text:
CCHR Uses the NAACP
This was sent to me by long term contributor Clearly Not Clear, with an introduction. I don't think anything further need be said…
Do you think the NAACP is aware that the church's CCHR outreach of conspiracy, is claiming a relationship with them?
I wonder how long it took some flunky to comb the human rights websites, to come up with the statistics that they came up with, to populate this transparently topical plea for bucks.
Or did they make some of this up for sensationalism? The psych part especially.
Whether the stats are false or true, I find their grouping of all the stats about black lives, so they can money-grub, disgusting.
If someone were just skimming this promo piece, I wonder if they think it's written with their "partner organization" the NAACP?
Further if they thought that this was CCHR and the NAACP together asking for funds, could people who actually hit the donate button, think their money would go at least halfsies with the NAACP?
Nope, that would never happen.
Granted, it's a poorly written, stuffed compendium of yak, and stats, whose bottom line is, hit the donate button here. But I'm bothered that supporters of the NAACP may be deluded into giving generously.
Anybody who gives CCHR money is giving money to a racist organization.
They want money to put out a, Know your Rights pamphlet. (This summation provided to save you from barfing in your mouth having to wade through its turgid prose).
Would anybody like to bet me money that it's not stuffed with numbers to call that lead them to Scientology?
Would anyone further like to bet that it's not full of the kinds of incendiary statistics that CCHR loves to spread to any organization not careful enough to vet the veracity of their wild claims?
Giving money to an organization like CCHR, which is Scientology through and through, is insanity. Giving money to CCHR, thinking it's going to help Black Lives Matter, matter more, is sadly misinformed.
It would be like Smithfield Foods, a famous slaughterhouse, teaming up on a promo piece with the Humane Society. Talking about how kind to animals they are.
Seeing what L. Ron Hubbard has said about black people, (see Mike's illuminating blog) seeing how racist the church is, and seeing their bizarre relationship with the Nation of Islam, while still being racist, is the kind of insanity that has to be seen to be believed.
This particular promo piece is a Guinness World Book of Records example of irony. It's like saying, they're raising money to stop rape, while lobbying for rapist's rights.
What's really happening, is all feeder organizations created by the church, are toeing the bottom line, of helping Captain Dave, in his quest to dodge subpoenas and stay in power. For the greater glory of protecting their ill gotten gains, and their tax dodging, religious status, status quo.
Clearly Not Clear
Filed Under: Front Groups, Psychiatry Tagged With: CCHR, citizens commission on human rights, Clearly Not Clear, fundraising, NAACP, psychiatry
I am wondering if the C of S got word that Trump was going to investigate removing their tax exempt status at some point, so that could explain the shift away from him.
He was never going to do that. They would have changed course 3 years ago is that was true. This is simply expedient for the PR of the DC National Office. Not a shift in political leanning.
My complaint often is that advocates of Liberty are often left on The Right side of the political line.
Dead Men Tell No Tales Bill Straass ( who else would make a comment like this). says
If they really gave a fuck about human rights, they would give all Sea Org members a copy of the government Human Trafficing Hotline so they could report any instances of Human Trafficing.
(should they happen to see any.) And should they not see any, they must be blind and need glasses.
I thought that the cult was considered a tax exempt organization by the IRS. So how can they legally spent their tax exempt stolen dollars on a political matter? I am not either agreeing nor disagreeing with their position on the matter; simply the legality of their doing so.
The same way PP spends on political matters. Both are acting illegally but if one is charged both will be. Thus, neither are. Welcome to politics USA style.
Laws are for those who are not wealthy. Thus the word privileged. Its root meaning private law (for the upper classes).
@Wynski,
Quite right on all.
Interesting as re the root meaning of "priviliged".
I'm an etymology freak 🙂
Yes Aqua. Fascinating and gives one pause when viewing history
Rick D says
the gangs use of the NAACP goes back into the 90's Fred Shaw Prez ,Alfrauddie Johnson VP and Hanan Islam Tresurer and created a Compton Branch of the NAACP. they Ran it out of the World Literacy Crusade.. .. they used it to cry racism when Alfreddie was removed from office during his recall in Lynwood CA… they also weasled an award for Hell Ron,Heber Jentzsch and Isaac Hayes.. at some point the ruse got shut down. Fred moved to the Inglewood NAACP.. Scientology still milked it for publicity https://whyweprotest.net/attachments/page13b-jpg.156525/
Mike, since many outsiders and news outlets read your blog besides just us fans, you might want to correct the misspelling of the word subpoena. Not being critical. Just helping.
Dead Men Tell No Tales Bill Straass says
Cindy:
Mike only wrote the introductory paragraph. The part you refer to was written by Clearly not Clear.
grisianfarce says
"CCHR can access over 50 years of research that documents the horrible betrayal of African American and other groups by a eugenics-based, racist psychiatric-psychological model" – it would be more but Hubbard died.
Concerned Citizen says
Jan Eastgate was charged with covering up sexual abuse in 2011.
https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/national/senior-scientologist-jan-eastgate-arrested-charged-in-sydney/news-story/45fceb9bd28fa9b22142b61f61ef1f3f?sv=3f952088aca5c5130ec558c2f0d3d59c
However later the charges were later "dismissed"
Scientology money goes a long way.
Mike she was from your neck of the woods wasn't she?
Just some more false advertising by the Clampire. And using the name of someone who covered up child sex abuse in Australia is really over the top. The top of what you ask? The top of the pile of bullshit that spews out of CCHR mouths every day.
Tom Szasz was a crank and was successfully sued twice for his malpractice. And that was after being told by the New York State authorities to never practice psychiatry again.
Princess Leila says
To blame racism on psychology/psychiatry is so ridiculous! Especially in light of LRH's view on colored people…
Besides the stats being non-contextual and thus useless, Hubtard didn't care one bit about blacks and said out how inferior they were to whites.
O/T. I believe that the following is an important story. My ESMB Redux and Twitter links are set forth below.
The Church of Scientology opposes President Trump om the issue of police reform.
https://exscn2.net/threads/the-church-of-scientology-opposes-president-trump-om-the-issuue-of-police-reform.1474/
https://twitter.com/ISNOINews/status/1275024542340169731
Clearly Not Clear says
This is an important story. Thanks ISNOINews.
I'll say. That this amoral cult is siding so suddenly and strenuously against Trump is…interesting. I wonder why? Getting in good with the NOI? And/or hedging their bets and setting themselves up to be all over a possible President Biden like white on rice if you'll pardon the pun. All over him and and what will very likely be an African American female VP if he's elected. I mean, we KNOW the cult doesn't give a tinker's damn about black people dying in this country, or struggling, or doing anything for that matter. Hmmm… although now with Covid and the economy in trouble the cult might believe that African Americans are their best shot – possibly their only shot – at some new public – at having ANY public…interesting…
They obviously told people in the LA area to vote for Trump; the area around PAC Base was practically the only area in the LA area to vote for Trump. Now they are against Trump. When the Freewinds was purchased in 1986 there were little Gold plaques with names on them on the doors of the cabins with names of the people to had contributed greatly to the purchase of the ship. These people had actually bought these cabins. A few years later all of the plaques were removed; So many of the people had been declared it was too much trouble to just change the ones that were declared so they removed them all.
With respect, I think it is incorrect to conclude that the Church of Scientology or Scientologists are now "against Trump." I am UTR, know a lot of Scientologists, and the vast majority are pro-Trump. I think what happened is the following.
For quite some time, the Church of Scientology National Affairs Office has been establishing its bona fides and forming alliances with religious and civil rights organizations by joining in pro-civil rights letters. This was another such letter. I suspect the COSNAO could not refuse to join this letter without blowing its credibility with such organizations; it was too late for the COSNAO to become all "law and order." The COSNAO also thought that no-one was paying attention or would notice that they were opposing President Trump on this issue. In other words, they thought they would get away with it at no cost. They were wrong. I was and am paying attention.
@ISNOINews,
Thanks for these facts.
Given your comment and Mike's comment above it is now understandable to me why CO$ has taken this seemingly anti-Trump stance.
They haven't turned tail on him, its only an expediency because their hand was forced on this single issue.
And they thought no one would notice.
But YOU did and hats off to you for that!
And, yes, lets DEFINITELY ensure that Trump ABSOLUTELY knows that the Church of Scientology vociferously opposes him on this issue!
He really needs to know how STRONGLY Scientology is against this EO of his and in detail how UTTERLY wrong-headed and uninformed he is on this issue.!
Who knows? It might even earn the cult a tweet or two!
With insulting nickname, maybe, for millions of his Twitter followers to read!
Let's help him out with those!
"Church of Lyintology"…"Cult of Greed"…"Scamology".
But we don't have to worry about that point. He'll come up with a good one that will stick.
And speaking of sticking, if it for whatever reason the cult's opposition really sticks in the Presidential Craw, we can rest assured that he'll NEVER let it go! He'll always remember, and resent it! And he will "hit back" and he' hit back "10 x worse than he was hit"…that's just DJT policy!
As regards our favorite cult, this is EXCELLENT policy.
Who would've thought?
Go Donald!
We have all arrived to the world through a mother a father made it into and we are all the owner of a planet together to do the best of in our common interest.


