt was a younger son, he would not inherit the family estate in Cornwall. Instead, he needed to select a career to support himself. As a member of the upper class (a gentleman), only three choices were open to him: join the Anglican church as a minister, resume his studies to become a lawyer, or join the army. Upon his return to England, Pitt chose to join the British army. In 1731, at the age of twenty-three, he purchased a cornetcy (a low-level officer's rank) in a regiment known as Cobham's Horse. At this time, British army officers bought their commissions (military ranks) instead of training for them or being promoted because of battlefield bravery.
Pitt, however, was more interested in political life than the army. When his older brother, Thomas, decided not to run for reelection to the family seat in Parliament, William ran and won the election in 1735. Pitt had one of the longest and most famous political careers in British history.
In his early years, Pitt was a member of the House of Commons (only noblemen could sit in the House of Lords). In his first speech, he criticized King George II (1683–1760), a move that caused his dismissal from the army. Next, Pitt attacked the king's weak foreign policy, because he believed the king was too soft in his dealings with France, England's longtime enemy. George II had been born in Germany, spoke only German, and was more interested in his German lands than in England. He left much of the governing of England to Parliament.
The Prince of Wales supported Pitt and his political allies in openly opposing France. (The Prince of Wales is a title given to the king's heir, usually his oldest son). Pitt also earned the king's displeasure by criticizing the British crown's payment of foreign troops. (Remember that this family of British kings descended from a marriage with a prince from a German state called Hanover. It was this German connection that provided the German soldiers who were so hated during the American Revolution).
Pitt soon earned the name "The Great Commoner" for his criticism of the king and the wealthy upper classes. During the course of his long career, Pitt spoke out against financial support for the king's projects in Hanover and against taxation (of both British and American citizens). He spoke out for freedom of the press and for a strong army and navy. The poor and middle-class people of England felt that Pitt was looking after their interests instead of German interests, that he was protecting them from a French invasion, and that he was committed to bettering their lives by spending British tax dollars at home in England. Pitt often appealed to the people, whom he called the "voice of England," and with their support won political victories.
However, possibly because of his political ambitions, Pitt did not always oppose the king. In 1737, he voted to grant the Prince of Wales an annual allowance of 100,000 pounds (a large sum of money). The king showed his pleasure by naming Pitt a "groom of the bed chamber" to the Prince of Wales, an honorary title. Pitt later lost this post after he again displeased the king. This love-hate relationship between the crown and Pitt would last throughout Pitt's career, as would the gout that continued to plague him.
Pitt was reelected to the House of Commons in 1741. He soon showed a real ability for organizing and managing, and was asked to form a cabinet. (This means his political party was in power, and he was to head the government with cabinet ministers of his choice; see box on p. 366.) In 1746, he was named to his first major post, as paymaster general of the armed forces.
Pitt married Lady Hester Grenville on November 16,1754. She was the only daughter of a famous political family, which included Richard Grenville, later the Earl of Temple, and George Grenville, British prime minister in 1763. Pitt and his Grenville brothers-in-law did not always agree on politics. George Grenville, for instance, favored taxing the American colonies and had little patience for their claims of "no taxation without representation."
Pitt did have a happy marriage with Lady Hester, and their family included three sons and two daughters. Their second son, also named William, gained fame as the politician who successfully led the British government in its war against France under the Emperor Napoleon. One of their daughters was Lady Hester Lucy Stanhope, who was known for her travels in the Middle East.
The Pitt family had a home in St. James's Square in a fashionable area of London (for when Parliament was in session) and country estates in Somerset and Kent counties. The Kent home, called Hayes Place, was Pitt's favorite residence and he enjoyed gardening while at home.
In 1756, Pitt was named secretary of state and became leader of the House of Commons. His Grenville brothers-inlaw also received posts. Richard became first lord of the admiralty (he ran the navy) and George was named treasurer of the navy.
By 1757, England was losing a war against France, and Pitt was asked to organize Britain's defense as the secretary of war. In Europe, this war was known as the Seven Years' War (1756–63). Known in America as the French and Indian War, it was a struggle to see whether England or France would dominate the colonial world. Under Pitt's leadership, the French navy was destroyed, the French lost Quebec to General James Wolfe (one of the able young officers Pitt had promoted), and the French were driven from India. By 1761, England had won the war and controlled most of Canada, the Mississippi Valley, and the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea.
This war was typical of the ongoing struggle among the European powers to gain territory. The struggles often spilled over into their colonial possessions in the Americas, India, Africa, the oceans, and the rich islands in the Caribbean Sea, and these territories often changed hands.
Pitt's policy of promoting capable army and navy officers helped England win the war. He also realized the need for a strong army and navy, and found a better system for managing war supplies (food, uniforms, weapons, and so on). Pitt demonstrated strong leadership, a willingness to make decisions, and a talent for war strategy. Like many great men, he also suffered from pride and arrogance (a superior attitude). Because of his coldness, he had few political allies. Despite his genius, this inability to be a team player cost Pitt political victories throughout his career.
Pitt was convinced that the future of England, a small, island country, depended upon expanding and protecting her empire overseas. The empire provided England with money, raw materials, and other goods from all over the world. (The American colonies were the richest of Britain's many possessions). Under Pitt's leadership, England was a strong military power that discouraged other European nations from trying to conquer British territory. This policy changed when George III (1738–1820; see entry), the new king, ascended to the throne upon his grandfather's death in 1760. George III, who would rule for sixty years, was determined to show his kingdom (and Pitt) just who was in charge. George III was the first of the Hanoverian kings to be born and educated in England and he was much more interested in English affairs than George I or George II.
With his Tory (or Royalist) political party, George III would tax the American colonies into open rebellion against Great Britain. One of his first acts, however, was to disregard Pitt's advice to declare war on Spain in 1761. Pitt, convinced that Spain would soon attack England, resigned in protest. History then proved Pitt was right, as Spain declared war against England in 1762.
Although ill with gout between 1762 and 1764, Pitt reentered the House of Commons. There he managed to irritate the new king by supporting American complaints against the government. Parliament had passed the Sugar Act in 1764 and the Stamp Act in 1765, both designed to raise money by taxing the American colonists. The colonists reacted with violent protests, and Parliament responded by sending British troops to America to enforce the taxation. The rift between mother country and colonies grew more bitter.
The colonists claimed that the acts amounted to unfair taxation. Pitt agreed. The Americans and Pitt began to make distinctions between types of taxes. They approved of taxes that were put in place to help commerce (that is, taxes on goods imported into the colonies). But they objected to taxes whose only purpose was to raise money for the government. The Stamp Act was one such tax. Its purpose was to raise money to pay for the increase in government needed when Canada moved from French to English rule. Pitt, like the Amer icans, said that colonial assemblies (like the Continental Con gress) should be the only government bodies able to pass tax laws in the colonies. Pitt's views summed up the split that existed in the British Parliament at this time. Some in government supported total control over the colonies, while others favored allowing the colonial governments some decisionmaking power. Pitt, however, never supported the American colonies breaking away from England.
By 1765, Pitt was suffering from the mental illness that would continue to plague him for the remainder of his life. Some historians believe this condition was manic-depression, a type of mental illness in which a person suffers severe and prolonged mood swings.
After the next election in 1766, Pitt was again approached to form a cabinet, which he did. The same year, the king honored Pitt for his service to England by making him the first Earl of Chatham of Kent County and Viscount (pronounced VY-count) Pitt of Somerset County. Since Pitt was now a nobleman, he could not sit in the House of Commons and moved instead into the House of Lords. This move was very unpopular with the English people, who loudly criticized their former hero. This criticism hurt Pitt deeply. By early 1767, Pitt was suffering again from illness and retired from public life until the fall of 1768. While Pitt was ill, the Townshend Acts were passed, placing duties (taxes) on lead, paint, glass, paper, and tea going into the American colonies. These Acts were another major source of discontent in the colonies.
Pitt resigned from the ministry (the cabinet) in 1768, and returned to his seat in Parliament in 1770 and 1771. From 1772 through 1774, Pitt suffered again from illness and rarely took his seat in the House of Lords. In 1774, he did make a speech pleading for the government to "adopt a more gentle mode of governing America." The next year, Pitt introduced a bill to peaceably settle Britain's differences with America. Pitt's bill acknowledged the right of the colonists to tax themselves, allowed for a congress to meet in the American capital of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and proposed that the Americans, as good British subjects, help support the king by donating an annual sum of money. The bill was defeated in Parliament. Unfortunately Pitt, one of the few people in Parliament working for a peaceful solution to the American problem, fell ill and was again absent from public life throughout 1776. In mid-1777 he again addressed the House of Lords, pleading with Parliament to end the war.
Pitt was regarded as a hero in the colonies. The Americans appreciated his speaking out against the Stamp Act in 1765. Pitt also opposed the "Intolerable Acts" passed by Parliament to punish the colonies for the Boston Tea Party, in which they destroyed tons of British tea, in 1773. The acts closed the port of Boston, took away self-government in Massachusetts, and forced the citizens of Boston to house the British soldiers stationed there.
Pitt also angered the king and pleased the Americans when he proposed that no taxes be levied without the consent of the American local governments (called assemblies). In 1775, he proposed that British troops be withdrawn from Boston. This further earned American gratitude, even though his motion failed to pass. In 1777, he spoke against the British practice of hiring Native Americans to fight against the colonials.
While Pitt supported the Americans' right to representation and fair taxes, he never believed in granting them their independence from England. He knew that Britain's strength rested on her colonial possessions, which provided much money for England.
On April 7, 1778, Pitt made his last speech in Parliament, rising to oppose the idea of independence for the American colonies. He suffered a seizure and collapsed. When he seemed to be recovering, Pitt was moved to his country home at Hayes Place. He lingered for several weeks, and died on May 11, 1778, at the age of sixty-nine. Pitt is buried in Westminster Abbey in London.
Cockburn, J. S. "Pitt the Elder." Encyclopedia of World Biography. David Eggenberger, editor-in-chief. Palatine, IL: McGraw-Hill, 1973, pp. 464-66.
Lowe, William C. "Pitt, William, 1st Earl of Chatham. Known as the Elder Pitt." The American Revolution 1775-1783. An Encyclopedia. Vol. 2: M-Z. Richard L. Blanco, ed. New York: Garland Publishing, 1993, pp. 1306-09.
Wilcoxen, Charlotte. "British Sympathy for America." Daughters of the American Revolution Magazine. Vol. 110, 1976, pp. 323-25.
Pitt's Speech on the Stamp Act. [Online] Available http://odur.let.rug....sa/D/1751-1775/stampact/sapitt.htm (accessed on April 14, 1999).
Zaagsma, Gerben. Sugar Act and Stamp Act. [Online] Available http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/E/sugar_stamp/act01.htm (accessed on April 14, 1999).
Parliament, the name given to the British law-making body, is made up of three parts: the Crown, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons. The Crown refers to the ruling king or queen, who has the right to veto (overturn) votes in the House of Commons. The House of Lords is made up of noblemen (dukes, earls, and so on), who usually hold a seat that has been in their family for generations. The House of Lords had its beginnings in the councils of nobles and high church officials who used to advise the ancient kings of England.
The House of Commons has members who are elected by British subjects in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland. The House of Commons is the most powerful part of Parliament. It proposes the laws and then passes or rejects them. The prime minister (roughly equal to the U.S. president) is the head of the political party who wins the most votes in the election, and is always chosen from the House of Commons. When the new session of parliament opens following the election, the prime minister is asked to form a cabinet (or ministry). The cabinet is a group of advisers who look after certain areas such as defense, finance, or social conditions.
When a party loses an election, the prime minister and his cabinet must resign. The new officials are then chosen from the winning party and a new session of parliament begins.
"Pitt, William." American Revolution Reference Library. . Encyclopedia.com. 10 Apr. 2019 <https://www.encyclopedia.com>.
|
0.927868 |
The Black-winged Lovebird is a small species of parrot native to eastern Africa where it lives at higher elevations. They eat seeds and fruits. The Black-winged Lovebird is the largest species of lovebird.
Both the male and female Black-winged Lovebirds are dark green, but only the male has a red forehead. These birds are also known as Abyssinian Lovebirds.
The conservation status for this species is Least Concern. Abyssinian Lovebirds are not overly popular in aviculture.
|
0.992673 |
Given a set of rules and a few sites to start the search, gather name and email address of top US speakers in the startup and tech world.
For your reference I have attached a copy of our brief work portfolio with this message, I am sure a look into it would give you a decent insight into our skills and service experience.
Thank you and I will look forward to hear from you.
We have done similar project, We have expert team.
WE provide you quality work as per your requirement.
thanks for your reply. Can you clarify the specifics of the similar project that you did?
What are the rules governing this contest? And which sample sites would you like us to start on?
|
0.999587 |
Requirements to swap templates that a page uses and retain existing content?
Within the three templates, Zones B, C, and D are named the same and all of the layout properties are identical. Also, Zones B-D contain the same types of web parts that also have the same web part name and ID, but each contains one repeater web part that is different. In Template 1, Zone A is a different layout and has different web parts than Templates 2 and 3.
When changing the template a page uses, content is not lost when switching Template 2 > 3 or Template 3 > 2; however, if switching from Template 2 > 1, Template 3 > 1, or Template 1 > 2 or Template 1 > 3, the content is lost in all zones & web parts.
Must the web parts AND layout code be identical between two templates in order to switch between them without losing any content?
You need to have a good understanding of how layouts, templates, pages and content work to really understand all of this but I'll try.
Switching templates a page utilizes will not affect the layout which holds the webpart zones. Templates need layouts and if your template is not using the same layout or a layout with the same webpart zone count and names, you'll have problems. Most sites don't need but a few layouts. The benefit of using shared layouts is if you need to make a large change, it makes it simple, vs. going to each page template and modifying its individual layout. So that would be the first thing I'd check, are you using shared layouts or not.
Here's an example for a shared layout scenario: if layout 1 contains 3 webpart zones and the are named Zone1, Zone2, Zone3 then you switch a template to use layout 2 that has 3 webpart zones as well but they are named Zone1, Zone2, ZoneA all the webparts in Zone3 will show in a gray space at the bottom of the page stating webpart zone Zone3 is not part of this layout/template. You can move the webparts to a different zone or remove them. No content will be displayed if the webparts are in this "invisible" webpart zone.
|
0.737213 |
Shattered houses destroyed by air strikes, burnt-out cars once hiding improvised bombs, and burnt tyres along the road to mislead air force operations, describe the way leading to the village of Ibrahim Khalil, 35km south-east of Mosul in Iraq.
Signs of a war in which just a few days ago the Iraqi Army took over three nearby villages from the Islamic State militant group (IS) in a larger battle to retake Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, which was shockingly quickly overrun by the Islamist forces two years ago.
The offensive has triggered concerns in the EU that Islamist fighters could come back to Europe.
"This is a threat we must be prepared to face," EU security commissioner Julian King said recently, while Europol chief Rob Wainwright warned that “further military losses, further military pressure on them in the region, indeed might lead to an increased reflex response by the group [IS] in Europe”.
The fighting has also led about 100,000 Iraqis to flee to Syria, according to the UN, in a move that could push thousands to Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan. An estimated 4.7 million Syrian refugees already live in the three countries, where the EU is trying to keep them from trying to continue to Europe.
The Iraqi Army, along with the Kurdish peshmerga fighters, are moving village by village to reach Mosul.
“They [IS] fought with snipers and car bombs. We had tanks, the operation lasted for only five hours,” Usama Al-Bayti, a young lieutenant from the 9th Armoured Division's 35th Brigade, says of the battle five days ago.
The military dropped pamphlets to tell the locals they are coming, and to go into hiding. Al-Bayti also said since some of the soldiers are from the village, they were able to contact family members who informed them about IS fighters’ positions.
But the army struggles to hold ground - when they moved further into other villages, IS popped up again in areas already considered liberated using extensive underground tunnels they have built.
Al-Bayti, a 23-year-old who is himself from Mosul, and his comrades are stuck for now.
“We shouldn’t be here, we should be advancing,” another officer shrugged.
A large crowd gathered on Monday (24 October) in Ibrahim Khalil from nearby villages, and people displaced by local fighting to receive aid from the International Organisation for Migration, and the World Food Programme.
The UN children's agency Unicef, accompanied by journalists, gave rapid polio vaccinations to some 1,200 families to prevent the disease from resurfacing.
“You can’t describe what we have suffered in two and half years under Daesh [the Arabic name used for IS]. It was like hell, in the full meaning of the word,” said Karim Turki Ismail, waiting in line for aid.
He is from the nearby village of El-Adla. He said when the fighting was over and emerged with white flags from hiding, they welcomed Iraqi troops with kisses and hugs.
“There was no work, nothing, life came to a halt. We were scared of everything, I can’t describe in words. There were constant killings, it is a simple thing for them. They beheaded 20-25 people in the village, because they worked for the army or the police,” he said, coming from a village of roughly 200 families.
But fear and a sense of revenge lingers over the advancement of the Iraqi and Kurdish troops.
IS fighters do not wear uniform and can easily mingle among civilians without being noticed.
A military commander on site argued that not everyone should get aid, saying “half of them are Daesh”. But the UN and the aid organisations cannot, and did not discriminate among people who asked for help.
Some Iraqis are suspicious of displaced people, fearing IS fighters might be hiding among them.
Al-Bayti admitted “sleeper cells” might be in the crowd. He said they captured over 10 IS fighters in the recent days, and intelligence officers are questioning them.
Iraqi troops often fly flags on their vehicles with the picture of Imam Ali, a revered Shia leader, and Al-Bayti, a Shia himself, admits there is a desire for revenge against IS, which follows a version of Sunni Islam.
“They kill Shias, Christians, everybody who is not with them,” he said.
“We will kill them [Daesh], there is no prison for them,” he added.
Asked whether Sunnis and Shias will ever be able to live together and reconcile, he said the two factions of Islam lived together in Iraq for a thousands years in peace.
“So we should be able to live together again,” he said with youthful optimism, saying Sunnis who have not risen up against Daesh before, now understand they were wrong.
EU security commissioner Julian King says around 2,500 Islamic State militants in the Mosul area are from Europe, and they could flee if the city falls.
EU countries have moved a step closer to sending arms to Iraqi Kurds to help them fight the Islamic State.
An "internationally protected Christian autonomous region" in Middle East proposed as one solution, as religious leaders met for talks on migration with EU Commission.
Jihadists who left Europe to fight In Iraq and Syria will come back in greater numbers as Islamic State loses territory, a former US security chief has warned.
|
0.987563 |
Detailing the physical features, habits, territorial reach and other identifying qualities of the Giant Water Bug.
The mammoth Giant Water uses its strong pincers to hold its prey place, but its mouth is where the threat really lies.
The Giant Water Bug is a large insect with equally large and very noticeable foreleg pincers. These pointy appendages are used to catch similar-sized underwater prey like small fish, frogs, small newts, snails, and sometimes even snakes. A strong bite injects a solution that liquefies the insides of the prey, allowing the bug to drink it in. The Giant Water Bug's body is mostly flat and oval shaped with dark brown, "dead leaf" coloring. Unable to hold its breath, small breathing tubes called spiracles allow the bug to stay under water while drawing in air trapped under its wings, somewhat like a straw. It is known to play dead in order to escape predators. It is also known for delivering a painful bite when disturbed or threatened by people. It carries the the nickname "Toe-biter" because it does just that. Barefoot swimmers and people who tread in shallow waters may get a toe pinched by one if they step too close for the Giant Water Bug's. Aside from that defensive reaction to threats, this insect is generally uninterested in people.
They make their homes at the bottom of muddy waters and ponds, or surrounding vegetation, so they can be seen swimming as well as walking near the water's edge. Muddied Giant Water Bugs may be somewhat hard to distinguish until they are rinsed. This insect can tolerate slightly polluted water, unlike many other aquatic insects like dragonflies. Giant Water Bugs are drawn to light sources at night and are often found inside or around backyard pools. A female lays fertilized eggs at the edge of a waterline whereupon the male guards them until they hatch.
|
0.999991 |
In the case of 7, 17, last digit is 7.
So, if it is 7^1999 or 17^1999, last digit is same.
so, they get cancelled with each other.
In 11^1999 last digit is 1.
|
0.942284 |
Thomas Müntzer (1489-1525) was a German Radical Reformation theologian, who became a rebel leader during the Peasants' War. Initially he was a follower of Martin Luther. However he felt that the questioning of authority promoted by the Lutheran Reformation should be applied to the economic as well as the spiritual sphere. Luther disagreed and asserted that the Reformation he supported was only spiritual in nature. Following the Battle of Frankenhausen in May 1525 he was captured, tortured and decapitated. Müntzer promoted a radical apocalyptic message of the coming kingdom of God as an egalitarian society in which all things would be shared in common. Although disputed by some scholars, it is likely that Müntzer’s ideas influenced the early Anabaptist movements and in particular the thought of Hans Denck, Melchior Rinck and Hans Hut.
What were the key dimensions of Thomas Müntzer’s Radical Reformation theology?
1. Anticlerical - The priests claim that divine revelation has ceased but the true shepherd turns people to God’s living presence.
Thomas Müntzer signed the Prague Declaration “Thomas Müntzer, who wants to worship not a mute but a speaking God.” He asserted that the clergy had not yet heard voice of God and had closed their ears to it claiming that God long ago stopped the outpouring of his Spirit. True shepherds educate the people in such a way that they hear God in their own hearts: “all of them shall have revelations.” So the authority of the priests is shattered by the experienced authority of the speaking God (Goertz 2007, p.25).
Müntzer drew deeply on the language and substance of medieval mysticism. Mystical piety placed the laity in a living, existentially experienced relationship with God. Direct communication with God (the basis of the priesthood of all believers) was the work of the Holy Spirit alone. Access to God was not mediated through the Holy Scriptures but through the divine Spirit alone. Scripture was only a testimony of the working of the divine Spirit (Goertz 2007, p.26).
3. Charismatic - The Holy Spirit has the power to transform people, bring them into right relationship with God and liberate them from fear of the powers of this world.
The divine Spirit permeates the person from within and restores the original harmony between creature and Creator. Faith creates a new spirit-filled person who obeys only God. This inner event is revolutionary for it destroys people’s dependence on and fear of the powers of the world. Instead it erects a new authority that consists of the fear of God.
“…fleshly, earthly people should become God through the incarnation of Christ, and thus with (Christ) become God’s pupils, taught by him, deified by him, and indeed, much more, completely transformed into him, so that earthy life changes into heavenly.” (Goertz 2007, p.27).
For Müntzer, the inner transformation includes a transformation of the outer life. The renewal of the individual leads logically to a renewal of the church, the government and society. The movement of the Spirit in the individual is therefore linked to the coming of the kingdom of God. This kingdom is established in the hearts of human beings, equipping them with new insights into the conditions of this world. God alone will establish his kingdom; the human being is merely his tool in this undertaking. The Spirit of Christ active in each of the elect will smash all the earthy powers, especially the state-church system. The Spirit penetrates the world, starting with transformation within the human heart. So, in Munster’s theology the mystical and the apocalyptic impulses are fully intertwined (Goertz 2007, p.28-29).
In terms of the anti-clerical, mystical, charismatic and apocalyptic aspects of his theology, Muntzer’s vision appears to share a great deal in common with that of the early Quaker movement. It is clear that Han Denck was influenced by Müntzer and in an earlier blog posting (‘D’ is for Hans Denck, 12 February 2014) we noted the similarities between the theology of Hans Denck and that of early Friends. In particular, by maintaining a rigorously biblical and Hebraic understanding of the Holy Spirit, Müntzer appears to have avoided the dualism associated with many of the other Radical Reformation spiritualists. The key area on which Müntzer and early Quakers diverge is on the method by which the kingdom of God will be established on earth. Both Müntzer and early Friends believed that the people of God (the elect) would be called to work with God to destroy evil. For Müntzer this required an outward war involving the physical destruction of the powers of this world (the princes and the priests) whereas for early Friends, the Lamb’s War was to be a spiritual struggle focused on destroying the spirit of wickedness within the human heart and within the whole creation. The Quakers’ Lamb’s War was a new covenant war and so did not involve fighting with outward weapons. It is not surprising however that early Quaker apocalyptic language often led those in power to fear that the movement was intent on violent insurrection and revolution.
Very interesting! Keep up the good work, Friend Stuart.
|
0.941333 |
The probes will extract samples from the asteroids before returning to Earth. These separate space missions will help to determine the composition the asteroids and test technology for retrieving their potential riches.
The NASA mission, OSIRIS-REx, will arrive at an asteroid called Bennu, orbiting the sun about 460 million miles away, in August. The probe will make a remote sensing campaign of Bennu, thought to be comprised of clays, volatiles, and some organic material.
At one point OSIRIS-REx will come into contact with Bennu and collect loose particles that are thought to cover its surface. The probe will blast out of orbit around the asteroid in March 2021 and is scheduled to arrive back on Earth with its sample in September 2023.
In the meantime, the Japanese Hayabusa2 will arrive at an asteroid called Ryugu, a rare type of asteroid that contains both volatile material and water-bearing materials in June 2018. The Japanese probe will also examine Ryugu remotely and collect a sample before departing in December 2019. Hayabusa2 will arrive back on Earth in December 2020.
Both the OSIRIS-REx and Hayabusa2 missions are scientific missions to gather data that will give further insight into the origin and development of the solar system. However, the two voyages of discovery have economic implications as well.
According to Asterank, a database that charts the scientific and economic characteristics of 600,000 asteroids, Bennu contains almost $670 billion worth of minerals and Ryugu has almost $83 billion. All that is necessary is to get at the material, extract it, and find markets for it.
Asteroid mining has been considered the stuff of science fiction. That point of view changed radically when Goldman Sachs, an organization not known for its fanciful analysis, declared that mining asteroids will be a growth industry in the 21st century.
Even before the Goldman Sachs report, two companies, Planetary Resources and Deep Space Industries, were formed for the expressed purpose of mining asteroids for profit. Planetary Resources recently took another step toward the dawn of asteroid mining by launching the Arkyd-6 CubeSat, a tiny satellite that will test technologies to find asteroids and determine their worth for mining.
The first salable commodity that could be mined from asteroids will be water. Water can be used to sustain future space colonies. However, more immediately, water can be refined into hydrogen and oxygen, components of rocket fuel.
Rocket fuel can be stored in depots where spacecraft could then top off before proceeding on to destinations in deep space, eliminating the need for taking all the fuel needed for such voyages from Earth. Servicing spacecraft could carry rocket fuel to satellites orbiting the Earth to refuel them, lengthening their lifespans, a capability that will have an immediate effect on the world economy.
Other minerals available at some asteroids include platinum-group metals, a vital component for a wide variety of high-tech products. Industrial-grade metals such as iron, aluminum, and silicon could be used to build large structures in space.
The material would be fed into 3D printers to create components which would then be put together by robotic assemblers. The structures that could be built in space include high-capacity communications satellites with vast antenna arrays and space-based solar collectors that can tap the sun’s energy and beam it back to Earth 24/7.
Just as the current push to return to the moon has a heavy economic imperative, asteroid exploration should be aligned with its commercial possibilities as much as its scientific benefit. NASA should form partnerships with the new asteroid mining companies for mutual benefit.
It should be noted that China has ambitions of exploring asteroids and exploiting their wealth for economic benefit. The Chinese plan to start sending missions to asteroids as early as 2020.
Farther in the future, according to the South China Morning Post, China intends to conduct missions similar to the Asteroid Redirect Mission, proposed during the Obama administration but then abandoned. The idea is to capture asteroids, insert then into orbit around the moon, and then mine them at leisure. At stake is wealth in the sky that is valued in the trillions of dollars and which could help serve as the basis of an industrial revolution in space.
|
0.994645 |
Are Mormons funny? I guess that depends on what you mean by the question.
Do you mean to ask if Mormons can be amusing to innocent bystanders?
I have evidence. For instance, that huge graffiti inscription on the overpass over the DC Beltway, positioned so that it served as a caption under the vision of the Washington Temple, as it floated in its ethereal whiteness over the intense greenery of the surrounding parks and woods: "Surrender Dorothy!"
Let me explain it to those Mormons who aren't laughing. See, the temple kind of looks like the Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz, and "Surrender Dorothy" is what the Wicked Witch of the West wrote in the sky with smoke coming out of her broom.
OK, let me make it even clearer: This is funny because clearly the Mormons didn't intend their temple to remind anybody of a classic fantasy movie, but once somebody put up the graffiti, it made everybody think of it and laugh.
Except you. Sorry. You're so right. Not funny. Temples are never funny. My mistake.
No, I didn't mean that our temples are somehow like Disneyland, I was talking about architecture, not sacred ... sorry ... yes, I'll go talk to my bishop.
Which, I suppose, answers the other meaning of that question "Are Mormons funny?": Do Mormons have a sense of humor?
Oh, yeah, right. When we're joking among ourselves. But let some outsider joke about us, and it's Not Funny. We can have jokes like: "The Church must be true, or the missionaries would have wrecked it years ago." But let somebody else mock those young men on bicycles, and we grit our teeth, definitely unamused.
There's a third meaning to that question, though: Are Mormons who are trying to be funny successful in their attempts at humor?
Many years ago, when I was an extremely junior editor at BYU Press, a young artist came by to show us his collection of cartoons about Joseph Smith. They were really funny -- like the drawing of Joseph's mother, shouting up the stairs, "Joseph, turn that light out and go to sleep!"
See, that was funny because she didn't realize the Angel Moroni was up there filling the room with ... no. You're so right. Can't be funny. No Mormon could ever laugh at such a cartoon and feel good about it. Never mind that the entire proofreading staff nearly wet their pants reading his cartoons. We all knew -- even the cartoonist knew -- that there was zero chance whatsoever that BYU Press could publish cartoons that some would interpret as mockery of sacred things.
But 32 years later, I still remember. And the cartoonist did OK, even though that collection of cartoons was never published. His name? Calvin Grondahl.
The trouble is that in order to show -- even to ourselves -- how funny we Mormons can be, a Mormon humorist will invariably offend somebody. Keep at it long enough, and you offend everybody. In fact, much Mormon humor is funny precisely because it feels daring, even, potentially, offensive to somebody.
That's how irony works. Half the fun is knowing that some people just aren't going to get it.
So here I am, looking at two comic efforts: One is a genuine documentary in which non-Mormons around the country are asked what they know about Mormons -- you know, the first of the Golden Questions. The caption on the cover, "People say the darndest things about Mormons," tells you pretty much what to expect.
The other is a book of Mormon-centered cartoons, ostensibly in the tradition of Calvin Grondahl. The cartoon on the cover is of an old grandma with a magnifying glass, reading an "extra-large print Book of Mormon." The first page of the Book of Mormon contains the word "I"; the second page, the word "Nephi." That's how large the print is.
And It Came to Laughs: not funny.
To be more specific: American Mormon is pretty funny, though they repeat some footage and people didn't really say that many funny things about us -- mostly just the normal errors. What makes it funny is the deadpan (usually) of the interviewers, and the occasional zinger.
But maybe I'm one of those humorless Mormons, right? I mean, maybe the reason I wasn't rolling in the aisles (well, I saw it at home, and how many aisles can one guy roll in at once? But you know what I mean) was because after all these years of trying to explain things, it's kind of sad that so many people still have no idea who or what we are, or have an idea but it's outdated or flat wrong.
Still -- whatever humorless reservations I might have had now and then, these guys won me over and at the end, as they talked to a couple of Mormon guys in Las Vegas who were actually planning to go on missions, I decided that watching it was worth the time and money. I liked it. It was funny. And if you think it wasn't, tough. Humor is personal, and I'm personally right about this.
And now I'll be more specific about And It Came to Laughs. It is consistently and extremely not funny. But not because it touches on sacred things. Indeed, the only gags that come close to success are the ones that actually take some risks, like the one about Elijah in his fiery chariot being forced to land at Roswell, New Mexico.
And it isn't because of the drawing. Burnett's style is just like that of several cartoonists who are funny. In fact, his clever drawings are the reason I kept turning the pages, hoping that somewhere in the book he'd make me crack a smile.
Noah talks to his sons on the ark, telling Shem to feed the animals, Japheth to give them water, and Ham to ... "well shoot! You know what you need to do."
So it's a poop joke. OK, we were all once third graders, we get poop jokes. But why is this funny? Because it's Ham? Are we supposed to flash back to all the fake "doctrines" we once heard about Ham being the ancestor of African blacks? Oh, yeah, a laff riot. Or was it because Noah can't say poop or any word related to it, so the inability to say it is funny?
To me, it was just sad. Trying so hard, and getting nowhere.
The failure of this book begins with the title. How long did it take you to get the pun? You know, the rhyme? Well, not rhyme, but ... when you hear "And it came to laughs" you're supposed to think of "And it came to pass." Get it? See?
Yeah, I know that "laughs" doesn't sound like "pass," doesn't even rhyme with it. But when you finally do get the connection, it's ... at least amusing, isn't it?
Me neither. Everybody knows that to put "laughs" in the title is a horribly anti-comic thing to do on a book of alleged humor -- it makes the reader practically dare the author to be funny.
As I said, humor is personal. There are doubtless people -- like the editors at Covenant -- who thought this book was side-splittingly funny.
But I'm betting that those of us who once laughed at Grondahl or Benson are not going to take this as a substitute. Indeed, we're far more likely just to say, Man, I miss those old guys who were funny.
I could be wrong. Maybe The Returned Missionary, for instance, is really a good comedy, even if it is hopelessly badly written -- after all, it does have the genuinely funny Kirby Heyborne in the lead. But in my judgment, Heyborne is the only reason this film works at all -- he brings the only touch of reality to the movie, and so, because of him, the film repeatedly manages to survive hideous over-acting by others that makes you want to turn your head away in embarrassment.
But it was a hit! People loved it! People didn't notice or, if they did, care that most of the acting and all of the writing was just ... sad.
Or maybe they just liked Kirby Heyborne -- I know I did, which is why I kept watching this train wreck all the way to the end -- because he really was funny.
So don't get mad at me because I didn't think And It Came to Laughs was amusing -- pity me, because I'm just another of those humorless Mormons who never quite gets the joke.
|
0.961804 |
Erich von Dem Bach Zelewski was born on March 1, 1899, in Lauenburg, Pomerania. He was a professional soldier from a Juncker military family, handsome and typically East Prussian in manner, Erich von Dem Bach Zelewski served in the First World War, and then in the Freikorps and as a Reichswehr officer during the 1920's.
In the 1930, he joined the Nazi Party and a year later he was made an SS-Untersturmführer. From 1932,until 1944, he was a member of the Reichstag, representing the Breslau electoral district. After 1934, he commanded SS and Gestapo units in East Prussia and Pomerania. In 1939, Erich von Dem Bach Zelewski was promoted to the rank of SS General and two years later became a General of the Waffen-SS assigned to the Central Army Group on the Russian front until the end of 1942. During this period Bach Zelewski was responsible for many atrocities, in which he took a personal part. On October 31, 1941, after 35,000 people had been executed in Riga, he proudly wrote, 'There is not a Jew left in Estonia.' He also participated actively in massacres of Jews at Minsk and Mogilev in White Russia.
In July 1943, he was appointed by Himmler as anti-partisan chief on the entire eastern front. Subsequently he claimed that in this role he had tried to protect Jews from the Einsatzgruppen murder squads. Bach Zelewski was in command of the German forces which suppressed the Polish Home Army in the Warsaw Uprising which began during August 1944. Bach Zelewski was awarded the Knights Cross in connection with this operation. Bach Zelewski was held in high esteem by Adolf Hitler for his brutality and improvisational skills - he was able to conjure armies out of very unpromising material. Bach Zelewski ended the Second World War as an army commander.
