Las Vegas may be a city fuelled by money, but there are still plenty of ways to enjoy yourself without betting it all on the roulette wheel. From man-made erupting volcanoes to edible attractions created out of chocolate, and enough one-of-a-kind hotel activities to keep you busy for the duration of your trip, Sin City can easily be enjoyed on a budget.
Just walking down the strip is an experience in itself. On one side of the street it's the New York skyline. On the other, there's the Eiffel Tower. Pop into The Venetian and check out the full-size canal that runs through the hotel, complete with gondolas. Many of the major hotels are themed and compete to be the most over-the-top. With no entry fee, you're free to explore the Luxor, the Bellagio, the MGM Grand and many more.
Intimidated by the tables or simply confused by the rules? Then why not have some free lessons? A number of the major casinos, including the Luxor and the Excalibur, offer free classes. Learn the basic rules, the terminology and strategy and get some all-important hands-on experience. All without spending a cent. What you do with your newfound knowledge is entirely up to you, but at least you'll know what to expect.
Considering you're in the middle of the desert, there's an awful lot of water around. The Fountains of Bellagio stretch for a quarter mile (0.4 kilometres) along the front of the hotel, and every half hour in the afternoon they erupt in a blaze of color, light and music. At Caesars Palace they have animatronic models acting out the Fall of Atlantis Fountain Show, at the Wynn they have dynamic fountains synced to music, and at Silverton's there's even a colossal salt-water aquarium to check out.
Believe it or not, it's not all about gambling and brash showmanship in sin city. Las Vegas is a unique place with a rich cultural history. Learn more about the native indigenous cultures of the north American southwest through exhibitions at the Marjorie Barrick Museum. You can also take a trip to the Neon Museum and enjoy the visual feast that is the 'neon boneyard', which offers ample opportunities for creative photos, and an illuminating perspective on the development of Las Vegas and its neon sign industry.
The hotels of Las Vegas offer a banquet of themes that will delight the kids and have you pulling out your camera. You've heard about the water features, but don't miss the Mirage Hotel Volcano, where you might be lucky enough to see an eruption. Or visit The Flamingo, which boasts its own tropical wildlife park, complete with leggy pink Chilean flamingos. The Anderson Dairy offers free barnyard tours where your little ones can learn about how farms work and what it takes to put milk on the table. You can even see free circus acts at Circus Circus Hotel (daily between 11:00am - 7:00pm).
Once you've been inside a casino for a few hours, you might start to yearn for a bit of outside time. It might not seem like it on the strip, but you are in the middle of a huge expanse of desert. Visit the Clark County Wetlands Park and enjoy the hiking trails, ponds, birdlife and stunning views on offer. The Hoover Dam, one of the world's great engineering projects, is located about 30 miles (48 kilometers) away and well worth a visit.
There is some great public art on display at the City Center campus, with a number of pieces by artists such as Nancy Rubin and Claes Oldenburg. The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas is also home to a series of installations called Wallworks. The downtown Arts District is a cultural hub, with the Arts Factory featuring a number of galleries and studio spaces, including Trifecta Gallery which is home to emerging artists and creatively staged openings. The Majorie Barrick Museum has also built up a strong focus on rotating exhibitions, having featured artists like the famous monochrome landscape photographer Ansel Adams.
Both M&M's World and Hershey's Chocolate World can be found on the strip. Inside you'll find multiple floors of chocolate heaven and a replica Statue of Liberty made from the sweet stuff. You can also venture a bit further out of town to Ethel M Chocolates and Cactus Garden. Established by the founder of Mars Inc. in tribute to his mother, the attraction offers free self-guided tours through the chocolate-making facility, with free samples at the end. Don't miss the opportunity to take a walk through the garden, it's the largest cactus garden in Nevada, with over 300 different plant specimens.
Amid all the high rollers gambling in the casinos and world-famous artists getting paid mega-bucks to fill huge venues, there's a surprising number of Las Vegas activities you can do for free. Choose any of the activities above and enjoy the very best of sin city, and when the sun sets, be sure to check out our guide to the Best Bars on the Las Vegas strip too.


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Friday, July 19 News Subscribe
Ten killed in Texas high school shooting by student firing his father's guns, governor says
Brittney Martin, Mark Berman and Joel Achenbach, The Washington Post | on May 18, 2018
SANTA FE, Tex. - A 17-year-old student armed with a shotgun and a pistol went on a rampage Friday morning at his school here outside Houston, killing 10 people - mostly students - before surrendering to the officers who confronted him, officials said. Ten others were wounded, including a school resource officer who was left in critical condition.
Santa Fe High School was the latest scene of carnage in what has become a national epidemic of mass shootings. For the second time in the past three months, the victims were children and their teachers. It happened during first period.
Isabelle Laymance, 15, was in art class, drawing geometric shapes, when she heard gunshots. She froze for a moment, then she ran to a back door leading to a patio, but it was locked. She and seven other students barricaded themselves in a supply closet that connected two art classrooms. She lay on the floor and called police, then called her mother, whispering "I love you" while holding a friend's hand. They shushed each other, hoping to avoid detection.
The trenchcoat-clad gunman - whom police identified as student Dimitrios Pagourtzis - came into the first art classroom and began shooting. He knew that students were hiding in the supply closet, Laymance said.
"He said 'Surprise,' and then he started shooting, and he killed one or two people. And he shot a girl in the leg. In the closet. He shot through the window," she said. "We blocked the doors with ceramic makers, and he kept on trying to get in, and he kept on shooting inside the closet."
Laymance called police three times over the course of 30 terrifying minutes. A dispatcher told her to be quiet and assured her that help was on the way, she said.
The gunman kept shooting, swearing and yelling. He shot a police officer who approached, then engaged other officers in discussion, offering to surrender.
"He kept saying, 'If I come out, don't shoot me.' They didn't shoot him, they just put him in handcuffs," she said.
Pagourtzis, whom students described as a quiet loner, was held Friday without bond at the Galveston County jail, charged with capital murder and aggravated assault on a peace officer. It was unclear what motivated the attack, as authorities said it came without any obvious warning.
Pagourtzis made his first court appearance Friday evening, a little more than 10 hours after the massacre. He spoke quietly, saying "Yes, sir" when asked if he wanted a court-appointed attorney. After the brief hearing, he was led away.
Police said Pagourtzis gave a statement admitting responsibility for the shooting, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in court. Pagourtzis told police that he went into the school wearing a trench coat and wielding two guns intent on killing people.
The affidavit, which identifies him as Dimitrios Pagourtzis Jr., states that the 17-year-old told police that "he did not shoot students he did like so he could have his story told."
The two guns used in the shooting belong to Pagourtzis' father, according to Gov. Greg Abbott, R, who said it was unclear if the father knew that his son had taken them. Unlike many other mass shootings carried out with high-powered rifles like the AR-15, this one, authorities said, involved relatively common weapons.
Police said they also found explosive devices inside the school and at locations off campus.
Authorities said they were scrutinizing two other potential suspects in the shooting. Sheriff Ed Gonzalez of neighboring Harris County said officials questioned another student, described as "a person of interest." Abbott said police also hoped to speak with a third person who he said could have "certain information," though he did not elaborate.
Three officers responded to the attack, officials said. The first to confront the shooter was school safety officer John Barnes, a retired Houston police officer who, according to a former Houston colleague, Capt. Jim Dale, joined the Santa Fe Independent School District police force because he wanted a less stressful job.
Barnes was shot in both arms, Dale said. A second Santa Fe ISD officer arrived, pulled Barnes to safety and applied a tourniquet. A third officer, a state trooper, also engaged the gunman, according to a state police official.
Officials have not yet provided a timeline showing how long it took to respond to the active-shooter emergency calls, nor have they disclosed many details about their interactions with the shooter.
Barnes was taken by helicopter to the trauma center at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, where he was in danger of "bleeding out" when he arrived, chief medical officer Gulshan Sharma told reporters. Dale, the Houston police captain, said that many officers descended upon the hospital to show their support and that the family was in good spirits after hearing from doctors that Barnes' injuries are probably not fatal.
Santa Fe High School, home of the Indians, had won a statewide award for its safety program. As an ominous precursor to Friday's shooting, the school had experienced a false alarm about an active shooter in February, an event that attracted a massive emergency response and the chaotic arrival of fearful parents.
Many of the 1,400 students staged a walkout April 20 as part of a nationwide protest against school shootings, part of a grass-roots movement among young Americans in the wake of the February massacre of 17 students and staffers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. One sign carried by Santa Fe students during their April protest: "#NeverAgain."
Four Fridays later, their school was attacked.
Gage Slaughter, 17, said he was sitting in his AP history class when the shooting started. When he heard the gunshots, he thought - as is so often the case in mass shootings - that it was just firecrackers. Someone pulled a fire alarm, he said, and everyone went outside. Then a coach and some teachers told the students to start running.
"There were people who were starting to cry," he said. "I didn't know what was going on until I was down the road a little ways and I heard one of the teachers saying it was a school shooter."
In the hours that followed, heavily armed officers in tactical gear surrounded the school. Authorities said they found explosives in the building and in surrounding areas, and they put out warnings on social media for people to avoid touching anything unfamiliar.
Parents picked up their children early from other schools in the area as they reeled from the horror that had come to their community.
"I just need to cuddle [my] baby girl," said Catharine Lindsey, a parent who lives nearby and said she could hear the rescue helicopters from her home. "Ever since Parkland, I've had to tell my 13-year-old daughter to not be a hero, to hide and stay safe with teacher if something like this happens, because she's the type who would try and talk the shooter down."
This was the 16th school shooting so far this year, according to a Washington Post analysis. That's the highest number at this point in any year since 1999, the year of the Columbine High massacre. The Post's analysis found that since 1999, shootings during school hours have killed at least 139 children, educators and other people, with 277 more injured.
There was limited solid information about the victims at Santa Fe High in the hours after the shooting.
The Embassy of Pakistan confirmed Friday evening that Sabika Sheikh, a Pakistani exchange student, was killed in the attack.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with Sabika's family and friends," Ambassador Aizaz Ahmad Chaudhry said in a statement.
Another exchange student, Sayyed Zaman Haider, said Sabika was from Karachi and was studying through the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study Program, funded by the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. A spokesman for the bureau did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment. Haider said Sheikh was about to return home: The academic year was ending, so she was almost done with her cultural exchange.
Cynthia Tisdale, 63, a substitute teacher at Santa Fe High School, died in the shooting, her family confirmed Friday. Tisdale worked at the school frequently, her son Recie Tisdale said.
"She started substitute teaching because she loved to help children," he said. "She didn't have to do it. She did it because she loved it."
Recie Tisdale is a police detective in nearby League City. Cynthia Tisdale lived in Dickinson, Texas, with her husband of nearly 47 years, William Tisdale. The couple had three children and 11 grandchildren. William Tisdale said his wife had also been a paralegal for 22 years.
"She was a good woman," he said. "She watched out for me."
Among the injured was sophomore Rome Shubert, a pitcher on the school baseball team, who said that a bullet grazed his head. "I'm so grateful and blessed that God spared my life today," Shubert wrote in a tweet. "Today I was shot in the back of the head but I am completely OK and stable."
On Friday night, students gathered at a vigil here wearing T-shirts, made after Hurricane Harvey, that read "Texas Tough." On the back: "Indians got your back."
The shooting immediately drew condemnation nationwide. President Donald Trump quickly decried the Texas shooting.
"This has been going on too long in our country - too many years, too many decades now," Trump said in Washington. "We grieve for the terrible loss of life and send our support and love to everyone affected by this absolutely horrific attack."
In Santa Fe, Sen. Ted Cruz, R, said: "Once again Texas has seen the face of evil."
In his jailhouse booking photo, the suspect, Pagourtzis, wore a blank expression, as if bored.
On a Facebook page, Pagourtzis had posted a photograph of a T-shirt saying "Born to Kill," Abbott said during an afternoon news conference. But Abbott said the suspect did not have a criminal record or show signs of being violent. He said that in this case there weren't the kind of red flags seen in other mass shootings, such as the one last year at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, or the one in Parkland, Florida.
The suspect documented his thoughts on his computer and cellphone, and the writings revealed not only that he intended to commit the shooting but also that he planned to commit suicide, the governor said. He said the shooter didn't have the "courage" to follow through on the suicide.
Experts on mass shootings note that the killers study their predecessors, copy their moves and even their fashion choices. The shooter at Santa Fe High appeared to copy elements of the Columbine massacre: a black trench coat, a shotgun, explosives.
More than 30 shooters have copied the Columbine killers, and admitted they'd done so, according to Adam Lankford, a criminology professor at the University of Alabama.
"This seems like actually a more extreme version because of all of the different elements that seem to be copied, from clothing to weapons and modus operandi in terms of planting bombs," Lankford said. "It's a form of celebrity worship. The celebrities in this case are celebrity killers - the Columbine killers."
Abbott said he will convene a roundtable of experts to discuss ways to stave off another school shooting, including speeding up background checks on gun buyers, putting more money into mental health treatment, and adding security personnel.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said infrastructure is a problem: Schools have too many entrances and exits and need to be retrofitted.
"We may need to harden our schools and make them safer," Patrick said.
Cable news and social media were dominated Friday by painfully familiar images of students being led out of the school by armed officers. Survivors of the Parkland massacre and their relatives, many of whom have become outspoken advocates for stronger gun control laws, publicly offered support to the Santa Fe community - and sent angry messages to politicians they said have not acted to avert such massacres.
The Washington Post's Berman and Achenbach reported from Washington. Christian Davenport and Stephanie Kuzydym in Santa Fe, Texas, and Nick Anderson, Alice Crites, Abigail Hauslohner, Jennifer Jenkins, Jenna Johnson, Susan Svrluga, Julie Tate, William Wan, Emily Wax and Matt Zapotosky in Washington contributed to this report.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Auckland Shore Excursion: Small-Group Auckland City Tour. See the sights when your ship is in port in Auckland and learn more about this beautiful 'City of Sails'. You'll tour the city center and its many bays on this Auckland shore excursion, cross the Harbour Bridge, take a stroll on the beach, and see the city spread out before you from the top of Mt Victoria. Enjoy personal attention from your guide on this small-group tour, limited to 18 people.
Auckland Shore Excursion: Small-Group Auckland City Tour - Auckland, New Zealand
Auckland Information
Ports of Call Tour
Price: Starting from $82.00 per person
See the sights when your ship is in port in Auckland and learn more about this beautiful 'City of Sails'. You'll tour the city center and its many bays on this Auckland shore excursion, cross the Harbour Bridge, take a stroll on the beach, and see the city spread out before you from the top of Mt Victoria. Enjoy personal attention from your guide on this small-group tour, limited to 18 people.
Explore the history and sights when you're in port in Auckland, and experience daily life in this laid-back harbor city.
Traveling by air-conditioned mini-coach, led by a local guide, this small-group Auckland tour begins with a trip along Queen Street in the central business district. Passing Auckland University and the Domain inner-city park, the tour continues through the attractive suburb of Ponsonby, with its grand Victorian buildings.
Cross the Harbour Bridge to Auckland's North Shore, then stretch your legs on Narrow Neck Beach in the town of Devonport, with fabulous views of Rangitoto Island's extinct volcanic cone. There's time for a coffee (own expense) before the tour continues to the summit of Mt Victoria, for panoramic views over Auckland.
Then travel back over the Harbour Bridge to view Westhaven Marina, one of the largest marinas in the Southern Hemisphere with views through the yacht masts to the city skyline. The Auckland City tour is an easy morning tour introduction to the diverse city of Auckland.
Worry-free Shore Excursion: We will ensure your timely return to the Auckland cruise port for this activity. In the rare event your ship has departed, we will arrange for transportation to the next port-of-call. If your ship is delayed and you are unable to attend this activity, your money will be refunded. See our terms and conditions for full details.
Waterfront Studio Apartment on Princes Wharf - Apartment.
Set within the Viaduct Harbour district in Auckland, Waterfront Studio Apartment on Princes Wharf has air conditioning,...
All Auckland Accommodation
The Lord of the Rings Hobbiton Movie Set Tour from Auckland including Private Transfer - Private Tour - Auckland. Starting from $519.00 per person.
Spend the day in Middle Earth on a group or private tour of the Hobbiton movie set from Auckland. See where scenes from...
All Auckland NZ Activities


