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TMC wraps up summer challenge asking employees for their best ideas
October 6, 2017 by Tucson Medical Center Leave a Comment
Tucson Medical Center five years ago embraced the Lean management process, which works to eliminate waste and tap the knowledge of employees to make steady improvement every day.
The Summer of Ideas challenged employees to channel their creativity and share their suggestions across the hospital.
More than 250 ideas were submitted since the July kickoff. Awards were given for the team and the individual with the most ideas, as well as the best "out of the park" idea.
Some of the ideas included a TMC-specific rideshare program, new software for clinicians and an app to help patients and visitors navigate the campus.
Three of the four finalists – and the winner of the category – for the most ambitious idea generators work in Unit 750, an adult medical unit. Unit clerk Amy Hill, who came to TMC six years ago, won a reserved parking space for a month.
"What I really appreciate about TMC is that there is an acknowledgment that those who are closest to the work often have the best solutions to improve a process," Hill said. "I appreciate that whether it's finding root causes of a problem or finding the where efficiencies are, we can all have some ownership of making things better."
Janet Heckman, the manager of Unit 750, applauded the efforts of her staff. "Taking ideas from the front line staff who actually do the work is very important as I may not realize there is an issue," Heckman said. "I also believe being heard is a huge employee satisfaction point as they feel empowered and heard."
Ideas were logged on a Lean tool known as an "idea board." There are 120 idea boards throughout TMC as well as at TMCOne locations and TMC Hospice.
It's different from a suggestion box in that ideas – as well as any outcomes or solutions – are visible to the entire team, who can contribute to the idea as it matures, said Pat Ledin, the manager of Lean and quality efforts at TMC. "We hoped the Summer of Ideas would serve as a fun catalyst to continue driving engagement and we were really pleased with the participation across so many of our departments, from environmental services to information technology to clinical staff."
Medical librarian Marni Dittmar, who picked up an extra day off as an award for her most "out of the park" idea, is an example of how the process worked. She not only came up with her idea for new clinical software, but then researched it to determine the benefits and feasibility.
Click here to see a short video about how idea boards are igniting creativity and empowering staff at TMC.
Filed Under: Campus News, General, Newsroom, Quality Tagged With: #whyilovewhereiwork, a great place to work, employee ideas, Lean, LEAN management, tucson's best places to work, work flow
TMC honors 50-year employee at annual employee recognition event
September 2, 2017 by Tucson Medical Center 1 Comment
Nancy Spiller left home at 17, just out of high school, armed with little more than her diploma and some experience working as a volunteer candy striper.
She landed her first job at Tucson Medical Center – and now, 50 years after she was hired into the business office that day, she's still coming to work every morning to the same place.
"Fifty is a big year – it's very special to me," said Spiller, who has worked eight different jobs during her tenure, most recently serving as clerical support in pediatric therapies.
Spiller will be celebrated at TMC's annual Service Pin ceremony, which honors employees at every five-year milestone of their careers.
There are 467 honorees this year, including 18 people with upwards of 40 years of service. Spiller is one of two employees with the longest running length of service.
Aside from the fact she needed a job, Spiller wanted to help people, which is why she served as a candy striper. When she was in the fourth grade, her mother died, which in retrospect, she said, might have fueled her interest in health care.
Spiller came to TMC two months after the arrival of Don Shropshire, a beloved and iconic leader who served 25 years as TMC's CEO.
She remembers being so naïve that her colleagues teased her routinely. One afternoon, they told her Mr. Shropshire was holding on the phone for her. She chided them, saying she knew they were making up stories. After much back and forth, an exasperated Spiller went to the phone.
"Who was on the other end? Mr. Shropshire. He was going on a business trip out of town and I was the only person with the combination to get into the safe for business travel. I was never so embarrassed," she recalled.
TMC was a very different place then; small compared to today's campus. A cart that wheeled from room to room served as the gift shop. Vending machines, not a cafeteria, stocked food. Laboring mothers were just screened off from one another with privacy curtains. Calls came in on old operator switchboards.
Five of her closest friends came from TMC – one of whom she's known since she started 50 years ago.
"We've been through marriages and divorces and births and sickness and death and baptisms – you name it," she said. "We've been through it all."
Spiller remembered the hospital rallying around her when she had her first child, Steven, who was born with a heart condition and required complex surgery. Mr. Shropshire sent a card. The staff raised money through a bake sale. "It wasn't just coming to do work here – it was like a family rallying around to help," she recalled. "If I had to do all of it on my own, I'm not sure I could have made it."
Steven lived to the age of 24. His younger brother Matthew is now a newlywed.
Both were born at TMC.
Spiller initially meant to retire at her 45th milestone, but here she is, still, 5 years later.
In part, it's because the work is rewarding. She mists up telling of one boy with autism who came in speaking very little, if at all, and who now tells her all about his day.
"I think it's wonderful what TMC does in the community," she said.
"I have gone home in tears because of these kids and what we're able to do for them. If I can make a difference for just one person, that means a lot to me. I wouldn't still be here if I didn't think I still had that ability."
Filed Under: All, Employees, General, Voices Tagged With: #wearecommunity, #wearelocal, #wearetmc, #wearetucson, #whyilovewhereiwork, long term employee, Nancy Spiller, Service Pin


I've been wanting to mention this for awhile, but I keep forgetting! One of my favorite novels from last year, Hate List by Jennifer Brown, is now available in paperback. If you haven't had a chance to read this one yet, I really recommend it.
I've been thinking about it lately with the recent attention brought to bullying. It's a very affecting book, and one I think you'll find worth your while.
I'm not crazy about the paperback cover but whatevs. At least it's more affordable, right?
So read my review from last year and go on and check out the book!


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Paul Coelho is definitely my favorite author with regards to travel and self-discovery. He is the most translated author of all time. The Alchemist, which has sold over 65 million copies worldwide, plain and simply changed my life. Why I chose to wait to read this until now, I pondered briefly, but choosing to read this book during the most difficult point in my life made sense as it spoke to me on the most existential level. I will literally carry this book with me everywhere I go, for I know I will reread passages often. I don't think there is a human emotion this book did not evoke within my heart and soul.
This story is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids. Along the way he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king, and an alchemist, all of whom point Santiago in the direction of his treasure, which is not distinctly disclosed to the reader, or whether or not Santiago will surmount the obstacles. What we do know is that what starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into a discovery of a treasure found within.
If you are simply looking for a work of fiction The Alchemist will NOT be the book for you. If you are ready to transform your life and find deeper meaning to your existence, you, like me, will treasure the life lessons taught here. The power of The Alchemist is not in the story itself, but rather your personal reflective journey as you read.
If you truly open your mind, you will travel with Santiago and find your own personal legend.
I am definitely going to read all of Paulo Coelho's novels and certainly reread The Alchemist often.
Do you have that one special novel that was transformational for you?


Adobe has updated its Photoshop Express app for iPhone and iPad to allow automatic creation of photo collages, and to add support for Google Photos.
Automatically create stunning high-quality and share-worthy collages with powerful Intelligent Layout and Style Transfer automation options. (This isn't your usual phony photo layout app).
Support for Google Photos means that photos stored in Google's free cloud service can be downloaded directly into the app, edits made and then the finished creation uploaded back to Google.
While many iOS users choose to remain entirely within Apple's ecosystem, a significant proportion of us use Google Photos instead of iCloud for its free, unlimited storage of high-resolution photos and 1080p video. The ability to directly import and export photos in and out of Photoshop Express is a welcome upgrade.
Photoshop Express is a free download from iTunes, though it does offer in-app purchases for optional effects. The Google Photos apps can automatically upload photos from both iOS devices and Macs. The iOS app is a free download from iTunes while the Mac app is a free download from Google.


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Why Is Ellie Immune in The Last of Us? Answered
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A one in a million chance.
Keenan McCall
Published on January 15, 2023 Keenan McCall
Home » Guides » Why Is Ellie Immune in The Last of Us? Answered
Why is Ellie immune in The Last of Us? It's a question at the center of the series' narrative, both because it drives Joel's initial mission to keep Ellie safe and because it becomes the motivation for some of the series' most heart-wrenching scenes. If you're not immersed in all of the lore from the video games and shows though, you're likely no closer to an answer regarding this question than when you were first introduced to the series.
Fortunately, we're here to help you along. Below you'll find information on what caused her immunity, and how it was discovered in the first place. Do be warned though: We will be going into *Massive Spoilers* for the plot of the first game and television series.
How Is Ellie Immune to Infection in The Last of Us? Explained
Though a specific reason for Ellie's immunity is never explicitly stated, it's generally shown that she isn't affected by the fungal infection due to a genetic mutation.
As mentioned in a recording from the first Last of Us game, Ellie's immunity seems to be driven by her genetics. Her body either constantly fights back against the fungal infection and wins or exists in a symbiotic relationship with the fungi, making her able to resist any negative effects from them them indefinitely.
This was likely something she had from birth, and which couldn't be easily replicated or even detected. The only way to find out about it would be by accident, which occurred when Ellie was bitten by an infected as a child but doesn't turn.
It's for this reason that the Fireflies want to protect Ellie and escort her to their more well-equipped facility instead of announcing her immunity to the world. Because her immunity is due to a mutation, they'd need to examine her blood, organs, and other genetics in order to replicate it and create a possible treatment for the fungal infection. To that end, they hire Joel to take care of her and escort her across the country, leading to the two's adventures during the first game and television series.
Hopefully this cleared up why Ellie is immune in The Last of Us. For more on the series, check out some of our other articles on topics like why there are tendrils instead of spores in The Last of Us HBO and the 10 best shows to watch if you like The Last of Us. We've also got plenty of articles related to the wider series, which you can look through down below.
New Video Sheds Light on How Details Are Everything in The Last of Us
Related Topics:Ellie, Explained, Guides, Immune, The Last of Us, why
Zelda Tears of the Kingdom Drops in May, Will Feature Drone-Riding Mayhem
By Tony CockingFebruary 8, 2023
Nintendo Switch Online Finally Gives Fans What They Want With Game Boy, Game Boy Color, & GBA Titles

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Johnny Depp plays Dr. Will Caster in the sci-fi thriller Transcendence released 2014. Dr. Caster is famous for his leading edge work with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and his dream to build a sentient software system that is all knowing and "feeling".
His controversial experiments makes him the target of an extremist group and Johnny is shot! Having only one month to live his wife and best friend, also super-IT researchers, work feverishly to finish their project so that Dr. Caster can be the first to upload his consciousness and transcend the human condition.
This movie deals with several moral and philosophical questions about human existence. What does it mean to be alive? To be dead? What is a soul? Where should we draw the line with machine learning?
The movie takes a twist when virtual Johnny develops an unquenchable quest for more. More power, more knowledge, more control. How can they stop this modern day frankenstein who they helped create?


