text:
Firestone Indy Lights: Toronto 100
Topics: Toronto 100
Dan Clarke
J.K. Vernay
Gustavo Yacaman
THE MODERATOR: We'll get started today. We're joined by Dan Clarke and Gustavo Yacaman. This is JK's fourth win of 2010 Firestone Indy Lights season. He won at St. Petersburg, Barber and Watkins Glen. He's extended his points lead by 68 over Toronto's James Hinchcliffe. This is JK's sixth podium finish in seven starts this season.
Dan Clarke joins us finishing second, a season best. His previous best finish was fourth at Indianapolis. And we're also joined by Gustavo Yacaman, who finished third, a career best finish for him. His previous best finish was at Milwaukee in 2009.
Dan, can you talk about today's race and especially the closing laps and the pressure you're putting on James.
DAN CLARKE: Yeah, it feels great to be back on the podium. I've been here before with those other cars that we're not supposed to talk about anymore.
It feels great to be back. It's an awesome track. It rubbered up on the last day and it was pretty quick. First it was a huge break for Walker Racing yesterday when we got third place in qualifying. We thought we would have had a chance for pole, but when it came to qualifying, we had some symptoms in the cars we couldn't fix. For the race, we were quite worried because warmup wasn't very quick.
We got a good start. The race was a long race. I think it's a lot of laps for Toronto. Very busy laps. I think it's a lot more work for the drivers than some of the other tracks are.
Sitting in third place, watching Gustavo behind me, keeping an eye on him every lap in my mirrors, watching James and JK start to battle it out, I was feeling pretty good as the race was going on. I was thinking, This is awesome, we're going to get a podium. It's what we need because we've had some bad luck this year with little things failing on the car and missing out. At Indy we came so close to a podium again.
The last few laps, James had been locking up into the hairpin and making mistakes. That was worrying me because Gustavo was starting to catch me. Then the last lap, I got a great run behind James. I was the closest to him I'd ever been. Got a great draft up behind him. I was literally half a car length off his tail.
Going into the braking zone, he kept it tight. I just pulled out as normal, let him defend, and then, yeah, he just slid off. I presume he must have been worried and just lost sight of where he was, made a mistake, handed second place to me. Then I just kept going.
Silently I was keeping quiet. Hadn't said anything on the radio. 12 laps to go I hit the wall at the hairpin. The inside wall sticks out just after the apex. I hit it with my front right. The steering wheel position had moved from here to here. I was driving around praying that my corner didn't collapse on me. That braking is hard into three.
When I had second, I just hung on and crossed the line. Now it's time to take it easy and celebrate.
THE MODERATOR: Gustavo, clearly an exciting day for you. Your first podium in Firestone Indy Lights. Talk about today's race.
GUSTAVO YACAMAN: Like Dan said, it's a long time since I've been on the podium. First time in Indy Lights. I'm really excited. We worked so hard. I worked so hard at the end of last year. To start getting together with Wayne Taylor, with the Cape brothers, you know, there were other teams, there was Moore, Bryan Herta. We tested with Anderson. We tested with all those guys. I didn't quite feel I was in the right place.
I've had a relationship with Wayne before. He said, Maybe we can build something up for you. That's what we did. We got this two great guys, Dominic and Nicholas Cape. They were joined by Wayne Taylor Motorsports, which is head by Simon Hodgson, which is a guy that has incredible experience, leading Lotus F1, working with Ganassi back in the Champ Car era. He's just a great guy. We've got a great group of people that we put together. Now the results are starting to show.
It's really hard as a new team, as a one-car team, to be where we are right now. I'm really happy for them. This was not only good for me, it's really good for them because it makes us work harder and makes us exceed our expectations, which is really good for us. And it's really good for all my sponsors because it's hard to get sponsors when you've been over a year without a podium.
This is definitely a great boost for me, for my dad, for my family, for everyone, to keep believing in us. Now what we got to do is keep working on it, keep scoring podiums, and hopefully a race win will come soon.
THE MODERATOR: JK, congratulations on today's win. Quite a streak you're on now. Fourth win of the season. Can you talk about today's race.
JEAN-KARL VERNAY: The beginning was really hard. I struggled a bit at the start. The free spin on the first corner was not easy. James was outside. Inside the corner one it's very slippery on the concrete. I was just sliding on the track and I hit him a bit. I damaged a bit my front left suspension.
I was able to lead the first lap. After I had to manage my tires because of the suspension. It was really difficult for me to turn on the right corner. I had a lot of understeering. I had to take care about that. Yeah, I had to change my driving style.
At the end we won, so it's great. The car was great. The car was just amazing. My engine and my crew did a great job. After I saw in the last lap that James hit the wall, I'm sorry for him, but I have to say also that's a good thing for me for the championship. I cannot say the opposite.
It's a good weekend. It will be a really hard fight with him. He's really, really fast, especially on the road tracks. Yeah, I think I'm waiting another battle like that, and maybe with Dan, Sebastian, Kimball. Great level in this series. Every race you can have a different winner. I know it will be hard, but we have to stay focused like that till the end of the championship if we want to win it.
THE MODERATOR: We'll open it up for questions.
Q. JK, the restart seemed to be key for you. Did your team talk to you ahead of time about when you should get on the gas?
JEAN-KARL VERNAY: I was a bit quicker than James in the two last corners, on the right left. I was a bit quicker than him. It was enough to have like 10 meters to be 10 or 20 meters before corner one, because he was really quick on the braking on corner one. After on the straight, my car was good and it was really easy in corner three.
I was really focused to do a great restart, to have a good line for the two last corners, to have enough gap for corner one. After corner one, I know it would be okay.
Q. Dan, your car seemed to be really good early in the runs. Was it just the way the setup worked or were your tires starting to overheat?
DAN CLARKE: I think JK, he's proven he's the pacesetter at most places we go. It was no surprise he was in the lead today. I think the first third of the race, it looked like James was really on him. Like JK said, he was struggling with something. There was a few opportunities where we all caught up to JK. That's what probably made it look so close.
I kind of feel for some of the fans watching out there because there was no overtaking at the front. But it was actually a tough race. Like JK was struggling. He made a few places where he really lost a lot of time. James would pounce on him. I would be getting close to James, too.
It wasn't a great race for passing, but we all knew where everybody else was. It was pretty close in that respect. Then towards the end I think James' car actually was the one that drifted away. The last 10 laps, I always want to keep the gap from Gustavo, because if anybody gets the draft on the back straight, they're going to be strong to pass you. James was actually making mistakes. It allowed Gustavo to catch me.
We were bunching up. When I was behind James at Indy, when I was fourth and he was third, his car went away. I was pretty close to getting passed there.
Q. JK, you're up almost 70 points with six races left. At what point do you start taking less risks and start worrying about winning the championship?
JEAN-KARL VERNAY: I didn't take risks because I had the chance to lead and don't have to pass.
But, yeah, I'm not focused on the championship. I mean, my goal is to win the championship, for sure. But I prefer to be focused race after race, great qualifying, because on the road courses is really important. If you start on pole, second, the first two rows, really it's a big deal.
I mean, I really wanted to win here because I know that on the road track, on the city track, I'm really quick. I finished second in the World Cup in F3 for a rookie in my car. I know that I'm confident.
Yeah, next weekend it's in Edmonton. It's a racetrack who I don't know again. It will be tough to learn it. So I try to take the points when I can. If it's too hard or if it's too hard to overtake somebody just for three points, I will not do that. I think, yeah, I try to reflect enough not to take too many risks.
Q. What were your thoughts when you saw what happened to James and you were passing? What was going through your head at that point?
DAN CLARKE: I think the surprising thing for James is when we get to the last few races in particular, he's setting the pace, topping the times most of the time. We're all wondering what his setup is, what's he doing.
But then in the race, he seems to drift away a bit. It may be JK, because I'm not in his car, but it looked like James was strong at the beginning of the race. It looked at some point James was going to make a move. It didn't happen. In the second half, it seemed like he didn't have that car. JK slipped away and suddenly slipped into my clutches.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you for taking the time to come in. Congratulations on the podium finishes.


text:
Do You Know The Three Countries Most Trusted By Filipinos?
A survey conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) to about 1,200 people interviewed face to face revealed the three most trusted countries for Filipinos. These are Japan, US and Canada.
The three countries got "very good" net trust ratings of +68, +55 and +54, respectively, based on the SWS Dec. 8 to 16 survey on 2017.
The survey said "moderate" trust ratings were recorded for Singapore at +29, Malaysia at +20, Thailand at +19, Indonesia at +18, Brunei at +16 and Vietnam at +13.
It found "neutral" net trust ratings for Myanmar at +8, Cambodia at +7, China at +7 and Laos at +3.
It found a "poor" -19 net trust rating for North Korea.
"Except for the US and North Korea, the net trust ratings last December were at least one grade higher compared to when they were last surveyed for all the countries tested in the survey," the SWS said.
The SWS terminology for net trust ratings are as follows:
+70 and above, "excellent"
+50 to +69, "very good"
+30 to +49, "good"
+10 to +29, "moderate"
+9 to -9, "neutral"
-10 to -29, "poor"
-30 to -49, "bad"
-50 to -69, "very bad"
-70 and below, "execrable."
China's net trust rating rose from poor to neutral at +7 (38 percent much trust, 31 percent little trust) last December, up by 20 points from the -13 in September.
Net trust rating also rose by three grades from very bad to neutral for Laos, at +3 (27 percent much trust, 24 percent little trust) in December, up by 54 points from the -51 in October 1995 when SWS first rated the country.
Net trust rating stayed poor for North Korea, at -19.
Tags CANADA, Japan, Social Weather Stations, survey, SWS, trust, US

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Гостиница Экспресс расположена в здании, прямо в прилегающем к железнодорожному вокзалу города Минска.
Express Hotel (Minsk), located right near the central station of the city of Minsk, is an ideal opportunity to save a lot of time when searching for a place to stay overnight. It is also worth noting that the prices for accommodation are among the lowest in Minsk. The service remains at a high level.
The hotel has 53 rooms with different price categories. Meals in the station building, neighboring shopping and entertainment centers, canteens and cafes of the city. Accommodation in the rooms of the Express Hotel, as well as 24-hour administrative services. The service of taxi ordering of the city of Minsk is available to the airport and to Belarus, departure from the city.
In walking distance from the hotel "Express" are such shopping and entertainment centers as "Gallileo", "Capital".
Hotel "Express" is the choice of a practical traveler!


text:
Zinc borate is an inorganic compound, a borate of zinc. It is a white crystalline or amorphous powder insoluble in water. Its toxicity is low. Its melting point is 980 °C.

