Almost all people believe in God or they believe that he could exist. This high resolution image is a little bit rude, but it shows that sometimes you can have questions like this: Where's your God now? You can find this "Where's God now? " hi definition image in these categories: Humor (30). The original size of this "Where's God now? " picture is 1920x1200 pixels. This hi resolution image can be resized for your desktop. Please use our cropping tool.


Greetings to you. May grace and peace be yours in abundance through knowledge of the Omnipotent. I pray for your good health and happy long life.
I write this petition with great anguish,utmost disappointment and agony. I am residing with my family consisting of my wife and children along with 4 millions of people and a million of migrated laborers from all over India beneath a more than century old dam consisting of 15 TMC water spreading over 4668 Acres of land- The Mullaperiyar Dam!
A case of constant tussle and litigation is ongoing for many years between the Governments of Kerala and Tamil Nadu causing regular tension between the people in a Federal structure of national entity. Politicians of the two provinces are playing over the petty sentiments of the people for gaining electoral advantages.The 152 feet reservoir of the dam is thus a Political matter for the concerned, but the facts are beyond the scope of petty Politics of Provincialism. This is a case of ecological, economical, human disaster. Not only human, the entire flora and fauna is to perish in the part of the World if the dam is to continue without any move to rectify the risks involved.
Due to the disaster waiting in the wings more than a lakh of people between the dam and the Idukki reservoir 40km below the dam, more than 40 lakhs of people in the lower reaches of Periyar, Azhutha, Meenachilar, Pamba and Manimalayar rivers spreading over 5 districts will be drowned causing not only loss of millions of lives of human and animal population but also precious housing properties and agriculture fields placing a total loss amounting to billions and billions of rupees.
As everybody know, this dam has been constructed on an unusual agreement of 999 years(10 centuries). This contract was made in between the Secretary of State under British and the King, His Highness the Visakham Thirunal Marthandavarma,the then King of Travancore, the vassal state under the British. All agreements made by the British are either nullified or cancelled immediately after Independence. Unfortunately, the slavery of people of Kerala in this regard is continuing even after the Independence.
The dam is more than a century old and sick. No dam in the world is old as this dam. Other dams constructed contemporary to the Mullaperiyar Dam is either demolished or decommissioned. This dam was constructed using Lime Surky concrete which is 6 times inferior than the present M30 concrete used for construction. Already a good portion of lime has been washed away. There is leakage at the surface and gallery of the Dam. A leakage is found in between the 17th and 18th block. The Legislative Sub Committee has examined the dam and found that there is leakage between 10th and 11th block of the dam. The quantity of the seepage water is increasing day by day. A severe damage was found in the masonry structure at 95 to 106 door from the base of the dam. Apart from innumerable patholes, crevices and other openings that are visible on the surface of the Dam, the masonry cover provided at the upstream portion of the Dam has undergone a crushing between 95 to 106 foot through the entire length of the Dam.The damage that the dam has undergone in between the above noted elevation is so severe that no rectification can save the Dam from a disaster.More importantly no technology has developed in the whole world to perfectly strengthen a dam which is old and deteriorating. Therefore the strengthening works done has actually weakened the dam. Considering all these, the report relied by the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in the Mullaperiyar Dam case is misguiding, unscientific and baseless.
It is most pertinent to note that the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India has appreciated the apprehensions of the people through an order in the writ petition filed by the Adv. Russel Joy in which the Prime Minister of India is the first Respondent.
It is significant to note the dangerous situation going to be faced by the people in 5 districts of Tamil Nadu. If the dam bursts, the fate of these people would be severe that no could imagine. After the collapse, construction of a new dam is not at all possible under the present laws.The laws are changed and it became so progressive than the laws prevailed at the time of construction of the Mullaperiyar Dam. So the situation of the people of Tamil Nadu will be more worse than the situation prior to the construction of the Dam.
Under the aforementioned facts and keeping in mind the well being of the people of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, I humbly appeal appeal to the Hon'ble Prime Minister to urgently interfere in this matter to rectify the evil of the British immediately by an order in consensus with the State of Kerala and the State of Tamil Nadu for the construction of a new dam which will bring back the safety of people of Kerala and water to our neighboring State.
Adv. Russel Joy needs your help with "Hon'ble Prime Minister of India: MULLAPERIYAR DAM - A GLOBAL DISASTER; SAVE KERALA, THE GOD'S OWN COUNTRY". Join Adv. Russel and 180,354 supporters today.


