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Search - Sling Blade on DVD
Sling Blade
Actors: Billy Bob Thornton, Dwight Yoakam, J.T. Walsh, John Ritter, Lucas Black
Director: Billy Bob Thornton
Genres: Drama, Mystery & Suspense
R 1998 2hr 15min
Billy Bob Thornton wrote, directed, and starred in this mesmerizing drama with haunting overtones of To Kill a Mockingbird. Thornton plays a mentally retarded man who has spent 20 years in a psychiatric hospital for killin... more »g his mother and her lover. Released into the community from which he came, he befriends and protects a lonely boy regularly harassed and abused by his mom's boyfriend (a terrific performance by Dwight Yoakam). The story is ultimately about sacrifice, but Thornton certainly doesn't get twinkly about it. Some of the best material concerns the hero's no-big-deal efforts to integrate into a "normal" life: working, eating fast food, earning admiration for his handyman skills, and attaining a semblance of community among other damaged souls. John Ritter has a great part as a gay shopkeeper who tries to assuage his own loneliness by spilling his guts out to Thornton's uncomprehending character. --Tom Keogh « less
Creators: Billy Bob Thornton, Barry Markowitz, Hughes Winborne, Brandon Rosser, David L. Bushell, Larry Meistrich
Sub-Genres: Drama, Mystery & Suspense
Studio: Miramax
Format: DVD - Color,Widescreen,Letterboxed - Closed-captioned
Original Release Date: 11/27/1996
Theatrical Release Date: 11/27/1996
Run Time: 2hr 15min
Screens: Color,Widescreen,Letterboxed
MPAA Rating: R (Restricted)
Sling Blade - Director's Cut (Miramax Collector's Series)
Sling Blade [Blu-ray]
Monster's Ball
Director: Marc Forster
Director: George Hickenlooper
UR 2002 0hr 25min
Two-Disc Special Edition
Directors: Constantine Nasr, Frank Darabont
R 2006 3hr 9min
Director: Terry Zwigoff
Chasing Amy
Director: Kevin Smith
Director: Guillermo del Toro
New Line Platinum Series
PG-13 2004 2hr 4min
THX 1138
The George Lucas Director's Cut
Director: George Lucas
PG-13 2011 1hr 47min
Widescreen Edition
Director: Sam Mendes
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
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Member Movie Reviews
Larry N. from BEALETON, VA
Reviewed on 1/14/2015...
I'm not a Billy Bob Thornton fan and I really didn't know what this movie was about. It's a must see! Not only did Billy Bob act in this, he wrote the story and directed the movie. A fantastic job done by all involved.
2 of 2 member(s) found this review helpful.
Dorothy M. from FEDERAL WAY, WA
As a rule, Billy Bob Thornton overacts. In this movie he did a wonderful job of containing that tendency, but at the same time letting you know that there was something bubbling and seething just under the surface of his character's mind. Sling Blade is one of the better movies that I have seen in 2014, in spite of being disturbing.
Ann M. from TULARE, CA
Reviewed on 8/3/2011...
Powerful movie that raises difficult questions of guilt, accountability, vigilante-ism, and sacrifice. The main character was introduced in a mental institution at the start of the movie whom we learned had murdered his adulterous mother and his lover caught in the act out of a fit of childish rage and confusion. B/c of his mental state, he was sentenced to a mental institution, but then his time was up and he was released. Through the kindness of his warden/counselor, he was given a job fixing lawn equipment, which he proved to be high above-average, and befriended a lonely boy and his widowed mother. However, the peachiness of paradise was tainted by the cancerous presence of mom's violent boyfriend who was the epidome of the word "jerk." The man really deserved the boot from the wily and weak mother, but we wonder if he would leave peaceably. He was tempermental, selfish, manipulative, insulting and violent. What "good" mom see's in him is beyond everyone around her. As boyfriend's anagonism mounts and becomes clear to our main character that boyfriend needs to leave their lives for them to ever have peace and protect the boy who was probably the only true friend he'd ever had in his entire life. So main character makes the ultimate decision, even if it meant he would be separated from his young friend forever.
Living inside one's own heart
Shelley Gammon | Kaufman, Texas USA | 04/22/2003
(5 out of 5 stars)
"With the parodies and jokes surrounding the lead character of this film stating, "I like the way you talk," I was not expecting this film to be anything I'd be impressed with. Boy, was I wrong. This a fantastic film.Billy Bob Thornton plays Karl Childers, a man about to be released from a mental hospital after staying there for 30 years. Karl killed his own mother and her lover when he was only about 12 years old and you wonder from the beginning of this film - why are they letting him out?Some people call him slow, some people say he's retarded - but as each scene comes and goes, you realize that there is a lot more going on inside Karl's head than anyone else believes.While autism is not mentioned by name in the film, it's obvious that this character was modeled after an autistic person. He does not maintain eye contact and rarely exhibits emotion or speaks.He returns to his childhood hometown after being released from the hospital and puts his mechanical skills to good use as a small engine wiz at a local mechanic shop.He befriends Frank (Lucas Black), a young boy who reminds Karl of the kind of life he could have had, if he had only had different parents. Frank's mother has a psycho for a boyfriend (masterfully played by Dwight Yoakum) who treats Frank and his mother like garbage and threatens to kill them if the relationship ever ends.Small town folks have big hearts, but sometimes small minds. Frank's mother (Natalie Camerday) has a best friend who is gay (well acted by John Ritter) and he must hide his relationships from the townsfolk. Her friend Vaughn wants to go to a a bigger city with wider acceptance of his lifestyle, but he continues to stay to act as a guardian angel for his friend and her son.As Karl meets and interacts with the new friends (and enemies) he meets, he reveals some of his darker secrets with his friend, Frank. While he shows almost no emotion, Karl's story evokes tears from all but the most stony-hearted viewer. He not only feels great pain of what he has experienced and what he has done, he feels great empathy for Frank and his mother and holds their friendship dear to his heart.There is violence in the film, but the most violent of scenes is just audible - nothing is seen, just heard. This film is too intense for young viewers, but teenagers should have no problem with it.This film really makes you think - about what goes on in the minds of those who are mentally different in any way - and how all emotions are universal."
Shelley Gammon | 06/01/1999
"We know well the visage of the desolate, decadent, sometimes lascivious Southern landscape from the works of William Faulkner and others. Not unlike Faulkner, Billy Bob Thornton's Sling Blade guides us guiltily toward the region's historical and modern undercurrents of social prejudices, ignored dysfunction, sought acceptance, and resulting violence. The film addresses a universal human condition, however, and not the region.The title of the film looms over the audience as Thornton urges fondness while successfully negotiating the fine line between our fear of, and affection for Karl Childers (Thornton), a recently released mental patient committed as a child for violently murdering his mother and her boyfriend. Sling Blade is a study in tension with thick suspense built through superior character development resulting in conflicts that escalate into deliberate, almost real-time rhythms. The story is one of need and moreover of acceptance, as the collection of limping characters, directly or not, seek it, and to some degree, with the help of Karl, attain it. The boy, Frank (Lucas Black), seeks the love of a father figure after the suicide of his own. Linda, the mother (Natalie Canderday), requires the general acceptance of her perceived role as a Southern woman, and subsequently the acceptance from a mate, which is evident in her destructive dependence upon her demonic, red-neck boyfriend, Doyle (Dwight Yoakam). Her own deep need renders her perhaps overly accepting of others, including Karl, whom most mothers wouldn't let within ten feet of there sons. Vaughn (John Ritter), like the others, seeks love, and on an outward scale, struggles with his half-open homosexuality in the small Southern town. Doyle, not unlike Linda, wants acceptance of his perceived role as a family head and wants to be loved as well, but lacks even the basic tools to a gain it. And finally Karl, the most dynamic character in the film, seeks acceptance only from himself as he works to garner love and to construct some semblance of a life within the limited bounds of his mental capacity, his stunted development, and his own set of morals.While the climax of the film is somewhat telegraphed, it is more inevitable than predictable, and the audience is left alone with the wonderment and self-examination over the questionable choice of a sympathetic character. From Sling Blade we leave with the unsolicited lesson that tenderness and brutality sometimes share the same origin."
Redneck auteur extraordinaire!
Jeffrey Few | Seattle, WA USA | 03/01/2000
"A little-known fact: Billy Bob Thornton--star, director and writer of this amazing film--is the greatest southern voice since William Faulkner. This film is essential southern gothic retooled for the New South of mini-malls and subdivisions. The old demons still lurk, most graphically through Doyle (played remarkably by Dwight Yoakam). Watch for a cameo appearance from indie/y'allternative musician Vic Chesnutt! Besides being an incredibly important film about the South, it's emotional rollercoaster ride: from Carl (Thornton) and his shocking past, to the awkwardness of his first days away from institutionalization, to the amazing paternal relationship he forges with a neglected boy--the one person who will accept him unconditionally. Heart-wrenching, dark and beautiful."
Great Story, Tremendous Acting By Billy Bob Thornton
BookMania | Stafford, TX, USA | 01/01/2003
"This movie won the Academy Award for best screenplay, and it's very easy to see why it was deserving of the acclaim that it received. The movie centers around Carl Childers (Billy Bob Thornton), a mentally retarded man who has just been released from a mental hospital after spending most of his life there. He's a convicted murderer who killed his own mother and her lover, but the audience is made to love him from the beginning and feel sympathy for his situation. He befriends a young boy named Frank who is being raised by a single mother who has an abusive boyfriend. The movie centers around the growing friendship between Carl and Frank, and how Carl decides to take matters into his own hands in order to protect Frank and his mother from the abusive boyfriend.The strength of this movie is in the acting job by Thornton. His character is a cross between Boo Radley from To Kill A Mockingbird (by Harper Lee) and Lenny from Of Mice And Men (by John Steinbeck). While the audience is suspicious of Carl at the beginning of the movie because of his history, we are quickly assured that he is extremely gentle and kind. Also of note is the performance by Dwight Yoakam as the abusive boyfriend. You'll really hate his character, which obviously means that Yoakam did a great acting job.Overall, this is an excellent movie. It's definitely worth seeing."
Excellent, big hearted film
J. Remington | Adams, Oregon USA | 09/12/2006
""That Frank, he lives inside of his own heart. That's an awful big place to live in."
So gravels Karl, Billy Bob Thornton's unique husky-voiced creation as he describes the inner character of his friend and surrogate son- the innocent and pure Frank. Thornton could easily use this line to describe the broad and embracing spirit of his award-winning 1996 directorial debut, the contemporary classic SLINGBLADE.
Originally released in the halcyon days of independent film-making, the bygone era known as the 90's, SLINGBLADE deftly and eerily combines the wholesome everyman small town ideals of a Norman Rockwell painting with the morbid Southern Gothic tone of William Faulkner's best prose.
Filming in and around his Arkansasian home town, Thornton pulls off a creative hat trick - expanding his one man play and short film into a feature length celebration of salvation through grace and atonement through blood as staged in the backwoods and clapboard houses of rural America.
As a Director, Thornton holds his camera in capricious long shots and expanded takes, allowing his characters to exist in an exaggerated time and space, thereby empowering his actors to explore the nuances of their shadowy lives and share freely of their expansive hearts. Yes all of these people have secrets- Thornton rarely saturates his frame with full light. Bands of shadow wash across every character. Everybody has flaws- potential for good and evil in equal measure- even the villainous Doyle Hargraves (deliciously played by country-western star Dwight Yokum), deserving of Book of Revelation retribution as any character in recent memory, has his moments of vulnerability. The tragic wide-eyed ten year old Frank (played without any cloying sentiment by Lucas Black) too is capable of sudden violence when defending his mother.
Thornton shows he trusts his actors. With his continual use of long unbroken takes, he doesn't artificially create performances through imposed editing. These actors embrace the loud silences and large spaces and time and, as a result, appear to truly and organically erupt in moments of joy, compassion, humor and rage- all in the gentle lilting brogue of a brown water Arkansas drawl. The ensemble cast, made up of professionals (John Ritter in a heart-breakingly humane and admirable performance) and locals (several non-actors appear in effective support), alike never fail to hold the camera's eye.
The film is violent, but tastefully so. The bloodiest moments are reserved for off camera-employing the audience's imaginations to create far more vibrant images than any camera could provide- a lesson too many of Thornton's contemporaries forgot. The most violent and jarring moments occur in Thornton's elliptical dialogue. He understands the power of word pictures. He also displays a brilliant ability to oscillate a scene from chilling to hilarious to tragic on a turn of a phrase.
And at the center of this dark fairy tale is Thornton himself, transformed completely into the character of Karl Childers- a middle aged man recently released from "the nervous hospital". A literary descendent of The Frankenstein Monster, Lennie Small, Forrest Gump and Boo Radley (brilliantly realized in one of filmdom's most obscure "in jokes"- Robert Duvall appears unbilled as Childers' father), Karl rubs his hands with Lady MacBeth syndrome in guilt. With his high-water pants and hunched-over gait, centering himself from the bottom of his chin and speaking in a growling and grunting exhale Childers lends himself to instant imitation. But what no imitator can ever capture is the calm benevolence lurking behind Thornton's brown eyes.
Thornton's Karl Childers is one of the greatest characters ever created for film. Like the fatherless Frank, the simple minded Childers is pure of heart and in a state of grace and yet he possesses a terrifying capacity for violence. For inside those loving and forgiving eyes lies too a direct portal into what Karl himself would call "Hades". He is simple sure. But he is not simplistic. His heart, like the story-world he lives in is "an awful big place to live in."
An unforgettable film.