Reine Ah Moo is a native of Honolulu, Hawaii and is a graduate of La Pietra. She further pursued her education in California, where she received her Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and Minor in Business at the University of San Francisco.
Upon graduation, Reine pursued a career in Retail Management and in 1993 was selected as one of the Retail Candidates to participate in the prestigious Management Associate Program for the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Reine also held management positions in Beverly Hills and Las Vegas, with luxury boutiques in the Mirage, Moschino, BCBG Max Azria, and Lalique.
Looking for a new challenge, Reine decided to explore a career in real estate and became a licensed Realtor in the State of California in 2002. With the constant encouragement and guidance from her Uncle, Bill Chee, she decided to explore a career in Hawaiian real estate. Reine chose to bring her experience and energy and began working for Locations (formerly Prudential Locations) in 2004. Reine obtained her Hawaii Brokers License in 2013.
Reine's dedication to her clients is unmatched, and her motivation and enthusiasm are contagious. Combining her years of industry experience in service, communication, and customer satisfaction with her mainland and local market knowledge, Reine is committed to helping her clients meet their real estate needs.
transactions and working w/Ms. Ah Moo has been the best experience by far.


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Home » Lil Wayne's $20M Suit Against Prominent Entertainment Attorney Knocked Down by NY Appeals Court
Lil Wayne's $20M Suit Against Prominent Entertainment Attorney Knocked Down by NY Appeals Court
A state appeals court has knocked out major claims from prominent rapper Lil Wayne's $20 million lawsuit against Ronald Sweeney, his former attorney and representative of 13 years, including causes of action for fraudulent inducement, legal malpractice, breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment.
The Appellate Division, First Department's opinion, which addressed the four different claims succinctly, saying each was devoid of any merit, appears to be a blow through the heart of the musician's 10-claim, 2019-filed suit against Sweeney.
'The World Is Changing': Why Former Diamondbacks CLO...
Generative AI Tools Will Upend Legal Services: The...
Meet the Judge Overseeing DOJ's 2nd Antitrust Case...


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Investors don't come by sponsoring events abroad: Priyanka's dig at PM
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday attacked the government over the state of the economy, saying the confidence of investors is "shaken" but the Modi dispensation is refusing to acknowledge the truth.
The Congress general secretary also cited a media report which claimed that after pouring $45 billion into India's stock market over the past six years on hopes that Modi would unleash the country's economic potential, international money managers have sold $4.5 billion of Indian shares since June.
"By showing glitter, saying 5 trillion, 5 trillion, everyday or by doing media's headline management, economy cannot be improved. Investors do not come by sponsoring events abroad," Priyanka Gandhi said in an apparent dig at Prime Minister Modi's upcoming diaspora event in Houston.
The confidence of investors is "shaken" and the foundation of economic investment has "cracked", she said in a tweet in Hindi with the hashtag 'BJP bad for business'.
"But the BJP government is refusing to acknowledge this truth. This slowdown is a speed breaker in the direction of becoming an economic superpower. Without improving this situation, all other razzmatazz is useless," Priyanka Gandhi said in another tweet.
She has been relentlessly attacking the government over the issue of economy in the last few days and demanding answers from the government over the economic slowdown.
© Copyright 2023 PTI. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of PTI content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent.


The price of oil climbed above $107 a barrel Thursday as the escalating violence in Egypt was seen as threatening stability in the Middle East, and U.S. crude supplies fell in a possible sign of stronger demand.
By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark crude for September delivery was up 48 cents to $107.33 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 2 cents to close at $106.85 on Wednesday.
The Egyptian Health Ministry said that 525 people had died so far and over 3,700 were injured in clashes between police and supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohammed Morsi. The government declared a nationwide state of emergency and a nighttime curfew. Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei resigned as Egypt's interim vice president in protest at the violence.
Analysts also noted the large drop in Libya's oil output, which, at around 650,000 barrels a day, was about 1 million barrels a day lower than a year ago due to field closures and export disruptions.
In the United States, meanwhile, the latest supply reports showed a drop in crude inventories, with the U.S. Energy Department saying supplies fell by 2.8 million barrels, about double what analysts expected.
Brent crude, traded on the ICE Futures exchange in London, was up 81 cents to $109.63 a barrel.
– Heating oil rose 1.77 cents to $3.0655 a gallon.
– Wholesale gasoline added 1.11 cents to $2.8588 a gallon.
– Natural gas fell 1.6 cents to $3.326 per 1,000 cubic feet.