At the International Military Tribunal held in Nuremburg at the end of the Second World War Bach Zelewski testified for the prosecution, denouncing Himmler and his own fellow police chiefs, which spared him extradition to Russia. In March 1951, he was condemned by a Munich de-Nazification court to ten years ' special labour,' which in practice meant being confined to his own home in Franconia. The only one among the mass murderers who publically denounced himself for his wartime actions, he was never prosecuted for his role in the anti-Jewish measures.
Instead he was arrested and tried during 1961, for his participation in the Ernst Rohm Blood Purge and sentenced to four and a half years but the trials against him didn't end there. He was indicted again in 1962, for the murder of six communists in 1933. He was tried before a jury in Nuremburg and received the sentence of life imprisonment. Bach Zelewski died in a prison hospital on March 8, 1972.
|
0.998972 |
Let?s make this happen RT @maiiconleite: @PearlDrumCorp @CalvinR_Rodgers tour in Brazil?
RT @maiiconleite: @PearlDrumCorp @CalvinR_Rodgers tour in Brazil?
Born from a family of musicians and raised on the South Side of Chicago, Calvin Rodgers took an early liking to the drums, as a kid growing up in church. His father, a well-known songwriter and musician, encouraged his son's gift and immediately began to pour into him by cultivating his gift. Willie Rodgers frequently took young Calvin to late night rehearsals and studio sessions. Calvin would use these opportunities as time to learn and study many of the musicians he admired. As Calvin Rodgers grew, he continued to play in church and with local community choirs throughout city of Chicago.
At 15, when most were still learning their craft, Calvin Rodgers recorded the live CD/Video recording "Hallelujah", with the Grammy nominated choir Ricky Dillard & New G. Shortly thereafter, Calvin caught the attention of Ramsey Lewis, who was spearheading a jazz program throughout Chicago area high schools.
Lewis sent Calvin to study under the tutelage of the drummer for that program, Ernie Adams. Upon graduating, Lewis invited Calvin to join and record with his award-winning group Urban Knights. Simultaneously, Calvin began touring with the very in demand gospel artist, John P.Keee.
Calvin Rodgers was also becoming a regular first call studio session drummer in Chicago, for everything from smooth jazz to radio and television jingles. It was while working as a studio player that Calvin landed the coveted gig as lead drummer for R&B Powerhouse, R. Kelly. This was a valuable experience, but after two years, Calvin had to respond to a higher calling, and return to his gospel roots. Calvin went on to record and tour with gospel giants like Donald Lawrence and Martha Munizzi. Today, his resume boasts most of gospel's elite, spanning from Fred Hammond, Tommy Simms and Marvin Sapp to Israel Houghton, Yolanda Adams and even the legendary gospel group the Clark Sisters.
Calvin Rodgers' hard work, innate talent, and gifted ability has been recognized by artists, producers and musicians around the world, enabling him to also maintain a consistent schedule as a clinician. In 2006, Calvin became a proud endorser of Sabian Cymbals. "I have been searching for a company that is innovative, loyal to ALL of their artists and have the sound I want and need. When I found Sabian, my search was over!".
Calvin Rodgers is currently touring as the Music Director for Grammy Award-winner Fred Hammond. Calvin Rodgers is also producing and writing for a host of gospel artist. In one his most exciting current projects, Calvin is developing a solo CD and an instructional DVD which will tentatively be released in Fall 2009. At the age of 30, Calvin Rodgers continues to grow professionally and spiritually. He is an inspiration to many and a legand to some.
Calvin Rodgers was born into a family of musicians, on the south side of Chicago, Illinois. As a young child, his parents noticed instantly his love for music, and especially his passion for the drums. His father Willie Rodgers, a well-known songwriter and musician, encouraged Calvin's gift and immediately began cultivating it, by pouring into him constantly.
Oftentimes, Calvin's father would take him to late night rehearsals and studio sessions, to offer him the opportunity to watch and learn from the veteran musicians that his dad would often work with. As the years passed, Calvin gained more and more exposure, playing at local churches, with various solo artists, groups and choirs. At the age of 15, while some were yet perfecting their craft, Calvin was granted the honor of playing alongside the recently GRAMMY nominated choir, Ricky Dillard and New Generation Chorale.
The live CD/Video "Hallelujah", was Calvin's first nationally released recording. Shortly thereafter, Calvin's drumming caught the attention of jazz icon, Ramsey Lewis. Lewis was spearheading the inner city music program, Jazz Mentors. This program afforded talented high school musicians the opportunity to be mentored musically, by some of Chicago's finest jazz musicians and teachers. Calvin studied under the tutelage of the drummer for that program, Ernie Adams, for two years. Upon graduating, Lewis invited Calvin to join and record with his award-winning super-group, Urban Knights.
Simultaneously, Calvin began touring with gospel singer and songwriter, John P. Kee. Calvin was also becoming a regular first call studio session drummer in Chicago, for everything from smooth jazz to radio and television jingles. It was while working as a studio player that Calvin met RnB powerhouse, R. Kelly. With over 200+ awards won, including three GRAMMYS, Calvin knew that when Kelly offered him the position as his touring drummer, he couldn't say no.
After two years of touring the U.S. and Europe with R.Kelly, Calvin decided he had to respond to a higher calling, and return to his gospel roots. He accepted a job offer with GRAMMY award winner Fred Hammond, as a music director. As of current, Calvin is now Hammond's lead co-writer and co-producer. Calvin also maintains a steady schedule as a clinician, and a private lesson teacher. Whenever in Chicago, Calvin can be found on the drums at his home church, New Life Covenant. He also serves as a mentor and big brother, to many up and coming drummers and musicians.
His touring and recording resume boasts the likes of such artist as Aretha Franklin, The Isley Brothers, Kirk Franklin, Jonathan Butler, Marvin Sapp, Yolanda Adams, Agnes Monica, Avant, Dionne Warwick, Rachelle Farell, Smokie Norful, Donald Lawrence, Byron Cage, James Fortune, Vashawn Mitchell, T.D. Jakes, George Huff, and many many more.
|
0.764208 |
Where is Denis Irwin now?
Regarded by Sir Alex Ferguson as his greatest ever signing for Manchester United, Denis Irwin called time on his illustrious career in 2004 whilst playing for Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Since retiring Irwin has returned to Manchester United to work as a presenter on MUTV, their in-house television station.
Irwin has also provided punditry for Irish television station RTE on Republic of Ireland international games.
He is also a columnist with the Irish Sunday World newspaper.
In 2016 Irwin was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame.
|
0.993728 |
In this age of technology, it's not as mandatory to actually work a 9-5 job (or even leave the house, for that matter) to earn income. There are many ways that people with basic computer skills can earn money on the Internet. Does it sound too good to be true? It's really not. One way to earn money on the Internet is by developing your own company, whether it be offering a service or selling your own products.
Creating a Web site is a must for this endeavor. Marketing and promoting your product or service is yet another task. Find your niche. If you like to design and create children's clothing, consider opening an online kids clothing store.
You would first need to apply pictures of your products onto your Web site, detailing product information and sales prices. Subscribe to a payment tool, such as Paypal, as a way for customers to purchase your items online. Adding a shopping cart feature is another consumer-friendly tool. If going into business for yourself is not something you are not willing to risk, there are many work-at-home opportunities listed on the Internet, from data entry jobs to sales.
The most important aspect of choosing such a company to work for is determining their status. Is this a scam? Will they trick me into scamming other innocent people? The best way is to check the company's reputation is through the Better Business Bureau. Freelancing is yet another option to earn money on the Internet.
Perhaps you have a gift for writing or graphic design. Capitalize on this skill by checking freelance sites for work opportunities. This is not as risky as working for yourself in the sense that you are actually getting paid by companies on your terms. However, there may come a point and time when the need for this type of work slows down or even comes to a complete halt.
That is something to consider when planning freelance as a way to earn money on the Internet. Perhaps a very simple way to earn money on the Internet is by acting as an online advertisement. This involves developing a Web site dedicated to a certain subject such as shoes and writing content and adding pictures that will attract visitors to your site. The next step to earning money on the Internet through advertising is to join an affiliate program.
These are companies who will allow you to post links to their sites that feature their sales products which relates to your Web site. When the link on your Web site is clicked and a purchase is made, you will then receive commission from the purchase. The key to success with this endeavor is to develop an attractive and informative Web site on your subject and continue to update and add new content as an incentive for visitors to return. To Your Success.
|
0.97309 |
SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - April 27, 2017) - Positive results in a Phase 1b trial of DURECT Corp.'s (NASDAQ: DRRX) candidate for the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), which were presented at the 2017 International Liver Congress, prompted comments from a pair of analysts.
Included in this article is: DURECT Corp.
In an April 23 conference update, analyst David Sherman of LifeSci Capital commented on the results of DURECT Corp.'s Phase 1b study of DUR-928, noting the compound "was well tolerated overall," that the data supported ongoing evaluation of the therapy, and that "investigators speculated on the plausibility of a therapeutic effect due to biomarker reductions at approximately 12 hours following dosing."
In an April 25 Laidlaw & Company research report, analyst Francois Brisebois observed that at its lowest dose, DUR-928 "showed reduction in liver function and injury biomarkers after only 12 hours. Additionally, inflammation markers and mediators such as high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) and IL-18, as well as CK18 (cell death biomarker), were reduced in NASH (especially in cirrhotics). The full data set confirmed these findings with a single dose, which is a real positive in our opinion."
The Laidlaw analyst also noted that with the Phase 3 PERSIST trial "of Posimir for post-operative pain expected to read-out by year end-2017, IND [investigational new drug] filings in both liver and kidney programs around mid-2017 and initiation of a Phase 2 trial for DUR-928 in mid-2017 for primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), 2017 should be an exciting year for DRRX."
According to a report by Reuters, the market for NASH, also known as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, "is forecast to be $20 billion to $35 billion as populations with fatty diets increasingly fall victim to a condition with no approved treatments."
The following companies mentioned are sponsors of Streetwise Reports: DURECT Corp. Streetwise Reports does not accept stock in exchange for its services. Click here for important disclosures about sponsor fees. The information provided above is for informational purposes only and is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Comments and opinions expressed are those of the specific experts and not of Streetwise Reports or its officers.
|
0.999754 |
By reading this article, and correctly answering the three questions underneath, you will have achieved the following learning outcome: Describe the most important factors to consider when setting an indemnity limit.
Public and Products Liability (PL) insurance is a core cover for today’s businesses, safeguarding their solvency, profitability and brand.
We explain the benefits of reviewing PL limits of indemnity, and offer guidance on choosing a suitable level of cover.
PL insurance protects against property damage and/or personal injury caused to third parties by the nature of business activities.
Claims values have seen significant increases in recent years, causing many customers to consider the need for higher limits of indemnity to remain adequately insured.
This is especially true for claims involving personal injury, where a recent change in the law has dramatically affected potential settlement values (see case study example in right hand column).
“The recent change in the personal injury discount rate means that customers can now realistically anticipate losses in excess of £10m on a single severe injury claim,” explains Alan Roxburgh, Public and Products Liability manager at Zurich. “Going back five or 10 years that would have been pretty much unthinkable.
PL insurance has become an important part of doing business, and an increasing number of contracts require parties to hold minimum levels of cover.
This is especially true when dealing with public sector bodies, which typically require £10m be held by anyone working for, on behalf of, or in partnership with them.
Industry bodies may also stipulate minimum insurance requirements for their members, particularly those associated with the building trade.
Customers should therefore review their obligations and ensure they are meeting minimum requirements.
However, minimum levels requested by other parties have very little bearing on an organisation’s actual needs.
Customers need to think carefully about the possible scenarios where their activities could cause damage or injury.
Higher risk activities, working around valuable assets and the provision of critical components are all likely to result in higher claims frequencies and values.
Certain industries and territories are also known to be more litigious or generally award higher damages. For example, the United States and Canada present notably higher exposures, and some PL policies may include limitations on claims from those jurisdictions.
Thinking should not be limited solely to customers’ immediate dealings, but also the end use of a product or service.
For example, the potential liabilities of a metal bolt manufacturer are significantly higher if the bolts are ultimately used within a safety critical part of an automobile engine.
Many PL policies include some common policy terms to be aware of.
In particular, while public liability is written on an ‘any one occurrence’ basis, products liability is typically offered as an ‘aggregate’ limit of indemnity. This means that the limit of indemnity applies across all claims during the policy term, not each claim in isolation.
Customers with product-led businesses will therefore need to consider higher limits of indemnity in order to adequately manage product-related risks.
Other common limitations may relate to exports to the United States and Canada, or products for use in aircraft and activities involving radiation.
Zurich is a market leader in Public and Products Liability and handles more bodily injury claims than any other insurer in the UK.
In addition to insurance, our expert Risk Engineering team can help prevent incidents occurring and advise on processes to reduce the size of claims when they do happen.
For more information on anything discussed in the article, or to discuss options for increasing limits of indemnity, please speak with your local Zurich contact.
In this real Zurich claim, a cyclist hit a pole due to the alleged negligence of our insured. They sustained a brain injury requiring long-term care.
The change in personal injury discount rate caused the likely future care costs settlement to increase by £3m alone. Overall claim reserve increased by £3.9m in response to the change.
Read more Zurich case studies here.
|
0.86502 |
"No, no, it's Oscar Wendell McDouglas. I mean, Oscar Doo- Oscar McDou- Oscar... O- Oliver! Oliver Dooglas McWendell."
Eddie Albert, was an American actor and activist. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1954 for his performance in Roman Holiday (pictured below left with Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck), and in 1973 for The Heartbreak Kid.
A graduate of the University of Minnesota, Eddie Albert was a circus trapeze flier before becoming a stage and radio actor. He made his film debut in 1938 and has worked steadily since, often cast as the friendly, good-natured buddy of the hero but occasionally being cast as a villain.
One of his most memorable roles was as the cowardly, glory-seeking army officer in Robert Aldrich's World War 2 film, Attack (1956) witch also starred Buddy Ebsen. The two began a lifelong friendship, from 1956, until Ebsen's death in 2003 and Albert appear as his Green Acres character on Ebsen's Beverly Hillbillies show.
Other well-known screen roles of his include Bing Edwards in the Brother Rat films (below with Priscilla Lane, 1938), traveling salesman Ali Hakim in the musical Oklahoma!, and the corrupt prison warden in 1974's The Longest Yard.
During World War II Albert was hired by the United States government, he went on what appeared to be pleasure sailing expeditions in Mexican waters. What he was actually doing was gathering information on Nazi and Japanese activities in and around the two Mexican territories on the Baja California peninsula of Mexico (since 1953, the Mexican states of Baja California and Baja California Sur). As part of the same effort, he also joined a Mexican circus act, owned by the Escalante Brothers, as a "flyer" in a trapeze act, and while touring with the circus, gathered intelligence for the U.S. government.
An avid environmentalist, he shared his concerns on TV on the The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962) and Today (1952) shows and lectured everywhere from high schools and industrial conventions. He produced films to aid in campaigns against pollution. He also helped to launch the very first "Earth Day" on April 22nd, 1970, his birthday, and was founder of City Children's Farms, a program for involving inner-city children in farming, and the Eddie Albert Trees Foundation.
Eddie Albert's television career is the earliest of any other performer. It began years before electronic television was introduced to the public. In June of 1936 Eddie appeared in RCA/NBC's first private live performance for their radio licensees in New York City. This was very early experimental all electronic television system. Due to the primitive nature of these early cameras it was necessary for him to apply heavy make-up and endure tremendous heat from studio lighting. The basic makeup was green toned with purple lipstick for optimal image transmission by RCA's iconoscope pick up cameras. Since television was experimental Eddie applied his own make-up and even wrote the script for this performance.
Albert's first television series was Leave It to Larry, a CBS sitcom that aired in the 1952-1953 season, with Albert as Larry Tucker, a shoe salesman who lives with his young family in the home of his father-in-law and employer, played by Ed Begley. He guest starred on various series, including ABC's The Pat Boone Chevy Showroom as well as the Westinghouse Studio One series (CBS, 195354), playing Winston Smith in the first TV adaptation of 1984, by William Templeton. Albert is pictured below beside Betty White (left) in front of the a KLAC-TV camera during a broadcast of the live talk show, 'Hollywood on Television,' in 1952.
In 1958 he made a pilot (or perhaps it was only proposed) for an adventure/fantasy series called The Eddie Albert Show where he played a reporter searching for amazing stories all over the world, as well as in other times and solar systems. Wow, that sounds a little like a Gallifreyan Time Lord Doctor we all know and love?
Albert turned down the lead series roles in My Three Sons (1960) and Mister Ed (1958) in order to actively pursue his movie career.
In 1964, Albert guest starred in Cry of Silence, an episode of the science fiction television series The Outer Limits. Albert played Andy Thorne who, along with his wife Karen (played by June Havoc), had decided to leave the city and buy a farm. They find themselves lost and in the middle of a deserted valley where they come under attack by a series of tumbleweeds, frogs, and rocks.
In 1965, Albert was approached by producer Paul Henning to star in a new sitcom for CBS called Green Acres (1965 below left). His character, Oliver Wendell Douglas, was a lawyer who left the city to enjoy a simple life as a farmer. Co-starring on the show was Eva Gabor as his urbanite, spoiled wife. The show was an immediate hit, achieving fifth place in the ratings in its first season.
After a four-year-absence from the small screen, and upon reaching age 69 in 1975, Albert signed a new contract with Universal Television, and starred in the popular 1970s adventure/crime drama Switch (above right) for CBS, as a retired police officer, Frank McBride, who goes to work as a private detective with a former criminal he had once jailed. In its first season, Switch was a hit. By late 1976, the show had become a more serious and traditional crime drama. At the end of its third season in 1978, ratings began to drop, and the show was canceled after 70 episodes.
Albert worked with Shirley Jones in the film Oklahoma! (1955), and on television in a two part episode of The Love Boat (1977) and and episode of Murder, She Wrote (1984). He was also a huge fan of Falcon Crest (1981) that starred his old friend Jane Wyman (with he co-stared in Brother Rat, 1938), and had a recurring role on the show in 1987. Later in career he did voice work forthe TV cartoon series Spider-Man (1996-1997) and Extreme Ghostbusters (1997). After his guest-starring role on Extreme Ghostbusters, he retired from acting at the age of 91.
Albert suffered from Alzheimer's disease in his last years. His son put his acting career aside to care for his father. Despite his illness, Albert exercised regularly until shortly before his death. Eddie Albert died of pneumonia in 2005 at the age of 99 at his home in Pacific Palisades. He was interred at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery, next to his late wife and close to his Green Acres co-star Eva Gabor.
Albert's son, Edward Jr. (19512006) was an actor, musician, singer, and linguist/dialectician. Edward Jr. died at age 55, one year after his father. He had been suffering from lung cancer for 18 months.
|
0.995749 |
How do I troubleshoot issues?
Steam Proton (github) is an awesome initiative by Valve which brings multiple open source projects together to help facilitate cross-platform gaming, particularly for Linux. It integrates the open-source projects Wine and DXVK (Vulkan) directly into Steam, allowing you to launch Windows based games directly.
Previously, you would have had to run the Windows Steam Client via Wine to launch games, and this never worked that well. Typically, you'd be better off re-buying the GOG copy of the game which removes DRM and is usually patched well.
From a commercial perspective, SteamOS hasn't exactly been a success. It's definitely no Android of the gaming market. Despite that, Valve has maintained its support for open-source platforms.
More recently they hired the DXVK developer, Philip Rebohle, in February 2018.
In August of the same year, they released Steam Proton.
Opt into the Linux Steam Client Beta.
Proton provides wine, DXVK libraries, etc all seamlessly.
Settings > Steam Play > Check "Enable Steam Play for all Titles"
You should now see every Windows game in your library available to install and play (or attempt to play at least).
For example, PULSE_LATENCY_MSEC=30 %command% has helped fix stuttering/popping audio in Skyrim for me.
~/.steam/steam/SteamApps/compatdata/<appid>/pfx - this is another improvement over typical Wine installations which might have dependency conflicts between games/applications.
Use the quotes here because of whitespace.
$ find ~/.steam/steam/ -iname "*user_setting*"
$ cp "~/.steam/steam/SteamApps/common/Proton 3.7/user_settings.sample.py" "~/.steam/steam/SteamApps/common/Proton 3.7/user_settings.py"
#to enable these settings, name this file "user_settings.py"
Proton logs to ~/steam-<appid>.log by default.
Any games run from this will have their WINEPREFIX (as seen above) created relative to that.
Note: Some games might experience performance issues running from a mounted Windows filesystem - unfortunately this will require Uninstalling/Re-installing to the proper library location.
|
0.999999 |
Can you have a shock wave in space?
Shocking! Though it wouldn't be similar to a shock wave on Earth, there are still various kinds of shock waves that can occur in low-density environments.
A ‘shock wave’ is the disturbance of material that’s created when a wave moves through a medium at greater than the local speed of sound. Provided there is a ‘medium’ of sufficient density through which a shock wave can travel, there is no reason why shock waves can’t form in space.
However, because most environments in space are of extremely low density, traditional shock waves involving the collision of particles, such as those that give rise to a ‘sonic boom’, are rare. But there are other kinds of shock waves that can occur in low-density environments.
For example, the shock can be propagated by photons interacting with electrons, by a distribution of high energy particles or by magnetic effects. So, shock waves are actually quite common in space. Interplanetary shock waves can occur due to solar flares. ‘Bow shocks’ are formed by the interaction of the solar wind with planetary magnetospheres. Supernovae create powerful shocks, both within the star collapsing to form the explosion and also moving through the interstellar medium itself. Interstellar shocks can also occur simply by the collision or collapse of gas clouds. Black holes, high-density objects such as pulsars, as well as merging galaxies (and even just the motion of galaxies themselves) are also known to form shock waves of various forms.
|
0.96952 |
How to check 3D congruence by comparing the shape of "elements-lines"
Regard a straight line from somewhere near the center of the shell to the outline to mark out the place of an "element".
The isoline drawings on the following pages have been completed with a number of such "elements". Equal numbers show where equal "elements" where found on both "upper" and "lower" parts of the arching.
To find out where equal "elements" are positioned one has to start marking out the place for one of them by drawing a straight line (marking out the place of the cross section to be checked). The location of an other one has to be searched for. The cross sectional shape of elements are equal when the distances between a number of intersection points with the isolines following on each other coincid with those already marked on the paper. Each isoline represent a very special height on the surface of the shell. The arcshape of an "element" that can be constructed is determined by the location of the intersection points of "the element line" with the "isolines".
1. Hold a piece of paper close to a drawn "element line" and mark the points of intersecting isolines on the edge of the paper.
2. Move the edge of the piece of paper around the isoline drawing in order to find the place where these marks coincid (intersect) with the isolines. When this happens an equal "element" has been found.
It is possible to find an almost countless number of such congruent pair of "element-lines" based upon the 3D geometry described on the previous pages.
This figure has no real violin isoline layout. It's only shown to illustrate the "element" congruence more obvious.
The figure shows the iso line layout for a computer calculated arching shape with equal width for "upper and "lower" part.
There is complete congruence of shape in each quarter (90 dgre sectors). The layout is completed with "elements" (straight lines) marking the place of 3 different cross sections in each quarter, which are equal in shape (congruent).
The figure shows computer calculated "iso lines" based upon the described 2D and 3D geometry, after the rotation of the main geometric layouts have taken place.
These iso lines are comparable to the measured ones by Möckel. (Stradivarius and Guarnmeri del Gesu).
The straight (1...4) equal numbered "elements" mark the exact places on the arching surface that are congruent. So the number 2 "elements" in the "upper part " are congruent to the number 2 in the "lower part" in spite of a different (wider-smaller) layout of the isolines.
The left figure shows the measured belly in its state of condition. In spite of the hand made shape it is easy to find congruent "elements" in and between both "upper" and "lower" part of the arching, here marked with equal line numbers.
The right figure shows the measured back in its state of condition.
This figure shows Sacconis attemt to construct a 3D model by 2D geometric layout for a "belly" arching shape .
It seems obvious that it is a 2D-construction since all intersection points are positioned on circular arcs intersecting straight lines.
The figure is divided into 4 sectors marked by the 4 congruent shaped "elements" on the surface. Within the waist sector circumscribed by these 4 element lines there is complete congruence of shape not only comparing left and right but also up and down.. The dividing angle marksout the image line of the congruent picture.
It is not possible to find any connection between the "upper" and "lower" sectors.
The center of the "element" image is not in the center of the arching shape.
No equal "elements" can be found covering the "upper" and "lower" parts of the shell. Only a limited sector in the "waist" has this quality.
This figure shows Sacconis attemt to construct a 3D model by 2D geometric layouts for a "back" arching shape of an average Stradivarius violin.
The picture is divided into 4 sectors marked by the 4 congruent shaped "beams" on the surface. Within the waist sector circumscribed by these 4 line there is complete congruence of shape not only comparing left and right but also up and down.. The dividing angle marks out the image line of the congruent picture.
|
0.956048 |
Do I always have to wait for the judge in working tests?
When you go under the judge, he or she will explain the test and what is required.
It is usual for the judge to give you the order when to send your dog for its first dummy and you should make sure that you do not send until told, otherwise a zero score will be the consequence.
However, when the test is a double retrieve, the judge may say that once your dog has retrieved the first dummy you may send the dog for the second in your own time.
This means that you do not have to wait for a second order from the judge after the first has been delivered.
|
0.945564 |
Swedish actress Alicia Vikander has revealed she once received a letter from a 12-year-old fan that was ''drenched in perfume''.
Alicia Vikander once received a fan letter that was ''drenched in perfume''.
The 29-year-old actress - who is married to fellow Hollywood star Michael Fassbender - has revealed that the weirdest gift she's ever received from a fan came from a 12-year-old male admirer, who admitted she made him feel ''funny inside''.
Despite this, Alicia has also admitted to having behaved in a peculiar fashion in the presence of one of her own celebrity heroes, French actress Isabelle Huppert.
Asked if she's ever freaked out about meeting another celebrity, the Academy Award-winning star confessed to BuzzFeed: ''Yes, I have! I met Isabelle Huppert at the Oscars, and I was with one of my best girlfriends who was next to me, and she was like, 'Oh my God, you literally couldn't get a word out.' I was so nervous, but she was very sweet.
Meanwhile, Alicia recently revealed her love for the 'Tomb Raider' video games, admitting she would lose track of time as she tried to navigate her way to the end.
The Swedish star said: ''I went back and played the rebooted [Lara Croft] games now, before making this film, and I was really excited.
|
0.980214 |
What is CI testing and how does it differ from other testing methods?
CI is short for Continuous Integration and refers to a way of developing software where changes written by individual developers are frequently (or "continuously") integrated together into a master branch/trunk, thus continuous integration.
CI testing is about frequently running tests before and after things are merged or integrated such that quality can be upheld and feedback delivered timely to developers. CI testing itself doesn't dictate how you do testing, it's more about triggering tests, so you can use it to run unit tests, integration testing or any other test method you might come up with.
Does CI testing cover all testing needs or is it limited to a subset?
There are probably very few theoretical limits to what can be achieved with CI testing but practically speaking it takes quite a bit of time to write tests. There are certainly ways to speed up the process, for example, for testing of network automation systems, I recommend starting with using virtual routers rather than other types of testing because it usually results in much better test coverage with less time spent on writing tests.
There's a trend today to do testing in production environments through observability tools and the use of deployment techniques like canaries and phased rollouts to mitigate the potential negative effects. I think it's great that we are seeing more of this because testing shouldn't stop in a CI testing environment or the lab but one should also remember that network infrastructure is fundamentally different. Rolling back a web application after a failed deployment is easy because the underlying machine is still operational while botching a network change might mean you lose connectivity, preventing you from rolling back. Networking is different from web applications and as such, we need to apply slightly different testing methodologies. I think we need more rigorous testing early on which is why I have a focus on CI testing with virtual routers.
More and more developers believe in testing in production that Kristian mentioned in his interview.
|
0.999957 |
Talk to your doctor before using FLUoxetine together with phentermine. FLUoxetine may increase the effects of phentermine, and side effects such as jitteriness, nervousness, anxiety, restlessness, and racing thoughts have been reported. Combining these medications can also increase the risk of a rare but serious condition called the serotonin syndrome, which may include symptoms such as confusion, hallucination, seizure, extreme changes in blood pressure, increased heart rate, fever, excessive sweating, shivering or shaking, blurred vision, muscle spasm or stiffness, tremor, incoordination, stomach cramp, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Severe cases may result in coma and even death. You should contact your doctor immediately if you experience these symptoms while taking the medications. It is important to tell your doctor about all other medications you use, including vitamins and herbs. Do not stop using any medications without first talking to your doctor.
|
0.974247 |
"Think of two of your favourite films. Can you write a plot synopsis of each in just one sentence?"
1. Woman has to repel one man, chooses wrong man, eventually likes right man, while friends and relatives have varying degrees of success in love.
2. Wussy woman who can't say no and is obsessed with wrong man eventually falls in love with someone she likes to argue with who helps her learn to stand up for herself.
|
0.999999 |
When is 'user pricing' a good pricing metric?
User-based pricing has gotten a lot of bad press recently. It is generally seen as a lazy pricing metric, used by companies that have not thought deeply about their value metric and how to connect the pricing to value. But there are many cases when user-based pricing is the best metric and should be used.
|
0.976772 |
Does Turkey's 'whisper policy' hold exchange rates?
Thus, an exchange rate has two components, the domestic currency and a foreign currency, and can be quoted either directly or indirectly. In a direct quotation, the price of a unit of foreign currency is expressed in terms of the domestic currency.
foreign exchange rate. Definition. Rate at which one currency may be converted into another. also called rate of exchange or exchange rate or currency exchange rate.
foreign exchange rate. Conversion rate of one currency into another. This rate depends on the local demand for foreign currencies and their local supply, country's trade balance, strength of its economy, and other such factors.
Exchange rate. In finance, an exchange rate of two currencies is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another. It is also regarded as the value of one country’s currency in relation to another currency.
Foreign exchange is the exchange of one currency for another or the conversion of one currency into another currency. Foreign exchange also refers to the global market where currencies are traded virtually around the clock.
|
0.999963 |
What kind of spin can flexible packaging put on the "circular economy"?
For years, sustainability has become an increasingly important aspect of packaging. The latest significant development in sustainability has been the concept of the circular economy. As applied to packaging, simply put, this involves planning every aspect of packaging—materials, design, conversion techniques, distribution, use and recovery—with an eye toward minimizing consumption of materials and energy, and maximizing reuse. To be truly effective, a circular economy requires participation by everyone in the supply chain, including: packaging materials suppliers, converters, product manufacturers, retailers, consumers, and recyclers.
With flexible packaging, especially for food, users face a unique set of challenges in participating in the circular economy.
One of the biggest such challenges is that in most cases, truly closed-loop recycling—i.e., making food packaging into more food packaging—is not an option. With few exceptions, Food and Drug Administration regulations prohibit recycled material from being used in food-contact packaging.
Even if recycled material could be used for food, flexible packaging has some inherent disadvantages. Many flexible films used for food consist of multiple layers of different polymers, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH). Recycling different polymers together is impossible when, as often happens, they have incompatible molecular structures. Also, most recycling centers are not set up to process flexible packaging; their machinery can only handle rigid plastics.
However, bulk flexible packaging, such as intermediate bulk containers (IBCs) and bag-in-box, has a big advantage when it comes to the circular economy—and its manufacturers and users are in a position to minimize or overcome its disadvantages.
A major aspect of the circular economy is energy consumption. A big part of that is minimizing fuel used for transportation, by cutting down on distances—and weight. The latter is an ongoing, inherent advantage of bulk flexible packaging. It is lighter and takes up less space than almost all rigid bulk packaging alternatives, meaning that more product can be delivered per tankload of fuel. And because it is almost always one-way packaging, there are no transportation return costs.
IBCs are used almost exclusively for industrial applications. In the food sector, this means delivering bulk loads of liquid, semi-viscous, or powdered ingredients to food processing plants. (Bag-in-box often is also used this way, to deliver smaller loads.) This means the supply and return chains can be more tightly controlled than with consumer products. It is therefore easier for suppliers and their industrial customers to make sure that used flexible packaging gets collected and delivered to a recycling facility that is equipped to handle it.
When the flexible material is monolayer, or consists of multiple layers that are chemically compatible, recycling is relatively straightforward. Even some film structures that comprise incompatible materials can be processed with a "compatibilizer" chemical such as DuPont's Fusabond.
Because of FDA regulations, most resin recycled from flexible material cannot be processed into material intended for food contact. However, it will be available for non-food end uses such as shipping bags, sacks of fertilizer and other farming/gardening materials, newspaper bags, etc. This does not quite close the circle perfectly, but it comes much closer to the "circular economy" model than simply landfilling the discarded material.
For more information about smart flexible packaging choices, download our Bag-In-Box brochure today.
|
0.999986 |
This article is from the source ' bbc ' and was first published or seen on July 24, 2007 03:50 (UTC) . It will not be checked again for changes.
The government is expected to announce plans to spend billions of pounds to remove bottlenecks on the rail network. The transport secretary has set out plans to spend billions of pounds to ease overcrowding on trains.
Measures to increase capacity to cope with growing passenger numbers are also set to be in a White Paper unveiled by new Transport Secretary Ruth Kelly. Ruth Kelly said £10bn would be invested by 2014 to increase services and make trains longer as she outlined the government's rail strategy to MPs.
There are likely to be details of 1,300 new carriages on the network - 300 more than first announced earlier this year. She said by 2030 she wanted the railway network to carry twice the number of passengers and freight.
Station improvements Ms Kelly said £600m would be spent on tackling "bottlenecks" at Birmingham and Reading and there would be 1,300 new carriages to ease overcrowding.
It is set to give the go-ahead for the delayed £3.5bn upgrade of the crowded cross-London line. A £5.5bn north-south cross-London Thameslink project was given the go-ahead and Ms Kelly said by 2014, the aim was that 92.6% of trains would run on time - currently the figure is 88%.
Ms Kelly may announce that the limit on rises for advance saver fares of 1% above inflation will be removed. She told MPs that the government had drawn up "the most ambitious strategy for growth on the railways in over 50 years".
Platform extensions, longer trains and the possible reopening of disused lines could also feature in the White Paper. "Our challenge today is not about managing decline," she said.
Although the punctuality of trains has improved overcrowding is still a problem.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the funding for longer trains could be expected to come from growing passenger revenues, with government support needed for many of the other planned improvements.
"Instead, it's about how we can build on this solid progress to provide a railway that carries more passengers, on more and better trains and on more frequent, reliable, safe and affordable service."
While government money for the railways will amount to £15.3bn between 2009 and 2014, passenger fares are expected to make up £39.2bn in the same period.
Ms Kelly also there would be a "radical simplification" of the fares structure with rises in saver fares capped at 1% above inflation.
For the Tories, Theresa Villiers said it was another "false dawn" for the £15bn Crossrail scheme - a proposed high-speed rail link from Berkshire to Essex via central London - saying it was "getting more distant by the day".
She added that while Ms Kelly had claimed "real acheivements" overcrowded trains were packed so tight "it would be a criminal offence to transport animals in the same conditions".
And she said it "seems extraordinary" that the government had not made more mention of Crossrail in the paper.
Ms Kelly said the government was committed to Crossrail and was currently trying to "pin down" private sector funding, to match government funding.
