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Отрицание Нанкинской резни — отрицание того факта, что вооружённые силы Императорской Японии убили сотни тысяч китайских солдат и гражданских лиц во время Второй японо-китайской войны, события которых являются камнем преткновения в японо-китайских отношениях. Отрицание Нанкинской резни считается ревизионистской точкой зрения и не принимается сторонниками преобладающего в академической науке направления, в том числе и частью японских специалистов. Большинство историков согласны с выводами Токийского трибунала относительно размаха и природы зверств, совершённых Японской императорской армией после Битвы за Нанкин. В Японии, однако, имели место горячие споры о размерах и природе резни. Отношения между Японией и Китаем в результате осложнялись, так как в Китае отрицание массовых убийств видится как часть общего нежелания Японии согласиться с фактом своей агрессии и извиниться за неё, либо воспринимается как бесчувственность по отношению к убийствам. Предположения о числе жертв широко разнятся, называются цифры от 40 000 до более чем 300 000. Некоторые исследователи, особенно ревизионисты в Японии, спорили с этим, заявляя, что количество погибших было много меньшим или даже что само событие сфабриковано и никогда не имело места. Эти ревизионистские подсчёты количества убийств стали скрепой в японском националистическом дискурсе.

В Японии лишь небольшое, но громкое меньшинство отрицает резню полностью. Некоторые японские журналисты и социологи, как например  и , сыграли существенную роль в противодействии ревизионистской историографии в десятилетия, прошедшие после убийств. Тем не менее выступления отрицателей, как, например, , часто приводили к полемике в глобальных СМИ, особенно в Китае и других странах Восточной Азии. Отображение резни в  также осложнило Японо-китайские отношения, так как в некоторых из них резня удостаивается лишь краткого упоминания.

Национальная идентичность
Такаси Ёсида утверждает, что «Нанкин сыграл роль в попытках всех трёх наций [Китай, Япония и США] сохранить и переосмыслить национальную и этническую гордость и идентичность, что предполагает разные значения в зависимости от изменения понимания внешних и внутренних врагов соответствующей страны».

Япония
В Японии интерпретация и толкование Нанкинской резни являются отражением японской национальной идентичности и представлений о «гордости, чести и стыде». Такаси Ёсида описывает японские дискуссии о Нанкинском инциденте как «кристаллизацию более широкого конфликта о том, что должно составлять идеальное восприятие страны: Япония как нация осознаёт своё прошлое и извиняется за ошибки военного времени; либо же настойчиво противостоит иностранному давлению и учит японскую молодёжь тому, что благостные и храбрые мученики сражались на справедливой войне, имея своей целью спасти Азию от агрессии Запада». В некоторых националистических кругах разговоры о масштабных убийствах в Нанкине воспринимаются как «травля Японии» (в случае с иностранцами) или «самобичевание» (в случае японцев).

Китай
Дэвид Аскью  характеризует Нанкинский инцидент как «ставший фундаментальным основанием в конструкции современной китайской национальной идентичности». По его мнению, «отказ принять "ортодоксальную" позицию по Нанкину может быть истолкован как попытка отрицать право китайской нации иметь легитимный голос в международном сообществе».

Вопросы определения
Точное определение географической области, охваченной резнёй, её продолжительности, а также выяснение, кто может считаться жертвами при подсчёте количества смертей является важной темой в спорах сторонников официальной версии, принятой большинством историков, и отрицателей. Наиболее радикальные из числа последних, как то Танака Масааки, утверждают о гибели нескольких дюжин или нескольких сотен человек, в то время как большинство историков выдают цифры от 50 000 до 300 000 жертв.

Среди ревизионистов распространена точка зрения, поддерживаемая, в частности, такими отрицателями, как Сюдо Хигасинакано, согласно которой географически территория инцидента должна быть ограничена несколькими квадратными километрами площади города, известной как , население которой составляло 200 000—250 000 человек. Однако это определение практически неизвестно за пределами ревизионистских кругов.

Большинство историков говорят о много большей зоне вокруг города, включающей в себя  (пригород к северу от Нанкина площадью около 31 км²) и другие территории на окраине города. Население Большого Нанкина перед японской оккупацией составляло 535 000—635 000 гражданских лиц и солдат. Некоторые историки также включают в эту территорию шесть округов вокруг Нанкина, известные как Нанкинский специальный муниципальный район. Вместе с ними население Нанкина возрастает до более чем миллиона человек

Временны́е рамки инцидента естественным образом проистекают из принятого определения его географических границ: чем раньше японцы заняли ту или иную территорию, тем бо́льшим будет этот период. Битва за Нанкин закончилась 13 декабря, когда подразделения японской армии вошли в окружённый стенами Нанкин. Токийский трибунал определил временные границы резни как последующие шесть недель. По более консервативным оценкам резня началась 14 декабря, когда японские войска вступили в Зону безопасности, и продолжалась шесть недель.

Большинство исследователей разделяют мнение о примерном общем числе погибших в 50 000—300 000 человек. В Японии ревизионисты, между тем, не согласны с этим, утверждая иногда, что реальное их количество много меньше, либо даже что всё событие, известное как Нанкинская резня, было сфабриковано и никогда не происходило в реальности.

История и цензура во время войны

Во время войны японские СМИ, в том числе газеты, обычно тиражировали позитивный взгляд на войну в Китае. Репортажи о резне в основном тонули в молчании, а газетные сообщения и фотографии обычно демонстрировали сотрудничество между китайским населением и японскими солдатами. Отрицатели заявляют, что эти новости из японских СМИ были «правдивыми» и «заслуживающими доверия». Однако большинство стоящих на принятых сегодня в науке позициях историков оппонируют этому мнению, объясняя, что, как хорошо известно, , группа военных, политиков и специалистов, созданная в 1936 году в качестве «комитета» и повышенная в 1937 до «подразделения», применяла цензуру ко всем средствам массовой информации при режиме Сёва, а также что этот орган имел властные полномочия по отношению к любым публикациям. Таким образом, активисты из Бюро могли и запрещать, и предписывать. Кроме выпуска детализированных инструкций для издательств, они вносили предложения, являвшиеся в реальности ничем иным, как приказами. С 1938 года печатные издания «вынуждены были понять, что их выживание зависит от сотрудничества с Бюро и его главного печатного органа — журнала , который создавал и "образ солдата" и "образ войны"».

Статья 12 цензурной инструкции для газет, вышедшей в сентябре 1937 года, гласила, что любая новостная статья или фотография, «неблагоприятная» для Японской императорской армии должна быть отвергнута. Статья 14 запрещала любые «фотографии жестокостей», но поощряла сообщения о «жестокости китайцев», солдат и гражданских.

Из-за цензуры никто из японских репортёров, оказавшихся в Нанкине после захвата города, не писал критических очерков о своих соотечественниках. В 1956 году, однако, Масатакэ Имаи, корреспондент Tokyo Asahi, который сообщил лишь о «величественной и трогательной церемонии» триумфального вступления в город императорской армии, заявил, что был свидетелем массовой казни от 400 до 500 китайцев около офиса Tokyo Asahi. «Вот бы написать об этом», сказал он своему коллеге по имени Накамура. «Однажды напишем, но не сейчас. Но мы действительно это видели», ответил Накамура. Сигэхару Мацумото, глава шанхайского бюро новостного агентства Domei, писал, что японские корреспонденты, которых он интервьюировал, рассказали ему о 2—3 трупах в окрестностях района Сягуань, а репортёр Юдзи Маэда видел, как новобранцы закалывали китайских военнопленных штыками.
Дзиро Судзуки, корреспондент Tokyo Nichi Nichi, писал, «Когда я вернулся к воротам Чжуншань, я впервые наблюдал невероятную, жестокую резню. На вершине стены, на высоте 25 метров, в ряд были выстроены военнопленные. Их кололи штыками и сбрасывали со стены. Группа японских солдат точила штыки, кричала и колола ими военнопленных в грудь и в спину».

Историк Токуси Касахар отмечает, что «некоторые отрицатели утверждают, что Нанкин был много более мирным местом, нежели принято думать. Они всегда показывают фотографии с беженцами оттуда, продающими какую-то еду на улицах или китайцами, улыбающимися в лагерях. Они забывают о японской пропаганде. Императорская армия практиковала строгую цензуру. Любые фотографии трупов просто не могли пройти её. Поэтому фотографы должны были удалить все тела перед тем, как снимать улицы и городские здания (…) Даже если речь не идёт о постановке, у беженцев просто не было иного выбора, кроме как заискивать перед японскими солдатами. Другое поведение означало бы для них смерть».

Оживление международного интереса к Нанкинской резне
Книга Айрис Чан «Изнасилование Нанкина: забытый Холокост Второй мировой войны», вышедшая в свет в 1997 году, оживила международный интерес к Нанкинской резне. Было продано более полумиллиона экземпляров книги, опубликованной сначала в США и согласно The New York Times, отзывы были в основном критическими. The Wall Street Journal писал, что это «первое комплексное исследование разрушения этого китайского имперского города», и что Чан «умело извлекла наружу из небытия имевшие место ужасные события». The Philadelphia Inquirer писала, что речь идёт о «убедительном отчёте о чудовищном, который, до недавнего времени, был предан забвению». Текст, тем не менее, вызвал и жаркие дебаты. Отчёт Чан базировался на новых источниках, которые должны были послужить лучшему пониманию событий. Японские ультра-националисты настаивали, что Нанкинская резня была сфальсифицирована с целью «демонизации японской расы, культуры, истории и нации».

