Of the many pest control methods being used today, roach foggers are one of the most effective and easy to use methods.
With such a product, you do not need to hire a professional exterminator to control the cockroach infestation in your premises. When deployed roach foggers will produce a pesticide fog in the target area (Source).
This fog will penetrate the cracks and crevices to kill cockroaches and prevent them from coming back. However, not all the available roach foggers are suited for all applications.
To choose the right product, you need to consider such aspects as the coverage, safety, type, effectiveness, size and weight of the fogger.
As the name suggests, this pesticide fogger produces a concentrated fog and offers a great level of penetration. This being the case, the product is one of the most effective foggers you can buy today. In addition to exterminating the cockroaches in the area of application, the Raid Concentrated Deep Reach Fogger will also control several other pests in your home.
Provided that you applied the fogger properly, Raid fogger will continue killing cockroaches for up to two months. This is achieved using the powerful residue action of the product. With regards to coverage, this product is best suited for a 25' by 25' room with an 8' ceiling.
The deep-penetrating fog produced by this fogger will penetrate all the hard to reach points in the room and kill the annoying bugs.
Well, not all the roach foggers in the market today are suited for indoor application. With the Spectracide Bug Stop Indoor Fogger5, you only need to fog the space and leave it for about 2 hours. After the 2 hours, the room will be safe both for humans and pets. Another thing you will love about this product is the fact that it is odorless.
The product comes with application instructions for deep-penetrating and lasting bug extermination effect. Provided that you use it as instructed, the product will not stain surfaces in your home. Additionally, it has been proven to be safe for use on fabrics, drapes, blinds, shades, furniture, linens, floor tiles, carpets, clothing, bedspreads and upholstery.
With regards to effectiveness, the product has been proven to be effective against both crawling and flying insects. The product may be used to control pests in a space measuring about 2,000 cu ft. For safety purposes, it is not advisable to use this fogger in rooms that are smaller than 5' x 5'. If you have a room smaller than this in your home, it is advisable to let the fog flow in from adjacent rooms.
Again, you need to shut off all the pilot lights and gas valves in your home before deploying this fogger. This will reduce the risk of explosion associated with this product. Other than that, you will find the product easy to use and to have a fast action, killing all crawling and flying insects in less than 2 hours.
Are you looking for guaranteed results in your new roach fogger? If so, you need to try the Hot Shot Indoor Fogger. In this regard, the product has been proven to continue killing insects for up to 2 months after the initial application. This way, you will not only have an immediate; but also long term pest control in your home.
Since the product is designed for indoor application, it features an odor neutralizer design. The product is best used in spaces not larger than 2000 cu feet. This being the case, you will find it effective when used in attics, basements, barns, storage rooms, cabins, campers, boat cabins, garages, households and even in trailers.
Many fogger users today love this Hot Shot fogger for its versatility, as it offers a comprehensive pest control remedy. In this regard, the product will exterminate such pests as cockroaches, Firebrats, Crickets, Brown Dog Ticks, Fleas, Black Carpet Beetles, Houseflies, Gnats, Mosquitoes, Small Flying Moths and spiders.
While some of the best cockroach foggers have a residual effect of about 2 weeks, this product will control roaches in your home for up to 12 weeks.
The Black Flag HG-11079 Indoor Fogger is availed in 6 foggers; each weighing 1.25 oz. as compared to similar products in the market, this fogger is one of the best when it comes to controlling German cockroaches.
In addition to cockroaches, this fogger has been proven to be effective against several other pests. To be specific, the pesticide has been specifically formulated to kill mosquitoes, houseflies, fleas, ants, spiders, cockroaches, firebrats, silverfish and brown dog ticks.
For about $15, you will get 3 foggers of the effective, fast-action TAT 31100 Concentrated pesticide formula. The three 2-ounce foggers you will get offer a decent coverage and may be used to control an array of insects in spaces measuring about 2,000 cu. Feet.
Having been designed for indoor pest control application, this fogger features a lemon scented formula. This being the case, you will never experience any irritating odor after using the product in your home. In addition to being subtle on the nose, the product has been proven to kill an array of insects.
Unlike most of the leading roach fogger brands today, this product has been proven to kill firebrats. Additionally, you will find it effective at killing cockroaches, spiders, ants, silverfish, fleas, brown dog ticks and houseflies.
Are you looking for the best way to eradicate a cockroach infestation in your home or are just trying to prevent the nasty insects from getting into your home?
Either way, you will find some of the best roach foggers available today a perfect solution. While foggers are a great way to control insects in your home, not all the roach foggers in the market are suited for this work.
The choice of the right fogger may seem to be an easy one at first, but it really is not. Not only do you need to ensure that your preferred product is safe for use around humans, you also need to buy one that is best suited for the intended application.
These are cockroach foggers that are fitted with a heating element. In their functioning, such units use the heating element to vaporize the pesticide. Such roach foggers are known to produce a thicker cloud of fog. As such, you will be able to see the areas of the house that are covered in the fog and the ones that are not.
If this is your preferred type of foggers, you need to choose between the two main types of thermal roach foggers available today. Thermal foggers may be sub-categorized based on the type of element they have.
As opposed to the thermal foggers, cold roach foggers do not have a heating element. In their functioning, cold foggers use air pressure to push the insecticide out though a nozzle, hence form a fog. While some of the cold foggers are very versatile, they are not as effective as the thermal ones.
Regardless, these products are somewhat effective when it comes to repelling cockroaches and preventing the pests from infesting your home. Again, these products are comparatively cheaper than thermal foggers. A cold fogger will also come in handy if you are not connected to the grid.
ULV Roach Foggers – Rather than creating a fog of the pesticide, ULV foggers will foam a mist in the target area. As such, they are best suited for ultra-low volume propulsion pest control systems. Some of the best ULV cold foggers allow you to regulate the rate of flow of the pesticide.
Propellant Foggers – These are essentially aerosol canisters that have a large nozzle on top. The preference of these foggers over the other types may be attributed to their affordability.
How much space would you like to cover with the roach fogger? You may not be aware yet, but different foggers have a varying level of effectiveness. Additionally, some are great at controlling cockroaches in large spaces, while others only have a limited coverage. You will also need to consider whether you will be using the product indoor or outdoor.
The best thermal roach foggers, for instance, are considered to be effective when used to exterminate cockroaches outdoors. Additionally, such units are also some of the best foggers to use in large spaces.
In this regard, some of the leading thermal fogger brands are known to have coverage of up to 5,000 square feet. You will find such products ideal for controlling roaches in gardens, backyards or even in campsites.
Thermal foggers are considered to be effective when used for such applications because they produce a comparatively thicker pesticide fog. While some of the cold roach foggers available today may be used for outdoor applications, most of them are only ideal for controlling cockroaches indoors.
The good thing about some of the cold foggers, especially the ULV roach foggers, is that they allow you to regulate the rate of pesticide flow.
Roach foggers/ bombs work by introducing a fog or mist of pesticide into the air. In most of the leading products, this mist penetrates all the cracks and crevices to kill insects by contact. Additionally, the best cockroach foggers also have a residual effect of between 2 and 3 months after the initial application.
In addition to getting the best value for your money, you should get a product that is best suited for your intended application. With this guide, you should have an easier time choosing the bets roach fogger.


