text:
Directions to UD
Athletics Training Forms
EADA Instituional Information
St. Sebastian Award
UD Professional Athletes
About UD
Athletics Questionnaire
"Why I Chose UD"
College TV Ticket
UDALLAS.EDU
Statistics (Standard)
Statistics (Sorted)
Postseason Awards
SCAC Statistics (Standard)
SCAC Statistics (Sorted)
Softball falls in Non-Conference Doubleheader
University of Dallas (6-22) 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 8 2
Concordia University (17-13) 0 4 0 0 0 3 X 7 11 1
Concordia University (16-13) 2 0 0 0 0 0 X 2 6 3
Crusaders played twinbill at Concordia on Wednesday.
2B: Summer Harper 2; Mycahla Howard
3B: Morgan Loredo
AUSTIN, Texas – The University of Dallas softball team dropped a pair of non-conference games at Concordia University on Wednesday. The offense continued to scuffle on this road trip, as the Tornados held UD hitless in game one. The Crusaders posted eight hits in the nightcap and pushed a pair of runs across in their first and last at bat. However, Concordia scored all its runs in two innings to finish the sweep at Tornado SB Field.
(Game 1 Information)
Team Scores: Dallas (0), Concordia (2)
Team Records: Dallas (6-21), Concordia (16-13)
Pitcher Records: W) Russell (7-8), L) Watts (3-10)
Haley Dennett and Summer Harper punched RBI-singles in the home half of the first inning to lift Concordia to a small lead. The Tornados only tallied six singles, with half of them occurring in that first frame.
That was plenty of support for Jorden Russell, who went the distance in the no-hit shutout. She only allowed a walk to Haley Golden (Lake Dallas, Texas) in the fourth inning. The Crusaders did benefit from three errors by CTX's defense, but only had one runner in scoring position in the contest. Russell also struck out five in the feat.
Brittani Whitten and Dennett led the Tornados with a 2-for-3 and scored the runs.
Maggie Watts (Arcadia, La.) threw five shutout innings after she allowed the pair of runs in the first. She scattered six hits, did not allow a walk, and struck out one.
Pitcher Records: W) Verinsky (3-2), L) Galvan (3-11)
The Crusaders offense got run in their first inning of the next game. Alicia Enciso (Corona, Calif.) started things off with a walk. She advanced to second on a one-out single by Julie Duenas (Houston, Texas). After a second out was made, Liz Cordova (Oklahoma City, Okla.) poked a single through the left side to give UD the lead.
After keeping Concordia off the board in the bottom half of the inning, the home team exploded with four runs on five hits in the second to go on top the rest of the way. Mycahia Howard doubled to right center to even the score. A bunted hit to the pitcher by Morgan Loredo broke the tie for CTX. A couple more infield hits by Whitten and Diana Payne finished off the run production that inning.
Dallas countered with two hits in the top of the third, but aggressive base running cost the team with an out at home and at third.
Three runs in the sixth for the Tornados put the game out of reach.
A sacrifice fly by Caitlyn Stevenson (Henderson, Nev.) finished off the final score.
Cordova and Duenas each went 2-for-3 at the plate. Enciso, Lauren Galvan (Bryan, Texas), and Mackenzie Tano (Wylie, Texas) added base knocks. Tano stole a base and scored the other Crusader run.
Galvan threw 1.1 innings in the start. She allowed four runs and hits with a walk. Watts added 4.1 innings of relief, yielding seven hits and 3 runs (0 earned). She walked two.
Harper doubled in both her hits and was part of a quartet with two-hit performances. Whitten, Anissa Garcia, and Harper rounded out the unit. Loredo contributed a triple.
Simone Langland threw three innings in the start. She allowed five hits, one run, one walk, and struck out two. Taylor Verinsky was credited the win after going the last four innings. She allowed the other run with three hits, a walk, and picked up a strikeout.
Dallas resumes conference play with its final road trip of the regular season. The Crusaders will be at Centenary College on April 14th-15th. The first doubleheader has a 1 p.m. first pitch, and the final day is slated for a 12 p.m. start.
1845 East Northgate Drive. Irving, Texas, 75062


I was a little stuck this month if i'm honest. Paige is at a perfect age for photos right now but Parker is another story. He just wants to go go go. All the time! He never stops. He never just sits still.
This months picture is really special to me. Mainly because its part of a video. I was randomly filming and captured such a special moment. I was trying to capture Parker walking with his walker. He's started taking a few steps with it and I wanted to get it on camera. Instead I captured my big girl being the best big sister and helping out her little brother.
She isn't really holding him up but she thinks she is and that just melts my heart.
It's these little moments that I love about having two. Paige is honestly the best big sister. It's like she was made to have younger siblings. She is such a caring, sweet little girl.
Soooo cute. Paige is certainly the best big sister anyone could ever ask for.