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You are here: Home / Hotel / Hotel News / Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok Announces River Wing Renovation
Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok Announces River Wing Renovation
December 3, 2018 By StrawberrY Gal - Hotel News Leave a Comment
Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group has announced a renovation of Mandarin Oriental, Bangkok's River Wing, designed to confirm this historic hotel's position as one of the best in the world. Scheduled to commence in March 2019 and taking seven months to complete, the renovation will encompass all the rooms and suites in the hotel's River Wing, together with the lobby, swimming pools and Lord Jim's, The Verandah and Riverside Terrace restaurants. The historic Authors' and Garden Wings of the hotel will remain open throughout the renovation.
In keeping with the successful restoration of the Authors' and Garden Wings in 2016, the River Wing renovation is designed to further enhance the accommodation and facilities of this iconic hotel, while maintaining its classic, Thai-influenced elegance and unique resort style.
A major component of the work will be to enlarge the guest rooms located in the River Wing. The overall number of guest rooms will be reduced from 338 to 301, while the number of suites will increase from 30 to 46. All rooms will have views of the Chao Phraya river. The award-winning designer, Jeffrey Wilkes of Design Wilkes, has been appointed to oversee the interiors, which will feature updated amenities, bespoke Thai fabrics, skillfully crafted furniture and beautifully reconditioned artwork from the hotel's collection. The hotel's Lobby, Lord Jim's, The Verandah and Riverside Terrace restaurants will also be stylishly renewed, with many original features restored and re-instated.
All rooms and suites in the Authors' and Garden Wings, located in separate buildings to the River Wing, will remain open throughout the renovation period, as will the hotel's remaining restaurants and banqueting facilities. These include the two-Michelin-starred Le Normandie, the renowned Authors' Lounge, the Bamboo Bar, Ciao Terraza, Sala Rim Naam, Terrace Rim Naam, The China House and the Ballroom. In addition, the hotel's award-winning spa and fitness facilities will remain fully operational. As both swimming pools will undergo renovation, alternative arrangements will be made for guests wishing to swim.
The River Wing will close during the city's low season, and re-open in October 2019, in time for the start of the high season in Bangkok.
Locations: Bangkok, Thailand Category: Hotel News

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Q: Database Trigger And JMS Cound I create a trigger to send a record message to JMS? If yes, how can I do?
Thanks in advance!

A: I would summarize your options as follows:
Databases Supporting JMS
Oracle is the only database that I am aware of that supports JMS natively in the form of Oracle Advanced Queueing. If your message receiver is not too keen on that JMS implementation, it is usually possible to find some sort of messaging bridge that will transform and forward messages from one JMS implementation to another. For example:

*

*Apache Active MQ

*JBoss Messaging
Databases Supporting Java
Some databases such as Oracle and DB2 have a built in Java Virtual Machine and support the loading of third party libraries (Jars) and custom classes that can be invoked by trigger code. Depending on the requirements of your JMS client, this be an issue on account of the version of Java supported (if you need Java 5+ but the DB only supports Java 3). Also keep in mind that threading in some of these embedded JVMs is not what you might expect it to be, but, one might also expect that the sending of JMS messages might be more forgiving of this than  the receiving of the same.
Databases Supporting External Invocations (but not in Java)
Several databases support different means of triggering asynchronous events out to connected clients which can in turn forward JMS messages built from the payload of the event:

*

*Oracle: DBMS_ALERT (synchronous), DBMS_PIPE, DCN

*Postgres: SQLNotify
Some databases (all of the above and including SQLServer) allow you to send SMTP messages from database procedural code (which can be invoked by triggers). While it is not JMS, a mail listener could potentially listen for mail messages (that might conveniently have a JSON or XML message body) and forward this content as a JMS message.
A basic alternate of this is databases packages that allow HTTP posts to call out to external sources where you might have a servlet listening and forwarding the submitted content as a JMS message.
Other databases such as Postgres support non-java languages such as Perl, Python and Tcl where you might employ some clever scripting to send a message to an external message transformer that will forward as JMS. Active MQ (and therefore its message bridge) supports a multi-language JMS client that includes Python and Perl (and many others).
Lowest Common Denominator
Short of all that, your trigger can write an event to a table and an external client can poll the contents of the table, looking for new data and forwarding JMS messages when it finds it. The JMS message can either include the content, or simply indicate that content exists and what the PK is, and the consumer can come and get it.
This is a technique widely supported in Apache Camel which has adapters (technically called Components) specifically for polling databases:

*

*Hibernate

*JDBC

*SQL

*iBatis
Events read from a database table by Camel can then be transformed and routed to a variety of destinations including a JMS server (in the form of a JMS message). Implementing this Camel is fairly straight forward and well documented, so this is not a bad way to go.
I hope this was helpful.

A: IBM z and i series servers have db2 with native SQL function such as MQSEND to send to IBM MQ and also MQREAD to read from IBM MQ. Also these server you can create triggers that call a program.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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text:
Істори́чна Пра́вда — українське онлайнове суспільно-історичне, науково-популярне видання. Засновник та головний редактор — Вахтанг Кіпіані; редактори — Павло Солодько, Олександр Зінченко, Володимир Бірчак, Ігор Бігун, Віталій Скальський.

Видання є незалежним партнером видавництва «Українська правда», однак не пов'язане з УП фінансово чи через механізми власності/менеджменту.

У серпні 2020 року запущено власний однойменний YouTube-канал.

Тематичне спрямування
Видання публікує матеріали про історію України та українців, росіян, поляків, євреїв, кримських татар, інших етносів, доля яких пов'язана з Україною. Від стародавніх часів до сьогодення. Основний акцент, фокус — на політичній історії XX століття: боротьба за державність, людські права, науково-технічний прогрес, тоталітарні проєкти та експерименти, людські долі.

Рубрики сайту:
 Тексти — публіцистичні та наукові статті;
 Коротко — новини, анонси;
 Книжки — рецензії та огляди, інформація про цікаві видання з історичної та суміжних тематик;
 Колонки — авторські погляди авторитетних науковців, громадських діячів і журналістів;
 Дайджест — колекція цікавих і важливих публікацій з онлайнових і офлайнових медіа;
 Інтерв'ю — пряма мова науковців, істориків та учасників історичних подій;
 Студії — наукові роботи, виступи на наукових конференціях тощо;
 Екскурсії — подорожі історичними місцями, поєднання репортажності та наукової популярності, багато фото, графіки, інших ілюстрацій;
 Блогосфера — найцікавіше з історичних блогів (зі збереженням стилістики і мови авторів);
 Артефакти — фотографії, малюнки, самвидав, карти, театральні плакати і виборчі листівки, рідкісні книжкові, газетні та журнальні обкладинки, поштівки, марки, автографи видатних людей, монети та інші раритети, зокрема й ті, які зберігаються в приватних колекціях і родинних архівах;
 Відео — коментарі та розповіді істориків, фрагменти документальних зйомок, кінофільмів, сюжетів тощо.

За період існування видання опубліковано більше 11 тисяч матеріалів понад 600 авторів.

Політолог Володимир Кулик, вважає «Історичну правду»: найпомітнішим онлайн-виданням із жвавим внеском до творення української історичної пам'яті, що публікує тексти з історії України та інших держав. Де, редактори, випробовують себе у ролі громадських істориків, характеризуючи видання як «майданчик для наукових і публіцистичних дискусій навколо історичної політики», «джерело новин» за актуальними темами зі «сховищем артефактів».

Див. також
 Історична правда з Вахтангом Кіпіані — українська щотижнева телепрограма.

Примітки

Джерела
 Офіційний сайт проєкту «Історична правда»
 Ютуб-канал проєкту «Історична правда»