Признание резни и её отрицание
Такаси Хосияма охарактеризовал картину мнений по поводу Нанкинской резни в Японии как «широкое разделение на две школы: школу признания, которая считает, что масштабная резня имела место и школа отрицания, которая заявляет, что произошло некоторое количество изолированных инцидентов, но резни не было».

Захват дискуссии активистами-непрофессионалами
Дэвид Аскью () утверждает, что обсуждение Нанкинской резни было захвачено «двумя большими группами активистов-дилетантов».

«Китайцев» представляют как единый, гомогенный хор голосов и изображают как злобных и склонных к манипулированию перекручивателей правды, в то время как в равной степени обобщённые и обезличенные «японцы» изображаются безусловным злом, жестокими и кровожадными людьми, которые отрицают хорошо известные исторические факты.

Обе позиции являются нарративами виктимизации. Одна показывает китайцев беспомощными жертвами жестокого японского империализма, пострадавшими зимой 1937—1938, в то время как другая рисует доверчивых японцев, невинных и ставших жертвами китайских махинаций и послевоенной пропаганды.

Японские взгляды на резню
Японские специалисты, подтверждающие факт резни, не только принимают законность соответствующих трибуналов и их выводы, но также декларируют, что Япония должна перестать отрицать своё прошлое и определиться с ответственностью страны за военную агрессию против своих азиатских соседей. Подтверждающие резню специалисты привлекли внимание населения Японии к жестокостям, совершённым национальной армией во время Второй мировой войны в целом и Нанкинской резни в частности и поддерживают антивоенную риторику.

Наиболее радикальные отрицатели, по большому счёту, отвергают выводы трибунала как разновидность «правосудия победителей», принимающего во внимание только версию одержавшей победы стороны. В Японии их называют , они отрицают массовую резню и утверждают, что японские военные убили лишь несколько военнопленных и гражданских в Нанкине. Более умеренные отрицатели говорят о количестве погибших от нескольких тысяч до 38 000—42 000. Обе эти школы противоречат общепринятой среди историков цифре в 150 000—300 000.

Такие заявления обычно не находят поддержки у историков, придерживающихся общепринятых сегодня мнений в этом вопросе.

Наиболее известные японские отрицатели

Сюдо Хигасинакано
Такие отрицатели резни, как Хигасинакано, заявляют, что «Нанкинская резня» была сфабрикована и являлась плодом военной пропаганды, распространявшейся китайскими националистами и коммунистами. Он считает, что действия японских войск в Нанкине соответствовали международному праву и были гуманными. Среди прочего, он утверждает, что не было казней военнопленных в форме и приводит отдельные истории, настаивая на том, что с военнопленными китайцами обращались достойно. Однако Хигасинакано также временами отмечает, что казнённые военнопленные были комбатантами вне закона, посему их казни были оправданы с точки зрения международного права. Он считает, что таковых «незаконных» комбатантов было казнено несколько тысяч.

То, о чём пишет автор, противоречит Гаагским конвенциям, ратифицированным и Китаем, и Японией. Япония нарушала дух и букву законов ведения войны.

Например, по данным историка Акиры Фудзивары, 6 августа 1937, заместитель военного министра Японии уведомил японские войска в Шанхае о решении армии снять ограничения, налагаемые международным правом на обращение с китайскими военнопленными. Эта директива также советовала штабным офицерам избегать термина «военнопленные». Во время резни японские части фактически начали поиски бывших солдат, во время которых были захвачены тысячи молодых людей, большую часть которых убили. В другом случае японцы собрали 1300 китайских солдат и гражданских около Тайпинских ворот и убили их. Жертв взрывали противопехотными минами, затем обливали горючим и поджигали. Оставшихся в живых докалывали штыками.  и , американские новостные корреспонденты в Нанкине, сообщали о том, что видели трупы убитых китайских солдат, собранные в груду высотой шесть футов у ворот Ицзян на севере города. Дёрдин, работавший на New York Times, совершил поездку по Нанкину, прежде чем покинуть город. Он слышал интенсивный пулемётный огонь и наблюдал как японские солдаты расстреляли около двухсот китайцев за десять минут. Через два дня в своём репортаже для New York Times, он писал, что улицы города заполнены трупами гражданских, включая женщин и детей.

Заявление о том, что сообщение , которое составило базу для выводов Трибунала, было лишь пересказом слухов, а значит, выводы о 300 000 убитых «нереальны», вызвало ответ со стороны Боба Тадаси Вакабаяси, который предположил, что утверждения и выводы Хигасинакано не были «здравомыслящими»:

Хигасинакано делает свои поспешные выводы совершенно искренне, так как он зациклен на идее о том, что резни никогда не было. Это заставляет его отметать любые доказательства, осознанно или нет, чтобы поддержать и систематизировать своё заблуждение

Хигасинакано также временами отрицал массовые изнасилования, совершённые японскими войсками, а временами приписывал их китайским солдатам. То, что во время резни изнасилования происходили, ясно из показаний Йона Рабе, избранного главы Нанкинской зоны безопасности:

«Двое японских солдат перебрались через стену сада и собирались вломиться в наш дом. Когда появился я, они оправдывались тем, что видели, как стену перелезли два китайских солдата. Когда я показал своей партийный значок, они ушли тем же путём. В одном из домов на узкой улице за стеной сада женщина была изнасилована, а затем ранена в шею штыком. Мне удалось вызвать скорую помощь и мы смогли доставить её в больницу Кулоу. (…) Прошлой ночью до 1000 женщин и девочек по слухам были изнасилованы, более 100 девушек только из . Повсюду слышно об изнасилованиях. Если мужья или братья вступаются за женщину, в них стреляют. Везде творятся зверства и жестокость японских солдат»

Минни Вотрин, профессор в Цзиньлинском колледже, в этот день записала в своём дневнике, «О Боже, обуздай жестокие зверства японских солдат в Нанкине этой ночью…», а 19 числа: «Я была так разгневана, что хотела уничтожить их всех за их подлые дела. Как стыдно должно было бы быть женщинам Японии, если бы они узнали об этих ужасах».

Вотрин также писала в дневнике, что ей с 18 декабря до 13 января приходилось раз за разом ходить в посольство Японии за прокламациями, которые запрещали бы японским солдатам совершать преступления в Цзиньлинском колледже, так как солдаты рвали бумаги, прежде чем забрать женщин.

Ся Шуцинь, женщина, свидетельствовавшая о том, что она стала жертвой резни, подала в суд на Хигасинакано из-за заявления, сделанного в его вышедшей в 1998 году книге: он утверждал, что её семью убили китайцы, а не японские солдаты. 5 февраля 2009 Верховный суд Японии обязал автора и его издателя, Tendensha, выплатить ей 4 миллиона йен за ущерб. Суд указал, что Хигасинакано не смог доказать, что Шуцинь и указанная девочка были разными людьми или что она не была свидетельницей Нанкинской резни, как он утверждал в своей книге.

Масааки Танака
В своей книге «The Fabrication of the 'Nanjing Massacre'», Масааки Танака утверждал, что в Нанкине не совершалось неизбирательных убийств, а резню сфабриковали Международный военный трибунал для Дальнего Востока (IMTFE) и китайское правительство в пропагандистских целях. Он также настаивал, что Токийский трибунал был проявлением «правосудия победителей», а не справедливым судебным разбирательством. Он приводит цифру в примерно 2000 смертей за всю резню. Танака также высказал мнение о том, что многие гражданские были убиты китайскими военными. Эти заявления были раскритикованы и в Японии, и вне её.

Примечания

Библиография

Академические источники

Ревизионистские источники

Нанкинская резня
Псевдоистория
Японский национализм
Военные преступления и преступления против человечества

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


The San Bernardino and Riverside Counties Street Atlas 2018 Edition, provides the most highly accurate, richly detailed mapping available for the area. Easy to navigate, contiguous street-level maps covering San Bernardino & Riverside counties, with a portrait-style layout and spiral binding for maximum convenience on the go. Printed in color with zip codes and zip code boundaries.
This new 2018 San Bernardino & Riverside County Street Atlas content has been fully updated since the 2013 San Bernardino & Riverside County Thomas Guides were discontinued. Our San Bernardino & Riverside Street Atlas includes San Bernardino and Riverside county ZIP codes and boundaries. It has a complete street index and its own page and grid system.
Adelanto, Apple Valley, Banning, Barstow, Beaumont, Big Bear Lake, Calimesa, Canyon Lake, Cathedral City, Chino, Chino Hills, Coachella, Colton, Corona, Desert Hot Springs, Eastvale, Grand Terrace, Hemet, Hesperia, Homeland, Idyllwild, Indio, Juniper Flats, Jurupa Valley, La Quinta, Lake Elsinore, Lakeview, Loma Linda, Mead Valley, Monte Claire, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, Norco, Nuevo, Ontario, Oro Grande, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Perris, Pomona, Rancho Cucamonga, Rancho Mirage, Redlands, Riverside, Romoland, San Bernardino, San Jacinto, Sun City, Temecula, Twenty-nine Palms, Upland, Victorville, Wildomar, Winchester, Yucaipa, and Yucca Valley.
Size: 404 Pages, 8 1/2" x 11".
WEIGHT SHOWN FOR RATING PURPOSES ONLY! Approximate weight is 2.75 lbs.


