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Budget cuts continue National's miserly underfunding of DOC
Posted by Kevin Hague May 26, 2016 12:00 AM
The 2016 Budget continues the National Government's disgraceful underfunding of the Department of Conservation (DOC) and puts our precious flora and fauna at risk, the Green Party said today.
Compared to last year's Budget, DOC has been allocated nearly $40 million less, a cut of nearly nine percent. Compared to the last Labour budget's DOC funding of $462 million (in real terms), this year's budget is $32 million short.
"Over the last eight years of National budgets, DOC has missed out on $368 million of funding that could have been used to protect our native species, make sure our huts and tracks are up to scratch, and ensure that bridges and viewing platforms are safe," said Green Party conservation spokesperson Kevin Hague.
"Funding for our native species and the places they live has been reduced by $27 million – a 14 percent cut.
"We can't protect our species and restore their habitats with cuts like this. We can't improve the situation for the hundreds of threatened and at-risk species that we could lose under this Government's watch with cuts like this.
"One hundred and forty-two species have had their threat status slide closer to extinction under National's watch. We can't help those species recover with cuts like this.
"The Government has announced $16 million over four years to control wilding pines, but the Government knows that it needs to spend a lot more than that to counter the worst weed problem Aotearoa New Zealand faces.
"The Green Party will restore DOC funding to pre-National levels to ensure that our native species are protected. We will invest in huts, tracks, bridges and viewing platforms that are all safe and up to scratch. We will do what's right by our environment, which is what New Zealanders want and expect from their government.
"New Zealand can have thriving ecosystems and native species, but it's essential DOC is funded properly to help make that happen – or we risk losing those species and ecosystems forever," said Mr Hague.
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Hi! We are looking for an Indian nanny for our baby starting in August. We are located at the Domain in North Austin. Please contact us if you are interested. Thank you!
Need someone to take care of newborn and mom, pickup and drop will be available if needed or live-in will also be appreciated.
Loving, caring & patient nanny required for our 2 year old daughter starting November first week. Other requirements: Light cooking, help with house work, laundry.