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Desktop Virtualization Takes Off
Platforms ease enterprise management of end-user systems and bring Windows to Macs.
Karen D. Schwartz
Karen Schwartz is a freelance technology writer based in the Washington D.C. area.
February 2010 E-newsletter
Trimming Down
Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack 2009
NComputing X550
With about 1,200 PCs spread throughout nine facilities to maintain, patch and upgrade, Mark Lamson has his work cut out for him. But Lamson, director of IT at Westerly Public School District in Rhode Island, has found a way to make his job more manageable while saving money.
Following a successful server virtualization project in 2008, Lamson decided to embark on desktop virtualization. "We saw how the server virtualization had reduced energy expenditures and simplified all of the tasks that go with maintaining and upgrading computers, so moving to desktop virtualization just made sense," he says.
Lamson started slowly, outfitting a new computer lab at one of Westerly's high schools with dozens of thin clients, each with a keyboard and mouse, connected to a server running VMware vSphere 4 in the data center. The lab is available for use by both students who need resources to complete assignments and teachers who conduct classes there.
"If you had 30 standard PCs in a lab, you would have to patch, update and manage 30 hard drives," Lamson says. "But with this setup there are no hard drives, so we're effectively managing one 'golden image'. If we need to patch it, add an application or create an entirely new image for a class taking place later that day, it's easy and quick."
The first lab worked so well that plans are under way to scatter about 40 virtual desktops throughout one of the middle schools. Over time, Lamson expects to expand desktop virtualization into staff and faculty areas.
"There is no reason why it can't be a desktop replacement for a standard knowledge worker or administrator," he says. "And with a ratio of techs to PCs of about 1-to-600, everything helps."
$2 billion: Size of the desktop virtualization market by 2011.
Desktop virtualization makes a lot of sense for educational institutions, for both ease of use and security, says Chris Wolf, a senior analyst at Burton Group. "A lot of these schools may have two guys supporting hundreds or thousands of users. They need to be as efficient as possible, and the ability to streamline and standardize on a couple of images and quickly roll them back allows them to support those larger environments very efficiently," he says.
Greenwich Academy, a private K–12 school in Greenwich, Conn., has turned to desktop virtualization for much different reasons. The school requires its middle and high school students to use a specific Apple MacBook, which the school supports. But while the MacBooks are the platform of choice, there are times when Windows-only environments or applications are required, says Dirk DeLo, director of technology and information services.
To manage the two environments, DeLo deployed Parallels Desktop on each MacBook, which, in essence, provides a virtual Windows desktop on demand. Machines can run Macintosh natively and Vista, XP or Windows 7 when needed.
"Since we have to support Windows for a variety of applications in a Mac-only environment, we found that virtualization was the best way to do that," DeLo says. "We can maintain a single image and the user can run the Mac applications in the Mac environment and have a shortcut for the handful of Windows applications they need to use."
The Parallels Desktop environment is used most heavily by administrative staff because much of the software used in departments such as accounting, human resources and fundraising runs only on Windows. And language students learning Chinese must use Parallels to access software that also runs only on Windows.
"It's a drag-and-drop installation," DeLo says. "All we do is give them a USB key, and they can install it themselves by launching Parallels, which starts up the image."
Although the desktop virtualization technology available today offers significant performance and cost benefits, greater strides are being made – improvements that Wolf says will really cause desktop virtualization adoption to explode.
Chief among these improvements is the client hypervisor, which increases flexibility and security while reducing back-end infrastructure. With this technology, users will be able to take their virtual desktops on the road and sync back to the server, creating something Wolf calls device-agnostic computing. Both VMware and Citrix are developing client hypervisor solutions for release this year.
"It will run locally on the user's endpoint system instead of consuming server resources in the data center," Wolf explains. "You get the management benefits of desktop virtualization but you get a scaled-out approach to architecture."
Deployment Do's and Don'ts
Desktop virtualization comes with myriad benefits, but as with all new technologies and processes, it takes time. Heed this advice:
Do prepare users for the change. Many believe they will have less control, which creates resistance. Instead, accentuate the positive by explaining the increased flexibility they will gain. For example, they will be able to access their desktop from any location within the building.
Don't dive in head first. Deploy slowly, and make sure you test the product with all applications before deployment. Deploy department by department instead of all at once.
Do include representatives from each department to create the most usable, user-accepted desktop.
Don't expect to implement desktop virtualization at every level of the organization; it's particularly well-suited to standardized tasks and situations, and somewhat less suited to users with more customized needs.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative for South Africa (ASGISA), Black economic empowerment (BEE), Central planning, Crime against business, Demographic-entrepreneurial relationships, ECONOMIC GROWTH/ANTI-GROWTH FACTORS, Job creation and unemployment, Marxist-Leninist ideology, Productive knowledge
SA Government values mice as cheese factory managers more than productive knowledge
Almost 50 years ago, in 1970, Alvin Toffler in Future Shock wrote: Knowledge will become a more important driver of growth than capital or labour.
The two parties that then dominated the South African landscape did not hear the message: they had ideological ear wax and blinkers.
Inside the country the National Party wasted an opportunity to revamp and refocus Bantu education. In the words of Verwoerd, Western education was "of no avail for training which has as aim absorption in the European community while he cannot and will not be absorbed there. There is no place for him in the European community above certain forms of labour. However, within his own community all doors are open… For that reason, it must be replaced by Bantu Education. In the Native territories where the services of educated Bantu are much needed, Bantu education can complete its full circle, by which the child is… developed to his fullest extent in accordance with aptitude and ability…"
The harvest: the Soweto 1976 riots.
In exile and underground the ANC under the SACP influence believed labour was all important and capital from hell and that labour time was all that gave value to a product or service – a belief still voiced in 2016 by their leader. (That statement was never repudiated by Ramaphosa or any leader in the ANC.)
The 80's introduced "liberation before education", the burning of schools and the intimidation of teachers and after 1994, the ANC government ensured SA's education system became one of the worst performers in the world at the highest cost (% of GDP).
The harvest: a suffocating labour regime that leaves SA businesses hamstrung (considering productivity levels) and that promotes low-employment business practices.
Whilst race remains an important indicator to measure inequality, trying to always explain situations from a racial perspective often implies ignoring solutions with better potential than betting on race. The ANC is not alone in operating with racial blinkers. Musi Maimane's statement that race remains "the only consistent measure we have at this point for measuring inequality", is simply wrong.
So is Ramaphosa when he offered protection for Maimane for that remark.
And so is Chris Bateman's editorial to a recent Bloomberg report on Johann Rupert's comments during the Chairman's Conversation when he wrote: "What he (Rupert) misses in his strong argument that Eskom and other SOEs are the real monopolies, is that White Monopoly Capital, like all effective propaganda, is built on the fundamental truth that our Gini-coefficient runs on racial lines – due to the architecture of apartheid.
There are non-racial measure tapes available… and some measure more accurately than race. After a few examples where the ANC government chose cadres rather than knowledge, the focus will fall on one non-racial explanation for income and wealth inequality.
Dedication to water wastage and spillage of untreated sewage into the rivers
Post 1994 there were high hopes that a growing pool of knowledge and expertise would launch SA on a growth path from a middle-income country to higher echelons. Alas.
Compare the Department of Water & Sanitation of 2018 with the Department of Water Affairs of 1994: an expert pool of knowledge and engineering experience paved way for a cadre of less qualified personnel. Many with master and doctorate degrees in engineering were overlooked or side-lined in the name of affirmative action. The majority of the current incumbents in engineering and technical positions are no longer professional engineers, rather technicians, rendering the department incapable of properly monitoring its task of ensuring compliance with environmental and safety standards for the discharge of sewage treatment plants.
Based on data from National Treasury 2011: Local Governments Budget and Expenditure Review
It has not even the capacity to publish annually the Green Drop (a misnomer, should be Brown Drop) and Blue Drop reports.
At local government level the situation is similar: National Treasury in 2011 already lamented the demise of professional civil engineering capacity at local government level where the number of engineers had declined from 20 / 100 000 in 1994 to 3 / 100000 in 2011. One can only wonder what the latest figure is.
The harvest: polluted rivers, sewage in streets, water restrictions and shortages because of poor maintenance, rather than just droughts…
Eskom: if Hitachi is sued for poor design and workmanship, what about their ANC partner?
Eskom has a similar narrative… Everybody is focusing on the Gupta-capture and the fact that Eskom since 2000 is better skilled in running up debt than in ensuring efficient power supply. The role of elbowing out productive knowledge resulted also in:
Serious flaws both in design and construction of the Medupi and Kusile coal power stations prevent these power stations that eventually cost more than three times the original budgeted amount, from generating at the initial design capacity. Pravin Gordhan mentioned Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Africa as the culprit for sub-standard work. That is the firm that coughed up US $ 19 millions in settlement in the US to prevent being slammed with sanctions and penalties for bribing the ANC's investment arm Chancellor House. Gordhan reckons Hitachi should be sued. What about adding the ANC that had benefitted from this as co-accused?
Eskom is incapable of proper maintenance at power stations, thus causing more shut downs, more load-shedding, less productivity and contributing handsomely to impoverishing the country and its population.
Eskom in ashes…
With a police force like this, who needs criminals?
A third example is the Police force, ranked in the WEF Global Competitiveness Index as one of the 20 worst reliable police forces in the world, resulting in the cost of crime for business being the 5th highest in the world.
Government ignored pleas to stem the tide of the brain drain
In 2008 the ANC Government was cautioned by Ricardo Haussmann as chair of the International Advisory Panel of the Accelerated and Shared Growth Initiative (ASGISA) that economic growth was constrained by skills shortages. He recommended Government should do everything possible to stem the flight of white skills and warned: adjust BEE to make it compatible with growth.
The International Panel said BEE had clear potential to harm both investment and empowerment.
Ten years later, South Africa's three most prominent political leaders are still more obsessed by race than by knowledge and skills:
Ramaphosa operates with an Orwellian distinction between "Our people" who are more "ours" than the other "our people". (The first group being rightful owners to whom property rights should be restored even by expropriation without compensation from the "our people"who committed original sin);
Julius Malema's trademark is the side-lining and humiliation of the whites;
Maimane, DA leader, reckons race is the lodestar.
Let's assess race as marker for household income inequality
EOSA analysed demographic data for 230 urban areas in Gauteng, the Free State, Western Cape and Eastern Cape (2011 StatsSA data). The data shows the erstwhile white urban areas by 2011 had a black population percentage ranging between 16% and 54%. In the erstwhile townships, the white population percentage ranged from nil to 1.5%
A significant correlation between the percentage of the white population and average annual household income for these urban areas (r = 0.739) emerged.
It confirms race as an important indicator to assess household inequality, but it also reveals there is no close fit: the dots (each a separate urban area) are not clustered close to the regression line.
Does this correlation prove Maimane correct on race as the "only consistent measure" for inequality? If so, Maimane should have no difficulty explaining in (only) racial terms:
Can race explain the following differences?
The inequality in average per annum household income between Centurion with R541 570, Clarens with R344 215 and Bultfontein with R153 849 whilst their white populations form an identical share of their total populations (dark blue blocks).
Why Queenstown could register an average household income of R187 431 compared to Welkom'sR185 318 whilst having a substantially smaller white population share thanWelkom (Purple blocks).
The differences in average household income between Kroonstad's R221 023 and Oviston's R45 008 considering that their white populations were respectively 39.1% and 38% (green blocks)
How Bertha'sShaft with 0.2% white population can register an average household income on par with Koppies with 47% white population (yellow blocks)
The household income inequality between Hani Park, Thabong (R19 455) and Ezibeleni's R78 792 that both had no white residents (orange blocks).
Race (indicated by the percentage of the white population in an urban area) explains only 54.6% of the variance in average household income.
Tertiary qualifications a more precise indicator of household inequality
EOSA considers Haussmann's insistence on productive knowledge & economic complexity as extremely important factors driving the economy. Since data on these indicators at local (town or city) level is almost non-existent in the SA context, EOSA is testing some proxies. One factor that contributes (but is not equal) to productive knowledge, is the percentage of the population (20 years plus) with tertiary qualifications.
Running correlations between the percentage of the population 20years plus with a tertiary qualification and average household income for the 230 urban areas renders an interesting picture.
The dot pattern around the regression line shows a much closer fit. An extremely significant correlation of r =0.93 confirms inequality in average household income in urban areas can be better understood by looking at tertiary qualifications than at race.
Tertiary qualifications explain 86.4% of the variance in average household income.
With average household income in Clarens & Sasolburg almost on par but the former with a significantly higher percentage of the population boasting a tertiary qualification, the nature of the qualifications (and therefore higher remunerated employment) is responsible for Sasolburg performing to the left of the regression line with Clarens to the right. Likewise, Sasolburg and Fouriesburg have similar percentages of tertiary qualified populations, but Sasolburg's average household income was more than double that of Fouriesburg.
Correlation does not prove causality – neither for race nor for tertiary qualifications. Nevertheless, the statistically clear differences in the variance explained prove the percentage of the population with a tertiary qualification is a more accurate measure of household income inequality than race.
And that already in 2011.
Retaining the skills base and building over a generation a transformation based on productive knowledge, did not fit the night-march mentality to riches. (Do I hear something about BMWs and sipping cocktails at Taboo?) Therefore, strong affirmative action frameworks and BEE policies were pursued willingly, ignoring the impact thereof on:
inefficient service delivery;
growing unemployment;
lower economic growth;
higher corruption;
load-shedding;
river pollution;
rampant crime…
The capacity of the Civil Service, municipalities and State-owned enterprises at management level was largely devastated or compromised with cadre deployment trumping merit, causing Gwede Mantashe remarking: "What do you expect when you make a mouse the manager in a cheese factory?"
The hesitancy to consider a moratorium or revision of these policies along the lines proposed by the ASGISA Panel of Experts, indicate the ANC is much more comfortable embracing the mouse-in-the-cheese-factorystyle of management in SAA, Prasa, SABC, Transnet, an inefficient Eskom & Portnet, as well as the civil service, than treasuring productive knowledge.
So-called unforeseen consequence that could have been bridged by better implementation? The societal-wide institutional deterioration and even collapse are not mere outcomes of individual shortcomings and incapacity: it is indicative of a systemic fault-line rooted in the ANC belief in revolutionary ideology as original truth and historically pre-destined to become triumphant.
No wonder the wording of the Freedom Charter – "There shall be work… There shall be houses…" reminds of Genesis1: "Let there be light".
Job opportunities, houses and evenlight, however, require more than eschatological slogans. Whilst Genesis recorded an outcome – "there was light"- the jobs promised in the Freedom Charter are nowhere, and a large percentage of the houses are – due to shabby construction outcomes by boosting upcoming contractors – of poor quality. The unemployed increased from 3.8 million in 1994 to just under 10 million in 2017.
For an economy to get growing, one has to start with the available productive knowledge base, not with the skills one hopes mouse-in-the-cheese-factory managers may develop over time. If the productive knowledge pool is too small to commence with, recruiting capacities from wherever in the world is required, since that will result in quicker yields than trying the capacity building route.
That requires exchanging the existing set of policies and approaches that impact negatively on the existing pool of productive knowledge for a non-racial approach, as well as making real work combatting inefficient policing and education.
In the next blog on household inequality, the focus will fall on what the enterprise numbers and composition of localities (cities and towns) reveal.
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Thrifty Rent-A-Car System, LLC (formerly known as Thrifty Rent-A-Car System, Inc.) v. Thrifty Morocco,Thrifty Maroc / Connection Car S.A.R.L.
Complainant is Thrifty Rent-A-Car System, LLC (formerly known as Thrifty Rent-A-Car System, Inc.) of Estero, Florida, United States of America ("United States"), represented by Dentons UKMEA LLP, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Respondent is Thrifty Morocco, Thrifty Maroc / Connection Car S.A.R.L. of Casablanca, Morocco. 1
The disputed domain name <thriftymorocco.com> is registered with PDR Ltd. d/b/a PublicDomainRegistry.com (the "Registrar").
The Complaint was filed with the WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center (the "Center") on October 25, 2017. On October 25, 2017, the Center transmitted by email to the Registrar a request for registrar verification in connection with the disputed domain name. On October 26, 2017, the Registrar transmitted by email to the Center its verification response confirming that Respondent is listed as the registrant and providing the contact details.
In accordance with the Rules, paragraphs 2 and 4, the Center formally notified Respondent of the Complaint, and the proceedings commenced on November 7, 2017. In accordance with the Rules, paragraph 5, the due date for Response was November 27, 2017. Respondent did not submit any response. Accordingly, the Center notified Respondent's default on November 30, 2017.
The Center appointed Stephanie G. Hartung as the sole panelist in this matter on December 7, 2017. The Panel finds that it was properly constituted. The Panel has submitted the Statement of Acceptance and Declaration of Impartiality and Independence, as required by the Center to ensure compliance with the Rules, paragraph 7.
Complainant is a company organized under the laws of the United States that is worldwide active in the car rental business.
Complainant has provided evidence that it owns, among others, the following trademark registrations for the term "Thrifty" with protection in Morocco:
- Word mark THRIFTY, Office Marocain de la Propriété Industrielle et Commercial (OMPIC), Registration No. 52620, Registration Date: November 29, 1993, Status: Active;
- Word-/device mark THRIFTY, OMPIC, Registration No. 52619, Registration Date: November 29, 1993, Status: Active.
Complainant, moreover, owns various domain names relating to the THRIFTY trademark, e.g. <thrifty.com>, <thriftycars4rent.com> as well as <thrifty.co.uk> which redirect to Complainant's official websites in order to promote Complainant's company and car rental business.
Respondent is a company organized under the laws of Morocco which registered the disputed domain name on June 14, 2012. As of the time of the rendering of this decision, the disputed domain name resolves to a website at "www.thriftymorocco.com" that displays Complainant's official THRIFTY logo subtitled "Morocco" and indicates that the website is under construction ("SITE WEB EN MAINTENANCE"). Complainant has demonstrated that on April 10, 2017 as well as on June 27, 2017, Respondent's website appeared to be the Internet presence of an official Moroccan THRIFTY franchise dealer displaying the official THRIFTY logo and offering car rentals thereunder.
Moreover, Complainant has produced an International Master License Agreement entered into between the parties on April 1, 2007, by which Respondent was granted an exclusive license to operate a car franchise under Complainant's THRIFTY trademark in Morocco; this License Agreement provides in Section 205 B.1. that "Master Licensee shall not register or otherwise use any domain name… that includes the Marks or any portion thereof". On November 17, 2015, Complainant notified Respondent that numerous terms of the License Agreement had been breached and that the License Agreement would be terminated if those breaches were not remedied within a 30 days' period and that upon termination all trademark rights licensed would immediately cease and that any domain name registration including Complainant's trademarks need to be transferred to Complainant. A second letter dated January 21, 2016 confirmed the termination of the License Agreement with effect from January 1, 2016. On March 8, 2016 as well as on April 1, 2016, Complainant by means of cease-and-desist letters requested Respondent to finally transfer the disputed domain name. Respondent did not reply to any of the aforementioned communication.
Complainant contends to be the owner of a significant global trademark portfolio with over 250 trademarks protecting the THRIFTY brand worldwide. Besides Complainant's online presences, Complainant's services are offered at concession booths based in major transport locations, particularly at airports.
Complainant submits that the disputed domain name is confusingly similar to Complainant's THRIFTY trademark as it incorporates the latter in its entirety with the addition of the word "Morocco". Moreover, Complainant asserts that Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests with respect to the disputed domain name since (1) Complainant is not aware of any request ever sent by Respondent to register the disputed domain name, and Complainant never authorized Respondent to do so, and (2) to the extent that Respondent ever had any legitimate rights to register or to operate domain names including the THRIFTY trademark, those rights ceased on January 1, 2016, and Respondent has used the disputed domain name ever since to host a misleading website that infringes Complainant's trademark. Finally, Complainant argues that Respondent registered and is using the disputed domain name in bad faith since (1) Respondent was contractually prohibited from registering the disputed domain name without Complainant's prior consent which it never received, (2) since the termination of the License Agreement, or at least on April 10, 2017 as well as on June 27, 2017, Respondent was operating a website under the disputed domain name which creates the false impression that Respondent is still Complainant's authorized licensee and (3) even though the website under the disputed domain name meanwhile indicates that it is under construction, Complainant remains very concerned that Respondent can (and may well) re-commence its fraudulent activities at any time.
Respondent's default in the case at hand does not automatically result in a decision in favor of Complainant, however, paragraph 5(f) of the Rules provides that if Respondent does not submit a response, in the absence of exceptional circumstances, the Panel shall decide the dispute solely based upon the Complaint. Further, the Panel may draw such inferences as are appropriate from Respondent's failure to submit a Response.
The Panel concludes that the disputed domain name <thriftymorocco.com> is confusingly similar to the THRIFTY trademark in which Complainant has rights.
The disputed domain name incorporates the THRIFTY trademark in its entirety. Numerous UDRP panels have recognized that incorporating a trademark in its entirety can be sufficient to establish that the disputed domain name is at least confusingly similar to a registered trademark (see e.g. PepsiCo, Inc. v. PEPSI, SRL (a/k/a P.E.P.S.I.) and EMS COMPUTER INDUSTRY (a/k/a EMS), WIPO Case No. D2003-0696). Moreover, it has been held in many UDRP decisions and has become a consensus view among panelists (see WIPO Overview of WIPO Panel Views on Selected UDRP Questions, Third Edition ("WIPO Overview 3.0"), section 1.8), that the addition of a generic, descriptive or geographic term to a trademark in a domain name is normally insufficient, in and of itself, to avoid a finding of confusing similarity under the first element of the UDRP. Accordingly, the addition of the geographic term "Morocco" does not dispel the confusing similarity arising from the incorporation of Complainant's THRIFTY trademark in the disputed domain name.
The Panel is further convinced on the basis of Complainant's undisputed contentions that Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests with respect to the disputed domain name within the meaning of paragraph 4(c) of the Policy.
Even though the WhoIs contact information for the disputed domain name lists the registrant's name as "Thrifty Morocco", as previously noted, Complainant contends that the real identity of the registrant of the disputed domain name is Connection Car S.A.R.L., which the Panel accepts based on the available record. Connection Car S.A.R.L., is also the name of the company to which Complainant addressed all of its pre-procedural communications (e.g. the letters of November 17, 2015 as well as January 21, 2016 on the termination of the License Agreement as well as the cease and desist letters of March 8, 2016 as well as of April 1, 2016 requesting the final transfer of the disputed domain name). Accordingly, there is no reason to believe that Respondent is commonly known under the disputed domain name as set forth by paragraph 4(c)(ii) of the Policy.
Besides, Complainant has produced an International Master License Agreement between the parties of April 1, 2007, granting Respondent an exclusive license to operate a Thrifty car franchise in Morocco, but expressly prohibiting the registration of domain names including the THRIFTY trademark without Complainant's permission to do so. Complainant alleges, and Respondent has not contested this allegation, that Complainant is not aware of any request ever sent to it by Respondent to register the disputed domain name, and Complainant never authorized Respondent to do so. As also evidenced by Complainant, the License Agreement has meanwhile been terminated with effect of January 1, 2016, however, Respondent at some point before the filing of this Complaint was apparently still operating a website under the disputed domain name which created the meanwhile false impression that it is still Complainant's authorized Moroccan licensee. Therefore, it must be found that Respondent, before any notice to it of the dispute, has not used the disputed domain name in connection with a bona fide offering of goods or services as provided for by paragraph 4(c)(i) of the Policy nor for a legitimate, noncommercial or fair purpose within the meaning of paragraph 4(c)(iii) of the Policy.
Accordingly, Complainant has established a prima facie case that Respondent has no rights or legitimate interests with respect to the disputed domain name. Having done so, the burden of production shifts to Respondent to come forward with appropriate evidence demonstrating rights or legitimate interests (see WIPO Overview 3.0, section 2.1). Given that Respondent has defaulted, it has not met that burden.
The redirection of the disputed domain name, which is confusingly similar to Complainant's THRIFTY trademark, to a website at "www.thriftymorocco.com" which at some point before the filing of this Complaint created the false impression that Respondent is still Complainant's authorized Moroccan licensee, is a clear indication that Respondent intentionally attempted to attract, for commercial gain, Internet users to its own website by creating a likelihood of confusion with Complainant's THRIFTY trademark as to the source, sponsorship, affiliation or endorsement of Respondent's website. Paragraph 4(b)(iv) of the Policy provides that such circumstances are evidence of registration and use of the disputed domain name in bad faith.
In this context, the Panel certainly realizes that the third element of the UDRP provides that the disputed domain name "has been registered and is being used in bad faith" (see paragraph 4(a)(iii)) and that UDRP panels, in general, still agree that the Policy must be read as putting forward a conjunctive requirement of a bad faith registration and bad faith use of the disputed domain name (see e.g.: G.W.H.C. - Serviços Online Ltda., E-Commerce Media Group Informação e Tecnologia Ltda. v. eRealEstate.com, WIPO Case No. D2012-0498). It is undisputed that Respondent registered the disputed domain name in 2012 while the License Agreement between the parties was still in existence. This license agreement expressly provides that Respondent should not register any domain names including the THRIFTY trademark and Respondent has not contested to Complainant's allegation that Respondent never requested Complainant's consent with the disputed domain name's registration nor was it ever authorized by Complainant to do so. Consequently, it must be found that the registration of the disputed domain name took place in contrast to and in breach of the License Agreement, thus in bad faith, and that at least since the time of the termination of the License Agreement, Respondent also used the disputed domain name in bad faith, namely pretending that it still was an authorized THRIFTY car dealer.
For the foregoing reasons, in accordance with paragraphs 4(i) of the Policy and 15 of the Rules, the Panel orders that the disputed domain name <thriftymorocco.com> be transferred to Complainant.
1 Respondent, as per the WhoIs database and as confirmed by the Registrar, is Thrifty Morocco, Thrifty Maroc of Casablanca, Morocco. The Panel notes that Complainant contends that the real identity of the registrant of the disputed domain name is Connection Car S.A.R.L. The Panel further notes that Connection Car S.A.R.L. is the entity that entered into a Master License Agreement with Complainant, as explained below. The Panel accepts Complainant's contention that the underlying registrant of the disputed domain name is Connection Car S.A.R.L.