text:
Primal Hunt | Review | 6DOF Reviews
When Primal Hunt was first announced, my heart sank a little. Not because of the game itself, but because of who was making it. Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of well-established developers Phaser Lock, but the announcement of this Dino-Hunter crushed my dreams of seeing a surprise announcement of a Quest port of their outstanding MOBA/RTS Final Assault happen any time soon.
That said, the studio was also responsible for the seminal N64 classic Turok, so there was still that spark of hope that Primal Hunt will see a VR revival of a classic part of my childhood. Well, we have the developers, and we have the Dinosaurs, but did we deliver the Jurassic dream? Grab your bows and join me in the long grass as we hunt for VR excellence…
BAMBYSAURAUS
With no need for a heavy story-based preamble, the player is swiftly introduced into the world of Primal Hunt as an elite big game hunter visiting a futuristic game park with the express purpose of murdering prehistoric animals for sport. By way of a fancy neuro-linking process, gamers inhabit a cybernetic hunting suit specially designed for the rigors of hunting the biggest of big game.
I've always found the concept of big game hunting entirely repellent, so I will admit to being a bit put off by the concept right from the outset. This sense of distaste was magnified in the early missions, as the game starts you off hunting essentially harmless herbivores, sometimes killing them in front of their young. The game then congratulates you on your manly prowess while you dismember your prey's remains for mounting as a trophy. Not my bag, but that's neither here nor there.
Primal Hunt then provides you with a progression of hunts, pitting your skills against dinosaurs of ever-increasing ferocity. Not satisfied with just scaling up the size, quantity, or threat level of the dinosaurs, each Dino type also has a tiered level system of bullet spongery designed to increase the challenge. Like so much of the rest of the game, this tactic feels like an easy way for the developers to stretch out the campaign, but we'll get into that later.
Should you find yourself getting weary of killing mere dinosaurs, then fear not! At the team Primal Hunt have been good enough to equip many of your reptilian foes with an assortment of impossible-seeming tech upgrades. Things like razor legs, sniper rifles and missiles are bolted onto your once-extinct fodder to make history's deadliest predators even more threatening. It is quite frankly ridiculous, but in the context of the game, it actually works and is worth a laugh, if nothing else.
SNEAKYOMIMUS
Each hunt you undertake is broken into 3 sections, split up by having to find and examine "clues". These clues are entirely unnecessary and really just serve as waypoints to section off the quest and give you mini-missions to achieve along the way. As the hunts progress, these challenges get progressively harder, going from killing one or two low-level enemies to navigating raptor-infested areas to proceed to the next zone.
You can choose to brute-force your way through if you wish, laying waste to anything cold-blooded along the way, but there are also stealth mechanics that allow you to hide in bushes to avoid combat or better position yourself for a kill. With the limited ammo available, these tactics can often make the difference between life or death. There are also roosts or towers spread around the map that can be traversed with a grappling arrow, which can be lifesaving if you are pursued and outnumbered.
While the stealth elements can be tense and challenging, they frequently result in your final quarry being that much harder to take down as you are swarmed by all the lesser Dinos you previously avoided. As such, unless expressly forbidden by the mission brief, it's usually best to shoot first and ask questions later.
PEWPEWADON
Outside the trappings of the hunt, Primal Hunt is primarily a bow shooter and, unfortunately, falls a little flat on that front. It's not that the bow mechanics are "bad" per se, it's just that they have been done so much better before that if you're an enthusiast of bows in VR it can be a little disappointing. The physics and fall of the arrows feel slightly off and adjusting your aim takes a little time. The sound effects and animations that correspond with a successful hit lack weight and really struggle to give a satisfying sense of impact.
Games like In Death: Unchained have demonstrated to a gold standard how these elements can come together to resonate in an impactful and satisfying way. By comparison, Primal Hunt's archery just feels weak and arcadey. This may seem nitpicky, but in a game where the majority of what you do is shoot creatures with a bow and arrow, it really robs the experience of what should be one of its greatest satisfactions.
All criticisms aside, there are still some really engaging moments on offer Primal Hunt. Attempting to track an enhanced Galimimus while being pursued by a pack of raptors with sniper rifles was an experience, to say the least. Likewise, hiding in a copse of Palaeolithic ferns while a gigantic T-rex roared and lumbered past was also completely noteworthy, as was running through a swamp while trying to get away from a charging Dimetrodon.
In fact, Primal Hunt's biggest asset is the sheer scale of the beasts that inhabit the world, and it's hard not to be a little intimidated sharing the map with them.
GRINDOSAURAUS
When it comes to content, Phaser Lock has definitely gone for the Brachiosaurus-sized portion, however, it really feels like quantity-over-quality. Everywhere you look, there are things to do, with a good range of biomes to explore, dinosaurs to hunt, and even different hunt types to spice up the gameplay. All that said, though, it often feels like the game gets mired in repetitions or slight variations on a theme, a fact that is compounded by the infinitesimally small rewards gained for completion.
There is a fairly deep skill progression tree on offer Primal Hunt, as well as a decent range of unlockable traps and arrow types. It's really quite good if you have the patience to get into it.
I think it's fair to state that my first impressions of Primal Hunt were not good. In fact, they were downright terrible. Everything that is fun about Primal Hunt is hidden behind the game's progression system, and this takes a dangerously long time to reveal itself. In fact, overall I would say that pacing is my main vexation with this game, far outweighing any of the gripes I've mentioned above as an impediment to continued enjoyment.
After 7 hours in the game, I have unlocked a pitifully small arsenal of perks, weapons, and embellishments with which to further my hunt, despite having completed a reasonable number of hunts.
This Gatekeeping through Grind approach is annoying at first and worse over a longer time, having a real chance of putting new players off before the gameplay starts to evolve. The skill tree, for example, offers such powerful boosts as "2% gain in stamina" in exchange for your hard-earned "essence" (the in-game currency). It's maddening! The gains are so minute as to be imperceptible, and you just have to assume that if you grind long enough you'll eventually see some results.
All of this combines to give the impression of a game that started with a "20-hour campaign" as an initial product feature, and filler content was just stacked on until it lumbered across the finish line.
MEDIOCRETOPS
Visually, the team at Phaser Lock have done a decent job, although it is not without its small share of charming junk. The environments are impressively large, just like the creatures that inhabit them. But in order to achieve this within the Quest's obvious limitations, there is a liberal use of a fog palette to hide the draw distance. This works in the swampy areas but feels a little out of place in brightly lit biomes bathed in clear blue skies.
There are frequent issues with dinosaurs "forgetting" their animation cycles and moving through the environment like a toy pulled along on a string, as well as the odd upside-down Pteradon to keep things amusing. I also had a repeated issue where my arrow hand would shift in front of my face, making it difficult to aim. There is a chance, though, that this may have been a tracking issue caused by my play space more than a graphical hitch. Other than these issues, the art style is coherent and well suited to the game's tone and does an adequate job of imparting the awe expected from moving among such a large scale.
The sound design is deliberately understated, with the player seemingly encouraged to immerse himself in the sounds of the environment they are stalking through. Dinosaur sounds boom and shriek as you would expect, and the overall soundscape creates an ambience that compliments the gameplay (aside from the impotent weapon impact sounds, of course). It is nevertheless a little vanilla and there is a missed opportunity for creating a deeper sense of tension. Had Primal Hunt seen the dino-themed equivalent of Cosmodread's outstanding audio work, the experience would have been considerably more immersive.
EXTINCTION EVENT
Primal Hunt is a reasonable attempt to fill a dinosaur-sized niche in the Quest library that does several things well. However, marred by mediocre bow mechanics and pacing issues that spread the fun too thin to be properly enjoyed, the game, unfortunately, falls somewhat short of its potential. With just a little more polish to a few key design elements Primal Hunt could still improve over time, but as it stands, it showcases that even in dino land, bigger is not always better.
Despite those criticisms, there are plenty of moments dotted throughout the game that build an immersive tension that briefly capitalizes on the wonder of walking among dinosaurs and the terror of being chased by them.
It's no Final Assault, but it does have Cybernetically enhanced T-Rexs, so there's always that.
TLDR : Summary
Despite having some immersive and entertaining moments, Primal Hunt fails to capitalize on the enormous potential of walking among prehistoric giants in VR. With some middling mechanics and a game loop that becomes repetitive a little too quickly.
Fun once you get past the grind
Too much grind
Elephant missions
Most skill upgrades are too minor
Virtual Reality Headsets Market Growth Analysis: 2023, Trending Business Share, Emerging Growth Strategies and Forecast To 2027
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Group wants to prevent ballot harvesting in Wisconsin
MADISON — A conservative law firm asked the Wisconsin Elections Commission on Monday to outlaw in the state the process by which outside groups, typically partisan, help to send or return large numbers of absentee ballots.
The move by the Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty to ban ballot harvesting in the battleground state is a precursor to a possible lawsuit in an ongoing fight over the push to increase mail-in voting during the coronavirus pandemic. Both major parties are preparing for a monthslong, state-by-state legal fight over how citizens can safely cast their ballots should the coronavirus pandemic persist through November's election.
In Wisconsin's April presidential primary, 3 in 4 voters used absentee ballots.
High absentee voting is expected again in November, putting the spotlight on the practice of ballot harvesting. Wisconsin law does not specifically outlaw the practice. The Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty, on behalf of five registered voters, argues that it believes state law does not allow it but could be interpreted to permit it. The law firm is asking the Wisconsin Elections Commission to enact a rule to enforce the firm's interpretation of the law.
Wisconsin law requires photo ID for citizens to obtain an absentee ballot. A witness must sign the ballot. However, the law does not prevent third party groups from collecting and returning the ballots en mass.
The commission staff said last year that it was not aware of any efforts in Wisconsin by a political campaign or organization to systematically collect absentee ballots. However, the commission did ask the Legislature in March 2019 to clarify the law relative to ballot harvesting. The Legislature did not do that.
The request filed Monday is for the commission to clarify that only the voter may request an absentee ballot and that person then must place the ballot in the mail or return it in person, meaning a third party group could not do it for the voter.
Commission spokesman Reid Magney had no immediate comment on the request.
Twenty-seven states allow voters to designate someone else to return their ballot, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Wisconsin is one of 13 states that is silent on the issue, according to NCSL.
Rick Esenberg, president of the law firm that is also seeking to purge about 130,000 registrations of voters who have moved, said that Wisconsin's law is not as clear as it should be, making clarification by the commission important.
"This type of thing is ripe with the potential for abuse," Esenberg said Monday on WISN-AM. "It's not an unreasonable expectation, and it's one I think is important to ensure, not only that our elections are conducted fairly, but we have confidence they are conducted fairly."
Esenberg said stopping ballot harvesting is not a partisan issue. He noted a North Carolina congressional election in 2018 that was overturned due to ballot harvesting by Republicans. Both parties harvest ballots in states that permit it.
President Donald Trump and many other conservatives have also argued that ballot harvesting and mail-in voting is an easy way to commit voter fraud, though there is no evidence of widespread mail-in voting fraud. Democrats argue that ballot harvesting is essential for elderly voters and others isolated by the pandemic.