text:
La Liga 2021/22 Title Winners Prediction, Odds and Picks
Home/La Liga/La Liga Futures/La Liga 2021/22 Title Winners Prediction, Odds and Picks
Greg Lea - November 13, 2021
Atletico Madrid are the defending champions after winning the title last term
Real Madrid and Barcelona will be looking to get back on top in the 2021/22 campaign
Sevilla could be surprise challengers after a strong season last time out
Bet on La Liga, Here!
The La Liga 2021/22 season begins on 13 August 2021 and will conclude on 22 May 2022. Each team in the division will play 38 games, with three points available for a win and one point for a tie. The side with the most points at the end of the season will be crowned La Liga title winners – the biggest honor in Spanish soccer.
As always, there are two favorites in the race to be the kings of Spain. The holders are only third-favorites, which is relatively rare in the modern game. The La Liga title race was one of the closest in Europe last season, and soccer fans everywhere will be hoping for more of the same in 2021/22.
La Liga 2021/22 Title Winner Odds
Odds taken on 13 November 2021 from DraftKings Sportsbook
La Liga 2021/22 Odds Odds
Real Madrid -175
Atletico Madrid +380
Sevilla +600
Real Sociedad +1200
Villarreal +15000
Who Will Win the La Liga 2021/22 Title?
Barcelona are the favorites to win the La Liga title, despite having another turbulent summer. Financial troubles have restricted the club to free transfers, but at the time of writing, they are unable to register the likes of Sergio Aguero and Memphis Depay until they substantially reduce their wage bill. That problem looks fixable but Lionel Messi could yet depart – if he does, we can expect a change in Barcelona's odds.
Carlo Ancelotti has returned to the capital for his second spell in charge of Real Madrid. Sergio Ramos followed Zinedine Zidane, the former manager, through the exit door, but other members of the old guard will be heavily relied upon again.
Neither Madrid nor Barcelona looks particularly convincing at this stage, so have a bet on Atletico to win another La Liga title – odds of +400 are generous for the defending champions.
Who Is the Winner of La Liga 2021?
Atletico Madrid won the La Liga title in the 2020/21 campaign. They were the third-favorites at the start of the season but soon moved into pole position thanks to a brilliant start. At the midway point of the campaign, Atletico had won 16 of their first 19 matches and only lost one.
Diego Simeone's side were unable to maintain that form in the new year, though, and Barcelona and Real Madrid quickly began to catch them up. A run of just four wins in 11 games opened the door to Atletico's rivals before a strong finish ensured they got over the line in first place. Simeone will now be attempting to repeat the feat in the 2021/22 season.
Which Club Has Won the Most La Liga Titles?
Club Number of Titles
Atletico Madrid 11
Athletic Bilbao 8
Real Sociedad 2
Deportivo La Coruna 1
Real Madrid are the most successful side in Spanish soccer history. The club from the capital have won 37.77 per cent of La Liga titles, and eight more than any other team.
Barcelona have begun to catch them up over the last 20 years, though. Indeed, the Blaugrana have been the most successful side of the 2000s, winning 10 championships to Madrid's seven. Atletico Madrid remain a distance behind the big two.
How Many Teams Have Won the La Liga Title?
Only 11 teams have won the La Liga title. That is a surprisingly low number given the competition was founded in 1929 and has been taking place on an annual basis ever since, save for a four-year gap during the Spanish Civil War. By way of comparison, 19 clubs have won the English top-flight in the same period.
Real Madrid and Barcelona were not dominant from the get-go, however. The most successful side up until the early 1950s was Athletic Bilbao, closely followed by Atletico Madrid. The big two got going in that decade, though, and have hardly looked back since.
Who Won the Last 10 La Liga Titles?
Title Winner Season
Atletico Madrid 2020/21
Real Madrid 2019/20
Barcelona 2018/19
What Happens if You Win the La Liga Title?
The La Liga title winners receive a trophy at the end of the season. The champions are also awarded a number of medals which can be distributed to their players and staff however they see fit.
Winning the La Liga title also brings automatic qualification to the group stage of the Champions League. This, of course, is a secondary prize to actually being crowned champions of Spain, but it is welcome nonetheless.
When is the La Liga Title Winner Announced?
La Liga is not a knockout tournament and it does not use a play-off system like MLS. That means there is no 'La Liga final' – the title winner is simply the team that amasses the most points over the course of the campaign, and is therefore equivalent to the Supporters' Shield award in the United States' main soccer league.
As a result of this double round-robin format, there is no fixed date on which the La Liga title winner is announced. Confirmation comes when it is mathematically impossible for rivals to overtake the team in first place. Last season, Atletico Madrid were confirmed as La Liga title winners on 22 May 2021, the final day of the campaign.
How Can I Watch La Liga on TV?
Soccer fans based in the United States can watch the La Liga on ESPN. Kick-off times usually range from 11.00 AM to 4.00 PM (EDT).
More La Liga Predictions & Odds
Valencia vs Sevilla Predictions, Betting Odds, Picks
This could be Sevilla's best chance yet to win their second La Liga title, and victory over Valencia in midweek would move them to within two points of top spot …
12 January | 07:47 | Greg Lea
Villarreal vs Atletico Madrid Predictions, Betting Odds, Picks
Atletico Madrid's title defense is almost certainly over after a poor run of form, and Villarreal will be looking to heighten the misery in front of their own fans.
7 January | 09:42 | Greg Lea
Real Mallorca vs Barcelona Predictions, Betting Odds, Picks
Barcelona are starting to climb the table under Xavi Hernandez, but they are still outside the top six as they seek to clamber into the Champions League places …
30 December | 07:09 | Greg Lea
Greg Lea
Expert on Soccer
Greg Lea is a freelance soccer journalist from London. He is the former editor of The Set Pieces, and has contributed to the Guardian, FourFourTwo, and ESPN. A Crystal Palace fan, he is a long-time subscriber to the belief that it's the taking part that counts. Email: [email protected]

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
package br.unicamp.ic.lsd.mercurius.ordermgr.impl;

import java.io.File;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Set;

import br.unicamp.ic.lsd.mercurius.datatype.Address;
import br.unicamp.ic.lsd.mercurius.datatype.Basket;
import br.unicamp.ic.lsd.mercurius.datatype.BasketItem;
import br.unicamp.ic.lsd.mercurius.datatype.Order;
import br.unicamp.ic.lsd.mercurius.datatype.OrderProduct;
import br.unicamp.ic.lsd.mercurius.datatype.OrderStatus;
import br.unicamp.ic.lsd.mercurius.datatype.OrderTotal;
import br.unicamp.ic.lsd.mercurius.datatype.Payment;
import br.unicamp.ic.lsd.mercurius.datatype.PaymentMethod;
import br.unicamp.ic.lsd.mercurius.datatype.PaymentNotification;
import br.unicamp.ic.lsd.mercurius.datatype.ShippingService;
import br.unicamp.ic.lsd.mercurius.excpetionhandler.exceptions.OutOfStockException;
import br.unicamp.ic.lsd.mercurius.excpetionhandler.exceptions.ProductNotFoundException;
import br.unicamp.ic.lsd.mercurius.ordermgr.spec.prov.OrderManager;
import br.unicamp.ic.lsd.mercurius.ordermgr.spec.prov.OrderMgt;
import br.unicamp.ic.lsd.mercurius.ordermgr.spec.req.OrderBasketMgt;
import br.unicamp.ic.lsd.mercurius.ordermgr.spec.req.OrderProductMgt;
import br.unicamp.ic.lsd.mercurius.ordermgr.spec.req.PaymentMgt;
import br.unicamp.ic.lsd.mercurius.ordermgr.spec.req.ShippingMgt;

class OrderFacade implements OrderMgt {

	private static final String SHIPPING_MGT = "ShippingMgt";
	private static final String PAYMENT_MGT = "PaymentMgt";
	private static final String ORDER_BASKET_MGT = "OrderBasketMgt";
	private static final String ORDER_PRODUCT_MGT = "OrderProductMgt";
	private final OrderManager manager;
	private final OrderMgtImpl orderMgtImpl;
	private final OrderBasketMgt basketMgt;
	private final ShippingMgt shippingMgt;

	private static boolean checkOrdersPaymentRunning = false;

	OrderFacade(OrderManager manager) {
		super();
		this.manager = manager;
		orderMgtImpl = new OrderMgtImpl(this.manager);
		basketMgt = (OrderBasketMgt) this.manager.getRequiredInterface(ORDER_BASKET_MGT);
		shippingMgt = (ShippingMgt) this.manager.getRequiredInterface(SHIPPING_MGT);
	}

	@Override
	public Order oneClickOrder(Basket basket) {
		OrderStatus firstOrderStatus = manager.getOrderStatusDAO().getFirstOrderStatus();
		Set<BasketItem> basketItems = basketMgt.getBasketItems(basket);
		return orderMgtImpl.oneClickOrder(basket, firstOrderStatus, basketItems);
	}

	@Override
	public File getInvoice(Order order) {
		return orderMgtImpl.getInvoice(order);
	}

	@Override
	public boolean cancelOrder(Order order) {
		OrderStatus canceledStatus = manager.getOrderStatusDAO().getCanceledOrderStatus();
		return orderMgtImpl.cancelOrder(order, canceledStatus);
	}

	@Override
	public Order createOrder(Basket basket) {
		Set<BasketItem> basketItems = basketMgt.getBasketItems(basket);
		return orderMgtImpl.createOrder(basket, basketItems);
	}