This cereal began as a diet food. A few years back my husband knew he needed to lose weight before his hip surgery. His doctor recommended that he eat 2/3 cup uncooked oatmeal for breakfast, moistened with orange juice. His doctor was a vegetarian, and he thought this would be healthy. My thought was that healthy or not, I could not conceive of eating uncooked oats -- especially not topped with orange juice. But my husband grew to enjoy it, so one day I got brave and decided to add a few uncooked oats to another cereal I normally had for breakfast, topped with nonfat milk. It was pretty good. Then I got really brave and started experimenting with combining two or more boxed cereals.
It guess it was the success of those experiments that made me decide to just try combining the oats with other things. My first attempt was to measure out the oats into the bowl and then add some dates and chopped walnuts. I topped it with skim milk. It was delicious. My husband tried it that way, too, but thought it was a bit fattening, so he went back to oats and orange juice, except when he craved a change, but I noticed he was swiping a few dates after breakfast almost daily. I went on a whole wheat toast and peanut butter binge about that same time since it was winter.
Meanwhile, his friend started extolling the virtues of buckwheat and gluten free eating. i bought some buckwheat cereal that needed to be cooked and made it into a breakfast pudding for him, and he got hooked on it. Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy it as much as he did, and when the weather got warmer I didn't want a hot breakfast. So I started experimenting with the oats again, this time adding chopped apples and blueberries, since I wanted more fiber and the phytonutrients in the fruits. When Kosta saw me eating this, he decided to try it, too, and now there are many mornings when he eats it with me.
It's not especially low calorie, which is why I call it a power breakfast. It has enough calories, protein, and fiber to keep me from getting hungry for hours. All the sugars are from the fruit itself. This is perfect for those who need to eat more fiber and for those who want all their calories to be nutrient intensive.
When I prepare this, I prepare it for two people at once in two cereal bowls, so the ingredient amounts given are for two people. As I prepare each ingredient, half of each goes into the proper bowl. I split the apple first and put half the chopped apple into each bowl. Then I distribute the other ingredients. Until I started to write this, I never thought about measuring anything. My husband keeps one of those individual applesauce containers as a measuring cup in the oatmeal container, and we always used one measure each. That works out to 2/3 cup. If you don't want to eat quite that much, you can easily move it down to 1/2 cup per person. If blueberries are not in season or are two expensive, you might want to substitute raisins. Experiment with other fruits you like. Strawberries might be good when in season and could substitute for either apples or blueberries, but I probably wouldn't put the dates in with them. This recipe is a guideline, and don't feel bound to stick to the measurements. Most of the calories are in the oats and walnuts, also the primary protein sources. I'd keep those as a base and then add any fruits you think would taste good together. I top mine with goat's milk, and Hubby still uses orange juice.
What takes the time is cutting the fruit. If your mornings are rushed, you could make this the night before and refrigerate until morning. If you live by yourself, you can eat half the apple before preparing the other ingredients and halve the amounts. On the mornings Kosta eats something else, I give him the other half apple.
No one serious about cooking should be without a pair of kitchen shears. They are not only great for cutting up the dates in this recipe, but I also use them to trim the sometimes unattractive edges of romaine lettuce and to trim the fat and gristle from chicken breasts and meats. These do jobs it's much more difficult to do with a knife.
Lay out two large soup bowls of about 10-12 ounces.
Chop the shelled walnuts in a nut grinder or cut them up in small pieces with a knife. Put half in each bowl.
Wash, core and chop the apple into small pieces, as in picture. Put half of the chopped apple in each bowl.
Rinse blueberries and set aside. Put half in each bowl.
Measure 1/2 to 2/3 cup oats into each bowl. Nutrition index is for using 2/3 cup each.
With kitchen shears, cut three of the six dates right into each bowl.
Mix the ingredients together. Pour milk or orange juice over them to taste. Enjoy.
If you are a bit prejudiced against eating uncooked oats, think of this as unbaked granola without the extra sugar and processed fats you find in such products. I did a comparison with my favorite granola, which happens to be Quaker 100% Natural Granola Oats, Honey and Raisins. One cup of my power breakfast does have over twice the fat of a cup of the Quaker cereal because of the nuts, but only 1/2 of the saturated fat. Neither has any trans fats. My cereal also has 2 grams more fiber and 2 grams more protein. MIne has two more grams sugar, but none of it is refined. Quaker has brown sugar and honey in addition to the sugar in the raisins . A cup of my cereal has 350 calories compared to 412 of a cup of the Quaker cereal. My ingredients also have less processing and do not include whey, inulin, glycerin, whey protein concentrate, and other more processed ingredients. I think I get a more powerful nutrient punch calorie for calorie. And if I eat breakfast at nine I don't get hungry again until two or three, so I don't need to snack on junk food because my stomach is growling. Keep in mind the recommendation that breakfast be the biggest meal of the day, and you'll see why I have this often. It's healthy and it's hearty.
The beauty of it is that you can add whatever you like. I don't like chocolate until after lunch, but I add whatever fruit or nuts I happen to have on hand.
Sounds delicious! I love inventing combinations like this. If I were eating it, I'd add a few dark chocolate chips, which I have every morning with dry cheerios and Craisins. Perhaps I'll start adding oats to my bowl, too.
We eat this at least three days a week, and even more in summer. When we can't get fresh blueberries at a reasonable price, we use frozen ones and just rinse off what we need to partially thaw them. By the time I add the other ingredients, they are completely thawed.
This cereal sounds wonderful and I can see why it would be filling. I have never even thought about having uncooked oats but it doesn't sound bad at all. I know that I should eat breakfast,but I never do. I feel like that is the reason why I just keep holding on to this extra weight. This hub is a great motivator. Thank you!
I used to make the hot oatmeal with chopped apple, walnuts, and cinnamon, but my husband now seems to prefer my buckwheat blueberry puddling instead now that I invented it, and he even wants it sometimes when it's hot if he has a long day ahead out of town and needs a really strong breakfast with the added egg protein. I make about six serving of that, put it in the frig, and he can have it whenever he wants the hot breakfast. I stick to my power breakfast.
WannaB - Great suggestions. I do like cooked hot oatmeal and I have put chopped apple and walnuts in it. But that only works for me in cool or cold weather. Now that its hot, I want something cool, so I am going to try your Power Breakfast Cereal. Thanks. :) Sharing.
Always exploring, I fully understand where you're coming from. It took me over a year to try it, and after I did, I discovered the uncooked oats were fine. This cereal just needs to be topped with a liquid like milk or juice. To tell the truth, I've never liked the texture of cooked oatmeal, and uncooked oats don't have that weird texture. Do you like oatmeal cookies? I realize they are baked, but still pretty dry.
The thought of eating uncooked oats turned me off, but i see that adding them to other cereals might not be too bad. I like your list of breakfast foods. I am an avid believer in nuts and fruits. Thank you for sharing..
Good point about portion size!
SweetiePie, thanks for pointing this out to those who are terrified at the thought of extra calories. When I calculated nutritional value, I used the size portion I actually eat. When I compared it to the other cereal, I used the same portion size -- one cup. Many people look at the calorie count per serving, but actually eat much more than the serving size on the box, which for the Quaker granola was only half a cup. I know very few people who actually only use half a cup of any cereal. Half a cup fits into a custard cup, and most people use at least a small bowl and have at least 2/3 a cup . So calorie counts on boxes often don't tell the whole story.
I had it for breakfast again today. We were out of blueberries, so we used strawberries. I like it better with blueberries, but strawberries also work. You might consider orange juice, as well as water. My husband says it's very good. I've never tried nut milk. Thanks for stopping by.
A high calorie healthy meal is better than a low calorie junk food breakfast. People can always go for a walk or run during the day if they feel like they consumed too many calories. I love to eat a wide range of healthy foods, and my appetite is hardy. I would rather exercise and enjoy meals rather than be a calorie counter, which I am not :). Your breakfast cereal looks good to me!
This looks yummy to me. I do not like dairy so I will use nut milk or water. Since I really am not a breakfast person, I usually have to make myself eat. I can do this though as it is light and cold. Thanks for this great and healthy recipe!