Paul's last words on earth can teach us about how to fight the good fight of faith.
1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called….
Have you ever had to stand up to a bully at school? Explain. Have you ever worked really hard to accomplish something? Describe.
What are some of the hard things Paul faced as a follower of Jesus?
What were Paul's last words about?
Read James 1:12. How does God bless us? What is our ultimate reward for following Jesus?
This is part of the Famous Last Words Series.


text:
import { FunctionComponent } from 'react';

import { translate } from '@waldur/i18n';
import { useSidebarKey } from '@waldur/navigation/context';
import { useTitle } from '@waldur/navigation/title';

import { OrderItemsFilter } from './OrderItemsFilter';
import { OrderItemsList } from './OrderItemsList';

export const OrderItemsContainer: FunctionComponent = () => {
  useTitle(translate('Public orders'));
  useSidebarKey('public-order-items');
  return (
    <div className="ibox-content">
      <OrderItemsFilter
        showOrganizationFilter={true}
        showOfferingFilter={true}
      />
      <OrderItemsList />
    </div>
  );
};

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Wish to do more than one class? Get a $30 discount if you register for two classes.
If you can't attend a class you pre-registered for, we will offer a free make-up class of your choice to any of our other pre-registered classes with Audrey and Jessica Pyper.
Each class requires a minimum of 8 participants.
We look forward to see you on the mat!!
About Audrey Duval Yoga classes and her journey on the mat.
My yoga journey started after a ski injury. As a downhill ski and mountain bike coach I quickly learn the importance of practicing yoga as a complement to the sports I was already doing, it not only got me physically stronger, it gave me clarity in both my sports and my personal life.
Yoga grew on me, after being asked a few times if I was a teacher, it became clear that I wanted to share this new passion with my existing students.
Studying with Tiffany Cruikshank opened new doors. I became fascinated by alignment, anatomy, and the power of controlling your mind.
I take pleasure in creating class that will allow you to drop into your zone and get you ready for the next time you play on the mountain.You will be able to push yourself even more in life or to the next level in your favourite sports. I strive to share my passion all over the world.
I look forward to meeting you in this journey either on a ski slope, a mountain bike trail or on our yoga mats.


Estate Planning | Tandoc Law, Corp.
Just about everyone over the age of 18 needs an estate plan. Estate planning not only manages the distribution plan of your assets after you have passed away, but also provides directions about management of your assets and your health while you are still alive. For those, who have minor children, estate planning is very important as the care of your minor children can either be in the hands of the government or you.
An estate plan consists of various legal documents that serve very different functions over the management of your assets, health, and minor children.
Everyone has an estate plan whether or not they have one of the listed estate planning tools. If you do not create a customized estate plan, the State of California will provide one for you in the form of conservatorships, foster care for your children, and probate. As you can suspect, California's estate plan is expensive. Conservatorships are appointed when you do not have a durable power of attorney and an advance health care directive in place. The court will appoint a conservator to take care of you, while you may lack the necessary capacity. The conservators will be compensated from your assets.
A stand-alone will is a testamentary document that outlines one's distribution plan of his or her assets. The testator will not need to do anything regarding the title of his or her assets. The person who is in charge of distributing the assets after the testator passes away is called the Executor or Executrix. If the decedent's assets have a total gross value of $150,000.00 or have a real property with a gross value of $20,000.00, the distribution plan contained within the Will will be supervised by the Probate Court. The decedent's assets and distribution plan will be public record.
A living trust is also a testamentary document that manages one's assets. Once the living trust is created, the creator of the trust or "settlor," will need to "fund" the trust, meaning the settlor will need to transfer title of his or her assets into the living trust. While the settlor is alive, the settlor will often be able to manage his or her assets as he or she did prior to the creation of the living trust. After the settlor passes away, the successor Trustee is in charge of the distribution and management of the assets contained within the living trust. The living trust will not undergo the probate process and will not be public record.
An important part of an estate plan are those vehicles that give others the authority to speak on your behalf if you cannot do so. Those vehicles are the Durable Power of Attorney and the Advance Health Care Directive.
Lately, I've been asked to assist families in last minute planning because of sudden illness or unexpected injuries because the successor agents have either passed away, moved, or cannot handle the obligation. Luckily, the people that I have helped were still lucid enough and had the mental capacity to execute these last minute updates. But not everyone is so lucky. I just received a call from someone regarding his mom's plan, but cannot be of assistance because she now has alzheimer's disease.
Tragedy, accidents, and illness does not discriminate based on age. The bare minimum anyone should have is the durable power of attorney and advance health care directive if they care about who will make important decisions on their behalf.
I can't say enough about Lisa Tandoc and how wonderful she was. One of the most professional, ethical, honest and kind attorneys that I have had the pleasure to retain. She is hardworking, prompt, and returns calls and emails quickly. She treats her clients as though they were the only ones she was serving at that time. She was so kind and friendly to me and eased all of my anxieties. Lisa is very patient and explained everything to me in detail. Can't thank her enough.
Ms. Tandoc can help with the administration of a living trust or the probate of one's estate so that your family can focus on cherishing the memories of their loved one.


"Definitely, a lot of it is other bloggers. And also finding something that is a good fit for both function and fashion. I feel way more comfortable in skirts and dresses than in pants. So I never wear pants."
Heather embraces her inner cupcake. Great red polka dot dress, with a cluster dot pattern. I am in love with this navy cardigan with a crochet collar.
Perforated tan peep-toes with a small chunky heel.
Yay! I love Heather and her blog! She looks so beautiful and happy in these photos!


If you are holding a disability sport event in the North East and would like your event to go on this page, please send the details to info@smilethroughsport.com - To view past events click here.
See all upcoming disability sport sessions & events listed below.
Click on a heading along the top to filter events by category.
Community sport session for anyone aged 14 years and over. There will be a range of sports and activities on offer for you to try including; athletics, boccia, basketball, cricket, tennis and many many more.
Bring your friends and family members along too!
Weekly community boccia session for all abilities. There will be a range of activities to develop your skills and drills to learn and improve your boccia game. All equipment is provided.
Please note there is no on-site car park, there is plenty of on street parking nearby.
Disability North Golf Day 2019 will take place at The Hobson Golf Club, Burnopfield on Friday 3rd May 2019.
The Hobson Golf Club is a classic parkland course with gentle sloping fairways – it's easy on the legs but still a challenge for golfers of all levels.
We are looking for teams of four to compete in an 18-hole golf game. All participants will enjoy a breakfast roll, a meal after the game, and the opportunity to win some fantastic prizes. The event format, rules and tee-times will be confirmed nearer to the date, although it will be the best 2 scores from 4 with tee-times starting from 10.00am.
The entry fee is £250 for a team of four and you can book your place by e-mailing kerrybrett@disabilitynorth.org.uk. Please book early to avoid disappointment.
England Para Football are to host an England talent day.
If you are interested in participating in football and are looking to find a team to join then this is the event for you.
For players aged 7-11 and 12-16 with the following disability, amputee, blind, cerebral palsy, deaf (male and female) and partially sighted.
Contact details: andrea.fyall@durhamfa.com Tel: 0191 3872928 option 4, then option 7.
A sport and activity session for families with a disabled member, living in Northumberland. This is a great opportunity for families to come along get involved in a number of different sports and activities as a whole family. Sessions are for all disabilities from the age of 4 years and above.
There will be something for all the family!
A sport and activity taster session for families with a disabled member, living in Northumberland. This is a great opportunity for families to come along get involved in a number of different sports and activities as a whole family. Sessions are for all disabilities from the age of 4 years and above.