But passenger groups have been angered that some train companies have raised off-peak prices by up to 20%, and the system of franchising routes has come under criticism. But passenger groups have been angered that some train companies have raised off-peak prices by up to 20%, and the system of franchising routes has come under criticism.
Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT union, said passengers were "already paying through the nose to subsidise the profit habits of fat-cat franchisees and train-leasing companies".
BBC transport correspondent Tom Symonds says the announcement may disappoint those hoping for bigger thinking on the future of the railways, such as plans for a new high-speed rail link between London and Scotland.
Brian Cooke, chairman of London TravelWatch, which represents the interests of passengers, said extra capacity was urgently needed in the capital.
"Over 70% of all national rail journeys are to, or through, London. London's rail travellers pay the highest fares and London's train operators are paying the highest premiums to the government for running train services," he said.
"London's train services are the most overcrowded, with use of rail in London growing much faster than projected."
Shadow Transport Secretary Theresa Villiers said nothing had changed under the new prime minister, Gordon Brown.
"There'll be a lot of hype and spin about the future of the railways to disguise a series of reheated announcements that are years later than promised," she said.
"If they do announce progress on the Thameslink 2000 of course that would be welcome but the project is already 7 years late.
"This government has broken so many transport promises in the past, why should anyone believe them now?"
|
0.838293 |
Colonised in 6318 by Sagittarius Transcultural Cooperation exploration craft, this world had been observed from the inner sphere many millennia before despite its large distance, because of its high albedo. Uyuni was at one time a garden world with a complex biosphere, but as its sun grew older and hotter the seas evaporated, briefly causing a wet greenhouse effect on this world and almost completely sterilizing it. By 40 million years before present most of the water on this planet had been lost by photodissociation, leaving brilliant white ocean floors covered in salt flats. Due to the high albedo of these ocean basins the planet cooled sufficiently to put a stop to the greenhouse effect, and at the cooler poles the remaining water rained out to form lakes and small seas.
A few simple organisms persisted through the greenhouse phase, and have restocked the polar seas with a remnant biosphere, mostly consisting of colonial biofilms and digesters. For five hundred years the STC observed this biosphere (which was significantly different at each pole), then declared that the surface of Uyuni was open for colonisation, providing that the various biomes were conserved or preserved in various ways. The greater part of this polar xenobiota was transported to orbiting habitats, especially designed to replicate the conditions on this world. Other species were left in situ, and the new colonists and their food-crops were given pantropic treatments to ensure that they would have no unwanted biological reactions with the native species. (Note: visitors to this world are required to undergo suitable biocompatibility and antiallergy treatments).
The two polar habitable zones soon developed separate identities, known as Ends. In Northend a corporate state emerged, at first dominated by three local megacorprations and their lobbyists in the legislature. By 7600 these three corps had consolidated into Peruyuni UnLimited, a single body controlled by a superturing which was itself the result of the merger of several lesser AI.
Northend was ruled by this largely benevolent entity for more than a millennium; employees of the favoured corporations were in receipt of many material benefits that were not readily available to other citizens. At this period the only transapients in the YTS 2231664-33 system were a group of highly separatist S:1s engaged in building a collection swarm around the companion star, a low-mass red dwarf. On occasion a member of the Uyuni population would transcend to transapienthood, but they soon joined their peers around the distant companion.
The low salty ocean beds were only inhabited by a few diehards, often engaged in supporting the passage of trade between the two habitable zones or in mineral extraction. The salt basins were hot and dessicating, with abrasive saltstorms that were accompanied by a trace of chlorine liberated by mechanical friction, and trace amounts of caustic sodium that could be just as harmful.
Southend, on the other hand, was very different. Many of the original settlers were Herms, hermaphrodites from Gargamadua habitat in the MPA who had translocated to the distant regions beyond the Tunh wormhole, seeking worlds where they could experiment with unconventional psychosexual politics. As well as true hermaphrodites who could perform both male and female roles in mating and childbearing, Southend had a smaller population of Neuts, humans with no sexual characteristics at all, who were comfortable in the sexually neutral society of the Herms.
Hermaphroditism was at one time a controversial genetic choice; during the Interplanetary Age and early First Federation era, nearbaselines with these characteristics had often been discriminated against. However since the Second Federation era the technology to quickly change the sexual phenotype or genotype of an individual had become commonly available, so these distinctions became largely irrelevant. Anyone who wished to alter their physical appearance and genetic make-up could do so with relative ease. However the Herms of Southend were committed to creating a society where sexual differences were absent, a society with no division of roles between sexes and where psychosexual differences did not exist.
The Herms of Uyani were geneered specifically to breed true; all their viable offspring were also hermaphrodites, capable of mating with any other member of their clade (and with some difficulty, with themselves). The small population of Neuts, on the other hand, were longlived individuals who rarely reproduced, and always did so by cloning or engeneration.
In an attempt to keep their experimental society pure, the Headherms of the major clans in Southend expelled the commercial representatives of Peruyuni UL in 8010, and set up their own alternative ventures which were owned by the clans themselves. This was seen as an act of aggression by the corporate state of Northend, especially since they considered that the rights of those expelled had been compromised and their property requisitioned.
From that time on the relations between the north and south habitable zones of Uyuni became sour. Although the corporate state and the hermaphrodite clans never entered into full-blown war, there were many skirmishes and contentious incidents, often occurring on the hot salty plains where trains of environmentally-controlled freight and passenger cars made increasingly rare and perilous journeys.
More serious were the internal squabbles between the hermaphrodite clans themselves, some of which were sympathetic to the Northender's sense of grievance, and some of which were unhappy at being deprived of trade and contact with Peruyuni UL, seeing the clan-owned syndicates as a poor substitute. Armed conflicts and guerrilla actions broke out with some frequency, causing many to despair of the societal experiment that the Herms had embarked upon.
Most of the elite technicians in charge of engeneration technology in Southend were members of the small Neut population. This was largely a consequence of the fact that Neuts relied on copying and cloning for reproduction. In common with many other worlds, the Neut technicians had a policy of free re-incarnation for any citizen who was killed by accident, this also applied to murder victims.
During the trade-driven inter-clan conflicts of the 8000's, there were many Herms who fell victim to acts of aggression. Since those casualties who were fully backed-up were re-incarnated quite promptly, many citizens began to view assassination as being roughly equivalent to a violent assault rather than murder.
Clan leaders who nursed a grievance against other clans or political opponents began to use assassination as an expression of their discontent; only fully backed-up,.high-ranking victims were chosen, the assassin striking with great stealth and often at inconvenient moments chosen to create maximum disruption. Every important or influential Herm clanista would surround hirself with bodyguards and surveillance technology, while the assassins employed increasingly advanced forms of technology to avoid detection.
In 8945 the corporate state of Northend fragmented, largely due to the influence of several new off-planet megacorps that moved into the most important biotech and ultratech markets. The absence of the monolithic Northend state also led to increased openness in the Southend clan culture, and most of the long-standing rivalries and grievances faded away.
However many of the highly skilled assassins and bodyguards of Southend found employment elsewhere in the Transcultural Cooperation volume and beyond, often as consultants rather than as killers. Even in the current era, a number of traditional assassination schools can be found on Uyuni, although the alumni of those schools do not often get a chance to practice their skills within the civilized sectors of the Terragen Sphere.
Originally employed as transport vehvecs in charge of the lumbering road-trains that cross the ocean floors with goods and passengers, a number of vecs have made the hottest and brightest part of the ocean floor their home; here they can find ample sunlight for power and a range of useful minerals embedded in the evaporate beds and rocky terrain that once lay at the bottom of the sea. Some salt-vecs create manganese sculptures for sale to passing tourists, more as a hobby than as a means of earning much credit.
|
0.996763 |
targets are human foibles, middle-class values, the pitfalls of technology, and those aspects of popular culture that Frayn believes distort reality—including mass media, public relations, and advertising. Although he first established himself as a columnist and novelist, Frayn is probably best known for several acclaimed theatrical works he wrote during the 1970s and 1980s. In these plays, he undertakes a more thorough examination of the relationship between language and reality. He is widely praised for his wit, insight, and ability to unite comedy with serious, philosophical observation.
After leaving school in 1952, Frayn was conscripted into the Royal Army and sent to a Russian-interpreter course at Cambridge. He also studied in Moscow for several weeks, returning with the opinion that the so-called Cold War was ridiculous. The Cold War was a decades-long period of tension between purportedly Communist regimes in the Soviet Union and elsewhere in Eastern Europe and Asia and the determinedly capitalist governments of Western Europe and the United States. Such East-West relations would later become a subject of satire in many of Frayn's works. Eventually Frayn was commissioned as an officer in the Intelligence Corps, which certainly influenced his second novel, The Russian Interpreter, (1966). Discharged from the army in 1954, he returned to Cambridge to study philosophy at Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge.
From behind the Stage in Cambridge to behind High Society in Manchester At Cambridge, Frayn wrote humorous articles for the undergraduate newspaper. He also collaborated with John Edwards on a musical comedy, Zounds!, which was performed in 1957 by the Cambridge theatrical club, the Footlights. After graduation in 1957, Frayn worked for the Manchester Guardian, where he was a reporter from 1957 to 1959 and a columnist from 1959 to 1962. His columns of social satire for the Guardian soon became very popular and were collected into two books, The Day of the Dog (1962) and The Book of Fub (1963). In 1962 he moved to the Observer in London, where he continued writing humorous columns until 1968. His work for the Observer has also been collected as On the Outskirts (1964) and At Bay in Gear Street (1967).
A Novelist Turns to Television Frayn's first novel, The Tin Men (1965), is a satire on the failure of mere human beings to rise above the level of computers. Naturally, it is in the satirical mold of his newspaper columns. The Tin Men won the Somerset Maugham Award, and his second novel, The Russian Interpreter, about espionage, won the Hawthornden Prize. Two more satirical novels followed: Towards the End of the Morning (1967) and A Very Private Life (1968).
Television then offered Frayn a new opportunity to try out his dramatic skills. In 1968 “Jamie on a Flying Visit,” a farcical comedy about the collision between the tired inhabitants of a postwar housing estate and a rich visitor from the protagonist's wife's undergraduate past, was broadcast by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). It and “Birthday” (1969), a story about the overriding imperatives of human reproduction, were produced as part of the Wednesday Play series.
Failed Drama Offers the Blueprint for Success The encouragement of the producer Michael Codron, who later staged many of Frayn's plays and produced his motion picture Clockwise (1986), prompted Frayn to try writing for the theater. His first professional theatrical production, four one-act two-actor plays collectively titled The Two of Us, opened on July 30, 1970, at the Garrick Theatre in London. The Two of Us was not a success, and Frayn fared little better with his next play, The Sandboy (1971).
Frayn, however, did not give up on his drama and went on to write the well-received Noises Off, which established his reputation not only as a playwright but also as a supreme writer of farce. A comedy that depends on its parodic borrowings from the worst traditions of the British farce, Noises Off traces progress from the last-minute rehearsal and the subsequent run of an awful piece of repertory theater, and the connection between the stage business and the actors' interwoven lives. The idea for the play came initially from Frayn's viewing of his own work, The Two of Us, from backstage. He found that viewing the play from that vantage point provided a greater comic experience than observing it from the usual audience perspective.
with the 1998 Copenhagen winning a variety of awards, including a prestigious Tony Award for Best Play for its Broadway performances in 2000. Copenhagen deals with a mysterious meeting between physicists Neils Bohr (Danish) and Werner Heisenberg (German) in Nazi-occupied Denmark, with Frayn reaching back from the end of the twentieth century to one of the century's most significant and devastating moments: World War II and the development of the atomic bomb. Frayn returned again to Germany for his successful 2002 play Democracy, before turning to Austrian theater impresario Max Reinhardt—and his encounter with Nazism—for the 2008 Afterlife. He has also published a number of volumes of non-fiction and philosophy, with his latest effort The Human Touch: Our Part in the Creation of a Universe (2006) focusing (rather lightly, complain the critics) on what quantum theory and certain trends in cognitive science suggest about the world outside our minds. Frayn lives in London with his wife, well-known biographer and literary critic Claire Tomalin.
Frayn's work is nearly always satirical in nature. But that satire runs above a deep philosophical undercurrent. Indeed, much of Frayn's work delves into issues of language and meaning, and his philosophical thinking is influenced by Ludwig Wittgenstein, a philosopher whose primary focus was on the nature and limitations of language.
In the Satirical Tradition Satire seeks to critique a person or practice, usually by exaggerating and laying bare the foibles of the person or the practice. As an example, Jonathon Swift's Gulliver's Travels satirizes many aspects of the culture in which he lived, but Swift focused extra energy on scientists. He considered scientists to be overly abstract people whose ideas were far removed from practical implementation. In Gulliver's Travels, he portrays scientists as being so absent-minded that they actually have to hire assistants to help them remember to do things like breathe, eat, and go to the bathroom.
Frayn's work, like Swift's, often focuses its satirical gaze on people who are less than fully present in the lives they lead. For instance, Tin Men is a satire on the stupidity of people whose procedures are so dull that they can be taken over by computers. Again, in Mr. Foot, Frayn satirizes lifeless and loveless marriages. The husband is enshrined as the upholder of a set of suburban values spoofed in the English absurdist tradition, and the wife, who is the mouthpiece of the satire, is thus separated from those values. In Mr. Foot, the audience ultimately comes to understand that the life of the wife has been a tragic loss, thereby underscoring the fact that there is something missing in the suburban values Frayn critiques. This suggests, in the process, that there must be a better way to live life.
Wittgenstein and the Philosophy of Language Frayn's work is thoroughly infused with philosophical meditations—on everything from the nature of reality to the effects of language. With respect to these philosophical ruminations, Frayn recalls, “The philosopher who entirely dominated the way that philosophy was done and taught at Cambridge, and who had the greatest possible influence on me and everything I've written was Wittgenstein.” An Austrian expatriate who spent most of his life in England, Wittgenstein was a leading figure in twentieth-century philosophy. He studied logic under Bertrand Russell at Cambridge and later taught philosophy there until 1947. Wittgenstein's work deals primarily with the nature and limits of language. He discussed the limits of language as a means of interpersonal communication and as a means of representing reality. Words, he said, present a picture of reality but are not reality itself.
Cormac McCarthy (1933–): An American novelist, many of whose novels, including No Country for Old Men and All the Pretty Horses, have been adapted into popular films.
Michael Ondaatje (1943–): The Sri-Lankan and Canadian novelist who won the Booker Prize for his novel The English Patient.
Bob Marley (1945–1981): A Jamaican songwriter who promoted peace through his songs. His efforts were recognized when he was awarded the Peace Medal of the Third World from the United Nations.
Cyprian Ekwensi (1921–2007): An author who helped to popularize the novel as an art form in his native Nigeria.
José Saramago (1922–): The Portuguese novelist honored with the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1998.
Benazir Bhutto (1953–2007): The first woman to serve as prime minister of Pakistan. Bhutto was assassinated on December 27, 2007, in her home country.
move that breaks the dramatic unity separating audience from players—to assume roles as partners in this charade. It is a play of ironic contrasts between what the liberal, intellectual Phil announces to the camera and what he actually does: a play about one man's self-delusions. The play also goes beyond simple satire of hypocrisy, examining fundamental questions about the very nature of reality. The questions it raises are reminiscent of Wittgenstein's: What is the reality signified by what people say? Do the words people use signify what they really mean—do they themselves know what they mean and what reality is? What is real and what is merely a representation of what is real?
Given the recent popularity of “reality” television, The Sandboy—with its questions regarding the nature of reality and the way it is portrayed through language and, indeed, visuals—is clearly before its time in representing the problems of capturing “reality.” Furthermore, if the “reality” we can understand is never simply what it is, but always our own representation or web of symbols, the idea of being delusional is itself somewhat called into question.
Michael Frayn is a satirist who has moved from newspaper columns to novels to television productions to stage plays. Judging from the critical responses, he seems to have conquered each medium. His plays have been popular with audiences who are attracted to their humor and with critics who have noted and reveled in their underlying social and philosophical commentary.
For Your Consideration (2006), a film directed by Christopher Guest. This sharp piece of social satire sends up actors and the awards they receive, pointing out the self-congratulatory nature of institutions like the Academy Awards.
Adaptation (2002), a film directed by Charlie Kaufman. This film is about Kaufman, who wrote Being John Malkovich. In this movie, Kaufman participates in the production of Being John Malkovich while trying to adapt a novel into another screenplay. Along the way, Kaufman exposes the fears and fantasies that haunt him during the creative process of writing a screenplay.
Kiss Me, Kate (1948), a musical play by Cole Porter. In this musical, the actors attempt to perform a version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. Kiss Me, Kate was honored with a Tony Award in 1949, demonstrating the popularity of the “play-within-a-play”—or in this case the “play-within-a-musical”—format.
Hamlet (c. 1601), a tragedy by William Shakespeare. In this play, as Hamlet tries to determine whether or not his uncle has killed his father, he produces a play that he thinks will force his uncle into confessing to the crime. He thereby raises questions about the nature and purpose of theatrical productions.
process. And who would ever have thought it: that three dead, long-winded people talking about atomic physics would be such electrifying companions?” Likewise, in a review for the Guardian, David Hare writes, “Audiences flock to Copenhagen because they judge, rightly, that Michael Frayn has something interesting to tell them about nuclear physics.” But Copenhagen is hardly just a play about ideas; it is a play about how ideas themselves are also about people, and it is perhaps in this that its enduring appeal may be found.
If the “play-within-a-play” setup is designed to make a comment upon the process of writing and producing plays, then what is Frayn communicating about the creative process in Noises Off? Support your response with analysis of passages from the play.
Frayn has been described as a writer of farce. Using the Internet and the library, research the word farce. How would you define this word as it relates to Frayn's work? Support your response with analyses of passages from his work.
Frayn's The Sandboy raises a number of the same questions asked by philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein regarding reality and language. Based on your reading of the play, what kinds of answers—if any—does Frayn offer to these questions?
Frayn's The Tin Men is widely considered a fine example of satire. Read the novel and, in order to understand the complexities of writing effective satire, try to use Frayn's style to satirize an aspect from today's popular culture.
Bull, John. Stage Right: Crisis and Recovery in British Contemporary Mainstream Theatre. New York: St. Martin's, 1994.
Cave, Richard Allen. New British Drama in Performance on the London Stage, 1790–1985. Gerrards Cross,U.K.: Colin Smythe, 1987.
Glaap, Albert-Reiner. Studien zur Asthetik des Gegenswartstheaters. Heidelberg: Winter, 1985.
Innes, Christopher. Modern British Drama, 1890–1990. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge University Press, 1992.
Rusinko, Susan. British Drama, 1950 to the Present: A Critical History. Boston: G. K. Hall/Twayne, 1989.
Gottlieb, Vera. “Why This Farce?” New Theatre Quarterly (August 1991).
Turner, John Frayn. “Desperately Funny.” Plays and Players (December 1984).
Worth, Katherine. “Farce and Michael Frayn.” Modern Drama (March 16 1983).
"Frayn, Michael." Gale Contextual Encyclopedia of World Literature. . Encyclopedia.com. 19 Apr. 2019 <https://www.encyclopedia.com>.
|
0.999998 |
Why was the Federal government's assumption of state debt so significant?
The significance of this act was its importance in the Hamilton-Jefferson debate. Basically, Hamilton's idea was that of a large, strong, federal government. Jefferson and his supporters favored a weaker, de-centralized, and (in most cases) a state based government. Hamilton won this round by "federalizing" what had been Revolutionary war (and subsequent) debt.
The assumption of the states' debt meant that there would be one large centralized "national" debt, instead of 13 smaller ones. It was much easier for lenders, foreign as well as domestic, to monitor and deal with one federal debt, which had earlier been incurred by the states mainly to fight the Revolution, and to operate until the "United States" got going.
Yes, the states later incurred their own state debts, but for local matters, (usually) funded by "local" citizens. These debts were much smaller than the "national" debt that had been undertaken to fight the Revolution. By repaying the national debt promptly and in full, America established the credit it needed to fight future wars and to deal with other national emergencies.
There was one other thing. The federal responsibility to pay off the central debt was accompanied its control over most revenue sources, mainly tariffs and excise taxes (income taxes were permanently established in 1913, over a century later).
|
0.925599 |
"Break My Heart (You Really) / Heroine"
Sacred Heart is the debut studio album by the British pop-rock act Shakespear's Sister, released on 21 August 1989 by FFRR Records. The album was recorded after Siobhan Fahey decided to leave the girl group Bananarama. Initially intended as a solo act for Fahey, Shakespear's Sister became a partnership of Fahey and Marcella Detroit during the making of the album. The album spawned four singles, including "You're History", released in July 1989, which reached No. 7 on the UK singles chart and was the first release to present the act as a duo. The album peaked at No. 9 on the UK albums chart, and was certificated gold by the BPI.
Although predominantly produced by Feldman, famed producer Jimmy Iovine (who was working with Fahey's husband's group Eurythmics at that time on their 1989 album We Too Are One) co-produced the track "You're History". The UK vinyl LP and cassette versions of the album did not feature the track "You Made Me Come to This", and the international LP version excluded both this track and "Twist the Knife". The album's title track was used in the 1990 film Nuns on the Run, and featured on the film's official soundtrack. The album was scheduled to be re-released as a 3-disc Deluxe Edition in 2014 through Siobhan Fahey's own record label, SF Records, however as of June 2016, its release appears to have been cancelled.
A double A-side of "Break My Heart (You Really)" / "Heroine" was released in October 1988 as the album's lead single which, according to Fahey, was to "give a more rounded picture of what I'm about". In North American territories however, "Break My Heart (You Really)" was released as a standalone single, followed by "Heroine" in 1989. None of these releases charted in any territories. It was following this that Detroit officially became a member of the project and the second single, "You're History", was the first to feature Detroit in the music video. Released in July 1989, it became their first hit single, peaking at No. 7 on the UK Singles Chart. The single also achieved success internationally, reaching No. 12 in Ireland, and No. 20 in Australia. The third single, "Run Silent", peaked at No. 54 in the UK, and No. 47 in Australia. The fourth and final single from the album, "Dirty Mind", was completely re-recorded for its single release in February 1990, and peaked at No. 71 in the UK and No. 65 in Australia.
12. "Audio Commentary by Siobhan Fahey"
A video compilation, also entitled Sacred Heart, was released in 1989. It featured the four music videos that had been made so far ("Dirty Mind" had not yet been released).
^ "Review: Sacred Heart – Shakespear's Sister". Allmusic. Retrieved 28 July 2009.
^ a b c d "Official Charts > Shakespears Sister (singles)". The Official UK Charts Company. Archived from the original on 14 October 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
^ a b "Official Charts > Shakespears Sister (albums)". The Official UK Charts Company. Archived from the original on 14 October 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
^ a b "BPI Certified Awards > Shakespears Sister". British Phonographic Industry. Archived from the original on 14 October 2015. Retrieved 14 October 2015.
^ "Rish Charts > Shakespears Sister". irishcharts.de. Retrieved 16 December 2012.
^ a b "ARIA singles charts". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
^ "Australian Charts > Shakespears Sister – Sacred Heart". australian-charts.com. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
^ "GER Charts > Shakespear's Sister". charts.de. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
^ "Swedish Charts > Shakespears Sister – Sacred Heart". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
This page was last edited on 16 December 2018, at 17:09 (UTC).
|
0.999942 |
If you've been following developments related to the TransPacific Partnership, or #TPP, you probably saw the contradicting headlines on your social media.
For those that don't know, TPP is a trade agreement originally being negotiated between 12 countries with the US leading the very secretive process, now with 11 countries since, under Donald Trump, the new US administration has decided to withdraw.
Aggressively promoted by Hillary Clinton while she was US Secretary Of State, who called it 'the gold standard in trade deals', has also been called 'NAFTA on steroids' by many activists opposing the agreement.
Among other things, agreement has provisions opposing public ownership in general on 'principle' as barriers to the free market, demanding that publicly owned utilities like Canada Post and CBC exist solely for profit.
Negotiations between the remaining countries continued last week at the Asia Pacific (APEC) Summit in Danang Vietnam. After the conclusion of the APEC Summit on Friday, Nov. 10, representatives for all the remaining countries announced that they had reached an agreement on the 'core elements' of the deal, but Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau also announced that Canada is not signing the agreement itself in it's current form.
Major media outlets seem divided on how to interpret this turn of events, but seem to agree that strong, single focus narratives were the way to go.
The National Post headline for the article last updated Nov. 11, 2017, reads 'Canada's Decision To Decline TPP Agreement Shouldn't Be A Surprise, Trudeau Says', focuses mostly on the existing points of disagreement, while the Global News headline following the conclusion of the same event read 'Canada And 10 Other Countries Officially Announce Agreement On TPP.', centered on the agreement in principle to continue negotiations.
TPP is still being negotiated, it has not been stopped, it is actually closer to becoming a reality than it was before.
|
0.999999 |
Provide a summary of each article. Compare and contrast the risk perceptions presented in each article. Identify any environmental stressors that are related to the environmental risk. Conclude with a discussion of your own risk perception of the issue. Explain your stance and be sure to cite appropriate sources. This should not be strictly based on your opinion.
Climate change is certainly an environment concept and topic that carries with it strong feelings on both sides of the issue. There are many in the scientific community that feel that climate change is the single most important environmental threat to the earth today, and that if it is not dealt with in a positive manner, serious repercussions will certainly exist for future generations. There are others, however, that feel the current evidence related to climate change does not support such a serious reaction and that there are more important and potentially devastating environmental issues that should be dealt with by the global community. The purpose of this brief review is to illustrate that basis for both of these opinions, while highlighting the seriousness of climate change, no matter whether the risk to the world is high or low. The overarching issue is whether or not humans are causing climate change, as if they are not, then little we are doing today can really impact the future of climate control issues. If, however, humans are causing such harmful climate related issues, then now would be the time to reverse course.
|
0.9677 |
In just three years, the beloved queen achieved a great deal: Katharina von Württemberg, Grand Duchess of Russia (1788–1819), brought social institutions to the region. After her early death, she was deeply mourned across the state. Today, the Sepulchral Chapel on Württemberg Hill stands as a reminder of her.
Wilhelm was her cousin, and her second husband.
Katharina Pawlowna was the daughter of Russian Czar Paul I and Maria Feodorowna, daughter of Duke Friedrich Eugen von Württemberg. In 1816, in her second marriage, Katharina married her cousin, Crown Prince Wilhelm von Württemberg. She brought her two sons from her previous marriage to Duke Georg von Oldenburg, Alexander and Peter, with her. It was Wilhelm's second marriage, too. During their three-year marriage they produced two children, daughters Marie and Sophie.
WHY WAS KATHARINA SO BELOVED?
Katharina came to Württemberg in a time of great need, crop failures and famine plagued the state. The queen committed herself to her people. She became known for founding the "Zentraler Wohltätigkeitsverein", a universal charitable society. Katharina also founded the first Bank of Württemberg and established schools, children's homes, hospitals and soup kitchens, funding them in part from her own Russian fortune. The Katharinenstift and the Katharinenhospital, a foundation and a hospital in Stuttgart, are also part of her legacy.
Inscription on the sepulchral chapel.
As Grand Duchess of Russia, she belonged to the Russian Orthodox Church. Retaining her faith was an important condition of her marriage to a Protestant prince. Wives typically assumed their husband's faith. Katharina established her own chapel in Stuttgart and outfitted it in part with pieces she had brought back from Russia. The spatial design and furnishings followed the requirements for a Russian Orthodox mass. These requirements were also incorporated in the construction of the sepulchral chapel.
Double sarcophagus belonging to Katharina and Wilhelm I in the crypt.
THIRTY YEARS OLD: WHY DID SHE DIE SO YOUNG?
Royal obligations, social projects, the birth of two children, extensive correspondence. It is amazing what this woman achieved in Württemberg in just three years. It makes her death all the more tragic. In early 1819, Katharina caught a severe cold. Shortly afterwards, she lanced a small blister on her lip, which became infected. According to autopsy reports, it had resulted in blood poisoning and a subsequent stroke, which is what caused her death.
A portrait of Queen Katharina can be found above the entrance to the crypt. It was likely painted in 1818 by an unknown painter and it is said that Katharina gifted the painting to the Rotenberg congregation herself.
|
0.932098 |
Giovanni Legrenzi (baptized August 12, 1626 – May 27, 1690) was an Italian organist and composer of operas, sonatas, and sacred and secular vocal compositions during the Baroque music era. He was one of the most prominent composers in Venice in the late seventeenth century, and extremely influential in the development of late Baroque idioms across northern Italy. Along with Alessandro Stradella, Legrenzi worked with harmonic idioms so that his compositions emphasized the resolution of the dominant chord to the tonic chord, which became the key chordal movement from harmonic dissonance to consonance in the late Baroque era. Legrenzi achieved his theoretical prominence and influence as as vice-maestro and subsequently maestro at St. Marks Cathedral in Venice only after earlier refusing to let rejection dominate his life when he failed to gain musical posts in Vienna, Milan, Parma, Bologna, and Venice.
Giovanni Legrenzi was born in Clusone, near Bergamo, and probably received his early training in Clusone. He served as an organist to Santa Maria Maggiore (Bergamo) there from 1645 to 1656. In 1656, he took a position at Ferrara as the maestro di cappella at the Accademia dello Spirito Santo, where he remained until 1665. Between 1665 and 1681, his activities are poorly documented, but he may have taught at the Venetian Ospedale dei Mendicanti sometime during these years. He was rejected for positions in many cities, including Vienna, Milan, Parma, Bologna, and Venice. He also declined positions in Modena and Bergamo.
In 1681, he was hired at San Marco di Venezia (St. Mark's) in Venice as assistant maestro di cappella, and became full maestro di cappella in 1685. His students included Francesco Gasparini, Antonio Lotti, and Giovanni Varischino.
Legrenzi was active in most of the genres current in northern Italy in the late seventeenth century, including opera, sacred vocal music and several varieties of instrumental music.
His operas were well-received especially because of his developmental use of melodies and drama in the arias—a style that influenced Alessandro Scarlatti and Handel.
His sacred vocal music was strongly tonal and contained hints of fugues where several diverse melodic lines or voices would imitate a main theme. Legrenzi experimented with shifting his sacred vocal music into several different keys containing new melodic and rhythmic directions.
He wrote many instrumental works; the most noted among these are contained in the two volumes of 'La Cetra', Op. 10, which he composed in 1673. Eighteen of his sonatas are labeled 'church sonatas' and are orchestrated for stringed instruments. In these sonatas, one hears the elements of Venetian opera where virtuosity in the melodic lines of Legrenzi's instrumental sonatas becomes apparent. Additionally, his church sonatas suggest an organization that has an opening, development, and closing using the material from the opening section of the sonata. This organization will be later known as the sonata form.
Bonta, Stephen. Giovanni Legrenzi. Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy. (subscription access) Retrieved October 2, 2007.
|
0.961978 |
The rainbow fish belongs to a family of small, colorful, freshwater fish. They can be found in northern and eastern Australia, New Guinea and in the Southeast Asian islands. Many of these species have derived their generic name Melanotaenia from the Ancient Greek Melano meaning black and taenia meaning banded. The most exciting characteristic of rainbow fish is their coloring. The female gets attracted by a courtship stripe that appears on most of the male species at the time of courting and spawning. These bright stripes vary in color depending on the species. Some of the females have a finer stripe than the males. Rainbow fish has compressed body, forming an elongated diamond shape. Rainbow fishes generally measure less than 12 centimeters (4.7 inch) in length. Some of them measure less than 6 centimeters (2.4 inch), whereas one species, Melanotaenia vanheurni, measures up to 20 centimeters (7.9 inch). They are found in a wide range of freshwater habitats, including rivers, lakes, and swamps. They are known to spawn all year round and they lay a large number of eggs at the start of the local rainy season. The eggs hatch in 7 to 18 days. Rainbow fish are found to be omnivorous and feed on small crustaceans, insect larvae, and algae.
The rainbow fish were first described in 1843.At that time, they were referred to as sunfish. These rainbow fishes have been harbored in aquariums since the early 1900s. Moreover, they have become very popular among modern aquarium. "Rainbow fishes of Australia and Papua New Guinea" in 1982 by Gerald Allen and Norbert Cross, are the two famous publishing, which gave rainbow fish the reputation of their own.
Rainbow fish are also very popular aquarium fish with blue eyes (genus Pseudomugil). Rainbow fish are generally omnivores and eat all types of live, fresh and flake food. They also like to feed on white worms, blood worms and brine shrimps. Some pet store gives food which contains a carotene dye to enhance the fish's color. Rainbow fish are schooling fish and thus like to live in groups. Therefore, it is better to keep them in a group of 8 to 10. They need open swimming space and its better to keep them in a 20-gallon tank. The fish which are 6 cm to 12 cm can be placed in a (50 to 60) gallon tank while the fish ranging in size from (12 cm to 15 cm) can be placed in a 150 gallon tank. The rainbow fish should be kept in a quiet location with fine lighting because they easily get startled. There are varieties of rainbow fish, which can be chosen for the aquarium. One has to take care that there is at least one male or female of each kind. The males of the red rainbow fish posses a rich color when females are present. The banded rainbow fishes have several color variations. These omnivorous fish gets these colors from highly diversified diet.
Rainbow fish lay eggs throughout the year round in their native habitat. These fish can be easily bred and also their fry are not hard to rear. Eggs of these species are often airmailed to Europe and United States. And this makes the fish available beyond Australia and New Guinea. Rainbow fish readily breed, when there is water change in an aquarium. They also spawn regularly in a community tank.
|
0.999999 |
Ionic Article: What is Apache Cordova?
Ionic’s primary role in the application development space is to provide consistent, platform-specific user interface components, but how does one take their application and transform it into something that can be submitted to the various app stores? That is where Apache Cordova steps into the development flow. Let’s explore what Apache Cordova is and how it interacts with Ionic. So what is Apache Cordova?
Developers are often confused by the difference between Apache Cordova and PhoneGap. In order to clear up this confusion, we need to understand the origins of this project. In late 2008, several engineers from Nitobi, a web development company from Canada, attended an iPhone development camp at the Adobe offices in San Francisco. They explored the idea of using the native WebView as a shell to run their web applications in a native environment. The experiment worked. Over the next few months, they expanded their efforts and were able to leverage this solution to create a framework. They named the project PhoneGap since it allowed web developers the ability to bridge the gap between their web apps and the device’s native capabilities. The project continued to mature, and more plugins were created, enabling more functionality to be accessed on the phone. Other contributors joined the effort, expanding the number of mobile platforms it supported.
In 2011, Adobe bought Nitobi, and the PhoneGap framework was donated to the Apache Foundation. The project was eventually renamed Cordova (which is actually the street name of Nitobi’s office in Vancouver, Canada).
Since there is both Apache Cordova and Adobe PhoneGap, it is quite easy to confuse the projects. This naming issue can be a source of frustration when researching an issue during development and having to search using both Cordova and PhoneGap as keywords to find the solutions, or even reading the proper documentation, as the two projects are so intertwined.
A good way to understand the difference is to think about how Apple has its Safari browser, but it is based on the open source WebKit engine. The same is true here: Cordova is the open source version of the framework, while PhoneGap is the Adobe-branded version. In the end, there is little difference between the two efforts. There are some slight differences in the command-line interfaces, but the functionality is the same. The only thing you cannot do is mix the two projects in the same application. While not as dangerous as when the Ghostbusters crossed their streams, using both Cordova and PhoneGap in the same project will produce nothing but trouble.