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Tobin Heath and Alex Morgan each scored twice in the first half an
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d United States earned a spot in the World Cup next summer in France with a 6-0 victory over Jamaica on Sunday in the CONCACAF qualifying tournament.Heath's first came in the first two minutes of the match and she added a second in the 29th. Megan Rapinoe Cheap Marcus Epps Jersey , Julie Ertz and Morgan also had first-half goals as the United States built a 5-0 lead.Morgan's second goal was a penalty kick in the 84th minute.The top-ranked United States is the defending champion of the sport's premier event, having won the final in the 2015 World Cup against Japan. It was the team's third World Cup title.Canada, ranked No. 5 in the world, also clinched a spot in France with a 7-0 victory over Panama in the earlier game Sunday at Toyota Stadium.The top three finishers in the CONCACAF Women's Championship represent the region in France, so the winners of both semifinals earned a berth before the final. The title match and the third-place game are set for Wednesday in Frisco.GENOA, Italy (AP) — Former Italy international Antonio Cassano has announced his retirement after training for less than a week with Virtus Entella.Cassano says in a statement: "The day has come where you decide that it's really over. I have other priorities now."Entella, based near Cassano's current home in Genoa, announced a week ago that Cassano would begin training with the club "without any contractual obligation."The 36-year-old Cassano last played for Sampdoria in May 2016. He signed with Hellas Verona before last season but left the club after two weeks, saying he missed his family.Cassano scored 10 goals in 39 appearances for Italy. He was known almost as much for his passing wizardry and scoring abilities as for his temperamental behavior.BASEBALLBOSTON (AP) — The Boston Red Sox say ace left-hander Chris Sale has a stomach illness and will spend the night in the hospital.The Red Sox made the announcement Sunday night in the seventh inning of Game 2 of the AL Championship Series against Houston.Boston said Sale reported the illness earlier in the day and was admitted to Massachusetts General Hospital. He will be held overnight for observation.The 29-yaer-old Sale struggled with his control in Boston's 7-2 loss to the Astros in the series opener Saturday night. He allowed two runs with four walks and a hit batter in four innings despite giving up just one hit.NFLJim Taylor, the ferocious Hall of Fame fullback who embodied the Green Bay Packers' unstoppable ground game during the Vince Lombardi era and helped the team win four NFL titles and the first Super Bowl, died Saturday. He was 83.He died unexpectedly at a hospital in his hometown of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the team said.Taylor played on the great Packer teams and was the league's MVP in 1962. He scored the first rushing touchdown in Super Bowl history.Taylor was voted into the Hall in 1976. David Baker, president of the Hall, lauded Taylor for not only personifying Lombardi's "run to daylight" philosophy but for living his life as he played game, with "passion, determination and love for all he did."Taylor spent 10 seasons in the NFL after being drafted in the second round out of LSU in 1958. He joined a backfield that featured Paul Hornung and began to thrive when Lombardi took over in 1959.COLLEGE FOOTBALLNASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee State linebacker Christion Abercrombie has been upgraded from critical to stable condition after sustaining a head injury Sept. 29.University officials said Sunday night that the linebacker has been off a ventilator for over 24 hours and is breathing on his own.The linebacker has been in the neurological intensive care unit at Vanderbilt University Medical Center since Sept. 29. Abercrombie went to the sideline during the first half of the Tigers' loss to Vanderbilt, told trainers he had a headache, then required oxygen on the sideline before being taken to the hospital with a head injury for emergency surgery.The linebacker redshirted at Illinois in 2016 and played 11 games in 2017 before transferring to Tennessee State. He went into last week's game as the Tigers' second-leading tackler and was credited with five tackles and a quarterback hurry before being injured.LOS ANGELES (AP) — Southern California linebacker Porter Gustin will miss the rest of his senior season after fracturing his right ankle.Coach Clay Helton said Sunday night that Gustin was hurt in the final moments of the Trojans' 31-20 victory over Colorado on Saturday night.Gustin had made a strong return to USC's starting lineup this season after appearing in just four games last year, missing the Pac-12 title game and the Cotton Bowl due to injuries.He leads the Trojans with seven sacks and 10 tackles for loss, and he is their third-leading tackler overall. The rest of the defense has just six sacks combined.MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Gophers running back Shannon Brooks has been arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor domestic assault.The Star Tribune reports the 22-year-old senior was arrested at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday in Minneapolis and was booked into the Hennepin County jail about an hour later.Police spokeswoman Sgt. Darcy Horn says the arrest occurred on the same block near campus where Brooks lives.It's unclear whether Brooks has an attorney who could comment on his behalf.Head coach P.J. Fleck says he's not able to comment on the arrest.BOWLING GREEN, Ohio (AP) — Bowling Green has fired coach Mike Jinks midway through his third season, with the Falcons winless against FBS competition.Athletic director Bob Moosbrugger announced the move Sunday. Defensive coordinator Carl Pelini Marcus Epps Minnesota Vikings Jerseys , the former head coach at Florida Atlantic, was named interim coach.Jinks was 7-24 with Bowling Green and the team seemed to be sliding backward. The Falcons won four games in 2016, two last season and are 1-6 after falling 42-35 at home to Mid-American Conference rival Western Michigan on Saturday.Bowling Green's only victory this season was against FCS-level Eastern Kentucky.OLYMPICSBUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Patrick Baumann, the secretary general of basketball's world governing body who was seen as a potential IOC president, has died at the Youth Olympics. He was 51.Baumann "unexpectedly succumbed to a heart attack" in Buenos Aires despite getting immediate medical help, the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) said Sunday in a statement."Basketball has lost a leader, an advocate and a friend and our thoughts are with Patrick's wife and two children at this tragic time," the Switzerland based FIBA said.Baumann was FIBA's top administrator for 15 years, and an International Olympic Committee member since 2007.GYMNASTICSOlympic champion Simone Biles is upset about an anti-Nike tweet from USA Gymnastics interim president and CEO Mary Bono.Bono was appointed Friday to hold the position while USA Gymnastics searches for a permanent successor to Kerry Perry, who resigned under pressure from the United States Olympic Committee in September after spending nine months on the job.Biles responded Saturday to a tweet from Bono last month criticizing Nike following the release of its advertising campaign featuring former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Bono, a former Republican congresswoman, had posted a photo of herself drawing over a Nike logo on a golf shoe.Biles quote-tweeted Bono's photo and wrote: "(asterisk)mouth drop(asterisk) don't worry, it's not like we needed a smarter usa gymnastics president or any sponsors or anything."Bono deleted her tweet about five hours later, saying she regretted the post and respects "everyone's views & fundamental right to express them."Nike is one of Biles' sponsors.TENNISBUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Juan Martin del Potro has fractured his right patella bone in what the Argentine called "a hard blow that leaves me without strength."Del Potro retired Thursday against Borna Coric at the Shanghai Masters after injuring his knee. Third-seeded Del Potro fell near the end of the first set. The U.S. Open finalist had the knee wrapped but called it quits after losing the first set 7-5.Tests on Saturday showed the fracture, Del Potro's spokesman Jorge Viale tweeted Sunday.BOXINGOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Terence "Bud" Crawford stopped Jose Benavidez with 18 seconds left in the 12th and final round to retain his WBO welterweight championship on Saturday night.Crawford had knocked Benavidez to the canvas with a powerful right hand with 46 seconds left, and then Crawford finished him off with consecutive right hands.After referee Celestino Ruiz stopped the fight, Crawford stuck out his tongue at his fallen opponent, who had made this a personal grudge match with insults he's directed toward Crawford for months.Next up for Crawford could be a unification bout with IBF champion Errol Spence Jr., something promoter Bob Arum has said he would like to make happen sometime in 2019.AUTO RACINGHOCKENHEIM, Germany (AP) — That's one more racing title for the Schumacher family.Mick Schumacher, son of seven-time F1 champion Michael Schumacher Minnesota Vikings Jerseys Stitched , secured the Formula 3 European Championship title on the final weekend in front of a home crowd at Hockenheim.The 19-year-old German finished second in the second race on Saturday to reach an insurmountable 347 points."It's a slightly unreal feeling, I'm absolutely delighted," Schumacher said. "All I can say is thank you to everyone in the team for your support during this incredible season."Schumacher had eight wins on his way to the title in his second season with the PREMA Theodore Racing squad.CORRUPTIONKenyan distance-running great Kip Keino is one of seven suspects in a corruption investigation and has been ordered to report to police by the end of Monday to face charges of embezzlement and the misappropriation of more than $545,000.The two-time Olympic champion and honorary member of the International Olympic Committee is accused of playing a role in the misuse of money meant for Kenyan athletes at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, when he was chairman of the Kenyan Olympic committee.The money was part of more than $5 million given to Keino's Olympic committee by the Kenyan government to fund Team Kenya in Rio.But prosecutors allege Keino was at the head of an Olympic committee rife with corruption.The 78-year-old Keino was one of seven former Olympic and government officials named as suspects in the investigation. Two other high-ranking former Kenyan Olympic committee officials were named, as was the former Kenyan minister of sport, Hassan Wario, and three ministry officials who worked under him. For those of you that are old enough to remember, back in the late 90s there was a sitcom on NBC called Mad About You. It starred Helen Hunt and Paul Reiser as a newly-married couple in New York. . .well, they were newly-married when it started, anyway. . .and the problems that they dealt with in their day-to-day lives.Now, almost 20 years after the show went off the air, it appears that the phrase Mad About You can still be applied to New York, specifically in the case of their football team and the folks that cover them.Back in March, shortly after quarterback Kirk Cousins signed with the Minnesota Vikings and spurned the New York Jets (despite the Jets offering more money), Brian Costello of the New York Post expressed his shock and disbelief that anyone would deign to choose playing in Minnesota over playing in New York. . .or, more accurately, New Jersey. Now, seven months after that and with the Vikings preparing to play the Jets this Sunday, a different writer for the Post has brought us a sequel. Mark Cannizzaro is thinking about how sweet it would be if the Jets could shut up "classless" Kirk Cousins on Sunday, and man. . .some folks still just don't get it.I'll let you read the entire article for yourselves, but here's the part that gets me.Look, I get it. Really, I do. New Yorkers are proud of their city Marcus Epps Jersey nfl draft , and that's fine. I've visited New York on a couple of occasions, and it's a relatively nice place.But, like most of you, I'm a Midwestern guy. Frankly, I'm not sure if you could pay me enough to choose New York over living in the Midwest. Over the last 20 years, I've lived all over the place, and I wouldn't choose any of those places over the Midwest, either. And that's not meant as a slight to New York City. . .like I've said, it's a nice enough place from the parts I've seen on the couple of occasions I've visited there. Some people just like the Midwest better. Some people might like the Deep South better. Some people might like the West Coast better. Given that Kirk Cousins is from Michigan, I think we can safely assume that he's a Midwestern guy, too.(That tax reciprocity agreement that Minnesota and Michigan have probably doesn't hurt things, either.)Honestly, I don't even know what an Il Mulino is. I think one of the guys I hung out with in high school drove a '74 Il Mulino, although I could be wrong on that. But I bet that, whatever an Il Mulino is, they don't give you endless breadsticks. Olive Garden damn sure does, though, and that's good enough for me. I'm guessing that it's good enough for a guy that drives a van that's nearly 20 years old, too.Also, the Mall of America is awesome. I don't think I need to elaborate further than that, other than to say that Kirk Cousins doesn't strike me as the kind of guy that would spend a lot of time shopping on Madison Avenue.Maybe one of these days some of the New York area media will stop acting as though it's some sort of crime against humanity for a person to decide that they might like to live somewhere besides New York. However, that won't happen this week, apparently.
« The Dolphins announced several front office additions and promotions.
umhüllung ausgestattet, die ein flexibles Mesh verwendet, »