Abstract Landscape Restoring Itself by Kazuya Akimoto - 8" x 10"
Abstract Landscape Restoring Itself poster by Kazuya Akimoto. Our posters are produced on acid-free papers using archival inks to guarantee that they last a lifetime without fading or loss of color. All posters include a 1" white border around the image to allow for future framing and matting, if desired.
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Home \ Blog \ Debt \ Should I Use My 401K to Pay Off Debt?
Dealing with excessive debt is never fun. Typically, we want to get rid of debt so quickly that most of us are willing to do whatever it takes, including using our 401k retirement savings. Then again, should you use some or all of it to pay off your debt? While part of you likely wants to be rid of your debt, the other half knows that saving for retirement is a very smart thing to do. So what should you do?
To find out what happens when you can't afford to make your loan payments, click here.
Before going any further, let's make sure you understand what taking out a 401k loan actually means. This will vary by plan and employer, but certain 401k plans will allow contributors to borrow up to half of the balance of their retirement account for up to five years.
A convenient way of getting rid of debt.
Of course, before even attempting to take on one of these loans, be sure to find out if you do indeed qualify for one or not. If not, taking money out of your 401k will be very costly.
Should I Be Using My 401k To Pay Off Debt?
So if you have the option to pay off your credit card debt with your 401k savings, should you? Generally speaking, for a number of reasons the answer is no.
First of all, you will potentially lose quite a large chunk of money during the transaction. If you are a relatively young person (under 60), you will have to pay a 10% penalty, plus any income tax that is due on the withdrawal, unless you are approved for a 401k loan. This means you could lose a large portion of this money just by taking it out of your 401k. There is also a risk of other penalties, which can be costly. It is a risky move that doesn't always pay off.
Also, if you remove money from your 401k, you are missing out on the potential gains of these funds in your retirement account. Time is the best way to grow money in your retirement accounts, so you are severely hurting your retirement by removing the money without giving it time to grow and mature over the years. It is simply a very short-term decision. In many cases, a few lifestyle changes and cutting back on costs and expenses are the best way to attack your debt.
Read this if you'd like to create a budget that works for your lifestyle.
Additionally, using a 401k to pay off debt doesn't do anything to prevent you from incurring the debt again. While you may be able to pay off your debt this one time, what is to stop you from getting into debt trouble again in the future? The solution you go with shouldn't only be one that gets you out of debt now, but one that helps you stay out of it.
When Is It a Good Idea to Cash Out a 401k To Pay Off Debt?
While the answer is normally never, there are certain situations in which it makes sense to use a 401k to pay off debt. One situation where it makes sense to borrow from your 401k is if you are getting close to a foreclosure or declaring bankruptcy. Both a foreclosure and a bankruptcy are huge, devastating things to go through and anything that you can do to avoid them should be done.
Looking for some professional advice? Seek out credit counseling in your area.
Also, if you are getting taken to court by creditors over missed or late payments, it can sometimes be a good plan to use part of your 401k money to avoid getting into legal troubles, which can end up being quite costly as well.
Of course, if you also have other retirement savings such as a beefed-up IRA or other investments, losing a little from your 401k isn't the worst thing in the world, especially if it will help eliminate debt that you have been battling with for years. Basically, if you truly need the money from the 401k to save yourself or your credit from some major damage, it is okay to borrow from it, but don't make it a habit, of course.
You can also try a debt management program.
If you are dealing with a ton of debt issues, but don't have enough or make enough to get yourself back on your feet, there are a variety of other things that you can do.
A debt settlement or a debt consolidation loan are both common debt relief solutions that could work for you.
Debt settlement essentially means that you agree to settle with your creditors for less than the original amount, which can help you save money in the long term.
Debt consolidation is about combining all of your debt into one affordable payment, while also likely getting a lower interest rate. Of course, no matter what decision you ultimately make, you should be sure to do look for some financial counseling to ensure you are able to avoid getting into debt trouble in the future.
Before trying, be sure to find out if debt consolidation damages your credit score.
Looking For Help With Your Debt?
If you're currently struggling with debt and are thinking about a 401k loan to pay it off, we urge you to first consider other forms of debt relief. Rebound Finance can help match you with the right option for you and your unique needs.


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These days, students need to be extra careful not to go into debt while they are pursuing their education. Back in the days when people used cash, you could easily see and feel how much money you were spending. But today's technologies—whether it's Venmo, PayPal, Square, or credit cards—let you pay for almost anything with the touch of a button. This can lead to overspending if you're not careful.
How can you be smarter about how you spend your money? How can you become more aware of what you are spending? Here are some pointers for getting control of your spending and making every dollar count.
This takes discipline, but if you keep track of your income and expenses, you can target areas where you need to cut back. The FAFSA website offers useful budgeting tips for students.
Do you really need that new pair of shoes? Or can you get by with what you have? Knowing the difference between your wants and your needs can help you spend your money more carefully. When you're a student, many of your "wants" will have to wait until you are earning a regular paycheck. One trick is to use the 24-hour rule. Wait 24 hours before making the purchase to consider whether you truly need it.
It's easier than ever to find good quality used items. For school textbooks, search for the cheapest deals online or at your school bookstore. Be sure to sell them back when the course is over. For other items, try Craigslist, eBay, yard sales, and flea markets. You can find some really great bargains!
Paying off your credit cards in full is critical if you want to avoid debt. When you pay late or pay only the minimum amount, you will get stuck paying interest. Same goes with your regular monthly bills—don't waste your precious money on late fees and interest!
Smoking, even e-cigarettes and vaping, is expensive and unhealthy. Same goes for drinking and other vices. Quitting will be great for your health and your wallet!
Meeting new friends and socializing together is one of the greatest things about being a student. But going out doesn't have to be expensive. Find free and low-cost events offered by your school or within your community. With a little searching, you may find free concerts, parks with hiking trails, free movie screenings, or other low-cost ideas.
Track how much are you spending on food. Is there a discount store where you could find better deals?
Most scholarships are geared toward high schoolers, but if you search online, you may be able to find scholarships for students who are already in post-secondary education. The scholarships page on Education Planner may help.
If you can manage a part-time job and still keep up your studies, this might be a good option. Try to find a job that will be flexible so that you can put your studies first.
We hope these suggestions help put you on a better path to managing your budget as a student. By making smart decisions and paying attention to your spending, you can make your money stretch further. And when you're a student, every little bit helps!
The American College for Medical Careers located in Orlando, Florida, provides tips and advice for our students in our weekly blog. Learn more about the training programs we offer by visiting us online!


BEIJING – At least 20 people were killed Saturday and 30 injured in a bus accident blamed on faulty brakes at a mine in northern China, state media reported.
The accident occurred at a lead, zinc and silver mine operated by the Yinman Mining Co. in the sprawling inner Mongolia region, the Xinhua News Agency said.
The casualties occurred when a bus carrying 50 miners to the underground operation went out of control and crashed into the side of the tunnel, Xinhua said.
A working team from the Ministry of Emergency Management has sent a working team to "guide and assist" in the rescue and investigation at the accident site, the report said.
Executives of the company have been placed under travel restrictions while the investigation is underway, it said.


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text:
Cause for Alarm
The most alarming thing about being home alone, aside from being cast in a geezer version of the famous Macaulay Culkin movie, is setting off the house alarm and having to tell my wife, Sue, who left me home alone, that I could have been arrested for being in our own house.
That's exactly what happened when Sue went out of town for five days and left me — you guessed it — free to have a wild party that also could have gotten me arrested.
No, actually, I was all by myself the entire time, which would have been pretty boring if I hadn't accidentally set off the alarm on the first morning of Sue's absence.
After turning it off and putting a merciful stop to the shrieking godawful noise that I'm surprised Sue didn't hear from 600 miles away, I convinced Heather, a nice and understanding person from the alarm company, not to send the cops.
"Everything is good," Heather assured me over the phone, though I had to ask her to repeat what she said because my ears were still ringing. "As long as you disarmed the alarm, you're OK."
"I'm home alone because my wife is out of town," I said. "She left me with a week's worth of leftovers to prevent me from starving to death or burning the house down."
"You'll survive," Heather said. "My husband is pretty dependent, too. He would eat at McDonald's every day. And he burns water."
"Has he ever set off the alarm in your house?" I asked.
"He doesn't touch it," Heather replied. "But if setting off the alarm is the worst thing you do while your wife is away, you're pretty good."
I thanked Heather for her help and for not getting me in trouble with the law. After hanging up, I surveyed my list of chores: clean the bathrooms, dust the furniture, vacuum the house, throw out the garbage and water the plants.
I also had to heat up dinner every night, although I decided, on a rollicking Saturday evening, to send out for Chinese food. Afterward, I made microwave popcorn, which I munched while watching a movie on TV. Halfway through, I fell asleep.
Yes, I was a swinging bachelor. In fact, I spent part of one afternoon swinging in my hammock. But first, I went to the beverage warehouse to buy beer.
"My wife left me home alone," I told Paul, who rang up my purchase.
"Beer will help," he said.
"Has your wife ever left you home alone?" I inquired.
"My wife left me, period," Paul answered. "I'm divorced. I can go to sleep when I want, I can wake up when I want and I can drink beer when I want."
"The first thing I did was set off the alarm," I said.
"At least you can tell your wife you didn't end up in jail," Paul said.
Arnie the mailman was sympathetic to my plight.
"I prefer being home alone," Arnie said as he handed me a bunch of bills. "I work on projects my wife didn't want me to work on."
"For me, a project is making coffee," I said. "And setting off the alarm."
"You're lucky the cops weren't called," Arnie said. "Enjoy your time off. And don't get in trouble."
Then I saw Mike, my next-door neighbor, who was outside with his wife, Corrie.
"How's Sue?" Mike asked.
"She's out of town," I replied. "She left me home alone. I hope you didn't hear the alarm. I accidentally set it off."
"I was away for a weekend recently," Corrie said.
"How did you do?" I asked Mike.
"Fine," he said. "I barbecued. I didn't burn the house down. And I didn't set off the alarm."
"Sue left me with food and instructions," I said.
"Not me," Corrie said. "I told Mike, 'You're on your own, buddy.' He did all right."
Ultimately, I did, too. When I picked up Sue at the airport, I told her about my adventures.
"At least," she said with a sigh, "I didn't have to bail you out of jail."
How Sweet It Was
It's a good thing I'm not a business magnate because I couldn't sell refrigerators in Death Valley. If I could, I'd be a refrigerator magnate.
Humor Writer of the Month: Karen Chee
Karen Chee is an Emmy- and Writers Guild of America-nominated comedian, writer and actor. She's currently writing for season two of Pachinko and for Late Night with Seth Meyers. She's our Humor Writer of the Month for December.