text:
INAEC Strong: The Pulag adventure
INAEC president Jay Lopez (front row, 2nd from right), successfully leads the team's charge to the topIt is a truth universally acknowledged that we discover our strength not simply through the weight of the load we carry but by the obstacles we overcome in the paths we take.
On May 18, 2019, INAEC demonstrated that it is indeed and by all means strong.
It began with a decree. In March, INAEC president Benjamin "Jay" R. Lopez (BRL), to a mix of delight and disbelief, declared that the company summer outing will be highlighted by a trek to Mt. Pulag—an accomplishment initially achieved by INAEC in 2013.
Trek preparations
Against a backdrop of excited, or BMI-challenged, or downright unwilling participants, INAEC began its trek preparations. Regular Zumba classes, led by company nurse Casey Tañedo, were held twice weekly. Physical examinations were done to test the employees' fitness. Dr. Ted Esguerra, a renowned mountain climber, conducted an orientation on the necessary gear to be brought during the hike.
Those present during the 2013 Mt. Pulag climb lost no time in regaling their colleagues with worrisome stories of the unforgiving cold of the mountain, the darkness of the trail and the length of the journey.
The INAEC team had good reason to be daunted. At its highest peak, Mt. Pulag stands at 2,926 meters above sea level, or roughly around 10,000 feet. Still, all trepidations aside, the employees persisted until the day finally arrived.
At 1:20 a.m. on May 18, the INAEC team, led by BRL and accompanied by Esguerra, embarked on their climb. Of the 18 trekkers, only six had climbed Mt. Pulag before.
Pleasant temperature
Numerous stops were made to allow people to literally catch their breaths. At these stops, the trekkers began shedding layer upon layer of sweaters and jackets as they realized that their exertion increased their body temperature.
Besides, the temperature remained at a pleasant 19° Celsius, not quite the freezing temperature that the team was afraid of.
The team moved with urgency, having one goal in mind— to reach the summit before sunrise. Thus, the fittest among the trekkers took it upon themselves to carry the bags of those who were struggling to continue. Everyone regularly checked with his or her buddy to make sure that they were able to keep up with the rest of the team.
By the time the team reached Camp 2, around 2,600 meters above sea level, it was already past 3 a.m. It was then decided that the INAEC team will form two groups—the first made up of the fit, the fast and the motivated, and the second of the straggling, the tired and the determined.
The first team went ahead, bent on getting to the summit (Peak 2) before sunrise. The second team still made good time as the stronger ones made sure to cheer for those struggling to keep up and ease their burdens by taking turns in carrying their bags and water bottles.
The first team reached the summit before 5 a.m. and waited for the sunrise. When it came at 5:28 a.m., it was indeed a glorious and magnificent sight in spite of the absence of the famed sea of clouds.
The second group arrived shortly after sunrise, relief giving way to exuberance despite the exhaustion of the team.
But still, Peak 1 of Mt. Pulag awaited. So, onward and forward went the team. By this time, everyone believed that they could reach Peak 1—and reach it they did.
At Peak 1, they again took turns taking pictures. Each one of these pictures was of people who are beautiful, and happy, and simply gratified.
Famished but fulfilled
It was truly a blessed and fun activity for the INAEC team. Everyone made it to Peak 1 and everyone made it back to the ranger station, tired but injuryfree, famished but fulfilled.
Most of all, the team can look back on this experience with pride, pleased to have discovered that whatever uncertainty they may have faced in the beginning of the journey is now replaced with the confidence they have not only in themselves but in each other.
Together, we got there. INAEC Strong
ABS-CBN files cert petition
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Davy Tan: From accounting to sales
To survive and not despair
Deadline extended to June 1 for LAA entries and Unsung Hero nominations!
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text:
BOSTON COLLEGE MEN'S WATER POLO
Current BC Students
Return to Roster
Michael is a freshman the Carroll School of Management where he looks to major in Finance. Outside of the classroom, he is competing on the varsity swim team for Boston College. Michael is from San Francisco, CA and went to Saint Ignatius College Preparatory where he captained both the Water Polo and Swim teams. More importantly, Michael is known for making very photogenic faces during mid action shots.
Join our Alumni Contact List
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Copyright © 2016, [Boston College Men's Water Polo]. All rights reserved.