Mumbai: Taking a cue from global markets, the key Indian equity market indices opened higher on Thursday.
The Sensitive Index (Sensex) of the BSE, which had closed at 28,984.49 points on Wednesday, opened higher at 29,117.38 points. Minutes into trading, it was quoting at 29,103.11 points, up by 118.62 points, or 0.41 per cent.
At the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the broader 51-scrip Nifty, which had closed at 8,945.80 points, was quoting at 8,984.50 points, up by 38.70 points or 0.43 per cent.
On Wednesday, positive domestic macro-economic data, coupled with healthy global cues and upbeat quarterly automobile results pulled the indices of Indian equities markets up.
India's gross domestic product (GDP) for the third quarter of 2016-17 Fiscal ended December, which recorded a growth of seven per cent, and expansion in the manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) to 50.7 in February, kept investors' sentiments buoyed.
The key indices closed with gains of more than half a per cent each, as healthy buying was witnessed in stocks of metal, banking and healthcare stocks.
The Sensex surged by 241.49 points or 0.84 per cent at the Wednesday's closing. In the day's trade, the barometer 30-scrip sensitive index had touched a high of 29,029.17 points and a low of 28,824.17 points. The Nifty, too was up by 66.20 points or 0.75 per cent.
On Thursday, Asian indices were showing a positive trend. Japan's Nikkei 225 was trading in green, up by 1.10 per cent, Hang Seng up by 0.43 per cent while South Korea's Kospi was in green, up by 0.48 per cent. China's Shanghai Composite index was quoting in green, up by 0.01 per cent.
On a positive note, Nasdaq closed in green, up by 1.33 per cent while FTSE 100 was also up by 1.62 per cent at the closing on Wednesday.


Finally! The wait is over! Iron Man 3 is here! Does it live up to the hype? What does this film mean for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe? We try our best to break down the latest installment into the Iron Man franchise. Kent and Richard also attended an early screening of Now You See Me. Possibly best movie or worst movie ever? We give you a definite answer in our 'Movie News, Rumors, & Rumblings' segment.


text:
Blackhawks hand Sabres another helping of misery
By James O'BrienJan 18, 2012, 10:34 PM EST
Here's a formula for making a bad situation worse: play two road games in a row against the Central Division's most explosive teams.
The Buffalo Sabres are finding that out this week as the Chicago Blackhawks picked up where the Detroit Red Wings left off, extending the struggling Sabres' road losing streak to 10 games with a 6-2 beating. The bigger story should be that the Blackhawks took a temporary division/conference lead and tied the New York Rangers atop the NHL with 62 points, but there's no denying that it's tough to look away from the Sabres' train wreck.
Brutal Buffalo stretches
The Sabres were 10-6-0 when they lost to the Boston Bruins when that notorious Milan Lucic-Ryan Miller collision happened on Nov. 12. Since then, their record dropped to 19-22-5 (which means they went 9-16-5) in about two months.
That big picture stretch is bad enough, but things have been even worse since mid-December, as they went 3-9-2 in a disconcerting 14-game span. It's not as if every loss has been a meltdown, but their offense has been sputtering the entire time. They've peaked at three goals – a mark they've hit three times – and have been shut out twice in those 14 contests.
The outlook
Moving the increasingly reasonable trade/firing talk aside for a moment, the Sabres' more immediate outlook is worrisome in its own right. They're currently eight points out of eighth place, but that could jump to nine if the Florida Panthers and Washington Capitals swap the Southeast Division lead. Either way, their postseason hopes are evaporating almost as quickly as their confidence.
The good-but-mostly-bad news is that Buffalo will have plenty of opportunities to break their away game issues going forward. The last four games of December are all on the road, starting with what could be a very challenging game against a Jets team that is far more formidable in hockey-mad Winnipeg.
Going into the season, tonight's game probably looked like a clash between two Cup contenders from opposite conferences. With the wildly different paths both teams are taking, it instead ended up being a stark contrast between haves and have-nots.
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Thank you to patients who contributed funds to our donation box when receiving free adjustments/repairs. Family Vision Centre is pleased to have topped off the donations and present a cheque for $250 to the Elgin Street Mission. Thank you to everyone who donated to such a worthwhile local cause.
Thank you to everyone who donated to such a worthwhile cause.


Delta customers will soon take flight with HGTV's dynamic — and identical-twin — home renovation duo the Scott brothers and everyone's favorite mischievous monkey, Curious George. Exciting new content is making its debut on Delta Studio, including selections from Refinery29, Disney XD, Hulu and Food Network.
Hulu – Catch up on current-season episodes of original premium series, including The Mindy Project and the Emmy-nominated East Los High. Coming later in 2017 will be the can't-miss TV event 11.22.63 from J.J. Abrams and Stephen King, the Golden Globe-nominated comedy series Casual, the critically-acclaimed comedy series Difficult People and the compelling drama series The Path.
Refinery29 – This curated selection of original series features a variety of trusted and relatable personalities and runs the gamut of women's interests, including lifestyle, fashion, comedy, sports, and more. From living on a budget in NYC with Try Living with Lucie to exploring Tokyo's Harajuku fashion subculture with Style Out There to makeup tutorials and style tips with Dear LA with Jenn Im, Refinery29 inspires women to pursue a more independent, stylish and informed life.
WNYC Studios – Listen to podcast episodes from WNYC Studios including Radiolab, Freakonomics Radio, Here's the Thing with Alec Baldwin and Snap Judgment.
Every Day Networks – Every Day Networks serves intersecting communities of people with a passion for travel, entrepreneurship and sports. Check out Fuel TV for action sports, Business Rockstars for startup and entrepreneurial advice and PlanesTrains+Automobiles for global travel and lifestyle content.
Disney XD's Star Wars Rebels – Set between the events of Star Wars Episodes III and IV, Star Wars Rebels continues the epic tradition of the Star Wars saga with action-packed animated adventures featuring the crew of the starship Ghost. Season 2 and the first four episodes of Season 3 are currently available.
Curious George & Curious World – Delta has partnered with global learning company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and NBC Universal to bring Curious George to young passengers and their families, along with several original STEM-themed series from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt's early learning content service, Curious World. The series include A Rhino Named Paul, Let's Go To Work and Superpower Heroes. Each episode contains lessons in science, math, engineering and technology with proven impact supporting STEM curriculum.
Food Network – Fill up on all your foodie favorites, including Chopped and Kids Baking Championship.
HGTV – Get home design, decorating and remodeling ideas with hit shows like Property Brothers, Fixer Upper and Flip or Flop.
Headspace – Headspace offers guided and unguided meditations, animations and videos teaching users the skills of meditation and mindfulness. Tune into a variety of content geared towards air travel, including ways to help calm anxious fliers and conquer jet lag.
Delta Studio's industry-leading in-flight entertainment collection provides the best depth and breadth of content in the skies, from its lineup of best picture nominees during awards season to having nearly all of the recent box office hits in its repertoire. The entertainment selection is offered free to all customers on two-class aircraft. This includes up to 300 movies, 750 TV shows, 100 foreign film titles, 2,400 songs, 18 channels of live satellite TV on select aircraft and a selection of games on aircraft with seat-back entertainment systems.
Delta has invested billions in its on-board product and the customer experience with orders for hundreds of new aircraft and a cabin modernization program that includes new seats, seat-back entertainment systems, high-capacity overhead bins, new lavatories, ambient lighting and access to Wi-Fi on nearly all flights, among other enhancements.
Delta Studio content is available on the seat-back entertainment systems and through in-flight streaming via the Gogo Entertainment app. Customers can stream content without purchasing a Wi-Fi pass by downloading the Gogo Entertainment app before flying or even in-flight. For more information, see this step-by-step guide.


text:
va ser un cantant bohemi (tenor) i professor de cant.

Biografia
El 1778 Miksch va venir al Kapellknabeninstitut catòlic de Dresden, on va rebre lliçons de cant i diversos instruments, després va estudiar composició sota el director de Schuster i poc després (1783) va trobar feina amb la música de l'església de la cort catòlica com a baríton. El 1786 es va convertir en cantant cerimonial a l'Església de la Cort Catòlica.