Andrew is a contributing editor to DDJ, and coauthor of the books Undocumented DOS and Undocumented Windows. Portions of this article are excerpted from Undocumented DOS, Second Edition, (Addison-Wesley, 1993).
If you were one of the thousands of Windows 3.1 beta testers, and if you happened to be using DR DOS rather than MS-DOS, you probably butted heads with a seemingly innocuous, yet odd, error message like that in Figure 1. As you'll see, this message is a visible manifestation of a chunk of code whose implementation is technically slippery and evasive.
While it's impossible to gauge intent, the apparent purpose of this code is to lay down arbitrary technical obstacles for DOS-workalike programs. The message appears with the release labeled "final beta release (build 61)" (dated December 20, 1991), and with "pre-release build 3.10.068" (January 21, 1992). Similar messages (with different error numbers) are produced in builds 61 and 68 by MN.COM, SETUP.EXE, and by the versions of HIMEM.SYS, SMARTDRV.EXE, and MSD.EXE (Microsoft diagnostics) packaged with Windows.
Although the error is non-fatal--that is, the program can continue running--WIN.COM's default behavior is to terminate the program, rather than continue.
The message first appeared in build 61, a late-stage beta, and seemed to disappear in the final retail release of Windows 3.1. However, the code that generates the message is present in the retail release, albeit in quiescent form, and executes every time you run Windows 3.1.
It's significant that the message, which appeared when running on DR DOS (including Novell's "Novell DOS 7" beta), did not appear when running on MS-DOS or PC-DOS. This raises the question then, what causes the error message? As it turns out, finding the answer required substantial system-level sleuthing, an interesting challenge in its own right.
In this article, I'll summarize the results of chasing this chunk of source which I call the "AARD code" (after a plain-text signature that's buried within the otherwise-encrypted code). The full technical details of the chase--the run-time disassembly and decryption of the code--is the subject of a subsequent DDJ article. The raw information is available now in electronic form; see "Availability," page 3. Here, I'll present a pseudocode summary of the AARD code, then focus on the code's effects and implications rather than on precise details of its implementation.
Whether in spite or because of the books Undocumented DOS and Undocumented Windows, I've often had to publicly defend Microsoft against what I felt were acts of scapegoating from whining competitors (including Novell, Borland, Lotus, and Wordperfect), complaints which remind me of the way some Americans like to blame Japan for what are ultimately our own domestic problems.
In fact, much of Microsoft's practice, far from targeting competitor's applications, points in the opposite direction: Microsoft sometimes goes to extremes to maintain compatibility, even with competitor's mistakes (see, for example, the crazy GetAppCompatFlags() function discussed in Chapter 5 of Undocumented Windows).
Certainly, it's true that DOS workalikes such as DR DOS have to pretend to be an older version of DOS (DOS 3.31, for instance) if they want to run Windows Enhanced mode. This is because of an undocumented interface shared by the Windows Enhanced mode DOSMGR virtual device driver (VxD) inside WIN386.EXE and MS-DOS 5 and 6. To appear as more recent versions of DOS, would-be clones must reverse-engineer and implement this undocumented protocol.
So whenever I've heard accusations that Microsoft practices so-called "cruel coding" to keep Windows from running on DR DOS, I look at the facts: Windows 3.1 Enhanced mode does run on DR DOS. Standard mode does not run, but that's because of a DR DOS bug acknowledged by Novell (see Undocumented DOS, Second Edition).
The first step in discovering why the error message appeared under DR DOS but not MS-DOS was to examine the relevant WIN.COM code. However, the WIN.COM code that produced this message turned out to be XOR encrypted, self-modifying, and deliberately obfuscated--all in an apparent attempt to thwart disassembly.
The code also tries to defeat attempts for a debugger to step through it. For example, Figure 2 shows a code fragment in which the INT 1 single-step interrupt is pointed at invalid code (the two bytes FFh FFh), which disables DEBUG. The same is done with INT 2 (nonmaskable interrupt) and INT 3 (debug breakpoint). However, since modern debuggers (I used Nu-Mega's Soft-ICE) run the debugger and debuggee in separate address spaces, the AARD code's revectoring of INTs 1-3 has no affect on the Soft-ICE debugger. In any case, these attempts to throw examination off-track are in themselves revealing.
For whatever reasons, while much of it is XOR encrypted, the code contains, as plain-text, a Microsoft copyright notice and the initials "AARD" and "RSAA," perhaps the programmer's initials.
Figure 3 shows a pseudocode summary of the disassembled code. In essence, this code (which, remember, is part of Windows, a product sold separately from MS-DOS) checks for genuine MS-DOS or PC-DOS. As seen in Figure 3, the AARD code relies heavily on undocumented DOS functions and data structures. The undocumented INT 21h Function 52h is called to get a pointer to the DOS internal SysVars structure, popularly known as the "List of Lists." SysVars contains pointers to other DOS internal data structures, such as the current directory structure (CDS) and system file table (SFT). The AARD code checks a number of these pointers in SysVars, ensuring that none are null.
Any moderately self-respecting DOS workalike should pass unscathed through this gauntlet of tests. Interestingly, however, when this code is incorporated in a device driver such as HIMEM.SYS, it fails under DR DOS 5 and 6. These versions of DR DOS do not contain a genuine CDS, and the simulated CDS is apparently not set up until after device-driver initialization time. Thus, the Windows 3.1 beta HIMEM.SYS produces a non-fatal error message under DR DOS 5 and 6. Similarly, the AARD code fails under the Windows NT beta, where the DPB pointer in SysVars is null. Finally, the code fails in an OS/2 DOS box, where the DOS version number is 10.0 or greater (for example, OS/2 2.1 masquerades as DOS 20.10).
The crucial and, appropriately, most obfuscated test, however, appears at the end of the AARD test gauntlet. This test, which was unraveled by Geoff Chappell ([email protected]) first checks to see whether a network redirector (such as MSCDEX) is running. If a redirector is running, the AARD code checks that DOS's default upper case-map is located in the DOS data segment. If a redirector is not running, the code checks that the pointer to the first simulated-file control block (FCB-SFT) is located on a paragraph boundary; that is, it has a 0 offset. For ease of reference, this code is repeated in Figure 4.
All versions of MS-DOS pass this test; no version of DR DOS does.
To test whether this interpretation of the encrypted and heavily-obfuscated code is correct, I wrote MSDETECT.C (Listing One, page 89). This program (compiled with Microsoft C) performs the same tests as the original AARD code, but without the obfuscations, and with more informative "error" messages. My MSDETECT program succeeds under all versions of MS-DOS I tested (Compaq DOS 3.31, MS-DOS 5.0, MS-DOS 6.0), yet fails under all versions of DR DOS tested (DR DOS 5.0, DR DOS 6.0, beta Novell DOS 7). If running under DR DOS with a redirector, MSDETECT fails with the message "Default case map isn't in DOS data segment!". Otherwise it fails under DR DOS with the message "First FCB-SFT not located on paragraph boundary!".