It's that time of year again and we're gearing up for the upcoming tax season. While many of you are likely busy preparing for the Thanksgiving holiday, there's still time before the close of the 2017 calendar year to perform some business and tax related planning. As you may be aware, both the House and Senate have released their versions of 'The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act'. This is the first major overall to the Tax Code since 1986. There are similarities and differences between the two plans. No one knows, with any certainty, what the final regulations will look like. At this stage in the game, it's highly unlikely that any of these proposals will be retroactive to 2017.
If and when 'The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act' becomes enacted, it's probable that tax rates for individuals and businesses will be lower than the rates currently in effect. Both the House and Senate plans propose eliminating the graduated tax rates for C-Corporations and replacing them with a flat 20% tax rate. The proposals regarding the taxation of business pass-through earnings for S-Corporation shareholders, LLC members and sole proprietors are far more complex. Additionally, there are major differences between the House and Senate plans for these business types which will need to be worked out.
In the absence of a crystal ball, the most concrete tax planning strategy we can recommend is as follows. If your business is a cash basis filer, where possible consider deferring income to 2018 by delaying invoicing to customers. Cash basis taxpayers should also consider accelerating expenditures to 2017 rather than deferring to next year. Of course, these strategies should only be utilized if they also make sense from a business perspective. However, if tax rates decrease in 2018 as proposed, these strategies could result in real and permanent tax savings.
Summarized below are some additional items to consider before year-end.
• Section 179 Expensing - The Section 179 deduction annual limit remains unchanged at $500,000 for both federal and MA tax purposes. Section 179 allows taxpayers to expense certain tangible personal property in the year placed in service rather than depreciating over the asset's useful life. Additionally, a business can elect to treat up to $250,000 of qualified real property, which includes qualified leasehold improvements, qualified restaurant property and qualified retail improvement property, as Section 179 property thereby allowing for immediate expensing as well.
• Asset Capitalization Regulations – The IRS de minimis safe harbor limit remains unchanged at $2,500 for 2017. Generally speaking, all privately owned companies without audited financial statements can expense asset purchases less than or equal to $2,500 rather than capitalizing and depreciating. Please review your company's asset purchases for 2017 and make sure that only amounts greater than $2,500, on a per item basis, are capitalized and those less than or equal to $2,500 are expensed.
• Research Tax Credit - This popular federal tax credit was made permanent by the PATH Act of 2015. In addition to making the research credit permanent, the PATH Act also provides for two additional options for certain companies to utilize the credit. 'Eligible small businesses' may now use the credit to offset Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT). Additionally, certain startup companies that meet the 'qualified small business' definition may use the credit to offset up to $250K of employer payroll taxes. Generally the federal research tax credit is calculated as 20% of qualified research and experimental expenditures. Many states including MA and CA also offer a research tax credit. If your company is involved in research activities and we haven't previously claimed this credit, please contact Jennifer to discuss in more detail to determine whether your business might qualify for this credit.
• Affordable Care Act (ACA) – The Executive Order 'Minimizing the Economic Burden of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Acting Pending Repeal' issued in January 2017 by President Trump does NOT change the law. The legislative provisions of the ACA are still in force until changed by Congress and taxpayers remain required to follow the law and pay what they may owe. For businesses, this means the employer shared responsibility rules and the requirement to report health insurance information is still in effect for applicable large employers ('ALE'). An ALE is any employer with 50 or more full-time equivalent employees.
If an ALE does NOT offer affordable health coverage that provides a minimum level of coverage to its full-time employees, the company may be subject to an employer shared responsibility penalty if at least one of the ALE's full-time employees receives a premium tax credit for purchasing individual health coverage through a Health Insurance Marketplace. Each ALE is subject to the Form 1095-C - Employer-Provided Health Insurance Offer and Coverage reporting. If you think your company has 50 or more full-time equivalent employees, you should be working with an ACA consultant to ensure compliance. If you need assistance in this area or further information regarding this complex law, please contact us.