	@Override
	public Order saveOrder(Order order, PaymentMethod paymentMethod, String paymentInformation)
			throws ProductNotFoundException, OutOfStockException {
		PaymentMgt paymentMgt = (PaymentMgt) this.manager.getRequiredInterface(PAYMENT_MGT);
		OrderStatus firstOrderStatus = manager.getOrderStatusDAO().getFirstOrderStatus();
		Payment payment = paymentMgt.createPayment(order, paymentInformation, paymentMethod);
		OrderProductMgt orderProductMgt = (OrderProductMgt) manager.getRequiredInterface(ORDER_PRODUCT_MGT);

		for (OrderProduct product : order.getOrderProducts()) {
			if (!orderProductMgt.productExists(product.getProduct().getId())) {
				throw new ProductNotFoundException();
			}
			if (!orderProductMgt.hasQuantityAvailable(product.getSku(), product.getQuantity())) {
				throw new OutOfStockException();
			}
		}

		if (payment != null) {
			order.setPaymentMethod(paymentMethod.getName());
			order = orderMgtImpl.saveOrder(order, firstOrderStatus);

			if (order.getId() != null) {
				payment.setOrder(order);
				paymentMgt.makeAPayment(payment);
				PaymentNotification paymentNotification = paymentMgt.makeAPayment(payment);
				paymentNotification.setOrder(order);
				manager.getPaymentNotificationDAO().merge(paymentNotification);
				basketMgt.cleanBasket();
				return order;
			}
		}

		return null;
	}

	@Override
	public void changeOrderStatus(Order order, OrderStatus status) {
		orderMgtImpl.changeOrderStatus(order, status);
	}

	@Override
	public Order getOrder(Integer orderId) {
		return orderMgtImpl.getOrder(orderId);
	}

	@Override
	public List<ShippingService> calculateShippingService(Order order, Address address) {
		return orderMgtImpl.calculateShippingService(order, address);
	}

	@Override
	public Order chooseShippingService(Order order, ShippingService shippingService) {
		return orderMgtImpl.chooseShippingService(order, shippingService);
	}

	@Override
	public void checkOrdersPaymentStatus() {
		PaymentMgt paymentMgt = (PaymentMgt) this.manager.getRequiredInterface(PAYMENT_MGT);

		if (!checkOrdersPaymentRunning) {
			checkOrdersPaymentRunning = true;
			OrderStatus firstOrderStatus = manager.getOrderStatusDAO().getFirstOrderStatus();
			List<Order> ordersWaitingForPayment = orderMgtImpl.getOrdersWithOrderStatus(firstOrderStatus);
			for (Order order : ordersWaitingForPayment) {
				String transactionId = manager.getPaymentNotificationDAO().getOrderTransactionId(order);
				List<PaymentNotification> paymentNotifications = paymentMgt.checkPaymentNotificatons(transactionId);
				paymentNotifications = orderMgtImpl.checkOrderPayment(order, paymentNotifications);
				for (PaymentNotification paymentNotification : paymentNotifications) {
					paymentNotification.setOrder(order);
					OrderStatus orderStatus;
					switch (paymentNotification.getPaymentStatus()) {
					case CANCELED:
						orderStatus = manager.getOrderStatusDAO().getCanceledOrderStatus();
						orderMgtImpl.changeOrderStatus(order, orderStatus);
						break;
					case CONFIRMED:
						orderStatus = manager.getOrderStatusDAO().getPaymentConfirmedOrderStatus();
						orderMgtImpl.changeOrderStatus(order, orderStatus);
						break;
					case FAILED:
						orderStatus = manager.getOrderStatusDAO().getPaymentFailedOrderStatus();
						orderMgtImpl.changeOrderStatus(order, orderStatus);
						break;
					default:
						break;
					}
					manager.getPaymentNotificationDAO().merge(paymentNotification);
				}
			}
		}

	}

	@Override
	public void sendOrder(Order order, String trackingNumber) {
		OrderStatus sentStatus = manager.getOrderStatusDAO().getOrderSentStatus();
		order.setTrackingNumber(trackingNumber);
		changeOrderStatus(order, sentStatus);
	}

	@Override
	public void checkOrdersArrived() {
		OrderStatus orderStatus = manager.getOrderStatusDAO().getOrderSentStatus();
		List<Order> orders = orderMgtImpl.getOrdersWithOrderStatus(orderStatus);
		orderStatus = manager.getOrderStatusDAO().getOrderArrivedStatus();
		for (Order order : orders) {
			if (shippingMgt.checkOrderArrived(order.getTrackingNumber())) {
				changeOrderStatus(order, orderStatus);
			}
		}
	}

	@Override
	public List<PaymentMethod> getPaymentMethods(Order order) {
		PaymentMgt paymentMgt = (PaymentMgt) this.manager.getRequiredInterface(PAYMENT_MGT);
		return paymentMgt.getPaymentMethods(order);
	}

	@Override
	public OrderTotal createOrderTotal() {
		return manager.getOrderTotalFactory().createInstance();
	}