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Q: How to control WindowManager overlay priority in Oreo? I have an overlay for my app, OV1, which is basically a button the user can move around on their screen. When this overlay is pressed, it spawns a second overlay, OV2, which contains multiple sub-buttons positioned around OV1's current location. OV2 also dims the rest of the screen while present, by use of the flag WindowManager.LayoutParams.FLAG_DIM_BEHIND.
One issue I had when initially implementing the above, is that the dimming effect was cast over everything that isn't OV2, including OV1, darkening and making it unclickable, which prevents OV2 from being closed as OV1 is the toggle button. The solution I found was setting layout params differently for each overlay:
OV1 gets:
params.type = WindowManager.LayoutParams.TYPE_PRIORITY_PHONE;

Whereas OV2 gets:
params.type = WindowManager.LayoutParams.TYPE_PHONE

Since OV1 had higher priority, it always stayed on top of OV2, so it wasn't affected by FLAG_DIM_BEHIND, and the user could interact with OV1 just fine to close the OV2 sub-button menu.
This has always worked fine, until I started updating the app to target Android's API 27 (Oreo). As part of the required changes, I've had to change both overlays' param types to WindowManager.LayoutParams.TYPE_APPLICATION_OVERLAY, so I lost the ability to give OV1 a higher priority to make sure it stays on top of OV2. Is there an alternate way to replicate this behavior, ensuring OV1 remains the topmost overlay, or forcing it to the foreground whenever OV2 is spawned?

A: While I never found a solution for this, one workaround is to reattach the overlays to the window manager in the intended order (when several views of type TYPE_APPLICATION_OVERLAY are added to the window manager, the most recent ones go on top), by calling removeViewImmediate() followed by addView() for the view you want to be on top.
It's not pretty, as the user can see the overlay blink out of existence for a split second, but until there's a better way, it'll have to do.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
class CreateSnapshots < ActiveRecord::Migration
  def self.up
    create_table :snapshots do |t|
      t.integer :provider_account_id
      t.string :name
      t.string :snapshot_id
      t.string :volume_id
      t.string :volume_name
      t.string :status
      t.datetime :start_time
      t.string :progress
      t.boolean :is_enabled, :default => true
      t.string :device

      t.timestamps
    end
	add_index :snapshots, :provider_account_id
	add_index :snapshots, :name
	add_index :snapshots, :snapshot_id
	add_index :snapshots, :volume_id
	add_index :snapshots, :volume_name
  end

  def self.down
    drop_table :snapshots
  end
end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


CROMWELL, Conn., February 16, 2018 – SafeAmerica Credit Union and Payveris have announced the upgrade of the $400 million Pleasanton-based credit union's consumer digital money movement services to Payveris' MoveMoney Platform and suite of solutions including Person-to-Person (P2P), Account-to-Account (A2A), Bill Payment and Presentment, and fraud mitigation.
The platform was implemented by SafeAmerica Credit Union in early February of this year. Payveris, based in Cromwell, CT offers a scalable open API cloud-based money movement platform that enables SafeAmerica to offer bill payment and presentment, P2P and A2A transfers, and integrated fraud monitoring all from a single platform, enabling SafeAmerica to deploy its money movement services to any channel, reduce operating expenses and take command of their member's digital money movement user experience.
During the implementation of the new solutions for SafeAmerica credit union, Payveris converted virtually all existing bill pay records spanning across all member accounts, payees, scheduled payments, and payment history.
Payveris' cloud-based money movement platform empowers financial institutions to take command of their customers' digital user experience as well as their IT and payments operations, while introducing innovative products that win and retain members/customers—today and in the future. Its integrated platform, extendable gateway API, and suite of widgets support payment services from any application or device, reduce IT and operations complexity, and future-proof IT investments—all while significantly reducing out-of-pocket expenses. Visit www.payveris.com to learn more.
SafeAmerica is a $400 million community-chartered Credit Union, organized under regulatory laws that are monitored and enforced by the California Department of Financial Institutions.
Originally chartered in 1953, SafeAmerica operates in Northern California principally in the San Francisco Bay Area with branches in Pleasanton, Walnut Creek, Antioch and Hayward. SafeAmerica serves the California counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, San Mateo and Santa Clara as well as numerous employer groups including members of Financial Fitness Association.
SafeAmerica member accounts are privately insured up to $500,000 per account by American Share Insurance, the nation's largest private share insurer. Visit www.safeamerica.com to learn more.