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Phnom Penh Post - Iran set to tackle US sanctions
Iran set to tackle US sanctions
AFP | Publication date 14 September 2018 | 10:32 ICT
An Iranian woman walks past a mural depicting a gun painted on the wall of the former US embassy in the capital Tehran on August 7. ATTA KENARE/AFP
Fri, 14 September 2018
IRAN faces a potentially crushing loss of oil exports when US sanctions return in November, but the impact could be blunted by its experience of working around embargoes.
When Iran faced its toughest international sanctions between 2012 and 2015, analysts say it found a number of creative solutions, from repainting and renaming ships to switching off their tracking devices.
"We find those tankers quite often, leaving and entering Iran in a covert fashion with their transponder turned off," said Samir Madani, co-founder of TankerTrackers.com, which monitors the oil trade.
Analysts expect such behaviour to ramp up when US sanctions on Iran's oil industry return on November 5, following Washington's withdrawal from the nuclear deal in May.
US pressure has already caused a 24 per cent drop in Iran's sales between May and August, according to Bloomberg.
The big surprise has been cuts by Asian buyers, which analysts expected to resist US pressure, notably a 35 per cent drop by China and 49 per cent by India, according to the Eurasia Group consultancy.
Eurasia Group said wider geopolitics are at play: India is looking to deepen strategic ties with the US, while China may wish to avoid a fresh spat when it is already embroiled in a bitter trade dispute with Washington.
Iran was exporting 2.7 million barrels of oil per day in May, but that has already fallen to 2.1 million.
Overall, Eurasia Group predicts the country's sales will fall by a further 0.9 million barrels per day to 1.2 million by November.
That would mean a loss of some $2-2.5 billion a month, at current prices.
But analysts say Washington's goal of reducing Iran's oil sales to zero is unrealistic.
Aggressive options
Iran has the world's fourth-largest reserves, and many countries – particularly in Asia – rely on its supplies and have refineries designed for its particular flavour of heavy crude.
And Tehran has many tried and tested ways to keep oil flowing.
It has already increased price discounts since May, worth around $10-15 million a month to large importers like China and India compared with last year, said Wood Mackenzie, a consultancy.
"Buyers can pay in kind, trade in other currencies, or extend credit – even keep the money in an escrow account in Switzerland and wait until these sanctions are over. India had a deal like that last time," said Madani.
If Iran can get its oil to a friendly port, it could be blended with oil from elsewhere and resold, said Thijs Van de Graaf, assistant professor for international politics at the University of Ghent.
It also has more aggressive options, with President Hassan Rouhani recently restating an old threat to block the vital Strait of Hormuz through which around a third of the world's seaborne oil passes every day.
Rouhani announced last week that Iran was moving its main oil terminal out of the Gulf to a port in the Oman Sea, so that its tankers would no longer need to pass through the strait, giving it more scope to disrupt supplies.
Pressure on Europe
Iran says it will not accept major drops in its oil sales, putting pressure particularly on Europe, which was buying more than a fifth of its oil, to resist US demands.
The EU strongly opposed Washington's decision to scrap the nuclear deal and has vowed to introduce a package of measures to protect trade with Iran.
But European firms are highly vulnerable to US sanctions.
Shipping, banking and insurance firms have already backed out of Iran and oil purchases are down by 35 per cent.
"If we cannot continue [the previous] level of sales even after the European package has been implemented, then that is a red line for us," warned deputy foreign minister Abbas Araghchi on state television.
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned recently that Iran would "set aside" the nuclear deal if it was no longer receiving the economic benefits it promised.
One slight upside for Iran is that oil prices are already rising due to the squeeze caused by the looming US sanctions.
Some analysts predict prices could exceed $100 per barrel, from the current level of around $70.
The United States has pressured its ally Saudi Arabia to pump more oil to compensate for the loss of Iranian supplies.
Tunisians rally to demand release of protesters arrested in nighttime clashes
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Duterte airs support for Chinese vaccines
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is willing to receive a Chinese-developed Covid-19 vaccine, his spokesman said on January 19. Harry Roque told an online news conference that
Thailand clarifies Covid-19 vaccine deal between Siam Bioscience, AstraZeneca
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East Perth is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia and is about 1 km east-southeast of WA's capital city of Perth. In the 2011 Australian census the population of East Perth was 8,185 when there were 3,710 Females and 4,475 Males living there. The median age for people living in East Perth was . Want to know more about East Perth?
City Delivery Centre is 2 kms west-northwest.
Como is 3 kms south.
Highgate is 2 kms north.
Inglewood is 4 kms north-northeast.
Kensington is 3 kms south-southeast.
Menora is 5 kms north.
Mount Lawley is 3 kms north.
North Perth is 3 kms north-northwest.
Northbridge is 2 kms northwest.
Perth is 1 km west-northwest.
Perth Gpo is 2 kms west-northwest.
South Perth is 3 kms south-southwest.
South Perth Angelo St is 3 kms south-southwest.


Learning a new program can be overwhelming to say the least.
And grappling with a new program while also learning about life with AAC is even more of a challenge.
But at CoughDrop, we'd like to help you with that. That's why this summer we are running several FREE augmentative communication web training sessions open to ANYONE interested in learning the ins and outs of using CoughDrop.
Besides learning the basics of creating boards and personalizing buttons this webinar will also introduce you to dynamic CoughDrop features like logs of speech, usage reports, and the benefit of supervisor abilities. Learn how to share boards between users or message other members of the communication team (like teachers, parents, and therapists) all from within the app.
These webinars are open to all users and will help you delve into the world of AAC so it is a little less...well...overwhelming.
Register using the links below for a guided tour of this cloud based, team focused, user driven software that aims to help all voices be heard. Then sign up for a two month free trial of CoughDrop and put your knowledge to work.
Come in, and get to know us better. We think you'll like what you see.


Samsung's Galaxy family is making headlines, but here in the laptop world — it's Samsung's other Galaxy that's getting our attention.
BuyDig is offering the high-end Samsung Galaxy Book for $969 via coupon code "BOOKIT". That's $358 off and one of the few discounts we've seen on this premium 2-in-1, which sells for $1,329 direct from Samsung and retailers like Best Buy.
The Galaxy Book's rockstar feature is its bright 12.1-inch 2160 x 1440 Super AMOLED touch display, which produces some of the most detailed, vivid images we've seen from any 2-in-1. Its screen also supports HDR content and can display a wide range of colors when showing HDR movies, such as those found on Netflix.
Spec-wise, the screen can produce 205 percent of the sRGB spectrum, which is greater than the 98 percent average for most ultraportables. It also emits 342 nits of brightness, which is higher than the 290-nit average from most ultraportables.
But make no mistake, this 2-in-1 isn't all screen. Inside, the nifty notebook packs a 3.1GHz Core i5-7200U processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD, which is more than enough horsepower for solid multitasking.
Battery life is a little mediocre at 6 hours and 38 minutes, but if you don't mind carrying its charger that shouldn't pose too much of a problem.
The Galaxy Book includes Samsung's S-Pen and keyboard.


VERONA, Italy, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- A retired construction worker is struggling to prove to the Italian government he is still alive.
Giulio Marchetto, 62, said he discovered when he inquired why he was no longer receiving his pension that the government had him listed as dead, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. Marchetto, who lives in Boschi Sant'Anna near Verona, is getting together the documents he needs to demonstrate he is still alive.
"I don't why they stopped paying someone who's alive when there are so many swindlers getting pensions from dead relatives around the country," Marchetto said.


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Taebaek-san lub T'aebaek-san (język koreański: hangul 태백산, hancha 太白山) – szczyt w paśmie Taebaek o wysokości 1567 m n.p.m. Leży we wschodniej części Korei Południowej w łańcuchu górskim Taebaek.

Szczyt znajduje się na terenie Parku Narodowego Taebaek-san. Na jego obszarze znajdują się świątynie buddyjskie. W okresie zimowym odbywa się Festiwal Śniegu.

Przypisy

Szczyty Korei Południowej

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Enthusiastic, caring and highly skilled, our physiotherapists have extensive experience in neurological rehabilitation.
Individual therapy sesisons led by our specialist neurological physiotherapists.
Physiotherapy treatment available at our clinics and in the home.


text:
Mark David Chapman (n. 10 mai 1955, Fort Worth, Texas, SUA) este un pușcăriaș american care l-a asasinat pe John Lennon la 8 decembrie 1980, la New York NYC, la 10 ani după destrămarea trupei The Beatles în 1970. Chapman l-a acostat pe stradă și l-a rugat pe Lennon să-i semneze o copie a albumului Double Fantasy, pe care Lennon abia îl scosese pe piață. Lennon și-a continuat drumul, dar când s-a întors acasă Chapman l-a împușcat mortal. Chapman a tras în Lennon de cinci ori, lovindu-l de patru ori în spate. Apoi Chapman a rămas la locul crimei citind romanul lui J. D. Salinger "De veghe în lanul de secară" până când poliția a sosit și l-a arestat. El a afirmat în mod repetat că romanul lui Salinger era declarația lui. Ulterior s-a dovedit că Mark David Chapman era un fan al lui Lennon.

Avocatul lui Chapman a construit o apărare bazată pe nebunia clientului său, afirmație întărită de mărturii ale experților care au declarat că Chapman a fost într-o stare psihotică delirantă în momentul asasinatului. Dar, apropiindu-se pronunțarea sentinței, Chapman și-a instruit avocatul că vrea să pledeze vinovat, sugerând că ceea ce a făcut a fost voința lui Dumnezeu. Judecătorul a permis pronunțarea sentinței fără nicio altă evaluare psihiatrică, după ce Chapman a negat că a auzit voci și a fost schimbată pedeapsa de la închisoarea pe 20 de ani la închisoare pe viață și cu o prevedere care îi garantează tratarea sănătății sale mintale. Chapman a fost închis în 1981 și a refuzat eliberarea condiționată de opt ori în mijlocul unor campanii împotriva eliberării sale.