But what does "country information" like the DOS default upper case-map have to do with a network redirector? Why does a piece of Windows care whether this mapper is located in the DOS data segment? And why should it care whether the first FCB-SFT is located on a paragraph boundary? What kind of "errors" are these, anyway?
These are all reasonable questions. In fact, the address of the default upper case-map has nothing to do with the network redirector, and no other part of Windows cares about what particular form is taken by DOS's default case-map or first FCB-SFT pointers. The AARD code has no relation to the actual purpose of the five otherwise-unrelated programs into which it has been dropped. It appears to be a wholly arbitrary test, a gratuitous gatekeeper seemingly with no purpose other than to smoke out non-Microsoft versions of DOS, tagging them with an appropriately vague "error" message.
Suitably, the section of the AARD code that performs this crucial test (highlighted in Figure 4) is the most heavily XOR encrypted and obfuscated. The test in Figure 4 is the critical piece of information used by Windows to determine if it is running on MS-DOS, or on a DOS "emulator." But this code seems to have no technically-valid purpose, checking instead some rather unimportant aspects of DOS. In short, you can have an otherwise perfectly workable DOS, capable of running Windows, and yet not pass this test.
To see if the case-map and FCB-SFT tests serve a technically useful purpose, I used Microsoft's SYMDEB debugger to slightly alter ("denormalize") DOS's pointers to the default case-map and the FCB-SFT. As you may recall, it's possible to change a real-mode segment:offset pointer without necessarily changing what location it points to. In real mode, a single memory location can be addressed by different pointers; there are many combinations of different segment and offset values that all resolve to the same physical address and are therefore equivalent. Windows (and all other software I ran) was unaffected by my change to these pointers. As Figure 5 shows, the only software that noticed was my MSDETECT and the AARD code in WIN.COM.
In other contexts (such as MSD's need to identify the operating system), it would be perfectly legitimate to walk internal DOS data structures to see that they were the same as would be expected under genuine MS-DOS. However, that WIN.COM and other programs incorporating AARD code don't make any use of the information gained in this way, other than to print the non-fatal error message, suggests a deliberate incompatibility, rather than a legitimate need to know some information about the underlying DOS.
The very non-fatality of the "error" further underscores the fact that it isn't Windows's legitimate business to care whether it's running on genuine MS-DOS. If the program can continue running despite the detected "error," then how much of an error was it to begin with? It seems that the only "error" is that the user is running Windows on someone else's version of DOS.
Does Beta Code Really Matter?
The non-fatal error message appeared only in two widely-distributed beta builds of Windows. But since the retail version of Windows 3.1 doesn't produce it, this is just dead history, right?
Not quite. Anyone with a copy of Windows 3.1 can hex dump WIN.COM (or WIN.CNF, from which WIN.COM is built during Windows setup) and see the error message (including the mention of "beta support") and the AARD and RSAA signatures. Using DEBUG, you can try your hand at unassembling the AARD code at offset 3CE2h in WIN.COM. In other words, the crazy-looking AARD code paraphrased in Figure 3 executes everytime you run Windows. The AARD code remains in Windows SETUP and in the Windows version of SMARTDRV.EXE (it appears to have been removed from HIMEM and MSD).
It's perfectly natural for software to contain vestigial remnants of past implementations. For example, WIN.COM also refers to the short-lived MSDPMI utility from the Microsoft C 7.0 beta. But in the case of the AARD code, new instructions were added to the AARD portion of Windows 3.1 retail WIN.COM--instructions that weren't present in the beta.
In the retail version of WIN.COM, the AARD code contains additional instructions as well as a control byte. The control byte determines whether or not the error message appears; this byte is currently 0. As shown in Figure 6, when running the retail WIN.COM under DR DOS, you can easily use DEBUG to turn on the control byte, and the message is issued just as under the beta versions. Changing the single byte at offset 16D4h in WIN.COM triggers the printing of the message, running on DR DOS or an MS-DOS in which the FCB and/or case-map pointers have been suitably denormalized.
A non-fatal error message in a beta version--that's it? If you have an axe to grind with Microsoft, you may have expected some more nakedly robber-baronesque behavior. If this is the worst that can be found, perhaps things aren't so bad after all. However, other examples of similar behavior have surfaced, including a warranty-related error message in QuickC and Microsoft C 6.0 (discussed in Chapter 4 of Undocumented DOS, Second Edition).
The effect of the AARD code is to create a new and highly artificial test of DOS compatibility. The obfuscations and encryptions make it difficult to even determine what is being tested. An indication that the AARD code's obfuscation is successful is the fact that Novell's most recent version of DR DOS (that is, Novell DOS 7) fails the test, even though it is otherwise far more compatible with MS-DOS than previous versions.
I've presented the substance of these findings to Microsoft, at both engineering and management levels. At press time, a detailed response was not forthcoming, perhaps due to the ongoing FTC investigation. It's likely that a subsequent issue of DDJ will contain a more specific response. However, a high-level manager at Microsoft repeatedly told me that the company is "agnostic" regarding DR DOS. He added, "They [Novell] claim 100 percent compatibility, but DR DOS is full of bugs. If DR DOS has problems running Windows, Novell should fix them."
The implication is that if a Windows/DR DOS user gets an error message that a Windows/MS-DOS user doesn't, then by definition it is Novell's fault and proof that DR DOS isn't "100 percent DOS compatible." The problem with this is that, as Figure 5 shows, the AARD code's test for DOS compatibility is 100 percent artificial. By Microsoft's definition, only MS-DOS or something byte-for-byte identical with MS-DOS (and therefore in violation of copyright) is "100 percent DOS compatible."
As for "agnostic," this seems unlikely given the effort required to write this tricky code. Its presence in five otherwise-unrelated programs also suggests a fairly concerted effort, as it is unlikely that five so different programs are all maintained by the same person. In fact, the programs probably fall under the domain of several different product managers or divisions.
The AARD code once again raises the issue of undocumented interfaces in the software industry. Because it is relatively easy for competitors to be compatible with a documented interface, companies try to create artificial kingdoms by selectively documenting only parts of their product interfaces. You have to wonder if that's the case here. Whenever an application calls on undocumented DOS services and uses data structures internal to DOS, as many successful applications now do, it ties itself more closely to the MS-DOS binary--to a particular sequence of bytes--rather than to the more-general DOS standard.