This commentary is meant for galleries and art fairs outside the Netherlands intending to apply within the grant program Participation International Art Fairs. Dutch galleries are referred to the commentary in Dutch.
Galleries and international art fairs can apply within the grant program Participation International Art Fairs to exhibit work by living Dutch artists at renowned international fairs. Applications are also accepted for the production of new work by artists based in the Netherlands in a separate section of an art fair. The grant is intended as a contribution towards booth rental or, where there is a special exhibition at the fair, as a contribution towards the production and presentation.
The aim of this grant program is to reinforce the international position of contemporary art from the Netherlands.
The grant can be used for: booth rental for listed art fairs, booth rental for other fairs and presentations in separate sections at art fairs.
The Mondriaan Fund has drawn up a list of art fairs with international allure on the advice of an expert committee. If a gallery has been accepted for one of these fairs and exhibits existing work in a booth, the application is honored automatically under the prevailing conditions.
These fairs are: Art Basel (Basel), Art Basel (Miami), Art Basel (Hong Kong), Liste (Basel), Frieze Art Fair (London) Frieze Art Fair (New York), ARCO (Madrid), LOOP (Barcelona), Art Berlin (previously abc, Berlin), ARTBO (Bogotá), The Independent (New York), The Independent (Brussels), The Armory Show (New York), FIAC (Paris), Paris Photo (Paris), Artissima (Turin), ZONA MACO (Mexico Stad), Art Cologne (Cologne), Art Brussels (Brussels), Art Dubai (Dubai) and FNB Joburg Art Fair (Johannesburg). The list of art fairs is reviewed every two years to respond to the current situation.
Galleries can apply for funding for booth rental, but not for booth design, advertising, VAT or other costs.
Art fairs cannot apply for funding for booth rental.
A gallery can receive funding for booth rental on a maximum of three occasions in any one year.
The maximum funding is 5,250 euros.
When over 60 percent of the exhibited work is by artists from the Netherlands, a maximum of 80 percent of the basic booth rental can be funded.
If between 33 and 60 percent of the exhibited work is by Dutch artists, the maximum financial support is 50 percent of the basic booth rental.
If less than 33 percent of the work is by Dutch artists, no funding is available.
If a gallery is selected for one of the art fairs on the Mondriaan Fund list and exhibits existing work in a booth, the application is approved automatically if all other conditions are fulfilled.
Applications for the grant program Participation International Art Fairs can be submitted via an application form. The information listed in the checklist below must be included with the completed form. Please send your application with the form and additional requested information to info@mondriaanfonds.nl, with the subject 'Application Participation International Art Fairs'.
The application procedure is on a continuous basis. An application to take part in one of the art fairs listed above must be submitted at least one month before it opens. A decision will be taken within a month about whether funding is approved or not.
The information requested below relates to applications by galleries and art fairs outside the Netherlands.
The following information must be included as a pdf with the completed application form. Please send your application with the form and additional requested information to info@mondriaanfonds.nl, with the subject 'Application Participation International Art Fairs'.
– The reason why the artist(s) is/are selected and information on the work that will be exhibited.
– A sketch of the floor plan of the stand, with names of artist(s), number of works, dimensions, images of the work to be exhibited and the percentage of work by artists living in the Netherlands.
Please collect all documents in one pdf-file.
With a description of the way in which the presentation will be announced to attract a relevant audience in an inspiring manner.
With work made over the last two to four years in five to ten images per artist and a documentation list. Collect all in one pdf with a maximum of 12 MB.
Copy of proof of admission or application for the fair including stand area and a copy of the price quoted by the fair organisation.
The basic booth rental price per meter and surface area of the booth should be mentioned.
Applications for funding of booth rental at an art fair which is not on the list are submitted to an advisory committee.
Applications for funding for booth rental at an art fair which is not on the list will be submitted to an advisory committee.
presentation plan indicating how the presentation will be announced to attract a relevant audience in an inspiring manner.
The significance and international reputation of the fair as expressed in the quality of the programming, the targeted audience (in both qualitative and quantitative terms), the reputation of the fair and the attention in relevant media.
The motivation of the gallery for participating in this fair (if the gallery is the applicant).
The motivation for the selection of the artist(s).
The quality of the work to be exhibited.
The quality of the presentation plan, how the presentation will be announced to attract a relevant audience in an inspiring manner.
The significance and reputation of the gallery or curator.
Applicants must take into account a processing time of three months from the time that the application is completed. Funding by the Mondriaan Fund may not be retroactively approved. For that reason, the application must be submitted well in advance of the requested start date.
– A sketch of the floor plan of the stand, with names of artist(s) numbers of works, dimensions, images of the work to be exhibited and the percentage of work by artists living in the Netherlands.
Applications for presenting existing or new work in a separate section of the fair are submitted to an advisory committee.
An art fair engaging an artist from the Netherlands for a special exhibition outside the booths, can apply for funding for transport costs, for insurance of the work and for travel and accommodation expenses for the artist whose presence is desired to increase visibility. In this case, no funding is available for booth rental, booth design, VAT or other costs.
The artist must be active and integrated in the professional art world in the Netherlands.
If the application is not submitted by the art fair, the application must be accompanied by an invitation from the art fair.
The production of new work is funded if the work is displayed in a special presentation, outside the gallery's stand.
A maximum of 50 percent of the production costs is eligible for funding. The budget must include a realistic artist's fee for which the applicant is responsible. This fee is regarded as part of the production costs, but must be paid by the applicant.
The artist must be professionally active for at least four years or have followed a Higher Professional Education (HBO) programme at an Art Academy for at least three years.
Applications for presentations of existing work in a separate section of the fair and applications for the production of new work in a separate section will be submitted to an advisory committee.
budget with quotes, cover plan and commitment of inviting and/or participating parties.
(visual) documentation, CV and information about the work of the artist(s) or curator(s) involved.
The importance and international reputation of the fair as expressed in the quality of the programming, the targeted audience (in both qualitative and quantitative terms), the reputation of the fair and the level of attention in the relevant media.
The reason why the gallery is participating in this fair (if the gallery is the applicant).
The reputation of the gallery and/or curator (if applicable).
The quality of the artist's work and artistic practice, evaluation of aspects of the cultural enterprise, such as the artist's investigative attitude and his capacity to connect with other parties.
The reason for selecting the artist(s).
– Information on the work that will be exhibited.
A copy of the approval of the fair, including the stand area.
Per artist a compact CV with the most significant details on the entire professional practice of the artist(s) or (guest) curator, with the emphasis on the past two to four years. Exhibitions (indicate whether solo or group), events, commissions, awards, publications etc. should also be stated, including the years in which these occurred. Also mention related activities, such as teaching posts, advisory roles or work on committees. With a maximum of three pages per artist or curator. Please collect all CV's in one pdf-file.
A statement by the artist on his/her work and (developing) professional practice. Per artist a description of the intellectual and artistic principles and how these are expressed in the work and in the professional practice. Please include any collaborations or partnerships.
A signed confirmation by the selected artist(s) or (guest) curator, indicating their permission for submitting the application. Please collect all declarations in one pdf-file if applicable.
The budget must include a realistic artist's fee for which the applicant is responsible. This fee is regarded as part of the production costs, but must be paid by the applicant.
For more information about this funding, please contact Douke IJsselstein +31 (0) 20-523 16 60 or call the general phone number: +31 (0)20 523 15 23.