Засновані в Україні 2010
Інтернет-ЗМІ України
Історія в Україні

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Minerva plc
KiFin Limited
Advised Minerva plc, a UK real estate development company, on its successful defence following an unsolicited offer from KiFin Limited, a company that makes investments for the benefit of Mr Nathan Kirsh
Mining Division of Terex Corp.
Bucyrus International
Advised Bucyrus International, Inc., a global mining equipment manufacturer, on the acquisition of the mining division of Terex Corp., a diversified equipment company
Prudential Financial, Inc.
Advised Wells Fargo on the acquisition of Prudential Financial's noncontrolling interest in their retail brokerage Joint Venture
Verivox Holding Limited
Oakley Capital Private Equity LP
Advised the shareholders of Verivox Holdings Limited, comprising Independent News & Media plc and the founders and joint CEOs of Verivox, on the sale of 51% in Verivox, Germany's leading price comparison website for energy and telecommunications services, to Oakley Capital Private Equity
Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Sigma-Tau Pharmaceuticals
Advised Enzon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company on the sale of its specialty pharmaceutical business to Sigma-Tau, an Italian pharmaceutical company
Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc.
Advised Fleetwood Enterprises, Inc. on the sale of substantially all of its assets, pursuant to multiple Section 363 sales
Ladbrokes Plc
Acted as Joint Financial Adviser to Ladbrokes plc, a leading UK based betting and gaming company, on its rights issue
Avocent Corporation
Emerson Electric Co.
Advised Emerson Electric Co., a diversified global technology and industrial company, on its acquisition of Avocent Corporation, a manufacturer of software and hardware products
$263 milllion
Sykes Enterprises
Advised ICT Group on its merger with Sykes Enterprises, both leading global providers of outsourced customer contact management solutions and services
Advised the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation ("PBGC") on Delphi's reorganization and the structure and terms of the PBGC's recovery on account of Delphi's pension plan termination
UKAEA Limited
Babcock International Group plc
Advised United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Non Departmental Public Body, arm of the UK Government, on the sale of UKAEA Limited, its commercial nuclear decommissioning services business, to Babcock International Group plc
BJ Services Company
Baker Hughes Incorporated
Advised BJ Services Company, a leading pressure pumping company, on its merger with Baker Hughes Incorporated, a global oilfield services company
NYFIX, Inc.
Advised the Special Committee of the Board of Directors of NYFIX, Inc., a provider of electronic trading solutions, on its sale to NYSE Euronext
NCI Building Systems, Inc.
Advised NCI Building Systems, Inc., one of North America's largest integrated manufacturers and marketers of metal products for the non-residential construction industry, on its financial restructuring, which included a majority investment by CD&R and a restructuring of NCI's outstanding debt
Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, Inc.
Advised the Special Committee of the Board of Directors of Barnes & Noble, Inc., the world's largest bookseller, on its acquisition of Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, Inc.
Dynegy, Inc.
LS Power Equity Partners
Advised Dynegy, Inc., a merchant power generator, on its sale of 9 power plants to LS Power Equity Partners in exchange for cash and Dynegy shares
Rexam plc
Acted as Financial Adviser and Joint Sponsor to Rexam plc, a leading global consumer packaging group, on its rights issue
Groupe Aeroplan Inc.
Advised Groupe Aeroplan on its C$150MM participation in a C$600MM credit facility for Air Canada
Quebecor World Inc
Acted as financial advisor to Quebecor World on its CCAA / Chapter 11 restructuring
Pension Trustees of Galiform PLC
Advised the Pension Trustees of the Galiform PLC Defined Benefit Pension Scheme to negotiate a revised schedule of payments to fund its deficit
PARIS RE Holdings Ltd.
PartnerRe Ltd.
Advised PartnerRe Ltd., a leading global reinsurer, providing multi-line reinsurance to insurance companies, on its acquisition of PARIS RE Holdings Ltd., a French-listed, Swiss-based diversified reinsurer
Alcan Packaging's Food Americas business (business unit of Rio Tinto plc)
Bemis Company, Inc.
Advised Bemis Company, Inc., a global supplier of flexible packaging and pressure sensitive materials, on its acquisition of Alcan Packaging's Food Americas business
Monogram Biosciences, Inc.
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings
Advised LabCorp on the acquisition of Monogram Biosciences, a molecular diagnostics company focused on guiding and improving the treatment of serious infectious diseases and cancer
EPCOR Power L.P.
Advised the Independent Committee of the Board of Directors of EPCOR Power L.P., an Alberta-based power trust, on approval of the transfer of its GP interest and 30.6% LP interest from EPCOR Utilities to a newly formed company, Capital Power Corporation
Tristone Capital Global Inc.
Advised Tristone Capital Global Inc., an independent advisory firm focused on the global energy sector, on its sale to Macquarie Group


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We are assure you best services of products and excellent technical support for any of your needs and optimum satisfactory services.


text:
Ripon bus services continue to roll
Riders of the Blossom Express transit service can continue enjoying the services throughout Ripon and into Modesto.
The Ripon City Council recently approved the Measure K Renewal Cooperation Agreement with the San Joaquin Council of Government on operation funding.
Measure K Renewal paid $33,587 of the $35,209 in revenue during the past year. Bus fares ($1,622) made up the difference.
Those numbers were also based on the number of riders (1,129) for the 2016-17 fiscal year.
For 2017-18, the ridership is expected to increase to 1,157 — or $1,663 in fares - with Revenue estimated at $35,688 and Measure K Renewal handling $33,587.
The Blossom Express operates twice a week in Ripon, including five hours each day.
Stops include areas near or at Bethany Homes, downtown Ripon, Kaiser Hospital in Modesto, and the Vintage Faire Mall Food Court.


text:
Pokémon Masters Pre-Registration Opens for Eager Trainers
To be a Master
Zubi Khan | Jul 24, 2019
Pokémon fans looking forward to Pokémon Masters can now pre-register for the upcoming mobile title on the Apple App Store and Google Play.
Pokémon Masters will feature an all-new 3-on-3 real-time battle system, more reminiscent of the core Pokémon games. Pokémon Masters takes place on the island of Pasio, a hub for Trainers and Masters alike, from all previous regions from within the expansive world of Pokémon. Unlike Pokémon Go, Masters promises to feature more characters from the core games and anime series — including characters such as Brock, Misty, Red and Blue, in addition to other notable Champions, such as Lance, Steven and Cynthia.
In order to unlock specific Pokémon within the game, players will have to unlock the corresponding trainer that matches that type. In other words, instead of catching Pokémon in the wild, trainers instead, must find teams to add to their roster — this can be done by playing the story mode, in-game rewards or via microtransactions, ala Fire Emblem Heroes.
Graphically, Pokémon Masters employs a cell-shaded aesthetic, similar to that of the 3DS Pokémon titles and the forthcoming Pokémon Sword and Shield games for the Nintendo Switch. Long-time series veterans of the of Pokémon can look forward to Masters — particularly those who want to see the appearance of some classic Pokémon characters, who for the first time, have been featured rendered and fully realized in 3D.
A preview version of Pokémon Masters will be available starting tomorrow in Singapore, followed shortly by Canada. Readers interested in registering for the game can do so by clicking here for Android and here for iOS.
File Under: Pokémon
↠ Square Enix and People Can Fly Announce New AAA Title In Development
↠ Razer CEO Reveals Prototypes Stolen at CES
↠ The Game Awards 2019 Show Set For December
↠ Square Enix Announces Life is Strange is Coming to iOS Devices
↠ Passion and Fandom: The Mind Behind Netflix's Castlevania


text:
On Day One, Trump's WhiteHouse.gov Scrubs Every Mention of Combating Climate Change
New administration's official site offers 'America First Energy Plan' which boasts 'direct obstacle to a livable future' by promoting fracking and coal
Andrea Germanos, staff writer
Trump's America First Energy Plan isn't a plan at all, said Sierra Club head Michael Brune, but "a polluter wishlist that will make our air and water dirtier, our climate and international relations more unstable, and our kids sicker." (Photo: Julia DeSantis via Climate J20/flickr/cc)
Soon after Donald Trump took his oath as the 45the President of the United States, the new White House web page for his administration went up. Among the key differences from the previous administration's—the lack of any reference to the threat of climate change.
While climate change was listed as a top issue on the Obama White House official site, the new page now lists 'America First Energy Plan' as among the top six issues.
The new page states: "For too long, we've been held back by burdensome regulations on our energy industry. President Trump is committed to eliminating harmful and unnecessary policies such as the Climate Action Plan and the Waters of the U.S. rule" That is the only use of "climate" on the page.
The Climate Action Plan refers to Obama-era climate regulations, and the Waters of the U.S. rule, as the Washington Post explains, "is an EPA action to protect not only the nation's largest waterways but smaller tributaries that critics think should fall under the jurisdiction of states rather than the federal government," a rollback of which could "end up benefiting some Trump-related businesses."
The "energy plan" page adds that the new administration "will embrace the shale oil and gas revolution" and is "committed to clean coal technology," referring to carbon capture and storage—a costly technological process that has so far proven a failure.
The page adds: "President Trump will refocus the EPA on its essential mission of protecting our air and water"—though it stands to be "every polluter's ally" if Trump's pick to head the agency, Scott Pruitt, is confirmed.
The Obama White House site, in contrast, listed climate change as a top issue, stating: "President Obama believes that no challenge poses a greater threat to our children, our planet, and future generations than climate change."
Addressing that magnitude, Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, said, "Minutes after he was sworn in, any illusion that Trump would act in the best interests of families in this country as President were wiped away by a statement of priorities that constitute an historic mistake on one of the key crises facing our planet and an assault on public health."
Rather than a plan, Brune said it's a "polluter wishlist that will make our air and water dirtier, our climate and international relations more unstable, and our kids sicker."
At the same time, the pledges for more fossil fuel extraction are not at all surprising, said 350.org executive director May Boeve. "Trump's energy plan is par for the course of the President's climate denial, but it's nonetheless alarming for the movement to keep fossil fuels in the ground."
"Fulfilling this plan would not only set back years of progress we've made towards protecting the climate, but would undoubtedly worsen the devastating impacts of the climate crisis, from rising sea levels to extreme weather. This is not a plan for a brighter future—it's a direct obstacle to a livable future, and we will do everything we can to resist it," she said.
As New York magazine notes, also missing from the new White House site are sections on LGBTQ equality, civil rights, and healthcare.
Climate, U.S.
#NotNormal, Donald Trump, 350.org


text:
Made Smarter West Midlands Scoops Top Award For Commitment To Innovation
The scheme helps manufacturing firms embrace cutting-edge technology.
News - Made Smarter West Midlands Scoops Top Award For Commitment To Innovation
A scheme which has helped dozens of manufacturing and engineering firms in the West Midlands embrace cutting-edge technology to boost their productivity has scooped a top award recognising its commitment to innovation.
Made Smarter, a programme which helps SMEs in the manufacturing and engineering sectors utilise new digital technology and equip them for the future, was among the winners at the Innovation Awards held at a ceremony in Birmingham.
The programme won the 'Engineering Innovation Champion – Organisation Sector' category alongside APF - Aston University.
Made Smarter was launched in the West Midlands in 2021, and has been led by Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP) Growth Hub with its fellow Growth Hubs in Greater Birmingham and Solihull, the Black Country, Worcestershire, The Marches, and Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire on behalf of the West Midlands Combined Authority and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
The Growth Hubs work alongside strategic partners WMG, at the University of Warwick, and the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) in Coventry to provide expert advice to businesses.
Since Made Smarter was launched in the region, it has advised more than 200 businesses on how to improve their productivity through adopting digital technology, which has generated millions in GVA.
It has also allowed these firms to access match-funded grants of up to £20,000 for major capital improvements.
Such was the success of the original one-year programme, it was renewed by BEIS for another three years, allowing even more companies to sign up.
Craig Humphrey, Managing Director of CWLEP Growth Hub, said: "The success of Made Smarter since it launched in our region has surpassed all expectations, and this award win is a testament to that.
"Our Digital Transformation Experts have done brilliantly in reaching out to businesses, giving them tailored advice suitable to their needs, and helping them access the capital they need to implement improvements.
"Being renewed for another three years was a clear endorsement that we have achieved great things for the sector here in the West Midlands, and it's fantastic that this commitment to innovation has been recognised with an Innovation Award.
"We're absolutely delighted and we're looking forward to continuing our work with businesses across the region."
Paul Sullivan, Digital Transformation Expert at Made Smarter, added: "Many of the businesses we have visited over the months were either unaware of what tools were out there to help boost their productivity, or knew what they needed but did not have the funds available.
"It's been a real pleasure to visit these businesses and watch them flourish once they've adopted the new technology.
"Made Smarter is having a major impact on the West Midlands economy, and this award underlines the work we've put in."