Furthermore, Microsoft apparently encourages this reliance on undocumented interfaces through "selectively documented" interfaces whereby Microsoft selectively allows some of its competitors and/or customers access to an interface, while denying similar access to other companies and to the rest of the developer community. There are numerous instances of this, including the XMS 3.0 specification, the Global EMM Import specification, and the LoadHi code for Windows 3.1.
Much of the discussion revolving around the need for a "Chinese Wall" at Microsoft has focused on the apparent absence of any genuine wall between the applications and operating-systems groups. The AARD code suggests that, if there's a need for an application/operating-systems wall, there may be the need for one between MS-DOS and Windows too. No one would dispute that DOS and Windows have to work together smoothly, but that togetherness needs to be open.
"Chinese Walls" are good engineering practice. They're what software engineering calls "firewalls": narrow and well-documented interfaces. But the standard software-engineering texts fail to mention that to properly document interfaces is also to throw them open to potential competition, and that, conversely, undocumented interfaces are a way of creating and reinforcing an enviable monopoly position. Hopefully, Microsoft's AARD code, which is not only an undocumented interface but--something new--an encrypted one, is not intended to stifle competition unfairly.
While I'm (mercifully) not an attorney, I have found that some of the legal literature surrounding the issue of "deliberate incompatibilities" to be fascinating reading. PC-centric readers may well be surprised that many of the issues surrounding Microsoft's travails with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission have been dealt with before in cases involving companies such as Eastman Kodak and IBM. "Deliberate incompatibilities" forms a fairly well-established part of antitrust law, going under monikers such as "non-price predation" and "predatory innovation."
One issue in the FTC's investigation of Microsoft was the relation between two of Microsoft's operating-systems products, Windows and MS-DOS. In particular, the FTC's Bureau of Competition tried to determine whether Microsoft had "done something" to Windows to deliberately keep it from running with Novell's DR DOS, which competes with MS-DOS.
Despite the relative insignificance of DR DOS in the market, this is an important question. MS-DOS and Windows are sold as separate products. While Microsoft wants to make MS-DOS a better platform for Windows, creating an artificial tie between Windows and MS-DOS for the sole purpose of hurting Novell would constitute unfair competition.
The two crucial words here are "sole" and "artificial." Surely, Microsoft should be allowed to improve Windows, even in ways that might ultimately hurt DR DOS. This is a legitimate part of the competitive process, and whining about "predatory innovation" has rightly been rejected by the courts. For example, many manufacturers of so-called "plug compatibles" tried in the '70s to have the courts characterize IBM's System/360 as "predatory innovation." The courts rejected these claims (along eventually with all of U.S. v. IBM, 1969-82), thereby "effectively requiring plaintiffs to prove that the defendant's design had no redeeming virtue for consumers" (Stephen F. Ross, Principles of Antitrust Law, Foundation Press, 1993). A detailed analysis from IBM's perspective, Folded, Spindled, and Mutilated: Economic Analysis and U.S. vs. IBM by Franklin Fisher et al. (MIT Press, 1983) makes sobering reading for anyone who might think there is some kind of open-and-shut case against Microsoft. Good luck, Novell.
Cases involving Eastman Kodak also have many parallels to Microsoft. In general the courts have sided with Kodak against competitors, although a recent Supreme Court case (Kodak v. Image Technical) went the other way. For a look at how Kodak has possibly created deliberate incompatibilities, see "Structural Monopoly, Technological Performance, and Predatory Innovation: Relevant Standards under Section 2 of the Sherman Act" by James W. Brock (American Business Law Journal, Fall 1983). Likewise, Antitrust Economics on Trial: A Dialogue on the New Laissez-Faire by Brock and Walter Adams (Princeton University Press, 1991) contains a useful section on "the Predation 'Problem'."
An apparently important article for the FTC is "Anticompetitive Exclusion: Raising Rivals' Costs to Achieve Power over Price" by Thomas Krattenmaker and Steve Salop (Yale Law Journal, December 1986). Merely the phrase "raising rivals' costs" is a useful handle for anyone trying to ponder Microsoft's current role in the software industry.
Suppose that company A manufactures a product system with two components, A1 and A2, each sold separately. Company A has monopoly power over A1, but company B competes in the market for the second component with its compatible offering, B2. Thus, consumers initially can use a product system comprised of either A1 and A2 or A1 and B2. Company A now introduces a new product system, A1' and A2', which serves roughly the same function for consumers as the old product system. Component B2, however, is incompatible with A1'. Furthermore, company A discontinues the sale of A1 or else reprices A1 substantially higher than before. As a consequence, consumers switch to the new product system and company B is driven from the market for component two.
When, if ever, should the antitrust laws sanction company A for driving B out of the market?
There's a clear comparison here to Windows (A1), MS-DOS (A2), and DR DOS (B2). The scenario discussed in the article, which has nothing to do with operating-system software, underscores the fact that there's really nothing new in the questions surrounding Microsoft.
...the plaintiff must bear the burden of proof on this issue. To establish the illegitimacy of R&D expenses by a preponderance of the evidence, the plaintiff would most likely need a "smoking gun"--a document or oral admission that clearly reveals the innovator's culpable state of mind at the time of the R&D decision. Alternatively, the plaintiff could prevail if the innovation involves such trivial design changes that no reasonable man could believe that it had anything but an anticompetitive purpose.
Figure 1: Typical message generated by the AARD code, produced, in this case from SETUP.EXE.
Figure 2: The AARD code attempts to disable a debugger, by pointing INT 1 (single step) at invalid code (the two bytes FFh FFh). The same operation is performed with INT 2 (nonmaskable interrupt) and INT 3 (breakpoint). This disassembly is from the Windows 3.1 retail version of WIN.COM.
6B30:3FAE CF            IRET                  ;    is invalid code!
Figure 4: The crucial AARD test for DOS legitimacy.
outward form of the pointers it examines.
;;; but since the offset isn't zero the AARD test fails.
;;; segment) anymore, so the AARD test fails.
Default case map isn't in DOS data segment!
Figure 6: Enabling a single byte in the Windows 3.1 retail version of WIN.COM resurrects the AARD code's non-fatal error message under DR DOS.
discussed in Geoff's forthcoming book, "DOS Internals" (Addison-Wesley, 1993).
The page numbers below are for the first edition of "Undocumented DOS"