Asasini
Asasini americani
Nașteri în 1955
Americani în viață
John Lennon
Oameni din Fort Worth, Texas
Oameni din Texas
Nașteri pe 10 mai


Along with the Galaxy M10, Samsung has also launched its second M-series smartphone Galaxy M20 in India. Even though both devices look almost identical on the front, the Galaxy M20 comes with a slightly bigger display and a different processor. Additionally, M20 includes a rear-mounted fingerprint scanner. The Samsung Galaxy M20 sports a 6.3-inch FullHD+ Infinity-V display and powered by the octa-core Exynos 7904 Processor with a massive 5,000mAh battery that supports 15W fast charging. Samsung has also bundled a 15W charger in the box.
Coming to the photography, the Galaxy M20 comes with the same 13MP+5MP dual camera setup which is present on the Galaxy M10 but includes an upgraded 8MP front camera. Its a Dual 4G device supports Dual 4G as well as Dual VoLTE. Out of the box, Galaxy M10 boot on Android 8.1 Oreo with Samsung Experience 9.5 and will receive the latest Android Pie in the coming months. The Galaxy M20 is available in two configurations – 3GB RAM with 32GB Storage and 4GB RAM with 32GB Storage. There is also a dedicated MicroSD slot lets you extend the device storage up to 512GB.
The Samsung Galaxy M20 comes in two colors – Ocean Blue and Charcoal Black and exclusively available via Amazon.in starting 5th February 2019. The 3GB/32GB variant priced at ₹10,990 and the 4GB/64GB at ₹12,990.


text:
Home Brockville Ontario Speedway Brockville Ontario Speedway Small Block Modified Fans Have Plenty to Cheer About
Brockville Ontario Speedway Small Block Modified Fans Have Plenty to Cheer About
By JIM CLARKE
BROCKVILLE, ONT – During the 2016 season, 34 different drivers scored points in the headline DIRTcar 358 Modified division at Brockville Ontario Speedway. This year's season opener is schedule to hit the track at the popular 3/8th of a mile clay oval on Temperance Lake Road Saturday, May 13th and officials are expecting another strong field of competition.
Throughout the line-up, a pack of popular performers brings a loyal group of family, friends and fans to support their efforts and watch them battle for position week-after-week. They represent their sponsors and hometowns to the best of their ability, looking for the chance to take a turn to pose for photos in victory lane and celebrate a main event win. Speedway owner and promoter Paul Kirkland says its especially exciting when everyone has the chance to score the checkered flag.
"We recognize the long hours of hard work and determination it takes to get the car to the track," Kirkland said. "At this level, the teams are racing as a hobby. They're passionate enough about the sport to give-up some of their spare time to be here; to have some fun and that kind of dedication means a lot to everyone connected with this facility."
Andy Lloyd has no issue with being known as an "underdog". At the track every week on his own, without a pit crew, he's been a regular in the DIRTcar 358 Mod field for a dozen years. The 43 year-old from Sydenham, Ontario scored the first – and so far, only – feature event win of his career in July of 2013. Lloyd's equipment carries the #31x into battle as a tribute to his mother, who passed away in 1986 at the age of 31. The driver who finished 16th in points last year says he enjoys the friendships he's made at the track over the years.
Portland, Ontario's Joe Banks has spent 17 years behind the wheel of a racecar. The 30 year-old, who was 11th in the 2016 standings logged 20 checkered flags at the controls of his 4 cylinder machine, but is still waiting for his first Small Block Modified win. With a rich racing lineage – including family members Ed and Ab Banks, who raced at the former Kingston Speedway – the father of 2 says being part of the starting field at 'The BOS' has become a long-standing tradition.
With 17 regular season events on the calendar, just about anyone has a chance to make it to the winner's circle. All it takes is the perfect combination of preparation and racing luck to become the next smiling face, posing for photos in victory lane.
Short Track Saturday Night Notes: Back this year will be the Fan Fair event – Saturday, April 22nd from 10:30 to 1:30 – at Walmart in Brockville, Ontario. Cars and drivers will be on hand and there will be live entertainment by Ambush. The presentation will be a fundraiser for the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario…'The BOS' will host an open practice session Saturday, May 6th from 1:00 'til 4:00.
Keep up-to-date with the latest pre-season news and information and see the full 2017 schedule by checking the exciting new look of www.brockvillespeedway.com, as well as the track's Facebook page and Twitter feed.
Previous articleJustin Grant on the Brink of History this Sunday at Terre Haute
Next articleSenior Services Insurance Agency to present Sportsman 'Premium Dash' During 'Empire State Challenge' on May 21


text:
Q: Convert SQL query to Doctrine code How can I write this SQL query to Doctrine 1.2 query?
SELECT * FROM homes
    WHERE published = 1
    AND
    (
     LOWER(country) LIKE '$search%'
     OR
     LOWER(city) LIKE '$search%'
     OR
     LOWER(area) LIKE '$search%'
    )

EDIT
This is my actuall query. The example above was an simplified version. I just want to now how can I combine multiple WHERE together
Doctrine_Query::create()
                        ->select('h.*,c.*')
                        ->from('Homes h')
                        ->where('h.published = ?',1)
                        ->addWhere('LOWER(c.printable_name) LIKE ?', $search . "%")
                        ->orWhere('LOWER(h.city) LIKE ?', $search . "%")
                        ->orWhere('LOWER(h.area) LIKE ?', $search. "%")
                        ->orWhere('LOWER(h.name) LIKE ?', $search. "%")

                        ->leftJoin('h.Countries c');

A: OK the script that worked was:
Doctrine_Query::create()
                        ->select('h.*,c.*')
                        ->from('Homes h')
                        ->where('h.published = ?',1)
                        ->andWhere('LOWER(c.printable_name) LIKE ? OR LOWER(h.city) LIKE ? OR LOWER(h.area) LIKE ? OR LOWER(h.name) LIKE ?', array($search . "%",$search . "%",$search . "%",$search . "%"))
                        ->leftJoin('h.Countries c');

I don't know thought if this is the best way to write it.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
5mins Adani Enterprises denies wrongdoing
8mins Australian Open | Smooth sailing for Federer, Serena and Osaka; Venus crashes out
58mins I-League | Dicka brace helps Punjab FC best Gokulam Kerala
New drug molecules offer hope for cancer control
M. Dinesh Varma
PUDUCHERRY, November 08, 2014 11:53 IST
Dr. R. Baskaran. | Photo Credit: Handout_E_Mail
"The next step is to get the compounds patented. We should be ready with a defined profile of the ompounds
: A set of seven molecules that show promise in the treatment of Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia (CML), a type of blood cancer characterised by rogue growth of white blood cells, has been developed by a team of researchers at the School of Life Sciences of the Pondicherry University.
The team led by Dr. R. Baskaran, Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, screened about 35,000 compounds and benchmarked the shortlisted seven compounds against some of the available potent drugs used for the treatment of CML.
The findings showed that the new molecules showed higher potency in terms of binding affinity to protein and increased binding energy when docked to the BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase gene which is a prime target for drug development (of inhibitors) as it plays a major role in the pathogenesis of CML.
The findings of the team, which also involved Dr. M. Suresh Kumar and researchers, Hemanth Naick, Om Prakash Sharma, Dr. M. Suresh Kumar, assistant professor and Ph.D. scholar Hemanth and Om Prakash, are being published in the latest issue of international journal Nature Scientific Reports which is due in a couple of days.
The team screened an estimated 35,000 compounds before identifying the seven compounds, which were then benchmarked for their efficacy against available drugs using a "high throughput virtual screening approach".
While currently available drugs in the market are effective against CML, side-effects and drug-resistant mutations have been the flip side.
"The next step is to get the compounds patented. We should be ready with a comprehensively defined profile of the compounds in about two years after in-vitro testing on samples taken from CML patients," said Dr. Baskaran.
It could take about five years or more for a molecule to be available as an approved drug.
"The biggest benefit is that an indigenously developed drug dramatically reduces treatment costs" he pointed out.
CML patients are usually advised to be on a drug for periods ranging from a minimum 5 years to a lifetime. Currently, a drug like Imatinib costs around Rs. 1.21 lakh per month and even generic versions costs around Rs 6,000-12,000 every month.
According to Cancer Patients Aid Association, approximately 8 people lakh suffer from CML and India is estimated to have 3 lakh patients with this form of cancer with about 20,000 new patients identified every year.
About 20 per cent of patients develop drug resistance as well where the mutant gene responsible for the CML undergoing further mutation. A major finding has been that the new compounds have shown similar efficacy in the wild-type and drug-resistant mutant versions of the BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase gene.
Related Topics Health Puducherry
Printable version | Jan 20, 2020 10:39:19 PM | https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/puducherry/new-drug-molecules-offer-hope-for-cancer-control/article6577629.ece
AIADMK flays Kiran Bedi for disrespecting Assembly resolution
AIADMK floor leader A. Anbalagan said that the Chief Minister should resign and the Lieutenant Governor should be recalled
Special Correspondent


Dutch vikingrock / streetcore band! New pioneers in the genre.
but it's a language people understand..." Check for their latest album "The sword of our ancestors"
"Born immortal", Rebellion Records 2004: Raw, agressive, but very melodic debut. A fresh wind in streetrock. Mandatory!
Read more about Discharger on Last.fm.
100% working class Oi! music from Holland Many times Evil Conduct was compared with legendary Oi! bands from the early eighties. They were even nicknamed "the Dutch Last Resort". Although the band regards this as a big compliment it is obvious that Evil Conduct has its own identity with its own distinctive sound. Their music may be classified as basic, straight-in-yer-face, sing-along working class Oi! with powerfull vocals.
Read more about Evil Conduct on Last.fm.
Bricktops Sophomore Album "Broken Bottlles and Suicide Throttles" is available! "Born To Brawl" on Steel Cage Records is BRICKTOP's first release. Distribution is handled through Red Eye, so you can find it! Check SteelCageRecords.com, AngryYoungandPoor.com, Interpunk.com, Amazon.com, Zia Records, Toxic Ranch, Amoeba Records, iTunes, or request it at your local music store. Get this album. You'll thank us later. We will also be in a documentary that First To Fight Productions is making about the local punk rock scene here in Tucson.