LATELY DEAD – Eddie Flanagan. May he rest in peace.
Sat- The Presentation of the Lord.
THEATRE OUTINGS – just mentioning the dates: The Lion King – Tuesday 19th February; Cats – Tuesday 16th April; Wicked- Tuesday 22nd October.
UNWANTED CHRISTMAS PRESENTS – would be welcomed by the Mayor and Mayoress of Mossley ( Dean and Joanne Aylett) to go into the raffle for the Mayor's Charity Appeal – supporting local charities. Please leave in porch. Also, CIVIC DINNER AND DANCE on Saturday 2nd March at the Westholme Masonic Hall. Tickets £23.50. See Deane for more information.
DIOCESAN PILGRIMAGE TO LOURDES – see poster in porch.
FOLK/COMEDY NIGHT FOR CAFOD – St Edward, Lees, on 8th February. See the poster in the porch for more details.
FINANCIAL STATEMENT – overleaf (hard copy only) is a brief summary of our Financial Statement submitted to the diocese. Do feel free to raise any questions. Money held in the No 2 Account cannot be accessed without the approval of the diocese. Our gratitude to Brian for producing the figures and our gratitude to everyone for their financial support of the parish in these difficult times.
IRELAND'S OWN – has proved to be popular and they are sending more copies, if not this week, then next.
SACRAMENTAL PROGRAMME – for parents and children takes place next Sunday at 9.15am. Before Mass was the favoured option.
OFFERTORY AND GIFT-AID ENVELOPES – are in the porch. There are spare envelopes and gift-aid forms.
ONESIES – are no doubt all the rage in Mossley, hooded or unhooded, and ideal in these freezing temperatures. Not sure if they have clerical onesies! I suspect that some parishioners will be sad to see the snow disappear; it does have a certain enchantment. People have been sporting some extraordinary head-wear that wouldn't be out of place in Siberia. Lent is on the horizon. June is taking orders for hair shirts to wear in Lent- rough or very rough! St Thomas More wore one every day- no silk pyjamas for him.


As a department we aim to engage, inspire and challenge pupils, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design. At Key Stage 3, pupils will be taught to develop their creativity and ideas, and increase proficiency in their execution.
They will also be encouraged to develop a critical understanding of artists, architects and designers, expressing reasoned judgements that can inform their own work.
Pupils who opt for Fine Art or Art, Craft and Design in year 9 will be helped to make the transition from Key stage 3 to 4. During year 9, pupils will learn about what is required at GCSE level. They will continue to further develop their drawing and painting skills, and also their critical understanding of artists, architects and designers. Pupils will also be encouraged explore a broader variety of art techniques and processes in preparation for years 10 and 11.
Students must develop and apply the knowledge, understanding and skills specified in the Subject content within the context of fine art practice and their selected area(s) of study.
The following aspects of the knowledge, understanding and skills are defined in further detail to ensure students' work is clearly focused and relevant to fine art.
This title promotes learning across a variety of experiences and through various processes, tools, techniques, materials and resources to generate different kinds of evidence of working and outcomes.
Fine art: for example drawing, painting, sculpture, installation, lens-/light-based media, photography, printmaking, mixed media and land art.
Three-dimensional design: for example sculpture or ceramics.
Photography: for example portraiture, location photography, studio photography, experimental imagery.
Component 1: must show evidence of working in areas of study drawn from two or more of the titles taking into account the distinguishing characteristics of art, craft and design.
Component 2: must show evidence of areas of study drawn from one or more of the titles.
The areas of study selected for Component 1 can be the same as, or different from, those selected for Component 2.
Students must explore, through a range of two-dimensional and/or three-dimensional processes and media, practical application of skills and relevant critical and contextual sources such as the work of contemporary artists, craftspeople and designers and the different purposes, intentions and functions of art, craft and design as appropriate to their own work.
Both the Fine Art course and the Art, Craft and Design course are weighted as 60% controlled assessment and 40% externally set task.
Internal assessments are completed by May of the examination year.
External assessments are completed by an AQA moderator after internal assessments have taken place.
Curriculum map – Art, Craft & Design.
Curriculum map – Fine Art.
How can parents support their child and Sir Thomas Boughey Academy with Art and Design?
Encourage and support your child with homework tasks.
Encourage your child to draw and paint at home in order to further develop their art skills.
At Key Stage 4, ensure that your child attends lunchtime and after school sessions on a regular basis.


Brandon Holt, son of tennis legend Tracy Austin, is entered in this year's open singles and doubles competition in the 116th Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament.
Brandon Holt has one championship in the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament, teaming with Kent Mukai to win the Boys' Interscholastic doubles in 2014 during his sophomore season at Palos Verdes High. The 18-year-old has raised the bar for the 116th Ojai, entering the Men's Open singles and doubles seeded into the main draw that begins play Thursday at the Ojai Valley Inn.


Thank you for doing a fantastic job with our wedding photos. You have been a pleasure to deal with from the initial meeting and were nothing but professional on the day, to the point where my bridesmaids forgot about me and you helped with my dress!! you captured the day beautifully and we cannot wait to see our album, which we will cherish always. We will recommend you to all of our friends – it was a pleasure to have you there on our wedding day and we wish you nothing but the best for the future.


(1)Chapter 4 of Part 3 of the Water Industry Act 1991 (fluoridation), as amended by the Water Act 2003, is amended as follows.
"(i)in relation to areas in England, are to the Secretary of State;".
"(a)in relation to England, such area as the Secretary of State considers appropriate for the purpose of complying with section 88G(2);".
"(7A)The Secretary of State must, in relation to the terms to be included in any arrangements under this section, consult any local authority whose area includes, coincides with or is wholly or partly within the specified area.
(b)if suitable terms are not agreed for all the arrangements, a combined reference may be made by them under section 87B below to enable the terms of each set of arrangements to be determined so that they are consistent.
(7D)If the Secretary of State requests a water undertaker to vary arrangements for an area which adjoins an area in respect of which the Welsh Ministers have made arrangements with the same water undertaker, the Secretary of State must co-operate with the Welsh Ministers so as to secure that following the variation the arrangements (taken together) will be operable and efficient.
(7E)If the Welsh Ministers request a water undertaker to vary arrangements for an area which adjoins an area in respect of which the Secretary of State has made arrangements with the same water undertaker, the Welsh Ministers must co-operate with the Secretary of State so as to secure that following the variation the arrangements (taken together) will be operable and efficient.
(7)Omit subsections (8) to (10) of that section.
(8)In subsection (11) of that section for "a relevant authority" substitute "the Welsh Ministers".
(11)In that section, in subsection (4) for the words from the beginning to "section 87(8)(b) or (10)" substitute "Where a combined reference is made under section 87(7C)(b) or 87(7F)".
(12)In section 87C (fluoridation arrangements: compliance), omit subsection (8).


Corbett Manor is a charming community of 7 craftman-style homes, located in West Springfield. Sited in a private cul-de-sac, backing to a beautiful 2.5 acre wooded preserve, new homeowners will enjoy living close to plenty of shopping and dining opportunities in a beautiful home with all of the finest interior features.
The Burke is a 4 -5 Bedroom, 3.5 – 4.5 Bathroom with up to 4,500 sq. ft. of living space. As one of Christopher Companies' most popular home designs, we couldn't help but share some of the reasons why we, and homeowners today, LOVE this home. Visit us at Corbett Manor to see this beauty for yourself. You won't regret it. Only three homes remain at this gorgeous community located in West Springfield – so don't delay, make this home yours TODAY!


Village house located in Fraine, on three floors with two cellars and about 30 sq m of garden for sale in the Abruzzo region. The property enjoys a beautiful view of the Abruzzo hills, the garden and the ancient village. In the basement there are two cellars completely in stone. On the ground floor there is a kitchen with a window, a living room and a bedroom. On the first floor there are three bedrooms and a bathroom that must rebuilt. The water and electricity services are to be connected during the renovation works.