Variants

Several variants of zinc borate exist, differing by the zinc/boron ratio and the water content:
 Zinc borate Firebrake ZB (2ZnO·3 B2O3·3.5H2O), CAS number 138265-88-0
 Zinc borate Firebrake 500 (2ZnO·3 B2O3), CAS number 12767-90-7
 Zinc borate Firebrake 415 (4ZnO·B2O3·H2O), CAS number 149749-62-2
 ZB-467 (4ZnO·6B2O3·7H2O), CAS number 1332-07-6
 ZB-223 (2ZnO·2B2O3·3H2O), CAS number 1332-07-6

The hydrated variants lose water between 290–415 °C.

Uses

Zinc borate is primarily used as a flame retardant in plastics and cellulose fibers, paper, rubbers and textiles. It is also used in paints, adhesives, and pigments. As a flame retardant, it can replace antimony(III) oxide as a synergist in both halogen-based and halogen-free systems. It is an anti-dripping and char-promoting agent, and suppresses the afterglow. In electrical insulator plastics it suppresses arcing and tracking.

In halogen-containing systems, zinc borate is used together with antimony trioxide and alumina trihydrate. It catalyzes formation of char and creates a protective layer of glass. Zinc catalyzes the release of halogens by forming zinc halides and zinc oxyhalides.

In halogen-free system, zinc borate can be used together with alumina trihydrate, magnesium hydroxide, red phosphorus, or ammonium polyphosphate. During burning the plastics, a porous borate ceramics is formed that protects the underlying layers. In presence of silica, borosilicate glass can be formed at plastic burning temperatures.

Zinc borate is used in polyvinyl chloride, polyolefins, polyamides, epoxy resins, polyesters, thermoplastic elastomers, rubbers, etc. It is also used in some intumescent systems.

Zinc borate has synergistic effect with zinc phosphate or barium borate as a corrosion inhibitor pigment.

Zinc borate acts as a broad-spectrum fungicide in plastics and wood products.

Zinc borate can be used as a flux in some ceramics. In electrical insulators it improves the ceramics properties.

Nanopowder zinc borate can be used for the applications above, and also for improving the frictional properties of lubricating oils.

References

External links

borate
zinc
Flame retardants
Corrosion inhibitors
Fungicides

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


I know it would be /easy/ to remove an RSS feed button using CSS – but what do I do to make this happen?
Did you find out how? I would also like to know.
Are you trying to completely disable RSS, or do you just want to hide the icon/link?
This plugin adds a class to the body tag like all other root components. Here is the CSS to hide it. You need to put it somewhere in your theme's stylesheet.
The topic 'Remove RSS link' is closed to new replies.


South Skills Campus , Locking Road Weston who have won award for its design.
ONE of Weston College's buildings has been recognised for its design at an awards ceremony.
The college's South West Skills Campus was up for a number of awards at the Local Authority Building Control (LABC) Building Excellence Awards.
The campus, in Locking Road in Weston-super-Mare, was a finalist in the Best Educational Building and Best Change of Use of an Existing Building categories.
The campus was designed to provide training in a full range of construction trades to target skills gaps in North Somerset.
The site also includes an automotive technology centre, which was created in the former Renault garage, to train mechanics.
The project was put together by construction company Midas and its group business development director, Andy Smith, said: "I am delighted that the campus has been recognised as one of the best new developments in the South West.
"We are delighted to have delivered this project with the college team.


The Bouton brand was launched in 2012 by the costume jeweler Adrian Buckley. The innovative method applied was the so-called micro pave technique set with silver and rhodium plating. As a result there appeared collections with dazzling cubic zirconias and colored crystals, which were present in cocktail rings, vintage style earrings and stacking rings. The styles, which were worked out are timeless and the gems, used for their production would never stop sparkling and making you or your close people happy and beautiful. Square rings are usually preferred by self-assured and stylish ladies. With a brilliantly clear princess cut centre stone surrounded by BOUTON`s signature micro pave detailing, this sterling silver ring would become one of the favorites of such lady. It is decorated with top quality cubic zirconia, looking as diamonds in natural gem colors. Bouton Oval stacker ring could be worn with 2 or 3 stacking rings from the Bouton collections. This one is made of 925 sterling silver and it has BOUTON`s signature micro pave detail in the center of it. This ring is traditionally decorated with the highest quality cubic zirconia diamond inspired stones in natural gem colors. If your intention is to make a nice present to your close person, then you could do it without any problems, as each ring comes nicely packed into a box. There is also a 2 year international warranty for each piece. You will look feminine and stylish with this cushion stone link necklace, sparkling stones with silver finish would underline you beauty and individuality. With this necklace you will receive two year international guarantee. It is perfectly compatible with rings or earrings by Bouton. For looking stunning every day, choose the bracelet made from the finest 925 sterling silver and plated with 12ct rose gold.


text:
You have searched for "attorney general"
Showing 9961-9970 of 10000
After California massacre, Obama to pledge powerful attack on Islamic State
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will tell Americans on Sunday what the government is doing to keep them safe following the mass killing by a couple in California last week that is being investigated as an "act of terror," but no major shift in strategy was expected.
MACC records PM's statement
PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has taken a statement from Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak over SRC International and the RM2.6bil donation.
MACC officials said to have met Najib
KUALA LUMPUR: Officials from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Comm-ission (MACC), including its chief Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed, are said to have met Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak in Parliament.
Ruckus over RM2.6bil reply
KUALA LUMPUR: A ruckus was sparked in the House when Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi stood up to answer questions on the RM2.6bil in Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's personal bank accounts.
DPM proposes standard system for Asean
ROME: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has proposed that Asean countries provide a uniform screening system at all entry points as exercised by European Union countries to curb infiltration of transnational criminals, terrorists and illegal immigrants.
MACC meets PMO over RM2.6bil funds
PETALING JAYA: The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) met the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) for Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to give his statement concerning the RM2.6bil in his personal account.
US, China reach agreement on guidelines for requesting assistance fighting cyber crime
The United States and China have reached an agreement on guidelines for requesting assistance on cyber crime or other malicious cyber activities, the US Justice Department said.
Parliament: No delay in Morais probe, says Home Ministry
KUALA LUMPUR: There is no question of delay in the investigation into the murder of deputy public prosecutor Kevin Morais as police launched the probe as soon as a missing person report was received, the Home Ministry said.
MACC chief believed to have met PM over RM2.6bil donation
KUALA LUMPUR: Officials from the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), including its chief Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed, are believed to have met Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak over the RM2.6bil donation in the latter's bank account.
FIFA says aware of U.S. action, will cooperate
ZURICH (Reuters) - World soccer body FIFA is cooperating with U.S. and Swiss corruption probes, it said on Thursday after more police swoops in the case.


Meet The Matts Radio: Is David Wright Done? Is Matt Harvey More Important? Do MLB Managers Matter?
NEW YORK, NY – We're back from our prevaricated sabbatical to Turks & Caicos, where we couldn't find a sound studio on a par with our MTM Carbon Footprint Studios. So today's Meet The Matts Radio segment, featuring a rather "uppity" Bobby V and "caffeinated" Mad Dog, has particular pep.
-Is Matt Harvey more important than David Wright?
-Vinny Testaverde, Chad Pennington and Bill Parcells?
-Was Bobby Valentine a better manager than Joe Torre? How about Terry Collins?
-Do MLB Managers really matter?
You may be surprised about the stances Bobby V, Mad Dog and Matt McCarthy (Short Matt) take… Have a listen and please feel free to comment/giggle/vent below.
Tune in tomorrow for the possible return of one of our Femme Fatales – or Junoir Blaber. You'll just have to see.
P.s… Without Googling it, what do you call a person from Turks and Caicos? And think about this before you read the comments below!


Everyone knows what a pain it is to have to plug in their electronic devices for recharging. Or, more accurately, to remember to plug said devices in, and then try to remember where the blasted charger is. And the problem can be compounded when you own multiple wireless devices, as a lot of people today do.
And then there's the disposal problem seemingly every time you get a new device. The landfill space that was supposed to be saved by fewer batteries being thrown away has ended up being filled by old power adapters instead.
Fortunately for us, wireless recharging has come along, in the form of those fancy pads that can charge phones sitting nearby, and they are making some headway in the electronic device market. Right now they work, but their range is limited.
Image courtesy of PowerbyProxi. More info here.
Wireless recharging is an idea we'd love to see catch on. But how revolutionary is it?
Actually, Nicola Tesla published patents for wireless power transmission in the 1890s, and even dreamed of intercontinental wireless transmission of industrial power. But like many radical ideas, a lot of Tesla's weren't implemented until much, much later.
It wasn't until early in this century that work began on the magnetic induction pads that enable you to recharge a compatible device just by laying it on the pad. And only a few years ago, in 2009, the Wireless Power Consortium was founded and began developing standards for wireless power transmission.
Now, more and more new devices are equipped to handle wireless recharging. You can even retrofit your old smart phone to recharge that way. Public recharging stations are becoming even more prevalent in some forward-thinking cities.
Soon, recharging cords will be a thing of the past, and we will send the last of them to the landfill.
This just goes to show that, when a revolutionary scientist like Tesla says something, we should listen, even 120 years later. Often, the one thing that keeps most ideas like this from being implemented immediately is a material or component that is either not common enough or too costly or difficult to manufacture.
Later, when we get to the point where that is no longer a problem, we tend to forget about older patents that could take advantage of the new development.
I don't know whether there is a solution here, since there are a lot of patents that would need to be revisited every few years or so. But hopefully other good ideas won't take more than 100 years to see fruition.