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


As we drove by Weligama beach from Tissa to Unawatuna, we saw dozens of large boats with outrigger pontoons beached high and dry. Along the road were also dozens of wooden huts with fish laid out on wooden tables under shade awnings. No electricity and thus no refrigeration. This fish was fresh and the fisherman needed to sell them. I imagine the older, more odiferous fish would simply end up in curries, their slightly rotten nature masked by the abundant Sri Lankan spices. The fish we ate while we were here was simply fresh and delicious.
and go out ocean fishing. It would be just Bernie, me and the kids. Pearl and Gigi's sense of adventure does not extend to cramped fishing boats bobbing out on the Indian Ocean. Their loss, or maybe I will leave such judgement to my readers.
We were up and out and tuk-tukking our way to a beach just outside the Galle fort walls. At the beach, there were already fishermen selling their catch from the roadside stands. We looked around and saw tuna (one was 56 Kg and at least 10 inches in diameter, the others all way puny in comparison), a small dorado, rockfish, sardines, and a few other types I could not name. The sea looked to provide a good bounty. One fisherman commented, 'When the sun comes up, you can't catch fish.' We hoped he was wrong.
Our fishing vessel was not one of the boats on the beach, they were high and dry until the next high tide. Our boat came around the point and pulled into the cove. It was maybe 4 meters in length and was fiberglass and powered with a 15 hp outboard engine. We waded knee deep into the water, put on life vests and jumped into the open boat. This was an unexpected bonus, I wonder how hard it was for them to find 6 life vests. The kids sat on a fishing net in the bottom of the boat, Bernie and I leaned against the sides. Off we went with the Galle fort on our right. Ahead of us was open ocean, all the way to Antarctica. We began to encounter some gentle rollers, but the captain turned to the left and got closer to the shore and the rolling of the sea lessened. I am always worried about getting seasick, but I was OK. Justin and Izzy both got a little green, but everyone made it back to shore with stomach contents intact.
We were fishing for rockfish, and really to my surprise we did not get skunked. Our first fishing spot was quiet, and after only 20 minutes the captain weighed anchor and found a new spot 10 minutes cruise further along the shore. Here, we caught fish. Jordan was the first. He caught a small grouper with brown skin and white spots. He actually did not know he had a fish for a while, it was so small. The captain and Bernie both caught similar sized, but very different looking fish. We were fishing with lines from large spools, no rods. The hooks seemed a bit small for deep sea fishing, and probably were gauging by what happened. Bernie, Jordan and I all had the experience of our line getting extremely taught, mine almost felt like I had hooked a rock or heavy seaweed. However, I was able to hand reel in quite a bit of line before it became slack. My leader line had broken. The fish on Bernie and Jordan's line simply shook the hook. Our non-english speaking crew (captain plus his nephew as crew) did not react at all to the fact that we had lost 3 fish that might have been a decent size. Oh well, we had landed 3 fish, no matter how small, and had the experience of spending a few hours with local fishermen. The sun was rising in the sky and getting hot by 9 AM, so we all pulled up our lines and headed back to shore.
We got back to the mansion and packed our bags. We loaded up the van, and Indra took us through the old portuguese/dutch/english fort of Galle. This is a UNESCO world heritage site. It was hot, so we did not explore much. We did see an old-time snake charmer sitting on the roadside with the classic, bulbous flute and a baby monkey on a leash. Two covered baskets and a burlap sack sat in front of him. We stayed in the van and had Indra get out and give him some money for a show. Out came the python from the burlap sack. Our boys have held pythons multiple times, so this was not so exciting. The excitement came when the tops came off the basket revealing two cobras. He agitated them both so that they rose up and opened their hoods. He used the basket tops to make them sway back and forth. I had heard that these snakes are defanged so there is no danger for the snake charmer. This must be true, as I saw one snake bite his hand as he was reaching to shake the snake's basket. After 5 minutes, we had seen enough of the show.
Next stop was an open air market in a small plaza overarched by giant trees. Here, Gigi and I found yet another Small World encounter. A man with a french accent was manning a book stand that had a book on tea culture that Gigi really wanted to purchase. When we told him our story and that we lived near St. Tropez, he said he had lived in Ramatouelle and sold T-shirts in the St. Tropez marche years ago. We had been to Ramatuelle several times because our only local french friends lived in that town. There is quite a lot of distance between Ramatuelle and Galle, but there you have it. Paths crossing.
When we were in the highlands we visited the Glenloch tea factory for buffet curry lunch and a plantation tour. This was quite the tourist stop, but as it was our first day in country and a visit to a tea factory was a top To Do thing, we were quite happy to have ticked this activity off our list. All good, we learned about tea, the scenery was beautiful, and we drank and bought tea.
Today, we spent time with Herman at his lowland tea plantation near Galle. This was visit was totally different from our first tea plantation visit. First of all, the draw was that this tea plantation sold white tea harvested untouched by picker's hands. The picker's used gold plated scissors and snipped the white tips into bowls. This mimics the story from ancient China that virgins similarly harvested tea so that the emperor's lips were the only thing human that touched the tea. That story, along with the highest recorded antioxidant percentage – 10.11% – of a natural beverage has made this tea exclusive, much sought after, and quite stratospherically expensive. We had to visit this plantation as it was only about a 30 minute drive from our mansion.
Now, what made this afternoon truly special was that Herman himself took us on a tour of his plantation. The landscape was a mixture of tea plants, peppercorn trees, rubber trees, cinnamon trees, coconut trees, and flowers such as hibiscus. This was no mono culture plantation; the variety of flora created a delightful beauty.
The tour was a short walk up to the veranda of his house where we sat down to drink tea and eat cake and talked tea, Sri Lanka, cinnamon, A Brief History of Tea in Sri Lanka, authoring books, his sons, and such. This man is 69 years old, well spoken and quite witty. He was in no hurry with us, and we felt quite welcome as guests, and not some tourists to rush through to the gift shop.
When we got back to the tour, Herman took us to the factory. Most of the machinery was original from 1860 and had been made in England and Belfast. This was a working museum of machinery. As we finally made it into the gift shop, they had 25 different teas out for tasting. Gigi and Pearl were quite taken with Herman, and they bookended him on a couch and kept chatting with him. No wonder Herman kept saying how much he loved his job, he was a naturally gregarious and generous person, a great ambassador for Sri Lankan tea.
We only just arrived at the Polheena Estate, and I just feel compelled to get my thoughts down. After another long day on the road, stopping to visit a buddist cave temple complex, watching the constant stream of Sri Lankan humanity along the roadside, much of it impoverished, then pulling through the gates to see the rather massive, two story white and black colonial mansion was impactful. Coconut trees, plumeria, mango and other trees shaded the grounds. Carved stone pygmy elephants stood watch over the pool one terrace below the main lawn, and behind the 7 foot wall backing the pool was a vast rice field populated with water buffalo. A baby buff was standing alone, braying for its mama. We were staying here? Inside there are 5 bedrooms with four poster beds, an open living room with two story soaring ceiling, and a 180 degree freestanding concrete spiral staircase. 'Would we be going out for dinner?' asked the house manager. Heck no, order take out pizza and pick it up with the tuk-tuk. We just ate a late lunch of grilled shrimp, boiled crab and curries at a beachside restaurant for $7.50 a head, a bit of pizza for dinner will suffice. Afternoon tea is served poolside as the kids take to the pool. It has been a humid day, and everyone is sweaty. The back wall has two shuttered windows. I am intrigued, and when I open one window my gaze is met by a black water buffalo munching away not ten feet from me. 'Do we want our laundry sent out?' asks the manager. Really, we just want to do a laundry load ourselves, we are really burgeois just pretending for 3 days that we are Lords. Our staff consists of the manager and his wife the cook, a houseboy, the gardener and the security guy. Still, we send a few items out. The kids are doing lap races in the pool now. And the price tag is?… $400 a night, split $200 each between families. Not a bad deal.
Now, last night's accommodations may have been a bit bohemian in comparison to where we are now, but we really did enjoy our stay, sandy feet and al fresco everything. Before the mansion, we stayed two nights near Tissa. The attraction in this area is Yala National park, where you go by jeep safari to see leopard, elephant, alligator, deer, boar, elk, monitor lizard, monkey,and many different types of birds. We saw all of these except the crown jewel, a leopard. The landscapes were stunning and the wildlife plentiful.
When we arrived at Saraii, or should I say almost arrived as the dirt road was too rutted for our van to drive on, we walked the last 100 meters through the dark with our bags. We were in the countryside and it was dark. The place had no formal entrance, the walkways were dirt, the common hut was dimly lit, had one standing fan, two dining tables, a large coffee table and foam mattresses laid out on the low, wide wall enclosing the area.
At the common hut, they had dinner ready for us. The food here turned out to be quite delicious and exotic. Over the two evening dinners we had giant lake prawns and different curries that contained banana flowers, white cucumber, lotus root, green beans, potato, sardines, chicken, beef, and Dahl. Each meal had 4 – 5 curries with rice.
The kids were going to sleep in a true tree house with two levels, woven mats on the floor, palm frond roof, and a ladder handmade from tree branches and rope. The whole house was wrapped in mosquito netting. The mattresses were thin foam. All together a child's dream place to sleep.
We adults got a large room with concrete floor, 3 walls that were mud slathered over brick, the fourth wall was open with split bamboo shades that could be lowered for privacy. The roof was lofty and made of palm fronds. The kingsize bed had a mosquito net. It did have electricity for the one fan, wall plugs and poor lighting. The open air, ensuite bathrooms had western toilets and a shower under a palm frond room and fenced by bamboo mats. This was luxe compared to the mud hut I lived in in Mauritania!
The kids loved the place. They chased lizards and caught fireflies at night. They had pillow fights in the treehouse. The adults definitely prefer the mansion, it is so much more civilized drinking your tea without sandy feet.
Hike to 'World's End' – and I forgot my coke bottle!
Gigi woke me up at 5:30 AM, and I felt poisoned. Last night was our night out on the town, and I was paying dearly for it. The last time I was this bad was New Year's Eve 2010 at our friends Ryan and Alicia's place. I will not dwell on the pain in my head and stomach as I trudged the 7 miles at elevation above 2000 meters. Let it suffice that this author is now on the wagon for the next few days to detox.
We had to get up so early because the drive to the park entrance was 1 1/2 hours, passing the highest train station in Sri Lanka along the way. The hike to world's end was 3 miles through Horton Plains National Park, and we had to arrive before 10 AM because fog rolls into the area daily and obscures all the panoramic vistas. As we parked at the park entrance a 6 pointer (antlers) elk/deer was munching grass within 10 feet of our car. The walk was through rolling grassland along a river that was stocked with rainbow trout by the British. Stumpy rhododendron-looking trees peppered the landscape. The hilltops were lush with forest. The trail was clearly marked, but often it was rocky and wet and muddy. It was cool. I started the hike with my fleece shirt and rain jacket, but well before the end of the hike I had them tied around waist.
When we made it to Land's End we found a concrete platform at the edge of an 870 meter sheer drop. No guardrail. The view was down into a narrow valley with a few small farms in it, the mountain on the other side of the valley facing us. Off to the right was the view of miles upon miles of land falling away. Supposedly, on a clear day you can see the ocean. We did not have such clarity of air, but it was still an impressive view. I really felt that this was the I-will-never-be-so-far-from-home-again moment of the trip. I mean we were smack in the middle of Sri Lanka at an altitude above 2000 meters. We ate lunch on the platform a good 10 feet from the precipice, and by the time we had finished the clouds had blown in, completely obscuring the view.