Després de la seva malaltia de veu per una formació de veu incorrecta, va prendre lliçons de cant del cantant i castrat de l'església Vincenzo Caselli. Inspirat en això, ara es va dedicar exclusivament a l'estudi del cant d'art i, sota la direcció de Caselli, alumne de l'escola bolonyesa de Bernacchi, es va sentir molt bé amb el mètode seguit.

Els anys 1799-1801 va cantar a l'Òpera italiana de Dresden, però a partir del 1801 va treballar al Kapellknaben, on va ser nomenat instructor, i principalment com a professor de cant.

El 1820, per encàrrec de Carl Maria von Weber, es va convertir en el director de cor de l'òpera alemanya al teatre de la cort de Dresden sota Weber i el 1824 també va ser custodi de la col·lecció musical (privada) real. El 1831 fou retirat.

Miksch té el mèrit d'haver conservat les tradicions del cant d'art italià més antic a Alemanya. També deu la seva gran reputació com a professor de cant a nombrosos estudiants, entre ells Johann Gottfried Bergmann, el posterior professor de cant Ferdinand Sieber i els cantants Wilhelmine Schröder-Devrient i Agnese Schebest. Va ser membre de la lògia dels francmaçons de Dresden anomenada tres homes armats i amics de veritat.

Bibliografia
 Heinrich Ferdinand Mannstein: Memòries de la música de la cort electoral i real a Dresden dels segles  i : Segons papers i comunicacions secretes. Conté: Quadres de vida de Joh. Mieksch i els seus estudiants: Alphonso Zesi, Bergmann, Schröder-Devrient, Agnes Schebest, Naumann, Carl Maria v. Weber, Morlacchi, Benelli, etc. Heinrich Mattes, Leipzig 1863 Reader MDZ.
 Constantin von Wurzbach: Miksch, Johann Alois . In: Biographisches Lexikon des Kaiserthums Oesterreich. 18a part. Kaiserlich-Königliche Hof- und Staatsdruckerei, Viena 1868, pp. 289–294 (versió digitalitzada).
 Adolph Kohut: Johannes Miksch, el més gran mestre cantant alemany i el seu sistema de cant. De la respiració. Carl Rühles Musik-Verlag (abans JPTonger) [1890].
 F.: Miksch, Johannes Aloys. A: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volum 21, Duncker i Humblot, Leipzig 1885, pàg. 726.
 E. Marktl: Miksch (Miecksch) Johann Alois. Dins: Lèxic biogràfic austríac 1815–1950 (ÖBL). Volum 6, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Viena 1975, ISBN 3-7001-0128-7 , pàg. 285 f. (Enllaços directes a la pàgina 285 , pàg. 286 ).
 Col·lectiu d'autor: Meyers Konversationslexikon, volum 11, Verlag des Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig i Viena, quarta edició, 1885-1892.
 Ferdinand Sieber: Johannes Miksch. Un full de memòria. A: Illustrirte Zeitung, vol. 45 (1865), pp. 200-202.
 Alfred Baumgartner: Propylaea World of Music - The Composers - Un lèxic en cinc volums. Propylaen Verlag, Berlín 1989, ISBN 3-549-07830-7, pp. 47, volum 4.

Referències

Barítons
Professors de cant
Morts a Dresden
Persones de la regió d'Ústí nad Labem
Cantants d'òpera txecs
Músics bohemis

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Joshua Billington is currently a Sr. Business Consultant for the Small Business Development Center for Michigan's Regions one and three servicing the Eastern Upper Peninsula and North East Lower Peninsula. Joshua has had an extensive career in Publishing, Banking and Real Estate as well as several non-profit organizations. A veteran of the US Navy, he also holds a Bachelors degree in Business Administration from North Park University in Chicago, IL and a Masters in Business from Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, MI. Joshua is also a member of Rotary International and a director on the board of the Sault Area Chamber of Commerce. In his spare time, he enjoys any and all outdoor activities.


text:
Q: Android contentView disable user interaction? I want to disable the user interaction in an activity so that the user cannot touch the view/ subviews inside the content view of the activity. Is there any way to achieve this?

A: You can add a blank dialog on top of your activity like this:
overlayDialog = new Dialog(context, android.R.style.Theme_Panel);
overlayDialog.show();

and when you don't need it any more, call
 overlayDialog.dismiss();

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
@echo off

REM ************Compact Framework. DEBUG to Bin\Release\CF\Excel.dll************
REM **********************************************************************
SET CSC=C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727\csc.exe /nologo

SET SC_PATH=%cd%

REM **CLEAN

RD /S /Q %SC_PATH%\Bin\Debug\CF\
MKDIR %SC_PATH%\Bin\Debug\CF\

if "%NETCF_PATH%" == "" (
**set NETCF_PATH=C:\Program Files\Microsoft.NET\SDK\v2.0\CompactFramework\WindowsCE)
  set NETCF_PATH=C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\SmartDevices\SDK\CompactFramework\2.0\v2.0\WindowsCE

if DEFINED REF ( set REF= )

set REF=%REF% "/r:%NETCF_PATH%\MsCorlib.dll"
set REF=%REF% "/r:%NETCF_PATH%\System.dll"
set REF=%REF% "/r:%NETCF_PATH%\System.Data.dll"
set REF=%REF% "/r:%NETCF_PATH%\System.Xml.dll"
set REF=%REF% "/r:%SC_PATH%\Binaries\netcf-20\ICSharpCode.SharpZipLib.dll"

%CSC% /nologo /debug -nostdlib -noconfig  /out:%SC_PATH%\Bin\Debug\CF\Excel.dll /target:library %REF% /recurse:*.cs

REM **********************************************************************

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Q: how to catch boost message_queue returns false I am using boost::interprocess::message_queue and as per the definition given on
http://www.boost.org/doc/libs/1_35_0/doc/html/boost/interprocess/message_queue.html
message_queue(open_only_t open_only, const char * name);

*

*Opens a previously created process shared message queue with name "name". If the was not previously created or there are no free resources, the function returns false.

now what i can't understand is that how a constructor is returning a value? though it states " the function returns false" but afaik message_queue is supposed to be a constructor.
and also if it do return false can i catch that in a Boolean variable?

A: A boost::interprocess::interprocess_exception will be thrown instead, as the current documentation suggests.
So,
using namespace boost::interprocess;
try {
    //Create a message_queue. If the queue
    //exists throws an exception
    message_queue mq
        (create_only         //only create
         ,"message_queue"     //name
         ,100                 //max message number
         ,100                 //max message size
        );
} catch (interprocess_exception const& ipe)
{
    std::cerr << "Error: #" << ipe.get_error_code() << ", " << ipe.what() << "\n";
}