Indulge Mom with a heartfelt Mother's Day gift basket, hand packed with fudgy Belgian dark chocolate brownies, chewy cookies and more. It's the ultimate expression of love!
Be Mom's favorite this year with a rich, chocolaty Mother's Day gift basket she'll love and cherish, then ask for again next year. Our newly redesigned Happy Mother's Day band is bright, beautiful and filled with sweetness. Just like Mom!
At Fairytale Brownies, Moms hold a special place in our heart because we're still baking with Mom's secret family recipe! That's right - The mother of Fairytale co-founder David used this same brownie recipe to bake brownies for David and Eileen (our other co-founder) while they were growing up. Read our full story!
Except unlike David's mom, we're able to import premium Belgian dark chocolate and bake with a special customized brownie oven. The result is a perfectly fudgy texture and luxurious rich flavor that makes Fairytale Brownies so irresistible!
Every day, we bake all-natural brownies, cookies and blondie bars at the Fairytale Bakery, pack them into gift baskets and boxes by hand, then ship each gift-ready package directly to your lucky recipient's door. For Mom, Grandma, aunts and all the mothers in your life, everyone can agree on a Mother's Day gift basket of deluxe Belgian chocolate treats!
For all the years of love and support, it make sense to indulge her with a Mother's Day chocolate gift sweeter than flowers. But why keep the chocolate to just once a year? On her birthday, during the holidays, when she deserves a surprise pick-me-up... show your love with chocolate gifts for Mom that let her kick back and treat herself!
No matter the occasion, we'd be delighted to send her a delectable gourmet food gift on your behalf. From bright and colorful Birthday gift baskets to gorgeous Thinking of You gifts, each gift includes a free personalized message card! We'll print out your warm wishes on a card and tuck it inside the box before shipping.
All our baked goods are all-natural, certified kosher and individually wrapped for freshness and easy sharing. We don't use any preservatives, artificial colors or trans fats. Gifts ship free to anywhere in the United States and are guaranteed fresh and flavorful on arrival!


A HomeLight concierge will reach out on Diana Cecilia Hayes's behalf within 3 mins during business hours.
We'll do our best to connect you with Diana Cecilia Hayes and if you'd like, introduce you to other top performing agents in the area.
Diana is a top selling Henderson agent - having sold over 34% more properties in Henderson than the average agent.
Diana gets the job done - completing more sales than the average Henderson agent by 21%.


text:
Khoksarparbaha – gaun wikas samiti we wschodniej części Nepalu w strefie Sagarmatha w dystrykcie Saptari. Według nepalskiego spisu powszechnego z 2001 roku liczył on 679 gospodarstw domowych i 3775 mieszkańców (1880 kobiet i 1895 mężczyzn).

Przypisy

Khoksarparbaha


text:
Q: how to disconnect the method for a signal in qml? In QML, in some situations, I need to remove the old method to a signal and redefine a new method to handle the signal, a demo is as following:
import QtQuick 2.6
import QtQuick.Window 2.2

Window {
    visible: true
    width: 640
    height: 480
    title: qsTr("Hello World")

    MouseArea {
        id:mouse
        anchors.fill: parent
        onClicked: {
            console.log("11111");
        }
    }

    Text {
        text: qsTr("Hello World")
        anchors.centerIn: parent
    }

    Component.onCompleted: {
        //if(false){
        //}
        // mouse.clicked = null;
        //mouse.clicked.disconnect();

        mouse.clicked.connect(
                    function(){
                        console.log("22222")
                    });
    }

}

I connect a new function, however it will show both "11111" and "22222", seems it add a new function to handle the signal.
I  tried set "mouse.clicked = null", still doesn't work.
I also tried disconnect the method,like as following:
MouseArea {
    id:mouse
    anchors.fill: parent
    onClicked:say()
}

Component.onCompleted: {
    mouse.clicked.disconnect(say);
    mouse.clicked.connect(
                function(){
                    console.log("22222")
                });
}

function say(){
    console.log("11111");
}

Still print both "11111" and "22222", how can I remove the old methond and redefine the method in Component.onCompleted()?
update on 2017-6-13:
Thanks, guys.I also use connections,still cannot disconnect as I use qt5.6.1, there is no enable property :( . if we use explicitly connect() function, it works. but in my case, I think I can't connect a method , I need to check some If situations to define whether I need to remove the signal handler in Component.onCompleted.
Also a quick question, why the window component completed faster than mouseArea? the log "first load" first loaded.
  MouseArea {
        id:mouse
        anchors.fill: parent
        Connections{
            onClicked:say()
        }
        Component.onCompleted: {
            //mouse.clicked.connect(say)
            console.log("second load")
        }
    }

    Component.onCompleted: {
        console.log("first load")
        mouse.clicked.connect(
                    function(){
                        mouse.clicked.disconnect(say);
                        //mouse.clicked.disconnect(say);
                        console.log("22222")
                    });

    }

A: You can't disconnect the default signal handler onSignal: { do what ever }.
You can only dissconnect, when you have connected with onSignal.connect(say) beforehand. You could do this in Component.onCompleted.
If you use the syntax:
onSignal: say()

this equals
onSignal.connect(function() { say() })

and therefore you can't use onSignal.disconnect(say) as say was never connected. (I don't know whether it is connected to onSignal or to signal - both could be done manually, or whether it is not connected at all. You can't disconnect it, without having a reference to the implicitly created function.)

In QML, the nicer way would be to stay declarative. For this you can use the Connections-construct:
Connections {
    target: mouse // set to null to disconnect (Qt<=5.6)
    onClicked: { do what ever }
    enabled: true // change this, when you want to disconnect it (Qt>=5.7)
}

A: You haven't used the explicit connect() function to begin with.  To disconnect() a function, it has to have been connected explicitly using connect().
There is an example here that might help:
http://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qtqml-syntax-signals.html#connecting-signals-to-methods-and-signals

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Uptown, Edgewater, Rogers Park
Uptown Sitar Player Shanta Nurullah Wins $30,000 Grant To Bring World Music To The Masses
Shanta Nurullah brings African-American improvisational music and world music to fans across the country. A grant from 3Arts will help her share that work with more people.
Joe Ward
7:35 AM CST on Nov 9, 2021
Shanta Nurullah, 71, has been performing professionally since 1971.
Lauren Deutsch
Indicates that a Newsmaker/Newsmakers was/were physically present to report the article from some/all of the location(s) it concerns.
UPTOWN — An Uptown musician's efforts to bring improvisational and world music to larger audiences has received a big boost thanks to local nonprofit 3Arts.
Shanta Nurullah was one of 10 local artists this year to win a 3Arts Award, which comes with an unrestricted $30,000 cash grant. Local arts-boosting nonprofit 3Arts gave nearly $1 million in grants to 134 artists at its award show Nov. 1.
Poppin' Chuck, A South Side Dancer Who Has Taught Kids To Pop And Lock For Decades, Snags Grant To Expand His Work
Credit: Tony Smith
Shanta Nurullah
The grants help artists — mostly women artists, artists of color and artist who are deaf or have disabilities — launch projects, promote their work and develop their craft.
Among the other artists to win a 3Arts Award is South Side street dancer Charles "Poppin' Chuck" Bledsoe.
In Nurullah's case, the grant will help her bring her unique brand of African-American improvisational music to more people.
"I describe myself as a storyteller and a musician," she said. "I hope to spread peace and joy through my music, reverence for my ancestral past and hope for a brighter future."
Nurullah, 71, is most widely known for her playing of the sitar, a string instrument from India. She also plays bass and mbira, a rhythmic "thumb piano" originating from Zimbabwe.
Nurullah learned to play the sitar while on a college study abroad trip to India. After learning the basics of the instrument there, Nurullah returned to Chicago and incorporated the sitar into African-American music styles, including blues and jazz, she said.
The end result is a improvisational style of music that draws on worldly and American influences.
"It's the music that I grew up with," said Nurullah, a South Side native who has lived in Uptown for 10 years. "It is the music that expresses who I am."
Nurullah has performed professionally since 1971. She is also a professional storyteller and teaching artist, including in the early childhood program at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Her next live performance is Saturday at Constellation Chicago.
The grant is a boon for Nurullah and other artists who have lost work during the pandemic. The $30,000 award has no strings attached, but Nurullah and other winners do have to meet with a financial planner before spending it all, she said. Her plan is to put more funds toward marketing her work and her bands.
"I broke down and cried," Nurullah said of learning she won the grant. "It was a perfect time to get some good news."
To learn more about Nurullah and her work, click here.
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3Arts
Sueños 2023 Lineup: Wisin y Yandel, Grupo Firme, Ivy Queen And Becky G Among Performers
The two-day Latin music festival will take place May 27-28 in Grant Park. Early access tickets go on sale at noon Thursday.
Melody Mercado
10:42 AM CST