The final trip of the season for the Colorado Brevet Series will be on Sunday, Oct eleven. This is a 'short' brevet with a complete bamboo bike guide size of 129K. The trip begins from the East Boulder Community Center and will follow the Apple Valley Loop.There are 3 primary routes to choose from: Powell-Mason, Powell-Hyde, and California Road. Take any one of these and you'll see a number of fantastic sights (Nob Hill, Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown, the Financial District) and also arrive absent with a singular experience. In addition, there are formal cable vehicle tours as well. Nevertheless, by hopping on a car at the spur of the second, you can't go wrong. Be aware: With a CityPass, you can trip cable vehicles for free (generally $5 every way). Also, other "moving" green excursions in San Francisco include complete bamboo bike guide and segway excursions - check 'em out!There are also yearly special events peppered throughout the state this kind of as the Super Bowl Sunday Ride, a club custom in the Metroplex, the Easter Hill Country Tour, called "the gem of biking" in Texas by the group. Subsequent year's 33rd Easter tour will be April 14th-sixteenth in Kerrville hosted by The Lubbock bamboo bicycle for sale.Take boat rides at the Eco-friendly Grotto, which is a subterranean lake situated 120 ft beneath floor degree. An additional function complete bamboo bike guide discovered at the discovery Bay is the Runaway Caves that provided shelter for both pirates and runaway slaves. There are some unique formations of stalactites and stalagmites.Dachau Concentration Camp has been preserved and is open up for excursions. This was the first concentration camp and is preserved as a memorial to those who lost their lives. Information is written in English and German, permitting you to tour the camp on your personal. Guided tours are also available.Don't let the free-wheeling title bamboo bicycle for sale fool you, this is a severe group of riders. The Summit Freewheelers are a developmental racing club, which means, "we concentrate on fundamental cycling and racing abilities in addition to supporting professional level racing groups." And they have way cool uniforms.Now in its 10th yr, Boston bamboo bike guide is an skilled company and offers several ways for people to sight see whilst in the metropolis. They are located downtown and provide several various types of excursions. The main place has the additional appeal of being close to the Charles River Esplanade bicycle trails. The tour speed is slow to moderate and mostly goes along or in parks, paths and peaceful streets.You might think that a four hour bicycle tour is something only for those individuals that are energetic and in form. I was surprised to discover out that it was not the minimum little bit demanding, and as long as you could trip a bicycle, no make a difference what age or size you were that you would have no issue going on this tour. It was a flat surface area on easy bike trails the vast majority of the way and you stopped a lot so that individuals could consider photos and so that the tour guide could go via some history and information on the structures and places that you had been viewing.There are numerous feasible options to red meat. If wish, you can nonetheless feed yourself lean meat that's been roasted and seasoned to perfection. In location of pastries, try entire wheat bread with spreads like baked beans.There are many methods to appreciate travel in a foreign nation. Most people believe of renting vehicles, or using buses or trains all over the place. But simply because people are following a different routine and are on holiday - they do have a tendency to pack on the pounds. The way to make sure that you will not require to go on a diet following you return from your vacation is to go on a cycling tour. You'll be able to sample the nearby cuisine all you like, simply because you'll function off all these energy on your bike!With his last million, he went to the bamboo bicycle for sale and performed Johnny Chan in a $1,000,000 freeze out occasion. This time, Chan was also backed by Lyle Berman and both took turns taking part in Karas. He favored taking part in the both of them instead of just Chan, as he felt Chan was a tougher opponent. Karas won and doubled his money, only to lose it all at dice and baccarat, betting at the highest limitations in just a couple of days.Wow, what a stunning 7 days we had in Seattle! Sunny, warm-ish and a couple of dry times. The rain has returned and the weather will be a mixed bag this weekend. The combination of shorter times and elevated cloudiness produce the illusion that it's raining all the time. Don't allow this derail your plans. Rather, layer up in situation it rains and get outdoors!San Diego, California is one of the most beautiful metropolitan areas in the entire globe. It is the 1 of the greatest metropolitan areas in The united states, but has the appeal of a smaller sized city. It is also a fantastic travel location. Every yr, hundreds of thousands of individuals go to this southern California scorching spot. Allow's take a look at the leading 10 issues you can do while visiting San Diego, California.


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Central Middlesbrough
Was begging dispersal order in Middlesbrough town centre necessary?
Beggars were forced to leave area for 24 hours after a crackdown :: Police say money given is often used to fund drugs or alcohol habits
Six individuals were made to leave the town centre
Do you think there's a problem with beggars in Middlesbrough town centre?
Cleveland Police do - as the force launched a crackdown on begging at night at the weekend.
Officers were deployed in the town centre, and a dispersal order was put in place to grant police the power to force beggars to leave the area for 24 hours.
Clare Lawton, of Cleveland Police, said: "Police and the local authority are more than aware of these individuals and all have been offered support, housing, food and clothing, so there is no reason to be asking for money.
"Chances are the money is being used to fund a drug or alcohol habit."
Former Mayor of Middlesbrough Ray Mallon claimed while he was in office "beggars are not homeless, they are criminals" - adding that they "diversify from crime to begging because it pays well."
The former Detective Superintendent of Cleveland Police went on to say during a council meeting in 2014: "I know half of these people, I was locking their fathers up."
Does Middlesbrough town centre still have a problem with beggars?
In 2005 it was claimed the final 'hardcore' beggar had been run out of Middlesbrough - with Mr Mallon saying: "At one time there were 28 beggars in Middlesbrough and they were a thorough and unpleasant nuisance to visitors, residents and businesses."
On another occasion Mr Mallon took direct action against a beggar by standing next to him and telling shoppers not to give him any money until he got fed up and moved away.
Last weekend's dispersal order saw six individuals instructed to leave the town centre - with one man arrested for failing to comply.
David Gee, who leads the Boro Angels project, which aims to offer a helping hand to revellers in Middlesbrough, said that begging at night is an intermittent problem.
The Boro Angels look after party-goers who might have drunk too much, and offer advice, a drink and a friendly face for anyone struggling on a night out.
David Gee, Boro Angels
David said he believes begging is "more of a nuisance during the day".
"There is a bigger mix of ages and types of people in the town during the day and the begging can be more persistent," he said.
"People on a night, I don't think, are as bothered by it."
David, who along with the Boro Angels team works on Friday and Saturday nights, said that he and his team give advice and a warm drink to those on the streets - but never money.
"We try our best to advise them to go to the best agency to help them. There is help out there, but they need to want to accept it.
"There are some people on the streets who are begging - and some that are genuinely homeless, who might get given money without asking for it."
Police advise anyone approached by a beggar to say no and walk away - and to contact police on 101 if they feel threatened or uncomfortable.
Ray Mallon

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


We are the leading provider in pre-hospital emergency medical care serving northern Baldwin County since 2007.
North Baldwin EMS has recently implemented the latest in wireless ECG transmission technology. Paramedics obtaining 12 - lead ECG's in the field are able to immediately transmit the reading via cellular device to any receiving hospital and cardiac physician, expediting the diagnosis and life saving treatment of a myocardial infarction (heart attack).
NBEMS will be hosting CPR classes withing the upcoming months. Please contact the administration office for more details.
NBEMS placed second overall in Bay Minette's annual Chili Cookoff and taking taking the "most orgiginal recipie" award.


text:
Within DRIVE4EU we aim to produce rubber dandelions with a higher rubber and inulin (a polyfructane) yield. According to literature the maximum yield of wild Taraxacum koksaghyz (TKS) is 200 kg per hectare. A higher production can be achieved by improved agronomy and by breeding bigger plants with more rubber and inulin. It is interesting to compare the situation of the rubber dandelion now with that of the rubber tree, Hevea brasiliensis, in the past. At the end of the 19th century, rubber trees produced about 600 kg rubber per hectare. Nowadays, due to better agronomy, but mainly due to the selection for highly productive clones, Hevea rubber production can be up to 2500 kg per hectare.
TKS has been subjected to plant breeding in the past, in the Soviet Union and especially in Sweden. Progress in the Soviet Union was limited, due to the influence of Trofim Lysenko, who denied the existence of genes which was a major drawback for SU plant breeding. The Swedish rubber breeding program was carried out at the Svalof Plant Breeding institute in Southern Sweden. It run from 1945 until 1951. Plants were selected for high rubber content in the roots and the best plants were intercrossed. The results were spectacular; within 6 generations the percentage of rubber increased from 5 to 15 percent on dry weight basis. For comparison: this increase is steeper than the increase in sugar content in sugar beets in the 19th century.
Nearly all modern crops have a long domestication history. One of the most recent crops is root chicory, which was grown and selected for its roots 200 years ago as a surrogate for coffee, which was not available in Napoleon times, due to the British sea blockade. Interestingly chicory belongs to the Asteraceae family and is quite closely related to dandelion. Therefore it may serve as an example of what may be reached by plant breeding in rubber dandelions. Although this is still far away, it is well known that in wild species big improvements can be made, in contrast to already domesticated crops, in which progress is often incremental. The large improvements in Svalof TKS breeding program nicely illustrates this principle. Unfortunately nothing is left of this improved germplasm. In the beginning of the 1950's there were great hopes for synthetic rubber and the breeding programs were terminated.
In DRIVE4EU we select the best rubber producing plants but also take other traits into account. For example the inulin content of the roots, since the fructoses in inulin can be used as building blocks for bioplastics and other biochemicals. In addition to plant breeding we also propagate seeds which are needed for the agronomical field trials and production plots.
Figure 1. Rubber dandelions grown in a seed nursery for seed production. At densities of 100 000 or more seeds per hectare many seeds are needed.
Figure 2. Variation between dandelion plants in pathogen resistance. The plant to the left is resistant to powdrey mildew while the plant to the left is highly infected and susceptible. Resistance is genetically determined and can be selected for is breeding programs to develop resistant rubber dandelion lines.