On the walk back, which was after 10 AM, we began encountering groups of Sri Lankan's hiking out to World's End. Today was a full moon holiday in Sri Lanka. That Sri Lanka has a full moon holiday every lunar month was a surprise. We felt a little sorry for these day trippers, they were going to hike all that way and would only see a cloud bank. Oh well, the hike itself was still beautiful. I guess they don't read the tourist guidebooks that say to get there before 10AM.
On the ride back, we passed through one village that was having a real celebration. Everyone was dressed in white and there was a parade with some people at the front holding burning torches. We also passed people preparing a fire walker pit. Now that would have been something to see, but we just did not have the time to stop and wait for it all to happen. We were driving 4 hours down to the coast to the town of Tissa. Tomorrow, we would be taking a safari ride through Yala National Park. Leopards. elephants and crocodiles, oh my!
We arrived at our 'colonial bungalow' around 3:30 in the afternoon. It was raining, and we were greeted at the door by our umbrella toting host, Wolfgang. Wolfgang is the owner of the property. He and his family live in Colombo and normally have a house manager taking care of the guests. The house manager had to be away this week, and as it happened, much to our great delight we found Wolfgang pressed into duty. I started chatting with Wolgang in German, and his reply to my query about where he came from in Germany was 'one hour east of Cologne.' Ha! Small World Story coming on! I told him I had worked in the Rothaargebirge, and although I forgot the name of his village, it was in Kreis Olpe, the same county as my village, Heinsberg. The capper to this regional reminiscing was that we both favored Krombacher Pils. Here I am again at what feels like the edge of the world, and I find someone to reminisce with about an obscure corner of Germany. We would only spend 24 hours as Wolgang's guest, but the whole group found him an excellent addition to our party.
In spite of the rain outside, and little knowledge of where we were exactly, Bernie wanted to stretch his legs after the day's 7 hour journey, almost 5 of which was spent in the van. His goal was to find bottled water, but when I said I would join him, drinking a bottle of Lion Stout accompanied by Diablo cashews as recommended in the Lonely Planet book became our primary mission. We walked the 1.3 km into town on the paved road and found the 5 star Windsor Hotel right on our route. Now, Wolgang told us there were no proper pubs in Nuwara Eliya and that we would have to drink in a hotel, but here on the lower level of the building was a sign 'Public Bar'. Bernie and I ventured in and found it to be populated with only locals, a few at the bar but most sitting at the tables lining the walls of the square room. There was a single tap with Lion Strong beer and an assortment of arack liquor bottles. Bernie really wanted the Lion Stout, and the bartender after consulting with a customer pointed to the ceiling and said we had to go upstairs. We went outside, around the corner and up a story to the entrance of the 5 star Windsor hotel. A different world just around the corner. They did in fact have Lion Stout, but the bar was closed. No problem, they opened it up just for us. Bernie and I had the room to ourselves with the bartender. We ordered up the diablo cashews and split a large bottle of Stout. After the first taste, we understood why the Lonely Planet put in special mention for this brew. We soon ordered a second and the cashews finally came, freshly sauteed with spices, curry leaves and garlic. Bernie is a very gregarious person and he soon had our bartender engaged in Q&A 'Where do you live? How many children? Will you pick your son's bride?' This bar had all the western liquor bottles, a large bottle of sake, and even Paul Mason wines. 'Bery, Bery good wine, from California,' stated our host. Yes, burgundy, chablis and rosé in liter bottles with a pop cap. There were even a few bottles of french wine, one of them a 15 year old Saint Emilion. Now, that was a good wine if it had survived its long sojourn in the tropics. No matter how fine the wine, however, I was here to experience local brews, so down we went to the Public Bar to try Lion Strong on tap and arack, the local liquor brewed from coconuts.
The bartender greeted us with the same large smile as when we came in the first time. One of the cigarette smoking locals slid down the bar away from us as we took up positions, but soon Bernie was deep into his Q&A with the bartender, both of them smiling widely. We were not going to be wall flowers sipping our brews and keeping our distance from the locals. (As an aside, I must say it has been very nice being able to find so many English speakers, thanks to the British Empire.) The bartender introduced us to arack after we asked what the stuff was. People were ordering arack, then a plate of biscuits with butter to go with it. 'Biscuits and arak!' became something funny to laugh about. Soon, the real antics started, an experience I am sure the locals will be talking about for a long time.
Bernie ducked his long frame under the bar top and asked if he could start serving customers. He did thus for about 5 minutes, getting proper instruction on the filling of 50 cl and 100 cl glasses of arack. A local wandered in and everyone laughed at the shock on his face when Bernie demanded, 'What are you drinking?' After Bernie rejoined the rest of us customers, and old man with many teeth missing and a very dirty beanie perched on his head came in and stood next to us. He was not an english speaker. He got right into the mix and offered to buy us drinks. Then we bought him a drink. He counter offered, and when we tried to politely refuse, he pulled out a wad of cash, ostensibly to show us this was no problem for him. The other customers told us he was a goldsmith, and an important man. He sure did not look the part. He was not wearing any gold and his clothes were old and tired. I don't know what this man was seeing in Bernie, his height or his big smile, or both and something else only he perceived, but he started blessing Bernie by running his fingers through Bernie's hair and caressing his face, then holding both Bernie's hands in his in a prayer position. Bernie reciprocated. I got in on the action. This all ended with us having to say goodbye and get back to the bungalow for a curry dinner. Back through the rain, and well, without the bottled water.
During dinner, Bernie and I were quite animated about our little adventure. I could see in my family's mirthful eyes that they were enjoying seeing 'daddy' so silly. Wolfgang was attending to us during dinner, and seemed very interested in this bar experience. We said we would go back and show him. Wolfgang was a bit hesitant. but agreed as long as we let him play the part of a german tourist. They do have some sort of caste system here to which I am pretty ignorant, but it was obvious that whites were in a totally different class from the locals, and it seemed Wolfgang did not want to cross this divide. German tourist was acceptable, but local landowners drink upstairs. The three of us fit into the back of a tuck-tuck for the ride into town. It was still raining. The bar was much less crowded when we came back for round two, and we slipped right back in from where we left off. More rounds of beer, another round of arack, I took my turn tending bar. I got a lot more coaching than Bernie did. Apparently, I kept filling the beer glasses too high. 'Good for the customer, bad for the company,' the bartender advised. Even the customers we politely scolding my for being too generous. Funny, but you would not get that reaction in America. The bar closed at 11 PM and the three of us staggered home. We were getting to the point where the only way the night's events could be reconstructed was if all 3 of us put our heads together to remember what was done and said. I paid dearly for this night the next morning when we got up a 5:30 AM to hike the 7 mile roundtrip to World's End.
We arrived in Sri Lanka sleepy-eyed late Sunday night. Sri Lanka is 2 1/2 hours behind Singapore. The international airport north of Colombo is quite small compared to Singapore's airport. Our driver for our trip, Indra Munasinghe, easily spotted us as we exited Customs. Our friend Pearl had arranged for a 10 seat, air conditioned van with driver for the trip. The cost of this luxury was $900 for 7 days; our half came out to $65 dollars a day. This money was well spent as we covered miles of the country in a roomy, air conditioned cocoon and left the road insanity for Indra to negotiate. Indra was up to the task! He was rarely passed, and deftly passed everything from pedestrians to bicyclists, to cows, to tuk-tuks, to dogs, to busses. And there is no passing lane on these two laned, no divider roads. The center line somehow morphs, Harry Potter style, into a 3rd center lane and everyone is cool with it. A little chicken? Obviously the norm, and Indra never batted an eye or jerked the steering wheel. Calm and focused and capable, he was.
We finished our day in the central highlands tea country. We stopped for a tourist lunch buffet and the Glenloch tea plantation. We also took a tour of the ttea factory, did a tasting round of tea, and of course bought some tea: green tea and jasmine tea.
This morning had already been a long day with many new 'firsts', but the afternoon and evening had more in store for Bernie and myself.
Justin has lost 6 teeth this year so far. The latest one came out on the Singapore Airlines flight from London, somewhere over Afghanistan I think. He had to wait until the next evening in Singapore, when he could sleep horizontally, to put the tooth under his pillow for the tooth fairy. The next morning, he had two singapore dollars and a red dragon fruit under his pillow. I guess that is what the singapore tooth fairy leaves for teeth here. Another tooth is very loose. Perhaps this week we will see what the Sri Lankan tooth fairy leaves children. We are leaving for Singapore tonight.
Common tooth fairy gifts in countries we have visited: USA – dollars only. very uncreative. France – 2 euros and croissant. Norway – 5 kronor and basket of Valldal strawberries. Sweden – tub of lingonberry jam and 5 kronor. Italy – 2 euros and bag of pasta. United Kingdom – 2 pounds and bag of fish and chips – grease very nasty on the sheets, actually.
Birthdays – Who celebrated their birthday in which city?
Gigi, Jordan and I all have birthdays within one month of each other. We just had a belated birthday cake for Pearl and Gigi on last night, so we have now finished our families birthday season.
Gigi: is still younger than Bob. Celebrated birthday in Singapore by going to the Cirque Le Noir show at the Marina Bay Sands Convention Center.
Bob: 51 years old. Celebrated birthday in London by going to see the musical Billy Elliot.
Jordan: teenager. Celebrated birthday in Paris by eating out at an Argentine steak house.
And not to leave Justin out…we celebrated his birthday back in the summer, sushi lunch in Cirencester, England.
We have been in Singapore for a week now. Slowly, we are adjusting to the 7 hour time difference from London, and more significantly, the 90F temps and humidity. We are quickly learning that the phrase, 'only mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun' has great validity. We carry sun umbrellas when we leave the house, hats would not provide enough protection, and anyway, Singaporeans do not wear hats. We want to blend in.
We are staying with friends, Bernie and Pearl, and their two children. Gigi and Pearl worked together a few moons ago at Cisco; Pearl actually hired Gigi into Cisco after Gigi had spent time there as a consultant. We went to Bernie and Pearl's wedding. Our beautiful backyard irises and magnolia bush were gifts from Pearl when she sold her San Mateo house and gave away all her backyard potted plants.
Next week is the Singapore American School's (SAS) easter break week, so today is the unofficial, traditional 'class rewards party' day. Justin has been invited to come his new friend's 4th grade classroom party. This would be a chance for Justin to hang out with a group of his age peers, something that has been sorely lacking on this trip. It took us about an hour to get here by the MRT (railway system), and we arrived just as the students were transitioning into party mode. As we walked in, the students spontaneously clapped for Justin and me. Boy, I felt special. About 10 minutes ago, another teacher walked in the room and the students spontaneously clapped. Perhaps this is just Singaporean student custom. At this moment, Justin is sitting on the class couch next to his friend, munching on popcorn and watching the animated movie Rio. The other students are draped around the room, lounging on the floor on pillows, sitting on their desks or in their seats. Pajamas have been slipped into.
It feels good to be back in a classroom, and not just because it is air conditioned. This room could be in Justin's old elementary school. The teacher has a Promethean board, desks are arranged in squares of 4, baskets of books; teacher made posters about reading, classroom behavior, the writing process. I found the Gary Paulsen book basket and held Hatchet in my hands. I taught this book for many years in my 7th grade classroom. Who knows, maybe I will find myself teaching in a 4th grade classroom come September.
I don't know why, but I did not blog at all while we were in London for the past 2 weeks. I will have to get some stories and pics posted about our time there. We are now in Singapore staying with our friends Bernie and Pearl and their children, who are 7 and 10. Justin and Jordan finally have some playmates. Yes!