Learning from experience and piling up knowledge, Indonesia's ride-hailing app GO-JEK finally hit a $10 billion valuation, according to research institution CB Insights in its Global Unicorn Club report.
This makes GO-JEK the country's first "decacorn".
Founded by Nadiem Makarim and a little less than a decade in operation, the company has obtained capital injections from a number of companies, including Google, Tencent Holdings, Temasek Holdings, Astra International and Meituan Dianping.
The company is also reported to have collected capital injection of $1.5 billion from a number of investors in 2018, as well as $1 billion in the first quarter of 2019.
With the capital, GO-JEK expanded to a number of countries in Southeast Asia, including in Thailand, in Singapore and optimized its digital payment feature, Go-Pay.
"We just heard about the news and we are grateful that there is an independent institution that validates our success in boosting our company value, without us having to make an announcement."
"GO-JEK has the highest market share among e-commerce service providers seen from the average active user application per week (weekly active users), based on the data from a global platform that analyzes the use of mobile applications worldwide."
"The number of GO-JEK Weekly Active Users is 55 percent higher than similar applications in Indonesia, based on data from the same analysis platform."
According to CB Insights' list of unicorns that was last updated in March, GO-JEK is one of the 19 decacorns already established around the world.
On its website, the data intelligence firm said that it collected the data primarily via algorithms or its own machine learning software. It also gathered direct submissions from investors, including venture capitalists, angel investors, private equity firms, as well as family offices.
CB Insights places GO-JEK in 19th position, below its competitor Grab.
The GOJEK's archrival was valued at $11 billion in August 2018, but after it bagged $1.46 billion as part of its ongoing Series H from the SoftBank Vision Fund in 2019, its valuation is said to have jumped to $14 billion.
Uber on the other hand, is still in the top position in the ride-hailing business with a total valuation of $72 billion.
CB Insights which listed 335 number of unicorn companies with a total valuation of ~ $1,086 billion, also included three other Indonesian startups: Tokopedia, Traveloka and Bukalapak, with valuation of $7 billion, $2 billion and $1 billion, respectively.
According to Indonesian Communications Minister Rudiantara, he said that while the news of GO-JEK reaching the "decacorn" status hasn't been confirmed and was only based only on the CB Insights report, it's certainly a big achievement.
"It is indeed a significant milestone not only for Indonesia but also for the region," he said.


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Home #SA Forever
SA judiciary is corrupt, says top lawyer
Johannesburg lawyer Raymond Edward Chalom accuses judges of corruption, rigging of court outcomes and abusing cost orders for political purposes. Picture: Nhlanhla Phillips/African News Agency
By: The Sunday Independent
A Johannesburg lawyer says the South African judiciary is corrupt, with some judges collaborating with each other to rig court outcomes, abuse cost orders for political purposes, tamper with evidence and cause files to disappear.
Raymond Edward Chalom, who has been in the legal profession for almost 50 years, says judges are appointed on the basis of friendship, trade-offs between lobby groups in the sector and affiliation to legal bodies rather than history, legal minds and experience.
Speaking to Sunday Independent on Friday, seven years after he wrote a letter to the UN Security Council Division complaining about "corruption in the South African Judiciary and Judicial Service Commission (JSC)", the lawyer has also accused judges of abusing cost orders for political purposes, especially against public protector advocate Busisiwe Mkhwebane.
Since last month, Mkhwebane has lost at least three cases in the Constitutional Court and North Gauteng High Court and against President Cyril Ramaphosa, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan and Absa, with personal cost orders imposed against her.
In all the cases, the judges used strong, personal language against her, causing public outcry and scathing criticism from the EFF.
"Cost orders are being abused. I'm of the view they are being abused for political purposes. Thuli Madonsela was on the right side, so she became Queen. Mkhwebane is more perceptive about a deeper problem in society and she is being punished for it. That problem relates to access to justice, it relates to access by ordinary people to courts. That is necessary because if ordinary people don't have access to courts, you get violence," said Chalom at his home in Johannesburg.
"They are destroying the office of the public protector. She might have made mistakes, all of us make mistakes. She is subject to review, but you don't have to make her pay costs. How does she conduct her business?"
This came as the ANC Women's League told the party's Top Six officials, who include Ramaphosa and secretary-general Ace Magashule, that a certain minister, whose name is known to Sunday Independent, had boasted to them that he controlled the judges.
"That took place in a meeting between the ANCWL and the Top Six on Monday last week. [ANCWL secretary general] Meokgo [Matuba] told the Top Six. They were all stunned and requested a 10-minute adjournment before responding," said a source familiar with the discussions.
Matuba this week confirmed raising the matter but declined to comment further.
In his letter to the UN, Chalom accused some judges in the Durban and South Gauteng High Court of breaching Section 8 of the Constitution, which governs corrupt activities by judicial officers. He also accused the JSC, a body which appoints judges and hears misconduct cases against them, of victimising him and blocking his application to become a High Court judge for speaking out against judicial corruption.
According to Section 8 "any judicial officer who, directly or indirectly, accepts or agrees or offers to accept any gratification from any other person, whether for the benefit of himself or herself or for the benefit of other person, in order to act, personally or by influencing another person so to act in a matter that amounts to the illegal, dishonest, authorised, biased, misuse or selling of information" is guilty of judicial corruption.
In his letter to the UN, Chalom gave as an example a case he had litigated which was heard in the Durban and South Gauteng High Courts between 2009 and 2015. He said he had applied for the second time for the position of judge in 2012, but the JSC rejected him. When he demanded the reasons, the body "apparently decided to arrange for fraudulent litigation to be instituted against me to give me reasons why I could not be considered to be a judge".
Chalom says that instead of protecting him, the Law Society of South Africa, now known as the Legal Practice Council, has victimised him for opposing judicial corruption by orchestrating a fictitious misconduct complaint against him.
"I'm not aware of any clients complaining about me. The Law Society finds odd and smart people on the pavement and says, 'Please come and complain about Chalom.' Apart from that, I have never heard about half of them."
He also accused the body of removing him from a list of practising attorneys, claiming he had retired, which he denies.
Legal Practice Council communications manager Sthembiso Mnisi said Chalom had not been struck off the roll.
"The Legal Practice Council was going to commence disciplinary proceedings against him for not submitting his trust audit reports. He then brought an application against us to stop the disciplinary proceedings," he said.
JSC spokesperson CP Fourie denied the allegations of corruption within the organisation, saying he was not aware of such a thing.
He also defended the appointment of judges.
"Recommendations on the appointment of judges are made on merit and taking into account the constitutional imperatives that the JSC must look at, and if there are trade-offs and deals, I am totally unaware of it. If I am unaware of it, I am satisfied that there is nothing of that happening," he said.
Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng's spokesperson Nathi Mncube said Chalom's claims were not new, adding he should open criminal cases against any of the judges he accuses of corruption.
"I am saying that I seem to recall Mr Chalom in 2015. I informed him that he may approach any police station of his choice to lay a criminal charge of corruption against any judge or judges. I personally read some of the documents that he presented to me and I couldn't establish any evidence of corruption against KwaZulu-Natal judges, or any judge for that matter," Mncube said yesterday.
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Cotopaxi Volcano and Quilotoa Lagoon 2 day adventure package brings you from the most active volcano in Ecuador to the only one emerald sparkling lake in the mountains. Travel along t..
Cotopaxi Volcano and Quilotoa Lagoon 2 day adventure package brings you from the most active volcano in Ecuador to the only one emerald sparkling lake in the mountains. Travel along the Avenue of the Volcanoes and admire the Ecuadorian highlands. Head to Cotopaxi National Park where you will have a chance to hike the Cotopaxi Volcano and admire the flora and fauna. The following day you will visit the wonderful Quilotoa Lagoon where you can also hike to enjoy the outdoors. Then, you will be transferred back to Quito. This is a great chance to see the Andes on a 2-day trip away from the hustle and bustle of the city.
Leave early in the morning and take "The Volcanoes Avenue" to Latacunga. Cotopaxi is the highest active volcano in the world (5,897 msnm) located two hours from Quito. Along the way, we'll see various mountains including, El Corazon, Rumiñahui, Illinizas, Pasochoa, and Atacazo. The national park in Volcanoes Avenue allows us the opportunity to hike around the lake at the foot of the Volcano. After, we'll climb the volcano by vehicle until 4,500 meters. Then if the National Park regulations allow us we will climb until 4,800 meters where there is a refuge and from there continue up to the glaciers. Of course, all plans depend on the weather. Also, we'll visit the Interpretation Center where we'll learn about the flora and the fauna of the park and the moors protected area. Overnight in Cotopaxi /Chugchilan.