• W-2 Reporting - As a business owner, certain items must be included in your W-2 as other compensation not subject to Social Security or Medicare taxes. If your business is an S-Corporation, the cost of employer paid health and dental insurance premiums must be included in the W-2s of all > 2% S-Corp shareholder/employees. The personal use of a company owned automobile is a taxable fringe benefit, for both C- and S-Corporations, that must be included in an employee's W-2 as well. It's expensive to correct W-2s, so check with your payroll service provider to find out their reporting deadline (many are mid-December). If you have specific questions regarding what items may need to be included in your company's W-2s or need assistance with the taxable personal use of company automobile calculation, please contact us. Also note that the W-2/W-3 filing deadline for both the IRS and MA DOR is January 31st.
• Form 1099-MISC Reporting - Do you have all of the necessary information in your accounting system to complete Forms 1099-MISC? These forms must be issued to all individuals or unincorporated entities (such as LLCs) your business pays $600 or more for services during a calendar year. Additionally, a 1099-MISC must be issued when a company pays $600 or more for rent or legal services, regardless of the payee's tax classification. Note, however, that payments made with a credit or debit card are NOT subject to reporting on Form 1099-MISC as such payments are reported by the payment settlement entity on Form 1099-K. For all vendors that meet these criteria, make sure the vendor profile is complete with name, address and SSN/EIN. If not, gather this information before year end by requesting the vendor to complete a Form W-9 - Request for Taxpayer Identification Number and Certification. Sechrest & Bloom is available to prepare 1099-MISC forms on your behalf but will need all information no later than January 15th. The Form 1099-MISC filing deadline is January 31st for recipients, the IRS and the MA DOR. The penalties for late/non-filing of Forms 1099-MISC are SIGNIFICANT. If a 1099 is filed within 30 days of the due date, the fine is $100/Form 1099, if filed by August 1st, the fine is $200/Form 1099, if filed after August 1st or not filed at all, the fine is $520/Form 1099. These fines assume both the recipient and IRS copies are filed late.
• Review your company's YTD financial statements - Is your bookkeeping and accounting up to date? Do the results make sense in relation to the prior year and your current business environment? Have transactions been recorded to the proper accounts? Need help with this process? Sechrest & Bloom is available to assist you as needed. If we typically perform bookkeeping services for your company and you have not already provided us with the necessary documents through September 30th, please contact Kathy or Trish as soon as possible to schedule. We are only able to provide proactive recommendations if the accounting records for your business are current.
• Check the YTD Net Income on your P&L - Where do you stand for the year? If you have a larger than expected profit, consider making a major purchase that can be expensed this year with the Section 179 deduction. If your business is a cash basis tax filer, consider the timing of year end expenses. Keep in mind that an expense is deductible at the time charged to a corporate credit card, even for cash basis filers.
• Year-end Bonuses & Retirement Plan Contributions - Year-end bonuses are a great way to reward employees for a job well done. Please remember that such amounts must be included in an employee's W-2 so be sure to carefully report the information to your payroll service provider. Retirement plan contributions (profit sharing, pension, SEP, employer 401(K) and SIMPLE plan matching contributions) are a great way to save for retirement on a tax deferred basis and can also be an effective tool for managing your company's taxable income. Did you know that retirement plan contributions (excluding employee deferrals) do not need to be funded until your tax return is filed or due, even for a cash basis filer? The SEP contribution limit for 2017 is $55,000. If you'd like Sechrest & Bloom's assistance in calculating a year-end bonus and associated federal and state withholdings for an S-Corporation shareholder, please contact Jennifer soon to coordinate.
• Inventory - If your company has inventory, take a physical inventory count as close to year end as possible and make any necessary adjustments for book to physical count differences in your accounting system before year end.
• Website - Check all of the links on your company website and be sure they are active. Also, review your website content and update as appropriate.
• Goal setting - Write out goals and objectives for 2018.
• For your reference, the table below summarizes some important figures for 2017 and 2018.
Year-end tax packages will be emailed in mid-December. Please be on the lookout and review prior to year-end. A little advanced planning could save your company money by reducing your tax liability and/or tax preparation costs.