text:
French artists say they're ready for Covid vaccine in bid to encourage uptake
200 leading figures in the field of arts and entertainment in France have signed a petition saying they are ready to be vaccinated against Covid 19 as soon as possible.
They hope that others will follow their example in a country where 58% of those polled say they do not want to be vaccinated, and the government campaign is slow to get off the ground.
Among those who signed an appeal published in the Parisian newspaper are Daniel Auteuil - best known outside France for his role in the films Jean de Florette and Manon des Sources – and French actor Lambert Wilson.
"We are committed to having the vaccination as soon as possible as a decisive act in the general attempt to control the pandemic," says the text, which is signed by dozens of well-known French personalities including several theatre directors and others who are prominent in French cultural life.
The appeal was launched by Stanislas Nordey, the director of the Théâtre de Strasbourg. The area in the east of France including Strasbourg has been particularly badly hit by Covid-19.
Theatres in France are currently closed alongside cinemas and museums, with only a brief reprieve in the summer.
At the end of November, President Emmanuel Macron announced that they might re open in mid-December if the number of Covid-19 cases diminished but an upsurge in infections meant such hopes were dashed.
It was then suggested that they might re open on 7 January but that date too has been dropped.
"If we carry on at this pace, venues will still be closed in a year's time," Nordey told Le Parisien newspaper. "We can't keep just complaining. This petition is a way of doing something to try to get out of this standstill."
Being vaccinated was "a civic gesture" he said, urging artists to share in a "collective responsibility" to try to beat the virus.
Why is France's vaccination drive taking so long to get going?
Nordey said the reponse from those he contacted was immediate and unanimous and that though some people didn't reply when contacted, no one actually refused.
"I think everyone feels that if we do nothing, we will never get out of this mess. We wanted to send a strong message but one that comes from us, not the government."
He hopes others will step forward to set an example, in other sectors which have been badly hit.
"If those in the restaurant business want to join in our action, they are most welcome," he added.


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text:
<< "Mister President... wanna go for a ride?"
all crime is terrorism >>
I've had days like that
Anti-WTO demonstrators throw liquid feces on Mexican riot police guarding the meeting of the World Trade Organization in Cancun, Mexico on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2003. (AP Photo/Jaime Puebla)
Tags: big brother, perversions, poop, stormtroopers
Current Music: Electro Assassin -- Quite Unusual ♬
21 Responses:
christowang says:
18 years ago at 6:54 am
They don't mess around. For a minute I wondered how they made the liquid feces so smooth, then I realized I shouldn't really think about that.
kyzoku says:
Great minds must run along the same gutter, because I was just wondering the same thing.
It kindof looks like coffee...
I think thats the secret ingrediant:
1) Drink Coffee
2) Eat Pea Soup
3) Wait 6-12 Hours
4) Sit on Bucket
5) Go to WTO Meeting
nester says:
no no no, you're going about this all wrong....
2 things come to my mind..
american tourists...
tap water in mexico..
I think that sums up liquid feces.
baconmonkey says:
naw, they just hired this guy
loosechanj says:
18 years ago at 2:16 pm
I stared for five whole seconds trying to see the photoshopped message in that.
ivorjawa says:
I do believe that would get you shot in the good ol' USA.
denshi says:
It would qualify as biological weapons, and thus terrorism.
netik says:
"The newspaper story says the origins of human communication can be traced to 65 million years ago when, scientists say, vervet monkeys developed a means of communicating via throwing feces at one another. Certainly, their means of communication was crude and, by today's standards, would get them their own show on MTV. Their manner of communicating was only sophisticated enough to warn each other about approaching predators, participate in complex mating rituals and go on Jerry Springer to throw feces at one another."
http://ydr.com/story/mike/11471/
candid says:
Days like the demonstrators had, or days like the riot police had? Or both?
jwz says:
Both, and also "days like the guy who had to fill the bucket."
hey, you want I should start collecting the, uh, "chunky" spills for you to use at the next protest?
jck says:
This is why I can't stand most protests and the people who attend them. Why are they doing this to the cops? There are probably a lot of cops in that group who don't like the WTO's actions any more than the feces-throwing demonstrators - they're just doing their jobs. (Granted, there are probably plenty of cops who couldn't give a shit [heh heh] about the WTO, but you can't fling selective liquid poo.)
Why don't the protesters get Super Soakers and squirt poo at the actual WTO members - you know, the people that pose the actual problems?
dingodonkey says:
Because making sense makes their heads go "hurt".
Uh, presumably because they can't get close enough to do so, due to there being riot cops in the way?
18 years ago at 12:42 pm
Well, thus the squirt guns. Maybe water balloons and one of those cool 3-person launchers would do better? 90 yards is damn good range for shit bombs.
I wonder if you can get an ass attachment for their special water balloon filler...
mattbot says:
This is happening in the third world which is on the shitting end of the WTO food chain so it does have a certain poetic charm. Also given the notorious corruption of the Mexican police, I doubt there was much hestitation on the part of the protesters to unleash the poo. Perhaps it would have been more effective to skip even the super soakers and escalate to diverting the open street sewers straight into the police phalanx. But I doubt the WTO held their fling in that part of town...
billemon says:
Yes, like everyone else, my first thoughts were "Where are the lumps?" and "Good shot!"
I think Jamie hit the nail on the head though ... if they could get close enough to the WTO members to complain, there would be no need for protest. However, that's not going to happen, is it?
*stops stating obvious*
thesliver says:
Well, it used to happen, until Seattle. Now they try and secret themselves away in some extremely expensive resort they can barb wire for the weekend.
hey, did you notice that the person right above the bucket has yellow on their face...
also, look, this post can be tied into a stupid quiz thanks to cruel.com
http://www.rebelsnail.net/shit/test.html
mcfnord says:
18 years ago at 10:00 am
that's icky.


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On Tuesday January 11, on the 9th anniversary of the opening of Guantánamo, when I was speaking at a rally outside The White House in Washington D.C., the London Guantánamo Campaign and Peace Strike delivered an open letter to Prime Minister David Cameron (reproduced at the end of this article), calling for the return of Shaker Aamer, the last British resident in Guantánamo, and then held a silent vigil in Trafalgar Square.
In the letter, addressed to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Kate Allen noted that there was "mounting concern in Britain at the failure of the US authorities to resolve the case after almost nine years." She also called for "reassurance that the case will now be resolved quickly" and urged the US authorities "to agree a timetable for Aamer to be either allowed a fair trial or for him to be released and returned to his family in the UK." The letter also pointed out that the Foreign Secretary William Hague and the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg have both recently raised Aamer's plight directly with Ms. Clinton.
Today we've reached the miserable milestone of nine years of Guantánamo Bay's lawlessness. Ever since the shocking 11 September attacks Amnesty has said that where the authorities suspect someone of terrorism then they should be charged and given a fair hearing — instead we've had Guantánamo, a total travesty of justice. Enough is enough. It's time for this travesty of justice to end. President Obama has got to deliver on his promise to close Guantánamo and all the detainees — including Shaker Aamer — have got to be either given proper trials or safely released.
As Amnesty International also noted, "The letter hand-in comes as Amnesty activists step up their campaign for Aamer, including with online lobbying of Hillary Clinton. In the US, Amnesty supporters are pressing President Obama, US Attorney General Eric Holder and US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates about the case, and activists are staging a rally in Washington today to mark the anniversary" — at which Tom Parker, Amnesty International USA's advocacy and policy director of terrorism, counterterrorism and human rights, spoke alongside myself, Pardiss Kebriaei, Center for Constitutional Rights staff attorney representing men detained at Guantánamo, Valerie Lucznikowska of September 11 Families for Peaceful Tomorrows, Frida Berrigan of Witness Against Torture, and peace activist Kathy Kelly, who read out a statement by former prisoner Omar Deghayes.
Guantánamo Bay has now been open for torture and arbitrary detention for nine years. During that time, the former government secured the return to the UK of all British nationals held there, and all but two of the former British residents, but was complicit in their ordeal. Almost a year after the expiry of President Obama's deadline to close Guantánamo, with 174 prisoners remaining there, there is still a long way to go.
We welcome recent efforts by William Hague and Nick Clegg to raise the case of Shaker Aamer, the last British resident in Guantánamo, with Hillary Clinton; but this must translate into his immediate return to his family in the UK. We urge the government to assist in the closure of Guantánamo by following the example of other European countries that have accepted cleared prisoners who could not return to their country of origin due to fears for their safety.
The now not-so-new government had the advantage of making a fresh start without the Jack Straw and David Milliband baggage. So, why are they being so tardy?
That's a very good question, Willy, and one that Scott Horton (law professor, Harper's columnist) and I were discussing after a screening of "Outside the Law" in New York last week. Given the reports of the new UK government's interest in getting him returned, we were obliged to conclude that the main stumbling block remains the US government, which does not want him to reveal what he knows about the events of the night of June 9, 2006, when three prisoners died (not, it seems, by committing suicide, as the authorities alleged), and he has stated that he was tortured.
Andy, yes, strong motivation by US authorities to cover-up the truth. But I wonder whether the British government is trying hard enough. How hard are they trying? Remember how anxious they became when Obama removed Churchill's bust from the Oval Office. Are they willing to assert that they are entitled to differentiate Britain from the USA when they disagree?
In Australia, we discovered that the Howard government had been actively encouraging the Bush regime to keep David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib in Guantanamo Bay and to go on torturing them. Dennis Richardson, then head of ASIO said that they deserved everything they were getting. He was rewarded for his adherence with Howard's agenda with the post of Australian Ambassador to Washington (where he was in an even better position to encourage US torturers).
Perhaps some more pressure in Westminster would help to get Shaker home.
The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security has ordered a fresh inquiry into the case of former Guantanamo Bay detainee Mamdouh Habib.
Julia Gillard requested the new probe amid dramatic claims of Australian government complicity in his 2001 CIA rendition to Egypt, where he was detained and tortured.
The investigation follows a secret compensation payout made by the federal government to Mr Habib in December, apparently triggered by untested witness statements implicating Australian officials in his detention and brutal maltreatment in a Cairo military prison.
The new evidence, not previously made public, includes a statement from a former Egyptian military intelligence officer that he was present when Mr Habib was transferred to Cairo in November 2001.
In the statement, tendered as part of Mr Habib's civil case against the commonwealth, the officer says Australian officials were present when Mr Habib arrived in Egypt, handcuffed, with his feet bound, naked and apparently drugged.
The statement is at odds with repeated assertions by the federal government and security agencies since Mr Habib's return to Australia in January 2005, that they had no knowledge of or involvement in his rendition or detention in Egypt.
As recently as November, in a letter to Mr Habib, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade insisted it had never been able to confirm Mr Habib's presence in Egypt.
Thanks for the link to my friend Antony's site, Willy.
As for Shaker, it's impossible to know if the UK government is trying as much as possible, if they have leverage as they used to, if the US is just being obstinate, or if the US has let the UK in on its desire not to release Shaker. Whatever the truth, we certainly do have to keep pressurizing the UK government. I think it's fairly clear that there's some sort of problem, or Shaker would already be back home.