The Piazza Shopping Centre, Paisley supported the UK's first accessible shopping day Purple Tuesday on 13th November.
Nearly one in every five people in the UK has a disability or impairment and over half of households have a connection to someone with a disability. The aim of Purple Tuesday is to make customer-facing businesses more aware of the opportunities and challenges and inspire them to make changes to improve the disabled customer experience over the long term.


text:
Visit www.acui.org
Get 100th anniversary gear
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As one of the oldest associations in higher education, ACUI dates back to 1914 when it was founded in the Midwestern United States by a group of students. Over its storied history, it has evolved to the knowledge-based association for campus community builders. Our members are students and professionals working in college unions and student activities throughout the world.
1914 The Association was founded.
1917–18 The Association does not meet because of World War I.
1919 The Association is revived.
1920 Under the new name, "the Association of College and University Unions," the organization grows to 21 institutions.
1922 The Association becomes international as McGill University and the University of Toronto are named charter members under a new constitution. Additionally, J.B. Bickersteth, University of Toronto is elected as the first president.
1929 For the first time, professional members outnumber student members.
1930 The first Bulletin is published.
1931 The organization is renamed the "Association of College Unions."
1933 The first collegiate billiards tournament is held.
1935 The first women delegates attend the Association's annual conference.
1948 The Association holds its first conference not on a college campus. Twenty-one regions are represented. The conference also includes the Association's first exhibit hall.
1949 Institutional membership passes 100.
1950 Student members outnumber professional members.
1951 Association membership passes 200.
1953 The number of regions is reduced to 11. The Association holds its first West Coast conference.
1956 The Role of the College Union is adopted.
1959 The Association establishes an office at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y.
1960 Bulletin circulation passes 2,000 copies.
1963 Membership passes 500 and the number of regions is increased to 15.
1964 The Association celebrates its golden anniversary.
1967 The Butts-Whiting Award, the Association's highest honor, is created.
The organization changes its name to "the Association of College Unions-International." It discusses a merger with the National Entertainment Conference and Association of College and University Concern Managers. They agree it is unnecessary, concluding that NEC could be a "spin-off" like the National Association of College and University Food Service.
Chester A. Berry, Stanford University, becomes the first paid staff member of the Association.
1968-69 R.E. Walde, University of Iowa begins an in-depth study on the expansion of [Recreation] Committee activities, with particular emphasis on Trap-and-Skeet Programs. A pilot program is conducted in Region 10, and an evaluation and complete report is presented to the executive committee.
1969 The Association moves to California, leasing office suites at Stanford University.
1971 ACUI publishes "The College Union Idea," by Porter Butts.
1972 Shirley Bird Perry, University of Texas–Austin, becomes the Association's first woman president.
1974 For the first time since 1922, the annual conference is held outside the United States, at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto.
Shirley Bird Perry becomes the first woman to receive the Butts-Whiting Award.
The Association partners with the academic quiz program College Bowl to offer tournaments to college campuses.
1981 The Central Office moves to the Indiana University campus in Bloomington, Ind.
1984 LeNorman Strong, Cornell University, becomes the Association's first president who is a person of color.
1988 LeNorman Strong becomes the first person of color to receive the Butts-Whiting Award.
The Association celebrates its 75th anniversary.
The Association becomes educational partners with the Honda Campus All-Star Challenge, providing volunteer support for this exemplary College Bowl program for historically black colleges and universities.
1994 Marsha Herman-Betzen becomes the Association's first woman executive director.
1995 The Association launches its first Web site, advertising the 1996 annual conference.
The Role of the College Union Statement is revised and reaffirmed.
The hyphen is removed from the Association's name, "thus giving 'International' equal billing with the other elements of the name."
The Central Office moves from the Indiana University campus to its current home, One City Centre, Suite 200.
1998 ACUI becomes a charter member of the Consortium on Government Relations for Student Affairs to better inform members of legislative and regulatory issues.
2000 The first Institute for Leadership Education and Development (I-LEAD®) is held independent of the annual conference.
ACUI reinvents itself as a knowledge-based organization structured to support professionals and student campus community builders.
ACUI Procure is launched as a group-buying program to save members time and money on furniture, services, equipment, and other products.
ACUI creates the Stop the Hate! bias and hate crime prevention program for college campuses.
ACUI adopts 11 core competencies for the college union and student activities profession.
ACUInfo goes live, featuring information on almost 700 data points and becoming the only benchmarking resource of its kind for college unions and student activities.
2006 All start-up costs for the ACUI Procure group buying program are fully repaid, more than five years ahead of schedule.
ACUI launches Communities of Practice.
After 31 years of collaboration with ACUI, the College Bowl Company suspends the College Bowl campus program.
The Campus Safety Health and Environmental Management Association contracts ACUI to provide association management services.
100th Anniversary Celebration
Thursday, April 30 - Pay It Forward Day
Thursday, Sept. 11 - 9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance
Saturday, Oct. 24 - Make a Difference Day
Saturday, Nov. 21 - Family Volunteer Day


text:
path=$(dirname $(dirname $0))
source $path/scripts/xwalk_common.sh
if [ $# != 1 ];then
    echo "Please add parameter packagename!"
    exit 1
fi
PACKAGENAME="$path/widgetpackaging/w3c/$1"
p_name=$1
APP_NAME=${p_name%%.wgt}
find_app $APP_NAME
if [ ! -z "$pkgids"  ]
then
  uninstall_app $APP_NAME
  find_app $APP_NAME
  if [ ! -z "$pkgids"  ]
  then
    echo -e  "Fail to uninstall the existed widget!"
    exit 1
  fi
fi
install_app $PACKAGENAME
find_app $APP_NAME
if [ -z "$pkgids" ]
then
  echo -e  "Fail to install the widget!"
  exit 1
fi
launch_app $pkgids
App_Status=`xwalk-launcher -r $APPID | grep "not running"`
if [ -z $App_Status ];then
  echo "The widget is launched successfully"
  uninstall_app $APP_NAME
  exit 0
else
  echo "The widget is not launched"
  uninstall_app $APP_NAME
  exit 1
fi