2006 Edition: Tomorrow Never Knows: The Beatles Last Concert, by Eric Lefcowitz. Photos by Jim Marshall. chronicles the famous August 29, 1966 concert in San Francisco's Candlestick Park. Author has signed these copies.


Spring is in full swing, and this means that there are several upcoming opportunities to meet and mingle with our team at LSI!
We are delighted to announce that we will be sponsors and participants in the upcoming Spring Forum, taking place April 15-16, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
This inaugural gathering is designed to be the most interactive, engaging spring conference in the vacation rental industry. It's also a great chance to learn what's new at LSI and in the vacation rental industry, while talking with our senior management team one-on-one on the ideas, aspirations, and streamlined tools that can turn data into dollars.
We will have all sorts of cool swag on hand for our clients, and are happy to schedule time to sit down and talk about what LSI can do to improve the way your property management company runs. Best of all, with a warm and sunny North Carolina locale, it's a great way to combine work and a mini-vacation with a single, illuminating trip!
Want to learn more? There's still time to register, and you can do so by visiting the official website at http://www.vrma.org/page/2019-spring-forum. Be sure and check out the schedule of events, too, and to reserve a few minutes to stop by out booth and chat with us one-on-one!
From all of us at LSI Tools, we hope to see you there!


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| Seniors go out in style as Penn gymnastics sets school record on floor in Senior Meet
Seniors go out in style as Penn gymnastics sets school record on floor in Senior Meet
Hartke, Levi each secure top-three floor scores in school history
By Teia Ross 02/11/18 8:17pm
In the final home regular season meet of her career, senior captain Kyra Levi was as strong as ever, scoring a 9.900 in the floor for the No. 3 score in the event in school history.
Credit: Carson Kahoe
Fly, gymnasts, fly!
On Sunday afternoon, Penn gymnastics hit its season high score in its Senior Meet, beating out its previous high earned last week at Cornell by more than a full point. Among the highlights for the Red and Blue was a combined score of 49.300 on floor, tying a school record last set in 2003, and ultimately leading the Quakers to take third place in the contest.
Penn came into the weekend with electric energy, coming off a big win against defending Ivy League champion Cornell last week. On paper, Sunday's meet went as expected with no upsets. No. 59 Penn posted a final score of 193.725, placing third behind No. 50 Temple (194.700) and No. 52 Bridgeport (194.225), but ahead of No. 73 Ursinus (186.900).
However, the meet itself was anything but conventional. This was the Quakers' (3-6, 2-1 Ivy) Senior Meet, and the gymnastics class of 2018 lived up to expectations with solid performances. Coach John Ceralde says that this class has "represented Penn gymnastics very well." Sunday was no exception, with senior gymnasts holding the leading scores on Penn's team in every event.
Following a career-ending injury, one gymnast decides to stick with the team in a new role
Pair of second-year captains ready to take Penn gymnastics to the next level
Ally Podsednik individually placed fifth on the vault (9.725). Senior captain Kyra Levi was fourth on the uneven parallel bars (9.750), second on the balance beam with a career high of 9.775, and second on floor with a stellar 9.900 on floor.
Contributions were not just made by the gymnasts doing routines. Injured seniors Olivia Neistat and Emily Shugan were seen boosting the energy in the Palestra, cheering and high-fiving their teammates.
"They're contributing just as much, if not more, than people doing the actual routines," Levi said. "Over half the battle of gymnastics is the mental and the team aspect, and I would say they contribute more than anybody else. I don't think we would feel as much of a team without them."
Levi says that her senior class has "developed a really strong team dynamic. All six of us all chipped in in any way we could and it worked out." This mentality was apparent when senior Alex Hartke's teammates danced alongside her at the edge of the mat during her floor routine.
Hartke earned a career high of 9.925, taking first place in the event, and securing the second-best score in the event in school history. This is Hartke's second week in a row earning a career high, also scoring a 9.825 on the beam last week against Cornell.
"She never ceases to amaze us," Ceralde said on Hartke. "She's always improving, working hard in the gym and I'm really happy for her to hit her career high her senior year." When asked if he thought she might break it again, Ceralde said that he "wouldn't be surprised."
Sunday was only the latest example of Penn's consistent improvement all season, reaching their season-high score of 193.725. In each meet this year, the Quakers have been able to score higher than they did the previous week.
"This was a huge improvement for us. ... Each week we're kind of building on what we've done the week before," Levi said. "This is really how you win Ivy championships, so I think we're in a really good spot and everybody feels really motivated to keep improving."
To honor the seniors, their families played short slideshows displaying each senior progressing through their gymnastics careers. Sunday's performances of these 21- and 22-year-old women, compared to the videos of six-year-olds dancing around the kitchen or doing backbends in the living room, show how far these seniors have come.
But perhaps the biggest way to show that development would be to win the Ivy Classic in a couple weeks.
The last time Penn won the Ivy Classic was in 2015, when this class of seniors were freshmen. Senior Megan Finck intends on "going out with a bang … just like we started."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Our selection of dinnerware gives you everything you need to create the perfect western-themed dining experience for your family and guests. With a selection of beautiful designs in stylish colors, we�ve chosen dinnerware that�s fun, functional and above all quintessentially western.
In beautiful, handcrafted southwest pottery as well as more casual ceramics and stoneware, our dinnerware will help you set a beautiful western table. The hand-applied glazes in dazzling colors on our pottery collections can add an artistic touch to your tableware. Many of these collections are artisan-made with loving attention to detail�no two are just alike. Or choose brands or rodeo silhouettes for a spunky ranch look. Our dinnerware also features textures and embossing, like tooled leather and raised stars and crosses, that are sure to make your dinner guests take notice. These plates, mugs and bowls are sold in single place settings, 16-piece service for four, or individually�just check the description for each collection to see how it�s offered.
These uniquely western pieces are the perfect complement the table linens, serving ware and accessories to help you strike the right ambiance in your kitchen or dining room. Entertaining is in the details. Our dinnerware provides the touch of western inspiration that helps you entertain with style.