This kit includes enough wool yarn to knit the 1861 Cottage-Industry Mittens and Wristers seen in the Jan/Feb 2013 historical knitting issue of PieceWork magazine.
Knit Mary Lycan's 1861 Cottage-Industry Mittens and Wristers, as seen in the January/February 2013 issue of PieceWork magazine.
The pattern for these mittens was interpreted from the short story "Knitting Sale-Socks" first published in The Atlantic Monthly in February 1861, in which these mittens are the most common style of mittens made from either homespun yarn or store-distributed yarn and sold to villages to supply farmers, lumbermen, and fishermen.
This knitting kit includes the patterns for both the 1861 Cottage-Industry Mittens as well as a modern wrister pattern, if you prefer your fingers free. This kit also includes enough yarn to make either two pairs of mittens, two pairs of wristers, or one of each in Natural White and Sand colors.
The seventh annual historical knitting issue, this digital edition of PieceWork magazine includes a look at Armenian knitted socks, the history of Polka Jackets, the earliest known knitting pattern, Orenburg knitting, and much more.
PieceWork January/February 2013 features Mary Lycan's patterns for the 1861 Cottage-Industry Mittens and Wristers.
For the wearer, the stretchy cast-on and short-tight ribbed cuff of these mittens are easy to pull on and off. After the thumb gore stitches are dropped, the stitches cast on to close up the thumb are decreased to form a small gore or fourchette, providing a good fit for handling tools of many trades. If the palms of these mittens get wet, simply switch the mittens so the wet part lies on the back of the hand.
Prefer your fingers free? Mary Lycan also provides a pattern for wristers, a modern version of the 1861 Cottage-Industry Mittens that allows extra mobility with the fingers and features a longer cuff.
2 skeins of Cascade 220 yarn!
Cascade 220 yarn is an industry standard in today's knitting world. This 100% Peruvian Highland Wool is a favorite among knitters for its stitch definition, stability, and warmth.
This kit includes one 220 yard skein of Cascade 220 in #8010 Natural White and one 220 yard skein of Cascade 220 in #9499 Sand.
This kit includes enough yarn to knit one pair of Natural White mittens and one pair of Sand wristers, as seen in PieceWork's January/February 2013 magazine.
We have a limited supply of knitting kits, order your 1861 Cottage-Industry Knitted Mittens and Wristers kit today while supplies last.