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text:
Why nobody should ever listen to this guy again
The guy in the picture is the Blairite political strategist John McTernan. Few people know who he is because he has operated in the unelected shadows for his entire political career, but his influence in Labour Party politics has been huge.
The reason nobody who gives a damn about the Labour Party should ever listen to a word McTernan says again is that he was the chief political adviser to Jim Murphy as he oversaw not just the biggest humiliation in the history of the Labour Party, but the most spectacular electoral collapse in British electoral history.
Back in 2014 the Scottish Labour leader Jim Murphy put on a staggering display of hubris, bragging that Labour wouldn't lose a single seat in Scotland. Murphy and McTernan then decided to push a ultra-Blairite, ultra-Unionist campaign at a Labour Party membership who were already livid at Scottish Labour for taking them for granted for decades and then very publicly french kissing the Tories during the independence debate.
In a wonderfully ironic way Jim Murphy was right, the 2015 General Election saw Labour lose 40 of their 41 Westminster seats in a single night of carnage which meant that Labour did indeed not lose a single seat in Scotland; the single seat of Edinburgh South!
After involvement in a debacle like that one would have thought that McTernan would be ridiculed and shunned as demonstrably one of the worst political advisers in history, but the mainstream media continue to laud him as if he's some kind of wise all-knowing sage of Labour Party politics.
Who on earth would take political advice from a political adviser who oversaw the most humiliating electoral wipe-out in the history of British politics?
It seems a tad strange that a political adviser with his fingerprints all over the biggest electoral meltdown in British political history is still getting loads of airtime and column inches from mainstream media sources , all of which conveniently forget to mention his role in the complete annihilation of the traditional Labour heartlands in Scotland.
However this mainstream media fawning over McTernan only seems a tad strange until you realise that he is savagely and offensively opposed to Jeremy Corbyn. The fact McTernan's agenda and the extraordinarily biased mainstream media agenda against Jeremy Corbyn are in alignment is enough to make them overlook the fact that he's a such a hopelessly discredited expert that he should be treated as a laughing stock, not some kind of oracle.
Some of McTernan's "insights" on Jeremy Corbyn include calling Labour MPs who support him "morons", accusing people who support Corbyn's policies of suffering "psychological emotional spasms", calling for a coup Corbyn's leadership before he was even elected, calling for a coup a month after he was elected, vociferously supporting the self-serving coup-plotters when they finally launched their shockingly ill-timed coup at a moment of national crisis, and then backing Owen Smith's belated leadership challenge when the inept "Chicken Coup" failed.
It's absolutely clear that McTernan is part of the entitled Blairite club who have no real interest in or insight into the huge increase in Labour Party membership since Jeremy Corbyn became party leader. All he has are insults and displays of utter contempt for the democratic decision of hundreds of thousands of Labour Party members. As far as McTernan is concerned he's the expert (despite managing to lose the whole of Scotland in one go!) and anyone who disagrees with him is a moron.
Why would anyone listen to a guy whose judgement is so poor that they supported a myopic internal party coup at a time of national crisis and whose "analyses" are stuffed full of insults, smears and anti-democratic sentiments?
McTernan is a classic example of a red Tory. He proclaims himself to be a socialist yet he supports all kinds of conservative ideology that is fundamentally incompatible with socialism. What kind of socialist would write articles for the Murdoch propaganda empire and the Daily Torygraph declaring stuff like "Tax avoidance is an expression of basic British freedoms" and "Pirvatisation: what is it good for? Everything"?
A pro-privatisation, tax-dodger apologist who proclaims himself to be a socialist! Who in their right mind would take political advice from a contradiction in terms like that?
Aside from praising privatisation and making excuses for tax-dodging McTernan has also supported the destruction of British libraries caused by the Tories' savage local government funding cuts, opposed the Living Wage, demanded a 3rd invasion of Iraq, opposed renationalisation of the railways, and encouraged the Scottish Labour Party to print leaflets saying: "Muggers. Sex offenders. Burglars. Vote SNP".
Who on earth would take advice from a guy who supports the Tory destruction of local services, wants to invade Iraq again and thinks that filthy Lynton Crosbyesque smear campaigns are a way to beat a party that is absolutely hammering his own into the ground on policy, trustworthiness, delivery and electability?
As far as Owen Smith is concerned, if he had any sense at all he'd tell McTernan where to go.
Smith is going to have a hard enough campaign to unseat Jeremy Corbyn given that the Labour party membership has more than doubled since Corbyn burst onto the scene last summer, without receiving the political kiss of death from the guy who managed the incredible feat of eradicating the once fiercely loyal Scottish Labour heartlands in a single electoral campaign.
Labels: Jeremy Corbyn, Jim Murphy, John McTernan, Owen Smith, Politics, Privatisation, Scotland, Tax-Dodging, UK
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Tom Blenkinsop's vitriolic Twitter tantrum
If anyone is an expert in "unelectability" and "pr...
The Blame Corbyn for Brexit narrative is pitiful d...
Sadiq Khan's woeful intervention in the Labour lea...
There would be no game of chess if the pawns refus...
The UK prison labour industry
The US is turning against the Prison Industrial Co...
Imagine if Corbyn had suggested we negotiate with ...
Managerialism vs Participatory democracy
Theresa May's crocodile tears
The "Nazi stormtroopers" article in the Daily Mail...
Why can't England provide free university educatio...
What is Labour Tomorrow?
The utter Tory hypocrisy over bigotry
The Labour vote fiasco continues
David Cameron's radioactive political legacy
What the BBC aren't telling you about the new Abel...
Tom Watson thinks democracy is a "terrible error o...
A DBE for flood defence slasher Caroline Spelman!
The anti-democratic Labour election vote rigging s...
Brexiter rage
Alex Andreou's "Acid Attack" article
Are Brexiters immune to irony?
Unelected technocrats use the Brexit mess to launc...
The Tory anti-worker tribunal fees are a barrier t...
Capita employed a Britain First sympathiser to ass...
David Cameron's cronyism is an affront to democrac...
The Labour Party edict banning the word "Blairite"...
The Tory War on Social mobility
Arron Bank's puppet-candidate just got himself dis...
George Osborne's toxic austerity agenda
Another fraud scandal at a Tory flagship free scho...
Some answers to Owen Jones' questions
It's time to scrap the discredited honours system


Some of you have asked we what is happening to my Crossdreamers.com blog. I have in no way abandoned the site and am planning a series of new blog posts.
about Ray Blachard and his autogynephilia theory.
I am preparing a post on what the Caitlyn Jenner case may mean for crossdreamers of all shades and colors.
I believe her case will help us get beyond the toxic autogynephilia narrative and into a view of trans women that allows for more diversity and respect.
There will be a post on the way television is presenting trans women who may or may not have been crossdreamers, but who would definitely have been classified as "autogynephiliacs" by the dark side of sexology.
This applies to series like Hit & Miss, Transparent, Orange is the New Black and -- most recently -- the amazing Washowski/Straczynski series Sense8. All of them give a respectful and nuanced view of trans women and their struggles.
As previously promised, I am also preparing a story about the crossdreamer Ernest Hemingway, and his struggle to understand what his gender variance was about.
Finally, I am working on a piece about science throughout history, and the way it has been systematically used to suppress and harass marginalized groups.
A typical tactic has been to label these groups as sexual deviants. This tactic has been applied to working class people, independent women, any man or woman that cannot be considered white or "Nordic", gay and lesbians and -- obviously -- people who challenge gender norms.
The similarities between racist eugenics and the transphobic theories of Blanchard and Bailey are uncanny.
In the meantime, some of you may be interested in taking a look at the tumblr blogs of me and my wife Sally.
These are both news curation sites with a broader transgender scope than Crossdreamers.com. Still, those of you struggle with dysphoria and your gender identity, should definitely find some interesting posts here.
On why being called a "sissy" is so much worse than being called a "tomboy"


Help businesses optimize their return on their investment through data-driven marketing solutions.
Innovation: To think beyond conventional wisdom and practices so that we help clients achieve their revenue goals.
Achievement: Produce measurable results for our clients, using effective and cost efficient methods.
Growth: Discover and nurture opportunities for organizational and personal growth, both for our clients and within our own team.
Accountability: To know that we must take ownership in all our actions, holding ourselves to a higher standard of responsibility than our clients would expect, and having the courage to take action to improve ourselves, even when the choices are difficult.
Trust: To instill and protect the trust we build among the teams within our office and with our clients.
To be an industry standard-setter in implementing data-driven solutions for clients, while fostering a learning environment that allows the continuous improvement necessary to reach long-term goals. To become true partners with clients to execute and manage the marketing strategies necessary for their visions to come to life.


text:
is a passenger railway station in located in the town of Katsuragi, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, operated by West Japan Railway Company (JR West).