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Cepeda Column: NAFTA destroyed the way we eat
Opinion | October 6, 2018
CHICAGO — A few weeks ago, my aunt came to visit from Mexico for the first time in nearly 20 years. During her month-long stay, my family and I were treated to hand-made sopes — a deep-dish tortilla topped with beans, meat, cheese and a meticulously minced raw salsa — and pozole, a chicken, corn and hominy soup so time-consuming to prepare that my mom usually only makes it at New Year's.
These kinds of from-scratch, labor-intensive meals are what Alyshia Galvez, a professor in the Department of Latin American and Latino Studies at Lehman College/City University of New York, calls milpa-based cuisine, a term derived from the Spanish words for "maize field."
In her new book, "Eating NAFTA: Trade, Food Policies, and the Destruction of Mexico," Galvez describes this style of cooking as found across a wide variety of regions in Mexico. They share a core set of ingredients like ground corn and the kinds of fresh vegetables and plants — squash, beans, tomatoes, chiles — that can be grown in a small field close to home to create meals that are made fresh immediately prior to their consumption.
This way of eating is nearly the opposite of what is generally considered "Mexican food" in the United States (especially if you stop to consider the brain-numbing reality that a Harris poll recently found: Taco Bell is Americans' favorite Mexican restaurant). And it is in danger of becoming extinct.
That's because NAFTA, and other trade policies, have incentivized people all over the world to migrate for work or take jobs in factories for low wages — breaking up their way of life. This has made an attractive alternative of the super-cheap, ultra-processed foodstuffs that industrialized food manufacturers are increasingly finding it harder to sell to nutrition-conscious Americans.
"Along with their counterparts in other countries, rural and low-income Mexicans have provided a market for producers of industrial foods to offset declining sales in the United States," Galvez writes. "[Yet] economic trends and policy decisions that have taken ancestral ways of eating out of the reach of the average Mexican citizen [are also] making traditional foods available as a high-value, high-status commodity to be 'elevated' and reinterpreted by global elite chefs."
In a recent interview, Galvez told me that she became interested in connecting the dots between trade, food policy, migration and health in both the U.S. and Mexico when she started seeing her loved ones in Mexico becoming ill with the same kind of weight-related diseases — obesity, diabetes and heart disease — that afflict so many Americans, even though those relatives never migrated.
"I wasn't really aware of those interconnections at all; trade wasn't something I was particularly interested in," Galvez said, "But I pulled on one string and all these other strings unraveled. The story of how NAFTA has altered the food system in the whole continent, and the health effects, affects every single one of us."
Galvez touches on such issues as the rise of the avocado, how soda taxes get watered down by corporate interests and the role of "personal responsibility" in how populations eat (spoiler: make fresh fruits and vegetables more expensive and harder to find and poor people will turn to cheap, processed foods). She ultimately wants people to understand the unintended consequences of wide-ranging trade deals, and she does it by appealing to our self-interest.
"Sure, we get access to fresh fruits and vegetables from Mexico year-round, but the takeaway problem is fundamentally about democracy," Galvez said. "When these deals are negotiated behind closed doors by the executive branch, with Congress then voting up or down, we all lose, because these policies affect 99 percent of the population in three countries, yet we are not at the bargaining table. Very specific interest groups and corporations are at the table, and they get their well-defined wish lists met. If we care about democracy, then we have to care about representation and about who is being taken into consideration when these deals are made."
Still, as President Trump renegotiated the trade pact of what will reportedly be called the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), Galvez said, "I'm in the uncomfortable position of hoping [Trump] doesn't recklessly trash NAFTA. There would be a lot of pain for everyone involved. We can't afford the crumbling of our current food system. … We just don't realize how intertwined and interdependent we are. [Drastic changes] could cause an incredible logjam on products we depend on daily. We'd see unbelievably high costs, farmers would see their crops rotting on the vine and hunger on a massive scale."
The evolution of how we eat is a fact of life. But negotiating away the gastronomical cultural heritage of whole countries — including ours — in the name of enhanced trade, is not a deal many would make if they were aware of what was at stake.
Esther Cepeda's email address is estherjcepeda@washpost.com, or follow her on Twitter: @estherjcepeda.
Shannon column: Conservatives still waiting for anchor babies aweigh!
Cepeda column: Immigrants have stronger faith in America's justice system than those who dehumanize them
Saturday letters: public opinion, food waste
Friday letter: School Board Recognition Month
Guzzardi column: Elitist Ivanka Trump wants more skilled immigration


The NEW is a mystery, beyond our imagination and foreign to our normalcy. It is perceived by the heart of love—only by intimacy with Christ. The scribe seeks with his mind, but the disciple seeks to know the Son, so the heart is the only receptacle of the NEW.
The condition of the HEART determines the Light on the NEW. The NEW is too strange to be understood with the mind. It will not fit into logic. The independent mind bows only to Love's interpretation.