We take Moving seriously, So You don't have to.
Twins Movers, the premier Washington DC Area Movers. We provide the highest quality moving services available. We have a hard won reputation for excellence in the industry which is evidenced by a high rate of return customers and referrals from friends and family that have used our service.
Twins Moving & Storage Inc. takes great satisfaction in knowing that we've helped make your relocation process go as smoothly as possible.
we're open! When you need a reliable local mover call the reliable local professionals.
1. Get a FREE QUOTE for your move.


text:
Q: Custom Spring Condition causes java.lang.NoSuchMethodException: () exception I'm just trying to override the default behaviour of WebSecurityConfiguration and had to write my own conditions to initiate the beans based on the properties defined.
I have defined no arg constructor inside my custom condition class. Irrespective of that, I get java.lang.NoSuchMethodException, when I spin up the app.
This is how my code looks:
@Configuration
@ConditionalOnClass(WebSecurityConfigurerAdapter.class)
@Slf4j
public class WebSecurityConfiguration {

    class DefaultSecurityCondition implements Condition {

        public DefaultSecurityCondition(){}

        @Override
        public boolean matches(ConditionContext context, AnnotatedTypeMetadata metadata) {

            if (context.getEnvironment().getProperty("property.server.authorised-clients") == null &&
                    context.getEnvironment().getProperty("property.server.authorised-thumbprints") == null) {
                return true;
            }
            return false;
        }
    }

    @Configuration
    @Conditional(DefaultSecurityCondition.class)
    @EnableWebSecurity
    public class DefaultAuthorisationConfiguration extends WebSecurityConfigurerAdapter {
        @Override
        protected void configure(HttpSecurity http) throws Exception {
            http.authorizeRequests().antMatchers("/").permitAll()
                    .and().httpBasic().disable().authorizeRequests()
                    .and().csrf().disable();
        }
    }
    }

However, when I try to start my app, I get below exception.

java.lang.NoSuchMethodException:
  com.test.WebSecurityConfiguration$DefaultSecurityCondition.()

What am I doing wrong?

A: When it's an inner class, DefaultSecurityCondition must be declared static. When it is not static an instance cannot be created without also having an instance of its outer class.


Yeah Nah is a NZ based workshop designing 3D Printed objects for your home. A clever fusion of art and technology producing stunning handmade home décor.
Eco Lawn is extremely low maintenance; permeable / porous surface, no mowing, no watering, no mud, no puddles, increased usability & stability, it's not going to dry out or become uncomfortably ridged. Kids and pets can play on it.
Wanaka's one stop landscape supply yard. We stock a large range of hard and soft landscaping products. We specialise in producing and maintaining quality outdoor settings, from a simple driveway through to a complete new build and finished landscape. We also supply quality firewood.
Makes and installs tough, stylish electric and manual gates - sliding or swinging - for homes and businesses throughout Auckland.
Entire Property Solutions offer professional gardening services to customers in Christchurch and the surrounding areas. Services include, lawn care including mowing and edging, pruning, and regular or one-off garden maintenance. We are experienced professional gardeners and large section specialists. Get in touch for a free quote.
Crusaders Gardenmakers are one of Christchurchs leading Landscape product and firewood suppliers. Our website has pricing and product options for you to view before visiting our versatile yard in person.
Lanzpec Limited - Landscaping Company that produce stunning gardens & outdoor spaces. Services-Consultations, Concepts, Planting, Construction, Garden Maintenance.
Here at Clear Water Blasting Services we aim to deliver "you" the Client the cleanest possible property and the peace of mind in knowing that both your home and what you walk on is bright and clean.Large prices should not be an issue when in need of this type of Service, we will work with your set budget and give you the highest of expert workmanship possible to bring you the desired result you longed for in your property.


As we continue to grow and serve the community, Buchanan Center for the Arts board of directors and staff would like your feedback on how we are doing and suggestions you may have for future programming. Please complete the survey by clicking on the link below. The survey will only take approximately five minutes. Your feedback is critical to ensure the BCA meets the needs of our patrons, supporters, and community in our effort to enrich lives and promote enjoyment of the arts by offering opportunities for creative and diverse artistic experiences. Thank you!
Buchanan Center for the Arts members are valued. The BCA strives to bring you and our community creative and diverse artistic experiences. Your membership has built a longstanding tradition of quality exhibitions and programming. As we launch another exciting year of the arts, we want to share with you the difference your membership makes in our community and the wonderful benefits you receive as a member.
Click on the link to join or renew your membership!


text:
Q: TerminalServicesManager().CurrentSession.ClientName I am trying to figure out what clients are connected to my machine using remote desktop.
I read about Cassia and the Cassia.TerminalServicesManager, but I can't wrap my mind around it...
I thought that Cassia.TerminalServicesManager().CurrentSession.ClientName would give me a name of the client, but what if there are more? I looked at the references, but I am still confused. Can someone help me out?
Thanks

A: It sounds like you're looking for something like this:
var manager = new TerminalServicesManager();
using (var server = manager.GetLocalServer())
{
    server.Open();
    foreach (var session in server.GetSessions())
    {
        if (session.ConnectionState == ConnectionState.Active)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(session.ClientName);
        }
    }
}

ITerminalServicesManager.CurrentSession returns the session in which the current process is running.

A: By default If you connect to a windows machine using remote desktop it kicks the local user off, if they log back in it kicks the remote user off. If you have enabled Concurrent Remote Desktop Sessions there can be multiple users connected at once.  I am not familiar with Cassia but perhaps you could loop over all of the sessions calling Cassia.TerminalServicesManager().CurrentSession.ClientName each time?


text:
package com.geeksforgeeks.Graphs;

import java.util.Arrays;
import java.util.LinkedList;
import java.util.Queue;

/**
 * Created by Vaidehi Murarka on 12/18/2016.
 * https://www.careercup.com/question?id=5733359197093888
 */
public class ShortestDistanceFromAllBuildings {

    private static int building = 1;
    private static int obstacle = 2;

    private static int neighbourCount = 4;
    private int[] neighbourX = new int[]{-1, 1, 0,0};
    private int[] neighbourY = new int[]{0, 0, -1, 1};

    public int shortestDistance(int[][] farmLand){
        int shortestDistance  = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
        int rows = farmLand.length;
        int columns = farmLand[0].length;
        int[][] buildingReachable = new int[rows][columns];
        int[][] distance = new int[rows][columns];
        /*
            Tracks the number of buildings in the farm Land
         */
        int buildingCount = 0;
        for(int row = 0; row < rows; row++){
            for(int column = 0; column < columns; column++){
                if(farmLand[row][column] == building){
                    buildingCount++;
                    boolean[][] visited = new boolean[rows][columns];
                    LinkedList<Cell> queue =  new LinkedList<>();
                    queue.addFirst(new Cell(row, column, 0));
                    bfs(farmLand, visited, row, column, queue, buildingReachable, distance);
                }
            }
        }
        System.out.println("Distance Matrix");
        for(int row = 0; row < rows; row++) {
            for (int column = 0; column < columns; column++) {
                System.out.print(distance[row][column] + " ");
            }
            System.out.println();
        }

        System.out.println("Number of buildings that can be reached");
        for(int row = 0; row < rows; row++) {
            for (int column = 0; column < columns; column++) {
                System.out.print(buildingReachable[row][column] + " ");
            }
            System.out.println();
        }

        for(int row = 0; row < rows; row++) {
            for (int column = 0; column < columns; column++) {
                if(buildingReachable[row][column] == buildingCount && shortestDistance > distance[row][column]){
                    shortestDistance = distance[row][column];
                }
            }
        }

        return shortestDistance;
    }

    private void bfs(int[][] farmLand, boolean[][] visited, int bX, int bY, LinkedList<Cell> queue, int[][] buidingsReachable, int[][] distance){
        while(!queue.isEmpty()) {
            Cell cell = queue.removeFirst();
            int x = cell.x;
            int y = cell.y;
            int distanceSoFar = cell.distance;
        /*
            Check if the coordinates are valid
         */
            if (x < 0 || y < 0 || x >= farmLand.length || y >= farmLand[0].length) {
                continue;
            }

        /*
            If the cell on the farm land is a building but not the building from which we started
         */
            if (farmLand[x][y] == building && x != bX && y != bY) {
                continue;
            }

        /*
            If the cell on the farmland is an obstacle we cant travel furthur
         */
            if (farmLand[x][y] == obstacle) {
                continue;
            }

        /*
            Do not revisit a not from a given building
         */
            if (visited[x][y]) {
                continue;
            }

            visited[x][y] = true;
            buidingsReachable[x][y] += 1;
            distance[x][y] += distanceSoFar;
            for (int neighbour = 0; neighbour < neighbourCount; neighbour++) {
                queue.addLast(new Cell(x + neighbourX[neighbour], y + neighbourY[neighbour], distanceSoFar + 1));
            }
        }