The main difference between the projects is that Adobe has some paid services under the PhoneGap brand, most notably the PhoneGap Build service. This is a hosted service that enables you to have your application compiled into native binaries remotely, eliminating the need to install each mobile platform’s SDKs locally. The PhoneGap command line interface tool (CLI) has the ability to utilize this service, while the Cordova CLI does not.
Since the beginning of Ionic, Cordova has been an integral part of the project. While Cordova provides the solutions to use native mobile functionality and to create fully native applications, it doesn't include a UI SDK. With over 100 UI components, plus navigation and platform-specific styling, Ionic allows you to develop high performing, native-like apps.
So, leveraging Cordova permits us to take our web application and have it become a native application that we can then submit to the app stores. Now, Cordova is not the only solution for this. Ionic has recently been developing what you might call the next generation of Cordova, Capacitor. Scheduled to be released in 2109, that effort looks to improve upon the foundations of Cordova, but that is left for another article. Hopefully, you have an understanding of what Cordova is and how it plays within the Ionic development ecosystem.
|
0.999941 |
When do you need to build a podium?
A podium is defined as a platform that is raised above existing surroundings so that it gives prominence to the person or persons on it. While "podia" also refer to the objects behind which speakers stand to deliver lectures, the question of how to build a wooden podium here should only come from people who want to build a temporary stage that will create a necessary platform for speakers or other events that are one-off affairs. Maybe it is an election rally, an event to honor someone, or just a gathering of likeminded people. Such podiums are also needed for large musical shows and media events, but their construction would quite often involve more sturdy materials like steel or aluminum and would seem more semi-permanent in nature.
You would need to define the size of the podium by finding out the maximum number of people that will be on it at any given time, the actions they will be performing, and also the size of the audience expected. If seating arrangements are being made on the podium, you would need to have sufficient room for the chairs and spaces to move around them. Space for tables or other equipment like sound or lighting would also have to be made.
Mark out the podium area on the ground at the location decided for the podium. You would need to create a basic framework to support the stage and take all the weight of the people, furniture and equipment on it. You cannot go wrong if you use 4 X 4s of timber as posts to act as columns to support the structure. Normally podiums would not be more than 3 or 4 feet in height and you would probably need the 4x4s to be a length of about six to seven feet if they are to be embedded in the ground. Mark out a grid of 3 feet by 3 feet within the podium area and dig holes 2 to 3 feet deep which can take the 4×4 posts. Put the posts into the ground and fill them up properly till the posts hold firm. Concreting these bases can make the structure safer, though it is not strictly necessary. If the ground is firm enough, just creating the framework should be good enough and you need not embed the posts in the ground. The posts can then be as long as the proposed height. Connect all the posts in the shorter direction with planks of 6 inch by 1 inch so that the top of the planks and posts are at the same level at the top. Use similar planks in the longer to connect the posts and plank structure with planks laid flat. This will form the basic structure and now for the flooring of the podium.
Flooring of the podium can be done with plywood or other material. Just see that it is strong enough to take the anticipated traffic. Using readymade steel plates is quite common, as they are easy to rent out and can be easily laid down and removed. They would however require some sort of matting or carpet to deaden the noise that can be created by people walking over them. Some podiums may need to be given some protection from the sun, if events are being held in the daytime, then a separate structure to hold up the sun shade may be necessary.
If the height of the podium is increased, you may need to brace the vertical posts at intervals so that the structure has more strength and can take any horizontal forces. This can also help to take care of wind forces which can affect podiums because of the openness of the structure. Make sure that your podium has provision for fire extinguishers as the wooden nature of the podium makes it a fire hazard. Position sufficient sand buckets all around the podium before the start of the event. How to build a podium would have you making provision for electrical connection for the audio and other equipment and lighting where necessary. You need to make sure that all such wiring is done in suitable shielded cabling and with no open wires.
Provision has to be made for sufficient means of entry to the podium top in the form of temporary stairs and there must be a sufficient number of these both in the front and at the sides and back. Ensure that these have handrails which can help the elderly. During construction it must be kept in mind that the structure would have to be dismantled and connections made should be such that can be easily removed while at the same time give the necessary strength during the use of the podium.
|
0.99993 |
Video of EVERY 2018 15" MacBook Pro compared for Video Editing!
Whether you use Final Cut Pro, Premiere, or Resolve, video editing is most likely the most intensive use of your machine's graphics card, CPU, and RAM. This video gives a comparison between the machines when benchmarked and tested in various situations.
Max Yuryev is known for publishing videos where he tests the latest gear, whether it's cameras or Macs. The 2018 MacBook Pros were released recently, and there were several issues with regards to over-heating and the machines using less of the GPU and CPU to reduce the thermal build up inside the casing.
Apple fixed it by releasing a patch update, but it's quite strange to think the largest tech company in the world, with a trillion dollar market cap, didn't do sufficient testing. When it comes to pro gear, testing is one of the most important parts of the development, and they should be doing more than what's needed before releasing it to its massive user base. It's for professionals. It should just work, or that's what Apple used to say. There has been a backlash on most social networks, but it seems as if the patch they released with an update fixed the thermal issues.
Final Cut Pro renders quicker in most instances, but there is almost no difference in time when comparing the three different Macs Yuryev tested. It's an Apple-developed application and workflow, so it's understandable for them to optimize the application to run as smoothly as possible.
Adobe Premiere Pro is the laggard here, and there is no comparison when it comes to render times. It's a known fact that Adobe's video editing software takes longer, with all three the machines, which again, render at roughly the same speeds.
Resolve is almost rendering at the same speeds as Final Cut across the board, which is quite impressive.
I usually go for the top spec machine. But in this instance, I tend to agree with Yuryev on what machine is best for video editing, especially if you're doing so on Premiere Pro like I do. The 2.2 GHz clock speed with the i7 six-core processor, 32 GBs of RAM, and the AMD Radeon Pro 560X GPU will do nicely.
I always find this stuff humorous, are people really editing video on laptops?
What a weird thing to shame people for. You know it's not uncommon.
I'm not trying to shame people, but if you were editing any volume of video why would you not be on a dedicated workstation suited to the task.
Why is it shame? He’s prob speaking from experience. In the broadcast film world nobody is cutting on laptops. It’s not even an option given the ports that are required for a pro suite.
Youtubers sure, wedding guys ya, but editing has many tiers and he’s not wrong. Nor is it shaming.
Yeah post houses, broadcasters and production companies are using workstations. Couldn't imagine anybody getting work done without them!
Plenty of Preditors need to have a laptop to cut down, transcode and export packages ready for a final edit back at base. Certain reality TV shows needs this for a tight turn around, since the producers/camera ops on set already know what's going to make the cut.
In fact if I've been cutting on a MacBook Pro for a couple weeks/months, I'll find it hard to get back to a desktop. I've once put an iMac into Target Display mode so I could use my laptop to cut on a larger screen.
Yes they do. Have been doing this for a long time. Right now I am for months away from home and I could not bring my iMac.
And I just remember. I was doing a VFX compositing job for a tv movie on my laptop partly. Mainly because I was on the road.
cool thanks for the response. I've never really known a pro editor who likes to do the bulk of their editing on a laptop. Assemblies yes, but the actual get your hands dirty work the scenes to dealth (frame FKING) is done in the suite.
I've never liked cutting on laptops despite the convenience, i feel like my best work needs a comfortable setting from which to do the work.
What planet do you live on? It's now the norm. And it will become the norm even more as powerful tech shrinks in volume.
It’s the norm where? On youtube maybe. Also the norm is avid media composer, but youtubers don’t use it.
Traditional film and tv editing are all done on desktops. They’re almost all cut on Media Composer as well. Not only do desktops have better components needed to cut higher quality footage, but they have the ports essential for the monitors that go hand in hand with it.
So depending on your editing perspective laptops can be completely irrelevant as a post production workhorse.
I work in it, we don’t use laptops. But to add to that, most certainly don’t use FCPX.
Smaller doesn’t always mean better, especially in a pro environment.
Nobody doubts that a desktop is much more capable. But when you're on the road you cannot always bring your big machine.
And although I agree with you that most postproduction houses work on desktops (and AVID) I know a few editors that edit movies (for cinema) on their laptops because they start to edit in the hotelroom while the film is still being shot. So the director can make changes to the shooting schedule as long as it is possible and not too cost intensive.
I never got in FCPX because I hate the whole "library" thing (but I hate it with any app). I directed a commercials for a few years and on those it was rather standard to have a mobile editing workstation on set to see if everything fits. Editing was done on Avid or FCPX.
So I guess it depends what you do. And what you define as norm. And for youtubers are a new niche which established its own norms. And to them it might be relevant.
I agree with that, also with films being cut on laptops. I would categorize that as assembly though and it's more to do with showing the director the coverage or scenes are working so they can do pickups if need be.
The actual massive amounts of work are done back in a proper suite.
I've done both, on set rough assemblies for directors, but most of that gets completely blown away when we sit down to actually start CUTTING principle photography.
Agreed its' made it easier to do this and shouldn't be overlooked as a tool for that.
|
0.953058 |
Is there a correlation between rising secularism and improved quality of life?
Some propose that secularism will continue to rise as people achieve a higher level of security and happiness. In countries such as Japan and Sweden secularism enjoys a high level of existence. The quality of life in these developed countries is among the highest of the industrialized world. So if people feel secure in their daily lives are they less apt to harbor religious convictions? In countries where economic development remains healthy and constant should it be surprising that secularism also experiences growth? Could it be said that religion oftentimes is a crutch for the poor and ignorant of the underdeveloped world?
While a 'food bank' can help with the problem of 'food', being dependent upon this as the 'only' solution might be dysfunctional. Learning how to grow food, trade for it, raise animals when possible, etc, can put us back into our roots as creators.
Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day... but give him a fishing rod and he'll break it and use it for firewood.
...The real bugger is that religious inspired hope is still better than no hope at all.
Rj, in a contest between your theory and my reality, your theory loses.
During my years in Catholicism, which included twelve years in Catholic schools, I heard many times that life on earth is nothing and life in Heaven is everything.
In that kind of talk, where do you see any hope?
In a contest between your reality and my reality, your reality might win.
The fly in your ointment is that I bet that those who actually believe that in practice are few and far between. And I grew up surrounded by Catholics. In fact, most of my neighborhood friends were Catholics. I don't believe any of actually believed that.
U, with only a belief supporting your belief, the fly is in your ointment.
I would say that education level is coincident with secularism, and that the quality of life is usually higher when a majority of the people are well educated. There could be a decent study in that hypothesis. I would start by examining the education levels of certain countries, ranging from highest quality of life, to lowest. Then by conducting a survey in these countries, thereby ascertaining the levels of religiosity in these areas to see how it corresponds.
The well educated societies of Sweden and Japan, being predominantly secular, seem to indicate that education and secularism walk hand in hand, with religion falling behind. It is interesting that catholicism and protestantism are supposedly on the rise in Brazil and certain other South American countries. Brazil is economically much healthier of late and this tends to make one wonder if the premise holds true in all cases.
How many large corporations are setting up shop in these South American countries? Considering what happened to Argentina with the rise of crony capitalism, I think that a sudden rise in economic wealth doesn't necessarily correlate the rise of catholicism and protestantism. Sweden, Switzerland, and Japan are long established wealth centers, and also have a long history of secularism. It's best not to count the chickens in the incubator.
yes; this will answer your question too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbef07aQtB8&list=PLFB06B91A407F... excellent 2:19 long video.
In my experience, theism offers a fertile ground for atheist production. If the 'known' atheists left, I expect that the 'quiet ones' would fill the void very quickly, and the 'new ones' would be create a deep revolutionary movement.
Intuitively it makes sense...but you'd have to do a lot of investigation and sound statistical analysis to work it out. I would imagine you would need a pretty large team working round the clock for a pretty long time to say this with confidence assuming intellectual integrity and all. So who's going to give it a go?
That's what established records are for. The data has already been collected, so it just waits for some undergrad to write his/her thesis on it.
|
0.999993 |
How smoking affects the heart with information on cardiovascular diseases.
Cardiovascular disease is a term that is used to describe a number of different diseases that affect the heart and the circulatory system, in particular the heart, the arteries and the blood vessels. In general terms, cardiovascular diseases are caused by an insufficient blood flow and supply through the arteries to the heart, brain and other organs of the body.
The reduced blood supply is caused as the main arteries become clogged up and narrow due to the build up of fatty deposits in the walls of the arteries. This is a process that will develop over a long period of time, although it usually starts when people are in their teens and there are several factors that may speed up the process and therefore put some people at a higher risk of suffering from a cardiovascular disease.
Cardiovascular diseases include heart attack, atherosclerosis, stroke, angina, peripheral vascular disease, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure and aorta aneurysm.
What are the risk factors of cardiovascular disease?
All of these risks can be controlled or modified, in which case the risk of suffering from cardiovascular disease can be greatly reduced.
Smoking is the biggest risk factor out of all of the above and also contributes to the increase of some of the other factors.
Smoking accelerates the process of atherosclerosis, or the build up of fatty deposits and cholesterol in the arteries. Each time a person smokes a cigarette, the blood vessels become sticky from the chemicals in the tobacco smoke and this leads to fat collecting and sticking to the artery walls. Most of the other cardiovascular diseases and coronary heart diseases are caused by the progression of atherosclerosis.
Likewise, smoking also increases blood pressure and the heart rate, which means that the body will need more oxygen. The heart will have to work faster to obtain the necessary oxygen, which is in poor supply due to the effects of the carbon monoxide from the tobacco smoke and this will therefore lead to stress on the heart, which could cause angina or a sudden heart attack.
Not only this, but smoking decreases a person's tolerance to exercise, which would keep the heart strong, and it also increases the tendency for the blood to clot due to an increase in the levels of fibrinogen, a protein that can cause the blood to clot.
The heart is a really powerful and probably the most important muscle in the body. Blood from the heart and the lungs is pumped through the arteries to the capillaries and into the veins (blood vessels), which in turn are directed back to the heart and the lungs.
Oxygen is carried in the blood and is circulated around the whole of the body, nourishing the cells as it goes. A person needs a healthy supply of oxygen in order to stay healthy. Therefore if blood circulation is restricted or reduced, so is the amount of oxygen travelling around the body, which can result in any one of a number of cardiovascular diseases.
Atherosclerosis is the progressive thickening and hardening of the arteries through which the blood flows. Over time, fatty deposits, called plaques and cholesterol, build up in the arteries making them narrower and therefore restrict the flow of the blood to the brain, heart and the rest of the body.
Atherosclerosis is the underlying cause of heart attacks, strokes, heart diseases and most other cardiovascular diseases.
Poisons and toxins in the tobacco smoke that enter the blood greatly contribute to and accelerate the build up of the plaque and smoking also raises the blood cholesterol levels.
When the process of atherosclerosis is so severe that it causes a blockage in the main artery that leads to the heart, a heart attack can occur. This is because blood and oxygen cannot pass through, a clot may form and the heart subsequently dies as a result. The risk of a heart attack is also increased from other effects of smoking as smoking robs the body of oxygen. As carbon monoxide enters the body when a person smokes a cigarette it attaches itself more easily to the blood cells than oxygen does thus depleting the oxygen supply even more.
Angina is caused when the blood supply to the heart is interrupted. This is usually caused by physical exercise but can also be caused by smoking. The result is a tightness and pain of the chest. Angina does not cause death as a heart attack may.
Cigarette smoking puts people at a higher risk of suffering a stroke. A stroke occurs when there is a lack of blood and oxygen reaching the brain or if an artery ruptures and blood escapes into the brain.
Lack of oxygen to the brain is caused by atherosclerosis in the main artery that leads to the brain, which restricts the blood flow and therefore the amount of oxygen that is carried with it. As the blood flow is restricted due to the fatty deposit build up, which narrows the arteries, a blood clot may form and a stroke will result as the tissues around the brain are starved of oxygen.
A stroke may also be caused by high blood pressure, which is in turn increased by smoking. The nicotine in the tobacco smoke causes the blood pressure to rise and this can result in heart failure as well.
This is the narrowing of the arteries that lead to the hands and feet due to the process of atherosclerosis. The result is a reduced blood supply and poor blood circulation to these areas, which may cause pain whilst walking and at worst may lead to amputation. 90% of sufferers of this disease are smokers.
Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in the US, Australia and in the UK.
Strokes are the third leading cause of death.
Nearly 40% of people who die from smoking, die from some form of cardiovascular disease.
Smoking increases the risk of a heart attack by up to six times.
Women over 35 who use the contraceptive pill and smoke are at a high risk of suffering from heart disease.
Smoking increases the risk of a stroke by a third.
Heavy smokers are at a much higher risk of suffering from all the above diseases.
The development of atherosclerosis is increased by 50% in smokers.
Heart disease from smoking is increased in people under the age of 45.
Peripheral vascular disease risk is increased by 16 times in smokers.
The risk of cardiovascular disease increases with exposure to tobacco smoke.
The effects and benefits of giving up smoking on the cardiovascular system are immediate and greatly reduce the risk of suffering any one of these diseases.
If a smoker quits smoking, after 15 years he has the same risk of suffering from heart disease as a non-smoker.
Once a smoker stops smoking atherosclerosis is slowed down, the blood is less likely to clot and oxygen and blood can pass through the arteries more freely and more easily, which relieves stress on the heart.
Cholesterol levels are also reduced, which will slow the build up of cholesterol in the arteries and there will be much less carbon monoxide in the body, which means a greater supply of oxygen.
Blood pressure decreases and a person will find it much easier and more pleasurable to exercise, which will keep the heart as well as the rest of the body healthy.
|
0.981281 |
The following lists events that happened during 2015 in the Republic of Singapore.
3 January – The Singaporean car carrier Hoegh Osaka runs aground on Bramble Bank of the Isle of Wight, in the entrance to Southampton Water.
14 January – First SMRT train service disruption east-bound train travelling from Joo Koon to Dover.
Singapore's first and former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, notable for his contributions as an "Architect of Modern Singapore", passes on at age of 91 at 3:18 am in Singapore General Hospital due to complications of pneumonia.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (who was also the son of the late Lee) declared a seven-day period of national mourning and the funeral will be held on March 29. The state flags on all government buildings would be flown at half-mast for the mourning period, while a majority of television programmings were pre-empted to air a selected series of programs in tribute of Lee.
The funeral procession of Lee from the Istana to Parliament House to lay in state. Later on the same day, the house was opened to Singapore who queued to pay their last respects to Lee.
The funeral procession of Lee from the Parliament House to National University of Singapore (NUS) University Cultural Centre.
Lee's body was cremated and interred at Mandai Crematorium and Columbarium.
The Liquor Control (Supply and Consumption) Act, which bans drinking in public on night times, was passed by parliament.
xinmsn ceased operation and its services was transferred to MSN Singapore and Toggle.
1 May – Fast food chain Wendy's closes its last outlet in National University of Singapore.
5 May – Jurong East was chosen as the Singapore terminus of the Kuala Lumpur–Singapore High Speed Rail.
15 May – Singapore Botanical Gardens gets ICOMOS nod to be the first UNESCO World Heritage Site.
23 May – LionsXII wins the Malaysian FA Cup for the first time after beating Kelantan, 3-1 in the final at the National Stadium, Bukit Jalil.
5–16 June – 2015 Southeast Asian Games was held in Singapore.
5 June – 2015 Sabah earthquake: At least nine people, mostly from Tanjong Katong Primary School (TKPS) were killed when an earthquake measuring 6.0 on Richter scale struck Mount Kinabalu and Ranau in the state of Sabah, Malaysia. A National mourning happened for the victims on 8 June, and half-mast were flown. As of 10 June, 11 victims were reported after two more were found on Kinabalu.
4 July – The 156-year-old Singapore Botanic Gardens became the first site to receive the status of World Heritage Site by UNESCO.
7 July – One of the worst MRT disruptions since 2011 as North South and East West lines were disrupted and temporarily close down due to a power fault.
9 August – Singapore celebrates its Golden Jubilee at Padang.
It was the first National Day Parade without Lee Kuan Yew, who had attended every parade since independence prior to his passing.
Member of Parliament Tin Pei Ling was absent due to a maternal leave, after giving birth to her first child, Ng Kee Hau, on 5 August.
25 August – The 12th Parliament was dissolved.
It was the first general election (post-independence) in which every one of over two-and-a-half million Singaporeans cast their votes as none of the constituencies was won walkover, after 1963.
The ruling People's Action Party (PAP), led by Lee Hsien Loong, retains its majority in the elections with 83 out of 89 seats, with an overall vote share of 69.86%.
Main opposition Workers' Party (WP) won the remaining six parliamentary seats from the other two constituencies (Aljunied GRC and Hougang SMC). A third ward, Punggol East SMC, was returned to the PAP-fold.
24 September – The haze in Singapore reached to a hazardous range of 313; Ministry of Education prompted to close down some schools as a health precaution due to the haze.
21 October – City Harvest Church Criminal Breach of Trust Case: The six convicted City Harvest Church pastors involved over its largest charity fund misuse (S$50 million) back in 2010 and its arrest on 2012, were all pleaded guilty over breach of trust and Falsification of Accounts; all six convicted were given jail sentences, with Kong Hee given the heaviest sentence.
22 October – A Hepatitis C outbreak occurs where 22 patients (eight deaths inclusive) from Singapore General Hospital were infected starting with one case of infection from the National Organ Transplant Unit (NOTU) dated back April 27.
25 October – The second phase of the Downtown Line began its testing phase.
The second season of the critically-acclaimed television drama The Dream Makers, which would went on to win a record-number accolades in Singapore, premieres on MediaCorp Channel 8.
A mass food poisoning case occurred where about 150 people were infected with Group B streptococcal disease after consuming freshwater fish prepared in raw.
8 December – National broadcaster MediaCorp began its transition phase of moving their premises from Caldecott Hill to [email protected], at the same time unveiling a new logo.
27 December – The second phase of the Downtown Line (which spans from Bukit Panjang to Rochor) is now open to public.
23 March – Lee Kuan Yew – Former Singapore, and Pioneer Prime Minister (b. 1923).
^ "Crew rescued from listing Solent car transporter". BBC News. 3 January 2015. Retrieved 4 January 2015.
^ "What You Can or Cannot do under the new Alcohol Law". Straits Times. 1 April 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
^ "City Harvest trial: All 6 accused, including founder Kong Hee, found guilty of all charges". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 21 October 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
^ "Report on SGH hep C outbreak: How the incident was escalated". Straits Times. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
^ "Man who fell ill eating raw fish out of coma". Straits Times. 4 December 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
^ "Singapore's founding father Lee Kuan Yew dies at 91". BBC News. London. 23 March 2015. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
This page is based on the Wikipedia article 2015 in Singapore; it is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License (CC-BY-SA). You may redistribute it, verbatim or modified, providing that you comply with the terms of the CC-BY-SA.
|
0.999787 |
In the United States Mother's Day is traditionally celebrated on the second Sunday in May, so this year that means May 13th. Mother's Day was founded by a woman named Anna Jarvis, who held a memorial for her deceased Mother at a church in West Virginia in 1905. Anna's Mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, had been a peace activist who cared for wounded soldiers on both sides of the American Civil War. Anna Jarvis wanted to honor her mother and all mothers in America and so she began to advocate for Mother's Day as a recognized holiday. At first, Congress rejected the proposal to make Mother's Day an official holiday, but then several states, beginning with Jarvis' home state of West Virginia, began to adopt Mother's Day as a holiday. In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating Mother's Day as a national holiday to honor America's mothers. Mother's Day is also celebrated elsewhere in the world. Here are how some countries observe Mother's Day.
Mother's Day in Thailand is celebrated on August 12th, on the day of Queen Sirkit's birthday, a former queen of Thailand who is considered the "mother of the country". In the days before the holiday, Thai people celebrate by displaying portraits and shrines of Queen Sirkit, as well as putting on fireworks shows and candle lighting ceremonies. In addition to comemorating the birthday of the Queen, Thai mother's are celebrated on this day as well. Children often give their mother's gifts such as white jasmine flowers, which represent maternal love. Children may also give alms to monks in honor of their mothers.
In Australia, Mother's Day is celebrated on the same day as in the U.S. The traditional flower of the Australian Mother's Day is the Chrysanthemum, which is in full bloom during the season of Autumn when Australian Mother's Day occurs. On this day, Chrysanthemums, as well as carnations, are given to mothers. Many Australians wear colored carnations if their mothers are still living and white carnations if they are deceased.
Polish Mother's Day, also known as "Dzień Matki", is celebrated on May 26th. The holiday gained popularity after WWII, and is now an official holiday of Poland. Because it is an official holiday, many businesses are closed and families have celebrations at home. On Mother's Day, schools often host special events where children give their mothers gifts such as "laurki", or papers decorated with flowers and written messages. At home, family members may gather and have a party, complete with more gift giving and cake.
India's Mother's Day is celebrated on the same day as in the U.S. On Mother's Day , Indian children give their Mother's cards and often cook a meal for them. A similar holiday is celebrated by followers of the Hindu religion in October. This festival, called "Durga Puja", honors the goddess Durga, or the "Divine Mother" of India. Durga Purja lasts 10 days, during which people fast, then feast, pray, sing, dance, and perform cultural dramas.
|
0.999282 |
The text of the bill below is as of Nov 14, 2013 (Introduced).
To amend title 18, United States Code, to provide exceptions from the firearm prohibitions otherwise applicable in relation to marijuana if its possession is lawful under State law.
This Act may be cited as the Protecting Individual Liberties and States' Rights Act .
any offense pertaining to marijuana that occurs in a State if the conduct constituting the offense is lawful under the law of the State.
Section 922(d) of such title is amended by adding at the end the following: Paragraph (3) of the 1st sentence of this subsection shall not apply with respect to a sale or other disposition to a person who is in a State if the controlled substance involved is marijuana, the possession of marijuana is lawful under the law of the State, and the person is a resident of the State. .
Section 922(g) of such title is amended by adding at the end the following: Paragraph (3) of the preceding sentence shall not apply with respect to conduct of a person in a State if the controlled substance involved is marijuana, the possession of marijuana is lawful under the law of the State, and the person is a resident of the State. .
The term marijuana has the meaning given the term marihuana in section 102(16) of the Controlled Substances Act.
|
0.999912 |
;;In a previous post I deleted, I was trying to find a good way to ensure the minimal parsimonious Voice-Leading (VL) between a sequence of chords.
;;In this post I will try to explain my second attempt.
;;; Please note the use of the replace-map function ensuring that no movement will be greater than a tritone away. This means that a movement like "C to G" (7 semitones) will be convertet in a G to C (5 semitones). This ensure a modulo 12 (octave constraint) reduction of all the material and also a constraint in terms of the size of the movements that will not exceed 6 semitones.
Hope it help some VL efforts.
Then in the window choose "No Syntax Highlighting"
Thanks for sharing these codes. So I'm trying to understand if the following approach could work - it seems to work for your example (but not for every progression).
can generate one of two options. The second one is obviously better since it uses a common tone. Even with ambitus-chord I'm not able to make it work consistently.
If you have any thoughts I'd be happy to hear them.
My question is why does it produce two variants and how can one make sure it always chooses the shortest path?
To me it seems like the second option is the correct one since the total half steps between all the voices is 6 (b-c, g-f, c-a) and in the first the total half steps between the voices is 8.
|
0.889671 |
Practice the word 'I' by saying, reading and writing it. 1. Tap the add button. 2. Tap the mic and read the word. 3. Tap the T and find the letter on the keyboard to spell the word. 4. Tap the pencil to find the word and circle it. 5. Tap the pencil and write the word on the line. 6. Tap the pencil and write the word in 3 different colours. 7. Tap the tick when you have finished.
|
0.995507 |
Are you arriving in Lyon or its region?
Lyon is on the UNESCO world heritage list and is a major European city, with indisputable assets. Located in South East France, two hours from Paris by TGV, the capital city of the Rhône-Alpes region has several geographical features.
Indeed, Lyon is halfway between the Mediterranean Sea and the Alpes, allowing aficionados to practice their skiing and other mountain sports. From a local point of view, the city of Lyon is overshadowed by two hills, including Fourvière, which overlooks a big part of Lyon, with its Basilica crowned by a monumental golden Virgin Mary.
The city also has two rivers (the Rhône and its tributary, the Saône), which meet south of Lyon.
The Rhône-Alpes region numbers over 7.5 million inhabitants (i.e. more than 10 % of the French population). It is one of the most industrialised regions in France and it is home to fifty world leading companies in various economic areas.
On September 4, 2016, Lyon was nominated in the "World Travel Awards" in the "Europe’s Leading City Break Destination" category.
From an academic point of view, Lyon ranks second in University cities, thanks to its grandes écoles such as the EM Lyon Business School, Ecole Centrale de Lyon or Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon.
Lyon has many assets, particularly its world-renowned food.
|
0.998901 |
While players have rights, they also have responsibilities to themselves, their teammates, competitors, coaches/officials, parents, and spectators. In short, they must strive to 'Honor the game' through superior sportsmanship and personal integrity.
One: A young athlete 'Honors the Game' of lacrosse. He/she values the rich tradition of his/her sport and works to honor the spirit as well as the letter of its rules.
Two: A young athlete honors his/herself. This is achieved by continuously working to improve themselves and trying their hardest regardless of the outcome of the game/season.
Three: A young athlete honors their teammates. This is achieved by being supportive of one's teammates regardless of physical ability, game performance, or game outcome. Positive comments or "put-ups" are encouraged while "put-downs" are not tolerated.
Four: A young athlete honors their competitors and recognizes that a worthy opponent will push him/her and his/her team to do their best.
Five: A young athlete honors their coaches. He/she understands the important role that coaches play and strives to show them respect. This includes respecting their instructions and huddling and listening quietly when a meeting is called.
Six: A young athlete honors referees/officials. He/she understands the important role that officials play and strives to show them respect even when he/she disagrees with their decisions. This is a Zero Tolerance Policy issue and is an important part of honoring the game.
Seven: A young athlete honors his/her parents and family. Playing lacrosse is a privilege made possible by the support of one's parents and family. Show appreciation for the time, financial, and emotional commitments your family makes. These include: driving to practices and games, attending/cheering at practices and games, paying for equipment, and supporting you in your efforts to continually improve yourself.
Eight: A young athlete honors practice as a time to improve both themselves and their teammates. While practices should be fun, mischievous behavior or "fooling around" is disruptive and disrespectful to your coaches and teammates.
Nine: A young athlete learns to win graciously. This is an important component of honoring one's competitors.
Ten: A young athlete learns to lose with dignity. While winning is generally more fun than losing, it is important to remember that winning is a by-product of a number of other goals. We play lacrosse to have fun and improve ourselves physically, mentally, and conscientiously. Sometimes the greatest lessons are learned in losing efforts. Regardless of outcome, a young athlete tries his/her hardest, improves his/her mastery of the game, and plays according to the spirit as well as the letter of its rules.
|
0.999943 |
Give a gift with sentiment with a word that celebrates the beautiful things in life! This "COMPASSION" solid 925 sterling silver floating charm/pendant has a modern & sleek hidden hinge clasp that allows you to take it on and off any bangle or necklace. Attach and layer it onto your own jewelry or purchase a bangle or necklace to go with it. Charm pendant measures 16mm round & weighs 4 grams.
|
0.995692 |
Create point-of-purchase materials aligned with the brand’s in-store activation strategy to inform consumers of Maytag’s line of new appliances.
BTI designed branded point-of-purchase materials to place on appliances to improve the consumer shopping experience. Big and bold typography was used consistently to reinforce Maytag’s strong, practical, and dependable identity. Badges such as “Fingerprint Resistant Stainless Steel” and “10 Year Limited Parts Warranty” were used to distinguish themselves from competitors and large decals were used to emphasize specific product features and benefits.
Eye-catching POP engaged consumers to interact with the appliances pre-purchase and assisted the retail sales associates in completing the transaction. As a result, sales have exceeded expectations for the new launch.
|
0.952485 |
The spot price for a barrel of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil rose from $11 at the end of 1998 to $140 in June 2008. It then fell to $42 in January 2009 as the Global Financial Crisis intensified. It recovered to $113 by April 2011, fell again to $33 in February 2016, rose to over $80 in May 2018, and fell below $50 by the end of 2018. How do oil prices affect the U.S. economy? Have these effects changed since U.S. oil production has soared after the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) (see Figure).
Many argue that negative oil shocks should reduce output in oil-importing countries such as the U.S. or Japan. On the supply side, oil is a factor of production, and an exogenous decrease in oil supply will decrease productivity. Higher energy costs may also decrease capital formation and long run supply. On the demand side, the price elasticity of demand for oil is low and price increases will not cause spending on oil to fall much. Higher oil prices act as a tax on consumers and firms. As oil prices increase, they will reduce spending on other goods and services. In the energy sector, firms producing oil should benefit from higher prices.
The IMF (2014), using its G20 economic model, reported that oil price increases after the GFC would disrupt the macroeconomies of oil-importing countries. It predicted that a 20 percent increase in oil prices would raise inflation in advanced economies by between 0.5 and 0.8 percentage points, lower GDP by between 0.4 and 1.9 percent, and decrease aggregate equity prices by between 3 and 8 percent.
This paper examines how oil prices affect equity prices. One difficulty when investigating this question is that not only can oil prices affect the economy but weakness in the global economy can depress oil prices. In economic jargon, oil prices are endogenous. This paper uses three different strategies to decompose oil price changes into those driven by global demand factors and those driven by oil supply factors.
Using all three approaches, the results indicate that oil price increases driven by demand and supply factors raised returns on energy sector stocks such as oil and gas production and distribution both before and after the GFC and lowered returns on consumer stocks such as hotels, airlines, restaurants, bars, and retail stores; however, consumer stocks appeared to be harmed less by higher oil prices after the GFC.
Before the GFC many other stocks and the overall stock market were harmed by higher oil prices. After the crisis, however, very few stocks were harmed and aggregate stocks even benefited from higher oil prices. Supply-driven oil price increases in particular lowered U.S. stock returns before the crisis in sectors including industrial machinery, industrial engineering, chemicals, and marine transport but raised them in these sectors after the crisis. Overall, these findings contradict the predictions of the IMF (2014) that higher oil prices will harm the U.S. macroeconomy and lower U.S. stock prices after the GFC.
A finding by Melek (2018) could explain why higher oil prices are good for the industrial machinery sector after the crisis but not before. She reported that increased investment by oil producing firms triggered more investment by non-oil producing firms after the Shale Revolution in America but not before.
Black (1987, pp. 113) observed that "The sector-by-sector behavior of stocks is useful in predicting sector-by-sector changes in output, profits, or investment. When stocks in a given sector go up, more often than not that sector will show a rise in sales, earnings, and outlays for plant and equipment." Future research should investigate how oil price changes affected sectoral output, profits, and investment before and after the Global Financial Crisis. It should also investigate whether consumers' marginal propensity to spend windfall gains from lower oil prices has decreased after the crisis. Finally, it should investigate the mechanisms causing increased investment by oil producing companies to trigger investment by non-oil producing companies after the shale boom (see Melek, 2018).
Black, F. 1987. Business Cycles and Equilibrium. Basil Blackwell, New York.
IMF. 2014. World Economic Outlook. Legacies, Clouds, Uncertainties. International Monetary Fund, Washington.
Melek, N.C., 2018. The response of U.S. investment to oil price shocks: Does the shale boom matter? Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City forthcoming.
|
0.99892 |
I prefer to skip it all together and my best resource for doing so is to arm myself with a stockpile of herbal remedies and essential oils.
Using herbs to treat cold and flu at home comes down to two basic strategies: 1) prevention and 2) treatment of early symptoms.