While Mookie Betts has commanded the spotlight so far in Double-A Portland, he's not the only potential up-the-middle All-Star for the Sea Dogs. Catcher Blake Swihart continues to offer signs that he could emerge as a catcher whose all-around game is that of an elite prospect, capable of leading a pitching staff, controlling the running game and offering an impact in the batter's box. Swihart authored a landmark offensive game on Saturday as part of an epic 9-8, 15-inning win for the Sea Dogs, going 4-for-7 with a game-tying homer (batting right-handed against switch-pitcher Pat Venditte) with two outs in the bottom of the 10th inning and two doubles, including one that put runners on second and third and set up Portland for its 15th-inning walkoff. The four hits and three extra-base hits both represented career highs. Both of Swihart's homers this year have come as a right-handed hitter, a side from which he's now hitting .444/.444/.778 in 27 plate appearances. Overall, he's now hitting .344 with a .354 OBP and hefty .547 slugging mark. The homer was a screamer down the left field line, just over the Maine Monster and just inside the foul pole. It underscored why the Sox believe that Swihart -- who with two homers this year has now matched his total from 2013 in High-A Salem -- has a chance to develop some home run capability down the line. The ball was absolutely hammered, a sign of Swihart's bat speed and ability to barrel the ball; however, it also had virtually no loft, something that helps to explain why Swihart, who hits the ball as consistently hard as nearly anyone in the system, rarely hits home runs at this point in his career. He drills liners to the outfield and into the gaps, but has yet to develop his stroke in a fashion that allows those missiles to clear fences. But in time, Swihart may learn to elevate the balls that he barrels, and if so, he has plenty of strength to be able to clear the fences. A look at his homer on Saturday: Your browser does not support iframes. TRIPLE-A PAWTUCKET RED SOX: 7-5 WIN AT LEHIGH VALLEY (PHILLIES) (BOX) -- Right-hander Brandon Workman continued to build innings in Triple-A, tallying a season-high six frames (on 87 pitches, 49 strikes), but he allowed four runs on nine hits (seven singles, two doubles) while walking two and striking out just three. Workman is now stretched out as a starter, though he has yet to excel in that role in Pawtucket, as he has a 6.28 ERA in his three starts, though with a solid 13-to-3 strikeout-to-walk rate in 14 1/3 innings of work. -- First baseman Ryan Lavarnway went 2-for-3 with a double and a pair of walks, bringing his numbers close to season highs (.256 average, .351 OBP). The 26-year-old's double was his first extra-base hit in 10 games; he has just four (three doubles and a homer) in 22 games this year. -- Left-hander Rich Hill had his best outing of the year, firing two perfect innings with a pair of strikeouts. He has a 3.38 ERA with 15 strikeouts and eight walks in 13 1/3 innings. -- Right-hander Alex Wilson gave up his first run of the season, but he continued to produce groundballs and strikeouts in steady measure. Of his three outs, one came via strikeout and the other two were groundballs. In 10 innings this year, he has a 0.90 ERA and a .152 opponents batting average. Right-handers are just 1-for-20 with eight strikeouts against him. DOUBLE-A PORTLAND SEA DOGS: 9-8 WIN (15 INNINGS) VS. TRENTON (YANKEES) (BOX) -- Feats of Mookie: Popping the clutch. With the Sea Dogs down to their final out in the bottom of the 14th inning, Mookie Betts launched a two-out, solo homer to center field (his third of the year) to tie the game, 7-7, and send it to a 15th frame, where Portland erased a one-run deficit with a pair of runs to claim an unlikely walkoff win in which they erased three deficits in extra innings. Betts went 2-for-7 and has now collected multiple hits in 11 of 18 contests this year, good for a .418/.455/.658 line. It's now been five games since he struck out. -- Pete Hissey erased the disappointment of an 0-for-6 day by pitching the 15th inning, navigating the frame by allowing one run on two hits. While he was slated to absorb a loss, the left-hander (who topped out around 80 mph) ended up emerging victorious thanks to the Sea Dogs' two-run rally in the bottom of the 15th. It was the 24-year-old Hissey's first professional pitching appearance. -- First baseman Travis Shaw has suddenly gotten very hot, going 2-for-6 with a homer (his third in seven games) and a walk. In his last seven games, he's hitting .433/.514/.733 with five walks and just one strikeout. He's more than doubled his average (from .125 to .262) while elevating his OBP more than 100 points (from .282 to .392) and more than tripling his slugging mark (from .125 to .400) in that span. -- Outfielder Henry Ramos followed a four-hit game on Friday with a 3-for-7 contest on Saturday that included a double and the two-run walkoff single in the bottom of the 15th inning. The switch-hitting 22-year-old now has an eight-game hitting streak en route to a .288/.316/.342 line. HIGH-A SALEM RED SOX: 7-1 LOSS VS. WINSTON-SALEM (WHITE SOX) (BOX) -- Outfielder Aneury Tavarez went 2-for-4 with a steal and drove in Salem's only run. He's driven in 12 runs in nine games, plating at least one run in seven of the nine games in which he's played to date, including each of the last four. He's hitting .265 with a .324 OBP and whopping .647 slugging mark, including a .350/.409/.950 line with runners on base. -- Right-hander Simon Mercedes allowed three runs on three hits (including a three-run homer) in four innings as a piggyback starter, though he did strike out four, walk just one and elicited five groundball outs. SINGLE-A GREENVILLE DRIVE: 5-1 WIN VS. LEXINGTON (ROYALS) (BOX) -- Left-hander Cody Kukuk fired six shutout innings, continuing his early-season dominance in his second year in Greenville. Though he walked four and threw just 52 of 90 pitches for strikes (58 percent), he elicited 11 swings and misses while striking out five and permitted just two singles. In five starts, Kukuk has shown the consistent dominance that eluded him last year, producing a 3-0 record with a 1.88 ERA with 29 strikeouts (10.9 per nine innings) and 12 walks allowed (4.5 per nine) in 24 innings. Opponents are hitting just .217 against him with one homer in 24 frames. Kukuk, who lasted as many as five innings in just 12 of his 24 starts last year, has pitched five or more frames in four of his first five starts this year. The early dominance may force a promotion to Salem in the near future. -- Center fielder Manuel Margot went 3-for-4 with a double, giving him seven extra-base hits in 18 games this year (after he collected 11 in 49 games in Lowell last year). He's been inconsistent on a day-to-day basis but with a handful of standout games that underscore the 19-year-old's considerable ceiling. He's hitting .269/.319/.463 with five walks and 11 punchouts. -- Carlos Asuaje, playing third base on Saturday, had yet another multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with a double. The 22-year-old is now hitting .365/.467/.635 with 12 extra-base hits in 18 games, ranking fourth in the South Atlantic League in average, first in OBP and second in slugging. -- Left-hander Trey Ball, the Red Sox' first-round pick (No. 7 overall) in the 2013 draft, makes his Greenville debut on Sunday.


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Paying a pretty price for the bright lights of…
Paying a pretty price for the bright lights of Glendale life
Part of the outdoor dining area along Brand Boulevard in Glendale (Photo by Merrill Shindler)
By Larry Wilson | lwilson@scng.com | Pasadena Star News
PUBLISHED: September 7, 2022 at 8:00 a.m. | UPDATED: September 7, 2022 at 8:00 a.m.
I bow to no Pasadenan in my … indifference … toward Glendale.
It's not really a rivalry, is it? And never has been. Considering that the cities are next-door neighbors, there's just not much of a relationship at all.
However, I do of course love Fish King, and wish there were a Fish King in Pasadena. And my friends who live there, including our former city editor, Bob Rector, who takes me out for a fantastic burger at his fantastic golf course, Oakmont.
But it's not at all like the situation with the equally bordering unincorporated town of Altadena, or the city of Sierra Madre, which share a unified school system with Pasadena.
We hold those burgs close, Pasadenans do.
Or South Pasadena. Hey, they stole our name! And did so in order to incorporate as a dry city over a century ago given the outrages of the very wet and racy larger neighbor.
Or the equally neighborly Arcadia, or tony San Marino, from which Pasadena is forever trying to steal the Huntington Library, though it's across the street, or La Cañada Flintridge, from which the City of Roses tries to steal JPL, though it's also across the street.
But Glendale? Though its city limits are literally a couple of hundred yards from my west Pasadena home, we never think of it. Act as if it's not there, or is somewhere off in the San Fernando Valley.
even though we nominally share a major (and very cool) travel hub with it, the Burbank Glendale Pasadena Airport, and, thanks to our shared state senator, Anthony Portantino, a new tri-city affordable housing trust that has allocated $23 million to help finance cheaper digs through a joint powers authority.
But Pasadenans just don't care about Glendale.
Perhaps the reverse is the case as well.
I do love a line from the retired Los Angeles Times columnist, the Jack Smith of a latter era, La Cañadan Chris Erskine: "Pasadena — for when the bright lights of Glendale get to be all too much."
I bring this all up in the context of a fascinating news story I saw the other day: Glendale has the fourth-highest average rents in the nation, according to the listing portal Rent.com.
Higher than Los Angeles. Higher than New York City, for God's sake. One place higher than uber-desirable, beach-side Santa Monica.
What's Glendale-side? Montrose?
Told by Fox 11 that the average apartment rent in his city is $4,472 a month, Glendale Mayor Ardashes Kassakhian sensibly notes that there's a wee problem with the statistic: The universe used for the ranking is only account listings on Rent.com.
"If you look at other rental sites, the average rent is closer to $3,000," the mayor told the TV station.
And here's another thing. Glendale is mostly a suburban city of houses, not apartments, those grand high rises Pasadenans traveling through Glendale on the way to the Burbank airport see towering above the 134 Freeway notwithstanding. Apartment-wise, unlike, say, Santa Monica, there's not all that much supply. And apparently a very large demand.
No. 3? Palo Alto. Steve Jobs' fault.
No. 2? Boston. Nice-enough town if you don't mind the Celtics.
No. 1? Jersey City. Just across the river from Manhattan. Talk about being able to see the bright lights …
Wednesday at random
South Pasadenan novelist Percival Everett's "The Trees" has been longlisted for the Booker Prize 2022, perhaps the most prestigious award out there for books written in English. I love what he told the Booker folks: "There's a reason that oppressive regimes often resort to burning books. No one can control what minds do when reading; it's entirely private." Asked about his being described as a writer hard to pigeonhole, he says: "I don't describe myself. If someone is trying to describe us, it's usually for not good reasons. Either we're missing or we've done something. Suffice to say, I'm not a pigeon." I have only read his "So Much Blue," and clearly I have a lot of catching up to do.
Write the public editor at lwilson@scng.com.
Larry Wilson | Public editor
Larry Wilson is a member of the Southern California News Group's editorial board, writing a twice-weekly column, and is public editor of the Pasadena Star-News, San Gabriel Valley Tribune and Whittier Daily News. For 12 years he was the editor of the Star-News, and prior to that its editorial page editor. He has been a professional journalist since age 19 when he became the rock music critic of The Daily Californian at UC Berkeley, a student newspaper he now sits on the Board of Directors of, and has worked at the Pasadena Guardian, the Pasadena Weekly, where he was founding business manager, and Rolling Stone Press. He is a co-founder, with the novelist Jervey Tervalon and the late food critic Jonathan Gold, of LitFest Pasadena.
lwilson@scng.com
Follow Larry Wilson @PublicEditor


1. Put the onion, curry paste, lime zest and juice, soy sauce, peanut butter, creamed coconut and sugar into a bowl and mix well.
2. Cut the chicken into 2cm chunks. Add to the bowl and stir until coated in the sauce. Thread the chicken pieces onto 12 skewers. Place in a dish, cover with clingfilm and chill for at least 1 hour or until ready to cook.
3. Prepare and light the barbecue or preheat the grill, and preheat the oven to 190°C, gas mark 5. Cook the skewers in the oven, turning once, for 15-20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through with no pink meat and the juices run clear. Finish under the hot grill or barbecue by cooking for a further 2-3 minutes until golden. Serve with lime wedges on the side.