A large-scale intra-platform advertising service built on artificial intelligence technologies allows for Gem4me Market Space business users to conduct large-scale advertising and promotional campaigns.
Create a store of any size and type with the help of a chat bot (including a store consisting of one product).
Offer not only any goods, but also any kind of services: tutoring, builder, music teacher or horoscopes.
Sell any tickets, tours or goods for the house.
Place a large store with thousands of product items and a chat room to communicate with customers.
Using AI, it is easy to find the right products in various stores.
Trade outside your city, region and country.
Find the nearest restaurant, read the menu and book a table.
Get analytics for trading with cryptocurrencies.
Receive cashback for personal purchases.
The Gem4me Market Space platform is developed on the basis of the Gem4me messenger. According to the projected growth rates, the number of messenger users will reach 50 million by the end of 2019 and 200 million by the end of 2020.
allows you to conduct operations for the entry, withdrawal, storage and exchange of financial assets in Fiat and Crypto. For more information about the service, see White Paper §7.2.
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GMC-token extends the capabilities of Crypto / Fiat Service: it is not only a mean of payment, but also completes identity verification, rating, creditworthiness of the buyer and seller.
will enable customers to receive signals from professional traders for the purchase and sale of main types of crypto-currencies. The service is useful for both novices and pro market players. Read more about the service in White Paper §7.4.
Gemme Coin (market abbreviation GMC) is a utility-token of the Gem4me Market Space ecosystem, it gives access to users of the platform to use its functionality.The architecture of Gem4me Market Space and the methods of using the GMC token are designed with a focus on securing their funds. Gemme Coin - in White Paper § 9.
Completion of work to create a global trading platform for a closed cycle "without borders"
GEM4ME MESSENGER: 7 MILLION OF USERS!
The key partner and main developer of Gem4me Market Space and chatbot platforms is Synesis, Minsk. A world-class developer who has created billion-dollar projects (such as Viber) is the key to rapid development and the latest solutions in the field of mobile applications.
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Q: How to run translate after training the model? having run this code from :
cd tensorflow/models/rnn/translate
python translate.py --data_dir [your_data_directory]

https://www.tensorflow.org/versions/r0.10/tutorials/seq2seq/index.html#sequence-to-sequence-models
The link above states 'takes about 20GB of disk space' so it appears like it successfully ran. My data dir is approx 20GB in size :
ls -l --block-size=M
total 20361M
-rw-r--r-- 1 root   root    21M Sep  9 08:31 dev-v2.tgz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root   root  3615M Sep  9 08:21 giga-fren.release2.en
-rw-r--r-- 1 root   root  1158M Sep  9 08:06 giga-fren.release2.en.gz
-rw-rw-r-- 1   1001 27385 1158M Aug 30 15:55 giga-fren.release2.fixed.en.gz
-rw-rw-r-- 1   1001 27385 1317M Aug 29 17:43 giga-fren.release2.fixed.fr.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root   root  4354M Sep  9 08:19 giga-fren.release2.fr
-rw-r--r-- 1 root   root  1317M Sep  9 08:07 giga-fren.release2.fr.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 root   root  2270M Sep  9 10:59 giga-fren.release2.ids40000.en
-rw-r--r-- 1 root   root  2676M Sep  9 10:24 giga-fren.release2.ids40000.fr
-rw-r--r-- 1 331729 10000    1M Dec 13  2013 newstest2013.en
-rw-r--r-- 1 331729 10000    1M Dec 13  2013 newstest2013.fr
-rw-r--r-- 1 root   root     1M Sep  9 10:59 newstest2013.ids40000.en
-rw-r--r-- 1 root   root     1M Sep  9 10:59 newstest2013.ids40000.fr
-rw-r--r-- 1 root   root  2475M Sep  9 08:08 training-giga-fren.tar
-rw-r--r-- 1 root   root     1M Sep  9 09:43 vocab40000.en
-rw-r--r-- 1 root   root     1M Sep  9 09:11 vocab40000.fr

Is this just a preliminary step to running the model ?
How to use this model to test the translation ?

A: First, make sure you've trained the model long enough to get a saved checkpoint (every 200 training steps by default)
Then, run translate.py with the --decode option:
python translate.py --data_dir [your_data_directory] --decode

Then it will give you a prompt to type in a source sentence, and it will emit the target sentence:
> hello
Bonjour
> how are you ?
Comment allez-vous ?

See the decode() function in translate.py for reference...


Actually, every day I write the news from Riverside and North Riverside, IL.
For those of you who don't know, I've taken a job as a reporter for the Suburban Life covering those two towns. When people ask me who I work for, it's a little confusing. Our parent company is GateHouse Media. When I began the interview process in May, they were Liberty Group Publishing. (More on that here). I work for a division of the company called Liberty Suburban Chicago Newspapers. Within Liberty Suburban, I work in the North Riverside newsroom, which produces two papers: Life and Suburban Life. These papers cover Berkeley, Berwyn, Broadview, Brookfield, Cicero, Countryside, Forest View, Hillside, Hodgkins, Indian Head Park, La Grange, La Grange Highlands, La Grange Park, Lyons, McCook, North Riverside, Riverside, Riverside Lawn, Stickney, Westchester, Western Springs and Willow Springs. The papers come out twice a week, Wednesday and Friday, essentially.
My job is pretty cool. For all of college, when people asked me what I wanted to do when I got out, my answer was always, "I want to write and get paid for it." And that's what I'm doing, so that's pretty great. I cover village boards and school board, cops and community happenings. I'm your basic municipal beat reporter.
I'm in the newsroon late tonight because I have to go to a school board meeting at Riverside Brookfield High School. Not the most exciting thing in the world, but it's a start. Just remember, Hemingway got his start writing for newspapers. And I got my start by winning a Hemingway conest. Coincidence? I think not.
Check 'em out. Some songs remind me of They Might Be Giants. One reminds me of Harry Belafonte. All of them are just great.


One of the most popular window treatment options are Silhouette® window shades by Hunter Douglas.These shades are created with specialty fabrics and offer a unique combination of sheer drapery and window blinds. As a Burlington, MA Hunter Douglas Gallery, we are very familiar with this product. We often get asked about the pros and cons of this popular window treatment, so here are a few to consider.
One of the best features of Silhouette® window shades is that it welcomes sunlight into your home while still providing some privacy. Most of us enjoy sunlight but don't necessarily want it beaming into the home. However, we don't necessarily want to pull down the shades and completely block that sunlight either. We also want privacy without excluding sunlight.
The sheer fabric of Silhouette® window shades addresses all of these concerns by softening sunlight and providing what HunterDouglas calls "discreet privacy." You can even adjust the shades to increase or decrease the amount of privacy and light, achieving the perfect combination for your personal preferences.
Another great feature of Silhouette® window shades is the UV protection. Depending on your fabric selection, you can filter up to 88% of harmful UV rays from the sun. This is healthy not only for your family, but it can also protect your home furnishings from fading and other sun damage.
Most people mistakenly think that Silhouette® window shades come in only full white. This is actually not true! You can actually select different colors and patterns. There are also options for front and back sheers, known as Silhouette ClearView™, or room darkening roller shades, known as Silhouette Duolite™. With so many options and choices, you can get exactly what you need with HunterDouglasSilhouette® window shades.
We're huge fans of Silhouette® window shades and think that they would be great for almost any home. However, if cost is a factor, then they are not the most economical choice. They are truly high-end window treatments with a corresponding price tag. You get what you pay for and most of our customers will tell you that they are well worth the cost! HunterDouglas has also released some less expensive alternatives that may make it more feasible if the normal Silhouette are beyond your budget.
If home insulation is your primary goal, then Silhouette® window shades are not the best choice. Although they offer some light insulating value, they were not designed for insulation purposes. Ask us about other options for window insulation.
This one really isn't a con, but an observation and consideration. Silhouette® window shades are a high-end window treatment that provide a high-end look. Thus, they are often seen as very formal looking and feeling. As we mentioned, not really a con unless you specifically want to avoid a formal appearance altogether.
If you haven't seen Silhouette® window shades in person, stop by our Burlington MA showroom. We carry this and many other HunterDouglas window shades and blinds. Our design experts can help you evaluate different options and select window treatments that fit your space, decor, and budget!