text:
Q: Changing compositional layout on UICollectionView makes cells disappear I have a problem while switching compositional layouts to activate and deactivate orthogonal scrolling makes the cells disappear.
Here is a video:

I use exactly the same layout except for orthogonal scrolling:
section.orthogonalScrollingBehavior = hasOrthogonalScroll ? .groupPagingCentered : .none

And I switch the layout with this line:
collectionView.setCollectionViewLayout(layout, animated: true)

The first switch works, but when I switch back, cells disappear...
If someone can tell me what I do wrong, it would be much appreciated...
Here is the full code copy and paste in the ViewController file of a new project:
class ViewController: UIViewController, UICollectionViewDelegate {

    var collectionView: UICollectionView!

    override func viewDidLoad() {
        super.viewDidLoad()
        // Do any additional setup after loading the view.

        collectionView = UICollectionView(frame: .zero, collectionViewLayout: collectionLayout(hasOrthogonalScroll: false))
        collectionView.delegate = self
        collectionView.frame = view.bounds
        collectionView.autoresizingMask = [.flexibleHeight, .flexibleWidth]
        view.addSubview(collectionView)

        setupDataSource()
    }

    private func collectionLayout(hasOrthogonalScroll: Bool) -> UICollectionViewLayout {
        let itemSize = NSCollectionLayoutSize(widthDimension: .fractionalWidth(1.0), heightDimension: .fractionalHeight(1.0))
        let item = NSCollectionLayoutItem(layoutSize: itemSize)

        let groupSize = NSCollectionLayoutSize(widthDimension: .fractionalWidth(1.0), heightDimension: .fractionalWidth(0.2))
        let group = NSCollectionLayoutGroup.horizontal(layoutSize: groupSize, subitems: [item])

        let section = NSCollectionLayoutSection(group: group)
        section.orthogonalScrollingBehavior = hasOrthogonalScroll ? .groupPagingCentered : .none

        return UICollectionViewCompositionalLayout(section: section)
    }

    enum Section {
        case main
    }

    private var dataSource: UICollectionViewDiffableDataSource<Section, Int>!

    private func setupDataSource() {
        let cellRegistration = UICollectionView.CellRegistration<UICollectionViewListCell, Int> { (cell, indexPath, identifier) in
            var configuration = cell.defaultContentConfiguration()
            configuration.text = identifier.description

            cell.contentConfiguration = configuration

            var backgroundConfiguration = cell.backgroundConfiguration
            backgroundConfiguration?.backgroundColor = .secondarySystemBackground
            backgroundConfiguration?.cornerRadius = 8
            backgroundConfiguration?.backgroundInsets = .init(top: 4, leading: 4, bottom: 4, trailing: 4)

            cell.backgroundConfiguration = backgroundConfiguration
        }

        dataSource = UICollectionViewDiffableDataSource<Section, Int>(collectionView: collectionView) { collectionView, indexPath, identifier in
            collectionView.dequeueConfiguredReusableCell(using: cellRegistration, for: indexPath, item: identifier)
        }

        var snapshot = NSDiffableDataSourceSnapshot<Section, Int>()
        snapshot.appendSections([.main])
        snapshot.appendItems(Array(1...100))
        dataSource.apply(snapshot, animatingDifferences: false)
    }

    var hasOrthogonalScroll = false

    func collectionView(_ collectionView: UICollectionView, didSelectItemAt indexPath: IndexPath) {
        collectionView.deselectItem(at: indexPath, animated: true)

        hasOrthogonalScroll.toggle()
        let layout = collectionLayout(hasOrthogonalScroll: hasOrthogonalScroll)
        collectionView.setCollectionViewLayout(layout, animated: true)
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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An alert has been sounded by the Delhi government after the water level of Yamuna river crossed the danger mark. The water level on Saturday was marked at 204.96 metres, ANI reported.
Delhi witnessed heavy showers in the last two days leading to waterlogging in several areas and traffic snarls at major road junctions. With office rush in the morning and evening adding to the on-road chaos, commuters found going tough under an overcast sky.
"The Chief Minister (Arvind Kejriwal) has issued the flood control order of 2018. We have a central control room which is working round the clock from June 15, and it will continue to work till October 15. We get the information from the Central Water Commission, which we further disseminate. We have been working since 7 AM," he added.
The Irrigation and Flood Control Department of the city government has made preparations to evacuate 100 people residing in low-lying areas.
"We have 17 boats in the boat club of East district, and there are 34 boats with our irrigation and flood control department. Yesterday, we asked people to evacuate. We are making people aware of what they should do during a situation like this. As far as relief is concerned, we are prepared in case any such situation arises we would provide food and tent to people," said District Magistrate K Mahesh.
"All the EEs (Executive Engineers)/ sector officers are directed to keep in close contact with the control room in relation to the discharge, water level at ORB (Old Railway Bridge) and the advisory or forecast from CWC (Central Water Commission)/MET, and requested to take appropriate measures/steps accordingly to avoid flood-like situation," a statement issued by the East Delhi district administration on Friday said.
"Our men are on the field through QRT (Quick Response Team) vehicle and three boats have been pressed into service today which are making announcements for people to evacuate the low-lying areas and also telling them the do's and don'ts in floods," the statement added.
The Central Water Commission (CWC) has also issued a flood warning for today following the rising water level of the Yamuna River. It said the water level is expected to rise 204.50 metres between 9 pm to 11 pm today.
"CWC, Upper Yamuna Division, New Delhi has issued flood forecast for Delhi Railway Bridge (North Delhi Dt NCT, Delhi). The Water Level of River Yamuna at Delhi Rly. Bridge is expected to be 204.50 metres at 2100 to 2300 hours on July 28 and thereafter steady. (Warning Level 204.00 m)," the Central Water Commission Official Flood Forecast said on its Twitter handle on Friday.
While the intensity of the rains was especially strong on Thursday, Friday saw light but continuous showers for most parts of the morning. Saturday could see similar weather activity ensuring pleasant weather here.
The warning level for the Yamuna is 204 metres, danger level is marked at 204.83 metres. The water level is expected to rise to 205.40 metres. The Water Level of River Yamuna at Delhi Old Rly Bridge reached at 204.10 metres at 7 PM on July 27 and it further rose after 1,87,272 cusec water was discharged from Haryana's Hathini Kund barrage.
A low-pressure area over western Uttar Pradesh and its neighbourhood persists. This system will bring widespread rainfall with isolated 'heavy to very heavy rainfall' over Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi and northwest Madhya Pradesh during the next two days, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.
"The above flood forecast may be affected by the release of discharge from Wazirabad Barrage and Okhla Barrage," it said.
On Friday, Delhi and adjoining areas experienced heavy rainfall, followed by severe water-logging and traffic jams in several areas.
Several parts of the city received light overnight showers.The city woke up to an overcast morning with clouds threatening to unleash rain once again.