When you're slogging through a divorce sometimes it's hard to imagine what your future is going to look like. That uncertainty can breed anxiety -- and too much anxiety can hamper a healthy divorce recovery. To combat this uneasiness, I advise my clients to pick a divorce role model -- a friend who went through a divorce a while ago, handled herself well, protected her kids from the toxic fallout, and has since constructed a positive life for herself and her family. Having a divorce role model provides desperately needed reassurance that one's own life will eventually smooth out and a sense of normalcy will return.
If you don't know anyone personally who is qualified for this role (and even if you do) sometimes it's fun to cast a celebrity to play the part. But not just any celebrity will do. You have to pick someone who not only did all the things you aspire to do during your divorce (keep it together, take good care of yourself and your kids, keep putting one foot in front of the other, all during the worst time of your life), but also managed to do these things while under constant media scrutiny. That's a pretty high bar. Not surprisingly, celebrity divorce role models can be harder to find that non-famous divorce role models.
But if you're searching for a perfect actress to play that part for you, it's hard to do better than Katie Holmes.
She created a tight circle of trust. In the months leading up to her split from Tom Cruise, Holmes wasn't out bellyaching to anyone who would listen about being unhappy or having a marriage that felt like a lonely hellscape prison. Holmes had a short list of people in whom she confided. She made her immediate family her circle of trust, leaning on her dad in particular for planning, advice, and support. Of course, it didn't hurt that her dad is a divorce lawyer. But even if you're not lucky enough to have someone in your immediate family who practices family law, it makes good sense to only confide in a few close loved ones while you figure out what you want to do, develop a plan, and get your ducks in a row.
She kept it together. Although the paparazzi was all over the story, Holmes did not provide any fuel for the fire. She didn't have any public meltdowns. She didn't pop into some random salon and shave her head. She didn't go out clubbing but forget her underwear at home. She didn't get trashed and then pass out in someone's car. She kept a low profile until her divorce was done and the media storm blew over.
She didn't put Suri in the middle of it. Holmes made Suri's wellbeing her top priority during the divorce. Although there was plenty she could have said -- and plenty of people who were more than willing to listen -- she didn't talk trash about Cruise. She didn't try to rewrite Suri's life story by either cutting Cruise out of the role of dad or recasting some new guy to play the part. She put her energy into getting them settled in Manhattan, enrolling Suri in a new school, and helping her adjust to the new family structure.
She wasn't in a hurry to date. If I had a dime for every time I've read an Us Weekly story at the nail salon (that's where I conduct all my hard research, by the way) about a divorcing celebrity who immediately takes up with her body guard, backup dancer, or the kids' "manny," I'd never have to pay for another pedicure again. But TomKat's better half had no interest in going out on the prowl. She was singularly focused on getting her den in order, not chasing down new tail.
She rebuilt her life. Once they were settled, Holmes set about rebuilding her life -- a life that includes a career of her own. She figured out a good balance between professional and personal commitments, taking care to take on neither too much nor too little. Rumor has it she is even considering following in her dad's footsteps and going to law school. Her motivation? She reportedly wants to be a good female role model for Suri. The result is Suri has a mom who is both there for her, but also modeling how to have an identity that includes more than being a mom. That's important for both Suri's and Holmes' emotional health now and in the future.
Holmes' powerful and inspiring performance in her real life drama earns her an Emotional Hardbody Award for Outstanding Divorced Mom. And when the final credits roll, that's way more important than an Oscar. This critic predicts Holmes' latest production will have a very long and successful run.


Finding the right person was well worth their wait.
Sometimes, the second time's the charm. While some people might assume that it's harder to find a partner as you get older, these five women are proof that it can be done and that meeting the right partner is well worth the wait. Read on as they happily share how they found love in their 40s or 50s and what they learned since taking a second trip down the aisle.
Never say no to a new opportunity.
"I was in a bad marriage for 24 years followed by three serious relationships that lasted several years before I met my second husband. At age 53 I decided to go to a nearby singles event with a group of girlfriends. My future husband sat down with us and we started chatting. He and I had some common interests, and we talked and danced all night. He asked me out the next weekend. We've now been married for 15 years.
Something I've noticed about this relationship that's different from my first marriage is that I'm more forgiving, and I try to stop and think before I speak. When you're older you're more set in your ways and less flexible in relationships, so you have to work harder to be compassionate and caring to your partner. In the end, it's about mutual respect, which I think is the cornerstone of any successful marriage."
"I met my fella online about a year ago after my son—a junior at Penn State at the time—made it clear that he was feeling a little crowded by his single mom. I remember him saying, 'Mom, instead of worrying about me all the time, you could have your own life. You could date, you know...' So three years ago, at the age of 50, I filled out a Bumble profile because it allows the woman to initiate the conversation (no stalkers!). My fella responded, and his photos were just so happy. Rob looked joyful and his write-up was genuine; he wasn't trying too hard. We hit it off immediately and then had a very dull second date, which we laugh about now. We pressed on, and our third date was a winner! We're getting married this spring.
Be open to new surprises.
"After having been married for 32 years, my [first] husband passed away in 2008, after a long illness. Once widowed, I experienced the confusing and mixed feelings of grief: guilt, loneliness, regrets, indelible memories of loving glances, hugs, and laughs. I never intended to get remarried. I imagined a full active life on my own, working, making art, and socializing with friends and family.
I suppose I was feeling lonely when I logged onto JDate in 2009. I was looking for dinner conversation with someone interesting. I wasn't expecting to fall in love, but I did. We married in January of 2012 in a lovely ceremony at home. To my surprise and delight, I found that I could deeply love this wonderful man who entered my life while holding dear the memories of my first husband."
Stop looking and love might find you.
"I got married for the first time at age 19. It lasted 12 years. After getting divorced I tried to reenter the dating scene right away, but I quickly became discouraged. As soon as a man heard I had four kids, he would leave skid marks getting away. Eventually, I decided to give up on the whole dating ordeal. Wouldn't you know, that's when I met my husband—the ex-brother-in-law of my best friend.


Puerto Rico suffered a worse disaster — and faces a much longer, more fraught path to recovery — than Texas, Louisiana or Florida.
Already reeling from fiscal woes, Puerto Rico is suffering from a humanitarian crisis as well in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, the strongest storm ever to cross that US territory since 1928. Large swaths of homes have been destroyed, many roads are impassable, electricity remains non-existent on much of the island, communication lines are down, and there is the fear that a damaged dam could fail and cause even more havoc.
Moreover, fewer than 1% of Puerto Rican households have flood insurance and only about half are insured against wind damage, Kousky said. People dropped coverage during the island's financial crisis — the number of insured for flood damage fell by half just in the last two years. It doesn't help that many of its residents still live in wood homes, Cordero-Guzman said.
If there is a silver lining in this devastation, it's the opportunity to build something better going forward. Kousky said 90% of federal relief funding for floods come after the fact. "We're not doing the necessary work ahead of time in order to prevent damage, but it does give us a little bit of a window of opportunity" to rebuild in a way that takes into account risk reduction, she said.
Since the damage is widespread, the rebuilding will be top-to-bottom. "They're actually probably going to have an opportunity to do that faster and better than any other US city because they are at such a point of crisis that they're going to have to rebuild the entire telecommunications, roads, airport, all other forms of infrastructure, most of their housing," Fleming said.
There is a concern, though, that Maria could derail the island's 10-year plan to return to financial health. In May, the territory filed for bankruptcy to get relief from heavy debt — the largest ever filing from a municipality. "How is this going to impact the viability of Puerto Rico's fiscal plan that's now in place, especially if a large part of the population leaves and doesn't come back? We saw that [after Hurricane] Katrina. That could really impact viability," said Vincent Buccola, Wharton professor of legal studies and business ethics, on a follow-up radio segment on Puerto Rico.
The turnaround plan calls for cost cuts as well as increased investments and revenue. "Obviously, you're going to need new capital investment here. It remains to be seen how plans are going to change — it will have to," Buccola said. However, he doesn't want the US government to help in the bankruptcy. Rather, he prefers that Puerto Rico's lenders assume all the risk, even if it means not recovering any money they are owed.
Suarez also pointed to the case of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, the island's only electric utility. It has been restructuring its debt and there's talk of privatizing it, which worries the union. Now, "some people are arguing that the power company is doing a better job" of handling the crisis than private companies, despite the territory still suffering blackouts. He questioned whether the interest in privatization would continue given the politics of the situation and the public response.