    }

    private static class Cell{
        int x;
        int y;
        int distance;
         public Cell(int x, int y, int distance){
             this.x = x;
             this.y = y;
             this.distance = distance;
         }
    }

    public static void main(String[] args){
        int[][] farmLand = new int[][]{{1, 0, 2, 0, 1}, {0, 0 ,0, 0 ,0}, {0, 0, 1, 0, 0}, {0, 0 ,0, 0 ,0}};
        ShortestDistanceFromAllBuildings buildings = new ShortestDistanceFromAllBuildings();
        System.out.println("Shortest distance from all buildings "+ buildings.shortestDistance(farmLand));
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Alternative designs and a record drawing for a chimneypiece for the music room, 1766-1770 (4)
The design of Adam volumes 22/178 and 22/179 were executed by John Devall with alterations in 1768 but after only two years the chimneypiece was then removed to the state bed chamber. It was replaced by the surviving chimneypiece, also by Devall, which takes elements of the original design, having console stiles, calyx and lyres, but is to a different design with the head of Apollo at the centre.
Harris has suggested that Adam volumes 22/178 and 22/179 were incorrectly dated to 1769, as the chimneypiece was executed a year earlier in 1768.
It is possible that Adam volume 22/180 was designed in 1770 when John Devall replaced the original chimneypiece. The design was not used at Harewood, but it was used in the Tapestry Room at Newby Hall.
[17] Alternative design for a chimneypiece for the music room, 1766
Adam office hand, possibly William Hamilton, and title inscription in the hand of William Adam, pencil-drawn annotations in the hand of Robert Adam
Adam office hand, possibly William Hamilton, with title inscription in the hand of William Adam
[20] Record drawing for a chimneypiece for the music room, 1770
Adam office hand, possibly Joseph Bonomi


text:
0412: Get To Know a Kansan: Lisa Stewart
Uncovering Kansas was founded based on the idea that we frequently overlook the great things that are right in our back yard. As a matter of fact, right on the home page of our website is this quote from Dagobert Runes:
People travel to faraway places to watch, in fascination, the kind of people they ignore at home.
My guest today, Lisa Stewart is going to tell us about her experience meeting people and exploring Kansas at 4 mph on horseback. It is a good reminder that we all have one fundamental thing in common - we are all Kansans. Whether by birth, by choice, or by circumstance, we are all neighbors.
Links from the Show:
Lisa Stewart: The Big Quiet website
Kansas Book Festival Episode
Atwood Kansas
Get to Know a Kansan Questions:
Prairie Village Kansas
Somerset Wine Trail
Miami County Farm Tour
Robert Day - The Last Cattle Drive
What You'll Learn in this episode:
What it is like to travel across Kansas on a horse
A reminder that humanity is fundamentally good
About the memoir The Big Quiet: One Woman's Horseback Ride Home
That Kansas isn't flat!
The benefit of traveling slowly
Why Prairie Village Kansas is a great place to live
About the Somerset Wine Trail
About Kansas writer Robert Day
How to Support the Podcast
Tell a friend about us
Follow us on Instagram or Facebook
Buy a Kansas Travel Journal
Send us a recommendation for an episode
0411: Get to Know Kansas Small Business
The Saturday after Thanksgiving has become Small Business Saturday - a day set aside to encourage people to shop in small businesses.
At Uncovering Kansas, we want to encourage you to not only shop small, but to shop local. Shop Kansas!
Back in late summer, we asked you to nominate your favorite local business for an upcoming episode. We've selected 2 of these shops for today's episode. We'll be doing our Get to Know a Kansan format - talking to 2 Kansans about their passion - their shops - and then seeing Kansas through their eyes.
Links mentioned in the show
Modern Cowgirl Boutique website
Modern Cowgirl Boutique Instagram
Modern Cowgirl Facebook
Soul Sister Ceramics website
Soul Sister Ceramics Instagram
Soul Sister Ceramics Facebook
All about Madison Kansas
All about Courtland Kansas
Two unique ways Kansans are combining agriculture with non-agriculture business
How to Support the Podcast:
Follow us onInstagram or Facebook
0410: Kansas Spirits
Happy Fall Kansas! And welcome to our October episode.
We are carrying through the Halloween theme from the previous episode. When Geoff originally pitched the idea, I was sort of like "Wha? Say it again." He wanted to focus on spirits. Several meanings contained within the word spirit. Not only the spirits we usually think about when we prepare and celebrate Halloween but the holiday spirit and the associated community spirit that often runs alongside the holiday. Halloween is, at least in America, sort of the official kick-off to the longer holiday season. And what do many people choose to celebrate with… other than food? You guessed. Spirits! Liquor, wine and beer. We are going to focus on two of these (liquor and beer) in this episode.
Kansas has had an interesting and peculiar history with alcohol and a key figure of historical importance. Carrie Nation. And while we, as Kansans, appreciate that history, our state is arguably still haunted by her ghost. Efforts are underway to exorcise the ghost of Carrie Nation but until the rite of exorcism is completed, artisans and entrepreneurs wanting to operate within the alcohol beverage industry must possess courage and bravery. And we have a panel of three representatives from three different Kansas companies located across the state to discuss and share their company story with you.
Kansas Territory Brewing
Boot Hill Distillery
Boiler Room Brewery
Dodge City Episode
About the unique opportunities and challenges of running a brewery or distillery in Kansas
Kansas was the first state to implement prohibition and the last state to repeal prohibition
How some of Kansas' liquor laws make it difficult for businesses to thrive in Kansas
How breweries and distilleries are bringing a sense of community to small towns
0409: Elizabeth Krebs and the Hiawatha Halloween Frolic
There is a stereotype about the crotchety old person who watches out their window and when kids step one foot onto their lawn, they run out onto the porch, shaking their fist and yelling 'get off my lawn you hooligans!'
Well, today we are going to learn about a Kansan who has impacted our culture simply because she wasn't the kind of person who would fall into that stereotype. Instead of shaking her fist and yelling at the neighborhood kids, she looked for a way to be more creative and more positive in her approach to keep the kids off her lawn.
What exactly did Elizabeth Krebs do to change culture as we know it? Well, find out in my interview with Katie Miller, President of the Hiawatha Chamber and Visitor's Bureau.
One note about the audio in this interview. There are some audio problems that I wasn't able to fix in editing. I didn't hear them during the actual recording, so I wasn't able to address it at that time. My apologies about that. They aren't going to take away from how much you will learn in the episode, I promise!
Links mentioned in the episode:
Halloween Frolic facebook page
Our modern Halloween traditions were started by Kansan Elizabeth Krebs in Hiawatha, KS
What the Halloween Frolic is all about
The longest continuous Halloween parade has been going in Hiawath since 1914
Who is Elizabeth Krebs
What to expect if you attend the Halloween Frolic in Hiawatha, KS
Children's author Bill Martin Jr., author of the famous book, was born in Hiawatha
Riverdale, in Archie comics is based on Hiawatha
0408: Svensk Hyllningsfest
This month, Rachel talks with Ryan Biergert, festival co-chair of Svensk Hillingsfest, a festival that celebrates our state's Swedish Heritage, hosted in Lindsborg. According to the Kansas Historical Society, the first Swede arrived in Kansas in 1864, and he encouraged others to emigrate and file claims for land in what is now Lindsborg Ks. By 1890, there were 17,000 Swedes in Kansas.
Lindsborg is a town that celebrates its Swedish history, and not just during the festival. Visit any time of the year, and you'll feel the Swedish culture everywhere you go. There is a lot to see and do in Lindsborg, and I hope you add it to your list, whether you go during the festival or at another time of year.
What you'll be able to see and do at Svensk Hyllingsfest this September
While in Lindsborg, you can also visit Raymer Society
Stop by the Birger Sandzen gallery
Places to stay when visiting Lindsborg
Other things to do in the area of Lindsborg like Maxwell Wildlife Refuge and Coronado Heights
Bonus Episode: Pittsburg Covid Update
If you haven't listened to our September 2020 episode which was an interview with public officials from Pittsburg Kansas about how they were managing the pandemic, I'd encourage you to go back and listen to it. This episode is a follow-up to see how things have changed since that interview.
We've all been through this shared experience, and although it meant something a little different to all of us, being able to follow the story of covid in one specific town gives us an appreciation of how we pull together to get through our toughest challenges.
0406: Zero Reasons Why
Our topic today is a very important, very heavy one: mental health. Rachel introduces you to a very important and innovative program in Kansas that is working to make the stigma that surrounds talking about mental health issues a thing of the past.
Zero Reasons Why is a program that is teaching teens the skills they need to be able to make mental health a normal part of our daily lives. Rachel talks with Kyra Fuchs, who is a teen council member of Zero Reasons Why.
Because this is such an important topic, we want to provide some resources in case you, or someone you love is struggling with mental health issues and could use some help:
The national suicide prevention lifeline is 1-800-273-8255
You can text the crisis line by texting 'Home' to 741741
And, if you are struggling with mental health, but not suicidal, you can find a lot of mental health resources at www.mentalhealth.gov.
How to Get in Touch with Zero Reasons Why:
Zero Reasons Why website
The Playbook referenced in the episode
The social media accounts for #ZeroReasonsWhy:
0405: Oak Grove School and the History of the Osage Trail
Built in 1877, the Oak Grove Schoolhouse has been a gathering place for the community of Lincoln Township for generations. In this episode, Rachel talks with Cary Pruitt and Roger Pruitt from the Oak Grove Schoolhouse Historical Society.
Part family history, part Kansas history, partly a story about family legacy, we think you'll find this episode to be informative, entertaining, and important.
Oak Grove Schoolhouse website
The mission of the Oak Grove Schoolhouse Historical Society
How a one room schoolhouse became a central gathering place for the community of Lincoln Township
Why it is important to pass down family history from generation to generation
The importance of low water fords in the migration of pioneers settling in Kansas
The history of the Oak Grove school district
The importance of the Osage Trail in the history of Kansas
How Laura Ingalls Wilder, Washington Irving, the Benders are connected to the Osage Trail
How the geography of Kansas contributed to the development of the Osage Trail
The rough-and-tumble history of Ladore Kansas
How the arrival of the KATY Railroad impacted the founding of Parsons Kansas
A great gift idea for teacher appreciation day
0404: Prairiesta
This month, Rachel talks with Connie Blanke about Prairiesta, a festival that happens every 10 years in Russell, Kansas. Whether you are able to make it out to the festival or not, you'll learn a lot about community spirit, the importance of honoring our history, and what it takes to put together a festival.
Prairiesta website
Deines Cultural Center
Episode: Big Kansas Road Trip - The Experience


text:
Q: What is the meaning and purpose of the parallelism argument in core.async pipelines? There are three kinds of parallel pipelines in core.async: pipeline, pipeline-blocking, and pipeline-async. The first argument of these functions is n, the 'parallelism' of the pipeline.
What is the meaning of this argument?
How does it influence the behaviour of each kind of pipeline? What is a good default value for parallelism? When and why would I increase or decrease that value? What if there are multiple such pipelines in a running program?