text:
Houston Faces Massive Nurse Shortage After 150 Nurses, Hospital Workers Fired for Vaccine Refusal
Posted bytruthsearchernwo August 23, 2021 Posted inUncategorized
Jon Miltimore
This article was originally published by Jon Miltimore at The Foundation for Economic Education.
Houston hospitals have "reached a breaking point" amid a COVID-19 outbreak, which struck weeks after 150 hospital workers were fired by Houston Methodist hospital, one of several hospitals struggling.
Jennifer Bridges knew what was coming when her director at Houston Methodist hospital called her up in June to inquire about her vaccination status.
Bridges, a 39-year-old registered nurse, responded "absolutely not" when asked if she was vaccinated or had made an effort to get vaccinated. She was terminated on the spot.
COVID-19 mRNA Shots Are Legally Not Vaccines
"We all knew we were getting fired," Bridges, 39, told CBS News. "We knew unless we took that shot to come back, we were getting fired today. There were no ifs, and, or buts."
Bridges was one of more than 150 hospital workers fired by Houston Methodist Hospital.
"All last year, through the COVID pandemic, we came to work and did our jobs," said Kara Shepherd, a labor and delivery nurse who joined Bridges and other workers in an unsuccessful lawsuit. "We did what we were asked. This year, we're basically told we're disposable."
'Please Send Help Now'
Shepherd and her colleagues may be disposable in the eyes of hospital administrators, but they are perhaps not as easily replaced as she or Houston Methodist thought.
Two months after firing unvaccinated hospital staff, Houston Methodist is one of several area hospitals experiencing a severe shortage of medical personnel. Media reports say hospitals have "reached a breaking point" because of a flood of COVID-19 cases.
In an editorial published Tuesday, the Houston Chronicle said the 25-county hospital area that includes Houston had more patients in hospital beds—more than 2,700—than at any point in 2021. News reports make it clear that hospitals are struggling to keep up.
KHOU-11, a local news station, says medical tents have been erected outside of Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital but are vacant because of a shortage of nurses.
"Please send help now," said Dr. George Williams (depicted in the main photo), chief ICU medical officer for LBJ Hospital.
While most media reports focus on LBJ Hospital, reports also make it clear other hospitals, including Houston Methodist, are experiencing similar struggles. The Houston Chronicle says Harris Health System (which includes LBJ) is short some 250 nurses, while the University of Texas Medical Branch has requested an additional 100 nurses to help address staff shortages at four hospitals.
Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center, a private Houston hospital jointly owned by Baylor College and a local healthcare system, said the hospital "is definitely being impacted" by the nurse shortage.
As for Houston Methodist, the hospital is reportedly struggling as well—although they've yet to admit it publicly.
"An internal memo at Houston Methodist Hospital said it 'is struggling with staffing as the numbers of our COVID-19 patients rise,'" the Chronicle reports.
Public officials are scrambling to address the shortage, which has created a massive patient backlog throughout the Houston area. More than a week ago, Tex Gov. Greg Abbott requested out-of-state assistance for the statewide crisis, including 2,500 out-of-state nurses. LBJ Hospital officials said those nurses have not yet arrived.
The metro-wide shortage of nurses reportedly came to light when an ER doctor emailed a state senator about the dire situation in hospitals.
"The combined increase in volume from (COVID and) existing normal volume (and) nursing shortage has made this a terrible disaster at every ER and hospital in the city of Houston," the physician wrote, according to the Chronicle.
Cobra Effects
It's unclear to what extent Houston Methodist's decision to fire 150 unvaccinated medical workers exacerbated the nursing crisis. For perhaps obvious reasons, hospital officials have been mum on the issue.
What we know is that Houston hospitals that did not abruptly fire 150 employees struggled to deal with the COVID spike, and in some cases, people died as a result. So it's safe to presume that Houston Methodist's decision to fire 150 employees a few weeks before the Delta variant arrived in force didn't make the situation any better and probably made it much worse.
Some may be tempted to think Houston Methodist was able to quickly replace the workers they lost, but evidence suggests this is unlikely. Apart from the broader shortage, front-line nurses "are burned out," they say.
"We are all tired of this; nurses are tired of this," Texas Nurses Association CEO Cindy Zolnierek wrote in a recent public letter.
That Houston Methodist hospital didn't intend to exacerbate its shortage of hospital staff goes without saying, but it's also an important reminder about what economists call the Cobra Effect.
Every human decision brings about consequences, intended ones, and unintended ones. Unintended consequences are so common economists often call them "Cobra Problems," after an interesting historical event in India that occurred when the British Empire tried to eradicate cobras by putting out a bounty on them. (Can you guess what happened?)
When hospital administrators set their policy—get vaccinated or lose your job—their goal was to increase the vaccination rates of hospital staff. The unintended consequence was a shortage of nurses and other hospital workers during a deadly pandemic.
In June, Houston Methodist's president, Marc Boom, sounded confident that his coercive methods were effective, noting that almost 25,000 of the health system's 26,000 workers were fully vaccinated.
"The science proves that the vaccines are not only safe but necessary if we are going to turn the corner against COVID-19," Boom told employees in a statement.
Other Houston hospitals saw things differently. Two months before Houston Methodist fired its workers, Harris Health System officials announced they would not be requiring hospital workers to get vaccinated, noting none of the vaccines were fully approved by the FDA.
Americans will of course disagree about which CEO's approach was the correct one. The pandemic, after all, has been bitterly divisive because we're deeply divided over this very question: should coercive means be employed to achieve certain desired healthcare outcomes, and if so, to what extent?
In 2020, political leaders around the world said yes to this question, and the results were disastrous. A year later, private companies are playing a different version of the same game: take the vaccine, or get fired.
Like the lockdown champions of 2020, corporate leaders no doubt believe their action is moral, proper, and will achieve their desired result. But as the Cobra Effect reminds us, focusing strictly on desired outcomes and ignoring potential unintended outcomes is a good way to get bit.
Today's FDA Full Approval Will Lead To "Vaccine" Mandates
Unsurprising Alert: Biden Urges Fully "Vaccinated" To Get A Booster Shot


Africa's need to aggressively pursue the industrialization path has become more compelling in light of the need to sustain current growth standards. With carefully developed backward and forward linkages, industrialization has the potential to diversify economies and reduce exposure to external shocks. We at ECA are working the case for industrialization and we do not apologise for that. We are convinced it opens doors to address most of Africa's many challenges, if properly done. It has the potential for poverty reduction, dealing with inequality provoked by rent seeking practices still persisting in many countries, and it can allow leapfrogging into a green economy model. Several myths are bandied around for why Africa's industrialization has been stunted. Let me address a few fallacies that continue to plague Africa's industrialization drive- discussing them and giving reasons why there is no truth in these allegations.
There continue to be strategic and policy changes in the posture taken by African States regarding development strategies. We remember buzzwords like 'structural adjustment', 'trickle down-effect', 'poverty reduction strategies' that influenced national policy direction. Although industrialization has always been in development literature, this is the first time it will likely take centre stage. We see this because the call for industrialization is now linked to a structural transformation of the state. The Plan of Action for the Accelerated Industrial Development of Africa (AIDA) supported by the AU, ECA, AfDB and NEPAD demonstrate how the link between industrialization and structural transformation is being taken seriously. AIDA is based on four pillars - using Africa's own natural resource endowment as a basis for industrial transformation; developing an infrastructural system including energy and transportation; increasing research and development and the adaptation of technology and promoting private sector development especially the role of small and medium scale enterprises. It is hoped that these enablers will lead to the structural transformation of the continent's economies. In the 1970s, Korea had neither the skill, nor raw material for developing a world class shipbuilding industry but decided to follow this path based on a well developed policy. Today, South Korea is one of the three largest ship building nations. These are examples we need to think about. Although we need African solutions and priorities we can learn from such successes.
African countries must begin to see industrialization as a tool for the social and economic transformation of their societies with structural transformation as the end result. Deng Xiaoping's transformation of China's economy is an example of the need to address industrialization as part of a wider integrated and intergenerational process of development. In this regard, I define structural transformation as a significant change in the sectoral composition of GDP with the share of the primary sector in employment and output shifting to industry and modern services. Structural transformation can be realized by giving attention to key developmental elements, one of which is industrialization. We have to still deal with a demographic challenge and transform it into a dividend, not to mention social cohesion that should result from less inequality, embracing diversity and increasing human security and inclusive governance.
Myth 3: African Countries have tried industrialization before and it failed, so why now?
In the 1960s, newly independent Africa emulated other regions of the world in undertaking import-substituting industrialization. This led to some remarkable progress but was ultimately stymied by the limits of the model and global political economy. This is why today Africa should be mindful of a very different global context. Africa needs alternate models that plays to its strengths and satisfies the need for transformation. Brazil's Bolsa familia program which took 30 million Brazilians out of poverty was designed to achieve economic growth with social equality. With up to 90% of Africans still heavily reliant on the agricultural sector, commodity-based industrialization speaks to our strength. Commodity based industrialisation also offers immediate scope for value addition and plenty of opportunity for exploiting consequential linkages. Botswana's decision to add value to rough diamonds before exporting ensured an extra $6 billion of diamond sales are now going through the country's financial centres. This created new jobs for its youth whilst boosting the infrastructure and tourism sectors.
The world has changed since the times of the industrial revolution. Coming late to the club gives Africa the opportunity to industrialize differently. It is not about privileging export-oriented or import substitution models. The new industrialization model must be closer to the commodities production centers, looking at leapfrogging technological potential and with African growth market in mind. It should ensure strong forward and backward linkages and of course, understand the sophisticated global value chains.
Based on demographic growth projections, Africa will need to create up to 10 million formal jobs annually as more young people enter the job sector. Current economic growth models do not create enough modern jobs. In fact the highest growing African economies also have the highest levels of youth unemployment. Although growth is robust in many countries, it is propelled by internal consumption that does not benefit all. To reverse this trend proper planning should focus on modernizing the economies though more manufacturing production taken from other parts of the world where unit values are increasing fast and starting by positioning Africa in relation to its natural resources and renewable energy potential assets. These combined with a younger, more educated, urbanized, connected work force is unique.
Intra-African investment has, since 2007, been growing at a 32.5% compound rate with South Africa leading with $18 billion invested across several sectors followed closely by Morocco and Nigeria. In 2011, the rate of return on inward FDI in Africa (9.3 per cent) was the highest compared to other regions of the world such as 8.8 per cent in Asia and 4.8 per cent in developed economies. This is important because it means Africans are not just asserting themselves in a political narrative. They are also investing more in their own continent. Fortunately others are following. FDI will attain US$ 50 billion this year, a all time high. More realize Africa is not as risky an investment decision as it may appear. In fact it has the best return on investment. Africa needs to better brand and market itself.
In conclusion if the news on growth is good, Africa wants and needs more. It needs to be able to deal with the challenge of having to industrialize and grow when its population and cities are growing quicker than any previous historical experience. It wants more as it realizes it will have to be faster than any other region of the world. It needs more because it is high time we turn the 'no hope' to 'rising' continent story into meaningful change that will prove the skeptics wrong.
This article was published in the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) online magazine "Making it" on 27 November 2013. http://www.makingitmagazine.net.