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PITTSBURGH 1950 by ELLIOT ERWITT
Street Photography, 8th August 2017
Title: PITTSBURGH 1950 by ELLIOT ERWITT
Price: £45 / €55 / $65
In 1950, 22-year-old Elliott Erwitt was commissioned by the legendary Roy Stryker to document Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, as it emerged from a notoriously polluted industrial city into a cleaner, more modern metropolis. Shooting for Stryker's newly organised Pittsburgh Photographic Library, Erwitt's photographs captured the humanity and spirit of the people of the city against the angular industrial architecture. Drafted into the army in Germany just four months after arriving in Pittsburgh, Erwitt was forced to abandon the project, leaving his negatives behind. For decades, the negatives were held at the Pennsylvania Department of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, and as a result, a majority of the photographs in this book have neither been published nor exhibited before.
When Erwitt began to photograph Pittsburgh, it was heavily associated with the Steel Industry and was very much a city in flux. Rapid immigration in the first half of the 20th century from Europe and African Americans from the rural south helped to fuel Pittsburgh's industry. During World War II, demand for steel resulted in mills operating 24 hours a day for the war effort, resulting in the highest levels of air pollution known by the city. Erwitt captured the dirt and the grit of the old city,
Essay by Vaughn Wallace
© Elliott Erwitt Courtesy: Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh
the new buildings of the city's rebirth, and most importantly, the individuality of the residents of Pittsburgh, creating a unique document of the city.
Roy Stryker is best-known for his work with the Farm Security Administration (FSA) in the 1930s, commissioning photographers such as Dorothea Lange and Walker Evans to document the heartland of the USA. Stryker and Erwitt had originally met in New York whilst Erwitt was studying and Stryker went on to commission him to work on a Standard Oil project alongside Berenice Abbott, Gordon Parks and Russell Lee amongst others. In 1950, at the invitation of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development, Stryker began to organise and archive photos documenting the renaissance of the smoky city to a modern industrial giant. Stryker hired photographers from around the nation, including Erwitt, Esther Bubley, Harold Corsini, Russell Lee, Arnold Eagle, Richard Saunders and others to record aspects of the city's transformation and re-birth. Stryker, notorious for giving his photographers shooting scripts, gave Erwitt free reign to photograph the city as he saw fit. In 1951, Erwitt was drafted into the Army Signal Corps in Germany and his role in the project ended there.
Unlike Stryker's other projects, all of his discarded negatives ("kills") in the Pittsburgh Photographic Library were retained, separated into separate files rather than hole-punched and rendered unusable. Pittsburgh: 1950 by Elliott Erwitt draws from sanctioned images as well as Stryker's kills, offering a complete and un-edited look at Erwitt's eye during his formative years. Subjects and themes central to Erwitt's work made over the following seven decades are evident in these early photographs.
Born in Paris in 1928 to Russian parents, Erwitt spent his childhood in Milan, before emigrating to the US with his family in 1939. As a teenager living in Hollywood, he developed an interest in photography and worked in a commercial darkroom before experimenting with photography at Los Angeles City College. In 1948 he moved to New York and exchanged janitorial work for film classes at the New School for Social Research. In 1951 he was drafted for military service and undertook various photographic duties while serving in a unit of the Army Signal Corps in Germany and France. While in New York, Erwitt met Edward Steichen, Robert Capa and Roy Stryker. In 1953 Erwitt joined Magnum Photos and worked as a freelance photographer for Collier's, Look, Life, Holiday and other luminaries in that golden period for illustrated magazines. In the late 1960s Erwitt served as Magnum's president for three years. He then turned to film: in the 1970s he produced several noted documentaries and in the 1980s eighteen comedy films for Home Box Office.
Pittsburgh 1950 by Elliott Erwitt
Hardback clothbound screen printed cover w/ Jacket 136 pages 225 x 305 mm (portrait)
For information about Pittsburgh: 1950 published by GOST Books please contact Eleanor Macnair press@gostbooks.com
www.gostbooks.com
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We're still hiring so we've adapted our processes to keep people safe. Doing our part to protect the health and safety of our employees, candidates, and communities is our highest priority.
Join us and be a part of bringing moments of magic to hundreds of millions of people - we're Making the World Playful! Take a look now.
Our Crafts
Kingdom News
Product Manager Data
Craft:
Want to create the world's best mobile games? Have you got the skills to make that happen? As a Product Manager for the Ads Growth team, you will work alongside data scientists, product managers, architects and developers to execute the product vision and strategy for our Ads Platform.
Your focus will be to manage the data platform as a product and define features that will deliver features to internal and external teams, while increasing developer efficiency and improving reliability, scalability and cost- effectiveness of the platform. This role will focus on quality and scaling both the current and future ads products to optimize ad serving in mobile games. You will deliver ideas from concept to implementation and will champion new and existing ad products across studios at King and Activision.
A successful candidate will be comfortable working on technical projects to deliver business intelligence solutions that provide data insights and enable fast and efficient decision making for the business.
Game Changer - What you bring to the role
Contribute towards the ads platform business strategy to build a robust data product roadmap for development and drive adoption of key data platform products.
Work closely with developers, product managers and game teams to understand problems, capture new ideas and manage a prioritized backlog of requirements.
Participate in quarterly planning sessions to define initiatives, resolve dependencies and perform data- driven prioritization.
Communicate and evangelize the value of ads platform to product engineering teams and business stakeholders by defining, tracking and reporting on metrics.
Expected to provide valuable input into business cases based on in depth analysis of ads behaviour and demonstrate how that analysis impacts business metrics.
Work cross- functionally across product, engineering, architecture, infrastructure, field and other areas to successfully push platform initiatives forward.
Skills to create thrills
You have a technical background in large- scale distributed systems and platform architecture to be able to communicate effectively with engineers and architects.
You know how to define team goals and success metrics, and ensure that we are tracking towards improvements that align with the platform's wider business objectives.
You are a compelling influencer with great communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to align a diverse group of stakeholders towards a common goal.
You hold or have held a technical role in the past. Experience with data warehousing, business intelligence reporting is a plus.
You have at least 1 year of product management experience OR you are a recent MBA graduate.
About Activision and Our Family of Brands
Activision Blizzard, Inc. (NASDAQ: ATVI), is one of the world's largest and most successful interactive entertainment companies and is at the intersection of media, technology and entertainment. Our combined entertainment network delights hundreds of millions of monthly active users in 196 countries, making us the largest gaming network on the planet!
Activision develops, distributes, and publishes deeply immersive interactive entertainment for gaming consoles, mobile and tablet platforms, and PCs, including blockbuster franchises like Call of Duty® and Skylanders®.
Blizzard Entertainment develops, distributes and publishes some of the most iconic entertainment experiences in gaming, such as World of Warcraft®, StarCraft®, Diablo®, Hearthstone®, and Heroes of the Storm™, for PCs, mobile and tablet platforms, and consoles.
About King
King is the game developer behind the world- famous Candy Crush franchise, as well as mobile game hits including Farm Heroes, Bubble Witch and Pet Rescue. Candy Crush is the top- grossing franchise in US app stores, a position it has held for the last two years, and King's games are being played by 245 million monthly active users as of Q3 2021. King, which is part of the Activision Blizzard group since its acquisition in 2016, employs nearly 2,000 people in game studios in Stockholm, Malmö, London, Barcelona and Berlin, and offices in San Francisco, New York, and Malta.
A Great Saga Needs All Sorts of Heroes
Making games is fun. Especially when you do it with people who share the same idea of what makes a good workplace great. We design games for everyone, no matter where they are or who they are, and we employ all sorts of people from all kinds of backgrounds to bring them to life. Truth is, we simply cannot expect diversity in our players and originality in our games without first nurturing it in our people. A great saga needs all sorts of heroes.
Making the World Playful
Making the World Playful is what inspires us to create new experiences and raise the bar. It's what makes King a place where we can all dream bigger, continue to add innovation to our games, broadening the portfolio and exploring new territories in mid- core and casual. We take the art and science of gaming to the next level through our curiosity for the unexplored, passion for games, respect for each other and love for our players - and we're not afraid to have fun along the way. In fact, together with our parent company Activision Blizzard and experts around the world, we believe having fun is good for you. There has never been a better time to join us. We're dreaming bigger and see a world of possibilities ahead. If you share our passion, our values, and our hunger to shape the future, join us in Making the World Playful!
Applications needs to be in English.
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Craft: Advertising & Sales
Location: Foster City
Job Ref: R011547
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December 2015 News Wire
By Tim Slavin / News Wire / December 2015 Issue
Interesting stories about computer science, software programming, and technology found online since the last issue of the magazine.
Tinkercad 3D Printing Tutorial: How to Create Your First 3D Print
https://i.materialise.com/blog/tinkercad-3d-printing-tutorial
Recreate a 140-Year-Old Brushless Motor on a 3D Printer
http://makezine.com/projects/recreate-a-140-year-old-brushless-motor-on-a-3d-printer/
Hackers can hijack Wi-Fi Hello Barbie to spy on your children
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/nov/26/hackers-can-hijack-wi-fi-hello-barbie-to-spy-on-your-children
Inside the VTech hack that jeopardized data of more than 200,000 kids
Data stolen includes children's names, gender, and birthdates as well as parent's home addresses and access information.
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2015/11/28/inside-the-vtech-hack-that-jeopardized-data-of-more-than-200000-kids/
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/one-of-the-largest-hacks-yet-exposes-data-on-hundreds-of-thousands-of-kids
http://www.troyhunt.com/2015/11/when-children-are-breached-inside.html
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/hacker-obtained-childrens-headshots-and-chatlogs-from-toymaker-vtech
Refugees in Berlin create online map of essential resources for new arrivals
http://thenextweb.com/apps/2015/10/27/refugees-in-berlin-create-online-map-of-essential-resources-for-new-arrivals/
This 11-year-old is selling cryptographically secure passwords for $2 each
http://arstechnica.com/business/2015/10/this-11-year-old-is-selling-cryptographically-secure-passwords-for-2-each/
YouTube's Grand Plan to Make Virtual Reality (VR) Accessible to Everybody
http://www.wired.com/2015/11/youtube-360-virtual-reality-video/
NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory Education Site Relaunched
New website makes it easy for teachers (and students and parents) to learn about engineering and space sciences.
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/
Are You Wasting Your Money at Coding Boot Camp?
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-10/are-you-wasting-your-money-at-coding-boot-camp-
Open source projects rely on donated time—what motivates participants?
http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/11/open-source-projects-rely-on-donated-time-what-motivates-participants/
Visual Studio now supports debugging Linux apps; Code editor now open source
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2015/11/visual-studio-now-supports-debugging-linux-apps-code-editor-now-open-source/
Why is wireless charging taking so long to arrive?
http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/has-wireless-charging-finally-gone-mainstream/
Goodbye apps, hello smart agents: Are you ready for the post-app world?
http://www.techradar.com/news/world-of-tech/future-tech/goodbye-apps-hello-smart-agents-are-you-ready-for-the-post-app-world–1309611
Analyzing 1.1 Billion NYC Taxi and Uber Trips, with a Vengeance
http://toddwschneider.com/posts/analyzing-1-1-billion-nyc-taxi-and-uber-trips-with-a-vengeance/
Graph-theory breakthrough tantalizes mathematicians
http://www.nature.com/news/graph-theory-breakthrough-tantalizes-mathematicians-1.18801
The Great Robot Showdown- Ollie vs. Sphero vs. Dash
http://colleengraves.org/2015/11/19/the-great-robot-showdown-ollie-vs-sphero-vs-dash/
The Unsettling Future of Facial Recognition
http://petapixel.com/2015/11/12/the-unsettling-future-of-facial-recognition/
How Machine Learning Works (according to Google)
http://marketingland.com/how-machine-learning-works-150366
http://googleresearch.blogspot.com/
http://googleresearch.blogspot.com/search/label/Machine%20Learning
http://research.google.com/pubs/ArtificialIntelligenceandMachineLearning.html
https://youtu.be/l95h4alXfAA
Tim Slavin
Tim is an award-winning writer and technologist who enjoys teaching tech to non-technical people. He has many years experience with web sites and applications in business, technical, and creative roles. He and his wife have two kids, now teenagers, who are mad about video games.
Also In The December 2015 Issue
Digital DNA
The history of an egg shaped outdoor sculpture made of electronic parts in Palo Alto, California.
Invent Things with SAM Wireless Blocks
Use a software app to invent neat things by mixing SAM wireless blocks. No wires and no code needed.
How to Build a Computer
Building your own computer is a great way to not only save money, and get more processing power, but also to learn about the less obvious parts of software programming.
al-Jazari Automatons
We might think robots are a modern invention. But al-Jazari created amazing automatons in the thirteenth century. Today we would call him a maker.
Low Cost Virtual Reality Headsets with Google Cardboard
The Google Cardboard project is a fun way to experience virtual reality with your phone and software apps.
Sumobots
Sumobots smash into each other and can be a fun project to create. Free plans are online. Upload your plan to services which send you the parts.
How We Designed a School Robot
How our all girls high school robotics team designed then built a robot to compete in FIRST competitions next year.
The How and Why of Breadboards
This key part of electronics projects turns out to be easy to understand. Learn about breadboards by building a simple LED project with a 9V battery.
Learn more than a language. Learn skills you need to use the language. Options to suit the way you learn best.
How to Create a Really Secure Password
Use dice from a board game or toy store to create difficult to crack passwords and phrases that you can remember.
How to Manage Tasks and Projects
Learning how to make, track, and complete goals also helps with school projects and personal projects.
The Cathedral and the Bazaar
An essay from the 1990s explores how software can be built like a cathedral or in groups like a bazaar.
The Clojure programming language provides the simplicity of a Lisp programming language with the ability to run in the Java Virtual Machine (JVM).
Linux Operating Systems
Beyond Microsoft Windows and Mac OSX there are many Linux operating systems used by programmers daily and built as open source.
December 2015 Learn More Links
Links from the bottom of all the December 2015 articles, collected in one place for you to print, share, or bookmark.