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text:
Q: iOS5: How to prevent exception for rectForRowAtIndexPath method Exception:

request for rect at invalid index path

Code:
CGRect rect = [tableView rectForRowAtIndexPath:[NSIndexPath indexPathForRow:i inSection:0]];

Fix:
if ([tableView numberOfRowsInSection:0] <= i) {
    return;
}

Maybe exist the better way

A: Usually rectForRowAtIndexPath could handle invalid indexPath as document states, but in IOS 7.1, it does not handle invalid indexPath properly. So passing in nil would cause crash and get the error message:

request for rect at invalid index path (
  {length = 2, path = 0 - 0})

In a word, manually do a nil check is necessary for rectForRowAtIndexPath.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Leukopoiesis is a form of hematopoiesis in which white blood cells (WBC, or leukocytes) are formed in bone marrow located in bones in adults and hematopoietic organs in the fetus. White blood cells, indeed all blood cells, are formed from the differentiation of pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells which give rise to several cell lines with unlimited differentiation potential. These immediate cell lines, or colonies, are progenitors of red blood cells (erythrocytes), platelets (megakaryocytes), and the two main groups of WBCs, myelocytes and lymphocytes.

See also
 Lymphopoiesis
 Myelopoiesis

References

Hematopoiesis


So far, we have found 59 of the 89 entry members who joined up including 14 who have sadly died.
Phil Marston has kindly agreed to take on the task of writing to those with a pension but I need help with the other two items. This involves gathering as much information as possible about each apprentice, and then searching the electoral role, Forces Reunited, The Air Force list, etc.
E.G. I happen to remember that Will Ovenden came from Margate. I could therefore ring anyone in Margate named Ovenden and hope to find a brother or cousin. Or, if I knew the town he went to when discharged, we might find him still there.
Please send me anything you can remember about anyone on the list. If you can help take on the tasking of tracing a few names please let me know. You help would be most welcome.


text:
package com.dak.duty.repository;

import java.util.List;

import org.springframework.data.jpa.repository.JpaRepository;
import org.springframework.data.jpa.repository.Modifying;
import org.springframework.data.jpa.repository.Query;
import org.springframework.data.repository.query.Param;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Repository;

import com.dak.duty.model.Duty;

@Repository
public interface DutyRepository extends JpaRepository<Duty, Long> {

	@Query("select d from Duty d where d.organisation = ?#{principal.person.organisation} and d.id = ?1")
	Duty findOne(Long id);

	@Query("select d from Duty d where d.organisation = ?#{principal.person.organisation} order by d.name asc")
	List<Duty> findAllByOrderByNameAsc();

	@Query("select d from Duty d where d.organisation = ?#{principal.person.organisation} and d.active = true order by d.name asc")
	List<Duty> findAllByActiveTrueOrderByNameAsc();

	@Query("select d from Duty d where d.organisation = ?#{principal.person.organisation} and d.active = true")
	List<Duty> findByActiveTrue();

	@Query("select d from Duty d where d.organisation = ?#{principal.person.organisation} and d.active = true order by d.sortOrder asc")
	List<Duty> findByActiveTrueOrderBySortOrderAsc();

	@Query("select d from Duty d where d.organisation = ?#{principal.person.organisation} and lower(d.name) like '%' || lower(:name) || '%'  and d.active = true")
	List<Duty> findByNameContainsIgnoreCaseAndActiveTrue(@Param("name") String name);

	@Modifying
	@Query("update Duty d set d.sortOrder = d.sortOrder + 1 where d.organisation = ?#{principal.person.organisation} and d.sortOrder >= ?1 and d.active = true")
	Integer incrementSortOrderAboveAndIncluding(Integer sortOrder);

	@Modifying
	@Query("update Duty d set d.sortOrder = d.sortOrder + 1 where d.organisation = ?#{principal.person.organisation} and d.sortOrder >= ?1 and d.id != ?2 and d.active = true")
	Integer incrementSortOrderAboveAndIncludingExcludingDutyId(Integer sortOrder, Long dutyId);

	@Modifying
	@Query("update Duty d set d.sortOrder = d.sortOrder - 1 where d.organisation = ?#{principal.person.organisation} and d.sortOrder >= ?1 and d.id != ?2 and d.active = true")
	Integer decrementSortOrderAboveAndIncludingExcludingDutyId(Integer sortOrder, Long dutyId);

	@Modifying
	@Query("update Duty d set d.sortOrder = d.sortOrder + 1 where d.organisation = ?#{principal.person.organisation} and d.sortOrder > ?1 and d.active = true")
	Integer incrementSortOrderAbove(Integer sortOrder);

	@Modifying
	@Query("update Duty d set d.sortOrder = d.sortOrder + 1 where d.organisation = ?#{principal.person.organisation} and d.sortOrder > ?1 and d.id != ?2 and d.active = true")
	Integer incrementSortOrderAboveExcludingDutyId(Integer sortOrder, Long dutyId);

	@Modifying
	@Query("update Duty d set d.sortOrder = d.sortOrder - 1 where d.organisation = ?#{principal.person.organisation} and d.sortOrder > ?1 and d.active = true")
	Integer decrementSortOrderAbove(Integer sortOrder);

	@Modifying
	@Query("update Duty d set d.sortOrder = d.sortOrder - 1 where d.organisation = ?#{principal.person.organisation} and d.sortOrder > ?1 and d.id != ?2 and d.active = true")
	Integer decrementSortOrderAboveExcludingDutyId(Integer sortOrder, Long dutyId);

	@Query("select max(d.sortOrder) from Duty d where d.organisation = ?#{principal.person.organisation} and d.active = true")
	Integer findMaxSortOrder();
}


Most of us have heard of the Loch Ness Monster of Scotland, but how many have heard of Mokele-mbembe? Well it might give some credence to the sightings in Scotland, because Mokele-mbembe is a creature said to live in the remote areas north of Congo-Brazzaville. The descriptions are eerily similar, so researching keep trying to find Mokele-mbembe, but with minimal success. See linked news article for more information about a recent hunt.