When things progress past a certain point - really high fever for more than a few days, severe head and neck pain, coughing and congestion that impairs breathing, I HIGHLY recommend seeking care from a trained health professional. Herbs are good, not dying is better.
Essential oils are an excellent way to assist yourself and your family in staying well.
Using a diffuser to disperse antibacterial and anti-viral essential oils into the air can reduce the population of sickness-causing germs that are floating around your home or office, just waiting for your moment of weakness before they can infiltrate your nose and mouth and sneak past your immune system causing sneezing, congestion, body aches and all the rest of those sucky cold and flu symptoms.
The best oils for diffusing during cold and flu season are the eucalyptus species, the fir species, the pine species, and the spruce species. All of these oils are overall beneficial for the respiratory system and can help prevent and treat uncomplicated colds and flus.
Herbs, especially the aromatic herbs, are so powerful in part because of their essential oil content.
When you take in a whole herb, or a tea of a whole herb, you’re getting the essential oils in a dose that’s compatible with your cells instead of damaging to them. In addition you’re getting all of the other substances present in the plant that have health promoting properties, including vital nutrients that support immunity and well-being.
Some of my favorite herbs to help strengthen your immune system and prevent illness are Tulsi, Peppermint, Ginger, and Cinnamon. All of these can be used to make single herb teas or can be combined and sipped throughout the day. Ginger and cinnamon can easily be added to many foods you might be preparing.
To make an infusion of Tulsi or Peppermint, steep 1 teaspoon of dried herb per cup hot water for several minutes. Organic India makes several Tulsi tea blends available in tea bag form as well.
If using fresh ginger, use 1 teaspoon chopped or grated ginger root per cup of water and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. For dried ginger and cinnamon, use ¼ teaspoon of powdered herb per cup of water and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
All of these herbs can be used both to strengthen your respiratory and immune systems and to treat early signs and symptoms if you do come down with something.
Of course if you’d like a more personalized herbal protocol, I am always available for herbal consultations and acupuncture treatments to keep you feeling your best, whatever the season.
|
0.999975 |
Here's a little bit about the author of this blog in her own words: "Dr. Nancy Kay wanted to become a veterinarian for just about as long as she can remember. Her veterinary degree is from Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine, and she completed her residency training in small animal internal medicine at the University of California-Davis Veterinary School. Dr. Kay is a board certified specialist in the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine and published in several professional journals and textbooks. She lectures professionally to regional and national audiences, and one of her favorite lecture topics is communication between veterinarians and their clients. Since the release of her book, Speaking for Spot: Be the Advocate Your Dog Needs to Live a Happy, Healthy, Longer Life, Dr. Kay has lectured extensively and written numerous magazine articles on the topic of medical advocacy. She was a featured guest on the popular National Public Radio show, Fresh Air with Terry Gross. Dr. Kay's newest book is called, Your Dog's Health: A Dozen Reasonable Things to Expect From Your Vet. Her award winning blog, 'Spot Speaks' is posted weekly. Dr. Kay is a staff internist at Upstate Veterinary Specialists, with locations in Greenville, South Carolina and Asheville, North Carolina. Dr. Kay was selected by the American Animal Hospital Association to receive the 2009 Hill's Animal Welfare and Humane Ethics Award. This award is given annually to a veterinarian or nonveterinarian who has advanced animal welfare through extraordinary service or by furthering humane principles, education, and understanding. Dr. Kay was selected as the 2011 Leo K. Bustad Companion Animal Veterinarian of the Year, an award presented every year by the American Veterinary Medical Association to a veterinarian whose work exemplifies and promotes the human animal bond. Dr. Kay has received several awards from the Dog Writer's Association of America. Dr. Kay's personal life revolves around her husband (also a veterinarian), her three children (none of whom aspire to be veterinarians) and their menagerie of four-legged family members. When she's not writing, she spends her spare moments in the garden or riding atop her favorite horse. Dr. Kay and her husband reside in Hendersonville, North Carolina."
|
0.999014 |
In the 1920's Germany was a centre for modern art and forward thinking architecture. Art styles and schools such as cubism and Dada developed in Germany, and schools of excellent architecture such as the Bauhaus school developed in this liberal and free thinking period. However this all changed in1933 due to the rise to power of the Nazis. This essay will examine the effect that the Nazi regime had upon the styles of art and architecture in Germany during their rule.
The Nazis believed that art and architecture would be an important factor in the large propaganda operation they planned to operate. Once Nazis came to power they took control of society and began to spread their influence to many different art forms. These included theatre, architecture, fine art, sculpture and photography.
Soon after the Nazis came to power they began to exert their influence over art forcing their preferred styles to be adopted. The preferred styles chosen by the Nazis were based on Hitler's taste. Hitler saw himself as an art connoisseur and an architecture expert. This was due to his background and everlasting wish to become a professional architect.
This exertion of influence by the Nazis and the mass book burning ordered by propaganda minister Josef Goebbels in 1933 served as a warning to many artists that their work would not be welcome in the "new" Germany. This led to a mass exodus of artistic talent from Germany to many other countries such as France and the USA. In was in this way that Germany was culturally purged of all but a few talented artists who specialised in the styles of art which were preferred by the Nazis left.
After the book burning the Nazis next step toward changing Germanys art was to "cleanse" all of her art galleries of any art which was not to the Nazis liking. The styles of art disliked by the Nazis were modern art because they believed that they could not be liked by the masses because they had no clear message. The Nazis also believed that modern art was "foreign". Art which was disliked by the Nazis, was referred to as degenerate and decadent.
|
0.932664 |
The Government of India Act 1919 (9 & 10 Geo. 5 c. 101) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was passed to expand participation of Indians in the government of India. The Act embodied the reforms recommended in the report of the Secretary of State for India, Edwin Montagu, and the Viceroy, Lord Chemlsford. The Act covered ten years, from 1919 to 1929. This Act represented the end of benevolent despotism and began genesis of responsible government in India. It was set to be reviewed by the Simon Commission in 10 years.
"The Acts of 1773 and 1784 were designed to establish a regular system of administration and justice under the Honourable East India Company. The Act of 1833 opened the door for Indians to public office and employment. The Act of 1858 transferred the administration from the Company to the Crown and laid the foundations of public life which exist in India to-day. The Act of 1861 sowed the seed of representative institutions, and the seed was quickened into life by the Act of 1909. The Act which has now become law entrusts the elected representative of the people with a definite share in the Government and points the way to full responsible Government hereafter".
The Act provided a dual form of government (a "diarchy") for the major provinces. In each such province, control of some areas of government, the "transferred list", were given to a Government of ministers answerable to the Provincial Council. The 'transferred list' included agriculture, supervision of local government, health, and education. The Provincial Councils were enlarged.
At the same time, all other areas of government (the 'reserved list') remained under the control of the Viceroy. The 'reserved list' included defence (the military), foreign affairs, and communications.
The Imperial Legislative Council was enlarged and reformed. It became a bicameral legislature for all India. The lower house was the Legislative Assembly of 145 members, of which 104 were elected and 41 were nominated, with a tenure of three years. The upper house was the Rajya Sabha ("Council of States"), consisting of 34 elected and 26 nominated members, with a tenure of five years.
This Act had a separate Preamble which declared that the objective of the British Government was the gradual introduction of responsible government in India.
Diarchy was introduced at the Provincial Level. Diarchy means a dual set of governments; one is accountable, the other is not accountable. Subjects of provincial government were divided into two groups. One group was reserved, and the other group was transferred. The reserved subjects were controlled by the British Governor of the province; the transferred subjects were given to the Indian ministers of the province.
The Government of India Act of 1919, made a provision for classification of the central and provincial subjects. The Act kept the Income Tax as source of revenue to the Central Government. However, for Bengal and Bombay, to meet their objections, a provision to assign them 25% of the income tax was made.
No bill of the legislature could be deemed to have been passed unless assented to by the governor general. The latter could however enact a bill without the assent of the legislature.
This act also made a provision that a statutory commission would be set up at the end of 10 years after the act was passed which shall inquire into the working system of the government. The Simon commission of 1927 was an outcome of this provision.
The communal representation was extended and Sikhs, Europeans and Anglo Indians were included. The Franchise (Right of voting) was granted to the limited number of only those who paid certain minimum "Tax" to the government.
The seats were distributed among the provinces not upon the basis of the population but upon the basis of their importance in the eyes of the government, on the basis of communities, and property was one of the main basis to determine a franchisee. Those people who had a property, taxable income & paid land revenue of Rs. 3000 were entitled to vote.
The financial powers of the central legislature were also very much limited. The budget was to be divided into two categories, votable and non-votable. The votable items covered only one third of the total expenditure. Even in this sphere the Governor-General was empowered to restore any grant refused or reduced by the legislature, if in his opinion the demand was essential for the discharge of his responsibilities. Thus the Government of India Act provided for partial transfer of power to the electorate through the system of diarchy. It also prepared the ground for Indian federalism, as it identified the provinces as units of fiscal and general administration.
Curtis, Lionel (1920). Papers Relating to the Application of the Principle of Dyarchy to the Government of India. Oxford: The Clarendon Press. lxi, 606 pp.:folded map, 23 cm. Bib ID 2514830.
"India: World War I and its aftermath". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. United Kingdom: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-11.
|
0.999155 |
Agile Central: WSAPI - Why should we generate a Read Only API Key?
When creating or modifying an API Key, you have two options: Read-Only vs. Full-Access key.
What is the difference and what is the purpose of these two types of keys?
In order to appreciate the two types of keys, you need to consider their purpose. The purpose of an API Key is to serve as alternative to the credentials of a certain username. In addition the key will not expire.
- Your key is hijacked or stolen.
- The client software has code problems resulting in wrong updates within Agile Central.
If your key has Full-Access then such situations may result in harmful updates to Agile Central on behalf of your username.
Therefore, a more secure practice is for you to generate a Read-Only key and share that key with the client software. A Read-Only key is only able to extract information from Agile Central, but not make any updates. In terms of WSAPI: It can only use the Read endpoints (via the http/s GET method) , but has no access to the Create/Copy/Delete/Update endpoints.
A natural question will be: So, what should we do if the client software also needs to update Agile Central with some information?
The best and most secure practice in this situation will not be for you to generate and share a Full-Access Key. It will be best to share two keys with the app, one for Read-Only, the other for Full-Access. The client app may want to use the Read-Only key for its reads and the Full-Access key for its updates. If possible, an even better approach for the client app is to make a Read phase and perform all the readings using the Read-Only key, then make an Update phase where making all the updates using the Full-Access key. This may not always be possible, but a good design will take all that into account. If the client app is developed with such two phases then it can take even more secure measures when performing the second Update phase.
The two (Read-Only and Full-Access) keys may be of the same username or not. In essence you may want to allow the app the minimal access required to perform what it needs. When giving away the key/keys to your app/s you may want to consider tracking its updates within Agile Central. The Revision History is normally a place where you can find what updates took place to the artifacts and on who's behalf. You may want to provide a key to a username that you will then more easily track.
API Keys are essentially usernames who are used by client programs. You need to be preemptive about securing their access and minimizing potential harm they may cause. A Read-Only key is allowing you an extra security measure to prevent harmful updates within Agile Central. Some apps will only read information - provide them only with a Read-Only key. For those apps who need to make updates into Agile Central: consider splitting them to two apps or two phases for Read , then Write. The Write phase/app will require a Full-Access key, but it can be of a different (possibly designated) username.
|
0.94283 |
When a company turns a profit, what happens to the money that they receive? The business usually has two simple choices: they can keep the cash within the company, or they can give the money back to the people who invest in the company. These payment given to investors from the company’s earnings are known as dividends.
How you choose to spend any dividends you receive now plays a vital role in defining your investment strategy as a winning one. There is no easy answer. You should be making your dividend decisions based on your current situation, and as part of your long-term retirement planning. In other words, when it comes to dividends, you do you. But before you take your first dividend check and blow it on bottle service, make sure you are aware of your options.
Many people reinvest their dividends back into their investment, allowing them to accumulate more and more shares as time goes on, thereby increasing their overall stock position. If you choose to go this path, you will likely see the term DRIP, which stands for Dividend Reinvestment Plan.
Using a DRIP run by a brokerage firm or the by company itself, you can purchase additional shares with your dividends. DRIP shares come from the company’s reserve, so when you decide to sell them, you are required to sell them back to the company at market value.
The goal of many people who invest in high dividend-paying stocks is to live off of the profits in retirement. This strategy entails a portfolio big enough to generate high dividends on a regular basis. To do this, you leave the principle untouched so it can earn you more. The concern is that when retirement comes, your portfolio earns 3%, but you withdraw 6% for living expenses. Because there is no way to know what the market will look like then, living off of your dividends does carry some risk.
Profits can come from any investment, but there are differences worth knowing when deciding on an investment strategy. Established firms are more likely to pay dividends on a regular basis, as compared to newer companies that may use earnings to reinvest back into the company. Tech companies frequently use this strategy and rarely pay dividends.
One option that shareholders can execute is to invest in individual companies known for paying dividends on a regular basis. Dividend stocks, which are merely stocks that have a long history of paying out dividends, are perfect for someone seeking income in addition to returns.
Broadcom Inc (AVGO): 5.81% one-year returns. 2.66% dividend yield.
Suntrust Banks Inc (STI): 32.91% one-year returns. 2.27% dividend yield.
Vail Resorts Inc (MTN): 22.69% one-year returns. 2.27% dividend yield.
As solid as those numbers may look, you need to remember that anytime you are investing in a single company, you’re putting all your eggs in one basket. Investing in high-yield dividend stocks may be attractive, but any investor knows that you need diversity to protect yourself over the long-term.
In 1993, investors and traders were looking for ways to invest in multiple high-performing stocks at once with a lower risk factor. Thus, the exchange-traded fund (ETF) was born, and within a decade its popularity among investors has skyrocketed. Currently, ETFs hold net assets amounting to $1.34 trillion; that compares to $14.72 trillion in total assets held by investment companies, like mutual funds.
Most (but not all) ETFs are designed to mimic index funds, as they share a common goal: generate a benchmark return at minimal cost to investors. One advantage of an ETF is that unlike an index fund, it often trades commission-free, which is attractive to investors.
As you can see, just deciding that you want to start receiving dividends on stocks is not enough. To ensure you are making smart moves designed to move you towards your long-term financial goals, staying aware of the various dividend options and vehicles is crucial.
Whether you are planning for retirement or just seeking some short-term earnings from a high-yield stock or fund, how you choose to handle dividends is an important decision. With Stockpile, you have the freedom to invest in stocks, ETFs, or a combination of both—whatever fits your investment strategy. And not only can you reinvest your dividends, but Stockpile will only charge 99¢ in trading commission.
For more information on how to start investing for as little as $5 with free sign-up and no monthly fees or minimums, visit www.stockpile.com now and start buying fractional shares of 1,000+ stocks and ETFs today.
|
0.97566 |
Chile Stick Flag - 4x6"
Most of the South American flags share a large part of their early history. Most of the nations in South America began their vexillological tradition when they were part of a European colonial empire, most commonly that of Spain. The nations adopted new flags when they won their independence, and those nations that gained their independence at the same time often adopted similar flags, which makes it easy to tell the early history of the nations by looking at the flags of South America. A few South America flags include references to the native cultures that existed in the region prior to the colonial era, most notably that of Bolivia.
The Spanish Empire dominated South America during the colonial period, but a wave of revolutions brought independence to the colonies during the 19th century. The revolutionary wave brought about the adoption of many new flags. Few of those flags remain in use, but most of the modern South American flags can trace their lineage back to a flag from the revolutionary period. Many of these flags are made up of three stripes due to the influence and imagery of the French revolution on their development. The most notable exception to that trend are the flags of Uruguay and Chile. Stars are often used to represent individual provinces or states within a nation, likely due to the influence of the flag of the United States of America. Those shared influences combined with the tendency of South American nations to influence each other ensured that many South America flags resemble each other in the modern era.
The Spanish Empire controlled most of South America until the 19th century, but it was not the only Empire that held territory on the continent. Several nations in South America can trace their history back to other empires, and their flags are some of the most distinctive in South America. Guyana, Suriname, and Brazil all have flags that break the triband pattern that is common to most other flags of South America, and all of them are descended from other European Empires.
|
0.999861 |
In Kentucky, a police officer may testify at trial and provide an opinion as to a person's sobriety or lack of sobriety, according to Kentucky Rule of Evidence (KRE) 701.
In order to provide this opinion, the prosecutor will generally first ask the officer: 1) about the officer's prior experience observing those under the influence, and 2) that, based on the officer's experience, whether the officer had the opportunity to observe the defendant at the time in question.
The prosecutor will then ask the officer if they were able to form an opinion as to whether the defendant was under the influence of alcohol and, if so, to state their opinion.
Likewise, the defendant may also call witnesses to testify as to the defendant's observed level of sobriety. The accused could call, for instance, a bartender or waitress or passengers in the vehicle. The defendant could also call an expert witness, a person with training in detecting individuals who are under the influence. Once qualified as an expert, the witness could provide an opinion based on assumptions of facts in evidence.
|
0.999913 |
Perfect! How about a slightly more complicated example with INSERT INTO?
We've created another table called ProjectWorktime. It has the following columns: ProjectId and AvgWorktime.
Your task is to use the table Allocation and insert the average total number of hours spent by employees on each project into the new table ProjectWorktime. Insert the ProjectId and the average HoursSpent. Additionally, do not insert any data for ProjectId = 1.
First, count the total number of hours spent by each employee on each project which ID is not 1. Then, insert into ProjectWorktime table the average total number of hours spent on each project.
|
0.999997 |
Glass ceiling - does it exist?
Christina Fry will remember the day when she photocopied an article from the Cosmopolitan Magazine about a glass ceiling that many women still confront at some stage of their career, and handed it over to one of the senior managers at Air Products. It was the day that still makes her laugh and reminds her about the times when the issue of women\\$quot;s career opportunities was a very sensitive topic.
\\$quot;When I first joined Air Products, there was a senior manager who had been headhunted to the company couple of months before I joined,\\$quot; tells Christina.
\\$quot;He used to stop by my desk on his way in to his office and enquire how I was getting on. I felt I could talk to him quite informally and he seemed genuinely interested in my views as a young female engineer.
\\$quot;I remember that there was an article in the Cosmopolitan Magazine about the \\$quot;˜glass ceiling\\$quot; for women, and about the fact that when women arrive to a certain level they don\\$quot;t progress much higher. So I photocopied it and put in on his desk.
\\$quot;And he just looked at me and said: \\$quot;˜Well if you put it like that I can understand it completely\\$quot;.
Why teach a tortoise to run when you can take a rabbit in the first place?
But does the glass ceiling really exist? I spoke to a number of women, and although none of them had reached board level (yet), they had all already attained a very high level within their companies.
Christina has been working for Air Products UK for 16 years and held various positions from process engineering to her recent promotion to UK EHS Team Lead for Merchant Gases and Healthcare. She started her career in the nuclear industry but soon left to pursue a career within the mainstream chemical engineering in the gases industry.
\\$quot;When people asked me in the pub what I did for a living, whilst working within the nuclear sector, the conversation always ended very quickly,\\$quot; she laughed.
Christina is also a leader of Air Products\\$quot; EHS global diversity team and says they have very good discussions on minority issues. She continued: \\$quot;In America they actually elect what is called a \\$quot;˜diversity slate\\$quot; and they have an incentive for the managers to select somebody who is a minority. That is illegal in Europe.
Also the Head of Linde Global Homecare, Dr Carla Kriwet, is not a big fan of special programmes encouraging or helping women to join the \\$quot;˜club\\$quot;. In fact she thinks that those kinds of programmes are nonsense. She said: \\$quot;For me it would not work. I would not work for a company who would say that because you are a woman you have especially good chances. I would think what rubbish.
\\$quot;I always seek to work for a company where I have a sincere feeling that performance counts. I want to be selected because I am the best for the job. When you see an environment where something else but the overall principle of performance weighs more, then I would start getting doubtful.
So what about career opportunities for women? Well, according to Christina they are very good within Air Products. She says this is partly to do with the fact that the company has a wide portfolio of businesses. However, women still represent a significant minority and may miss a great career opportunity within the industry due to lack of knowledge.
\\$quot;I left Boston Consulting because I wanted to have an operational business responsibility. I wanted to be more than an advisor. I wanted to see the bottom-line at the end of each month and feel responsible for it.
\\$quot;What is interesting in the gases industry is the variety of applications, not the technology itself but the new developments in food, electronics, steel etc. In mature businesses, better use of gases can develop them and actually lead to a real step change. It is still possible to optimise the steel world for example. That for me is very fascinating.
\\$quot;Healthcare is one of the most attractive growth markets for gases. Firstly because of demographic trends; ageing population, and secondly because of social trends; the baby boom generation who now gets through retirement doesn\\$quot;t accept second standard healthcare services.
Christina also finds the variety of applications fascinating and she feels the industrial gases industry is an area she can whole-heartedly support.
She said: \\$quot;Industrial gases is a very clean and environmentally friendly business and as a young engineer I felt I could whole-heartedly support it.
\\$quot;Now when I am learning more about packaged gases, I am surprised how little of the actual business mechanics I understand. I don\\$quot;t need to know all that but its very enlightening when you have been working with one kind of business for years and then when moving into something new you realise how much new information you need to pick up.
Whether people who enter the industrial gases business enters it by accident or not, they all seem to thoroughly fall for it, and stay.
Carla has been working for Linde for three years; two years as the Head of Corporate Strategy and since last year she has been responsible for Linde\\$quot;s global homecare operations. Her career has taken her from ABB India to Boston Consulting based in London.
\\$quot;I do not wish to remain in the same job for the next 15 years; I am still wanting to climb and do more. I had a recent promotion but for me it\\$quot;s a stepping-stone to the next position,\\$quot; Christina says.
\\$quot;In a few years time the question for me is, do I stay within the EHS function and try to grow based on my area of competence or do I make that leap to an unrelated job. I think that\\$quot;s the question you need to ask through your career rather than assume that you are going to develop one straight-line path. You always need to keep looking what the opportunities are.
\\$quot;Being a plant manager somewhere is not something I have direct experience of, such a move might be seen as a risk, but I know I would do a good job. And some risks are worth taking.
Carla on the other hand has had her operational responsibility only for a year but although she says her business segment with €200m sales is still small, she believes there are a lot of opportunities to make her segment and role bigger. \\$quot;I am getting a lot of support from the organisation, and this helps me to grow the homecare business, both organically and via acquisitions.
\\$quot;Compared to other gases areas, my business segment is still developing, and there are lots of opportunities. We just have to get the right competence on board and just do it.
\\$quot;That is my short-term career plan. Long term, I don\\$quot;t know,\\$quot; she sighs. \\$quot;But I need the challenge, the opportunity to learn and I need to see that I can advance. If these three are somehow met I would be happy, and motivated to continue.
\\$quot;I can also see the BOC \\$quot;“ Linde deal creating more opportunities. There\\$quot;s a lot of learning we can get from BOC, also in the homecare field. I am sure that we will not only benefit from their experiences, but also from their geographic presence. Whilst we are still undertaking our first researches in Asia, they are already there.
Undoubtedly both women have had a very successful and bright career so far. However, neither of them have yet reached their final goal and they are eager to achieve more and keep on climbing the ladder.
|
0.999871 |
A desert whose immensity borders mountains that look like craters, where an abundance of aereolites are scattered around it, just like the memory of a test missile that fell in its arid territory, make the mysterious Zone of Silence in the north of Mexico a sidereal scene.
The magnificent vista of the celestial vault from there contributes to this impression; it permits one to appreciate the constant showers of stars and of some artificial satellites in movement, accompanied by the blanket of silence that effectively covers this faraway place where, it is said, the radios' electromagnetic waves cannot penetrate.
The so-called Vortex of Trino, the confluence of the states of Coahuila, Durango and Chihuahua, delimited by the peculiar Sierra del Diablo and guarded by the solitary mountain called Pastelone or San Ignacio, the Zone of Silence produces that encounter with nature's quiet stillness through the sensation of emptiness and distance that characterizes the place.
However, a powerful magnetic energy that attracts celestial bodies toward the site is, in reality, what populates this singular Mexican desert and what give it a dense ambience that weighs upon the visitor, taking him to another, different dimension. In this way, the Zone of Silence offers not only an unusual landscape but also a sensory experience.
Fortunately, it has been designated the "Mapimí Biosphere Reserve," and the Durango government's Instituto de Estudios del Desierto watches over its prodigious flora, which includes the endogenous purple prickly pear, and its surprising fauna – turtles and reptiles that are unique in the world – and keeps them far from the world's contamination.
For this reason, it is difficult to penetrate the Zone of Silence by way of dust and interminable unpaved roads. The campesinos who live in places such as the Ejido Las Lilas in Coahuila give the impression of being the farthest removed from modern civilization, living in a confined, solitary and remote world.
Sixty-four kilometers from the highway that connects Torreón with Químicas del Rey, in Coahuila, and a few more by the railroad that connects with Estación Carrillo, Chihuahua, or along the road toward Ceballos, Durango, the desert occupies a desolate and silent expanse of at least 160 thousand hectares.
During the early 1970s, a NASA test missile named Athena fell in the region due to a mechanical failure.
Over several weeks, they searched for the rocket near Medanos in the Durango portion of the Zone of Silence, characterized by rock formations similar to stalagmites, like the fingers of a giant hand.
Despite efforts of the U.S. technicians, the radar equipment they used did not yield any data, nor did tracking by plane.
When the rocket was finally located, a railroad track was laid from Estación Carrillo. But the magazine <i>México Desconocido</i> reported that – under heavy security – the specialists not only took the rocket but also several tons of desert sand, on the pretext that it was contaminated.
This originated rumors that the zone possessed unknown magnetic qualities. They increased when resident Harry de la Peña discovered a point where radio waves couldn't be received. His declarations gave rise to an investigation carried out by the universities of Torreón, who proposed the theory that a magnetic cone covered this region and blocked different kinds of signals.
However the author of this article was able to tune into the radio on the Cerro Pastelone mountainside, and affirms that those who have studied the region have been unable to locate the so-called "silent zone."
It is possible that the magnetism mentioned above influences the frequency of the numerous shooting stars that "fall" toward the desert and come so close they look like balls of fire.
This is a natural phenomenon that, along with the movement of the stars, coincides with the appearance of a space probe that goes by every 90 minutes and is clearly visible from the place, so that an observer might confuse it with a UFO.
With craters, stars, rockets and mystery, the fleeing of a space adventure is intensified upon visiting one of the zones where a meteorite fell, located in Ejido Las Lilas, where it is clearly visible in a circular area covered with pulverized metallic rocks.
A sign that says only "Meteorite" indicates the precise place. Inside the rocky area are metallic stones made smooth by ignition, or porous like a metal foam that boiled furiously before crashing into the earth.
Be sure to gather some aerolites whose texture is very different from that’s of common rocks. It is said that they represent good luck that comes from space.
Calloused hands and weather beaten skin, toughened by the hot sunshine, characterize Miguel García who is in charge of Ejido Las Lilas, a remote hamlet where 18 families live.
"No, nothing came through here," he says, denying possible spacecraft or meteor sightings as he points out that life in the desert zone is tranquil, though not easy. Upon shaking his hand, one perceives the rudeness of his work and the arid climate that has cracked his skin.
In regions like this one, shared risk trusteeships are established impulse the region's economy and stimulate animal husbandry with government capital. In particular, 224,051,000 pesos were invested in Las Lilas in 1997 to habilitate 8,865 hectares with 350 "animal units," that is, cows with calves, or horses.
Following <i>don</i> Miguel's instructions, we found a fossil bank, yet another item of interest in the Zone of Silence.
Because it formed part of the Sea of Thetis during the Cenozoic Era, the great Chihuahua desert is filled with fossilized snail and seashells that sporadically surface in the burning sand. A sign asks visitors not to take the fossils, but it would be difficult to watch over the area and make sure that rule is followed.
Only the strange purple prickly pear cactus, the "old men" cactus so-named for their spines that look like white hair, the crawling nopals that animals feed on, and heath are present.
The region's wildlife includes scarce native turtles that are being preserved in the Instituto de Estudios del Desierto to prevent their extinction, as well as swift hares, wild doves that sing at daybreak, a handful of coyotes, and other reptiles that, fortunately, remain hidden during the heat of the day.
To leave the Zone of Silence, one must battle with dangerous sand banks that can trap vehicles. The heat is suffocating. Little by little, the Cerro Pastelone grows smaller in the distance without losing its lunar aspects, similar to those in the distant Sierra del Diablo.
La atmosfera sorprendente de un desierto magnetico, que atrae meteoros a la Tierra y donde el silencio reina a lo largo de kilometros de blancas arenas, quedo atras, al fin. Regresar de la Zona del Silencio es como volver de otro mundo a la realidad.
The surprising atmosphere of a magnetic desert that attracts meteors and where silence reigns throughout kilometers of white sands, remains behind us at last. Returning from the Zone of Silence is like returning to reality from another world.
|
0.991436 |
Is it okay to give money as a wedding gift? If so, how much?
Absolutely! The bride and groom would really appreciate it! As for the amount, it really depends on how close you are to the bride and groom, but consider $50 or more.
Wedding Etiquette: How Do I Say No Children At The Wedding?
|
0.999917 |
There are people who come into your life and change it for the better. Elwyn did that for me as a mentor, an investor and a teacher. We regularly had lunch near his office in Rockridge to discuss math and clinical trials, a particular shared interest of ours.
what sort of clinical trials?
Elwyn was very active in bringing pulmonary fibrosis medications to patients, spending substantial amounts of his own time and money. From that experience, he was interested in how novel clinical trial designs could assess the effectiveness of therapies faster for patients while controlling for bias and luck.
I am sorry to learn that Elwyn Berlekamp has died. He was a master of mathematics and, with John Horton Conway, explored its recreational aspects including the game of life and pentomino coverings. His company, Cyclotomics, was the go-to place for custom error correcting codes.
Some months ago a colleague of mine and I were working on coming up with an intuitive lay explanation of the Berlekamp–Massey algorithm as part of a greater explanation of some of our work that uses it ( https://github.com/sipa/minisketch/ ).
It isn't terribly difficult to work through the algorithm mechanically and see that it solves the equations that it's intended to solve, but that is a long way from a good intuitive understanding of it. We spent some time going back through the original literature describing it and related contemporary work, but what we found also focused on a rather procedural description that didn't really strike the insight we were looking for.
I'm sad to hear that the world will never know for sure now.
Although Berlekamp's work has already been important to the world-- impacting most of the communications and storage devices we interact with--, I expect that its importance will increase in the future.
Many advances in computer science and related fields have their utility gated or multiplied by the power and pervasiveness of computing technology. I am always struck when I read older papers-- even ones as late as the 90s-- and find them discussing problem sizes at the limits of their computer technology which my laptop is solving thousands of times per second as part of my application (or just as part of my research). So I find that my recent work using the berlekamp-massey algorithm casually applies to problem sizes that would have probably been unthinkable in the 80s, even using Cyclotomic's expensive specialized hardware. The increasing power and decreasing cost of general purpose computing increases the importance and broadens the applicability of the algorithms we run on it.
I still remember when he interviewed me for a job at ~his hedge fund about 8 years ago. It's incredibly humbling and a bit inspiring to be talking with the man who is responsible for, at the time, DVDs working, but these days, probably most reliable data storage and transmission.
Very sad to hear. From what I know of Berlekamp's academic work, he always had a good sense of fun in his research. Such researchers are a rarity in my experience, and thus bring a very valuable aspect to the research enterprise.
Is he the one after whom the 'Berlekamp's Bat' is named?Though I forget what it is, some thought experiment in probablity/statistics?
I can't immediately find a definitive attribution, but David MacKay seems to have coined the name (https://books.google.com/books?id=AKuMj4PN_EMC&q=Berlekamp's...), and both were at the ECC Design Center (http://www.eccdesigncenter.com/researchers), so it seems reasonably likely. It appears to be a description of the geometry of code-word space with respect to the Hamming metric.
Where is obituary or news ?
He was associated with Rentech and the Medallion fund.
|
0.999998 |
It has been seen that black holes throw out jets of high speed particles at almost the speed of light from it's poles along it's spin axis. Since a black hole has so strong a gravitational field inside the Schwartzschild radius that nothing (not even photons) can escape, how come these material particles escape and what force acclerates them to such high speed?
You are correct that high speed particles are accelerated away from the black hole in jets along the black hole's rotation axis. This jet phenomenon manifests itself on the scale of supermassive black holes as Active Galactic Nuclei and on the stellar black hole scale as "microquasars". Likely the physics is similar in both cases even though the size scales are very different. The short answer to your question is the particles that form Astronomers still study the details of jet formation and acceleration, but the prevailing idea is its due to strong magnetic fields. Imagine an accretion disk around a black hole. Because of the high temperatures in the disk, the gas is ionized and forms a plasma. There are also likely strong magnetic fields that thread through the disk, and because of the laws of electromagnetism, are essentially "frozen into" the accretion disk. That means as the particles spiral into the black hole they drag the magnetic fields causing them to twist. Eventually the magnetic fields will become so strong that instead of the particles dragging the magnetic field accelerates the particles toward the poles. They then go flying out in the form of jets. It turns out that jets are a common theme in astrophysics. In addition to being seen around black holes, they're also seen around star forming regions. Astrophysicists think that jets serve an important function of getting rid of angular momentum in a system. Otherwise the accretion disk or protostar would fly apart because conservation of angular momentum would require it to spin very rapidly.
|
0.977955 |
Teenagers start drinking as a matter of pleasure or just to prove themselves in front of their friends but do not realize the danger of awaiting consequences that can start with drinking at such a tender age. It is because a habit that is habituated in teenage roots itself firmly in the life of an individual.
On analyzing a survey on 40,000 U.S. adults reports stated that early drinking is the cause for increment in the risk for developing future alcohol dependency and also increases the chance of developing addiction at a very young age which ends in chronic diseases.
"Not only are people who start to drink at a younger age more likely to develop lifelong alcohol dependence, but they are more likely to be injured, to be in motor vehicle crashes and to be in fights,".
There are many consequences of teenage drinking. Some of the immediate consequences of teenage drinking are motor vehicle accidents, physical injury, academic problems or unusual and risky sexual behaviors. But teenage drinking doesn't only show short-term consequences rather it involves the risk of many long-term consequences. Research proves that although heavy drinking is considered as a transient teenage pastime but most of the teenagers do not outgrow these unhealthy habits. This not only affects their physical state but also leaves serious mark on their mental condition. Not only underage drinkers put their life in danger but also have a great effect on their surrounding while there may be a role model for their younger ones. Addiction is perhaps the most dreadful consequence of previous drinking as 87% of teenage drinkers who start their drinking practice before the age of 21 are prone to be alcoholic for the lifetime. Teenagers fail to recognize the ill effects of alcohol. It is very sad and shocking that drinking is a major factor in the leading causes of teen death.
Parents can play a major role in motivating their teenage children to avoid drinking. Parents can find out if their children are unhappy and drug users simply by talking to them and trying to understand the root causes for the same .With the help of many health professionals and psychologists they can make them aware of the long-term risks associated with excessive drinking and mould them in a situation or bestow upon them a beautiful surrounding in which they would feel much more comfortable without drinking rather than enjoying themselves as teenage drinkers.
|
0.999972 |
How can data with different performance characteristics be stored on a cloud storage device compliant with the performance requirements of each dataset?
A cloud consumer can have different performance requirements for different datasets. If datasets with varying performance requirements reside on a cloud storage device with fixed performance capabilities, the performance requirements will not be met.