text:
Q: Preventing Multiples I'm trying to figure out how I can prevent multiple of the class asks questions at the same time or the ask2 question currently displaying with the ask question.

http://pastebin.com/S91NfZVV

A: Add this at line 26, right after e.preventDefault();

if($('div.question').length){return;}

This instead will close an existing box before opening another one(has to be placed at the same line)
$('div.question').fadeOut(function(){$(this).remove();});


text:
July 15, 2020 by SoHum Dancing
I just finished re-reading A Dancer in Wartime, by Gillian Lynne. I highly recommend it to all teachers and older teens and parents. It is good to get a perspective on dancing through difficult times. In fact, perhaps I never told you, but my own teacher, Miriam Williamson, was right there as well, dancing with the Sadler's Wells at the same time. She used to tell us about dancing while the bombs were dropping… no one ever left the theater. Heroics of an extraordinary measure.
Additionally, I think reading Tamara Karsavina's Theatre Street, and any of the autobiographies by dancers who experienced the Russian Revolution would also be valuable.
There is also a young adult level book, historical fiction, called Dancing Through Fire, about the Paris Opera House and the fire and war, in 1870. It is by Kathryn Lasky.
Some interesting reading
I would like to share a book that I read a while ago, and am re-reading, as it seems relevant to the current situation, and may inspire dancers struggling with the loss of their classes (or careers). It is not a kids book, best for older teens, but if any of you parents want to read it, you can share the appropriate stories with your dancer. I think it would be fair to say that the more general events of the story, dancing and the war, would apply very well to the experiences of my own teacher, Miriam Williamson, who told us stories of how they were performing as the bombs were dropping, and no one ever left the theater. The show must go on! It is good to get some perspective.
Name: A Dancer in Wartime, by Gillian Lynne. Here are a few reviews:
A Dancer in Wartime: The Touching True Story of a Young Girl's Journey from the Blitz to the Bright Lights
Gillian Lynne
Penguin Random House, 2012 – Ballerinas – 292 pages
A unique memoir about ballet, World War II, and a peerless group of dancers, this is an irresistible read for all ballet lovers
Gillian Lynne is one of the world's preeminent choreographers, but she started her career as a ballerina, learning to dance alongside Margot Fonteyn during World War II, and here is the story of her extraordinary childhood. From Miss Madeleine Sharp's Ballet Class for Young Ladies in Bromley to being evacuated with her theater school to a crumbling pile in rural Leicestershire, and from performing in the West End with doodlebugs falling to touring a devastated Europe to entertain the troops, the early years were hard, exciting, and dramatic. And when the call came to join Sadler's Wells–well, what ballerina hopeful could have asked for more? An irresistible mix of wartime nostalgia and the story of a leading ballerina's hard-won path to success, this is the perfect read for all ballet lovers, and is illustrated throughout with exquisitely charming black-and-white photos, programs, and keepsakes.
And here is a very good write up from an amazon review by (S. Riaz)
Gillian Lynne is a choreographer, who began her career as a ballerina. Her mother took her to the doctor as a child, feeling she was hyperactive. As the author says, if such a thing happened now she would undoubtedly be given a named condition, but, luckily for her, the doctor suggested dance class for all that excess energy. So, Jill (as she was then) headed for Miss Madeleine Sharp's class for young ladies at the Bell Hotel ballroom in Bromley. At ten, she won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dancing, but life was interrupted by the sad death of her mother in an accident (her supporter and greatest champion) in 1939 and then the outbreak of war, which led to her father being recalled to the army (he had also fought in WW1).
Without her mother, Jill could not attend the Royal Academy for classes and ran away when evacuated. However, with the help of family members and the support of her father, she auditioned for the Cone Ripman school. This was a theatre school, strong in dance, but weak in other ares of the curriculum. Bombing meant the school had to move at least twice. A chance concert in London, led to her working with Molly Lake at the Ballet Guild. At the end of 1942 she gave up academic education for ever and was asked to change her name. A professional career was beckoning.
This, then, is the story of one girl during wartime. A girl who dodged bombs to make her way across London from her aunts house to dance class. Who was often noticed and approached by those who recognised her talent – she was appalled when her aunt turned down an approach by Ninette de Valois to join her company (Sadler's Wells Ballet and Opera), but they agreed to wait until she was eighteen and ask again. In 1944 she did join Sadler's Wells and danced in the same company as Margot Fonteyn, where she went back to the bottom rung of the ladder and had to make her way up again.
The company suffered along with the rest of the country – bad housing, rationing, broken sleep and danger. Yet, the author claims that her love of dance was so great that she felt no fear as she sat in trains waiting for the bombs to pass. The company were dancing on stage when a doodlebug passed over them and they all stood, poised on stage and listening, until the explosion happened outside and they were able to breath again. There are also tours, to Belgium and France, and later to Germany, to entertain the British and American troops. The author was shocked at the devastation in Germany, despite having lived with bombing for so many years.
This is a story told with no self pity and in a very no nonsense way, much as you imagine the author herself to be. She copes with everything life throws at her and simply gets on with things. It is a fascinating account of those years and of the dedication involved in becoming a dancer. At the end of the book you feel how proud her mother would have been of how far her daughter had come from those early dance lessons to the great dancer, and very sensible young lady, she had become.