Looking for Golf Courses and Clubs in Italy ?
Be shure to check out this page, there are a lot of links to golf courses and golf clubs in Italy. Who knows, maybe you will find a course that you didnt know existed nearby your home.
It may not always be easy to find all the golf courses and golf clubs of Italy on the web, but on Golfnuggets we want to list as many as possible of them and here are courses and clubs for any taste.
If you know a golf course or golf club that you want us to add to our Italy list, please tell us.
Adriatic Golf Club Cervia - The 6,246 meters wind through pine woods and salty lakes in a natural environment just a short distance from the sea.
Castello La Bastardina - Italy - Near Milano. Provides for weddings, congresses, meetings and other events and has a 9 hole course. Includes facility summary with photos, membership information, course profile, and details about services provided.
Garda Golf Country Club - Located at Lake Garda, Italy. News, course, events, and facilities.
Golf Club Vicenza - 9 hole course located a few minutes away from the centre of Vicenza.
Golf Country Club Tarvisio - Graham Cooke designed course on the borders of Italy, Austria and Slovenija. Calendar, facilities and layout are listed.
Holiday Inn Resort Naples Castelvolturno - Nine hole course in Naples, Italy.
Il Ruscello Golf and Country Club - A three hole executive course par 3 in Sardinia.
Rimini Golf Club - Italy - Information about the club, calendar of events, course, golf academy and local hotels.


text:
Q: how to sort a set when elements have multiple relationships with each other I'm looking for an algorithm to perform some kind of extended array sorting when relationships between elements can contradict each other.
so we have a set I (items) consisting of n items i1...in
There is a set R (relationships) consisting of m relationships defined between items in I
the relationships can contradict each other so that, e.g., one relationship says that A>B and the other that A<B.
e.g.
r1:i1<i35

r2:i100<i4

...

rm:i45>i3

generally, r and m  (sizes of sets) can be any positive integers.
the task is to sort I so the items go in such a way that preferably the lower ones (based on relationships) go before higher ones...
I'm looking for an algorithm which will sort the set so that it is as close to the "optimal" order as possible. I guess there must be a well known algorithm to solve problems like this.
Thanks!

A: I think the most sensible way to measure the quality of a particular ordering is the number of given relationships that it violates.  If you decide to use this measure, then the problem is equivalent to (Minimum) Feedback Arc Set.  Unfortunately, this problem is NP-hard, so no efficient (polynomial-time) algorithm is likely to exist.
In the Feedback Arc Set problem, you are given a directed graph, and asked to find a minimum-size set of edges which, if deleted, would destroy all cycles in the graph.
To see how this corresponds to your problem, observe that we can represent each item as a vertex in a graph, and each relationship as a directed edge between two vertices (pointing to, say, the smaller one).  There is a conflict if and only if there is a cycle in this graph -- that is, if there is an ordered list of 2 or more distinct vertices v_1, v_2, ..., v_k such that v_i < v_(i+1) for all i < k, and also v_k < v_1.  It is impossible to order these k vertices without violating at least one constraint.  Conversely, if no cycle exists -- that is, if the graph is a directed acyclic graph -- then topological sort can quickly (in linear time) find a valid order that violates no constraints.  Thus the size of a feedback arc set is the smallest number of edges that you would need to remove in order to obtain a graph that can be ordered without violating any constraint -- or equivalently, the smallest number of edges that must be violated in any ordering.


I started Assisted Living Locators of St. Louis in 2015 and we have already helped hundreds of seniors and families find the right senior living solution. Our knowledge and experience helps transform a confusing and difficult process, reducing stress and creating peace-of-mind for your family.
Our service is totally free to our clients because the communities pay us a referral fee when there is a placement into their community. It is simply like a "senior realtor" with a concierge level of service!
Rob was really helpful and is such a great guy, too! My mom loved him! My mom is now living at a great retirement community. Thank you again for making what at first was an overwhelming process into eventually a fun one!
Our team of advisors makes sure seniors and their families have the support needed during this journey. We have a network of fully vetted senior living solutions and care providers that share one common characteristic -- excellence in care.
Whether you can afford $1,500 or $15,000 per month, our free service can help you find the right senior living in St. Louis.


text:
var dom = require("../../../../lib/jsdom/level2/core").dom.level2.core;

exports.staff = function() {

  var doc = new dom.Document("html");
  var implementation = new dom.DOMImplementation(doc, {
    "XML" : ["1.0", "2.0"],
    "core": ["1.0", "2.0", "3.0"]
  });

  var notations = new dom.NotationNodeMap(
    doc,
    doc.createNotationNode("notation1","notation1File", null),
    doc.createNotationNode("notation2",null, "notation2File")
  );

  var entElement = doc.createElementNS("http://www.w3.org/2000/xmlns/","entElement1");
  entElement.setAttributeNS("http://www.w3.org/2000/xmlns/", "xmlns:local1", "www.xyz.com");
  entElement.appendChild(doc.createTextNode("Element data"));
  var procElement = doc.createProcessingInstruction("PItarget", "PfIdata");
  var ent4 = doc.createEntityNode("ent4",entElement, procElement);

  var ent5 = doc.createEntityNode("ent5");
  ent5.publicId = "entityURI";
  ent5.systemId = "entityFile";
  ent5.notationName = "notation1";

  var entities = new dom.EntityNodeMap(
    doc,
    doc.createEntityNode("ent1", doc.createTextNode("es")),
    doc.createEntityNode("ent2",doc.createTextNode("1900 Dallas Road")),
    doc.createEntityNode("ent3",doc.createTextNode("Texas")),
    ent4,
    ent5
  );

  // <!ATTLIST acronym dir CDATA "ltr">

  var defaultAttributes = new dom.NamedNodeMap(doc);
  var acronym = doc.createElementNS("http://www.w3.org/2000/xmlns/","acronym");
  acronym.setAttribute("dir", "ltr");
  defaultAttributes.setNamedItem(acronym);

  var doctype = new dom.DocumentType(doc, "xml", entities, notations, defaultAttributes);
  doc.doctype = doctype;
  doc.implementation = implementation;

  doc.appendChild(doc.createComment(" This is comment number 1."));

  var staff = doc.createElementNS(null, "staff");
  doc.appendChild(staff);

  var employees = [];
  var addresses = [];
  var names     = [];
  var positions = [];
  var genders   = [];
  var ids       = [];
  var salaries  = [];

  // create 5 employees
  for (var i=0; i<5; i++)
  {
    var employee = doc.createElementNS("http://www.w3.org/2000/xmlns/","employee");
    var address  = doc.createElementNS("http://www.w3.org/2000/xmlns/","address");
    var name     = doc.createElementNS("http://www.w3.org/2000/xmlns/","name");
    var position = doc.createElementNS("http://www.w3.org/2000/xmlns/","position");
    var gender   = doc.createElementNS("http://www.w3.org/2000/xmlns/","gender");
    var id       = doc.createElementNS("http://www.w3.org/2000/xmlns/","id");
    var salary   = doc.createElementNS("http://www.w3.org/2000/xmlns/","salary");

    employee.appendChild(doc.createTextNode("\n"));
    employee.appendChild(id);
    employee.appendChild(doc.createTextNode("\n"));
    employee.appendChild(name);
    employee.appendChild(doc.createTextNode("\n"));
    employee.appendChild(position);
    employee.appendChild(doc.createTextNode("\n"));
    employee.appendChild(salary);
    employee.appendChild(doc.createTextNode("\n"));
    employee.appendChild(gender);
    employee.appendChild(doc.createTextNode("\n"));
    employee.appendChild(address);
    employee.appendChild(doc.createTextNode("\n"));
    staff.appendChild(employee);

    // default address
    address.setAttribute("street", "Yes");

    names.push(name);
    employees.push(employee);
    addresses.push(address);
    genders.push(gender);
    positions.push(position);
    ids.push(id);
    salaries.push(salary);
  }

  ids[0].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("EMP0001"));
  salaries[0].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("56,000"));
  addresses[0].setAttribute("domestic", "Yes");

  addresses[0].appendChild(doc.createTextNode('1230 North Ave. Dallas, Texas 98551'));
  names[0].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("Margaret Martin"));
  genders[0].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("Female"));
  positions[0].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("Accountant"));

  ids[1].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("EMP0002"));
  salaries[1].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("35,000"));
  addresses[1].setAttribute("domestic", "Yes");
  addresses[1].setAttribute("street", "Yes");
  addresses[1].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("β Dallas, γ\n 98554"));
  names[1].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("Martha Raynolds"));
  names[1].appendChild(doc.createCDATASection("This is a CDATASection with EntityReference number 2 &ent2;"));
  names[1].appendChild(doc.createCDATASection("This is an adjacent CDATASection with a reference to a tab &tab;"));
  genders[1].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("Female"));
  positions[1].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("Secretary"));

  ids[2].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("EMP0003"));
  salaries[2].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("100,000"));
  addresses[2].setAttribute("domestic", "Yes");
  addresses[2].setAttribute("street", "No");
  addresses[2].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("PO Box 27 Irving, texas 98553"));
  names[2].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("Roger\n Jones")) ;
  genders[2].appendChild(doc.createEntityReference("&ent4;"));//Text("δ"));
  positions[2].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("Department Manager"));

  ids[3].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("EMP0004"));
  salaries[3].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("95,000"));
  addresses[3].setAttribute("domestic", "Yes");
  addresses[3].setAttribute("street", "Yα");
  addresses[3].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("27 South Road. Dallas, Texas 98556"));
  names[3].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("Jeny Oconnor"));
  genders[3].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("Female"));
  positions[3].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("Personal Director"));

  ids[4].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("EMP0005"));
  salaries[4].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("90,000"));
  addresses[4].setAttribute("street", "Yes");
  addresses[4].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("1821 Nordic. Road, Irving Texas 98558"));
  names[4].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("Robert Myers"));
  genders[4].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("male"));
  positions[4].appendChild(doc.createTextNode("Computer Specialist"));

  doc.appendChild(doc.createProcessingInstruction("TEST-STYLE", "PIDATA"));

  doc.normalize();
  return doc;
};

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The one-man judicial committee on One Rank One Pension (OROP) submitted its report to the Defence Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar, here today. The Central Government had appointed the committee under the Chairmanship of Justice L Narasimha Reddy, retired Chief Justice of Patna High Court to look into the anomalies, if any, arising out of implementation of OROP.
The judicial committee had held hearings at around 20 cities/towns across the country and interacted with cross sections of Ex-Servicemen as well as their associations. The committee also received 704 representations from individuals and various Ex-Servicemen associations and had held extensive interactions with all stakeholders before submitting its report.