A solution is implemented with the ability to match and compare the performance characteristics of datasets against performance capabilities of a destination cloud storage device.
A cloud storage device performance monitor mechanism manages data stored on a cloud storage device based on performance characteristics. This solution can also enforce policies that prevent data from being copied or moved elsewhere while sending an alert response.
|
0.920506 |
The opening scene starts as an aged Cecil Gaines (Whittaker) reflects on his life through narrative; the moment where his greatest loss grants him his greatest opportunity.
Leaving the heavily segregated south, Cecil learned invaluable skills which led him all the way to Washington D.C. and later to the Oval Office. "The Butler" reveals inner workings of the White House through the course of the civil rights movement, while also showing the sacrifice that the early activists were apart off from the eyes of Cecil's son Louis (David Oyelowo).
The pressure of family life enhances the political backdrop to this film. As Cecil works his hardest to provide for his family, while keeping non-political as his job describes, the fight for civil rights still had its toll. Oprah Winfrey lends an Academy winning performance herself as a mother trying to keep her family at peace while battling her own liquid addiction.
Though the White House and family scenes are filed with incredible actors and important sequences, the real draw for this film is the countless undertakings we see as Louis Gaines gets involved in as a civil rights activist. Describing the evolution of Louis's passion, it drives him from sit-in participant, to Freedom Rider, all the way to the extreme of a Black Panther.
Anybody who is up on their American history will truly appreciate the subtle mentions of several of the historically significant movements against racism. Just in case you aren't don't worry just sit back, be inspired and be in awe of the bravery these activists displayed while being absolutely tormented and abused fighting for equality.
"The Butler" is not short on thought provoking quotes or comparative depictions; these moments were my personal highlights of this film. In one scene Cecil's sons differing beliefs are revealed in a statement describing how Louis has fought his country but Charlie wants to fight for it in Vietnam.
In its truest form "The Butler" acts as a civil rights overview reflecting the horror of racism and how recent these struggles occurred. Even though the environment of the world is depicted somewhat true the historical accuracy of the family's true story is substituted for Hollywood drama, hurting any emotional connection if you have read a background into the Washington Post story of Eugene Allen.
In personal summary of what was one of my most desired to watch films, I left in mixed emotions. On one side I was disinterested in some of the formal procedures of the film as it traveled through the decades so fast I didn't feel I could connect to just one moment. On the other side however I was inspired and disappointed, inspired in the courage displayed by the individuals who sought to change society and disappointed that I never paid enough attention before.
What I can say about this cultural film, even as I write it is that I was encouraged to learn more and research some of the great inspiring speakers of that time. History is our greatest teacher and even if this film was distracted of its true potential it delivered a lesson through passionate performances.
Boasting an incredible supporting cast such as Mariah Carey, Robin Williams, James Marsden and Cuba Gooding Jr. to name a few, "The Butler" gets its deserving attention with many of these stars able to carry a film themselves.
Lee Daniel's "The Butler" in cinemas October 31st.
|
0.999993 |
Determining a disputed boundary line involves complex law in California.
It is a dispute as old as the hills: where is that pesky boundary line between two pieces of real estate? Resolution of California boundary disputes can be surprisingly challenging and involve complex legal rules and concepts.
Property owners may believe and act as if a particular line is the correct boundary, even for decades and in reliance on family understanding, placement of boundary-encroaching buildings or previous owner representation, unknowingly in conflict with the boundary description in an official property document like a deed or title, or with a survey.
Property owners may mistakenly assume a fence, tree line, driveway or similar physical marker (called a monument) was correctly placed on the actual legal boundary.
The legal description of a parcel may include an internal inconsistency, mistake or confusing language, or be in conflict with the legal description of a neighboring plot.
The legal description of a lot may include reference to a physical monument like the shore of a lake, a creek, large tree, boulder or similar feature of the land and the monument or natural feature may have disappeared or shifted because of erosion, earthquake, the passage of time or similar reasons.
When a boundary-line dispute comes to light, it is smart for an involved property owner to consult with an experienced real estate attorney who has dealt before with boundary disputes. In California, the law that comes into play in a boundary dispute is extremely complex and is contained both in state statutes and state case law (judge-made or common law).
California boundary-dispute law dictates the types of evidence to consider in determining a true property line and the relative strength of various kinds of evidence. The property owner's lawyer can provide his or her opinion about such evidence and, when appropriate, will investigate and gather more, including conducting historical title and survey research, and ordering new professional surveys.
Survey evidence, especially when the surveyor relies on solid boundary indicators referenced in original land grants or plats from the government, even if very old, is considered important and solid in resolving modern boundary disputes.
It is usually better to resolve a boundary dispute rather than let it fester, especially if there is a property sale or transfer on the horizon. The problem will eventually need to be resolved, and it will likely be cheaper and less of a headache to do it sooner rather than later.
If possible, resolving a boundary dispute through negotiation between the adjoining owners is likely preferable to ending up in court for a judge to decide. At least with a negotiated agreement, each party has some input as to the outcome and court costs will probably be much lower. While the agreement will have to be approved in court in a quiet title action, a lengthy trial would be unnecessary.
However, if the parties cannot negotiate a boundary agreement, they may end up in court in a quiet title trial or other type of property action. Either way, it is imperative to obtain skilled legal counsel both for negotiation or litigation.
|
0.998033 |
Everyone understands the importance of drinking lots of fluids during the warmer months, but did you know it's just as important to stay hydrated in the winter? Here's why.
We all know that staying well hydrated in the blistering heat of summer is crucial to leading a healthy lifestyle, particularly if you are exercising on a regular basis. But did you know that it is just as easy to become dehydrated during the winter months? Failing to stay hydrated can actually be hazardous to your health, potentially leading to much more serious consequences. Here are four reasons why staying hydrated is just as important in the winter as it is in the summer.
Even though temperatures are much colder, the winter also brings much drier air, which can unexpectedly lead to dehydration. This in turn can cause your body to feel sluggish and run-down, with muscle fatigue sometimes being a side effect. This can also cause you to become more susceptible to certain illnesses, such as the common cold or the flu. When you drink plenty of water, you actually give your body the fluids it needs to fight off these issues.
Unlike in the summer, when the hot weather can make us sweat profusely, dehydration is much less noticeable in the winter. Perspiration tends to turn to water vapor very quickly, and extra layers of clothing–combined with the drier air–can cause our bodies to dehydrate without us even realizing that it’s happening. Sometimes we don’t even necessarily feel thirsty. That’s why you should be drinking fluids throughout the day, especially before, during, and after exercising. Because the effects can often be more subtle during the winter, it is important to work preemptively to avoid any problems.
The colder weather of winter is often used as an excuse to exercise less and eat more. This can lead to weight gain, which can be further exacerbated by not drinking enough fluids. When properly hydrated, your body is far more efficient at breaking down fats and converting them to energy, which is helpful on those short winter days when it feels like we should be going to bed earlier. Staying hydrated will also prevent your body from retaining fluids. If it doesn’t have enough water, your body will stubbornly hold on to the fluids it has, which can result in weight gain as well.
Your body uses water to help maintain its temperature during both the summer and the winter. Not having enough fluids can cause your core temperature to drop, sometimes dramatically. In fact, one of the biggest reasons people suffer hypothermia is that they become dehydrated while staying outside for extended periods of time. Drinking plenty of fluids can help avoid this and actually aid in keeping you warmer. Avoid colder drinks if you can, however. Warm or room temperature fluids are best for the body on especially cold days.
As you can see, there are a number of important reasons why staying hydrated is just as important in the winter as it is in the summer. Consuming plenty of fluids can help alleviate any issues that might arise and go a long way toward keeping you healthy too. No matter which season you’re in, avoid caffeinated beverages or alcohol while rehydrating, as both can do more harm than good. Other than that, just be aware of the cues your body is sending you, and drink plenty of fluids each day.
|
0.644544 |
Back in the old days, people thought they should train on an empty stomach in order to burn more fat, but that has turned out to be FALSE. In fact, your body needs some glucose (blood sugar) for fuel in addition to what it can use from fat stores when you're working out. If you don't have any blood sugar available, your body will eat the muscles' glycogen, or stored glucose. Low blood sugar will also make you tired and sluggish during your training session. For these reasons, I suggest you eat something 45 minutes to an hour before training — you'll have more energy and endurance to work harder, burn more calories, and improve your muscle tone.
|
0.999999 |
Читать всем у кого белый экран! - страница 11 - Joomla 1.5: Общие вопросы - Форум русской поддержки Joomla!
Ошибка та же только на другой строке.
Отключил плагин JoomShopping Plugin Resize Picture и все стало нормально.
Белый лист на главной и К2 на всех остальных работает. работает и админка.
Там где работает видны эти две ошибки.
Fatal error: xcache_list(): xcache.admin.user and/or xcache.admin.pass settings is not configured. Make sure you've modified the correct php ini file for your php used in webserver. in /var/www/USER/data/www/BLABLABLA/libraries/joomla/cache/storage/xcache.php on line 148 - подскажите, попой чую что дело в кеше, пока что поправил на кэширование с помощью файла public $cache_handler = 'file'; а вот как настроить, чтобы с xcache вместе дружило без проблем? Проблема только в админке, при сохранении ЛЮБОГО парамметра (кофнигурация или меню, или статья)_ вылетает белый экран. Подскажите как побороть?
Вот ошибка Parse error: syntax error, unexpected $end in /home/uххххххххх/public_html/templates/shaper_megadeal/features/totop.php on line 1 перепробовал уже все, Joomla 2.5 установлина! Что может быть?
я в этом полный ноль и мне эта ошибка ни о чем не говорит, в Google нашел что что то с языком связано.
нужно смотреть исходный код этого totop.php - там где то в первой строке неправильный символ вроде, или нет символа окончания строки, в общем нужно смотреть.
Столкнулся с белым экраном при выборе типа меню. Скачал свой сайт, искал все display:none, но ничего так и нашел. Долго листал логи, опять же - бесполезно. И тут, нажав ctrl+u, нашел стоку "<!-- Start: injected by Adguard -->".
Решение пришло в голову мгновенно - внесение сайта в список исключений Adguard!
Белый экран пропал, все работает. Надеюсь, кому-то помог.
Здравствуйте! Сталкнулся с такой же проблемой!
* @copyright Copyright (C) 2005 - 2013 Open Source Matters, Inc. All rights reserved.
* the current executing script from the server regardless of server.
* @var array An array of JURI instances.
* @var array The current calculated base url segments.
* @var array The current calculated root url segments.
* @var string The current url.
* You can pass a URI string to the constructor to initialise a specific URI.
* Magic method to get the string representation of the URI object.
* @return JURI The URI object.
// are present, we will assume we are running on apache.
* Returns the base URI for the request.
* @param boolean $pathonly If false, prepend the scheme, host and port information. Default is false.
// Get the base request path.
* Returns the root URI for the request.
* @return string The root URI string.
* Returns the URL for the request, minus the query.
// Get the current URL.
* Method to reset class static members for testing and other various issues.
* Parse a given URI and populate the class fields.
* @param string $uri The URI string to parse.
* @return boolean True on success.
// set method return value to true.
* Returns full uri string.
* @param array $parts An array specifying the parts to render.
* @return string The rendered URI string.
* already exists and returning the old value.
* @param string $name Name of the query variable to set.
* @param string $value Value of the query variable.
* @return string Previous value for the query variable.
* Checks if variable exists.
* @param string $name Name of the query variable to check.
* @return boolean True if the variable exists.
* Returns a query variable by name.
* @param string $name Name of the query variable to get.
* @param string $default Default value to return if the variable is not set.
* @return array Query variables.
* Removes an item from the query string variables if it exists.
* @param string $name Name of variable to remove.
* @param mixed $query The query string or array.
* Returns flat query string.
* @param boolean $toArray True to return the query as a key => value pair array.
* @return string Query string.
* Build a query from a array (reverse of the PHP parse_str()).
* @param array $params The array of key => value pairs to return as a query string.
* @return string The resulting query string.
* @return string The URI scheme.
* @param string $scheme The URI scheme.
* Returns the username, or null if no username was specified.
* @return string The URI username.
* @param string $user The URI username.
* Returns the password, or null if no password was specified.
* @return string The URI password.
* @param string $pass The URI password.
* Returns the hostname/ip or null if no hostname/ip was specified.
* @return string The URI host.
* @param string $host The URI host.
* Returns the port number, or null if no port was specified.
* @return integer The URI port number.
* @param integer $port The URI port number.
* Gets the URI path string.
* @return string The URI path string.
* Set the URI path string.
* @param string $path The URI path string.
* Everything after the "#".
* @return string The URI anchor string.
* @param string $anchor The URI anchor string.
* Checks whether the current URI is using HTTPS.
* @return boolean True if using SSL via HTTPS.
* @param string $url The URL to check.
* @return boolean True if Internal.
* @param string $path The URI path to clean.
* @return string Cleaned and resolved URI path.
Неужели никто не может помочь ? ??
Твой хостер версию PHP обновлял? Есть возможность переключить PHP на 5.2 , на хостинге ?
А где взятбь 2.5.19 ? И как обновиться ?
Обновление Joomla с 1.6, уже через Менеджер обновлений.
Ни где не нашел информации по этому вопросу. Может кто сталкивался с такой проблемой?
|
0.998075 |
How feasible is a nuclear terrorist attack on the U.S.?
Among U.S. counterterrorism officials, it is the ultimate nightmare scenario: al-Qaeda detonating a nuclear bomb in a U.S. city. Osama bin Laden says it is a religious duty to obtain a bomb, and most experts believe that if al-Qaeda were to succeed, the group wouldn't hesitate to use it. Though building even a crude nuclear weapon is time consuming, the wide availability of raw material and scientific expertise means that it is plausible for terrorists someday to get their hands on one. "The simplest nuclear bomb," says Ivan Oelrich, director of the security project at the Federation of American Scientists, "is very simple indeed."
The biggest hurdle is getting the material that causes the nuclear explosion. For a basic nuclear weapon, terrorists would need about 100 lbs. of highly enriched, weapons-grade uranium (HEU). Fortunately, manufacturing HEU is extremely difficult. Refining it requires vast industrial facilities, top-flight engineers and the kinds of resources available to a government but not to rogue terrorist groups. Unfortunately, many states have already done the hard work, creating 1,800 tons of HEU that is housed at research facilities, weapons depots and other storage sites in as many as 24 countries, according to William Potter, director of nonproliferation studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies. Of greatest concern is the more than 300 tons of HEU in the former Soviet Union. Some of the material may have already gone missing: since 1991, there have been seven attempted thefts reported of small amounts of bomb-grade material and more than 700 reported thefts of unrefined nuclear material. In Chelyabinsk, Russia, in 1998, Russian intelligence uncovered a plot by employees at a nuclear facility in the region to smuggle out 40 lbs. of HEU for sale on the black market.
With sufficient fissile material in hand, a trained engineer could build a crude device without too much difficulty. The most basic design is that of the Hiroshima bomb, which fired two pieces of HEU at each other from opposite ends of an artillery tube. The bomb could be assembled at a basic machine shop and would fit in the back of a truck. If smuggled into the U.S. and detonated in a major metropolitan area, such a weapon could kill hundreds of thousands.
|
0.994848 |
rules / . . .
regulations require / . . .
reach a . . .
pay / . . .
act as a . . .
a hard legal . . .
Choose the correct verb to fill the gaps in this paragraph. Use the words below.
In law-abiding societies ordinary citizens are usually happy to the law. But there are also rather different societies where most people feel that it is not such a serious matter to the law. In such places, people do not seem to the law and even the most honest of citizens does not expect always to within it. The rules of such societies have no difficulty in new laws but the police have considerable problems when it comes to those laws.
Match the beginning of each sentence on the left with its ending on the right.
1. The rules apply . . .
to all students in the college.
that coursework must be handed in on time.
to book college guestrooms at weekends.
the rules to allow Mary to submit her coursework a little late.
the rules without too many complaints.
the use of mobile phones in class.
2. The rules prohibit . . .
3. The rules allow students . . .
4. The regulations stipulate . . .
5. Most students follow . . .
6. The authorities bent . . .
7. All students must comply . . .
Put these events in a crime story in order.
a) A number of witnesses appear in court.
b) Bill Sikes goes on trial.
c) Bill Sikes if found guilty.
d) Bill Sikes is severely punished.
e) Bill Sikes robs a bank.
f) The jury reaches its verdict.
g) The police carry out an investigation.
Answer these questions using one of the collocation about punishments.
1. What does every lawyer in a trial hope to do? — . . .
2. What does every wrongly accused person who appears in court hope to receive? — . . .
3. What do the police do after a major crime is committed? — . . .
4. What may happen to people in some countries if they are found guilty of a very serious crime like murder or terrorism? — . . .
5. How might be death penalty help to prevent serious crime? — . . .
6. What does the jury have to do at the end of a trial? — . . .
7. What kind of punishments does a hard-heated judge give? — . . .
8. What kind of fine might a judge impose if the offence is quite serious? — . . .
1. Everyone must . . .
2. These rules . . .
3. The jury . . .
4. The police are . . .
an investigation into the bank robbery.
5. Our company always . . .
6. The rules . . .
student to eat and drink in the classrooms.
|
0.94806 |
Mercury Communications was a national telephone company in the United Kingdom, formed in 1981 as a subsidiary of Cable & Wireless, to challenge the then-monopoly of British Telecom (BT). Mercury was the first competitor to BT, and although it proved only moderately successful at challenging their dominance, it was to set the path for new communication companies to attempt the same.
In 1997, Mercury ceased to exist as a brand with its amalgamation into the operations of Cable & Wireless Communications, and totally exited from the telecommunications business by 1999.
The history of telecommunications in United Kingdom starts in 1879, with the establishment of its first telephone exchange in London by The Telephone Company (Bells Patents) Ltd. On 10 March 1881, National Telephone Company (NTC) – a British telephone company – was formed, which later brought together smaller local telephone companies. In 1898, to break the near monopoly held by NTC, the Postmaster General's office who was in charge of licensing new telephone companies issued thirteen new licences. But by 1911, five of the remaining six competitors were taken over by either the General Post Office (GPO) or NTC. Under the Telephone Transfer Act 1911, NTC was taken over by the GPO in 1912, and created a state-run monopoly that would run nearly all telecommunication assets in the UK for the next seventy years.
During the 1920s, there was an increasing competition from companies using radio communications such as Marconi's Wireless Telegraph Company. In 1928, it was decided that all telecommunication assets outside of the UK, and within the British Empire, particularly the telegraph companies, should be merged into one operating company. The merged entity was initially known as the 'Imperial and International Communications Ltd', and later in 1934 as Cable & Wireless Limited.
Following the Labour Party's victory in the 1945 general elections, the government announced its intention to nationalise Cable and Wireless, which was carried out in 1947. The company would remain a government-owned company, continuing to own assets and operating telecommunication services outside the UK. All assets in the UK were integrated with those of the General Post Office, which operated the UK's domestic telecommunications monopoly.
In October 1969, the Post Office (as a public corporation) replaced the General Post Office (as a government department). In October 1981, the Post Office was split into two separate public corporations, the Post Office and British Telecommunications. In 1981, the British government under Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher started the process of privatising nearly all state-run monopolies, including British Airways, British Steel Corporation, British Aerospace, and later British Telecommunications. The act also started the privatisation of Cable & Wireless, a state-run offshore telephone company, whose primary business was in Hong Kong.
Promotional Mercury Communications hot air balloon featuring inflatable "payphone", as seen in 1994.
In 1981, Mercury Communications, Ltd. – a consortium of Cable & Wireless, Barclays, and British Petroleum (BP) – was founded as an experiment in telecommunications competition, primarily with British Telecom. Its first chairperson was Sir Michael Edwardes, known for his success in turning around British Leyland. Mercury Communications was first licensed in 1982; and became a full Public Telecommunications Operator in 1984. The same year, Cable & Wireless bought out the stake of its partners.
In July 1991, Mercury's sister concern, Mercury Personal Communications Network (PCN) Ltd, was awarded one of the licences to develop build Personal communications network (PCN) networks in United Kingdom. The other two went to Microtel Communications Ltd, and Unitel. PCNs were envisaged to be superior to the then-existent cellular phone technology, giving customers portability to make or take calls in the home or car, in an aeroplane, or while on holiday.
In November 1992, Cable & Wireless sold a 20% stake for about GB£480 million to the Canadian company BCEbc, the parent company of Bell Canada, which gave much-needed telecommunications expertise to Mercury. BCEbc also owned two cable companies in the UK.
One2One was established as the trading name of Mercury Personal Communications, a joint venture partnership equally owned by Cable & Wireless and US West International, a division of US WEST Media Group. One2One introduced Britain’s first 1800 MHz GSM network in 1993, in competition with the existing UK mobile networks Vodafone and Cellnet.
Mercury forged strategic alliances with 16 UK cable companies, which enabled them to offer both telephone and television services to their customers. By the end of January 1993, over 117,000 telephone lines were supplied to cable operators by Mercury. In October 1996, Mercury was merged with three cable operators in the UK (Vidéotron, Nynex and Bell Cable media) and renamed Cable & Wireless Communications (in which Cable & Wireless plc owned a 53% stake).
Following this, the group embarked on a major disposal programme, selling One2One to T-Mobile in 1999, then selling its stake in CWC’s consumer operations to NTL (now Virgin Media) in 2000.
From 1986 Mercury operated public payphones in the UK, in competition with BT. These proved not to be profitable and this interest was sold in 1995. They were notable for their varied designs which imitated architectural styles.
Mercury also operated the first GSM 1800 mobile phone service, launched in 1993, as Mercury One2one. The service was first rolled out in the London M25 area, and offered free mobile to landline calls at off-peak times, weekends and Bank Holidays. Calls could be made free to landlines in the area the mobile was situated in, and to adjacent landline exchange codes. Even after this plan ceased being sold, SIM cards that were subscribed to the plan continued to provide these free calls, and often changed hands for large sums of money. Coverage was extended throughout the decade, with most of the UK having service by 1997. One2One was sold to Deutsche Telekom in 1999 for £8.4bn, and was rebranded as T-Mobile in 2002.
Mercury began by offering fixed-line facilities direct to businesses, residential and small business. Users could use the 'Mercury 2300' service via their existing BT phone line by dialling a '131' prefix followed by a ten-digit customer code, then the number which they wished to dial. At the time, many phones were manufactured with a dedicated 'Mercury Button' which allowed the prefix and customer code to be stored and then dialed with a single button press.
Later, a more modern indirect service was introduced which required only the dialling of the access code ('132') and the destination number. Mercury also provided backbone services to the emerging groups of British cable operators which were beginning to offer their own fixed-line telephone services.
Mercury moved into the Private Branch eXchange market in 1990 as a result of Telephone Rentals being bought by Cable & Wireless. This enabled the Smart Box to be connected to a large number of TR's customers, so traffic was routed away from BT onto Mercury's network.
Mercury pulled out of the PABX market in 1996, when it sold that part of the business to Siemens, creating Siemens Business Communication Systems (SBCS), which later became Siemens Communications.
In 1997 the Mercury brand ceased to be and it was amalgamated into Cable & Wireless Communications. The consumer arm of the latter would eventually find itself bought out by the telecommunications firm NTL in 1999, and then further sold on to NPower in 2001 before the service was withdrawn entirely some years later.
Its name lives on through its original sponsorship of the Mercury Music Prize, although now sponsored by Hyundai.
^ "Evolution Cable and Wireless 1928 - 1934". Retrieved 30 July 2012.
^ "History of Cellular services". licensing.ofcom.org.uk. Archived from the original on 5 February 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2012.
^ "Cable & Wireless Communications: Our History". Retrieved 8 April 2012.
^ "Mercury One-2-One challenges the U.K. cellular competition, Mobile Phone News, Sept 13, 1993 "
This page was last edited on 19 March 2018, at 10:42 (UTC).
|
0.957943 |
Russian opera singer Feodor Chaliapin (1873–1938) was an international sensation and is considered as the greatest Russian singer of the twentieth century, as well as the greatest male operatic actor ever. The possessor of a large, deep and expressive basso profundo, he was celebrated at major opera houses all over the world and established the tradition of naturalistic acting in operas. The only sound film which shows his acting style is Don Quixote (Georg Wilhelm Pabst, 1933).
Russian postcard, no. 2036. Collection: Didier Hanson.
Russian postcard, no. 499. Photo: K. Fisher. Publicity still for the stage production of Arrigo Boito's opera Mefistofele. He sang the title role on the occasion of his first appearance outside Russia at La Scala, Milan in 1901 and also on his North American debut at the Metropolitan Opera, New York, in 1907. Collection: Didier Hanson.
Russian postcard, no. 57. Photo: publicity still for the stage production of Modest Mussorgsky's opera Boris Godunov. Collection: Didier Hanson.
Feodor Chaliapin as Don Quixote. German postcard by B.K.W.I.
Russian postcard by Dynamo, no. MB 22975-86, 1954.
Feodor Ivanovich Chaliapin (Russian: Фёдор Ива́нович Шаля́пин, or Fyodor Ivanovich Shalyapin) was born in 1873, into a poor peasant family in Omet Tawi, near Kazan, Russia. His childhood was full of suffering, hunger, and humiliation. From the age of 10, he worked as an apprentice to a shoemaker, a sales clerk, a carpenter, and a lowly clerk in a district court before joining, at age 17, a local operetta company.
In 1890, Chaliapin was hired to sing in a choir at the Semenov-Samarsky private theatre in Ufa. There he began singing solo parts. In 1891, he toured Russia with the Dergach Opera. In 1892, he settled in Tiflis (now Tbilisi, Georgia), because he found a good teacher, Dmitri Usatov, who gave Chaliapin free professional opera training for one year. He also sang at the St. Aleksandr Nevsky Cathedral in Tbilisi. In 1893, he began his career at the Tbilisi Opera, and a year later, he moved to Moscow upon recommendation of Dmitri Usatov.
In 1895 ,Chaliapin debuted at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre as Mephistopheles in Charles Gounod’s Faust, in which he was a considerable success. In 1896 he also joined Mamontovs Private Russian Opera in Moscow, where he mastered the Russian, French, and Italian roles that made him famous. Savva Mamontov was a Russian industrialist and philanthropist, who staged the operas, conducted the orchestra, trained the actors, taught them singing and paid all the expenses. At Mamontov's, he met in 1897 Sergei Rachmaninoff, who started as an assistant conductor there. The two men remained friends for life.
With Rachmaninoff he learned the title role of Modest Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov, which became his signature character. Rachmaninoff taught him much about musicianship, including how to analyse a music score, and insisted that Chaliapin learn not only his own roles but also all the other roles in the operas in which he was scheduled to appear. When Chaliapin became dissatisfied with his performances, Chaliapin began to attend straight dramatic plays to learn the art of acting. His approach revolutionised acting in opera.
In 1896, Savva Mamontov introduced Chaliapin to a young Italian ballerina Iola Tornagi, who came to Moscow for a stage career. She quit dancing and devoted herself to family life with Chaliapin. He was very happy in this marriage. From 1899 until 1914, he also performed regularly at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow. The couple settled in Moscow and had six children. Their first boy died at the age of 4, causing Chaliapin a nervous breakdown.
In 1901, Chaliapin made his sensational debut at La Scala in the role of the devil in Mefistofele by Arrigo Boito under the baton of conductor Arturo Toscanini. Other famous roles were Boris Godunov in Mussorgsky's opera, King Philip in Giuseppe Verdi's Don Carlos., Bertram in Giacomo Meyerbeer's Robert le Diable, and Ivan the Terrible in The Maid of Pskov by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. His great comic characterizations were Don Basilio in Gioachino Rossini’s Il barbiere di Siviglia and Leporello in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Don Giovanni.
In 1906, Chaliapin started a civil union with Maria Valentinovna Petzhold in St. Petersburg, Russia. She had three daughters with Chaliapin in addition to 2 other children from her previous family. He could not legalize his second family, because his first wife would not give him a divorce. Chaliapin even applied to the Emperor Tsar Nicholas II with a request of registering his three daughters under his last name. His request was not satisfied.
In 1913, Chaliapin was introduced to London and Paris by the brilliant entrepreneur Sergei Diaghilev. He began giving well-received solo recitals in Paris in which he sang traditional Russian folk songs as well as more serious fare, and also performed at the Paris Opera. His acting and singing was sensational to the western audiences. He made many sound recordings, of which the 1913 recordings of the Russian folk songs Vdol po Piterskoi and The Song of the Volga Boatmen are best known.
In 1915, he made his film debut as Czar Ivan IV the Terrible in the silent Russian film Tsar Ivan Vasilevich Groznyy/Czar Ivan the Terrible (Aleksandr Ivanov-Gai, 1915) opposite the later director Richard Boleslawski. Fourteen years later, he appeared in another silent film, the German-Czech coproduction Aufruhr des Blutes/Riot of the blood (Victor Trivas, 1929) with Vera Voronina and Oscar Marion.
Feodor Chaliapin as as Czar Ivan the Terrible. Russian postcard, sent by mail in 1905.
Maxim Gorky and Feodor Chaliapin. Russian postcard. Collection: Didier Hanson. Chaliapin collaborated with Gorky, who wrote and edited his memoirs, which he published in 1933. They broke after the publication.
Maxim Gorky and Feodor Chaliapin. Russian postcard, no. 1213. Collection: Didier Hanson.
Feodor Chaliapin. Russian postcard. Collection: Didier Hanson.
Feodor Chaliapin was torn between his two families for many years, living with one in Moscow, and with another in St. Petersburg. With Maria Petzhold and their three daughters, he left Russia in 1922 as part of an extended tour of western Europe. They would never return. The family settled in Paris. A man of lower-class origins, Chaliapin was not unsympathetic to the Bolshevik Revolution and his emigration from Russia was painful. Although he had left Russia for good, he remained a tax-paying citizen of Soviet Russia for several years. Finally he could divorce in 1927 and marry Maria Petzhold.
Chaliapin worked for impresario Sol Hurok and from 1921 on, he sang for eight seasons at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. His debut at the Met in the 1907 season had been disappointing due to the unprecedented frankness of his stage acting. In 1921, the public in New York had grown more broad-minded and the eight seasons were a huge success. According to Steve Shelokhonov at IMDb, Chaliapin was the undisputed best basso in the first half of the 20th century. He had revolutionised opera by bringing serious acting in combination with great singing.
His first open break with the Soviet regime occurred in 1927 when the government, as part of its campaign to pressure him into returning to Russia, stripped him of his title of 'The First People’s Artist of the Soviet Republic' and threatened to deprive him of Soviet citizenship. Prodded by Joseph Stalin, Chaliapin’s longtime friend Maxim Gorky tried to persuade him to return to Russia. Gorky broke with him after Chaliapin published his memoirs, Man and Mask: Forty Years in the Life of a Singer (Maska i dusha, 1932), in which he denounced the lack of freedom under the Bolsheviks.
The only sound film which shows Chaliapin's acting style is Don Quixote/Adventures of Don Quixote (Georg Wilhelm Pabst, 1933). He had also starred onstage as the knight in Jules Massenet's 1910 opera, Don Quichotte, but the 1933 film does not use Massenet's music, and is more faithful to Miguel de Cervantes' novel than the opera. In fact there were three versions of this early sound film. Georg Wilhelm Pabst shot simultaneously with the German language version also English and French versions. Feodor Chaliapin Sr. starred in all three versions of Don Quixote, but with a different supporting cast. Sancho Pansa was played by Dorville in the German and French versions but by George Robey in the English version.
Benoit A. Racine at IMDb: "These films (the French, English and German versions) were an attempt to capture his legendary stage performance of this character even though the songs are by Jacques Ibert. Ravel had also been asked to compose the songs for the film but he missed the deadline and his songs survive on their own with texts that are different from those found here. The interplay between the French and English versions is fascinating. Some scenes are done exactly the same for better or worse, some use the same footage, re-cut to edit out performance problems, while others have slight variants in staging and dialogue. (The English version was doctored by Australian-born scriptwriter and director John Farrow, Mia's father, by the way.) Even though the films are short and they transform, reduce and simplify considerably the original novel, they still manage to carry the themes and the feeling that would make Man of La Mancha a hit several decades later and to be evocative of Cervantes' Spain."
In the late 1930s, Feodor Chaliapin Sr. suffered from leukaemia and kidney ailment. In 1937, he died in Paris, France. He was laid to rest is the Novodevichy Monastery Cemetery in Moscow. Chaliapin was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 6770 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California. In 1998, the TV film Chaliapin: The Enchanter (Elisabeth Kapnist, 1998) followed.
His son Boris Chaliapin became a famous painter. who painted the portraits used on 414 covers of the Time magazine between 1942 and 1970. Another son Feodor Chaliapin Jr. became a film actor, who appeared in character roles in such films as the Western Buffalo Bill, l'eroe del far west/Buffalo Bill (Mario Costa, 1965) with Gordon Scott, and Der Name der Rose/The Name of the Rose (Jean-Jacques Annaud, 1986), starring Sean Connery. His first wife, Iola Tornagi, lived in the Soviet Union until 1959, when Nikita Khrushchev brought the 'Thaw'. Tornagi was allowed to leave the Soviet Union and reunited with her son Feodor Chaliapin Jr, in Rome, Italy.
Russian postcard, no. 495. Photo: K. Fisher. Publicity still for the stage production of Arrigo Boito's opera Mefistofele. Collection: Didier Hanson.
Russian postcard, no. 496. Photo: K. Fisher. Publicity still for the stage production of Arrigo Boito's opera Mefistofele. Collection: Didier Hanson.
Russian postcard, no. 499. Photo: K. Fisher. Publicity still for the stage production of Arrigo Boito's opera Mefistofele. Collection: Didier Hanson.
Russian postcard, no. 500. Photo: K. Fisher. Publicity still for the stage production of Arrigo Boito's opera Mefistofele. Collection: Didier Hanson.
Russian postcard, no. 521. Photo: K. Fisher. Publicity still for the stage production of Arrigo Boito's opera Mefistofele. Collection: Didier Hanson.
Don Quichote/Adventures of Don Quixote (1933). Source: LikeManyThingThings (YouTube).
Sources: Steve Shelokhonov (IMDb), Benoit A. Racine (IMDb), Encyclopaedia Britannica, Wikipedia and IMDb.
|
0.967883 |
How to build a 355 stroker motor As you may well know, building a Holden 355 stroker will involve using a 308 cubic inch core as the basis for your build. Most likely this will be a used block, so you will have to have this checked for core shift, minute cracks, pinholes and other possible defects. Any well-equipped machine shop can do this for you.
If you do a search for Holden 355 stroker kits on the Internet, you will be faced with a ton of choices, but you need to be warned that there are a lot of parts available online that will give you grief. There are countless stories of cranks snapping in half or other parts breaking from cheap but untested sellers. You generally get what you pay for and when it comes to crankshafts, Harrop, Come and Pavtek have been found to be the best in terms of quality and longevity. Note that fitting the 355 crank will require some block deburring so that it will clear the walls of the block. Not much material has to be removed, about .080 will do the trick.
Since you are going the stroker route for more power, it's a good idea to look at a hotter cam. There are plenty of tried and tested brands in this regard and street setups do well with 276 or 288 duration cams. Some still get away with 304 cams but at that point, you are giving up a bit of driveability for the extra power. Only you know how you will be using the engine, so the best compromise will be up to you.Don't be afraid to ask if you're unsure.