Online reputation management (ORM) is an important aspect in the online marketing arena. While it is used to improve a business's or a person's reputation on the World Wide Web, ORM carries a negative connotation to some professionals and business owners. That is because it is sometimes wrongly equated with posting fake consumer reviews on various popular websites, including social networks. In reality, the proper practice of ORM does not rely on fake reviews, but on positive content, genuine consumer feedback, and sharing via social media.
Having ORM performed on a business may also imply that this business has a bad reputation already, but this is not necessarily the case. ORM can be a reactive or a proactive measure. Consumers nowadays are greatly influenced by opinions of other consumers found online – where they actively look for information about businesses, products and services – that not having a bad reputation isn't really enough. The good word about your business should be out there online more than your competitors so that your target customers will choose you over them.
Online reputation management is a practice that you as a business owner should start today. Why?
There's a ton of benefits for managing your reputation online. We listed 10 of them in the infographic below. But to gain these benefits, you must first be familiar with the three aims of ORM: appear, engage, and influence.
For online reputation management to work, you must first be visible on the Internet. You need to be on Google search engine results as 97% of all consumers search for local businesses online, according to BIA/Kelsey and ConStat. Your presence should not be limited to Google though as prospects can also use Internet Yellow Pages (48%), vertical sites or topical search engines (24%), and comparison shopping sites (42%). You also need to be on reviews sites as 85% of consumers reference these sites to determine if a business is a good business, according to BrightLocal.
A separate survey by LMG, meanwhile, found that 87% of respondents search online for more information about a business that a friend or a family member referred. Those who searched online mostly used Google (67%) and looked for reviews or ratings (52%). Some 35% searched for the company's website. Don't forget social media because 13% headed to social networks to look up the business. After all, Facebook now has 1.3 billion monthly active users. Twitter has 645 million.
Even the devices used when searching are varied. Some 41% use a laptop when searching online for a business referred by a friend or family, according to the same study by LMG. Some 25% use a mobile phone, while 25% use a desktop computer, and 8% use a tablet.
What does all this mean? This means you should be all over the place. You need "widespread" visibility. Facebook has 1.3 billion monthly active users. Twitter has 645 million. This is where your prospects are. Be present on social networks when they search for you there.
Did you know that at least 50% of consumers will give a brand just one week to respond to complaints before they stop doing business with that brand? In the same study, Oracle also found that 89% of consumers began doing business with a competitor following a poor customer experience. Now you don't want this to happen to your business, do you?
So as part of managing your online reputation, you need to know when people say something about you online so you can respond immediately. A simple solution would be to set up Google Alerts, so the search engine can notify you when the keywords you enter are published on the web. Also, regularly monitor your social accounts to appease consumers who air their complaints on Facebook or Twitter.
Finally, engaging means being able to gain your prospects' trust and showing that you actually care. To gain their trust, you must have both editorial content (your own content) and independent consumer reviews. These are trusted by 58% and 70% of consumers, respectively, according to Nielsen. When it comes to showing you care, just be there, online. They will appreciate responses and your posts.
Don't be satisfied with the positive content you produce on your own. Sure, high ranking articles, blog posts, and press releases about you or your business will help. However, it will also be better if you can encourage your customers to leave a testimonial on reviews sites and social networks. User-generated content is powerful in influencing consumer perception. For instance, Kelton Research / Bazaarvoice found that when it comes to banking and financial services, 83% would not make a decision without first reading at least one user-generated content.
Influencing perception also means getting both word of mouth and online recommendations. After all, these are the two most trusted forms of advertising today, according to Nielsen. Some 90% of consumers trust a personal recommendation, which can affect the purchase decision of 84% of buyers. Meanwhile, 70% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, according to BrightLocal. These statistics underscore the importance of both types of recommendations not just in managing your online reputation but also in influencing prospects to avail of your products and services.
The idea of online reputation management is simple. You need to produce positive media about your brand and spread it via social media. You need to encourage people to write positive reviews about you too. Then, you need to listen to your prospects and customers and resolve their concerns as soon as you can. You need to do this consistently. That's what it takes to get a solid, positive reputation online, plus the 10 other benefits of ORM.
We understand that you may not have the time to do all this on your own. You are running the core business. That's why we want to give you free consultation on how we can help manage your reputation today… so that you can appear when prospects search for you, engage them where and when they want to, and influence their purchase decisions in your favor.
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text:
Tu B'Shvat: The Festival That Proves the Jewish People's Connection to the Land of Israel
Hip-Hop Artist Lil Wayne Recommends Kosher Wine to Fans for Valentine's Day
by Shiryn Ghermezian
Lil Wayne. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
American hip-hop artist Lil Wayne suggested on Monday that his fans treat their significant others to a glass of kosher wine on Valentine's Day.
The "Lollipop" singer posted on Facebook a photo of the slightly bubbly Italian white wine, with the caption, "Fellas Valentine's Day is coming up. Have a glass of Bartenura Moscato with your lady and thank me later!"
The Grammy award-winner is not the first non-Jewish performing artist to promote the kosher wine, containing a mere 5% alcohol and described by the company as "semi-sweet, with lingering pear, tangerine, nectar and melon flavors on the finish."
DJ Khaled drank from a bottle of Bartenura in his 2011 music video, "I'm On One," and Jewish-Canadian rapper Drake sang about sipping "a glass of Moscato" in his song, "Do It Now," which was released in 2015.
St. Valentine's Day, a Christian holiday that has come to be celebrated by some Jews for its cultural symbolism, is on February 14.


text:
Q: How can I properly set object values inside a promise? So I have this object:
let user = {
    name: null,
    age: null,
    sex: null,
    created_at: null
}

and I want to set the values based on what the promise returns. The data returned has the same property names.
So the promise is this:
promise.get(/*url*/).then(res => {
    const data = res.data;
    // set values here
})

I have three ways in my mind right now in setting the property values:
// First
user = data

// Second
user = {
    name: data.name,
    age: data.age,
    sex: data.sex,
    created_at: data.created_at
}

// Third
Object.assign(user, data);

Which is the best/proper way? And what are the advantages of one over the other?
 I'm currently using the Third option. Any help would be much appreciated.

A: I like Object.assign()

    const user = {
      name: 'Ronald Mickdonlad',
      age: null,
      sex: 'no thanks',
      created_at: null
    }

    const res = {
      data: {
        name: 'Garbo Hamburgler',
        age: 1337,
        sex: '0%',
        created_at: 133713371337
     }
    }

    //fake DB call
    console.log(Object.assign({}, user, res.data))

I was trying to show it with spread operator also, but my REPL apparently doesn't have it, so I gave up. See here:
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Operators/Spread_operator
This should work also:
return {
  ...user,
  ...res.data
}

But, you will need Babel: https://babeljs.io/docs/plugins/transform-object-rest-spread/
I prefer both of those over any other way because it is immutable. You are not reassigning any variables. You are doing read-only once assigned and then creating new objects as you go.
Both Object.assign() and spread operator have right to left precedence, so "newer aka right-most" values will overwrite "older aka left-occurring" values.
Go with this:
const user = {
    name: null,
    age: null,
    sex: null,
    created_at: null
}

// if inside an async function
const updatedUserObj = await promise
  .get(/*url*/)
  .then(res => Object.assign({}, user, res.data))

console.log(updatedUserObj)

Here are a couple more examples to show you Object.assign() further:

const user = {
    name: null,
    age: null,
    sex: null,
    created_at: null
}

const someObject = {
  coffee: {
    good: true,
    flavour: 'ultra',
    shouldDrink: true,
    age: 1337
  }
}

// Notice how coffee is the property on the object we just created:
console.log('FIRST EXAMPLE', JSON.stringify(Object.assign({}, someObject), null, 2))

// Notice how someObject is the property on the new object and coffee is its property
console.log('SECOND EXAMPLE', JSON.stringify(Object.assign({}, { someObject }), null, 2))

// Now, watch what happens if we begin overwriting:
console.log('THIRD EXAMPLE', JSON.stringify(Object.assign({}, user, someObject), null, 2))

console.log('FOURTH EXAMPLE', JSON.stringify(Object.assign({}, { user, someObject }), null, 2))

console.log('FIFTH EXAMPLE', JSON.stringify(Object.assign({}, user, { someObject }), null, 2))

console.log('SIXTH EXAMPLE', JSON.stringify(Object.assign({}, { user },  someObject), null, 2))

A: Option 3 is the better option. In your example with Object.assign(), you are using a factory function to create new instance of your user. The advantage of this is, it doesn't force you to call a constructor of user when you want to create a new user instance. You could also use Object.create()
This is a basic example of Object Orientated Programming.
Read up more here for a better understanding https://www.sitepoint.com/object-oriented-javascript-deep-dive-es6-classes/