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The Travel Career Institute is a licensed and fully accredited computer learning center for all of the 5 major GDS systems. Also, we are an educational affiliate of The Travel Institute, formerly known as The Institute of Certified Travel Agents (ICTA).
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The Travel Career Institute has been established to train motivated individuals in the current working knowledge of travel sales and reservations. From basic to more advanced, trainees are provided with the skills and resources to offer professional travel services from day one on the job.
Graduates will have the potential to become successful entry-level employees as vacation travel consultants, commercial travel agents, group travel trainees, corporate travel coordinators, airline, cruise line, and wholesaler reservationists, or hotel or car rental personnel. Job placement assistance is provided at no extra cost. Others can begin the process of agency ownership. And, with the advent of internet technology, it is now very easy for individuals to work from home.
Look forward to a great career opportunity in the travel industry with our help. Enroll at our institute and receive extensive home study programs from our certified and knowledgeable instructors. Give us a call at (520) 374-5212 to learn more about our enrollment procedures. Our accommodating staff awaits your call.


1 Cubed - Hope Article - Got Joy?
"I have recently spent some joyless days, days where the joy of the Lord was not my strength. These were times I cried and could not even begin to smile, much less laugh. Circumstances had changed and I was not a happy camper. You probably have had moments like these as well.
The truth of this statement is that it is not our joy, but HIS joy that is our strength. I had been looking for my own joy and it could not be found.
I went to the Bible to see what it had to say about joy. I found many scriptures and stories about joy and laughter. I reread the story of Sarah laughing when she heard God say she was going to have a child. (Genesis 18) This laughter came from unbelief, a nervous laughter. I've had that type of laughter, and it always hid how I felt at the moment. Thankfully, God did not leave Sarah there, but gave her the promised child. We can imagine the joy she must have had when the promise became true! It was the Lord that fulfilled the promise. In my mind, I can picture her laughing again, but this time with real joy.
King David did not always experience joy. The book of Psalm is full of him crying out to the Lord. But David found that in God's presence was the fullness of joy. Joy was not found in himself, but in God.
You will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand (Psalm 16:11).
We all have times when things go wrong and suddenly God gives us the ability to laugh. I began to remember the times in my life when laughter had calmed the chaotic moment. Once while my family and I were camping at the beach, a storm suddenly came up and the rain began to come down by the buckets. The campsite we had picked was clean, but was at a low ground level. Some experienced campers told us we should dig a trench around our tent to keep the rain out. The only available shovels were our children's toys. What a sight we were, four adults digging around a tent in the rain with toy shovels. In the midst of the downpour we all began to laugh. God had given us the ability to see the situation with humor.
You will live in joy and peace. The mountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands! (Isaiah 55:12 New Living Translation).
Joy is even one of the fruits of the Spirit. It isn't something we do, but something we can ask to be given. It is God's gift to us. I certainly need this gift, to have God's joy in my life.
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law (Galatians 5:22-23 NIV).
Joy could shine through us if we would let God have his way with us. I have to admit, I was not allowing God's joy to shine through me lately. I resolved to get in God's presence and have the joy restored, not mine, but His joy. There is a difference. I want to remember that God can restore my joy and give me laughter. I want to live as the scriptures say "in joy and peace."
Yes, in our lives we will experience difficult moments. The scriptures tell us that even Jesus wept, and there is no sin in weeping.
Weeping can remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5 NIV).
After Jesus wept, He restored Lazarus to life again. Those that loved Lazarus must have experienced great joy!
God blesses you who weep now, for the time will come when you will laugh with joy (Luke 6:20, 21 New Living Translation).
May you, along with me, ask God to restore your joy. Remember, apart from God's presence, there is no joy!


text:
New Vehicle Dealership Specialty
Trust Administration/Probate
Employer Defense Litigation
Trust and Probate Litigation
Ratings & Awards
Danielle R. Guerrero
DANIELLE R. GUERRERO is a senior associate attorney with Ferruzzo & Ferruzzo, LLP. Born and raised in Southern California, Danielle earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Romance Languages from Point Loma Nazarene University in 2008 and went on to earn her Juris Doctorate from Pepperdine University, School of Law in 2011. During law school, she was involved in the Geoffrey H. Palmer Center for Entrepreneurship and the Law with a focus in sports and entertainment, serving as a member of the Palmer Center's first Student Advisory Board. Danielle began her career supporting the General Counsel of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Danielle's chosen area of law is probate and trust administration and began this practice with a law firm in Fresno, California. When she and her husband returned home to Southern California, she joined a law firm in Newport Beach where she counseled clients on trust administration and probate as well as special needs planning and litigation settlement planning. In February 2017, Danielle joined Ferruzzo's probate, trust administration and estate planning practice areas where she prepares trust planning documents and works with clients as they navigate all stages of probate and trust administration as well as resolving disputes that arise.
Outside of the firm, Danielle and her husband enjoy time with friends and family and attend as many Angels and Dodgers games as they are able every summer. Danielle volunteered with the Angels Fan Fest in 2010, served as a leader for a college student ministry group with the Salvation Army, and participated in her church's Sunday School class for children and adults with special needs. She also volunteered in the 2016 OCBA 1L Kickstart Mentor program, mentored recently graduated law students as they prepared for the bar exam, and made herself available to college students looking to attend law school after graduation. Her passion for helping people navigate difficult decisions and circumstances is what attracted her to a career in law and specifically to the estate planning, probate, and trust administration practice areas.
Estate, Probate, & Trust Administration
Estate Planning, Trusts, & Wills
Estate, Probate, & Trust Litigation
State Bar of California, 2011
U.S. District Court, Central District of California, 2011
Point Loma Nazarene University, 2008
BA, Romance Languages, Magna Cum Laude
Pepperdine University School of Law, 2011
The Geoffrey H. Palmer Center for Entrepreneurship and the Law
Member of Student Advisory Board 2010 – 2011
Certificate in Entrepreneurship and the Law, 2011
"Creating a Common Enemy: Naming a Neutral Trustee to Continue Your Family Business," Orange County Business Journal, November 18, 2019 (co-author)
Classes / Seminars Taught
Speaker, Mock Trustee Deposition, Whittier Trust Company, March 2018
Speaker, It's Your Estate Workshop Series - Living Trust Seminar, April 2018
California Bar Association: Trusts & Estates Section and Taxation Law Section, Member
Orange County Bar Association: Trust & Estates Section, Member
Orange County Women Lawyer's Association, Member
William P. Gray Legion Lex Inn of Court, Member
Board Member, Grandma's House of Hope (2018 to present)
Board Member, Pepperdine University School of Law, Alumni Network, Orange County Chapter (2018 to present)
Rooted in Relationship
Ferruzzo & Ferruzzo, LLP
3737 Birch Street, Suite 400
© 2016 Ferruzzo & Ferruzzo, LLP | Disclaimer