Part of having a bulletproof bottom end is using rods and pistons that can take the punishment that you intend to dish out. Hard use requires that you use aftermarket rods as well as top-quality pistons. If forced induction or nitrous injection is in the engine's future, all the more so. Since time immemorial, it's always been the unbendable rule that the faster you want to go, the more money you need to spend.
A lot of people building 355 strokers for the street have had great success with Holden VN rods and heads. When using these rods, it's best to have them magnafluxed and x-rayed or sonic tested. Then have them heat treated and stress relieved so that they don't break from the continued revving that will be sure to come their way. With the heads, successful racers can point you to the guys who do the best mods. When it comes to the induction system, you can go the carb or fuel injection route, depending on your needs, budget and inclination.
Don't be cheap on things like bearings and gaskets. There's nothing more frustrating and disheartening than having to pull an engine because of a leak or a knock caused by a cheap rod or crank bearing or a leaky gasket. Finally, get a good ignition system. There's lots of choices and you can get recommendations from your mates on which perform well and reliably.
If you're having the engine built by someone else, be sure to give them the truth of how the engine will be used, because the builder will be able to recommend which parts can be compromised on and which are a necessity. And despite the efforts and attempts by many, there are builders and tuners who have really set themselves by apart by the quality of their tune and workmanship. A 355 engine that has been put together with proven parts and tuned by a knowledgeable mechanic will easily put out 400 horsepower, and 500 plus horsepower is fairly common for the hotter builds. As we said, horsepower is equal to dollars but it is possible to have a nice, reliable 355 stroker motor for a price a little more than the cost of an engine rebuild.
|
0.966463 |
Then: Terry Waite spent nearly five years as a captive in Beirut before his release in 1991.
(CNN) -- He was already famous for negotiating the release of hostages in Iran and Libya when the tables turned on British envoy Terry Waite in 1987.
In Beirut, Lebanon, working to free Western hostages, the negotiator was taken prisoner himself. He was accused of working as an American agent (a charge he denies) and endured nearly five years of beatings, interrogations and solitary confinement.
"Sometimes I look back on those years in captivity -- four years in solitary confinement and almost a year with other people -- and I ask myself the question, 'How on earth did I manage to go through that?'" he said.
At intervals during confinement, his captors would hold Waite down with a pillow over his head as the soles of his feet were beaten with cables -- keeping him from walking for up to a week at a time.
Waite credits mental toughness and hope for keeping him alive.
"Because of faith, I could say in the face of my captives, 'You have the power to break my body and you've tried, the power to bend my mind and you've tried, but my soul isn't yours to possess,'" he said. "That little affirmation was enough for me to maintain hope and I think in a situation of real difficulty if you can maintain hope, you're half way home."
As official adviser to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Waite had years of experience in diplomacy before his time in captivity. In 1981, Waite successfully negotiated freedom for several hostages in Iran, and in 1983 he met with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to bargain the release of several British hostages.
More than four years after Waite was kidnapped, the political climate in Lebanon changed enough to allow the United Nations to arrange for his release. He was freed in September 1991.
Following his release, Waite was celebrated around the world and in his native England.
He took a position at University of Cambridge's Trinity Hall in England, where he chose to live in near-seclusion for the first year after his release. He spent much of his time writing a book about his ordeal, "Taken on Trust."
Assimilating into everyday living was tough at first, Waite said.
"I suppose in the first year, particularly in the first months of release, I was in a daze. I still don't have a clear memory of the events in the first weeks following release," he explained. "Initially, when I came [home], I really couldn't sit down and have a meal with my family. I used to eat totally alone in the middle of the night ... because they just couldn't bear the emotional exchange. It was too much."
Today, Waite is a grandfather of three and is approaching age 70, but says he isn't even considering retirement.
Half of the year, Waite gives lectures and writes about terrorism and his experiences as both a negotiator and captive. The other half he devotes to international charity work.
He's traveled from his home to South Africa to bolster AIDS projects and to Kosovo to work with victims of war, mostly women and children. Recently, Waite traveled to southern India to assist in tsunami relief efforts.
He also dedicates himself to Hostage UK, a support group for the families of hostages.
"I suppose having been a captive ... I do find now that I really appreciate life even more fully, and I've got lots of interests," he said.
"I'm immensely fortunate to be able to be involved in so many different projects all around the world which are so absorbing, and I like to think they are doing something to help heal our world."
|
0.994971 |
Explain that patients who have abdominal computed tomography (CT) scans may be getting extra series of tests -- most commonly delayed-phase imaging -- that aren't necessary and lead to increased radiation exposure.
Explain that this study was published as an abstract and presented at a conference. The findings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.
CHICAGO -- More than half of patients who have abdominal computed tomography (CT) scans may be getting extra series of tests that aren't necessary and that lead to increased radiation exposure, researchers said here.
In a retrospective analysis, 52.2% of patients had an unindicated series of scans -- most often delayed-phase imaging, which involves a contrast agent diffusing through blood, tissues, and subsequently organs, said Kristie Guite, MD, of the University of Wisconsin in Madison.
"Our study found that the ALARA principle [As Low As Reasonably Achievable] is not being followed," Guite said at a press briefing at the meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.
Concern about excessive doses of ionizing radiation from medical imaging has been a major concern for patients and the physicians who refer them for scans. The researchers said that much attention has been paid to overall CT use and inappropriate scanning parameters.
However, additional series of scans -- noncontrast or delayed-phase scanning, for example -- are one source of excess radiation that hasn't been looked at.
So they reviewed abdominal and pelvic CT scans for 500 patients that had been forwarded to the University of Wisconsin in Madison for interpretation, which totaled 978 series exams.
They found that about a third of the series exams -- 35.3% of them -- were unindicated. More than half of the patients (52.2%) had had unindicated scans.
The most common additional and unnecessary scans were delayed-phase imaging -- in 77.7% of the 345 unindicated series exams. Delayed-phase scanning allows radiologists to capture images as a contrast agent diffuses through the arteries, into tissues and veins, and ultimately through organs. Delayed-phase imaging is typically indicated after trauma or for renal masses.
"But most patients who get it don't have either of these indications," said co-author J. Louis Hinshaw, MD, of the University of Wisconsin. "They're getting this despite the fact that there's no good indication."
Patients got a mean total radiation dose of 32.9 mSv -- the equivalent of about 1,000 chest X-rays, Guite said. That's 10 times the normal cosmic background radiation humans receive annually, she added.
Guite said about 20% of the records indicated that the patients received more than 50 mSv of radiation, and seven of the 500 patients received greater than 100 mSv in a single scan.
Previous research has shown that doses in excess of 100 mSv may increase risk of radiation-induced cancer, Guite said.
She added that if these unnecessary series scans were eliminated, radiologists could reduce overall radiation exposure by 63% and avoid about 23,000 radiation-induced cancer cases per year in the US.
Hinshaw said he suspects that at many institutions, "there is a lack of focus on selecting CT protocols tailored specifically to answer the clinical question." He also suggested that having the tools and the ability to use them may also set in motion additional tests.
Guite said the most important finding is that "adherence to ALARA does not appear to be widespread at this time."
Robert Zimmerman, MD, of New York-Presbyterian Hospital and Weill Cornell Medical Center, said radiologists need to remember ALARA.
"ALARA is a goal that radiologists have been looking at for several years, and it's not just referring physicians [who are over exposing patients to radiation]. Some of our own radiologists haven't been paying attention to this as they should have," Zimmerman said. "All of us should be much more sensitive."
A co-author reported being a stockholder in NeuWave Medical, and a patent holder with Covidien AG.
Source Reference: Guite KM, et al "Excess radiation exposure in abdominal computed tomography: An audit of unindicated additional series" RSNA 2009; Abstract SSE22-03.
|
0.999121 |
I’ve received a few questions about the best way to cool down and stretch after a kettlebell workout. Here’s a bootcamp and kettlebell cool down and stretch sequence that I use fairly often for myself and for the bootcamp classes that I teach. You’ll notice that I’ve also incorporated yoga technique so that it flows smoothly from one stretch into the next.
Why Cool Down and Stretch?
Strenuous exercise and vigorous activity causes muscles to tighten up. Overly tight muscles are easily strained or pulled, so it’s very important to stretch them properly after physical activity.
Additionally, when your heart rate is elevated from exercise, it’s important to bring it back down gradually. Allow your body temperature to slowly return to normal and allow your blood to slowly redistribute itself properly throughout the body. This helps alleviate any soreness from the build up of lactic acid, and prevents the blood from pooling up around your muscles.
Keep the blood flowing properly and encourage good circulation to prevent dizziness, fatigue, and nausea.
The best type of stretching for cooling your body down is static stretching.
Dynamic stretching is best for the warm up. Dynamic stretching is controlled movements that heat up the body, and take you to the limits of your full range of motion. This prepares the muscles for more rigorous activity and loosens everything up for more active movement.
Static stretching is better suited for relaxing the muscles and easing tension that has been built up in the muscles from exercise. You want to take your static stretches deep, but not to the point where you feel any pain.
Static stretching involves slow, smooth stretching with longer holds of 20-60 seconds per stretch. I don’t actually like staring at a stopwatch while I’m stretching, so I usually time my stretches by the breaths that I take. Try holding each stretch for a good 5-10 breaths. You can vary the length of time in your stretches depending on how tight you feel, and the intensity of the work that you just completed. A really intense workout might require additional time for stretching.
The key to getting a good static stretch is in the breathing. Deep exhalations allow your muscles to relax and enables you to sink into your stretches a little deeper.
Do you have a stretch routine that you like to do after your workouts? I’d love to hear about it.
You can always save the link to this article or video on your phone, tablet, or computer and follow along with this stretch no matter where you’re working out.
|
0.882543 |
Why would most people like to have a boyfriend or a girlfriend?
It is because he or she lacks the Yin (feminine aspect) or Yang (masculine aspect).
We are born with the desire to find God.
Before we succeed, we take whatever is most convenient. Therefore, we seek boyfriends or girlfriends, or get married, etc.
When in love, each person gives the other either Yin or Yang. So, the two of them are very happy, very much at ease and contented.
Therefore, when you are really in love, wow! You are so happy, because you give naturally, and then you have the Yin and Yang naturally.
God arranges them to flow between you.
However, people tend to forget later, and become unnatural. When in love longer, they expect from each other!
They have been so happy in love because the Yin and Yang energies have been replenishing each other naturally.
Suddenly, one day, they will get used to this kind of feeling, thinking it is because of the other person that they are so happy, not realizing that God is charging them naturally.
When you are not thinking, God flows this energy to the two of you simultaneously and naturally supplements you. This is being given naturally when you are not thinking.
So the two of you are happy.
As you start to think, then we say "missing", missing the other person. We think we are happy because of that person. Then, we begin to have attachment, and want to bind him to our sides, wishing to retain this happiness forever, just like when freshly in love.
As we start thinking in this way, the energy is transformed into a limited one. We think it is from the other person instead of from God.
So the energy is suddenly severed, understand?
The power of our thoughts is so strong that anything would come true accordingly. So, as your thought emerges, the system is disconnected.
The two persons then rely on each other, because they feel they are lacking something!
Unable to get contentment, they would capture, bind and cling to each other, and sink deeper in agony together.
Originally, they were two persons, now they stick together as if they have transformed into one, but still with two egos. Do you understand?
The energies stick together, but not the egos!
(Master and everyone laugh.) And then the problem starts right here.
Each of us originally have our own energy and ego, controlling our own life, and being our own master.
Before knowing the other person, we were always our own master! Today, I will watch TV, eat a certain vegetarian dish and I myself want to eat it, without caring about anyone.
As the two get together and become one later, they supplement each other, and are happy together.
However, their egos have not become one.
Both of them are not accustomed to having two egos, and would only follow their individual ego. She wants to go swimming, while he prefers watching TV.
The two heads simply won't coordinate, and it could be very troublesome. Both of them want to be the boss, though not deliberately.
They have forgotten that all their capital is now in the same investment, but with two bosses. (Master and everyone laugh.) Then, the two bosses start quarrelling, as both want to take charge.
So, this is where marriage failures start.
The quarrels carry on, not contented with the love, the two egos try to become the only boss, destroying or suppressing the other one. As both of them are doing the same, there are struggles and agonies.
Love vanishes, followed by the energy also vanishing.
Their vitality is limited, so they feel it is diminishing.
They start blaming one another: "You don't love me anymore!" Then, they would pick faults with each other. "Why are you becoming like this?"
They never saw any faults before, when they were abundant in vitality and bliss. Even when his hair turned white, it would not be noticed, not even when the floor is covered with fallen hair. (Master and everyone laugh.) They simply sweep the floor while singing, "La-la-la..." The hair is beautiful, I love you..."
Now, they can't stand seeing one single hair on the pillow.
They are picking faults, here, there and everywhere. It is because they are no longer happy, not contented, also because of the two egos.
The two bosses are fighting for control.
Since both of them want to take charge, surely one of them has to be eliminated!
As a new spiritual practitioner, our greatest fear is being attracted to some heretical paths.
Heretical paths, meaning side tracks, not necessarily those inscribing mantras, or reciting hu-la-hop. This is not definite. Heretical path simply means not the path that we want to walk on.
New practitioners are not steady enough to resist the allure of lust and passion. Then we will become weaker, and forget to get the vitality from God.
We are finished when we depend on the other feeble person to render us happiness. Once overpowered, our spiritual practice would stop dead, not an inch of further progress.
That was why ancient people advised practitioners to become monks. Having become a monk, you better don't look at girls anymore.
There is an Indian saying: Even the girl is seventy years old, teeth all gone, hair all gone, dying on her bed, still don't look at her.
They were frightened to such extent, understand?
It is because, they fear that the new practitioners cannot steady their mind. Once abducted, their affinity with God is severed.
Without the connection, he would think the other person can give him happiness. Therefore, their vitality is getting less, because they rely on each other.
Observing that you are relying on someone else, God would say, "Okay! You don't need me anymore! Good bye!"
This is a natural and automatic system.
You get what you asked for.
If you pray to God, and find your Kingdom of God within, all will be added unto you.
If all you asked for is that tiny petty drop, then it is all you will get.
This is the way with the automatic system.
This is why people in the world cannot find God.
They recite so many scriptures each day, but they can see no one. Whatever they prayed for is not answered, understand? They are either relying on people, or on those inscribed or typewritten words.
When we are in love with someone, our vitality would be united with that of the other party, not detachable.
Not detachable but with two heads.
Both of them want to be the boss.
Sometimes, it is not intentional, not deliberate, just a habit. We were used to being single. From our birth until now, twenty or thirty years old, we always walk alone, making our own decisions, deciding when we will eat, and when to go to the toilet. (Laughters) Oh! That is still negotiable!
But, negotiation won't work in most cases.
Each one sternly maintains their self-righteousness.
Sometimes, this may not be deliberate, only a habit, not realizing that they should also consider the other party. Therefore, most marriage and love would be broken at a certain stage.
They simply do not understand the mental state and this kind of system.
When two persons are in love, they replenish each other. One providing the Yin energy, the other providing the Yang. Sigh!
It is so healing, so delightful, and so you get addicted.
It's because humans also represent God, they are equipped with a power generator similar to that of God!
Therefore, when that person loves you, it resembles God loving you, so you are very happy. If the two of you love each other, both of you are fully charged, right?
The most painful moment is when they are forsaken, or when the love has just been cut off. It is as if the vitality is lost, the electric current is abruptly disconnected, so it is very painful.
This is why people love to be in love, because of the happiness. Actually, the happiness is not due to that person, but due to fact that the vitalizing energy was replenished.
We won't be disappointed if we go for the most mighty power generator in the very beginning, which is everlasting for our use.
It is all right for us to fall in love after we have steadied our pace! It is all right to have a mate. I am just afraid that we might not want any at that time.
It is all right to have one or have none.
It is only more troublesome if you have one more ego. Otherwise, you have only one ego, save the trouble of two egos.
Sleeping at night, one of you want to leave the windows open, the other wants them closed. One prefers to have the light on, the other wants them switched off.
Even trifles could cause a quarrel, right?
It will be even worse after you have a baby. One wishes the child would behave this way, the other one wants the other way. One teaches the child this, the other teaches another thing.
Actually, the other half of our soul is not to be found in this world. Only when we have found our true self, then we have truly found the other half of our soul.
Therefore, even when we were successful in marriage, wealthy, abundant in anything in this world, we still feel like we are lacking something!
It is because one person could not have sufficient energy to revitalize another person, unless we understand where the vitalities of both parties really come from.
Then, we don't have to worry about our supply being cut off.
It might be simple to say, but difficult to understand. At least, you should have an idea about this, and then do your best to practice diligently each day.
Our willpower will get stronger, and anything we wish for will come true. That is the time when we possess the almighty, invisible miracle power. Then, there is no need to recite any mantra.
Simply think about it and you will have everything.
Tại sao nhiều người lại thích tìm bạn trai, hay bạn gái?
Bởi vì họ thiếu âm hoặc thiếu dương.
Chúng ta khi sinh ra đã có ước muốn tìm kiếm Thượng Đế.
Trong lúc thương yêu nhau, hai người đều ban phát cho nhau, một người cho âm, một người cho dương, cho nên hai người đều rất sung sướng, tự nhiên, cảm thấy rất thoải mái và mãn nguyện.
Cho nên quý vị thấy khi quý vị đang yêu, ôi chao, thật là hạnh phúc. Bởi vì quý vị cho nhau một cách tự nhiên, sau đó quý vị tự nhiên có âm và dương.
Thượng Đế an bài sự lưu thông như vậy.
Tuy nhiên sau đó người ta có khuynh hướng quên đi, và trở thành mất tự nhiên. Khi yêu nhau một thời gian, hai bên đều chờ đợi nhau!
Bởi vì trong lúc yêu thương chúng ta cảm thấy rất sung sướng ban tặng nguyên khí âm dương một cách tự nhiên, cho nên hai người đều rất sung sướng.
Bỗng nhiên một ngày nọ, chúng ta quen với cảm giác đó, nghĩ rằng vì có người đó nên ta mới sung sướng, không biết rằng chính Thượng Đế truyền điện cho chúng ta một cách tự nhiên!
Khi quý vị không suy nghĩ, Thượng Đế truyền nguyên khí này cho hai người một cách tự nhiên, để họ cùng nhận được sự hỗ trợ. Điều này được ban tặng một cách tự nhiên khi quý vị không suy nghĩ.
Cho nên cả hai người đều rất sung sướng.
Khi quý vị bắt đầu nghĩ ngợi, lúc đó gọi là "tưởng nhớ", tưởng nhớ đến người đó, cho rằng vì có người đó nên chúng ta mới sung sướng như vậy.
Thế là, chúng ta bắt đầu có sự ràng buộc, và muốn trói người đó lại bên mình để được sung sướng mãi như thuở ban đầu mới yêu.
Khi chúng ta bắt đầu nghĩ như vậy, chúng ta đã biến nguyên khí đó thành hữu hạn, cho rằng đó là sự ban tặng của người đó, chứ không phải từ Thượng Đế.
Cho nên nguyên khí đó bỗng nhiên bị gián đoạn.
Bởi vì ý niệm của chúng ta rất mạnh, muốn gì được nấy. Cho nên vừa mới suy nghĩ như vậy thì hệ thống đó lập tức bị gián đoạn.
Từ đó, hai người nương tựa vào nhau, vì họ cảm thấy thiếu thốn điều gì đó!
Họ cứ tìm kiếm mãi.
Không cảm thấy mãn nguyện, họ sẽ túm lấy, trói buộc và nắm giữ nhau, và cùng chìm sâu trong đau khổ.
Vốn là hai người, sau khi sống chung hòa hợp với nhau đã biến thành tựa như là một người, nhưng vẫn còn hai cái ngã chấp. Hiểu không?
Nguyên khí dính với nhau, nhưng ngã chấp thì không dính!
(Sư Phụ và mọi người cười). Sau đó bắt đầu có chuyện.
Bởi vì mỗi chúng ta vốn đã có sẵn nguyên khí và ngã chấp của chính mình, tự kiểm soát đời sống của chính chúng ta, tự làm chủ chính chúng ta.
Khi chưa quen biết người đó, chúng ta đều tự chủ cả! Hôm nay tôi muốn coi TV, tôi muốn ăn món chay đó là tôi sẽ ăn, không cần để ý đến người khác.
Sau khi hai người sống bên nhau, họ trở thành một, hỗ trợ lẫn nhau, và vui vẻ bên nhau.
Tuy nhiên, ngã chấp của họ không trở thành một.
Hai người đều không quen với hai cái ngã chấp, mà đều đi theo ngả chấp của mình. Hôm nay một người muốn coi TV, còn người kia muốn đi bơi.
Hai cái đầu không hoà hợp với nhau, lúc đó mới sinh ra phiền não; hai người đều muốn làm chủ, mặc dầu không phải là cố ý.
Họ quên rằng bây giờ tất cả mọi vốn liếng của họ đều đã đầu tư vào một nơi, nhưng có hai ông (bà) chủ. (Sư Phụ và mọi người cười). Lúc đó hai ông (bà) chủ bắt đầu cãi nhau vì ai cũng muốn làm chủ.
Cho nên hôn nhân đổ vỡ từ điểm này.
Rồi cứ cãi nhau mãi, không hài lòng với tình yêu, hai cái ngã chấp cố gắng trở thành người chủ duy nhất, muốn thủ tiêu hãy đè bẹp đối phương. Vì cả hai người đều làm vậy, cho nên mới có sự giằng co và đau khổ.
Tình yêu bắt đầu tan biến, nguyên khí cũng tiêu tan.
Sự kết nối với nguồn nguyên khí lớn nhất từ Thượng Đế bị đứt đoạn. Bây giờ chỉ còn lại hai người nương tựa lẫn nhau.
Nguyên khí của con người có hạn, cho nên mới càng ngày càng cảm thấy thiếu thốn.
Họ bắt đầu trách cứ người kia: "Bây giờ anh (em) không yêu tôi nữa." Rồi cứ ở đó kiếm lỗi: "Hồi xưa anh (em) đâu có như thế!"
Hồi xưa không nhìn thấy gì cả, lúc đó nguyên khí còn rất sung mãn, rất sung sướng. Cho dù tóc họ có bạc trắng cũng không nhìn thấy. Tóc rụng đầy đất cũng không thấy. Còn vừa quét nhà vừa hát nghêu ngao là là là la... Mái tóc em đẹp quá, anh yêu em..."
Giờ đây, một sợi rớt trên gối thôi cũng chịu không nỗi.
Họ bắt đầu kiếm chuyện, bên này đào một chút, bên kia khơi ra một chút khuyết điểm, bởi vì không còn vui vẻ, không được mãn nguyện, và cũng bởi vì có hai cái ngã chấp.
Hai ông chủ tranh quyền nhau.
Bởi vì cả hai đều muốn làm chủ, dĩ nhiên một người phải bị loại ra.
Khi chúng ta mới bắt đầu tu hành, điều đáng sợ nhất là bị người ta lôi kéo vào bàng môn tả đạo.
Tả đạo, nghĩa là đường bên cạnh, không nhất thiết là những thứ vẻ bùa, niệm chú hu la hấp nầy kia kia nọ, không nhất định là như vậy. Tả đạo chỉ có nghĩa là con đường mà chúng ta không nên đi.
Những người mới tu, tâm còn chưa vững, điều đáng sợ nhất là bị nữ sắc hay tình yêu thu hút, sau đó chúng ta sẽ bị yếu đi, quên đi việc lấy nguyên khí từ Thượng Đế.
Khi chúng ta nương tựa vào một người yếu ớt để cho chúng ta sự khoái lạc, thì chúng ta tàn đời. Một khi chúng ta bị chi phối quá nhiều, sự tu hành của chúng ta sẽ ngưng ở đó, không tiến bộ nữa.
Cho nên người thời xưa mới khuyên người tu hành nên xuất gia. Sau khi xuất gia tốt nhất đừng nên nhìn phái nữ.
Người Ấn Độ có câu: "Cho dù người nữ đó đã bảy mươi tuổi, răng đã rụng hết, tóc không còn một cọng, bệnh sắp chết, nằm trên giường cũng không nên ngó."
Họ sợ đến như thế đó, hiểu không?
Bởi vì sợ những người mới tu không đủ biện pháp kiềm chế, nếu một khi bị kéo đi, thì duyên với Thượng Đế sẽ bị đứt đoạn.
Sau khi đứt đoạn với Thượng Đế, thì nghĩ rằng người kia mang đến cho mình hạnh phúc. Cho nên cả hai càng lúc càng mất dần nguyên khí, bởi vì cả hai nương tựa vào nhau.
Một khi Thượng Đế thấy quý vị nương tựa vào người khác, Ngài sẽ nói: "Được! Ngươi không cần ta nữa! Chào!"
Đây là một hệ thống tự động rất tự nhiên.
Quý vị muốn gì sẽ được nấy.
"Nếu quý vị cầu nguyện với Thượng Đế, quý vị tìm được Thiên quốc bên trong, và rồi mọi thứ sẽ được thêm vào cho quý vị.
Nếu như quý vị chỉ cầu mong những điều nhỏ nhặt, thì quý vị chỉ được những điều nhỏ nhặt ấy mà thôi."
Hệ thống tự nhiên là như thế.
Đó là vì sao nhân loại trên thế giới tìm không ra Thượng Đế.
Mỗi ngày đọc bao nhiêu kinh điển, nhưng cũng không thấy được ai. Cầu điều gì cũng không linh. Nếu họ không dựa vào người khác, thì họ dựa vào những dòng chữ đã viết hoặc đã đánh máy.
Cho nên Thượng Đế cũng không có cách nào hơn.
Khi chúng ta yêu thương người nào, nguyên khí của chúng ta sẽ hợp cùng một khối với người ấy, sau đó sẽ dứt không ra.
Không dứt ra được, nhưng lại có hai cái đầu.
Nếu hai cái đầu này hướng về hai phía khác nhau, thì sẽ có vấn đề lớn, sinh ra cãi vã và bất hòa. Bây giờ quý vị hiểu tại sao có cải vã chưa?
Bởi vì cả hai đều muốn làm chủ.
Nhiều khi chỉ là vô tình, không có cố ý, nhưng thói quen là như thế. Chúng ta đã quen sống một mình. Từ lúc sinh ra cho đến hai mươi, ba mươi tuổi đều làm việc một mình, tự mình làm chủ, quyết định lúc nào muốn ăn cơm, lúc nào muốn đi cầu. (Mọi người cười). Ồ!. Điều này cũng dễ thương lượng!
Nhưng rất nhiều chuyện không thể thương lượng được.
Ai cũng cứng rắn cho rằng mình là đúng.
Có những lúc không phải họ cố ý, mà chỉ là thói quen. Họ không quen nghĩ đến người khác. Cho nên rất nhiều cuộc hôn nhân, ái tình bị đổ vỡ.
Chúng ta cũng không thể trách cứ người khác, vì sao hôm nay đang yêu, ngày mai lại bỏ nhau, hôm nay kết hôn, năm sau lại ly hôn.
Bởi vì họ không hiểu tâm lý và hệ thống tự nhiên này.
Lúc hai người yêu nhau, họ sẽ hổ tương cho nhau, một người bổ sung âm, một người bổ sung dương. Chao ôi!
Thật là đầy đủ, thật là sung sướng, rồi họ say mê.
Bởi vì con người cũng là đại biểu của Thượng Đế, họ có cơ xưởng phát điện giống như Thượng Đế!
Cho nên nếu một người nào yêu thương quý vị, thì cũng giống như Thượng Đế yêu thương quý vị. Vì vậy quý vị cảm thấy rất sung sướng. Khi cả hai thương nhau, cả hai cảm thấy thật đầy đủ, phải không?
Quý vị biết khi những người đang yêu nhau, trông họ ngây ngô, không còn quan tâm đến điều chi. (Sư Phụ cùng mọi người cười).
Sau đó nếu họ bị bỏ rơi hoặc là tình yêu bị phân ly, thì họ đau khổ vô cùng, giống như bị mất đi nguyên khí, như điện đột nhiên bị gián đoạn, cho nên rất đau khổ.
Vì vậy mà người ta mới thích yêu thương, bởi vì rất sung sướng. Thật ra, sự sung sướng không phải là do người kia mang lại, mà là do nguyên khí được bổ sung nên mới sung sướng.
Chúng ta sẽ không bị thất vọng, nếu từ ban đầu chúng ta tìm đến xưởng phát điện lớn nhất, thì sẽ không bị thất vọng, vả lại còn có thể dùng được vĩnh viễn.
Sau khi chúng ta đã cứng cáp, chúng ta muốn yêu thương cũng không trễ! Muốn tìm một người bạn cũng không hề gì. Sợ rằng lúc đó chúng ta không còn muốn điều gì nữa. Có cũng được, không có cũng xong.
Có thêm một cái ngã nữa chỉ phiền phức thêm mà thôi. Nếu chỉ có một cái ngã chấp thôi, sẽ tránh được sự phiền phức của hai cái ngã chấp.
Tối đi ngủ, một người muốn mở cửa sổ, còn người kia thì muốn đóng cửa sổ; một người muốn mở đèn, con người kia thì muốn tắt đèn.
Ngay cả những chuyện nhỏ cũng sinh cãi vã, đúng không?
Rồi khi sinh con lại càng dễ cãi nhau hơn. Một người muốn em bé như thế này, người kia muốn em bé thế nọ. Người muốn dạy con thế này, còn người thì muốn dạy con thế kia, cho rằng làm thế mới tốt.
Thật ra, nửa linh hồn kia của chúng ta không thể tìm được ở thế giới này. Chỉ khi tìm thấy được con người thật của mình, lúc đó chúng ta mới thật sự tìm thấy một nửa linh hồn kia của mình.
Cho nên, ngay cả khi hôn nhân của chúng ta rất mỹ mãn, tiền bạc đầy đủ, chúng ta vẫn cảm thấy thiếu một điều gì.
Bởi vì giữa người và người không đủ nguyên khí để bổ sung cho nhau, trừ khi chúng ta thật sự hiểu rõ nguyên khí của chúng ta và nguyên khí của đối phương từ đâu mà có.
Rồi chúng ta không phải lo sợ nguồn cung cấp của mình bị đứt đoạn.
Nhưng nói thì dễ, hiểu được mới là điều khó. Tuy nhiên ít nhất chúng ta cần phải có khái niệm này, và rồi chúng ta cố gắng mỗi ngày tu hành.
Ý chí của chúng ta sẽ ngày càng mạnh mẽ, sau đó chúng ta muốn điều gì thì có điều đó. Lúc đó chúng ta sẽ có thần thông lớn nhất, thứ thần thông vô hình, không cần phải niệm phù chú nữa.
Chỉ cần nghĩ tới và quý vị sẽ có tất cả.
|
0.999976 |
You are an assistance of the famous chef. The chef made a pizza for his customer. It is your job to decorate this delicious pizza. Now it is your work time.
|
0.963751 |
Where is the Educator to Go?
Will the Educator stay in one room and have classes rotate in (most efficient) or travel from class to class?
The classroom teacher is to remain with the students.
|
0.991685 |
Allegorical sculpture refers to sculptures that symbolize and particularly personify abstract ideas as in allegory. Common in the western world, for example, are statues of Lady Justice representing justice, traditionally holding scales and a sword, and the statues of Prudence, representing Truth by holding a mirror and squeezing a serpent.This approach of using human form and its posture, gesture and clothing to wordlessly convey social values and themes.
It may be seen in funerary art as early as 1580. They were used on renaissance monuments when patron saints became unacceptable. Particularly popular were the four cardinal virtues and the three Christian virtues, but others such as fame, victory, hope and time are also represented. The use of allegorical sculpture was fully developed under the École des Beaux-Arts. It is sometimes associated with Victorian art, and is commonly found in works dating from around 1900.
Angel of Grief or the Weeping Angel is an 1894 sculpture by William Wetmore Story for the grave of his wife Emelyn Story at the Protestant Cemetery in Rome. Its full title bestowed by the creator was The Angel of Grief Weeping Over the Dismantled Altar of Life.This was Story's last major work prior to his death, a year after his wife. The statue's creation was documented in an 1896 issue of Cosmopolitan Magazine: according to this account, his wife's death so devastated Story that he lost interest in sculpture, but was inspired to create the monument by his children, who recommended it as a means of memorializing the woman. Unlike the typical angelic grave art, "this dramatic life-size winged figure speaks more of the pain of those left behind" by appearing "collapsed, weeping and draped over the tomb".The term is now used to describe multiple grave stones throughout the world erected in the style of the Story stone. A feature in The Guardian called the design "one of the most copied images in the world". Story himself wrote that "It represents the angel of Grief, in utter abandonment, throwing herself with drooping wings and hidden face over a funeral altar. It represents what I feel. It represents Prostration. Yet to do it helps me."Prominent replicas of the Angel of Grief sculpture include the Henry Lathrop monument, located in the Stanford Arboretum at Stanford University. Lathrop was the brother of Jane Stanford, the co-founder of the university. The original replica was built in 1901, but was severely damaged in the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, leading to its replacement in 1908. After years of neglect, the 1908 replacement was fully restored in 2001. Another example is the Cassard angel, erected around 1908 in the Green-Wood Cemetery in Brooklyn, New York.The image has also been used in popular culture, such as in an album cover for the band Nightwish's album Once (2004) and in the 2012 film The Woman in Black.
Cemitério da Consolação is a cemetery in São Paulo, Brazil. Located along the north side of Rua da Consolação in the district of Consolação, it was founded on 15 August 1858, with the name of Cemitério Municipal, being the city's first public graveyard.The cemetery is known by its pieces of funerary art, with graves, statues and mausoleums built and sculpted by artists such as Victor Brecheret, Ramos de Azevedo, Luigi Brizzolara and Galileo Emendabili.
Death and the Sculptor, also known as the Milmore Monument and The Angel of Death and the Young Sculptor is a sculpture in bronze, and one of the most important and influential works of art created by sculptor Daniel Chester French. The work was commissioned to mark the grave in Forest Hills Cemetery in Jamaica Plain, Boston, Massachusetts, of the brothers Joseph (1841-1886), James and Martin Milmore (1844-1883). It has two figures effectively in the round, linked to a background relief behind them. The right-hand figure represents a sculptor, whose hand holding a chisel is gently restrained by the fingers of the left-hand figure, representing Death, here shown as a winged female.
Etruscan art was produced by the Etruscan civilization in central Italy between the 9th and 2nd centuries BC. From around 600 BC it was heavily influenced by Greek art, which was imported by the Etruscans, but always retained distinct characteristics. Particularly strong in this tradition were figurative sculpture in terracotta (especially life-size on sarcophagi or temples), wall-painting and metalworking especially in bronze. Jewellery and engraved gems of high quality were produced.Etruscan sculpture in cast bronze was famous and widely exported, but relatively few large examples have survived (the material was too valuable, and recycled later). In contrast to terracotta and bronze, there was relatively little Etruscan sculpture in stone, despite the Etruscans controlling fine sources of marble, including Carrara marble, which seems not to have been exploited until the Romans.
Grave goods can be regarded as a sacrifice intended for the benefit of the deceased in the afterlife. Closely related are customs of ancestor worship and offerings to the dead, in modern western culture related to All Souls' Day (Day of the Dead), in East Asia the "hell bank note" and related customs.
Also closely related is the custom of retainer sacrifice, where servants or wives of a deceased chieftain are interred with the body.
As the inclusion of expensive grave goods and of slaves or retainers became a sign of high status in the Bronze Age, the prohibitive cost led to the development of "fake" grave goods, where artwork meant to depict grave goods or retainers is produced for the burial and deposited in the grave in place of the actual sacrifice.