text:
Operation Neptune: Normandy at Seventy-Five
June 6, 2019 June 4, 2019 Michael FalknerLeave a comment
Titled "Into the Jaws of Death", this photograph was taken at Omaha Beach by Chief Photographer's Mate Robert F. Sargent
It was the largest seaborne invasion in history and a decisive Allied victory against Nazi Germany.
On June 6, 1944, approximately 156,000 Allied troops stormed the beaches of Normandy. They were preceded by extensive aerial, naval, and airborne assaults, and this effort started the push of Nazi Germany out of France. It built the foundations of victory on the Western Front in World War II. The landings commenced at 6:30am local time across a 50-mile stretch of French coastline divided into five sectors: Utah, Omaha, Gold, Juno, and Sword. The weather was bad but the fighting was worse, from heavy fire from elevated gun emplacements to anti-personnel measures like wooden stakes, metal tripods, and barbed wire that slowed the Allied advance.
The operation was a masterstroke in planning, including a large deception codenamed Operation Bodyguard that mislead the Germans. The landings were delayed a full day due to bad weather, and if the landings had not occurred on that Tuesday morning, they would have had to wait an additional two weeks for the right tides and conditions. The Allies even failed to achieve their goals on the first day, and fighting continued for days afterward. The five beaches were not connected until six days after the initial assault.
German casualties were estimated as high as 9,000 soldiers. Allied casualties numbered more than 10,000, with nearly 4,500 confirmed dead.
I want to visit Normandy someday to pay my respects and learn more about this turning point in history.
You can learn more about the depth and complexity of this operation from the multiple books and films available. Take some time today to remember these heroes and their historic sacrifices in the face of fascism.
Timestamp #TW10: Out of Time
June 5, 2019 June 4, 2019 Michael Falkner4 Comments
Torchwood: Out of Time
Lessons learned from the most unexpected people.
The team patiently awaits a plane called the Sky Gypsy at a local airport. The twist on this arrival is that it hails from 1953, and the passengers – pilot Diane Holmes, Emma-Louise Cowell, and John Ellis – are surprised that they have flown through the Cardiff Rift. The accidental time travelers are taken to the Hub and debriefed, but the news is hard to take. So is the revelation that they can never return home.
The newcomers learn about how their families fared, and they're fascinated and appalled by modern items such as automatic doors, televisions, DVDs, lads' mags, and tea bags. Torchwood Three takes on the task of caring for the travelers until they can adapt to the 21st century. Jack befriends John, Gwen looks after Emma, and Owen tends to Diane.
Diane wants to keep flying – aviation is in her blood – but her license expired long ago. Between her independence and desire for chivalry, she and Owen strike up a relationship. And by relationship, I mean Owen is typical Owen and Gwen has been replaced in the casual sex department. Their relationship builds, but Owen and love are no replacement for the open sky. She leaves him a note and heads for the airport. After a goodbye kiss, Diane takes to the sky once again in the Sky Gypsy, firm in her belief that the Rift will take her home. Owen softly cries as she disappears into the clouds.
Emma's parents have died during her journey, and after getting a cheerful start with a couple of roommates (and a small altercation with an overprotective John), Gwen takes her home. Emma sleeps on the couch, gets an eyeful of Rhys, and poses as Gwen's cousin from out of town. The trio goes out to a nightclub, but Emma gets some mixed signals about how relationships work in the modern era. Emma later gets a job at a shop in London, and although Gwen wants her to stay in Cardiff, she changes her mind when Rhys discovers that Emma and Gwen are not related. Emma moves on to London, but the damage is done between Gwen and Rhys.
John was a traveling salesman who wants to reconnect with his family. Specifically, he wants to find his son, Alan, his only surviving relative. Sadly, he is devastated to find his son suffering from Alzheimer's disease and barely able to make connections to his own past. Jack feels for him since there is no enemy to fight and no clear way to solve the problem. John is watching the end of his family line rushing right toward him. John steals Ianto's keys and drives to his former home. John sees no other way out besides suicide, and even Jack can't talk him out of it. Together, they sit in an enclosed garage with the idling car and John dies from carbon monoxide poisoning. Jack is shaken because John was a kindred spirit, a fellow man out of time, and now the captain is alone once more.
Miles apart, all three of our heroes reminisce over the last week and how their lives have been changed.
For the three travelers, the adaptation to modern life over one week is both adorable and tragic. The wonder of the new world in their eyes is fun to watch, but it's also overwhelming. The way that it affects Jack, Gwen, and Owen is wonderful and adds just a bit more dimension to their characters. Jack Harkness's story in this episode was particularly touching.
The parallels to Countrycide are evident: Sure, there are no backwoods cannibals here – in fact, there is no enemy at all in this story – but the drama that doesn't rely on Doctor Who tropes is exceptional. The science fiction is limited to time travel that we don't see in action, and the superhuman abilities are limited to Jack's passive ability to withstand carbon monoxide poisoning. We also see Owen and Gwen's affair, which started in Countrycide, starting to fall apart here.
We also continue the Torchwood tradition of post-watershed f-bombs. Hey, it's another Countrycide parallel!
On the downside, Tosh and Ianto were minimally used in this episode. That's the second story in a row, and a trend that I hope gets reversed.
UP NEXT – Torchwood: Combat
Timestamp #TW9: Random Shoes
May 29, 2019 May 28, 2019 Michael Falkner3 Comments
Torchwood: Random Shoes
Instead of Love & Monsters, we get Love and Ghosts
Eugene Jones, a man who monologues about science, wakes up in the middle of the road. He wanders a few feet to find Torchwood Three investigating his dead body, a victim of an apparent hit-and-run. He apparently knew the team and was interested in their work. His mobile phone rings and the team leaves (with Eugene's ghost) to tell his mother the bad news.
During the drive, Eugene reminisces about his childhood and how he froze during a math competition. While he was down, his science teacher showed him an eye that fell from the sky. His father left home and Eugene obsessed over the eye, resulting in an interest in UFOlogy and (subsequently) Torchwood Three.
The team notifies Eugene's family and investigates his belongings. Some of the alien artifacts are fraudulent, but Gwen notes the stand where the eye should be. They leave with a box of things to research and return to the Hub. While the team gets to work, Eugene takes a tour of Torchwood's headquarters, including a particular focus on a certain severed hand. Gwen begins the autopsy but is interrupted by news of a driver who admitted to the crime. Eugene faints at the autopsy, wakes up later, and goes for a long walk.
Gwen feels that there is something more to the goings-on, but she can't put her finger on it. She offers to return an overdue DVD to the video store, but when she finds the store is closed, she stops at a local diner and goes through Eugene's mobile. She finds pictures of random shoes, and after Eugene arrives, she phones someone called Gary on his suggestion. Gary's call goes to voicemail.
Gwen returns the DVDs and reluctantly pays the £34 in late fees. A discussion with the clerk at the store plants seeds of doubt in Eugene's head. Gwen's next stop is Eugene's former employer, a telemarketing firm, as she tries to match the shoes in the pictures. A pair of Converse All-Stars belong to Gary, who hadn't seen Eugene on the day he died. She also meets Linda, a friend of Eugene's, who is broken up by his death. She agrees to meet with Gwen later. Gwen looks over Gary's desk and finds a flyer similar to one in Eugene's belongings.
Over lunch, Linda fills in some missing details. A few weeks back, Eugene was depressed. He offered to help Linda move to Australia to start a new life, and tried to fund it by selling the alien eye on eBay. It reached a peak of £15,005.50. The story is interrupted by Eugene's mother who wants Gwen to come by.
Gwen and Eugene's mother watch the video of the mathematics competition. Gwen learns of how Eugene received the eye from his former science teacher, and together everyone learns that Eugene's father is now working in a garage across town instead of living the fantasy life in America. Eugene remembers why he sold the eye: After discovering the lie, he realized that he'd been chasing fantasies his whole life, so he chose to get rid of them.
Gwen decides to go interview Eugene's father but changes her mind when Eugene pleads with her not to. She returns to the Hub and learns from Jack about the Dogon sixth eye, an item that allows its user to see his past and put it in perspective. She convinces Jack to let her track this down and he gives her the weekend to do so.
Her first stop is the black hole conference at Aberystwyth University. She finds Gary and learns that he had artificially inflated the eBay bids to cheer his friend up. The £15,005.50 bid was real, however, and Gary admits that he met with Eugene before he went to make the exchange. Gary doesn't know who the shoes belong to, but he is sorry for his part in all of this.
Later that night, Gwen sorts through the belongings back while Eugene muses about his fragmented memories. He also admits to loving Gwen, and although he can minimally affect the environment around him, Gwen goes to bed ignorant of his presence. The next morning, Gwen continues to follow the clues. She ends up at a diner called Happy Cook which sparks another memory in Eugene. His friends were the buyers: The £15,005.50 bid was theirs, but the one before theirs was real. In his frustration, Eugene took photographs of their shoes before a fight ensued. During the scuffle, Eugene swallowed the eye to protect it before they all ran out.
As Gwen interviews the server, Gary and Josh come in and eventually tell Gwen their side of things because Gary misses his friend. Eugene had just kept running, high on the effect of the eye, but didn't look before crossing a road and getting struck by a car. Gwen finally calls Eugene's father and tells him the bad news.
Gwen, Gary, and Eugene's family attend Eugene's funeral. Eugene's father makes amends and Eugene sees him as a normal man. He also wishes that he had been able to spend more time with him. After the funeral, Gwen receives a paper bag containing the eye. Back at Eugene's home, Eugene wonders why he's still around. The Torchwood SUV pulls up and Gwen passes off the eye before watching Eugene's family reunited. She's nearly run down by a speeding car, but Eugene is able to push her out of the way.
He's fully visible to everyone around for this final moment. He says his farewells and vanishes in a bright ascending light.
The most obvious connection here is Love & Monsters. The big difference despite the very deep similarities is that Love & Monsters was a fun romp where this one dragged. On the upside, however, this Gwen-centric episode highlighted her skills in a part police procedural, part ghost story adventure. It also continues to highlight Gwen's quest for personal connections in a life that demands secrecy, but the pounding of that particular drum is getting tiresome.
This episode is pretty much a Doctor Who story that fell through the cracks and landed in a different series without the TARDIS or the Doctor.
UP NEXT – Torchwood: Out of Time
Timestamp #TW8: They Keep Killing Suzie
Torchwood: They Keep Killing Suzie
Suzie Costello: Master of Long-Range Planning.
Torchwood Three arrives on the scene of a grisly murder and meets Detective Kathy Swanson. The double homicide is framed by one word on the wall, written in blood: TORCHWOOD. Jack is immediately intrigued, and although there appears to be no link between the killer and the victims, the killer has Compound B67 in his blood.
What is that, you say?
Compound B67 is retcon, the amnesia pill that Torchwood uses to clear memories. The killer is one of the people that had their minds wiped. While the team investigates, Gwen recommends using the resurrection gauntlet to interrogate the victims. After all, if Torchwood caused the deaths, they should clean up the mess.
The first victim, Alex Arwyn, wastes his time screaming for his mother. The second victim, Mark Brisco, tells them that the killer – a man named Max – belonged to the Pilgrim organization. Mark also identifies a woman who was close to Max. Her name was Suzie Costello.
Yeah. That Suzie Costello.
Tosh researches Pilgrim, a religious support and debate group run by Sarah Brisco, and all of the victims so far are linked as members. The team digs into Suzie's belongings – Torchwood retains possession after a team member dies – and finds evidence linking her to Pilgrim. They then use the gauntlet to resurrect her. Gwen has trouble bringing her back because she lacks empathy for the woman who tried to kill her. They deduce that she's too far gone, but Owen suggests the Life Knife, a blade made of the same material as the gauntlet. Jack plunges it into Suzie's chest and the woman bursts back into the world of the living.
Suzie's shock prevents her from giving any information, but by some strange events, she's still alive beyond the normal time limit for the gauntlet. In fact, she remains alive for more than three months. When the team tries to interrogate her about Max, she's less than cooperative. She eventually reveals that she gradually overdosed Max, giving him one pill a week for two years while talking to him about Torchwood.