Since the Clean Water Act of 1970 and its following amendments, industrial and municipal discharges along the Delaware River have been dramatic reduced, and regions of special protection have shown biotic improvement. With point-sources of pollution at focus, we cannot neglect the not-so-locatable sources of ecological toxins. The Delaware Watershed faces non-point pollution from all regions of development, from urban to rural; pollutants such as lead or mercury deposits, accumulated from urban runoff, enter the river and mingle with other toxic wastes such as sewage discharge, or DDT and other agricultural pesticides. Besides runoff sources, one should also consider the effects from airborne pollutants, as stated by the IPCC, most of the ecological effects on freshwater systems depend on "hydrological responses to climatic change" (IPCC).
This climatic change is not only applied to a large scale such as global warming, but regional changes due to alterations in natural landscapes. It is commonly noted that urban development is a significant contributor of environmental pollution and as displayed on the map below, the result of this contrbution is very visible.
A major non-point contributor to the Delaware River Basin is acid rain, which is the result of atmospheric accumulation of harmful airborne pollutants from urban and industrial smog. Acid rain is usually associated with highly urbanized regions, and the northern headwaters of the Delaware Basin lies downwind of New York City, as well being among influential boundaries of other densely populated cities along the river borders such as Stroudsburg, Easton, Trenton, Philadelphia, and Wilmington.
The ecological threat begins when the chemical concoction begins its decent to the Earth's surface as precipitation. Like a sort of reverse atmospheric acupuncture, each droplet of contaminated rain delivers a multitude of toxins to be leached into the freshwater systems.
Rocky mountainous terrains such as the Catskills, from which the Delaware River draws it's headwaters, can prove to be as impervious as an urban city street, and high periods of precipitation can inundate the biotic communities with PCBs, mercury, dioxin, DDT and other wastes. This airborne pollutant is practically unavoidable. Policies such as the Clean Air Act, have helped lessen it impact, but the release of inorganic pollutants into the atmosphere is a continuing effect development.
To think that the Delaware River Basin faces such a continuing harmful threat, one would assume that the aquatic life would have been entirely eradicated by now, however biotic communities continue to thrive in these conditions. Shown on the left is a chart common to most biology textbooks. Various species of fish, more notably the Rainbow and Brook trout, thrive in these mildly acidic waters, but still can only thrive within a small range pH, a sensitivity common to most aquatic organisms.
A successful freshwater ecosystem is able to maintain sustainability of water conditions with the presence of a vegetative buffer, refered to as the riparian zone.
Plant life within this riparian boundary create a botanical bio-filter, which strain the influx of harmful chemicals, interrupting their entrance into our water systems in such heavy periods of inundation, but rather in a slow release in order to maintain suitable biotic living conditions for aquatic organisms. The importance of this environmental symbiosis between forest regions and river quality was demonstrated in a USGS assessment, which analyzed the effects of 'chronic episodic acidification' periods within the Catskill Moutains.
During the spring and fall seasons of 1989, the USGS conducted an analysis of fish mortality in relation to heavy acidic rain innundation. Juvenile brook trout were subjected to various acidic magnitiudes in varying increments, mimicking the upstream buffering conditions of the upstream Delaware River.
Although the climatic conditions of the Catskill experiences both extremes in summer and winter, precipitaiton is high year-round. There is a vicious cycle of pollutants interrelating through the atmospheric and hydrologic systems of the mountain region.
The degree of fish mortality was positively related to the riparian buffer zones which surrounded the Delaware River. The condition of a poorly buffered river under an acidic precipitation episode proved to be 100% deadly to fish communities.
The assessment implied that indirect environmental effects maybe be more disastrous to biotic communities than direct sources, and recognized the specific chemical culprits associated with the fish mortality(in order of importance), 1. inorganic monomeric aluminum, 2. dissolved carbon, 3. calcium, and 4. chloride.
Further examinations showed that the inorganic Aluminum concencrations, alone, could account for 76-85% of the variability within brook trout mortality(1). The effects of the acidic episodes among the rivers with a more densely vegetative riparian buffering zones yielded shorter durations and lower magnitudes of the acidification process(1).
The results of this assessment not only identified the specific airborne chemicals that are environmentally harmful, but also clearly demonstrates the importance of a preserved vegetated buffer zone along the river banks. Although the vast forested regions of the upper Delaware River is under constant threat of acidic rain, the densely forested river booundary are a necessity at maintaining the river's biotic conditions.
The isopleth map below represents the average annual pH of atmospheric precipitation. The highly urbanized northern east coast of our country has a visibly different influences to the quality of our waters compared to the rest of the country. The threat of non-point pollution is significant perhaps for its broad stretch and silent omniscience that is a part of all forms of human development, patiently wavering above our heads in the disguise of a beautiful cloud-filled sky.
An environmentally romantic approach to understanding the hydrophilic relations between ecology and economy.


North Miami, FL-Del Rio Finance Corp.
I wanted to take a moment to send a letter of thanks for the support and professional service you have extended to my clients in need of your services.
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Since our relationship has begun you have built a high level of trust and exceeded my expectations at every level. The fear that I have is gone and as a result many of my clients have and will continue to save thousands of dollars due to your services. Higher credit scores get better rates. Thanks for the huge impact you have had in assisting my clients build their wealth!


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State Sovereignty in the Cyberspace and the Free Flow of Data
Cyberattacks: a look at evidentiary thresholds in International Law
Playing catch up: privacy regimes in South Asia
Digital Surveillance Systems to Combat COVID-19 May Do More Harm Than Good (EPW, June 2020)
It's A Matter of Trust: Exploring Data Fiduciaries in India
The Public Sphere (Forged) In the Era of Fake News and Filter Bubbles: The Brazilian Experience of 2018
Reading 'Necessity' in India's New Data Protection Bill
Preserving consent within data protection in the age of Big Data
Paper: Towards a Data Protection Framework
Paper: Back to the Basics: Framing a New Data Protection Law for India
Working Paper: Scoping Paper on Search Neutrality
(Draft) Paper: Information Technology Act, 2000 and the Data Protection Rules
Obscenity in the Kiss
Memorandum: Wassenaar Woes: Impact of the Failed Negotiations on Cybersecurity Technology on India
Paper: Preliminary Findings on Online Hate Speech and the Law in India
Working Paper: Human Rights in the WSIS Process: The Notion of Interdependence and Indivisibility as a Way Forward
Paper: Gatekeeper Liability and Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India
Paper: Freedom of Speech and Google Search: Preliminary Notes for India
Paper: NOC Online Intermediaries Case Studies Series: Online Intermediaries in India
Paper: Paper-Thin Safeguards and Mass Surveillance in India
Paper: Digital Memory and Informational Privacy: Reflecting on the EU's 'Right To Be Forgotten'
Working Paper: Evaluating MLATs in the Era of Online Criminal Conduct


1. What is a chargeback?
2. Who is involved in a chargeback?
3. What causes a chargeback?
4. How is a chargeback handled?
A chargeback represents an amount of money to be sent back to the cardholder after he disputes a transaction. This amount is equal to the sum of the purchase made by the cardholder or it can be a fraction of it depending on how much of the ordered merchandise/service was received and paid for.
Chargebacks can arise any time the cardholder disputes a transaction made at the merchant. Cardholders bring their chargeback requests to their issuing bank.
2. Who is involved in the life cycle of a chargeback?
You can read more about each of them in our post A quick guide to payments in e-Commerce.
The causes of chargebacks in the payment industry are called "reason codes". Although being flanked by multiple sources of chargebacks may sound like a nightmare, it can actually be a blessing in disguise. Knowing what causes chargebacks can teach a business where and how it needs to improve.
Fraudulent transactions - in essence unauthorised payments made by someone other than the cardholder. If a merchant suffers from a high rate of chargebacks caused by fraudulent transactions, he should improve the security level of his webshop. A good way of improving security, thus reducing fraudulent transactions, is by implementing 3-D secure in transactions or using secure tokenisation technology like Apple Pay. Want to know more about 3-D secure? Read our post All about 3-D Secure and 3-D Secure 2.0.
Fraudulent transactions come in many forms in e-Commerce. Read more about them in our post Fraud in e-Commerce.
If the first two issues are frequent, a merchant's attention should be drawn to investigate what is lacking in his shipping department. Perhaps the routes used are improper, the staff needs some extra guidance, or a new shipping provider should be considered.
Recurring transactions are subscription- or membership-based payments. This means that customers are automatically billed by a merchant on a regular basis.
Chargebacks usually arise when the cardholder cancels his recurring transaction scheme set up at the merchant, but the merchant finds out too late and continues to charge the cardholder.
The issuer protects the interests of the cardholder while the acquirer those of the merchant. The cardholder and the merchant try to prove that the other is wrong, by providing proof. While cardholders usually have the upper hand when asking for a chargeback, merchants can prevail if they do their homework right and produce clear evidence in their favour.
Here is how a chargeback is handled, step by step.
A cardholder contacts his issuing bank by letting it know that he wants to dispute a transaction made at a merchant's webshop.
Let's assume that scenario 2 is in play here.
Let's assume that scenario 2 is what the acquirer chooses to do?
The merchant believes the chargeback is unreasonable so he goes with option number 2. To win the dispute, the merchant must gather compelling evidence to support his claim of rejecting the chargeback and send it to the acquirer.
The acquirer is confident in its assessment and believes that the merchant has a decent shot at winning the case. This leads to Step 6.
Assuming that the issuer still believes in the cause, the next step is to go to arbitration, however, sometimes, pre-arbitration (term used by Visa) or arbitration chargeback (term used by Mastercard) takes place before.
Pre-arbitration or arbitration chargeback - the last option issuers have to convince acquirers to drop their counterclaim.
If pre-arbitration/arbitration chargeback fails, meaning that the acquirer still refutes the chargeback, the fate of the case lies in the hands of the card scheme in the arbitration phase.
Arbitration - The card scheme reviews the evidence put forward by both parties and decides who deserves to win and who is liable for the transaction. More often than not, the decision of the card scheme is binding and final.


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Zidane lavishes praise on "best in the world" Ronaldo after hat trick
Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images
That finishing touch Cristiano Ronaldo was lacking last week in Wolfsburg? Yeah, he found it.
Portugal's megawatt superstar scored all three goals in lifting Real Madrid from a 2-0 first leg hole into the UEFA Champions League semifinals with a 3-0 second leg win on Tuesday.
[ MORE: City-PSG recap | Hart loved "fantastic encounter" ]
In doing so Ronaldo became the only player to score 15 or more goals in two UCL campaigns, and equaled Lionel Messi for the most UCL hat tricks all-time.
And Zinedine Zidane has little interest in the "Messi's No. 1" crowd.
From the BBC:
"He [Ronaldo] is showing what he is, which is the best player in the world.
"Cristiano needs the whole team, I want to speak about the team because they achieved this together.
"But he is special because not everyone is capable of scoring three goals."
Zidane has the acumen to weigh in here, even if he's most obviously biased and I believe he's wrong. Ronaldo's the second best player in the world. No shame in that.
I'm winking, CR7. You can't see me, but I'm winking.