Gravehopping (Slovene: Odgrobadogroba) is a 2005 Slovenian film directed by Jan Cvitkovič. It was Slovenia's submission to the 79th Academy Awards for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but was not accepted as a nominee.
A headstone, tombstone, or gravestone is a stele or marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. They are traditional for burials in the Christian, Jewish and Muslim religions, among others. In most cases they have the deceased's name, date of birth, and date of death inscribed on them, along with a personal message, or prayer, but they may contain pieces of funerary art, especially details in stone relief. In many parts of Europe insetting a photograph of the deceased in a frame is very common.
The Hypogeum of Yarhai is a hypogeum (underground tomb) from the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra which flourished in the second and third centuries AD. It is considered one of the finest examples of Palmyrene funerary art. It's a mass grave which was built to contain the remains of the Yarhai family who commissioned it to be built in 108 AD.The hypogeum dates back from 108 AD. It was originally located in Palmyra's Valley of the Tombs before being excavated and restored. It was then moved to Damascus in 1935 and was later placed in its national museum.Characteristic of most Palmyrene monuments, the ornate hypogeum is made of pale yellow limestone, and is sealed by two monolithic doors. At its center is a depiction of the deceased presiding over a funerary banquet to sustain them in their afterlife, while surrounding them, the walls display a set of funerary reliefs, characteristic of the city of Palmyra, depicting the members of the Yarhai family, with its women partly veiled to represent death, to seal the compartment shelves which contained their bodies.
The trust publishes a regular journal titled Mausolus, and researches and maintains a gazetteer of mausolea in Great Britain and Ireland.
"Trier is an example of a large Roman capital after the division of the empire. The remains of the Imperial Palace, in addition to the Aula Palatina and the Imperial Thermae, are impressive in their dimensions. The city bears exceptional testimony to Roman civilization owing to the density and the quality of the monuments preserved: the bridge, the remains of the fortified wall, thermae, amphitheatre, storehouses, etc. In particular, funerary art and the craftsmanship of potters, glassworkers, and moneyers flourished in the city."
The Chapel of San Bartolomé (Spanish: Capilla de San Bartolomé) is a funerary chapel in the historic centre of Córdoba, Spain. It is dated between 1390 and 1410. Richly decorated, it is one of the city's finest examples of Mudéjar art.
Submycenaean pottery is a style of ancient Greek pottery. It is transitional between the preceding Mycenaean pottery and the subsequent styles of Greek vase painting, especially the Protogeometric style. The vases date to between 1030 and 1000 BC.
Submycenaean pottery is not very well researched, as only few sites from the period have been discovered so far. The style was first recognised in 1939 by Wilhelm Kraiker and Karl Kübler, based on finds from the Kerameikos and Pompeion cemeteries in Athens and on Salamis. The existence of the style remained disputed among archaeologists until later discoveries in Mycenae clearly showed the existence of separate Late Mycenaean and Submycenaean strata.
Submycenaean pottery occurs primarily in contexts such as inhumations and stone-built cist graves. Find locations are widely distributed, suggesting a settlement pattern of hamlets and villages. Apart from the sites mentioned above, Submycenaean pottery is known from locations such as Corinth, Asine, Kalapodi, Lefkandi and Tiryns.
The quality of the vases varies widely. Only few shapes were produced, especially stirrup jars with a pierced shoulder, belly amphorae and neck amphorae, lekythoi as well as jars, some with trefoil-shaped mouths. By the end of the Submycenaean period, the stirrup jar was replaced by the lekythos. Submycenaean decoration is rather simple, the hand-painted motifs are limited to horizontal or vertical wavy lines, single or double hatched and overlapping triangles, as well as single or multiple concentric semicircles. The shoulders of lekythoi, amphorae and stirrup jars bore ornamental decoration. Amphorae, amphoriskoi and jugs were usually painted with one or several thick wavy lines. In general, the style was much shorter and less carefully made than the previous types of pottery.
|
0.971974 |
The "History of Soviet Russia and the Soviet Union" reflects a period of change for both Russia and the world. Though the terms "Soviet Russia" and "Soviet Union" are synonymous in everyday vocabulary, when we talk about the foundations of the Soviet Union, "Soviet Russia" refers to the few years after the abdication of the crown of the Russian Empire by Tsar Nicholas II (in 1917), but before the creation of the Soviet Union in 1922. Early in its conception, the Soviet Union strived to achieve harmony among all peoples of all countries. The original ideology of the state was primarily based on the works of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. In its essence, Marx's theory stated that economic and political systems went through an inevitable evolution in form, by which the current capitalist system would be replaced by a socialist state before achieving international cooperation and peace in a "Workers' Paradise," creating a system directed by what Marx called "Pure Communism."
Displeased by the relatively few changes made by the Tsar after the Revolution of 1905, Russia became a hotbed of anarchism, socialism and other radical political systems. The dominant socialist party, the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP), subscribed to Marxist ideology. Starting in 1903, a series of splits in the party between two main leaders was escalating: the Bolsheviks (meaning "majority") led by Vladimir Lenin, and the Mensheviks (meaning "minority") led by Julius Martov. Up until 1912, both groups continued to stay united under the name "RSDLP," but significant and irreconcilable differences between Lenin and Martov led the party to eventually split. A struggle for political dominance subsequently began between the Mensheviks and the Bolsheviks. Not only did these groups fight with each other, but they also had common enemies, notably, those trying to bring the Tsar back to power. Following the February Revolution in 1917, the Mensheviks gained control of Russia and established a provisional government, but this lasted only until the Bolsheviks took power in the October Revolution (also called the Bolshevik Revolution) later in the year. To distinguish themselves from other socialist parties, the Bolshevik party was renamed the Russian Communist Party (RCP).
Under the control of the party, all politics and attitudes that were not strictly RCP were suppressed, under the premise that the RCP represented the proletariat and all activities contrary to the party's beliefs were "counterrevolutionary" or "anti-socialist." During the years between 1917 to 1923, the Soviet Union achieved peace with the Central Powers, their enemies in World War I, but also fought the Russian Civil War against the White Army and foreign armies from the United States, the United Kingdom, and France, among others. This resulted in large territorial changes, albeit temporarily for some of these. Eventually crushing all opponents, the RCP spread Soviet style rule quickly and established itself through all of Russia. Following Lenin's death in 1924, Joseph Stalin, General Secretary of the RCP, became Lenin's successor and continued as leader of the Soviet Union until the 1950s.
Left to right: Leon Trotsky, Vladimir Lenin, and Lev Kamenev.
During World War I, Tsarist Russia experienced famine and economic collapse. The demoralized Russian Army suffered severe military setbacks, and many soldiers deserted the front lines. Dissatisfaction with the monarchy and its policy of continuing the war grew among the Russian people. Tsar Nicholas II abdicated the throne following the February Revolution of 1917 (N.S. March. See: Soviet calendar.), causing widespread rioting in Petrograd and other major Russian cities. The Russian Provisional Government was installed immediately following the fall of the Tsar by the Provisional Committee of the State Duma in early March 1917 and received conditional support of the Mensheviks. Led first by Prince Georgy Lvov, then Alexander Kerensky the Provisional Government consisted mainly of the parliamentarians most recently elected to the State Duma of the Russian Empire, which had been overthrown alongside Tsar Nicholas II. The new Provisional Government maintained its commitment to the war, joining the Triple Entente which the Bolsheviks opposed. The Provisional Government also postponed the land reforms demanded by the Bolsheviks.
Lenin, embodying the Bolshevik ideology, viewed alliance with the capitalist countries of Western Europe and the United States as involuntary servitude of the proletariat, who was forced to fight the imperialists' war. As seen by Lenin, Russia was reverting to the rule of the Tsar, and it was the job of Marxist revolutionaries, who truly represented socialism and the proletariat, to oppose such counter-socialistic ideas and support socialist revolutions in other countries. Within the military, mutiny and desertion were pervasive among conscripts, though being AWOL (Absent Without Leave) was not uncommon throughout all ranks. The intelligentsia was dissatisfied over the slow pace of social reforms; poverty was worsening, income disparities and inequality were becoming out of control while the Provisional Government grew increasingly autocratic and inefficient. The government appeared to be on the verge of succumbing to a military junta. Deserting soldiers returned to the cities and gave their weapons to angry, and extremely hostile, socialist factory workers. The deplorable and inhumane poverty and starvation of major Russian centers produced optimum conditions for revolutionaries.
During the months between February and October 1917, the power of the Provisional Government was consistently questioned by nearly all political parties. A system of 'dual power' emerged, in which the Provisional Government held nominal power, though increasingly opposed by the Petrograd Soviet, their chief adversary, controlled by the Mensheviks and Socialist Revolutionaries (both democratic socialist parties politically to the right of the Bolsheviks). The Soviet chose not to force further changes in government due to the belief that the February Revolution was Russia's "crowing" overthrow of the bourgeois. The Soviet also believed that the new Provisional Government would be tasked with implementing democratic reforms and pave the way for a proletarian revolution. Though the creation of a government not based on the dictatorship of the proletariat in any form, was viewed as a "retrograde step" in Vladmir Lenin's April Theses. However, the Provisional Government still remained an overwhelmingly powerful governing body.
Failed military offensives in summer 1917 and large scale protesting and riots in major Russian cities (as advocated by Lenin in his Theses, known as the July Days) led to the deployment of troops in late August to restore order. The July Days were suppressed and blamed on the Bolsheviks, forcing Lenin into hiding. Still, rather than use force, many of the deployed soldiers and military personnel joined the rioters, disgracing the government and military at-large. It was during this time that support for the Bolsheviks grew and another of its leading figures, Leon Trotsky, was elected chair of the Petrograd Soviet, which had complete control over the defenses of the city, mainly, the city's military force. On October 24, in early days of the October Revolution, the Provisional Government moved against the Bolsheviks, arresting activists and destroying pro-Communist propaganda. The Bolsheviks were able to portray this as an attack against the People's Soviet and garnered support for the Red Guard of Petrograd to take over the Provisional Government. The adminstative offices and government buildings were taken with little opposition or bloodshed. The generally accepted end of this transitional revolutionary period, which will lead to the creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) lies with the assault and capture of the poorly defended Winter Palace (the traditional home and symbol of power of the Tsar) on the evening of October 26, 1917.
The Mensheviks and the right-wing of the Socialist Revolutionaries, outraged by the abusive and coercive acts carried out by the Red Guard and Bolsheviks, fled Petrograd, leaving control in the hands of the Bolsheviks and remaining Left Socialist Revolutionaries. On October 25, 1917, the Sovnarkom was established by the Russian Constitution of 1918 as the administrative arm of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets. By January 6, 1918, the VTsIK, supported by the Bolsheviks, ratified the dissolution of the Russian Constituent Assembly, which intended to establish the non-Bolshevik Russian Democratic Federative Republic as the permanent form of government established at its Petrograd session held January 5 and January 6, 1918.
Arguing that the revolution needed not a mere parliamentary organization but a party of action which would function as a scientific body of direction, a vanguard of activists, and a central control organ, the Tenth Party Congress banned factions within the party, initially intending it only to be a temporary measure after the shock of the Kronstadt rebellion. It was also argued that the party should be an elite body of professional revolutionaries dedicating their lives to the cause and carrying out their decisions with iron discipline, thus moving toward putting loyal party activists in charge of new and old political institutions, army units, factories, hospitals, universities, and food suppliers. Against this backdrop, the nomenklatura system would evolve and become standard practice.
In theory, this system was to be democratic since all leading party organs would be elected from below, but also centralized since lower bodies would be accountable to higher organizations. In practice, "democratic centralism" was centralist, with decisions of higher organs binding on lower ones, and the composition of lower bodies largely determined by the members of higher ones. Over time, party cadres would grow increasingly careerist and professional. Party membership required exams, special courses, special camps, schools, and nominations by three existing members.
In December 1917, the Cheka was founded as the Bolshevik's first internal security force following the failed assassination attempt on Lenin's life. Later it changed names to GPU, OGPU, MVD, NKVD and finally KGB.
The frontiers between Poland, which had established an unstable independent government following World War I, and the former Tsarist empire, were rendered chaotic by the repercussions of the Russian revolutions, the civil war and the winding down World War I. Poland's Józef Piłsudski envisioned a new federation (Międzymorze), forming a Polish-led East European bloc to form a bulwark against Russia and Germany, while the Russian SFSR considered carrying the revolution westward by force. When Piłsudski carried out a military thrust into Ukraine in 1920, he was met by a Red Army offensive that drove into Polish territory almost to Warsaw. However, Piłsudski halted the Soviet advance at the Battle of Warsaw and resumed the offensive. The "Peace of Riga" signed in early 1921 split the territory of Belarus and Ukraine between Poland and Soviet Russia.
On December 29, 1922 a conference of plenipotentiary delegations from the Russian SFSR, the Transcaucasian SFSR, the Ukrainian SSR and the Byelorussian SSR approved the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR and the Declaration of the Creation of the USSR, forming the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. These two documents were confirmed by the 1st Congress of Soviets of the USSR and signed by heads of delegations - Mikhail Kalinin, Mikhail Tskhakaya, Mikhail Frunze and Grigory Petrovsky, Alexander Chervyakov respectively on December 30, 1922.
During the Civil War (1917–21), the Bolsheviks adopted War communism, which entailed the breakup of the landed estates and the forcible seizure of agricultural surpluses. In the cities there were intense food shortages and a breakdown in the money system (at the time many Bolsheviks argued that ending money's role as a transmitter of "value" was a sign of the rapidly approaching communist epoch). Many city dwellers fled to the countryside - often to tend the land that the Bolshevik breakup of the landed estates had transferred to the peasants. Even small scale "capitalist" production was suppressed.
The Kronstadt rebellion signaled the growing unpopularity of War Communism in the countryside: in March 1921, at the end of the civil war, disillusioned sailors, primarily peasants who initially had been stalwart supporters of the Bolsheviks under the provisional government, revolted against the new regime. Although the Red Army, commanded by Trotsky, crossed the ice over the frozen Baltic Sea to quickly crush the rebellion, this sign of growing discontent forced the party to foster a broad alliance of the working class and peasantry (80% of the population), despite left factions of the party which favored a regime solely representative of the interests of the revolutionary proletariat. At the Tenth Party Congress, it was decided to end War Communism and institute the New Economic Policy (NEP), in which the state allowed a limited market to exist. Small private businesses were allowed and restrictions on political activity were somewhat eased.
However, the key shift involved the status of agricultural surpluses. Rather than simply requisitioning agricultural surpluses in order to feed the urban population (the hallmark of War Communism), the NEP allowed peasants to sell their surplus yields on the open market. Meanwhile, the state still maintained state ownership of what Lenin deemed the "commanding heights" of the economy: heavy industry such as the coal, iron, and metallurgical sectors along with the banking and financial components of the economy. The "commanding heights" employed the majority of the workers in the urban areas. Under the NEP, such state industries would be largely free to make their own economic decisions.
In the cities and between the cities and the countryside, the NEP period saw a huge expansion of trade in the hands of full-time merchants - who were typically denounced as "speculators" by the leftists and also often resented by the public. The growth in trade, though, did generally coincide with rising living standards in both the city and the countryside (around 80% of Soviet citizens were in the countryside at this point).
The Soviet NEP (1921–29) was essentially a period of "market socialism" similar to the economic reform in China in 1978 in that both foresaw a role for private entrepreneurs and limited markets based on trade and pricing rather than fully centralized planning. As an interesting aside, during the first meeting in the early 1980s between Deng Xiaoping and Armand Hammer, a U.S. industrialist and prominent investor in Lenin's Soviet Union, Deng pressed Hammer for as much information on the NEP as possible.
During the NEP period, agricultural yields not only recovered to the levels attained before the Bolshevik Revolution, but greatly improved. The break-up of the quasi-feudal landed estates of the Tsarist-era countryside gave peasants their greatest incentives ever to maximize production. Now able to sell their surpluses on the open market, peasant spending gave a boost to the manufacturing sectors in the urban areas. As a result of the NEP, and the break-up of the landed estates while the Communist Party was strengthening power between 1917–1921, the Soviet Union became the world's greatest producer of grain.
Agriculture, however, would recover from civil war more rapidly than heavy industry. Factories, badly damaged by civil war and capital depreciation, were far less productive. In addition, the organization of enterprises into trusts or syndicates representing one particular sector of the economy would contribute to imbalances between supply and demand associated with monopolies. Due to the lack of incentives brought by market competition, and with little or no state controls on their internal policies, trusts were likely to sell their products at higher prices.
The slower recovery of industry would pose some problems for the peasantry, who accounted for 80% of the population. Since agriculture was relatively more productive, relative price indexes for industrial goods were higher than those of agricultural products. The outcome of this was what Trotsky deemed the "Scissors Crisis" because of the scissors-like shape of the graph representing shifts in relative price indexes. Simply put, peasants would have to produce more grain to purchase consumer goods from the urban areas. As a result, some peasants withheld agricultural surpluses in anticipation of higher prices, thus contributing to mild shortages in the cities. This, of course, is speculative market behavior, which was frowned upon by many Communist Party cadres, who considered it to be exploitative of urban consumers.
In the meantime, the party took constructive steps to offset the crisis, attempting to bring down prices for manufactured goods and stabilize inflation, by imposing price controls on essential industrial goods and breaking-up the trusts in order to increase economic efficiency.
Following Lenin's third stroke, a troika made up of Stalin, Zinoviev and Kamenev emerged to take day to day leadership of the party and the country and try to block Trotsky from taking power. Lenin, however, had become increasingly anxious about Stalin and, following his December 1922 stroke, dictated a letter (known as Lenin's Testament) to the party criticizing him and urging his removal as general secretary, a position which was starting to arise as the most powerful in the party. Stalin was aware of Lenin's Testament and acted to keep Lenin in isolation for health reasons and increase his control over the party apparatus.
Zinoviev and Bukharin became concerned about Stalin's increasing power and proposed that the Orgburo which Stalin headed be abolished and that Zinoviev and Trotsky be added to the party secretariat thus diminishing Stalin's role as general secretary. Stalin reacted furiously and the Orgburo was retained but Bukharin, Trotsky and Zinoviev were added to the body.
Meanwhile, the campaign against Trotsky intensified and he was removed from the position of People's Commissar of War before the end of the year. In 1925, Trotsky was denounced for his essay Lessons of October, which criticized Zinoviev and Kamenev for initially opposing Lenin's plans for an insurrection in 1917. Trotsky was also denounced for his theory of permanent revolution which contradicted Stalin's position that socialism could be built in one country, Russia, without a worldwide revolution. As the prospects for a revolution in Europe, particularly Germany, became increasingly dim through the 1920s, Trotsky's theoretical position began to look increasingly pessimistic as far as the success of Russian socialism was concerned.
With the resignation of Trotsky as War Commissar, the unity of the troika began to unravel. Zinoviev and Kamenev again began to fear Stalin's power and felt that their positions were threatened. Stalin moved to form an alliance with Bukharin and his allies on the right of the party who supported the New Economic Policy and encouraged a slowdown in industrialization efforts and a move towards encouraging the peasants to increase production via market incentives. Zinoviev and Kamenev criticized this policy as a return to capitalism. The conflict erupted at the Fourteenth Party Congress held in December 1925 with Zinoviev and Kamenev now protesting against the dictatorial policies of Stalin and trying to revive the issue of Lenin's Testament which they had previously buried. Stalin now used Trotsky's previous criticisms of Zinoviev and Kamenev to defeat and demote them and bring in allies like Vyacheslav Molotov, Kliment Voroshilov and Mikhail Kalinin. Trotsky was dropped from the politburo entirely in 1926. The Fourteenth Congress also saw the first developments of the Stalin's cult of personality with him being referred to as "leader" for the first time and becoming the subject of effusive praise from delegates.
Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev formed a United Opposition against the policies of Stalin and Bukharin, but they had lost influence as a result of the inner party disputes and in October 1927, Trotsky, Zinoviev and Kamenev were expelled from the Central Committee. In November, prior to the Fifteenth Party Congress, Trotsky and Zinoviev were expelled from the Communist Party itself as Stalin sought to deny the Opposition any opportunity to make their struggle public. By the time, the Congress finally convened in December 1927. Zinoviev had capitulated to Stalin and denounced his previous adherence to the opposition as "anti-Leninist" and the few remaining members still loyal to the opposition were subjected to insults and humiliations. By early 1928, Trotsky and other leading members of the Left Opposition had been sentenced to internal exile.
Stalin now moved against Bukharin by appropriating Trotsky's criticisms of his right wing policies and he promoted a new general line of the party favoring collectivization of the peasantry and rapid industrialization of industry, forcing Bukharin and his supporters into a Right Opposition.
At the Central Committee meeting held in July 1928, Bukharin and his supporters argued that Stalin's new policies would cause a breach with the peasantry. Bukharin also alluded to Lenin's Testament. While he had support from the party organization in Moscow and the leadership of several commissariats, Stalin's control of the secretariat was decisive in that it allowed Stalin to manipulate elections to party posts throughout the country, giving him control over a large section of the Central Committee. The Right Opposition was defeated and Bukharin attempted to form an alliance with Kamenev and Zinoviev but it was too late.
This page was last modified on 16 November 2015, at 05:44.
|
0.984331 |
So why do parrots mimic human voices and sounds? It stems from their natural instinct to communicate socially; when parrots live in flocks, they use calls to identify one another. In an article for Scientific American, Michael Schindlinger, an assistant professor of biology at Lesley University, explains that parrots rely on a learning process to develop their vocalizations. Many other animals are born with their communication skills hardwired - they are born understanding a certain set of calls (i.e. there is a specific call to express hunger, a specific call to express danger, etc.). The advantage of learning to communicate lies in the ability to produce context-specific calls; parrots can identify individuals within a flock based off of a particular learned call, for example. The ability to learn calls also helps parrots determine levels of neural functioning; when sizing up a potential mate or ally, a parrot can get a better understanding of another's hearing, muscle control, and memory just by listening to calls.
One of the most fascinating side effects of parrots learning to vocalize is the development of local dialects between flocks. Parrots from different regions use slightly different sounds - think of the difference between a thick Boston accent and a strong Southern drawl - and this helps males and females locate partners (or avoid them!) from similar areas. This can also help parrots familiarize themselves with any neighbors so that they can then distinguish an intruder passing through their territory.
In studies where birds were presented with recordings of other birds, researchers found that they will react more strongly to their native tongue. It seems that this may be the most logical reason for parrots to mimic sounds; they change their tone or dialect to better get the attention of whomever they're speaking to! They recognize that another creature will pay more attention to familiar sounds than foreign sounds. When parrots live with humans, they most likely learn to mimic human sounds so that they can more easily grab the attention of their owners.
|
0.998804 |
A Jewish individual who is mourning the loss of a loved one typically sits shiva. In Judaism, you are considered a mourner when your spouse, mother, father, brother, sister or child passes away. Often, other relatives also “sit shiva” and mourn with you, but traditional Jewish law (or “Halakha”) does not require their participation or officially consider them mourners in the context of a shiva.
During the period of shiva, mourners traditionally sit on low stools or boxes while they receive condolence calls. This is where the phrase “sitting shiva” comes from, and it is a practice that symbolizes the mourner being “brought low” following the loss of a loved one. The rituals of sitting shiva may vary, however, depending on the beliefs of the particular mourners involved as well as their age and/or relationship status.
According to Jewish tradition, the happiness of a newlywed couple is paramount to a successful marriage and the survival of the Jewish people. As such, newlyweds in the first weeks of marriage are often excused from certain mourning rituals. While newlyweds are encouraged to focus on their happiness and new life, they should be mindful of the grieving period and honor the memory of the decedent.
Although children whose ages fall below the bar/bat mitzvah age are not bound by traditional mourning laws, spiritual communities and religious groups often disagree about the type of interactions and involvement children should have during a grieving period. The Jewish canon does not explicitly prohibit or condone the presence of children during shiva; as a result, the decision of whether to include children in the shiva period falls on the mourning family. While contemplating this decision, the family should consider several factors including the relationship of the child to the deceased, the age and maturity of the child in question, and the child's ability to behave properly and respectfully in the grieving environment. Parents who decide to include a young child or children in the traditions of mourning should first explain to the child(ren) in simple and understandable terms what to expect and how to behave properly.
|
0.995549 |
If a cocaine addict commits criminal acts, he or she is often forced by authorities to undergo treatment. It is untrue that if a person is forced to get treatment, the treatment will not work. There are, in fact, a great number of cocaine addicts who recovered despite being forced by authorities. So, if there is a chance for you to acquire treatment for a loved one, take advantage of it. Forced treatment helps a person to avoid returning to criminal behavior.
There are two types of behavioral treatment, the outpatient treatment program and the residential treatment program. The first type is designed for patients who can manage to go to rehab clinics on a regular basis. The second type, on the other hand, is appropriate for pregnant women, those who commit criminal activities under the influence of drugs, and those who are seriously impaired physically by drugs.
The behavioral treatment enables patients to change their attitude and behavior to drugs, limit and eliminate drug cravings, and stay longer in rehab. In addition, through the treatment, patients can hone healthy life skills and become active and productive members of their communities.
Currently, medication is not one of the options for cocaine addiction treatment. There is still no known effective medication to prevent addiction relapse and to ease cocaine craving. Nevertheless, food and drug departments of various governments are testing potentially effective medication so they can be used in treatments.
|
0.861403 |
Schwyz, canton, central Switzerland, traversed by the valleys of the Muota and the Sihl. More than three-quarters of the canton is reckoned as productive (forests covering about 92 square miles [238 square km]), and about 25 square miles (65 square km) are occupied by lakes, chiefly parts of Lakes Zürich and Lucerne, a small area of Lake Zug, and the whole of Lakes Lauerz and Sihl. Its highest point is the Ortstock (8,911 feet [2,716 m]), and two of the loftiest summits of the Rigi massif (the Kulm, 5,899 feet [1,798 m], and the Scheidegg, 5,463 feet [1,665 m]) are within its borders; but the land is largely hilly rather than mountainous. The valley of Schwyz was first mentioned in 972 as Suittes. Later, a community of freemen settled at the foot of the Grosser Mythen (6,230 feet [1,899 m]), subject only to the count of the Zürichgau, as representing the German king. In 1240 the community, then comprising the district around the village of Schwyz and the Muota Valley, obtained the privilege of being subject immediately to the empire. After Rudolf IV of Habsburg (later Rudolf I of Germany) refused to recognize its privileges, Schwyz took the lead in forming the Everlasting League of 1291 with the neighbouring districts of Uri and Unterwalden. The leadership of Schwyz in the early history of the league led to the application of its name in dialectical form, Schweiz (Switzerland), to the three founder cantons as early as 1320 and to the whole confederation by 1352 (although it became the official name only after 1803). After the victory over Austria at Sempach (1386), Schwyz greatly extended its borders. Schwyz opposed the Protestant Reformation and took part in the Battle of Kappel (1531), in which the Swiss Reformation leader Huldrych Zwingli fell. It formed part of the Helvetic Republic in 1798, regaining its status as an independent canton in 1803. Schwyz joined the Sonderbund (separatist Roman Catholic league) in 1845. The cantonal constitution of 1848, which put an end to the ancient Landsgemeinde (open-air elections of the canton, with voting by show of hands), was revised in 1876 and 1898.
The canton is primarily pastoral and noted for its local breed of brown cattle. Industrial activity (machinery, metal and wood products, and furniture manufacture) is centred near Schwyz (the capital) and Lake Zürich, and there are hydroelectric-power plants along Wägitaler Lake. There are mountain railways, but few major railroad lines. The largest towns are Schwyz and the pilgrimage centre of Einsiedeln. The population is predominantly German speaking and Roman Catholic. Area 351 square miles (908 square km). Pop. (2007 est.) 138,832.
|
0.993016 |
How do I remove an image from a playlist?
To remove an image from one of your playlists (you cannot remove images from the playlists Meural creates), first click on the user icon, and then "Playlists". Click on the playlist you want to remove the image from, and then click on the Organize icon (it looks like a cluster of blocks). On the next page you will see all of your images with “x” marks in the right hand corner. Click on the “x” mark to delete the image or images you want to remove and then click on the ‘Done’ button in the upper right hand corner of your screen to save changes.
|
0.999625 |
How many times have you drunk a liter (or four cups for that matter) of coffee just to stay awake and study for tomorrow’s exam? Probably a couple of times, at least, because every student uses coffee to boost the energy and prepare for a certain exam. The bad side of it comes when you drink lots of coffee and then you experience headaches, arrhythmia and high blood pressure. Therefore, nature has offered many different alternatives to coffee, which potentially has better effects on your concentration, yet lack the serious and concerning side effects present with coffee. An excellent example of such an herb is called Yerba Mate which became more popular recently as a much effective drink than coffee. This great natural nootropic herb, similar to coffee, is also a natural caffeine source, but the caffeine boost is stable and smooth when compared to coffee, which has much frequent crashes and peaks that promote the caffeine side effects.
Yerba Mate is most commonly used as a coffee-like nootropic alternative which increases vigilance and alertness, yet offering a positive stress-free mood. Different reviews state that it helps an individual to achieve mental clarity for a longer period during work or when studying. This plant originates from South America’s subtropical areas such as Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia. The drink made from this plant has been used as a nutritional supplement, similar to coffee, and is still used as a drink in many European cultures. The taste of this herb is similar to the taste of green tea and it is also available in combination with many flavored extracts, to hide the bitter taste of flavonoids which this plant is full of. Yerba Mate consists of various nutrients such as selenium, magnesium, inositol, vitamins A, B1, B2, B3, B5, C, E, fatty acids and a complex of antioxidants, ready to boost your immune system and maintain your health.
Yerba Mate has a couple of known mechanisms and effects in that it works similar to green tea. Its main characteristics are that it acts like a cognitive enhancer and it stimulates the central nervous system, like caffeine. Important ingredients which support this mechanism are antioxidants, polyphenols, vitamins, amino acids, and minerals. This herb helps maintains one’s health, including the cognitive functions of the brain.
Another mechanism which is supported by numerous studies is its influence on the energy-related systems which complete the cellular function and metabolism. This results in higher concentrations of ATP, the main source of energy for a cell. It also acts as a vasodilator and helps the blood vessels to dilatate by relaxing the muscles. The dilatation of blood vessels improves the blood flow and the general cardiovascular functions.
Probably the most important benefit of Yerba Mate is its antioxidative activity. The main components of this herb are antioxidants and when compared to different varieties of green tea, it contains 90% more antioxidants. The significant boost of the immune system helps the removal of harmful free radicals, preventing them from damaging the brain and body. Because the brain produces a lot of energy thanks to its function, this organ is the most sensitive when it comes to free radicals. Yerba Mate prevents the effects of free radicals and it detoxifies the brain cells as well, preventing many types of cancer in your body and slows the aging process.
It has nutrients such as vitamins, antioxidants, minerals, amino acids and polyphenols that enhance the ability to focus or concentrate. These Yerba Mate nutrients will give the balancing effect. The nutrients will increase the clarity and mental energy without additional side effects that caffeine normally brings. Additionally, this herbal nootropic supplement reduces anxiety, insomnia, and stress for many individuals.
When it comes to physical endurance, Yerba Mate works on this field as well. It helps the metabolism of carbohydrates, which is essential for body energy and the loss of unwanted calories from your body depot. It affects the levels of lactic acid, which benefits the muscles and prevents pain after the workout, speeding up the recovery time.
When it comes to Yerba Mate and its recommended dosage, there is very limited information regarding its proper daily uptake. However, scientists advise that drinking this herbal preparation should be done in moderation, since taking abnormally high doses may have the potential to lead to the appearance of some types of cancer (at least that is the theory). Even though antioxidants prevent the cancer phenomenon, these chemicals promote oxidative action in the body when administered in higher concentrations, so it is recommended not to go overdrive with the use of this nootropic. It is better to consult your medical professional before you decide to use this natural nootropic for the first time.
The proper dosage depends on one’s personal reasons for taking these supplements, as well as on several factors which should be considered, including how it is supplemented and any other supplements being taken in combination. If you take Yerba Mate as a tea, it is recommended to take only 1-3 cups per day. On the other hand, if you are taking it as a supplement, once per day of 500 mg is the recommended dosage. When taking other polyphenols and caffeine supplements and drinks, it is recommended to lower the dosage of Yerba Mate. Every manufacturer that sells this herbal preparation has the recommended usage on the package, so the following of such instructions is highly recommended.
Even though this herbal preparation is much better than coffee when it comes to side effects, it still has some issues which should be avoided when using this herb to prepare drinks. Some rare side effects may include stomach upset, vomiting, nausea, nervousness, insomnia, increased heart rate, headache, ringing in ears, and restlessness. If this supplement is consumed in higher doses, these side effects are more likely to occur, so in this case you should seek an advice from a medical professional. As always, stop use of any supplement when unpleasant side effects occur and seek the cousel of a medical professional.
|
0.99976 |
Making $100 online in one-two days on a weekend is a very doable task if you approach it correctly. Here are 50 ways that you can make this happen and create a steady stream of new part-time income.
1. Create a free ebook on a hot topic and then upsell your readers on a paid product. Distribute it freely online.
2. Create a review of a hot product or a popular book and post it on your blog or website with an affiliate link and then share your post on a large number of social networking and other sites.
3. If you already have an email list, you can send out an email promoting a new product by you or someone else and include it as a part of a valuable email with some great content.
4. Write 3-5 great articles for examiner.com and publicize them.
5. Post several new blog posts with google adsense and share them on twitter, facebook, and other social networking and social bookmarking sites. Make them timely, relevant and interesting.
6. Create a couple of video reviews of popular books or other items and promote them on several video sites with an affiliate link.
7. Create a hot offer and a hot piece of content and post the content on facebook with a link to your hot offer.
8. Use the search feature on twitter to find people who are looking for a solution to a problem and then create a product you can sell to them that solves their problem or recommend a product for which you are an affiliate.
9. Scan message boards and forums and offer people a product that solves a problem or answers a burning question that people are asking.
10. Visit groups on facebook and do the same thing as in numbers 8 and 9.
11. Set up a short time frame auction on ebay for a hot product and sell it.
12. Give away a free ebook with some affiliate links in it and encourage people to share it.
13. Host an online party and sell some high demand products.
14. Have a teleseminar on a popular topic and charge a fee to attend.
15. Hold a webinar on a popular topic and charge a fee to attend.
16. Have a fire sale of products on your website and publicize it to everyone.
17. Create an online series of videos on a hot topic. Give away one for free and sell the others.
18. Spend all day taking paid surveys.
19. Create a one page website with valuable content and put a paypal donate button it asking people to contribute whatever they think your content is worth.
20. Take a bunch of really cute and classy photos. Post them on facebook or another popular website and offer people the chance to buy copies of your photos.
21. Upload some unique t-shirts, stickers and other products to café press and promote your site like crazy.
22. Create some high quality logos and offer people the chance to buy them.
23. Create a paid audio series like a podcast and offer it for sale.
24. Find a business that needs a video commercial made. Make the commercial and post it online for them.
25. Find a company that needs a website designed and do it for them.
|
0.999999 |
A corporation has $90 million in current assets. If the corporation has a current ratio of 1.2 and a quick ratio of 0.9, what is net working capital?
$10 million. $15 million. $81 million. $108 million.
Answer (B) is correct. Net working capital is Current assets � Current liabilities. The current ratio is Current assets � Current liabilities. Current liabilities can be found as follows: Current ratio = Current assets � Current liabilities $90 million � Current liabilities Current liabilities 1.2 = $90 million � 1.2 = $75 million Therefore, net working capital is $15 million ($90 million � $75 million).
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.