There's that common theme of this season again.
Jack refuses to let Suzie see her family again. Resigned to her fate, she identifies a survivor: Lucy McKenzie. The team tracks Lucy to the Wolf Bar while Suzie watches from Tosh's station in the Hub. The team misidentifies a man as Max, but the real killer shows himself and ends up on the business end of Jack's stun gun. Max is confined in the Torchwood cells, but he only responds to the name of the organization. Quite violently, in fact, but for only ten seconds at a time.
Meanwhile, Gwen discovers that Suzie's father has cancer. Gwen blames Jack for letting Suzie use the gauntlet, a device that could have reversed her father's condition. Jack refutes her, and the argument is interrupted by Owen with news that Suzie is draining Gwen's lifeforce. While the team learns this and Jack resolves to kill Suzie, Gwen springs Suzie for a little road trip. When they attempt to pursue, the base goes into lockdown.
Gwen takes Suzie to Greenleaves Hospital, during which time they discuss Jack's immortality. Meanwhile, the team links the lockdown to Max, who is currently reciting Emily Dickinson's The Chariot. The poem is an implanted Trojan horse, set up long ago by Suzie to force Torchwood to resurrect her. Ianto connects his mobile phone to the Roald Dahl Plass water tower and Jack calls Detective Swanson for help. He asks her to read a book of poetry by Dickinson. When the poetry fails, Tosh suggests using the ISBN instead, and that is the magic key. The base restarts and the team mobilizes.
As Gwen and Suzie arrive at the hospital, Gwen collapses as she slowly develops a self-inflicted gunshot wound to her head. Suzie kills her father and then takes Gwen to Hedley Point, intent on escaping via ferry. Jack and Owen catch up in the Torchwood SUV and Jack shoots Suzie, but Suzie won't die. Jack empties his gun into Suzie to no avail, then realizes that the gauntlet is the link. He orders Tosh and Ianto to destroy it, but before they do Suzie reveals that there is something in the darkness beyond death. It is moving and it is coming for him.
The gauntlet is destroyed, Suzie finally dies, and Gwen lunges back into life.
Back at the Hub, Jack and Ianto put Suzie back into cold storage. They flirt back and forth before locking Suzie away, but Ianto reminds Jack that gloves often come in pairs.
The themes keep running through this season. Suzie has the same desire to connect with someone about Torchwood, but the twist is that she's also a bit of a sociopath. This addition seems like an unnecessary one, but it also closes the loop surrounding Suzie's mysterious actions in the pilot episode. She also sheds a bit more light on Jack's history and his ruthlessness when it comes to his employees.
Finally, it paves the way forward toward a "Big Bad" for the season. Something's coming from the realm of death, and Jack's inability to die seems to be tied to it.
UP NEXT – Torchwood: Random Shoes
Timestamp #TW7: Greeks Bearing Gifts
Torchwood: Greeks Bearing Gifts
Torchwood Three continues to fracture.
In Cardiff 1812, a prostitute named Mary leads a young soldier into the forest, but their lustful encounter turns sour when he gets abusive. Mary runs into the woods and finds a bright, pulsing light. The soldier catches up to the woman and shoots her.
Fast forward to the modern day where Torchwood Three has arrived at a construction site. As they analyze a mysterious skeleton, a woman who looks just like Mary smiles from the sidelines. The team takes the skeleton back to the Hub for further analysis, but some horseplay between Owen and Gwen results in Tosh's computer losing power during a critical translation program.
Tosh ends up at the local pub where Mary approaches, reveals that she knows everything about Tosh, and offers to buy her a drink. Mary says that she's a scavenger and collector of alien artifacts, and Tosh seems to bond with the woman. In fact, she seems to find comfort with Mary in nearly the same way that Owen and Gwen do with each other.
Mary offers Tosh a pendant. Overwhelmed, Tosh realizes that it enables her to read minds, but in time she is able to tune the ability. Tosh tries to give it back, but Mary insists that Tosh keep it. Tosh says that she'll have to report it to her comrades, but Mary bets that she won't. Tosh reports for work the next day and wears the pendant. She considers showing it to Owen and Gwen, but she discovers that they are sleeping together. She later focuses on Ianto and hears the darkness and despair that is consuming him in the aftermath of Lisa Hallett's death. She takes the pendant off and heads home, only to find Mary waiting outside.
She confronts Mary over the pendant and its power, and Mary tells her that friendship is complicated. She offers the pendant to Tosh once again, and this time they share thoughts without agenda and resentment, including a proposal for sex. They sleep together, but Tosh regrets it. They eventually discuss how Tosh is attracted to Owen, and how she's upset about Gwen's affair with him. Mary offers the pendant as a solution, telling her to wear it in public so she can realize the good potential it bears.
She also calls herself Philoctetes.
Tosh listens to the thoughts on a busy Cardiff street. She finds a man who is planning to murder his ex-wife and son, follows him, and saves their lives. She returns to the Hub to find the team teasing Owen over the skeleton. It turns out that Owen made a few mistakes, including gender and cause of death. While Gwen and Owen continue their back and forth, Tosh asks Jack about Philoctetes. He tells her that the man was a Greek archer who was exiled to Lemnos for ten years.
He also name-drops UNIT. We haven't seen them since last Christmas.
Later, over coffee, Mary tells Tosh that she should try reading Jack's mind about the mystery item found with the skeleton. Tosh tries and fails, but Jack notices the effort. He also is very skeptical about Tosh's rescue of the family from earlier. When Tosh reports back to Mary, she decides to tell her team about the pendant. Mary tries to convince her otherwise by revealing her true form: She is an alien exiled from her homeworld, and revealing herself to Torchwood could mean certain death or incarceration. After all, the human way is invasion, not help.
While Owen follows the clues in the skeleton, Mary asks Tosh to sneak her in and retrieve the device found with it. It is a transporter that can finally send her home. When she arrives, Tosh and Mary find Jack holding the transporter. He noticed Tosh's distracted state and deliberately withheld the information from her. Jack also deduced Mary's secret: The transporter is a two-being device, and the alien called Mary killed her guard before possessing Mary's body. When the soldier tried to shoot her, she removed his heart and fed on it. She's been feeding in the same way throughout history.
Mary takes Tosh hostage by knifepoint, demanding that Jack return the transporter. Jack negotiates, projecting a plan into Tosh's mind, and enables the transporter once Mary takes it. He reprogrammed the device and set the coordinates to the center of the sun. The threat is over, and Tosh is understandably angry.
Later, Gwen and Owen confront Tosh over what she heard in their minds, but she says it was none of her business. Owen storms off, but Gwen admits that the affair is wrong. It's also too attractive to her. She can't stop.
Tosh later discusses the device with Jack. Jack leaves its fate to her, and Tosh crushes it beneath her boot. She asks why she couldn't read Jack's mind, but Jack is elusive. Tosh remarks that it was almost as if he were a dead man, but he comforts her instead of addressing the assertion, wiping away her tears and walking away.
This story ties in well with the Torchwood pilot. Recall that each of the team members were lonely, pursuing interests with alien tech but not with each other or anyone else. By the nature of their work, they can't talk to anyone else about what they do, which led Gwen to Owen for solace and meaningful companionship. We've been building from there with this – apologies to Farscape – Jerry Springer family and their troubled relationships with one another.
Now we've seen how their isolation plays with this family, it's time to see them come together and unite over their common wounds. That may prove difficult with Jack's hubris, which will likely drive Torchwood Three further apart before they can heal their rifts.
It was nice to have a Tosh-centric episode since most of her time in this series has been spent in a support role. Even though Mary's deceit was telegraphed – she was such an enabler for Tosh's uncharacteristic behavior, so she obviously needed something – Tosh's isolation within the team is highlighted through her use of the pendant.
And it is heartbreaking.
Balancing the basic plot with beautiful character development for Tosh made for an entertaining adventure.
UP NEXT – Torchwood: They Keep Killing Suzie
May 8, 2019 May 20, 2019 Michael Falkner6 Comments
Torchwood: Countrycide
It's time for the Harvest.
On an overcast night, a woman tries to drive and talk on the phone at the same time. She happens across a body in the road and stops to offer help, armed with a baseball bat just in case. The body is a ruse with a soccer ball for a head, giving someone enough time to slash her tires, steal her keys, and attack her.
Torchwood Three drives to the country to investigate seventeen disappearances in a twenty-mile radius with no distinct connection. It might be the Rift spreading out beyond Cardiff, so that's where the team starts as they set up camp. After a little friendly banter, Owen reveals his last kiss was with Gwen, and of course the team wants more details. After the discussion turns sour, Owen and Gwen go hunting for firewood, and Gwen chastises him for the revelation. After a brief altercation, they spot two hooded figures in the trees. When they give chase, they find a bloody, skinless corpse.
As the team investigates, someone steals the SUV and destroys the campsite. Ianto tracks the vehicle to a nearby village, which leads Jack and Tosh to believe that they're being lured into a trap. The team splits up with a warning to be cautious. Tosh and Ianto go for the SUV while Jack, Gwen, and Owen check the nearby pub.
The pub and nearby houses are dark and deserted. The only occupants are two corpses, stripped similar to the first, and a young man named Kieran who shoots Gwen with a shotgun. He believes that "they" had come back for her, but the gunshot was an accident. After Owen tends to Gwen's wounds, Jack tries to calm Kieran, but the man is hysterical and insists that they barricade the door. Jack decides to regroup at the pub and set a defensive position while they sort out the situation. The lights go out and the team hears movement outside and in the cellar. Kieran is dragged away, and despite Jack's misgivings, Owen and Gwen pursue while Captain Harkness searches the cellar.
Tosh and Ianto find similar spooky circumstances. They also find themselves captured in quick fashion. They wake up in a cellar, completely disarmed, surrounded by old clothes, shoes, and a refrigerator full of human body parts. Tosh makes the connection that they are on the menu for their captors. The duo are soon joined by a shotgun-wielding woman named Helen, but she's been sent to collect Tosh and Ianto for the Harvest, an event that happens every ten years. They are taken to the kitchen, which is full of body parts, and their captors reveal themselves. Torchwood is dealing with cannibals.
Jack finds one of their assailants. The hooded man was wounded in the pub fight easily spills the beans about the predicament. Owen and Gwen find a police officer and the village hall. Ianto headbutts the head cannibal, allowing Tosh to escape. The two teams finally converge as the lead cannibal tries to strangle Tosh but is stopped by Owen, Gwen, and their new policeman sidekick. Unfortunately, the police officer is a cannibal, and the team is taken back to the kitchen.
Ianto is first on the chopping block, but before he can be cut and bled out, Jack arrives via tractor through the wall and dispatches the whole lot with bullets to the kneecaps. It seems that the entire village has a tradition of targeting travelers every ten years and butchering them. When Gwen asks why, the lead cannibal makes it simple for her: "'cause it made me happy."
The police arrive and taken the cannibals into custody. The team returns home and Gwen questions her life choices. She can't share any of these life-changing events with anyone outside of Torchwood, and she takes solace with Owen because he understands.
There are a lot of fascinating elements in this episode. Owen and Gwen pursue a fling – Gwen is cheating on her boyfriend Rhys, with whom she intended to start a family – while threads of Tosh's unrequited attraction to Owen are started. As far as the franchise goes, this is a story that abandons nearly every part of the Doctor Who universe: No science fiction, no superhuman abilities, no aliens, and no technology except the basics of the year 2006. The last time we saw that kind of story was Black Orchid.
While it wasn't the first televised Doctor Who universe tale to utter the f-bomb – it was used once in Everything Changes and once in Cyberwoman – it was peppered throughout the slaughterhouse sequence. Given the post-watershed role of Torchwood in this universe, I'm sure it won't be the last.
The atmosphere in this episode is downright creepy, echoing films like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (you choose the version), The Hills Have Eyes (again, you choose the version), Friday the 13th (preferably a version with Camp Crystal Lake instead of, say, Manhattan or a space station), and similar movies with omnipresent wraith-like evils.
Overall, I thought it was a wonderful (if not completely disturbing) ride.
Rating: 5/5 – "Fantastic!"
UP NEXT – Torchwood: Greeks Bearing Gifts