When run twice, will print
Error: #9, File exists


text:
Photos: This is NOT the Face of America – Resistance to Donald Trump on the Women's March in New York, Jan. 20, 2018
See my photos on Flickr here!
Please support my work as a reader-funded journalist! I'm currently trying to raise $2500 (£2000) to support my writing and campaigning on Guantánamo and related issues over the next three months of the Trump administration.
Last month, when I was discussing with Debra Sweet, the national director of the campaigning group the World Can't Wait, how long to stay in the US on my annual trip to call for the closure of Guantánamo on and around the anniversary of its opening on January 11, we decided that it was worth staying for the Women's March on January 20. Debra has been coordinating my January visits to the US since 2011, and I had stayed until January 21 last year, and took part in the colossal 500,000-strong march in New York, and we both felt that there was no good reason to miss it this year, as it promised yet again to be an opportunity for millions of women — and men — to tell Donald Trump what they think of him.
Last year, there was a huge outpouring of anger at the arrival in the White House of Trump, who had somehow become president despite his extraordinary unsuitability for the role: his complete lack of political experience, and his very public deficiencies — his rudeness, his vindictiveness, his inability to complete even a simple coherent sentence, his sordid history as a sexual predator, and the groundless illusion of his success as a businessman. This thoroughly unpleasant figure had particularly appalled women because of his "grab 'em by the p*ssy" comment that had been revealed during the election campaign, but that had somehow failed to derail him.
A year on, the anger against Trump is surely more palpable, and more based on experience, than a year ago. This president is a bitter joke, the dysfunctional head of a dangerously right-wing version of the Republican Party, who governs by tweet, and constantly threatens,and tries to deliver on policies that reveal a profound and troubling racism: his attempted Muslim travel ban, for example, and the marked increase in his assault on the most vulnerable members of US society — the immigrants on whom the US economy depends, but whose presence, as with Brexit and immigrants in the UK, is perceived by self-pitying white people as being the source of their economic woes, rather than the truth: that it is the fault of the neoliberal machinery of political and big business, a world which, fundamentally, Donald Trump is as much a part of as the "elites" for which his supporters have nothing but contempt.
As a man, Trump's unsuitability for high office has continued to offend women across the US and around the world. This is not to say that philanderers have not been in the White House before — and as the case of Harvey Weinstein has shown us, men in positions of power regularly use that power to prey, sexually, on those they have power over. And yet, as the stories of liaisons with porn stars and secret pay-offs pile up like a carnal car crash around the bloated figure of the president, binge eating junk food like the last days of Elvis, it is impossible not to shake the sense that the distaste the reports of his antics create is of a severity that cannot be ignored.
On the left, for example, is the headline of the New York Daily News on January 18, after In Touch magazine published a frank 2011 interview with Stormy Daniels, one of several porn stars with whom Trump had sex (and then paid $130,000 to keep her quiet), in which, with astonishing creepiness, he compared her to his daughter.
How can this be acceptable?
And the horrors just keep coming. Yesterday morning, after switching on my computer, what hit me first of all in the blizzard of social media was Stormy Daniels' graphic description of Trump's genitalia. No wonder he can't come to the UK, America's closest ally, because the protests against him would be too embarrassingly huge to brush off, and no wonder women in the US are so appalled that he remains president.
The protest in New York was not quite as huge as last year, but it was still big, noisy, passionate and articulate, with at least a few hundred thousand people marching, and thousands of witty hand-made signs. A few of those are featured in my photos, which I hope you have time to look at, and will share if you like them. I'm also pleased to see that a large number of marches took place in cities and towns across the country, including places with, a year ago, greater support for Trump than cities like New York.
I hope that, after this year's march, people don't just go home and forget about the power we have in numbers, as, essentially, happened last year, when we settled into a horrible pattern whereby we waited, every day, for fresh horrors from Trump and his Twitter account.
Nor do I have much faith in the organizers' most prominent development from last year — of getting women involved in the forthcoming mid-term elections, and working on behalf of the Democrats. I don't want to dismiss every woman who wants to be a Democratic lawmaker as necessarily compromised, or to belittle those women who want to support them, but the party's track record is not good. Hillary Clinton lost to Trump not just because she failed to connect significantly enough with voters, with her elitism and her ties to Wall Street and corporate America, and not just because of the racist backlash against Barack Obama, but also because, in eight years, the Democrats under Obama had failed to deliver a compelling narrative about how their time in power had genuinely delivered progress and improvement to the lives of the ordinary working people of America — and with good reason, as the Democrats still, fundamentally, subscribe to the same neoliberal system embraced by the Republicans, an obsessively profit-driven system with little time for the need son human beings (apart from CEOs and shareholders), which i have seen described,with alarming accuracy, as a system that tries to make as many people as possible feel as insecure as possible for as much of the time as possible.
For a proper change, we need to think about how we can organize from the ground up, and to imagine a new kind of politics, of the people, and not of those who tell us they lead us, but whose fine words then turn out to be lies, as they protect the interests of those who pay them, and whose interests are diametrically opposed to the welfare of ordinary hard-working Americans.
To get rid of Trump and the poison he exudes and stands for, along with the rest of poisonous Republicans around him, we need a profound change, more profound than a tick in a box on election day can deliver.
Alse see the album here:
Andy Worthington is a freelance investigative journalist, activist, author, photographer, film-maker and singer-songwriter (the lead singer and main songwriter for the London-based band The Four Fathers, whose music is available via Bandcamp). He is the co-founder of the Close Guantánamo campaign (and the Donald Trump No! Please Close Guantánamo initiative, launched in January 2017), the co-director of We Stand With Shaker, which called for the release from Guantánamo of Shaker Aamer, the last British resident in the prison (finally freed on October 30, 2015), and the author of The Guantánamo Files: The Stories of the 774 Detainees in America's Illegal Prison (published by Pluto Press, distributed by the University of Chicago Press in the US, and available from Amazon, including a Kindle edition — click on the following for the US and the UK) and of two other books: Stonehenge: Celebration and Subversion and The Battle of the Beanfield. He is also the co-director (with Polly Nash) of the documentary film, "Outside the Law: Stories from Guantánamo" (available on DVD here — or here for the US).
To receive new articles in your inbox, please subscribe to Andy's RSS feed — and he can also be found on Facebook (and here), Twitter, Flickr and YouTube. Also see the six-part definitive Guantánamo prisoner list, and The Complete Guantánamo Files, an ongoing, 70-part, million-word series drawing on files released by WikiLeaks in April 2011. Also see the definitive Guantánamo habeas list, the full military commissions list, and the chronological list of all Andy's articles.
Please also consider joining the Close Guantánamo campaign, and, if you appreciate Andy's work, feel free to make a donation.
Posted in Andy Worthington's US tour (January 2018), Donald Trump, Photos of America, US protests 2011-20 Tagged Andy Worthington, Donald Trump, Feminism, Hillary Clinton, Muslim ban, New York, New York Daily News, Photos, President Obama, Stormy Daniels, US protest, Women's March
When I posted this on Facebook, I wrote:
Here's my latest article, linking to my photos of the boisterous and angry Women's March in New York yesterday, reflecting on the sordid reality of Donald Trump's first year in office: the ongoing revelations of his disgusting predatory sexism, and his racist assault on the most vulnerable people in US society – in particular, the immigrants who actually prop up the whole neoliberal regime, despite the protestations of Trump's old white supporters. The parallels to Brexit are striking.
I also assess and address the efforts to link women's protest to Democratic success in this year's mid-term elections, cautioning that the Party that failed to win last year, and that lost after eight years of Obama, because, essentially, they failed to persuade voters that they were on the side of the people, will not ride to the people's rescue this year. What we really need is a new, people-driven, people-centered political movement to do away with the neoliberalism that infects almost the whole of the political mainstream.
...on January 21st, 2018 at 5:46 pm
Big Women's Marches against Trump, 2018 | Dear Kitty. Some blog says...
[…] See also here. And here. Photos are here. And here. And here. […]
Tom says...
Suggestion for a post. Is the fact that Guantanemo continues a sign that many parts of US society continue to decline? Part of that decline is that so many would willingly follow Trump, no matter what he says or does?
As the govt. shutdown continues, military personnel will be paid thru 1/31. As for civilian employees, many are contractors (regardless of whether it's military, CIA, State Dept. or someone else). If some or many of the base personnel continue to torture detainees, how ironic is it that they continue to get paid?
...on January 22nd, 2018 at 4:04 am
This whole shutdown is so embarrassing, Tom. It always is. Here in the UK it's hard to imagine that lawmakers could shut down the entire government budget through conflicts over a vote. No wonder, as Col. Morris Davis regularly points out, Congress is only marginally more popular than syphilis.
...on January 23rd, 2018 at 12:58 am
Well said. FYI. Congress has 6 working days until 2/8th to come up with a proper annual budget. Democratic Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is convinced that Republican Minority leader Mitch McConnell can be trusted to negotiate in good faith. The Republicans have passed 5 CR's (continuing resolutions to temporarily fund the govt.). McConnell can just endlessly stall. Then, there's yet another shutdown, and once again he blames the Democrats.
Thanks, Tom. I wouldn't be able to trust Mitch McConnell on anything, sadly. He is a deeply unpleasant character. And in the meantime, the farce continues, with people around the world unable to understand how lawmakers can bring the entire US government grinding to a halt.


When I was in college, one of my best friends discovered a horrible truth: Her father was not actually her mother's husband, as she had thought. In fact, her mother was his mistress, because her father was married to another woman. Her father had started a relationship with her mom years before she was born and continued seeing her after the birth of two children. The knowledge of this truth crushed her, and she suffered years of sorrow, depression, lack of confidence and disappointment as a result.
The wife of this unfaithful man found out about this relationship many years later, when their children were already adolescents. They ended up staying married while her husband kept the two families, dividing his time between the two women and children from both relationships.
After the truth came to light, however, the children of the lover, and the sons of the wife, met due to legal procedures that were necessary to establish financial support. They demanded their father to do the right thing and separate from his lover.
Instead, this man told his lover that he was willing to divorce his wife and stay with her. She told him that she could not live with that choice and ended their relationship.
Eventually, his wife forgave him and he has stayed faithful to her since.
After several attempts to reach out to you throughout the years, you still do not want to hear what I have to say, judging me only as "the other woman," but I have some things I'd like you to know.
First, please forgive me. This was never what I planned for my life. I grew up in a good family, full of dreams, especially that of having a happy family of my own someday. I never imagined that family would come through someone else's husband.
It doesn't seem to matter anymore how or when your husband and I began to get involved, so many years have passed and we are no longer together. I want you to know that I am aware of how many sleepless nights you spent worried about where your husband was, and with whom. And after finding out, I know you shed many tears.
I am guilty. I could have ended the relationship when I found out he was married. But I had no self-esteem whatsoever after having just escaped an abusive relationship and accepted any love he gave me. After discovering that I was pregnant, I was even more attached to the situation. It was not an easy life, especially seeing my children marginalized for being the children of a married man. It was not easy for me, and it was much less for them. I know it was even worse for you. No woman should have to go through what you went through. I sincerely apologize from the bottom of my heart.
I accept responsibility for my poor judgment and wrong choices, maintaining the relationship so my children could have a father around. Maybe there were other options, but with all my insecurities, I did not know what else to do. Please forgive me for that too.
I know that it is hard to forgive and forget completely, but if there is a spark of empathy in you, I beg that you give it to me and my children. My children are not guilty of the choices that your husband and I made.
I respect and admire your ability to forgive your husband and hope to receive the same gift."
I could list here all the reasons why I love you, even after all these years apart, and thank you for fulfilling your role as a father, being present while our children were growing up and helping in their support.
I could also blame you for lying about not being married when we first met until I fell in love with you, but I know that I am partially to blame as well. So forgive me for wanting you, and for wanting to know that you wanted me too. While I know I could have disappeared from your life early on, at the same time I know that you would have just replaced me with someone else. I could have started over, but did not know how to do it and instead, let the years pass by. And now I get to endure the bitterness of solitude while you live with your lovely family, which you never should have betrayed.
Now that we are separated, I appreciate that you have continued to be the great father you are. This has really helped our children to overcome the traumatic and painful truth.
Please never forget something: Even though you claimed your wife pushed you to the point where cheating was the only option, you should not have done it. You concluded too quickly that there was no way to fix your marriage problems, and if we overcame our problems without being married, you could have achieved this with your wife.
Through the eyes of God, you and I were adulterers. I regret it bitterly, although we had two beautiful children, and I hope the Lord will one day forgive me for all the pain my bad choices caused you, your family and especially our children. Be happy."
"If you are a woman, never subject to being the mistress of a married man. It is a life of suffering, and the children who come of this relationship and the children of your lover's wife do not deserve the suffering this will cause them. Even if there are no children, believe me, it is not worth throwing your life away for a lie.
If you are a man, never look for a lover or accept the advances of anyone other than your wife. Never destroy the life of a vulnerable woman emotionally for any reason. Your family is the most sacred thing you have. Be faithful to God and do not make those who are under his care suffer because of your sins. That moment of pleasure or emotional connection with another person will result in years of tears and regrets. Remember, if you married a woman it means that you once loved her more than anyone else. Save your marriage and invest your time in it, for the good of humanity and future generations. Be a man."


text:
Q: java interscect, union, join, distinct lists with predicate Hello I have 2 lists that contains the same objects. I would like to perform any operation like intercesct, union, distinct by using predicate because I am unable to use equals to comparision.
Example:
class Car{
  public String id;
  public String color;
  public int hashcode(){
    //id field is used for hashcode
  }
  public boolean equals(){
    //id field is used for equals
  }
}

Now I have two lists of Cars. I need to find duplicates in this lists but not by id only by color.
List<Car> carList1 = new ArrayList(){ new Car(1,blue), new Car(2,green)};
List<Car> carList2 = new ArrayList(){ new Car(1,silver), new Car(4,green)};

I need to find second object from carList1 (new Car(2,green))
List Something similar to
Collection.intersect(carList1,carList2,comparator).