Quality lighting is of the utmost importance to create pleasurable and productive environment in residential and commercial spaces. OLED lighting fixtures are a compelling candidate to enhance the human experience with high quality lighting and breathtaking aesthetics that perfectly complement a wide range of interior decor. OLED lighting not only provides great potential for high efficiency lighting when compared with conventional incandescent or fluorescent sources, but also has tremendous advantages over LED lighting. Great technological advances in solid state lighting are profoundly changing the way light was generated. As solid state light sources, both LEDs and OLEDs share the functional advantages and benefits which include high energy conversion and optical efficiency, excellent durability and reliability, lower operating and maintenance costs, impressive lighting controllability, and significantly longer operational lifetime, etc. Nevertheless, OLEDs offers some unique features that distinguish OLED lighting fixtures from LED alternatives.
OLEDs make use of thin, self-emissive layers of organic compounds, such as a hole transport layer (HTL), an emission layer (EML) and an electron transport layer (ETL), sandwiched between an anode and a cathode to generate light when a voltage is applied between two electrodes. It is this structure that gives OLEDs unique optical and physical properties. The holes injected from the anode and electrons injected from the cathode recombine in the EML to generate a pool of light across the entire OLED panel surface. Hence OLEDs are surface emission devices as opposed to LEDs which're point light sources that require additional optical systems to optimize light distribution and filter out harsh glare or ghosting. To realize uniform surface emission, for example, multiple LEDs are secured to the edge of the waveguides such that light is emitted homogeneously across the panel through total internal reflection. With OLED lighting, the light source emits light through the entire surface of functional layers and illuminates a wide area evenly. OLED light panels are ultrathin and lightweight. The electrodes and functional layers in an OLED structure are only a few nanometers thick each and the total thickness of an OLED panel can be less that one millimeter. Furthermore, OLEDs can be produced on flexible and even rollable substrates, which means the OLED light panels can be bent or curved.
OLED's surface emission property as well as its ultrathin profile and flexible lighting capability offers an unprecedented level of flexibility in terms of design and application. The high quality light is another big selling point that makes OLED lighting highly prospective. The broad wavelength spectrum enables OLEDs to render colors with amazing accuracy. The soft, high CRI light combined with unique physical property is highly appealing for lighting designers, manufacturers and consumers. OLED light panels can be used to create lighting fixtures with striking designs that push the boundary of imagination to create innovative and artistic structures. OLED lighting fixtures such as ceiling lights, pendant lamps, floor lamps, table lamps and wall lights provide distinctive design statements and superior lighting experiences for an extensive range of interior lighting applications.


Whenever someone dies too young, we all lose something. We lose the person, who and what that person was, and what he or she would've become.
I was shocked and sorrowful to receive the news last week of the tragic death of Kittitas County Sheriff Deputy Ryan Thompson. The loss of Deputy Thompson in the line of duty is a stark reminder of the real dangers that a few of our friends and neighbors voluntarily confront every day on our behalf.
For family members and close friends, losing a loved one is heartbreaking. It must be almost impossible to bear when the loss occurs before it should. We've all felt such a loss or know someone who has.
But the sudden and appalling death of Deputy Ryan Thompson is crushing to us all.
Kittitas County is a small community where Deputy Thompson served. It's where he worked, raised his family, and became part of the community. There, everyone knows everyone. If you don't know a person, you know someone who does.
I didn't know Deputy Thompson. But I was one of his County Commissioners for 10 years, and I probably met him a few times in passing. I worked closely with the Sheriff's department, so I know many of his colleagues. I saw his family at church. The family's oldest daughter is the same age as my son, and they attend the same high school.
Over time as an elected leader, you meet a lot of people. You get to know a few of them well. The people you serve and the organization you represent becomes a big part of your extended family. You see them every day, and you work together for everyone's benefit. It's like that in a lot of places. That's what it's like for counties too.
I know people who knew Deputy Thompson. I know people who know the family. The people I know are devastated. Some of them are the people that I worked with every day for the last decade. I hurt with them.
As I write this, I am preparing to attend the memorial service for Deputy Thompson this afternoon. A huge portion of our small community will be there. Senators, Representatives, local elected officials, and numerous law enforcement officials from all over the state are descending on this small county to take part in the solemn ceremony of remembrance.
They want to support the family and the community. Many want to pay their respects to a local hero who gave more than most for the place he swore to protect. All are grieving for what is lost and will never be replaced.
But after the ceremony is over and everyone is gone, what will we do next?
Our county has come together during this time with an outpouring of love and support for the family, for law enforcement, and for each other. In a place like Kittitas County, that will continue long after everyone else is gone, and people will always step up to help each other. That's just what it's like to live in a place like this. It's not even surprising.
But really, what will we do next?
How does Kittitas County and its cities and towns and all the people who live and work here make sure something like this doesn't happen again? How do we stop something as tragic and horrifying as this?
We will put together a memorial. We will remember Deputy Ryan Thompson. Generations will never forget what happened here and the day that Deputy Thompson made the ultimate sacrifice.
But the unspeakable and offensive truth is, no matter what we do, something like this will probably happen again.
As long as brave men and women are willing to place themselves between us and harm, to protect our communities, our families, our lives – some will make the ultimate sacrifice. We call them heroes, and we should.
Deputy Ryan Thompson is one of those.
His sacrifice is a debt upon us all.
We shouldn't need reminders like this, but we do.
Just like Deputy Thompson, each of us has the power to do good. Really using that power involves sacrifice. Sacrifice means love. When we love one another, we all benefit. Our family, our friends, our community, our country, and our world are better for it. We are better off because of Deputy Ryan Thompson's love.
When we truly love, most of the time we can't lose.
But last week, we all lost.
We owe something to Deputy Ryan Thompson and his family. We must choose to work together and keep moving forward every day – keep sacrificing, and loving, for each other. Even the hard days.
Paul joined WSAC in July 2018. He began his career in county government in 2008 as an elected official and served ten years as a County Commissioner for Kittitas County. He is a graduate of Central Washington University. Paul's previous career was exclusively based in the private sector, including as a small business owner. He is a native of Thurston County but currently resides in Ellensburg with his family.