Lines
Nakaiburi Station is served by the Wakayama Line, and is located 53.0 kilometers from the terminus of the line at Ōji Station.

Station layout
The station consists of one side platform serving a single bi-directional track. There is no station building, and the station is unattended.

Adjacent stations

|-
!colspan=5|West Japan Railway Company

History
Nakaiburi Station opened on May 1, 1957. With the privatization of the Japan National Railways (JNR) on April 1, 1987, the station came under the aegis of the West Japan Railway Company.

Passenger statistics
In fiscal 2019, the station was used by an average of 344 passengers daily (boarding passengers only).

Surrounding Area
 Kihoku Branch Hospital, Wakayama Medical University
 Faculty of Agriculture, Wakayama Prefectural Agricultural University
 Wakayama Prefectural Kihoku Agricultural High School
 Hatsusakura Sake Brewery

See also
List of railway stations in Japan

References

External links

 Nakaiburi Station Official Site

Railway stations in Wakayama Prefecture
Railway stations in Japan opened in 1957
Katsuragi, Wakayama

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Procurement's Talent Shortage: How to Continuously Motivate High-Performing Teams
Anyone who follows the news has seen the headlines about the exodus of workers from many industries dubbed as "The Great Resignation." In September 2021 alone, 4.4 million Americans quit their jobs — a full 3% of the total workforce. While analysts suspect that many workers simply changed jobs, US labor statistics indicate a substantial percentage of the resigners are actually retiring — 2 million more than predicted. A recent Gartner Survey showed how these trends impact procurement:
24% of procurement and supply chain professionals surveyed are actively looking for a new job
Only 50% of procurement and supply chain professionals under 40 have high intent to remain in their current job role
CPO Surveys in 2019, 2020, 2021 identified finding qualified talent as the single largest gap in the achievement of strategic procurement initiatives
Procurement was already struggling with a talent shortage before the pandemic. With the additional challenges and stress caused by endless supply chain and logistics issues, new procurement roles are being created. Organizations are struggling to fill new roles and to retain and motivate the top talent they already have.
Procurement's Talent Shortage Can Create Death Spirals
One of the most important "P"s in predictive procurement is people. And that's a growing problem for many companies. In pre-pandemic days, it was already becoming difficult to recruit top procurement talent. A 2019 Deloitte post on the topic estimated that at that time, there would typically be just one qualified candidate for every six procurement-related job openings. Since 2020, the situation has worsened.
In a recent report, DHL—the international courier and logistics giant—summed up the issue of supply chain demand outstripping the supply of talent:
"Supply chain managers across the globe are struggling with a critical supply-and-demand imbalance. But it's not for a specific product, commodity, or even for transportation capacity. It's for people. Demand for supply chain talent is at an all-time high, as more and more companies have recognized how important supply chain management is to their success. But even though more people are earning supply chain management degrees and certifications each year, it hasn't been enough to fill current needs."
The situation is getting so bad that it's not just causing headaches in procurement functions. It's threatening to impact the ability of companies to meet the demand for their products and services.
This situation can create tinder that ignites a so-called "death spiral" — one high performer feels underpaid and overworked and so leaves for a better job. Studies by McKinsey across 6,000 individual contributors show that high-performers are often 400% more productive than average performers, and in complex, technical or analytical roles they can be 800% more productive. When one high-performer leaves, it naturally increases the workload for the rest of the team — sometimes dramatically. If an employee's workload and responsibilities increases without any increase in pay, this can create dissatisfaction that precipitates additional departures, escalating the "spiral". In a short period of time, the team dynamics that enabled peak performance have evaporated entirely.
As a CPO or key stakeholder of a company, how do you ensure you can attract and—more importantly—keep and motivate a high-performing procurement team?
Identifying Top Talent Internally
In the current procurement job environment, keeping your team happy and motivated is paramount. That goes for everyone on the team, but especially the top performers. To do so, you must be able to distinguish the low, medium, and high performers on the team. From there, you can pursue incentives like greater accountability, having a voice in setting goals, involvement in more projects, participation in strategic initiatives, and financial incentives.
Having and managing a high-performing procurement team is one thing, but how do you identify your top talent? How do you prevent underperforming staff from going along for the ride and taking credit for successes that they had little involvement in? According to a recent study by Modis of 1,000 hiring managers, top performers ranked these aspects of their jobs as most important:
Opportunity for career advancement
Competitive salaries & raises
Ability to create change or have a voice within the company
Ability to innovate and create new products, projects or ideas
"Opportunity for career advancement" requires recognizing and rewarding tangible achievement based on objective metrics. The key is visibility. A big part of this is defining units of work, tracking projects in a pipeline using Key Performance Indicator (KPIs), and even recognizing employee achievement via leaderboards that show individual progress toward goals in real-time. By using basic game-ification approaches to tracking and visualizing employee achievement, delivering the right recognition to your high performers can become a pleasurable and rewarding aspect of team culture. These are the fundamental building blocks of a successful Predictive Procurement Orchestration (PPO) program within your procurement organization.
Challenges in Implementing Predictive Procurement Orchestration (PPO)
For goals and the leaderboards to work in motivating the team, there has to be buy-in. That's harder than it sounds, especially for procurement organizations that still rely on manual processes. Organizations need to implement predictive procurement orchestration. Why? There are three core goals aligned with tracking, recognizing and rewarding high-performers:
Predict — Using prediction allows you to set realistic goals that team members will buy into and feel motivated to accomplish because they understand the data behind them and feel like they are numbers they have the power and agency to impact.
Prioritize — Using clear real-time data about business impact enables your team to prioritize (or de-prioritize) tasks based on strategic objectives, giving them more autonomy over the workflow and a greater degree of control over work-life balance.
Produce — Using a scoring and points system to assess performance based on clear achievements can motivate your team to take ownership of procurement wins.
The problem here is that predictive procurement is not easy to implement using spreadsheets and email. Many companies are still relying on manual analysis to track and report Cost Savings, Cost Avoidance, Cycle Time, Time-to-Settle, Purchase Price Variance, Supplier Diversity, Metric Tonnes of Carbon Reduced and Procurement NPS. This is incredibly time-consuming — and makes performance management a burdensome extra workload instead of a strategic talent motivation weapon. Too often, silos created from outdated systems and processes hampers true collaboration.
Using Arkestro to Motivate High-Performing Procurement Teams
Today the growing competition for high-performing procurement professionals is driven by demand that far outstrips supply. That makes it difficult to hire new staff and more important than ever to retain existing talent—especially the high-performing talent. However, implementing a simple and effective framework that will motivate your procurement teams to track, report, recognize, and reward high-performers who crave clarity around "access to career opportunities" isn't as easy as it sounds, especially when manual spreadsheet-driven processes are involved.
So how do you implement a framework that will provide transparency and motivate high-performing procurement teams? The solution is Arkestro.
Arkestro is an automated predictive procurement platform with centralized data, AI-powered analysis, and cross-team collaboration support that provides the necessary foundation. With Arkestro, teams can collaboratively set realistic targets for Cost Savings, Cost Avoidance, Cycle Time and even Average Competitiveness at the category level. In addition, Arkestro offers leaderboards that track important KPIs in real-time. This provides visibility, which adds accountability, an incentive for individuals to perform better (especially when working remotely), and the ability to offer merit-based rewards like micro-bonuses.
In addition, implementing Arkestro will help to attract high-level new talent to your organization. A solution that incorporates AI and other advanced technology promoting less manual work is always attractive for high-performers who want to be working with state-of-the-art data science tooling. Book a free demo today to see how Arkestro will help you retain your top procurement talent while attracting the best professionals seeking new opportunities in the field.