In C# I would use for it LINQ.

A: You can do similar think using Guava.
1) intersect is operation on sets, not on lists. So you should construct them like
final Set<Car> first = ImmutableSet.of( new Car(1, "blue"), new Car(2, "green") );

or, if you need special comparator ( predicate mentioned )
final Set<Car> second = newTreeSet( new Comparator<Car>(){
    public int compare( final Car o1, final Car o2 ){
        return o1.getColor().compare( o2.getColor() );  //return 0 when predicate return true
    }
} );
second.add( new Car(1, "green")  );

UPD:  You should use only one way to construct both sets.
Than call intersection
 final Set<Car> intersection = Sets.intersection( first, second );

A: There is a library for this called Apache Functor Commons that supports Predicates, etc.
http://commons.apache.org/functor/
There is also Guava which one of the commenters pointed to:
http://code.google.com/p/guava-libraries/
You could write your own using Comparator, but to do things like intersect, join, etc its easier just to use one of these libraries.


The Lord wanted Apostle to talk more about His heart, so she has recorded a few videos about "Love Letter from God" Enjoy.
Most people don't Focus on Me or Consider Me in their lives, they Focus on themselves and their Desires.
I desire to be apart of My People's lives Everyday.
Please Let ME in, Please Let ME in..
Consider Me in your daily things. Consider Me.
Understand Me, Learn about Me, Research Me in My Word. Seek Me in My Word, Study My ways, My Character, My Needs (Respect, Honor, and Love), My wants (I want My people to Love Me, Honor Me, and Truly Respect Me), My Heart, My Love, My Will.
I AM Pure, I AM Free from sin, I AM Free from Evil.
I AM Holy. I AM Blameless, Harmless, Pure.
Everything about ME is Pure.
My Thoughts, My Plans are Pure, I AM Pure. Everything I do is Pure.
Love is who I AM. I AM Love.
Come and be apart of My Plans.
I AM Meek and Low in Heart, I AM Gentle.
Spend the day with Me.
Draw Close to Me, Trust Me.
Seek Me and Find Me.
I want the people to know Me.
I honor those who Honor Me, I trust those who Trust Me.
I will Give you all things, If you believe in Me.
Come, I will give you Rest, Rest from pain, suffering, struggles, trials, hurt, envy, strife.
Do you want to be Free? Come to Me.
I love you!!! Come to Me.
Watch More Videos from Apostle?
What is God saying? Click here to watch videos "Messages from God"
Words from God: Favor with God and Man .. 2 things we have to do to see it. -Apostle Michelle - Duration: 6 minutes, 35 seconds.
Pure and Clean Heart: Start releasing God's Presence into the earth . - Duration: 12 minutes.
Do you have small faith? God says " Remember Me" Build Your Faith in God - Duration: 7 minutes, 11 seconds.
Deliverance Series coming soon... -Apostle Michelle - Duration: 3 minutes, 55 seconds.
What the Lord told me happens to babies when they are aborted. Prophetic Word for Today - Duration: 10 minutes.
People have been going crazy around me and this is why? What God said - Duration: 12 minutes.
Removing Demonic activity from your house, ect. Cursed House? Christians - Duration: 19 minutes.
Vision from God: The Path to the Kingdom of God. How to stay on it - Duration: 12 minutes.
Vision from the Lord: Life with God. He is the Best Friend you can have - Duration: 7 minutes, 53 seconds.
Does God Hate? Word from Jesus Today -Apostle Michelle - Duration: 3 minutes, 30 seconds.
Part 2: Vision from God of His Heart - The Lord wanted me to tell you this too. - Duration: 26 minutes.
Demonic control over children: I prayed for two children who were dedicated to Satan - Duration: 18 minutes.
Love Letter from God to you: ( Part #1 ) Walking with the Living God - Knowing God Personally - Duration: 8 minutes, 35 seconds.
Love Letter from God to you: ( Part #2 ) Walking with the Living God - How to walk with God Everyday - Duration: 15 minutes.
Love Letter from God to you: ( Part #3 ) Walking with the Living God - Knowing God Personally - Duration: 35 minutes.
Love Letter from God to you: ( Part #4 ) Walking with the Living God - Knowing God Personally - Duration: 26 minutes.
Love Letter from God to you: ( Part #5 ) Walking with the Living God - Duration: 18 minutes.
Love Letter from God: (Part # 6) Spend the Day with Me - Apostle Michelle - Duration: 11 minutes.
Love Letter from God: (Part # 7) I want the people to know Me - Apostle Michelle - Duration: 12 minutes.
Love Letter from God: (Part # 8) Come, I will give you Rest - Apostle Michelle - Duration: 7 minutes, 12 seconds.
This is a collection of Videos with Lists, Things to Do and Checklists that you can survey your walk or apply to your daily life. These checklists are to help you in your walk with God and to experience intimacy with Him.
What is God saying? The Lord said 3 Things we MUST do to Come to Him - Apostle Michelle - Duration: 11 minutes.
Enter into His Rest: How to Enter into God's Rest: (2 Things to do for Peace) Apostle Michelle - Duration: 6 minutes, 58 seconds.
What is God saying? How to Overcome Procrastination, Offense, Insecurity, Laziness (8 Tips & Prayer) - Duration: 14 minutes.
Fasting for God: How to Prepare for your fast (3 tips from the Lord) - Duration: 9 minutes, 21 seconds.
Renewal of the Mind: Tip to renewing your mind and body to be more like Jesus (Mind of Christ) - Duration: 9 minutes, 37 seconds.
Knowing God Personally: What is God's will? (Simple Checklist) List of God's Will - Apostle Michelle - Duration: 27 minutes.
What is God saying? 3 Benefits When we Pass Test: (Overcoming Sin and Temptation) 2018 - Duration: 11 minutes.
Bride of Christ, are you Marriage Material? (Christians) Spiritually Mature Checklist - Duration: 31 minutes.
Apostle shares 13 things to do to receive the covenant Blessings of God. Very simple things all Christians should already do.
Apostle shares details about these Covenants, God's responsibility and the requirements from those who will enter both these covenants.
Powerful and Lifestyle changing both. Get ready to walk with God like Enoch.
God's Blessings - #1 How to enter into the Covenant of Blessings with God (Message from God) - Duration: 1 hour, 13 minutes.
God's Blessings - #2 How to enter into the Covenant of Blessings with God (Message from God) 2018 - Duration: 6 minutes, 3 seconds.
God's Blessings - #3 How to enter into the Covenant of Blessings with God (Message from God) 2018 - Duration: 4 minutes, 24 seconds.
God's Blessings - #4 How to enter into the Covenant of Blessings with God (Message from God) 2018 - Duration: 5 minutes, 40 seconds.
God's Blessings - #5 How to enter into the Covenant of Blessings with God (Message from God) 2018 - Duration: 7 minutes, 32 seconds.
God's Blessings - #6 How to enter into the Covenant of Blessings with God (Message from God) 2018 - Duration: 5 minutes, 35 seconds.
God's Blessings - #7 How to enter into the Covenant of Blessings with God (Message from God) 2018 - Duration: 3 minutes, 52 seconds.
How to Receive the Blessings of God: #8 (13 things to do) Apostle Michelle Peterson - Duration: 4 minutes, 11 seconds.
How to Receive the Blessings of God: #9 (13 things to do) Apostle Michelle Peterson - Duration: 2 minutes, 16 seconds.
How to Receive the Blessings of God: #10 (13 things to do) Apostle Michelle Peterson - Duration: 4 minutes, 40 seconds.
How to Receive the Blessings of God: #11 (13 things to do) Apostle Michelle Peterson - Duration: 4 minutes, 35 seconds.
How to Receive the Blessings of God: #12 (13 things to do) Apostle Michelle Peterson - Duration: 4 minutes, 52 seconds.
Prayer 2018: Pray with Apostle Michelle for 40 Days, 4 times a Day: List of Topics we will cover for 40 Days is Finances, Health, Family, Removing Curses, Removing Attacks, Fear, Prayers to experience encounters with God, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, etc.
You can watch these videos and pray these prayers anytime you want.
Daily Prayers to God: DAY #1: Pray with Apostle? 40 Days of Prayer (Today's Focus) Finances - Duration: 3 minutes, 42 seconds.
Access God - DAY #2: Pray with Apostle? 40 Days of Prayer 2018 (Today's Focus) Remove Strongholds - Duration: 3 minutes, 41 seconds.
Access God - DAY #3: Pray with Apostle? 40 Days of Prayer 2018 (Today's Focus) Remove Worry - Duration: 3 minutes, 35 seconds.
Access God - DAY #4: Pray with Apostle? 40 Days of Prayer 2018 (Today's Focus) Mind, God's Will - Duration: 3 minutes, 26 seconds.
Access God - DAY #5: Pray with Apostle? 40 Days of Prayer 2018 (Today's Focus) Blessings - Duration: 3 minutes, 16 seconds.
Access God - DAY #6: Pray with Apostle? 40 Days of Prayer 2018 (Today's Focus) Release Glory - Duration: 3 minutes, 26 seconds.
Access God - DAY #7: Pray with Apostle? 40 Days of Prayer 2018 (Today's Focus) The Holy Spirit - Duration: 3 minutes, 2 seconds.
Access God - DAY #8: Pray with Apostle? 40 Days of Prayer 2018 (Today's Focus) Good Steward - Duration: 2 minutes, 39 seconds.
Access God - DAY #9: Pray with Apostle? 40 Days of Prayer 2018 (Today's Focus) Prosperity - Duration: 2 minutes, 30 seconds.
DAY#10: Pray with Apostle? Access God for 40 Days of Prayer 2018 (Today's Focus) Fruit of the Spirit - Duration: 2 minutes, 42 seconds.
Access God - DAY #11: Pray with Apostle? 40 Days of Prayer 2018 (Today's Focus) Love Enemies - Duration: 2 minutes, 25 seconds.
Access God - DAY #12: Pray with Apostle? 40 Days of Prayer 2018 (Today's Focus) Be Humble - Duration: 3 minutes, 8 seconds.