Challenge is to manage key operating expenses (OpEx) to run business at the lowest cost, with the highest service reliability, for the best experiences.
With billions now online, citizens expect to connect with governments and public sector agencies in a secure, seamless, and reliable environment.
Global pressures and new technologies are changing the way governments protect their national interests.


text:
Q: Extension method to convert SubSonic SqlQuery object to plain SQL I sometimes need to see what SQL statement SubSonic generates.
That works great with:
SqlQuery qry = DB.Select().From<Product>()
                 .Where(Products.Columns.Name).IsEqualTo("Productname");

Console.WriteLine(qry.BuildSqlStatement());

However that returns the query with parameters (SELECT ... WHERE productname = ?productname). So, I always have to find the real values in my code and replace the parameters with the propper formatted value (e.g. productname = 'Productname') which can be really annoying with complex querys.
So, I decided to make an extension method that I want to share (look at my answer for the code).

A: It is far away from being perfect, but it fits my needs for now.
But I can use
 Console.WriteLine(qry.BuildSqlStatementDebug());

then copy the result to Clipboard and run it agains my DB from Query Browser.
using System;
using SubSonic;

namespace MyNamespace.ExtensionMethods
{

public static class SubsonicSqlQueryExtensionMethods
{

    public static String BuildSqlStatementDebug(this SqlQuery qry)
    {

        var result = qry.BuildSqlStatement();

        foreach (var c in qry.Constraints)
        {

            if (c.Comparison == Comparison.BetweenAnd)
            {
                result = result.Replace(c.ParameterName + "_start", GetFormattedValue(c.StartValue, c.DbType));
                result = result.Replace(c.ParameterName + "_end", GetFormattedValue(c.EndValue, c.DbType));
            }
            else
            {
                result = result.Replace(c.ParameterName, GetFormattedValue(c.ParameterValue, c.DbType));
            }

        }

        return result;

    }

    // Works for MySQL
    private static readonly String formatter_date = "'{0:yyyy-MM-dd}'";
    private static readonly String formatter_datetime = "'{0:yyyy-MM-dd hh:mm:ss}'";

    private static readonly String formatter_string = "'{0}'";

    private static String GetFormattedValue(Object value, System.Data.DbType type)
    {

        switch (type)
        {
            case System.Data.DbType.AnsiString:
                return String.Format(formatter_string, value);
            case System.Data.DbType.AnsiStringFixedLength:
                return String.Format(formatter_string, value);
            //case System.Data.DbType.Binary:
            //    break;
            case System.Data.DbType.Boolean:
                return (Boolean)value == true ? "true" : "false";
            //case System.Data.DbType.Byte:
            //    break;
            //case System.Data.DbType.Currency:
            //    break;
            case System.Data.DbType.Date:
                return String.Format(formatter_date, value); break;
            case System.Data.DbType.DateTime:
                return String.Format(formatter_datetime, value); break;
            case System.Data.DbType.DateTime2:
                return String.Format(formatter_datetime, value); break;
            //case System.Data.DbType.DateTimeOffset:
            //    break;
            //case System.Data.DbType.Decimal:
            //    break;
            //case System.Data.DbType.Double:
            //    break;
            case System.Data.DbType.Guid:
                return String.Format(formatter_string, value);
            //case System.Data.DbType.Int16:
            //    break;
            //case System.Data.DbType.Int32:
            //    break;
            //case System.Data.DbType.Int64:
            //    break;
            //case System.Data.DbType.Object:
            //    break;
            //case System.Data.DbType.SByte:
            //    break;
            //case System.Data.DbType.Single:
            //    break;
            case System.Data.DbType.String:
                return String.Format(formatter_string, value);
            case System.Data.DbType.StringFixedLength:
                return String.Format(formatter_string, value);
            //case System.Data.DbType.Time:
            //    break;
            //case System.Data.DbType.UInt16:
            //    break;
            //case System.Data.DbType.UInt32:
            //    break;
            //case System.Data.DbType.UInt64:
            //    break;
            //case System.Data.DbType.VarNumeric:
            //    break;
            case System.Data.DbType.Xml:
                return String.Format(formatter_string, value);
            default:
                return value.ToString();
        }