A: The source is informative:

   (dotimes [_ n]
     (case type
           :blocking (thread
                      (let [job (<!! jobs)]
                        (when (process job)
                          (recur))))
           :compute (go-loop []
                               (let [job (<! jobs)]
                                 (when (process job)
                                   (recur))))
           :async (go-loop []
                             (let [job (<! jobs)]
                               (when (async job)
                                 (recur))))))

n here is the parallelism argument provided; it thus controls the number of threads (in blocking mode) or go-loops (in compute or async mode).
What constitutes a "good default value" depends on your load profile, hardware resources, &c -- if a job is blocking on network access you can potentially have more of them than you have CPUs, whereas if it's blocking on CPU, more threads than cores you expect to be available is a waste; if your bottleneck is local disk I/O, then a number of details well beyond the scope of this question (spinning platters or NVRAM? Are different processes' access needs spread across platters?) become relevant.
In general: Use the same judgment, and experience, and tuning/measurement techniques you would apply to thread-pool sizing generally.


So you, as an author, have a new book, just published? Since you live in a forest near the Canadian border, you are going to have to hitch up the mule and come down to civilization to promote your book at the book shops of America. Your publisher arranges a tour schedule, 47 cities in 3 days. Whew! You're tired before you start, and your hand will be aching from signing all those books. Or, if nobody shows up for the signing, from carrying your luggage around. Either way, it's a tough 3 days!
Most of the book shops would like you to have some kind of a presentation, a talk, some slides, illustrations, video, something to get the audience excited so that they will want to buy your book and take this rare opportunity to have you inscribe it before you disappear back into the forest to continue your romp with bigfoot.
Now, anyone who has worked at a book shop will tell you that new books are arriving every day. In fact, they pour in like a tidal wave. In other words, you have fierce competition. The Events Manager at the store will plug you into the book signing schedule, send out emails to their list, put some posters around the shop announcing your impending arrival, run ads in local newspapers, anything they can think of. When you show up for your moment in the sun, you can only hope that the shop has done a great job in roping in some potential customers.
Sometimes, though, only a few folks show up (why, why, why did that Events Manager schedule you the same night as the Oscars?). If you were Ray Bradbury or Charles Bukowski, there would be hundreds, or even thousands of folks lined up around the block to get books signed. (Since they have both passed, the lines would really be long if they showed up!!) But for you, Mr. or Ms. Unknown, there's 4 people hanging around. The main thing to remember is that after you do your presentation and signing, the book shop focuses on the next guy coming in. Your posters come down seconds after you have left the premises, the schedule moves on, the nice stack of your books on display will soon be shelved and within a certain time shipped back to the publisher. So how do you keep your name, your presentation, your book in front of the public?
Often the Book Shop will offer to record your talk and podcast it out through their website. The podcast will link to an order form so the book can be purchased. Some shops will have a video crew to tape the presentation and post it up to the world wide web on youtube. If you have this opportunity, take it. Your presentation will be available for a long time, and could lead to a lot of continuous sales through the mail. Also, if the shop will allow it, sign a few copies for future buyers, it is a big plus for the shop to offer "signed copies" for some time after your appearance. This could be a big boon to the book shop if you met an untimely death on the way back to the forest. Besides, in many cases the publishers usually won't "take back" returns if they are signed, so the book shop may keep your book on hand a little longer and then discount it out in the future. Either way, more display time is quality time for you. (Hint: sign big and bold with a fat marker).
If you don't promote your book, or have a professional book promotion company to do it for you, then all your work, research, months and years of writing, stress, anguish, could be for nothing. Your book might be good and have great sales potential, but getting it in front of a potential buyer can take some work. Anything you can do to create a "buzz" must be done. Remember, a tidal wave of books is washing up on the shore right behind you, and they all want to be sold. It's like an animal shelter, a lot of cute pooches and kitties want to find an owner!
A good promotional campaign could lead to big sales which means you might be asked by the publisher to write another book!


Homecoming will detail her 2018 show at the Californian festival which featured appearances from her sister Solange, her husband Jay-Z and her former group Destiny's Child.
The highly-anticipated film will present behind the scenes footage and interviews from before, during and after the show.
The voice of Angelou, who died in 2014 aged 86, plays over footage from the documentary, discussing life and kindness.
She says: "What I really want to do is be a representative of my race, of the human race. I have a chance to show how kind we can be, how intelligent and generous we can be.
"I have a chance to teach and to love and to laugh, and I know that when I'm finished doing what I'm sent here to do I will be called home.


Saturday, September 22nd is the first official day of Autumn. The season has turned, school is back in session, rain boots are coming out of storage, and holidays are only months away. Time to enjoy the last of the market season as sadly we only have 3 more weeks left in the season.
Beets that are this big must have some amazing compost! Hogstead not only sells these enormous beets but they have fresh chicken eggs and delicious pork products from their family farm in Marysville.


text:
namespace base {
class SharedMemory;
}

namespace media {

class MockGpuVideoAcceleratorFactories : public GpuVideoAcceleratorFactories {
 public:
  explicit MockGpuVideoAcceleratorFactories(gpu::gles2::GLES2Interface* gles2);
  ~MockGpuVideoAcceleratorFactories() override;

  bool IsGpuVideoAcceleratorEnabled() override;
  // CreateVideo{Decode,Encode}Accelerator returns scoped_ptr, which the mocking
  // framework does not want.  Trampoline them.
  MOCK_METHOD0(DoCreateVideoDecodeAccelerator, VideoDecodeAccelerator*());
  MOCK_METHOD0(DoCreateVideoEncodeAccelerator, VideoEncodeAccelerator*());

  MOCK_METHOD5(CreateTextures,
               bool(int32_t count,
                    const gfx::Size& size,
                    std::vector<uint32_t>* texture_ids,
                    std::vector<gpu::Mailbox>* texture_mailboxes,
                    uint32_t texture_target));
  MOCK_METHOD1(DeleteTexture, void(uint32_t texture_id));
  MOCK_METHOD1(WaitSyncToken, void(const gpu::SyncToken& sync_token));
  MOCK_METHOD0(GetTaskRunner, scoped_refptr<base::SingleThreadTaskRunner>());
  MOCK_METHOD0(GetVideoDecodeAcceleratorCapabilities,
               VideoDecodeAccelerator::Capabilities());
  MOCK_METHOD0(GetVideoEncodeAcceleratorSupportedProfiles,
               VideoEncodeAccelerator::SupportedProfiles());

  scoped_ptr<gfx::GpuMemoryBuffer> AllocateGpuMemoryBuffer(
      const gfx::Size& size,
      gfx::BufferFormat format,
      gfx::BufferUsage usage) override;

  bool ShouldUseGpuMemoryBuffersForVideoFrames() const override;
  unsigned ImageTextureTarget() override;
  VideoPixelFormat VideoFrameOutputFormat() override {
    return video_frame_output_format_;
  };

  scoped_ptr<GpuVideoAcceleratorFactories::ScopedGLContextLock>
  GetGLContextLock() override;

  void SetVideoFrameOutputFormat(
      const VideoPixelFormat video_frame_output_format) {
    video_frame_output_format_ = video_frame_output_format;
  };

  void SetFailToAllocateGpuMemoryBufferForTesting(bool fail) {
    fail_to_allocate_gpu_memory_buffer_ = fail;
  }

  void SetGpuMemoryBuffersInUseByMacOSWindowServer(bool in_use);

  scoped_ptr<base::SharedMemory> CreateSharedMemory(size_t size) override;

  scoped_ptr<VideoDecodeAccelerator> CreateVideoDecodeAccelerator() override;

  scoped_ptr<VideoEncodeAccelerator> CreateVideoEncodeAccelerator() override;

  gpu::gles2::GLES2Interface* GetGLES2Interface() { return gles2_; }

 private:
  DISALLOW_COPY_AND_ASSIGN(MockGpuVideoAcceleratorFactories);

  base::Lock lock_;
  VideoPixelFormat video_frame_output_format_ = PIXEL_FORMAT_I420;

  bool fail_to_allocate_gpu_memory_buffer_ = false;

  gpu::gles2::GLES2Interface* gles2_;
};

}  // namespace media

#endif  // MEDIA_RENDERERS_MOCK_GPU_VIDEO_ACCELERATOR_FACTORIES_H_


The "Hit for Haiti Presented by Oracle" exhibition will feature a lineup of Grand Slam champions that includes Martina Navratilova, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi, Lindsay Davenport, Steffi Graf, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Justine Henin. Proceeds from ticket sales and viewer contributions will support American Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti.
The Tennis Channel will run an on-screen crawl with donation information for viewers and an encore replay of the event immediately following its conclusion. The network's Web site, www.tennischannel.com, will also stream the event live and provide a link for visitors who want to contribute to Haiti relief.
The exhibition will be accessible online via on-demand throughout the tournament, as will the donation link.