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
package com.intellij.embedding;

import com.intellij.lexer.DelegateLexer;
import com.intellij.lexer.Lexer;
import com.intellij.psi.tree.IElementType;
import org.jetbrains.annotations.NotNull;
import org.jetbrains.annotations.Nullable;

/**
 * A lexer which additionally providers information concerning whether a token
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 * @see com.intellij.embedding.MasqueradingPsiBuilderAdapter
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public abstract class MasqueradingLexer extends DelegateLexer {

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      return myDelegate.getTokenText();
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}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


This Voyager Camera System is made specifically for RVs with our factory-installed Voyager WiSight Technology prewire plate. The plate is located on the back of the trailer and can be removed to reveal a 12volt DC socket that is already connected to the existing wiring. The camera included in this system plugs directly into the prewired socket and is mounted with the same screws. Our patented WiSight Technology allows the camera to transmit to the included 5.6-inch Voyager monitor in real time, even at freeway speeds.


text:
HomeTech NewsCybersecurity trends for 2023 according to Check Point
Cybersecurity trends for 2023 according to Check Point
By Brian Adam
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In a very delicate socio-economic context, 2022 has also been a very difficult year for cybersecurity. War-related attacks in Ukraine and ransomware have been undisputed protagonists.
Ransomware has been the protagonist in 2022 and will continue to be so next year
This is confirmed by the security firm Check Point, which warns about the increase in threats that has occurred this year and that will continue to occur in 2023 with complete safety. In this sense, five trends that have marked 2022 can be outlined and that will undoubtedly have to be taken into account for 2023. They are the following:
1. Rise of ransomware. One in 40 companies is impacted by ransomware as of July 2022 on average in the world. This represents an increase of 59% compared to the previous year, and the trend is that it will continue the same. Both small businesses and large companies reported attacks of this type, with an alarming increase of 182% compared to the same period last year.
The education/research sector is the most attacked globally, with an average of more than 2,300 attacks per organization each week, 53% more compared to the second quarter of 2021. Therefore, in the coming year they must take extreme precautions to avoid the impact of this type of attack, it is becoming more widespread and manages to do more damage. To mitigate its effects, it is important to make backup copies of data, keep systems updated and train employees in cybersecurity.
2. Cloud environment in danger: Managing the complexity of protecting their cloud infrastructures across multiple platforms is a challenge for companies, which also suffer from a shortage of knowledge and skills in this field. As the transition to the cloud accelerates, the ability to streamline your security becomes vital. 75% of companies would like to have a single platform with a control panel to protect their data, but the reality is that 80% of companies have to juggle three or more independent solution dashboards to set up the infrastructure cloud.
3. Increase in constant cyberattacks: In 2022 there has been a 28% increase in weekly cyberattacks. It is increasingly important to have a good cybersecurity system to avoid any type of risk.
4. Phishing continues to rise: Microsoft, DHL or Google have been among the most impersonated brands in Spain throughout the year, likewise, social networks have consolidated this year among the three most impersonated sectors, since WhatsApp and LinkedIn have been in the top positions in the list of the 10 most plagiarized brands.
5. The Hybrid Workspace: Since the incorporation of teleworking, the intensity of cyberattacks has increased, exposing companies to new vulnerabilities. Cybercriminals are fully aware that most institutions and companies do not have the necessary tools and it is possible that they take time to identify and remedy any type of threat, with the benefit that this entails for them.
The OPPO Reno8 T are official, they meet both performance and price
Yesterday the big headlines in what has to do with phone announcements were...
How to download WhatsApp Plus in 2023
whatsapp plus It is a modified version of the WhatsApp application that will allow...


Formed in 2009 by Chugge Khan, an internationally acclaimed music virtuoso, Rajasthan Josh is a collective of Manganiyar musicians from the colourful state of Rajasthan, India.
The powerhouse super group combines three strains of traditional music not usually performed together: qawwali, Manganiar court music and a big, boisterous Rajasthani brass band. Their music is grounded in and carries on the traditions of the Manganiyars, a previously nomadic caste of artists and musicians who for centuries traversed the desert of Northwest India performing for the Moghul rulers and Rajput princes as well as at village weddings, birth celebrations and feasts.
Taught by their fathers, the musicians have been practicing from an early age and playing together for more than a decade. Today, Rajasthan Josh embraces national and international stage performances and celebrations of the traditional yet timeless musical culture which is the essence of their magic, as well as experimenting with contemporary styles and fusions. Music completely permeates their lives and is their expression of respect for all that is divine.
Rajasthan Josh have regularly headlined the music program at the annual Jaipur Literature Festival, captivating audiences with their performance. They have played in collaboration with a wide range of international artists and bands, including Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Toumani Diabate, Prem Joshua, Indian Ocean, Shye Ben Tzur, Natacha Atlas, Dub Colossus, and Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead.