    }

}

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
L.M. Montgomery Online
Devoted to the life, the work, and the legacy of Canada's most enduringly popular author
L.M. Montgomery (1874–1942)
Book-Length Biographies
Posthumous Books
Critical/Annotated Editions
Serializations/Excerpts
Periodical Pieces
Periodical Pieces: Index by Periodical
Poems: Index by Title
Poems: Index by Date
Poems: Index by First Line
Miscellaneous Pieces
Miscellaneous Pieces: Index by Title
Miscellaneous Pieces: Index by Date
Abridgements/Rewrites
Reviews, 1908–1940
Alternate Signatures
Book-Length Extensions
Profiles/Interviews
Obituaries/Tributes
Magazine Items, 1908–1937
Newspaper Items, 1901–1940
A World of Songs: Selected Poems, 1894–1921
A Name for Herself: Selected Writings, 1891–1917
The L.M. Montgomery Library
Anne of Green Gables (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition, 2017)
The L.M. Montgomery Reader, Volume 3: A Legacy in Review
The L.M. Montgomery Reader, Volume 2: A Critical Heritage
The L.M. Montgomery Reader, Volume 1: A Life in Print
Rilla of Ingleside
Anne's World: A New Century of Anne of Green Gables
The Blythes Are Quoted
Book-Length Studies
Collections of Essays
Critical Anthologies
Paratexts
Dissertations/Theses
What follows is an index by date of all of L.M. Montgomery's known miscellaneous pieces, most of which are reprinted in The L.M. Montgomery Reader, Volume 1: A Life in Print (2013) and A Name for Herself: Selected Writings, 1891–1917 (2018).
{ 1940 } { 1939 } { 1938 } { 1937 } { 1936 } { 1935 } { 1933 } { 1931 } { 1930 } { 1929 } { 1927 } { 1926 } { 1924 } { 1923 } { 1922 } { 1921 } { 1920 } { 1919 } { 1917 } { 1916 } { 1915 } { 1912 } { 1911 } { 1910 } { 1906 } { 1905 } { 1903 } { 1902 } { 1901 } { 1899 } { 1896 } { 1894 } { 1891 } { Miscellaneous Pieces } { Miscellaneous Pieces: Index by Title }
Prince Edward Island's Famous Writer (memoir)
An Author Speaks (essay)
Prince Edward Island (sketch)
My Childhood in Canada (memoir)
For and about Girls (review)
I Have Come Home (essay)
Fairy Laughter (sketch)
Memories of Childhood Days (memoir)
Come Back with Me to Prince Edward Island (essay)
Foreword to Up Came the Moon (paratext)
Is This My Anne (essay)
L.M. Montgomery (memoir)
The Importance of Beauty in Everything (essay)
Kindly Criticisms (report)
An Open Letter from a Minister's Wife (essay)
Looking Back on Life (memoir)
The 'Teen-Age Girl (essay)
L.M. Montgomery's Ideas (letter)
An Autobiographical Sketch (memoir)
The Day Before Yesterday (memoir)
Letter to Mr. Dominick (letter)
Symposium on Canadian Fiction in Which Canadian Authors Express Their Preferences (round table)
Novel Writing Notes (essay)
Contributions to Fiction Writers on Fiction Writing: Advice, Opinions and a Statement of Their Own Working Methods by More Than One Hundred Authors (essay)
Bits from My Mailbag (essay)
Letter to Shaw Correspondence School (letter)
"I Dwell among My Own People" (essay)
Blank Verse? "Very Blank," Said Father (memoir)
How I Became a Writer (memoir)
One Little Girl Who Wrote to L.M. Montgomery and Received a Reply (letter)
The Gay Days of Old (memoir)
The Alpine Path: The Story of My Career (memoir)
My Favorite Bookshelf (essay)
What Are the Greatest Books in the English Language? (round table)
Writers and Books (letter)
How I Began (memoir)
The Way to Make a Book (essay)
What Twelve Canadian Women Hope to See as the Outcome of the War (round table)
Letters from the Literati (letter)
The Woods in Winter (essay)
The Woods in Autumn (essay)
The Woods in Summer (essay)
Spring in the Woods (essay)
How I Began to Write (memoir)
Four Questions Answered (essay)
Lost and Found (advertisement)
Canadian Writers on Canadian Literature – A Symposium (round table)
What to Teach Your Son (tract)
Innocent Irreverence (sketch)
Netted Doily (pattern)
Many Admiring Glances Bestowed upon Graduates (essay)
Christmas Shopping in Halifax Stores (advertisements)
Half an Hour with Canadian Mothers (sketch)
Around the Table (newspaper column; 35 instalments)
A Half-Hour in an Old Cemetery (essay)
To the Editor (letter)
A Girl's Place at Dalhousie College (essay)
James Henry, Truant (sketch)
The Bad Boy of Blanktown School (sketch)
Crooked Answers (sketch)
"Which Has the Most Patience under the Ordinary Cares and Trials of Life – Man or Woman?" (sketch)
"Portia" – A Study (essay)
Valedictory (address)
High School Life in Saskatchewan (memoir)
Extracts from the Diary of a Second-Class Mouse (sketch)
The Usual Way (playlet)
From Prince Albert to P.E. Island (sketch)
A Western Eden (sketch)
The Wreck of the "Marco Polo" (essay)
Twenty Nineteen in Review 7 January 2020
L.M. Montgomery Titles at 50% Off! 27 November 2019
This Is September 20 September 2019
Revisiting Anne and Montgomery 12 July 2019
April Fool's Day from Cynthia 1 April 2019
Benjamin Lefebvre on March Madness Sale at UTP!
Sapphireanne on March Madness Sale at UTP!
Bertha Hurdman on March Madness Sale at UTP!
Benjamin Lefebvre on Christmas in Halifax, 1901
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Table Talk: Perrier, Ripert launching new restaurants
Two high-profile, chef-driven restaurants are in their opening weeks: Table 31, the Georges Perrier-Chris Scarduzio steakhouse bistro in the Comcast Center (enter on 17th Street between JFK Boulevard and Arch Street, 215-567-7111), started dinner last week and moves into lunch shortly.
by By Michael Klein, Inquirer Columnist | Columnist
Two high-profile, chef-driven restaurants are in their opening weeks:
, the Georges Perrier-Chris Scarduzio steakhouse bistro in the Comcast Center (enter on 17th Street between JFK Boulevard and Arch Street, 215-567-7111), started dinner last week and moves into lunch shortly.
Three-story layout: two-story-tall bar, dining rooms on two levels, and banquet space on the third. Dinner menu focuses on assorted meats in various sizes; range is $29 for a queen-cut prime rib to $75 for a 24-ounce porterhouse. Table 31 is named after the top table at the partners' Brasserie Perrier.
I think the niftiest part of T31 is outside on the JFK plaza side of the Comcast Center: The Plaza Cafe, built around a fully contained kitchen. By summer, there will be patio seating for lunch, dinner and drinks beneath a trellis and beside a fountain.
is the Philly outpost of Le Bernardin's Eric Ripert, who has his former righthand woman, Northeast Philadelphia-bred Jennifer Carroll, overseeing a French-influenced new American menu in sumptuous quarters in the lobby of the Ritz-Carlton (10 S. Broad St., 215-523-8273). Dinner menu starts at $19 for a burger and heads to $34 for the filet or whole striped bass. There's major lounge potential as well as breakfast and lunch too, as this is the hotel's restaurant as The Grill will close shortly.
Azul Cantina
, a Mexican bar-lounge, is the second newcomer on the corner of 10th and Spruce in recent weeks, following
Kanella
, the Greek-Cypriot BYOB from former Meze chef-owner Konstantinos Pitsillides. Azul (941 Spruce St., 215-627-5200) is owned by George Markakis, who recently sold GiGi in Old City and still owns Little John's Pizza at 21st and Cherry. He's brought in as chef Jesse R. Vega, a 22-year-old, whose heritage is Spanish, Puerto Rican and English. His resume includes Alma de Cuba, Happy Rooster and GiGi, and he says he's a graduate of the school of hard knocks.
Bright, blue-accented interior looks nothing like the space's short-lived predecessor, Sauce. There's a long, marble bar with more than 50 tequilas; a microscopic lounge space and about 40 seats for Vega's extensive menu; he recommends his habanero guacamole ($9), seared-tuna starter ($10), shrimp taco ($12), sweet potato enchilada ($8), roast salmon (with avocado-leaf-scented rice and horchata-poached lobster salad, $22) and mezcal-brined pork ($20). It's open seven days for dinner, late-night menu till 1 a.m., plus Saturdays and Sundays for brunch.
, one of the earlier entries in the Northern Liberties boom, closed just shy of five years. Owner Bob Bitros has retired and has a tenant, supposedly the crew from Royal Tavern/Cantina Los Caballitos/Khyber, expected to do a Mexican themer.
Dominique Filoni, the St. Tropez-born chef who leaped into the local food radar from his stint at Tierra (later known as Savona) in Gulph Mills and his ownership of the now-closed Bianca in Bryn Mawr, is chef at the Stephen Starr-owned
. The French bistro is due to open in the Parc Rittenhouse, 18th and Locust, on June 28.
Chef Edgar Alvarez has returned to his longtime gig at Center City's
Black Sheep Tavern
and bumped up the menu. He left a few years ago to open Delaware Market House, a specialty-foods shop in Gladwyne, but apparently missed the hustle and bustle of a busy kitchen. He's shuttling between both places.
With summer wind on the way,
Blue Eyes, A Steak and Seafood Joint
in Washington Township has opened an outside patio bar.
Apothecary Bar + Lounge
, the Center City newcomer, has opened its roof deck. It's also settled on operating hours: Tuesdays through Sundays, from 5 p.m.
Vino Volo
, a wine-tasting room, has opened in Philadelphia International's B/C Connector, beyond security. Operator is Taste Inc. out of San Francisco, which also has locations at JFK, EWR, BWI, SEA, SMF, IAD and DTW.
in Commerce Square will close at the end of June to reconceptualize. Owner Sue Mahoney won't say what the new idea is, but hopes to reopen around Labor Day. On the other side of Commerce Square's plaza (Market Street between 20th and 21st), where a Marathon Grill was, construction of the casual Pagano's Market continues. Opening seems a few weeks off.
Some South Jersey restaurants are turning their attention to New Jersey seafood and fisheries for a two-night promotion called "Off the Hook," which means four-course, $30 prix-fixes on June 24-25. Details/participants are at
» READ MORE: www.sjoffthehook.com
By Michael Klein, Inquirer Columnist


NEC3 questions #5 – when do compensation events change the rates in the Bill of Quantities?
In this series titled "NEC3 questions", Steven Evans addresses the most common questions asked about the NEC3 contract.
The NEC3 suite has 2 main options that utilise a Bill of Quantities; option B and option D.
Option B is a straightforward application of the Bills, i.e. the Contractor prices the document which is then used to calculate how much the Contractor is paid based on the quantity of work done, adjusted by compensation events.
Option D is slightly different in that the Bill is used as the 'target' cost, adjusted by remeasurement and compensation events. The Contractor is reimbursed his Defined Cost plus the Fee, and a share of the pain or gain if the total Defined Cost exceeds or falls short of the 'target'.
In both cases the works are entirely remeasured using the rates in the Bill, as adjusted by compensation events.
the rate in the Bill of Quantities for the item multiplied by the final total quantity of work done is more than 0.5% of the total of the Prices at the Contract Date.
In simple terms if, when an item is remeasured, its quantity is different to that in the original Bill (but not a difference that arose from a change to the Works Information) and as a result of that difference the cost per unit changes, and the total remeasured quantity of that item multiplied by the original Bill rate is greater than 0.5% of the total of the original Bill, then a compensation event occurs which permits the amendment of the unit price.
A difference between the final total quantity of work done and the quantity for an item stated in the Bill of Quantities which delays Completion or meeting of the Condition stated for a Key Date is a compensation event.
This is reasonably straightforward; any difference in the remeasured quantity compared to the original quantity is a compensation event if it causes a delay to Completion or a Key Date. Note, the requirement for the difference to be to a substantial item (i.e. more than 0.5% of the total) does not apply to this event.
The Project Manager corrects mistakes in the Bill of Quantities which are departures from the rules for item descriptions and for division of the work in to items in the method of measurement or are due to ambiguity or inconsistencies. Each such correction is a compensation event which may lead to reduced prices.
Self explanatory – the Bill must be compiled in accordance with the method of measurement stated in the Contract Data and any departure is a compensation event permitting its correction.
Finally, clause 60.7 prescribes that, when pricing the works, the Contractor can assume the Bill of Quantities is correct.
Written by Steven Evans who is a construction contract and commercial expert with particular specialism in NEC3, and is an NEC accredited tutor.
This article is for general information purposes only and should not be relied upon in any specific situation without appropriate legal advice. If you require that advice or wish to discuss any of the issues raised in this article, please contact us.