Citation: Dunn, R.O., Lew, H.N., Knothe, G.H. 2018. Lubricity of biobased diesel fuels and additives [abstract]. International Symposium on Surfactants in Solution. p.18.
Technical Abstract: Modern diesel engines rely on the fuel itself to lubricate moving parts in the fuel and engine systems. Prior to the late 1990s, diesel fuel from petroleum provided sufficient lubricity to effectively reduce wear in injectors and fuel pumps. Increasingly stringent limitations on the sulfur content of petroleum diesel raised concerns in the United States, Europe and elsewhere for degradation of the lubricity of the fuels. The hydrodesulfurization process used by petroleum refiners to remove sulfur also removed valuable heteroatoms, such as nitrogen and oxygen that imparted the lubricity properties to the fuels. It is known that blending biodiesel at low levels can restore the lubricity of ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel. The amphiphilic nature of fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) gives them better lubricity characteristics than hydrocarbons. This work examines the effects of different fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) species and contaminants found in biodiesel on the lubricity of ULSD. The lubricity characteristics of skeletally branched-chain-FAME are also evaluated. The branched-chain-FAME additives have good cold flow and oxidative stability properties that make them attractive as diesel or biodiesel fuel additives.


With 20+ years of experience, Nick understands the gaming, residential and retail industries inside and out. He knows the fast-paced nature of business and the importance of ROI within a highly competitive marketplace. Nick has coordinated and executed multi-million dollar advertising national campaigns for countless casino, hotel and retail openings, re-brandings and launches. Prior to joining Today's Business in February 2014, Nick held positions as a Senior Vice President at several large-scale hospitality and gaming marketing agencies.
For 12+ years, Nick was a casino gaming advisor & marketing strategist who managed, directed and coordinated multi-million dollar advertising, branding and social media campaigns for dozens of hotels & casinos nationwide. Some of the casino properties include Seneca Niagara, Seneca Allegany, French Lick Casino, Resorts East Chicago, Downstream Casino, Atlantic City Hilton, Foxwoods Casino, Tropicana Casino Atlantic City, Resorts Tunica, Las Vegas Hilton, Bally's Tunica, Resorts Atlantic City.
Previously, Nick was Director of Development for Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts, where he was responsible for planning, analysis, coordination and development of new gaming ventures, in conjunction with Trump Hotels & Casino Resorts senior executives. He developed, coordinated and delivered Trump Hotel & Casino Resorts responses to State Request for Proposal (RFP) from new applicable gaming jurisdictions. Nick was part of the Grand Opening Team for Trump Indiana where the team won the RFP for a riverboat license and successfully opened the first Riverboat Casino on Lake Michigan in 1996.
Nick also helped develop an in-house Creative Advertising Department and an in-house Media Buying Department for the Trump Atlantic City Properties. In just 18 months of operations, the departments, headed by Ribis, provided savings of over $2.5 million, after expenses. He also managed a Corporate Advertising budget of over $15+ million during 1998 & 1999 for Trump Hotels & Casinos.
Nick cut his teeth in casino gaming in the early nineties working as a Senior Research Fellow at Cultural Survival in Cambridge, MA. He worked there as a senior researcher, publisher and grant writer on Native American Gaming. Nick published quarterly reports, coordinated conferences and produced educational documentary on the Economic Impact of Native American Gaming. He both produced & directed, "Raising the Stakes", an educational film on the growth of Native American Gaming, developed for and sold to a Collegiate audience. Nick also was the Co-organizer of the "Indian Gaming Conference" at the Peabody Museum, Harvard University, one of the largest conferences on Native American Gaming at that time.


The United States will continue to lead the world as it shifts to a Legacy Economy, but only some cities will play a role in that.
Blacks move in and whites move out. What else need be said? Nothing if you believe most urban storytellers. But we're not here to perpetuate myths.


I have built an imacros .iim file that is needing to be installed on my client's windows (2000, XP, Vista, 7) PC's in the task scheduler. It is a simple macro that goes to a website, scraps some info, then another site to enter that info, then it uploads a file to another website.
But, I need a program that when ran from the scheduler it "ftp's" the .iim file down, then runs it with player, then deletes the .iim file. This way I can always make sure my .iim file is up to date and I don't want anyone to see the .iim code.
Also, the compiled app needs to be able to take a command line parameter for the path where the .iim file needs to land.
I am very much interested in helping with this project and would like to send you a sample. It appears that private messages are disabled on these boards, and they don't display user email addresses (not a bad thing for preventing spam I guess). I entered my email address into the location field of my profile information. You should be able to see it if you click on my username, but if it doesn't appear to you, just let me know.


Ingmar Bergman retired from filmmaking after the release of Fanny and Alexander (1982) though he continued directing plays, writing screenplays, and directing movies for T.V. until the year of his death in 2007. He wrote the screenplay for Faithless (original Swedish title: Trolösa) which is loosely based on events connected with an adulterous affair from his own life. Liv Ullmann, who appeared in many of Bergman's most important films and who also was once his lover and had a child by him, directed the film, this being her fourth effort in that capacity. Another Bergman alumni, Erland Josephson, who appeared opposite Ullmann in Bergman's T.V. mini-series Scenes from a Marriage (1973), plays an elderly, reclusive writer who conjures up a character by the name of Marianne (played by Lena Endre) which was also the name of the character Ullmann played in Scenes from a Marriage. He asks her to sit by the window so he can see her. She says first he must describe her. He begins to describe her but asks her to fill in some of the details. When she appears at the window he asks her to talk about David (played by Krister Henriksson). He hands her a box of photos and keepsakes and looking through them starts describing David as a theatre director and the best friend of her internationally famous conductor husband Markus (played by Thomas Hanzon) and how well he got along with her daughter Isabelle. "And that's about it." she says stifling a sob. "Are you crying?" asks the writer. She replies "Perhaps it's you crying." At this point we enter into a film within the film, presumably the story that the writer is working on with the aid of its lead character though we return from time to time to scenes with the writer and the actress who plays Marianne and it's evident that the telling of the story has an emotional impact on both of them.
I don't think even Bergman could've done any better than Ullmann at directing this film. It deserves a place alongside his most penetrating and absorbing works as a director. The score is spare and subtle and cinematographer Jörgen Persson does a masterful job lighting his compositions. It's a confession of sorts, perhaps a form of self-punishment to expunge the guilt he felt for the harm he inflicted on the real life people whom the characters in this film represent. We all have regrets for things we've done in the past. This film might make you feel better about yourself by comparison or perhaps you see life as a learning process and can forgive yourself for your transgressions. For Bergman, the son of a Lutheran minister whose strict parenting concepts included locking him in a dark closet for wetting the bed, it seems self-forgiveness wasn't possible.
Faithless is available on DVD from Amazon.


At any moment, the right opportunity could be in front of you. Are you ready? Today let's see how the "always prepare" mindset keeps you ready to capitalize on opportunities that seem to come out of nowhere!
In my previous vlog, Ask for Opportunity, we discussed how you can take hold of opportunities right in front of you simply by being bold enough to ask for them. But what about the opportunities you didn't see coming? Today let's see how the "always prepare" mindset — keeps you ready to capitalize on opportunities that seem to come out of nowhere!
For me, life was busy at twenty-one. I graduated college, got married, started a new job, bought our first house, new baby on the way — you get my point. In that crazy season of life, opportunity came out of nowhere. My husbands name is Joe. We'd been married for about ten months when early one morning I came bursting out of the bathroom, running to the bedroom, jumped on the bed, then whispered to my sleeping husband, "I think I'm pregnant." When our little girl finally came, we decided it was time to make the big purchase. We started the house hunt and very quickly struck gold!
At that time, Joe was working his way up the professional ladder which meant he had very little free time. Because of that, I took on the responsibility of communicating with the bank throughout the home-buying process. The bank was going through a transition when I walked in to apply for the home loan. So… the ONLY PERSON available to take my information was the bank president. The. Bank. President. I was a YOUNG twenty-one year old woman, fresh out of college, and honestly, I was pretty introverted when it came to professional situations at that time. Seriously, at 21 — how would you handle being thrust in front of a Yale-grad bank president and CEO? Alright, even though I was nervous, I had researched the home-buying and mortgage process, so I was prepared for what this meeting should entail. We sat down. He politely asked how he could help me, and my well prepared response set the tone for the rest of our time together.
Buying a home had become a painstakingly long process since the market crash around 2008. So, throughout the next six weeks, I had to have multiple conversations with the bank president about our application. When it came time to discuss our closing costs, I knew it was time for me to grow up. It was time for me to negotiate the best deal I could get.
President on one side of the desk. Twenty-one year old me on the other side. One hard swallow, then I began the negotiation. Because I did my homework, I knew what my options were and I knew what the bank's options were. There is an art to negotiation and preparedness is a key element.
When you are prepared, you can win — sometimes in ways you don't even see coming!
I got a call from the President a few days later. I assumed he was confirming our loan closing appointment the next day. To my surprise, he asked me to come in about thirty minutes before the appointment. I was totally caught off guard. Why would he ask me to do that? Is something going wrong? Are we not going to get our home?
Talk with upper level management professionally.
Research a topic in depth and be able to discuss it thoroughly with no experience in the industry.
Here's the opportunity I never saw coming — the president went on to offer me a management position within the bank. I was completely surprised! I ended up taking his offer and over the next five years, I continued to work my way into increasing responsibility and major personal growth. I thought I was buying a home. I ended up with a whole new career path because I was prepared.
If you were more prepared, where would you be today? What concepts do you need to study? What skills do you need to brush up?
You may not see opportunity coming, but if you seek knowledge, seek opportunity, and always prepare… you'll be ready when it does!