text:
Our Quest for the Best Cookie Dough Milkshake
We're on a mission.
For months now, we have been searching for the best cookie dough milkshake. It started after devouring a cookie dough milkshake at a new place in Rexburg, Idaho called SodaVine. It was delicious! Since then, we've come back to Utah and have been craving that milkshake…but since we can't drive 4 1/2 hours each time we want one, we set out to find the best cookie dough milkshake closer to home. With all the restaurants around here, there has to be one that is as good, right?
Well, it hasn't been as easy as we expected it to be. So far we've tried a bunch different shakes and still haven't found one that is quite as good…though we have come close. So I thought we'd give a rundown of each of the ones we've tried, as a kind of "research" project. 🙂
So, without further ado, here is the lineup:
1. SodaVine, Rexburg Idaho
Where it all started: SodaVine. Its a new place, and full disclosure: is owned and run by my parents. But we are being completely honest here and only going by taste and experience – it was great! The ice cream flavor and texture was fantastic! We asked and learned that they use Reed's Dairy ice cream – delicious. And the cookie dough was a winner! There was just the right amount of cookie dough chunks in the shake, and the cookie dough tasted great too.
2. Leatherby's, Draper Utah
This was the christening of "Weakness Wednesday". We were craving a cookie dough milkshake, so wen't with our parents to Leatherby's to see if they would have a cookie dough milkshake that made the cut. They have great ice cream and great hot fudge, so they were bound to have a good cookie dough shake, right? Since they didn't have a cookie dough shake on the menu, and our waiter was impressed with our mission, he said he would have one made. They used their cookie dough peanut butter ice cream, and we were quite impressed! This is the second best milkshake we've had so far, second only to the SodaVine milkshake.
3. Straws, Midvale Utah
Love it! Top five for sure.
A photo posted by @bradymower on Dec 18, 2014 at 6:39pm PST
4. Santa Queen, Santaquin Utah
Really quite good! My wife loves it. For me, its definitely one of the best we've tried. We have been back several times.
5. Iceburg, Draper Utah
Iceburg has been a go-to place for Corinne for a long time. Its just a classic-shake type of place. We were quite impressed with the look of the shake, and it was huge, but as far as taste it was just so-so. The cookie dough flavor was really lacking, and no chunks! It was all ground up. The ice cream was really tasty and really thick. Corinne liked the thickness of the ice cream, but it was a bit too thick for me.
A photo posted by @bradymower on Oct 2, 2014 at 8:39am PDT
6. Arctic Circle, Draper Utah
We were about to buy a milkshake at a not-to-be-named restaurant, but my dad insisted that we not go there. If we were going to go there, we might as well go to someplace similar but with good milkshakes, and he recommended Arctic Circle. Thats an all-around good place, right? Well we were pleasantly surprised by their cookie dough milkshake. This was the first, the first, place to actually have enough cookie dough in the cookie dough to ice cream ratio. We had cookie dough in every bite! The cookie dough was not quite as real-deal as we like, but pretty good, and the ice cream was pretty good too. Just the right consistency. Well done Arctic Circle – a solid performance of good taste, good consistency, and the right amount of cookie dough.
A photo posted by @bradymower on Oct 30, 2014 at 7:28pm PDT
7. Glade's Drive In, Spanish Fork Utah
Glade's is one of those classic drive-in burger and fries places that has been around since the good ol' days. My dad loves the place and is especially fond of their fries and fry sauce.
We took our whole family there and we ordered – you guessed it – a cookie dough milkshake. Good consistency, decent cookie dough, but the ice cream wasn't that great. It was pretty good, and a nice place to go overall, but the cookie dough milkshake wasn't something we'd drive a long way for.
A photo posted by @bradymower on Nov 26, 2014 at 8:35pm PST
8. Mille's Burgers, Sugarhouse Utah
A bit better than a typical burger joint milkshake.
9. Dairy Keen, Heber Utah
Typical burger joint milkshake. Throw it in the box with all the others.
Disappointing. Not great. The ice cream was pretty good, the cookie dough was not
We have a good audio recording of us trying it.
A bit better than Granny's.
10. Granny's Drive In, Heber Utah
Such a let down! We made a recording of us tasting it for the first time and I'll add more details soon.
11. Pace's Dairy Ann, Woods Cross Utah
Such a let down. Typical burger joint milkshake…but even a bit worse
Fairly good, but not great. Didn't even want to finish.
12. Purple Turtle, Pleasant Grove Utah
Decent, not impressive. Typical burger joint milkshake. Okay, but on the lower of the okays.
13. Sammy's Cafe, Provo Utah
Sammy's Cafe has been a solid place in Provo for many years, famous for its pie shakes and hamburgers – so we were excited to go. The cafe has a cool atmosphere – polaroids on the walls, visitors have signed the walls and ceilings, cool decor.
The cookie dough milkshake we ordered really shined by way of cookie dough – big chunks of tasty cookie-dough goodness – but after that, the lights went dim. The ice cream seemed like a failed attempt at custard – the flavor was odd, the texture was a bit icy. Then the shake was only mixed about 2/3 down. They employee that made our shake explained that the blender machine didn't have fixture long enough to reach the bottom of the shake – so it was just solid ice cream for the final 1/3.
Cool place, but we won't be going back for their cookie dough milkshake.
14. Coldstone, Draper Utah
Frankly, we were a little nervous to get a milkshake at Coldstone because its one of our favorite places. We go there often and always order their cake batter ice cream with Oreo. Its amazing. Once of the few things we really missed while we were in Italy. We just didn't want to have anything compete with our favorite ice cream.
Well, we don't have to worry. The cookie dough milkshake was nothing to write home about. The cookie dough was not that great, and the ice cream (we chose sweet cream) didn't really match…its not the classic vanilla ice cream flavor that needs to be in a milkshake.
15. Baskin Robbins, Sandy Utah
Baskin Robbins has been a classic, dependable place for ice cream for a long time. They deliver quite well on solid ice cream. But after giving their cookie dough milkshake a go, we learned its probably best to keep the ice cream "shake-less". It just wasn't that great. Now we both agreed that the cookie dough was good, and the mini-chocolate chips were better than we expected, but the shake was far too milk-ey, and the taste of the ice cream was a bit bland. So overall, it was just decent. The workers were nice though. 🙂
16. JCW's, South Jordan Utah
Corinne's friend heard about our quest and brought her a milkshake during volleyball practice (some place to eat a milkshake, right!?). Corinne's verdict? Good ice cream, but the cookie dough was too small and the cookie dough taste was disappointing.
17. Sonic, Sandy Utah
We thought Sonic would be a hit, but we weren't impressed. No chunks and a very artificial taste. I think they just poured in cookie dough flavoring instead of using real cookie dough. Bleh.


This book leaves off just where the last one leaves off.
Fiore (Katherine) has just jumped off the waterfall to get away from Monster (Arsen). When she wakes up she is the bed that she ran away from. He has chained her just like he did when he first bought her. The only way to get the chain off her is if she agrees to sign the papers.
Fiore is starting to feel a lot more that the hate and the fear that she was feeling for Monster. Is this the start of something more?
Fiore has o make that toughest decision of her life. What is she going to do?
5.0 out of 5 starsThis series is Exceptional !!!
WOW this series is absolutely fantastic and can't wait for Cherish !!
Monster (Arsen) and Fiore (Katherine) are wondering what these feelings are that they keep feeling for one another.
Monster is giving Fiore a present and then she has to decide what she is going to do but her mind keeps telling her to be on her guard.
I wanted to scream at the end but I will have to wait for Cherish to come.
I received a free copy of this boo through bookfunnel for a review.
I'm totally enjoying reading this series. I started off expecting the usual Mafia inspired novel, but these books have an extremely good story line or 3..!
5.0 out of 5 starsYeah, That's The Stuff!
Olivia Ryan has thrown down the gauntlet of intensity!
The third book in the dark, captivatingly twisted, supremely heat inducing and suspenseful Cherish Series, I could feel the dark and confusing emotions swirling throughout this one! Bring it on!
Monster and Fiore's complicated lives take them to new and raw heights, neither knows what to do with. Especially when families start putting ideas into their heads- sometimes ones they have no control over.
Crime pays, especially when you are the most significant player in the high stakes game- Fiore finds out just how much she is worth in the game.. or does she?
If they both make it out the other side of this one intact, it will be a miracle.
Must be read in order starting with book one 'Capture' to understand- but if you like dark, raw, dirty, makes you feel all sorts of ways stories then THIS is a Series you must check out for yourself!
Wow--what a cliffhanger! If I could, I would rate this a 5++. Riveting, action-packed and suspenseful! This Mafia romance was impossible to put down, and it will have you on the edge of your seat while leaving you intrigued and speculating what's next, but it is jaw-dropping good! This book is one hot as hell, intriguing and twisted dark romance! It is dark with gritty gruesome details; murder, mystery, drama, intrigue, suspense, Mafia, and kidnapping continue to keep you glued to the pages of this fascinating story—it has an unexpected surprise in which I was holding my breath. This was an awesome book, in fact the series is awesome, one you NEED to READ—you won't regret it, but you will need to read the series—this is not a standalone! Fiore (Katherine) survived a dreadful fate, and she was saved by the devil himself—Monster (Arsen). Now, Monster has waited long enough to claim her body, soul, and everything. He gets Fiore to sign a document, which gives him complete ownership. It doesn't take Monster long to draw Fiore into his web, humiliating her, punishing her, charming her into his bed, and trapping her in his life. Now, Fiore and Monster are making headways—he takes her back to New Orleans. Can't wait to read about Fiore and Monster's journey and how it unfolds. I am quite sure there will be a lot of surprises and trying to figure out what will happen next. Can't wait to read the next book!
5.0 out of 5 starsSuch an awesome read!
Monster is pure evil. He terrorizes Kat. He humiliates her. He does horrible things to her. And then he's so sweet. And she does nothing to stop it. I think she kind of enjoys it. But her tears and fear might say differently. This book is really getting good. I was starting to believe that Olivia Ryann hates Katherine. All the torment she's going through. I want to hate Monster but I feel that he's turning. He had a moment of clarity and it is so obvious that he's falling in love with Katherine. But he's fighting it every step of the way. I can see it especially when he talks to his brother. Oh and the bodyguard. He wants to make sure no one touches Kat.
This is such an awesome read. I am really enjoying this series.
Covet picked up beautifully where Control left off. Arsen and Fiore (also known as Katherine) are as hot as ever in book 3 of the Cherish Series. I find that Covet is a book all about choices. Not only does Arsen allow Fiore to make everyday choices like decorating a house or buying clothes, but he also gives her the ability to make huge life choices that not only affect her but others lives as well. Arsen also makes big choices in this book. As the story unfolds, we see that they are growing to be more like a couple and less like a captor/captive. I love the progression of these books and I can't wait for the next part. Yes they are a little dark but there is dark in real life as well.