text:
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is an audiobook and soundtrack companion album for the 1982 film directed by Steven Spielberg. Composed by John Williams, the album was narrated by recording artist Michael Jackson, produced by composer Quincy Jones and distributed by MCA Records. The audiobook was produced by John Williams and Michael Jackson working with Rod Temperton, Freddy DeMann, and Bruce Swedien.

The E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial audiobook was released by MCA on November 15, 1982the same month as Michael Jackson's acclaimed sixth studio album Thriller despite conditions given by Epic Records, Jackson's record label, that it should not be released until after Thriller. As a result, Epic took legal action against MCA which forced the album's withdrawal. During its curtailed release, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial reached number 37 on the Billboard 200 and number 82 on the UK Albums Chart. It was well-received critically and won Jackson a Grammy Award for Best Recording for Children.

Content
The E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial album package contains a storybook, which allows listeners to read along with Jackson as he narrates the tale of E.T. and the alien's visit to planet Earth. The book contains a photograph of E.T. placing their hands on Jackson's shoulders, while one of the extraterrestrial's fingers glows. This picture is included in the album package as a  ×  full-color poster. The 20-page storybook include stills from the movie and the lyrics to the song "Someone in the Dark" (written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman), which Jackson sings on the audiobook. The recording, on a 12-inch vinyl LP, features original music by John Williams, integrated sound effects from the movie, as well as the voice of E.T. in the background.

Background
Prior to the recording of the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial album, Jackson released four solo studio albums with Motown Records between 1972 and 1975 (Got to Be There, Ben, Music & Me and Forever, Michael), and several with his brothers as part of The Jackson 5. In 1975, he and his brothers (except Jermaine) moved to Epic Records and in 1979, Michael released his fifth solo album, Off the Wall, to critical and commercial success.

In June 1982 the Steven Spielberg-directed science fiction feature film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was released to cinemas. Created by Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment and distributed by Universal Pictures (then a subsidiary of MCA Inc.), it starred Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore and Peter Coyote. The film tells the story of Elliott, a boy who befriends a good-natured extraterrestrial he calls E.T., who is stranded on Earth. Upon its release, the film became a blockbuster and surpassed Star Wars to become the highest-grossing film released to that point. Critics lauded it as a timeless story of friendship, and the American Film Institute ranks it as the third greatest science fiction film ever produced in the United States.

Production

Jackson began work on the audiobook E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial in June 1982about two months after he began recording his sixth studio album Thriller. Quincy Jones served as the producer for both projects, in addition to working as the narrative writer for the audiobook. During the recording of the narration, Jackson became so upset when E.T. died that he wept. Jones and Spielberg both felt that trying to record the part again would not change the pop star's emotional reaction and decided to leave Jackson's crying in the finished recording. Jackson biographer Lisa D. Campbell wrote that Jones had learned this during the recording of "She's Out of My Life" (from the Off the Wall album), where the singer also broke down in tears.

Several of the contributors to the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial storybook album had worked with Jackson on his solo projects in the past. Rod Temperton, who had written several songs featured on Off the Wall and Thriller, wrote the music for "Someone in the Dark". Freddy DeMann and Ron Weisner, former managers of The Jacksons, served as the production coordinators for the album. Bruce Swedien engineered E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, a task he had performed on Off the Wall and Thriller and would go on to perform for the next albums of Jackson. Dick Zimmerman photographed Jackson for the Thriller album cover, before again capturing the singer for the accompanying poster to the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial album.

Once the recording and engineering aspects of production had been completed, MCA Records (the distributor of the album) pressed more than a million copies of the audiobook. In 1982 a journalist for Billboard wrote that it was one of the "most ambitious" projects MCA Records had taken on to date.

Jackson's empathy with the E.T. character
Jackson commented the following:
"He's in a strange place and wants to be acceptedwhich is a situation that I have found myself in many times when travelling from city to city all over the world. He's most comfortable with children, and I have a great love for kids. He gives love and wants love in return, which is me. And he has that super power which lets him lift off and fly whenever he wants to get away from things on Earth, and I can identify with that. He and I are alike in many ways."

Release and legal issues
Epic Records allowed Jackson to record the album on two conditions:
MCA Records was not to release E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial until after Christmas 1982. (This was to avoid the audiobook's competing with Jackson's new album, Thriller.)
The song "Someone in the Dark" was not to be released as a single.

MCA Records breached both conditions, releasing the storybook in November 1982 and giving 7-inch promo copies of "Someone in the Dark" to radio stations. After Epic lodged a $2 million lawsuit, MCA Records was forced to withdraw the album and prohibited from releasing "Someone in the Dark" as a single. Epic executives had felt that MCA was misleading members of the public into believing the then-recently released single "The Girl Is Mine" was featured on the storybook album. The plaintiffs further requested that MCA Records be banned from working with Jackson in the future and that any other media owned by MCA featuring the singer be prohibited from release.

As a result of the legal restrictions that prohibited the public release of "Someone in the Dark" as a single, the promo copies which were made have since become one of the singer's rarest and most sought-after records; some have been sold for over $1,600. The song's opening version was later included as a bonus track on the 2001 special edition of Thriller, as well as the box set Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection.

Reception
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial reached number 82 on the UK Albums Chart, which was considered high for a storybook album. The audiobook won Jackson a Grammy Award in 1984 for Best Recording for Children. Upon collecting the award and taking home a record eight Grammys from an unprecedented twelve nominations, the singer said that of all the awards he had received that night, he was "most proud of this one".

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was also well-received critically. Charles L. Sanders of Ebony magazine described it as an "extraordinary album". Mark Bego of the Toledo Blade asserted that the song "Someone in the Dark" was "one of the most beautiful ballads" Jackson had ever recorded. He further commented that the amalgamation of Jones's production, dialogue from the film, Jackson's "effective and emotional" reading of the narrative and the audiobook's "grand soaring orchestration" made the E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial album "[elicit] as many tears as the movie does". A writer for Billboard described the audiobook as being "lavishly packaged, lovingly produced" and worth its high asking price. A journalist for the Lexington Herald-Leader concluded that it was a "delightful" storybook album.

Track listing

Personnel

Narration and vocals by Michael Jackson
Produced by Quincy Jones for Quincy Jones Productions
Original music for E.T. composed and conducted by John Williams
Narrative written by William Kotzwinkle, Steven Spielberg, Quincy Jones and Peggy Lipton Jones
Lyrics to "Someone in the Dark" written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman
Music to "Someone in the Dark" written by Rod Temperton
Arranged and conducted by Jeremy Lubbock
Synthesizer Solo by Craig Huxley
Album concept: Kathy "Leen" Carey
Executive producers: Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy
Assistant to executive producers: Kate Barker
Production coordinators: Freddy DeMann and Ron Weisner
Editor: Bruce Cannon
Production assistants: Pam Crocetti, Madeline Randolph, Corinne Alicia and Bonnie Sachs
Supervising sound editor: Charles L. Campbell
Sound effects editors: David A. Pettijohn, Louis L. Edemann, Richard C. Franklin, Jr and Samuel C. Crutcher
Re-recording mixers: Buzz Knudson, Robert Glass and Don Digirolamo
Storybook album engineer: Bruce Swedien
Assistant engineer: Matt Forger
Project coordinator: Nancy Cushing-Jones
Designer: Michael Brock
Photographers: Bruce McBroom and Terry Chostner
Photographer for poster of Michael Jackson and E.T.: Dick Zimmerman
Cover illustration of booklet: Drew Struzan
Art direction: George Osaki

Charts

Notes

References

Sources:

George, Nelson (2004). Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection booklet. Sony BMG.

1982 soundtrack albums
Albums produced by Quincy Jones
Audiobooks by title or series
Album
MCA Records soundtracks
Michael Jackson albums
Children's albums
Science fiction film soundtracks