Master Floral Designer Margaret Flis demonstrates how to add ribbon and finish the bouquet.
I would like to now show you something that I do to make the stems, keep them in a tight bundle, and its also going to help when we add our ribbon to finish it off at the end. This is corsage tape or stem tape, its got a stretchiness to it and a waxiness to it, so it can be added by placing it against the stems and holding it with your thumb, and then bringing it around. It will kind of adhere to itself, and its just going to pull all of your stems in together. This is not going to show at the end. This is just to give you a finished off look. Gets easier as you go down, doesnt have to be perfect, this is just almost like a primer for your ribbon. If you break it, just stick it back on there and keep going.
For this bouquet were going to leave a little bit of the stems out at the bottom, that way you can keep it hydrated. You would usually do this the day before the wedding. Im kind of running the tape back on itself just to make sure its on there tight. I would say weve gone down about five inches down the stems.
So, now youre going to take your ribbon. This is a double sided satin, you want to use a nice ribbon, so to feel nice against your skin when youre holding it. Take the end, hold it against this waxy tape that we just put on and do the same thing, only were going to go up the stem this time, instead of down the stem. When it starts to get thinner at the top, you can kind of pucker your ribbon and keep going around so its nice and tight. Once youve covered your wax string and the green tape that you are using, go ahead and cut a good length of this. Take this piece of ribbon thats left, go around your bouquet loosely, bring it up through there, and pull it tight. Just to make sure its secure, lets do it again, around, and up tight.
Now, cut this off, this extra ribbon, were going to leave just a little bit of a tail, and this is where youre going to use your pearl topped boutonniere pins. Tuck this ribbon in as much as you can to the stems, and take your pearl topped boutonniere pin and go right down through that loose edge, right along the stems, the sides of the stems, and thats finished off. Now, you could add a bow if you wanted to, but with a round bouquet where it looks nice all the way around, you dont really need to have a front to it. So, the next thing you would want to do is trim your stems. You want to leave about an inch at the bottom for now. These snips are great for this, just cut it straight on. Now youre ready to store your bouquet, and that will be the next step, I will be right back with how to store it.


The April fly trip for Fishability UK took us up the M40 to Farmoor reservoirs, run by Thames Water, 5 miles west of Oxford.
We had been hoping for some warmer springlike weather during April, and as it transpired, this was the last cold day of winter, seen out by a warm front coming up from the south giving us a rainy conclusion to today's proceedings.
The day was very kindly sponsored by Rohde and Schwarz Ltd of Fleet, Hants, who supply electronics to (amongst others) the Ministry of Defence, working particularly closely with the RAF, who kindly contributed the guiding pool from local Brize Norton and the Greylags flyfishing team.
A hearty breakfast bap greeted all participants in the Sailing Club, and after a briefing from Phil Gilham, and a splash of kit from Wychwood and the rangers, we headed for the water.
Farmoor is a concrete bowl, quite deep, and with this year's very cold water, the fish were intent on staying well down in the water. The persistent easterly of recent weeks has kept the lower clayey depths agitated with bloodworm coming off the floor, and plenty for the fish to feed on. Hi-D lines were the most reliable, with boats anchoring up for best effect.
Hatches of small black buzzer kept going all day in 10-12c but painfully few fish ventured through to the surface to take advantage. Boats found it tough going, whilst bank anglers probably fared a little better, but generally fish were hard to come by. I think we mustered 10 fish from assembled guides and veterans, mostly before a sumptuous buffet lunch superbly laid on by Gill in the canteen. Weather deteriorated after scoff, the wind increased, and by 5pm and cakes, it was time to award prizes, take some team pics and head off.
Sincere thanks to Phil Gilham and his team of excellent guides, Thames Water and their staff for being most accomodating on a brilliant day out, and for the guides coming up from the Surrey area to help out too.
Achievements today – nice 5 pounder for Paul Daglish, and also, an excellent brace for Alan Auckland, who hadn't cast a fly line until January this year.
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SPICA is a far-infrared astronomy joint European-Japanese project. A proposal was submitted in late 2016 to the ESA Cosmic Vision call for an M-type mission. SPICA was selected on May 7, 2018 as one of the three projects to be studied further. The downselection should take place in late 2021, with a launch foreseen in 2032. The University of Geneva aims to coordinate the SAFARI Instrument Control Centre as part of the Ground Segment operations. It will also participate in the design and construction of the grating modules for SAFARI.
With a 2.5-meter diameter, its large mirror will be actively cooled down to less than 8K. SPICA will achieve high sensitivity and spatial resolution. At least three instruments are currently planned in the payload: i) the European SAFARI (SpicA FAR-infrared Instrument) will operate from 34 to 230 microns with a spectral resolution from 300 to 11,000, ii) the European BiBoP, a far-infrared imaging polarimeter; and iii) the mid-infrared camera and spectrometer (12-36 microns with various spectral resolutions).
The figure shows the thermal infrared radiation of warm telescopes (>20 K) in comparison with typical astronomical diffuse emission (blue lines). The emission of such warm telescopes completely dominate in the mid-infrared regime, hindering high-sensitivity observations. In contrast, the infrared emission of SPICA's cryogenically-cooled telescope (<8K) will be reduced significantly, virtually providing no contribution in the wavelength coverage of SPICA. Astronomical diffuse emission and confusion will be the only limiting background. The green box corresponds to the wavelength coverage of SAFARI.
The SPICA mission
SPICA@JAXA
SPICA@ESA
SAFARI@SRON