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Kuciak murder trial
Last Week in Slovakia
Foreigners' Police
The man behind the horse
RASTISLAV Bilas, an obscure entrepreneur from Slovakia's far east, did his best to take the blame for the country's most recent political scandal. During a colourful and occasionally bizarre press conference on March 24, Bilas claimed that he had been "project manager" on a deal last year which saw 15 million tonnes of state emission quotas sold by the Environment Ministry to a US-based shell company for about half of their real worth, or €75 million.
Rastislav Bilas (Source: Sme - Tomáš Benedikovič)
But few were buying his story. Politicians from both opposition and coalition parties said they suspected he was a "white horse", or front man, for business interests behind the Smer and SNS parties of the Fico government.
"He whinnied long and well, but in the end it was just neighing," said Ivan Mikloš, deputy chairman of the opposition SDKÚ party. Gyula Bárdos of the opposition SMK called Bilas' press conference "a manoeuvre to conceal the two government parties that are involved in the scandal." Even Ján Kovarčík of the ruling coalition HZDS party claimed to see through Bilas. "Maybe they are both [Smer and SNS] involved in it."
Prime Minister Robert Fico, meanwhile, dismissed Bilas as "a man in a spotted scarf" whom he had never met before, and called the episode "more evidence of amateurism from the SNS".
So who is Rastislav Bilas? A clever entrepreneur who exploited the incompetence of Environment Ministry bureaucrats? Or the consummate insider, who was given the job of making money for his political masters?
"I strenuously reject any connection to the Slovak political scene," said Bilas at his press conference. He admitted, however, that he has known SNS chairman Ján Slota since 1992, and that the two are bound by a mutual love of motorcycles.
Bilas' father comes from Cigla, a village in the Svidník district in eastern Slovakia. The neighbouring village of Hutka was the home of Miroslav Sim, who is now head of office at the Defence Ministry. "I've known him my whole life," said Bilas of Sim. The father of Interior Minister Róbert Kaliňák was born in another village in the area, Kečkovce, and Kaliňák visited the region often during his childhood.
Bilas is also friends with the vice-president of the Police Corps, Michal Kopčík, and attended his wedding in 2007. Arms trader Ján Rusín said in 2008 that he, Sim, Kaliňák and Kopčík had all been friends in the 1990s and had visited shooting ranges together.
In 2008, while Kaliňák was doing an online interview for the aktualne.sk news portal, a certain Rasto Bilas wrote in to say "I send my greetings and wish you the longest possible term in your job!!!" However, Kaliňák said through a spokesman that he had never met Bilas. "The minister does not know Bilas personally and never went shooting with him," said Interior Ministry spokesperson Erik Tomáš.
According to his Facebook page, Bilas graduated in 1991 from the Konštantín 2 secondary school in Prešov. According to his former schoolmates, he has not changed a bit. "He was always like he is now. The same way of talking and acting," said Karol Kyslan.
In front of the media, Bilas said that he had been employed as a "special envoy" by an Indonesian sultan or prince, as well as for the "UN special emissary responsible for health care in Russia". He provided no evidence to back up these claims.
Bilas started business school in 1992 at the Economic University in Košice. In 1997 he started his first business, WH Promotion, which was a combined motorcycle shop and restaurant. Four years later he began to appear in companies under the wing of Alexander Rezeš, one of the most powerful businessmen of the 1990s Vladimír Mečiar era. Following Rezeš' death in 2002 Bilas said "it's a great tragedy for us, a great loss." A source from Rezeš' former inner circle said that the steel magnate had had a weak spot for smooth-talking go-getters like Bilas. "Bilas always had something on the go, he was always telling the old man how they would take care of this and score that, and Rezeš just ate it up," the source said. Bilas and Režes did business together in scrap metal, according to the source.
A source from the security sector said that Bilas had "only 20 thousand crowns and a Škoda Oktavia to his name" in 2005. Under the Fico government, however, Bilas reportedly came to wield influence over public procurement at the Defence Ministry, and was seen with his friend Sim in 2008 on an inspection of army buildings the ministry had declared surplus to its needs following a Sk180 million reconstruction. But Bilas denied having made money off the state. "I never had a single state contract," he said.
Another security sector source said that Bilas had been under surveillance as a "person of interest" to the secret service, and that his telephone had been bugged in 2007 and 2008. However, he was never regarded as a serious player. "I met him about three times," said a Slovak arms trader. "He was the kind of guy who was capable of telling you he had been talking to the director of the FBI just that morning." Since his press conference, Bilas has withdrawn from public view. His mobile telephone is answered by a woman who says the man of the hour has nothing left to add. For those who still want to know more about Bilas, only his Facebook slogan remains: "One of those who will never grow up."
5. Apr 2010 at 0:00 | Tom Nicholson


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Parrikar's life in danger over Rafale files, Congress tells Ram Nath Kovind
Published: Jan 05, 2019, 21:13 IST | IANS | Panaji
Rane on Wednesday claimed that the clip was doctored and requested Parrikar and BJP President Amit Shah to initiate a probe into the matter
Ailing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar's life is in danger because he possesses key files related to corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal, Goa Congress President Girish Chodankar has said in a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind, demanding "fool-proof" security to the former Defence Minister who is recuperating from cancer.
The Goa Congress on Saturday also questioned the delay in filing of a First Information Report in connection with a controversial audio clip, in which state Health Minister Vishwajit Rane has purportedly claimed that Parrikhar had stashed files related to the Rafale deal in his bedroom.
Rane on Wednesday claimed that the clip was doctored and requested Parrikar and BJP President Amit Shah to initiate a probe into the matter.
"The Congress apprehends that attempts on the life of Manohar Parrikar may be made to obtain the files from those who want the actual details of Rafale deal should not come in public domain as the corruption in the deal will be proved," Chodankar said in his letter to Kovind.
"I request that best security cover may be provided and existing security my be enhanced for Manohar Parrikar so that he (potential threat) is adequately protected from all possible apprehended threats and that he may be able to reveal the files to the nation without any fear or favour," the letter says.
The Congress added that there was also a danger of key Rafale files getting destroyed.
"Surely, the security and defence of the country cannot be allowed to be compromised in bedrooms and accordingly adequate fool-proof security cover and protection to the Chief Minister is the need of the hour," Chodankar said.
The audio clip, which created a ruckus in Parliament on Wednesday, allegedly features Rane in a telephonic conversation with a journalist, where Parrikar is stated to have said that the Rafale files were stored in the bedroom of the private residence.
Meanwhile, the Congress in Goa has also demanded the sacking of Rane from the cabinet on account of his discretion as well as a delay in filing an FIR in the matter.
"This is a matter of national security and no FIR is being filed despite in the case, despite the Health Minister denying it is his voice... Rane should be sacked for running down the image of the Chief Minister and saying that he is holding Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ransom over the Rafale files," Congress spokesperson Urfan Mulla told a press conference on Saturday.
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