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text:
The Biden administration claims Afghan security forces will be just fine (They won't)
'No, the Afghan forces can't stand on their own.'
By Jeff Schogol | Published Apr 17, 2021 9:00 AM
An Afghan Special Security Forces special operator member provides suppressing fire with a DShK machine gun during a training event, Feb. 11, 2018 at Camp Pamir in Kunduz province, Afghanistan. Training allows soldiers to be able to better operate as a team in combat situations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Sean Carnes).
Over the past two decades, U.S. government officials have consistently said that Afghan troops and police are not ready to fight on their own.
John Sopko, the special inspector general for reconstruction in Afghanistan, recently explained to Task & Purpose why the Afghan security forces still depend on extensive foreign support even though the United States has spent more than $88 billion in training and equipping Afghan troops and police since 2001.
But President Joe Biden and his administration are suddenly brimming with confidence about the Afghan military and police forces now that all U.S. troops are expected to leave the country by Sept. 11.
"Along with our partners, we have trained and equipped a standing force of over 300,000 Afghan personnel today and hundreds of thousands over the past two decades," Biden said during his April 14 speech announcing the U.S withdrawal. "And they'll continue to fight valiantly, on behalf of the Afghans, at great cost."
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin provided an upbeat assessment of the Afghan security forces a short time later, telling reporters "the Afghan people police their own streets."
"Thanks to the efforts of coalition and allied training, the Afghan security forces are better and more capable of securing their borders and protecting their fellow citizens," Austin told reporters during a news conference in Brussels.
That's pretty high praise considering the head of U.S. Central Command, Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr., said in December that Afghan troops and police should at best be able to "maintain a defense against the Taliban" as long as the United States and other countries continued their funding and other support.
Indeed: If U.S. troops have helped the Afghans maintain a military stalemate against the Taliban, it seems unlikely that Afghan troops and police will be able to gain the upper hand without any American airpower or boots on the ground.
The Pentagon's official line is that the Afghans have made a lot of progress in planning and carrying out operations independently.
"The Afghan National Defense and Security Forces have been performing the greater percentage of missions and have proven themselves capable of withstanding Taliban violence and threats from terrorist groups like ISIS-Khorasan with significantly reduced advising," said Navy Cmdr. Jessica McNulty, a Defense Department spokeswoman.
The Taliban can field between 55,000 and 85,000 fighters and may have a total force of 100,000 people, according to a May 2020 United Nations report. On the other side of the battlefield: The Afghan security forces have been hampered by desertions and their numbers have been artificially swelled with tens of thousands of troops and police officers that exist on paper but not in real life.
"When they do get recruits, and we train them, they suffer casualties at a rapid pace due to the operational tempo of fighting insurgents," Sopko said recently. "Or they leave the force due to corruption – for example, not having their salaries paid. And then we have to replace and train ANDSF [Afghan National Defense and Security Forces] personnel all over again."
The latest report by the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction painted a grim picture of the state of Afghan troops and police, which are not able to maintain their vehicles and aircraft.
"Although Afghanistan's leadership have often stated that their goal is self-reliance, Afghanistan today is nowhere near to being self-reliant — especially in funding its government operations, including military and police—from its own resources," the report found.
Notably, the U.S. government will continue to pay the salaries for Afghan troops and police officers after all American forces leave the country. That should buy the Afghan government a year or two, said Jonathan Schroden, an Afghanistan expert with CNA, a federally funded research and development center.
While the fighting will be more difficult for Afghan military and police forces after the U.S. withdrawal, certain units have proven to be reliable, said retired Army Gen. Joseph Votel, who led U.S. Central Command from March 2016 to March 2019.
"There are components of the forces there that will probably acquit themselves quite well," Votel said.
Afghan special operations forces in particular are "quite good" and moving towards being able to launch operations without U.S. military support, Votel said. Some Afghan army corps commanders have also demonstrated that they are capable leaders.
But only a handful of Afghan units are able to operate independently and they have already lost much of the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance support provided by the U.S. military, said Anthony Cordesman, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank in Washington, D.C.
Moreover, Afghanistan's central government has no presence in much of the country, especially outside cities, Cordesman said.
"Certainly, the Afghan forces patrol in major population centers; the police patrol in some population centers; but basically, when it comes to about half of the districts, which are largely rural, the police and the central government do not function and you have local forces or you have Taliban – often both," Cordesman said.
The presence of Afghan security forces in Kabul has not been able to stop shootings and bombings, and once you go beyond the city's limits you will likely find Taliban checkpoints on the roads, he said.
"No, the Afghan forces can't stand on their own," Cordesman said. "And the independent operations that people talk about are often – when you really look at them – fairly small, tactical clashes, which the Taliban don't really need or want. They're seeking to dominate the countryside and position themselves – not to defeat the Afghan forces in open battle – most of the time, as long as they still have U.S. air and ground support."
Despite the Biden's administration's optimism about the Afghan security forces' capabilities, the Afghan troops and police officers don't stand a chance without American airpower, drones, and boots on the ground.
God help them.
Featured image: An Afghan Special Security Forces special operator member provides suppressing fire with a DShK machine gun during a training event, Feb. 11, 2018 at Camp Pamir in Kunduz province, Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Sean Carnes)
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The Houston/Southeast Texas Chapter of the Fulbright Association is a regionally based chapter serving Fulbright alumni and friends of international exchange. The chapter is focused on hosting engaging programs and events for Fulbright alumni and visiting Fulbright students and scholars throughout the region, including Houston, Galveston, and Sugar Land. The chapter is closely affiliated with universities and colleges in the region, and often co-sponsors programs with these institutions.


text:
Loma Systems X-ray detection solution strikes the right balance for Kepak
Posted: 14 January 2022
Related core topics: Business news, Food safety, Processing
Related topics: contaminant detection, meat processing, X-ray technology
Related organisations: Kepak, Loma Systems
Related people: Lee Arkinstall
Related regions: UK
Leading meat processor, the Kepak Group, has recently invested in eight X5 Space Saver X-ray units from Loma Systems.
Employing over 4500 people across 12 manufacturing facilities throughout Ireland and the UK, the family-owned group processes a broad range of meat products, serving the international foodservice and retail markets with prime cuts of meat, foodservice solutions and market leading consumer brands. Its portfolio includes Rustlers, Big Al's, Feasters, Stript Snacks and Celtic Beef.
Kepak's Kirkham-UK site mainly manufactures a range of microwavable burgers and hot sandwiches that come in clear, 100% recyclable packs, with additions such as cheese and sauce. Food safety standards are a major focus at Kirkham, which consistently achieves the highest grades in food safety and quality audits.
All of the site's eight processing lines had been using an ageing mix of metal detectors and checkweighers, which were not suitable to detect softer contaminants such as bones, as well as ensuring that a sauce sachet and cheese slice were correctly placed in the packs. Kepak wanted to increase its detection capabilities, but also continue to weigh its products and check product integrity, all within a smaller footprint.
Due to the complexities presented by the final 'on-the-go' burger product, it was decided that each line should have a new X-ray machine, to provide best-in-class metal contaminant detection as well as for detecting softer contaminants such as bone, ceramic and glass. In addition, X-ray would check the product's integrity, plus product weight and volume to a 3g tolerance. The X-ray solution also needed to deliver 100 packs/minute to meet production requirements.
Following extensive consultation, Loma was appointed to supply the Kirkham site with eight of their compact X5 Space Saver X-ray units, providing top rate detection levels – 0.4mm for very small metal contaminants and 0.8mm to 1.6mm for softer contaminants.
Providing a line length of just 1000mm, the X-ray units were installed into Kepak's production lines, successfully meeting Kepak's exacting quality requirements for contaminant and product integrity checks, while providing first-class CCP protection.
"We had very high expectations of Loma's X-ray machines, which, given the nature of our product types, needed some detailed scoping to get the equipment to function perfectly," said Lee Arkinstall, project and improvement manager, Food Division, Kepak. "Once that had been achieved, we were delighted with the end result. During installation, Loma's technical team were passionate in ensuring that the X-rays were performing at their best, and to that end I can't be happier. I have 100% confidence in Loma's X-ray technology."
For more information visit: www.loma.com