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Nov 4 Who You Gonna Call?
Most, if not all, are familiar with the terms "ghosts" or "spirits." What habitually comes to mind are luminous apparitions forged by our favorite horror movies, or the iconic melody "Ghostbusters" played annually on Halloween. These conceptions are fabricated almost entirely from Hollywood blockbusters, which have established a cast iron typecast depicting a malevolent spirit, growing increasingly horrifying as movie production evolves. Yet, beyond one's imagination, the supernatural world is an irrational fear, denoted by most as nonexistent. Few are aware that in our very own hometown of Vancouver, real-life ghostbusters reside. This society differs somewhat from the popular phantom quashing image ingrained within our minds, referring to themselves firstly as paranormal investigators, and attempting merely to converse with what has politely been dubbed as "spirits" rather than extinguish them. Heidi Smith, an 3 year member and paranormal enthusiast, shares her knowledge of these ethereal beings in an interview, expressing firm beliefs undeterred by the multitude of skeptics existent in our scientifical-based society today. The premise behind these deeply rooted, controversial and, to most, far fetched, opinions reside within personal exposure. Specifically, fragments of childhood undergone in a "haunted" house, and underlying these incidents, a near death experience. There is a spectrum of belief regarding the supernatural that varies in intensity, some, like Heidi maintain steadfast beliefs, whereas others only dimly recognize the possibility. What she believes lies upon the extreme end of this scale, and may provoke raised eyebrows amongst skeptics. However, as Heidi asserts, if most recognize the possibility of afterlife, it is not such a drastic step to believe in those who are caught between worlds.
Ghosts, which refer to the impint made on earth by an deceased person, are classified using two identifications, "intellectual" and "residual." The former refers to spirits with an ability to communicate, whereas the latter denotes an imprint of energy that rarely can be observed by the naked eye. Both variants are considered the "internal essence" of a deceased person whose "physical body has ceased to exist," and are sustained upon energy siphoned from quotidian appliances such as iphones. Ghosts are typically unaware of their demise or even time itself; precipitated by traumas, sudden deaths, an unvoiced message, or a routine adhered to in life, and unintentionally, death. Investigators, even without donning proper ghost hunting gear are particularly attuned to their activity, which is ever present and materializes as seemingly mundane occurrences. Unfounded noises, fluctuating lights, opened cupboards, strange behaviour in animals, orbs suspended in old photographs, and a general sense of discomfort, for example, can be the repercussions of otherworldly presences. Some will feel an uncanny chill upon entering edifices such as antique shops, sites of tragic accidents, or areas enshrining a deceased person. These venues are designated as "hot spots" and populate Vancouver. Gastown, Chinatown, and the PNE are among the most notorious locales, each retaining their unique spirits. Activity is most populous in between Halloween and Christmas, a time anchored by the inevitable sense of family and an urge for everyone, alive or dead, to reconvene. However, all those with a fear for the supernatural should rest assured, as, if any spirit should crop up wanted, they should merely call "Vancouver's Paranormal Society."
By: Clara Chalmers
Nov 4 Brett Kavanaugh 101
Oct 28 House Soccer Playoffs Report


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Q: Does the setMonth method of Java Calendar work wrong? I have small code such as below. I expected that the result should be 7, but it printed 6. If I uncomment the line tmp.get(Calendar.MONTH), it runs OK (prints 7).
Please let me know the reason. I'm using JDK 1.7.0_25 in MacOS.
public static void main(String[] args) {
    Calendar tmp = Calendar.getInstance();
    tmp.set(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH, 4);
    tmp.set(Calendar.MONTH, Calendar.AUGUST);
    //tmp.get(Calendar.MONTH);
    tmp.set(Calendar.DAY_OF_WEEK, Calendar.MONDAY);
    System.out.println(tmp.get(Calendar.MONTH));
}

Screenshot:
Comment code: http://gyazo.com/4c099b1b2b90d72d1954b98b134e4ac3
Uncomment code: http://gyazo.com/fe368745da168646140ca9f3a60d2021

A: Because month index starts with index 0. add +1 while get month. it is c based structure copied into java. It has indexes 0 to 11.
And i think day of month is incorrect. comment that and run it it shows correctly.(tmp.set(Calendar.DAY_OF_WEEK, Calendar.MONDAY);)
    tmp.set(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH, 4);
    tmp.set(Calendar.MONTH, Calendar.AUGUST);
    //tmp.get(Calendar.MONTH);
    //tmp.set(Calendar.DAY_OF_WEEK, Calendar.MONDAY);
    System.out.println(tmp.get(Calendar.MONTH));

By default it takes year as 2015 and August 4 is tuesday not monday

A: I tried to run your code and it prints 7 every time (even tried to uncomment that line you mention). Which seems correct to me.
EDIT The problem is explained in detail Java Calendar - Date is unpredictable after setting day_of_week
I am glad that with Java 8 came new API for working with date and time.
EDIT2
My understanding of what happened:
Only sensible combinations are
YEAR + MONTH + DATE (let's call it A)

or
YEAR + MONTH + WEEK_OF_MONTH + DAY_OF_WEEK (let's call it B)

And the Calendar has its inner state of date in which he thinks he is. So basically before you set
DAY_OF_WEEK

you were working with combination A but after it you were working with combination B and this line
tmp.set(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH, 4);

was ignored. Thus it took Monday in the first week of August (2015-07-27). But when you called
tmp.get(Calendar.MONTH);

you "materialized" the date according to combination A (so to 2015-08-04) and the
DAY_OF_WEEK

was set "correctly" starting from 2015-08-04.
Anyway could you try that with JDK 8?

A: When you set DAY_OF_WEEK = MONDAY, Calendar returns back to last Monday and it is 27th of Jul, you can check it with System.out.println(tmp.get(Calendar.DAY_OF_MONTH));

A: Avoid pre-Java-8 Date and Calendar

The existing Java date and time classes are poor, mutable, and have
  unpredictable performance.

This applies somehow equally to Calendar, which has some of the same problems. Weaknesses of Calendar (german link) are

*

*not really a calendar, but date + time

*mutable

*January is 0th month, not 1st

*unintuitive API: you have to use get(Calendar.HOUR) instead of getHour

*...

if you are using Java <8, use Joda-Time
In the comments to java-calendar-date-is-unpredictable-after-setting-day-of-week, Joda-Time is recommended as an alternative by @JonSkeet, as it is by those folks of the JDK Enhancement Proposal. Your code could look like
import org.joda.time.MutableDateTime;
import org.joda.time.format.DateTimeFormat;
import org.joda.time.format.DateTimeFormatter;

public class Test2 {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
    MutableDateTime tmp = new MutableDateTime();
    tmp.setDayOfMonth(4);
    tmp.setMonthOfYear(8);
    tmp.setDayOfWeek(1);

    DateTimeFormatter fmt = DateTimeFormat.fullDate();
    System.out.println(fmt.print(tmp));
    }
}

Immutable
There is also the immutable DateTime class, which you will want to use instead. (immutability adds several positive effects, in Java 8 it is the default)
import org.joda.time.DateTime;
import org.joda.time.format.DateTimeFormat;
import org.joda.time.format.DateTimeFormatter;

public class Test {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        DateTimeFormatter fmt = DateTimeFormat.fullDate();

        DateTime tmp = new DateTime().withDayOfMonth(4).withMonthOfYear(8);
        System.out.println(fmt.print(tmp));

        tmp = tmp.withDayOfWeek(1);
        System.out.println(fmt.print(tmp));
    }
}

If on Java-8,
the java.time API is based on Joda-Time. Use
import java.time.LocalDateTime;
import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter;

public class Test {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        DateTimeFormatter fmt = DateTimeFormatter.RFC_1123_DATE_TIME;

        LocalDateTime tmp
            = LocalDateTime.now().withDayOfMonth(4).withMonthOfYear(8);
        System.out.println(fmt.format(tmp));

        tmp = tmp.withDayOfWeek(1);
        System.out.println(fmt.format(tmp));
    }
}

(I have not tested the Java-8 version)

A: When you set the day of week, Calendar has no way to know what you expect. If you expect to get the date of another day of the same week, you should set the week of year too to indicate which week you expect.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: Github prevents posting PR comments - "Line must be part of the diff" I have a weird GitHub issue. When commenting on a certain PR, the message "Line must be part of the diff" appears and prevents the comment from being posted. This happens in both Firefox and Google Chrome of the latest versions and only on this particular PR. Other PRs in the repo don't have this issue. Clearing caches and cookies had no effect.
Any ideas?

A: Pushing any commit can fix this.