Do you know what the Youth Service can do for you?
We have put this quick survey together, to learn more about your knowledge of local services within our area.
We value your feedback, this inforfmation helps guide the direction of our Youth Service which assists us to deliver a better service to you and the community..
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The Hot poori and aloo curry from by lanes of Chandni chowk in Old Delhi is the best one I ever had. Having poori and aloo early in the winter foggy mornings leaves me with a nostalgic feeling of the capital city. I tried to add ingredients to get the exact taste of the Delhi street food.


text: export const tinyNDArray: any;


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Get Daily Readings E-mails
Memorial of Saint Agatha, Virgin and Martyr
Sir 47:2-11
Like the choice fat of the sacred offerings,
so was David in Israel.
He made sport of lions as though they were kids,
and of bears, like lambs of the flock.
As a youth he slew the giant
and wiped out the people's disgrace,
When his hand let fly the slingstone
that crushed the pride of Goliath.
Since he called upon the Most High God,
who gave strength to his right arm
To defeat the skilled warrior
and raise up the might of his people,
Therefore the women sang his praises,
and ascribed to him tens of thousands
and praised him when they blessed the Lord.
When he assumed the royal crown, he battled
and subdued the enemy on every side.
He destroyed the hostile Philistines
and shattered their power till our own day.
With his every deed he offered thanks
to God Most High, in words of praise.
With his whole being he loved his Maker
and daily had his praises sung;
He set singers before the altar and by their voices
he made sweet melodies,
He added beauty to the feasts
and solemnized the seasons of each year
So that when the Holy Name was praised,
before daybreak the sanctuary would resound.
The LORD forgave him his sins
and exalted his strength forever;
He conferred on him the rights of royalty
and established his throne in Israel.
Responsorial Psalm
PS 18:31, 47 and 50, 51
R. (see 47b) Blessed be God my salvation!
God's way is unerring,
the promise of the LORD is fire-tried;
he is a shield to all who take refuge in him.
R. Blessed be God my salvation!
The LORD live! And blessed be my Rock!
Extolled be God my savior.
Therefore will I proclaim you, O LORD, among the nations,
and I will sing praise to your name.
You who gave great victories to your king
and showed kindness to your anointed,
to David and his posterity forever.
See Lk 8:15
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart,
and yield a harvest through perseverance.
Mk 6:14-29
King Herod heard about Jesus, for his fame had become widespread,
and people were saying,
"John the Baptist has been raised from the dead;
that is why mighty powers are at work in him."
Others were saying, "He is Elijah";
still others, "He is a prophet like any of the prophets."
But when Herod learned of it, he said,
"It is John whom I beheaded. He has been raised up."
Herod was the one who had John arrested and bound in prison
on account of Herodias,
the wife of his brother Philip, whom he had married.
John had said to Herod,
"It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."
Herodias harbored a grudge against him
and wanted to kill him but was unable to do so.
Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man,
and kept him in custody.
When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed,
yet he liked to listen to him.
Herodias had an opportunity one day when Herod, on his birthday,
gave a banquet for his courtiers, his military officers,
and the leading men of Galilee.
His own daughter came in and performed a dance
that delighted Herod and his guests.
The king said to the girl,
"Ask of me whatever you wish and I will grant it to you."
He even swore many things to her,
"I will grant you whatever you ask of me,
even to half of my kingdom."
She went out and said to her mother,
"What shall I ask for?"
Her mother replied, "The head of John the Baptist."
The girl hurried back to the king's presence and made her request,
"I want you to give me at once on a platter
the head of John the Baptist."
The king was deeply distressed,
but because of his oaths and the guests
he did not wish to break his word to her.
So he promptly dispatched an executioner
with orders to bring back his head.
He went off and beheaded him in the prison.
He brought in the head on a platter
and gave it to the girl.
The girl in turn gave it to her mother.
When his disciples heard about it,
they came and took his body and laid it in a tomb.
Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.
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« Obama Accused Of Sexism Towards Elizabeth Warren
Obama Is Totally A Climate Change Denier »
Ruth Marcus: Carly Fiorina's Candidacy Offends Me
May 13, 2015 – 7:30 am
And, apparently, the only reason her candidacy is still going is sexism. A bit of CDS (Carly Derangement Syndrome) from Ruth
The sexism that propels Carly Fiorina's candidacy
How depressing is it that, out of the more than a dozen announced or prospective Republican candidates for president in 2016, only one, Carly Fiorina, is a woman. Even more depressing: that Fiorina, as long-shot as her candidacy is, would not be taken even semi-seriously were it not for her gender.
That is a tough and controversial thing to say, but it requires saying. I would love to see a female president, of either party, and I expect I will — if not in 2016, then in an election to come. But the female president I would love to see is one who is fully qualified to be president — qualified by dint of experience, not of chromosomes. Carly Fiorina is not that woman.
That assessment has everything to do with biography and nothing to do with ideology. (If South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley or New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte chose to run for president, you might find me disagreeing with their positions but not questioning their qualifications.) In my view, Fiorina's background simply does not prepare her to be president.
No, Marcus would come up with any excuse to slam and slur any Republican woman. Hey, remember when Ruth slammed Obama for having done nothing other than getting elected to State office then to the US Senate? Me neither.
For the record, I would say precisely the same about retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson. Politics isn't brain surgery, but being a brain surgeon doesn't prepare you for high-level politics, and Carson isn't prepared. I'm writing about Fiorina because, frankly, as a woman, her candidacy offends me.
Ruth then goes on to note that Hillary has pretty much done nothing but be a coattail for Bill ("Yes, Clinton's path to power came through her husband"), before moving to
But back to Fiorina: She has a checkered, to put it charitably (failed, to put it more bluntly), business career and no political career whatsoever, having lost her previous run for elective office. It is the height of chutzpah to imagine that she is remotely qualified to be president. Or, since it's the more likely endgame, for vice president either.
Let's see: started out as an AT&T sales rep, moved up to being named the most powerful woman in American business by Fortune magazine. Eh, there's no point in pointing out all of Carly's business experience, mostly successful, sometimes not (just like life. Weird, eh?) Experience of which Barack had zero, and Hillary hasn't had since her Whitewater days. Unless you count the graft involved at the Clinton Foundation.
Notice, though, the other big complaint: Carly hasn't been elected previously. This goes straight to the heart of the notion of a political aristocracy, something the Founders were very concerned with. There's no requirement for previous political experience in the Constitution. In fact, the original idea of the Founders was of citizen politicians, who would serve a short time then return back to private life, rather than people who make being an elected official their career. Ruth continues in this vein, then drops in a jaw dropper
I would have serious qualms about any candidate who seeks the presidency without government experience, no matter how much value he or she produced for shareholders. Business demands different skills than politics; the presidency isn't the place for on-the-job training.
Um, what? Refer back to Captain Sisko above.
It's not sexist to criticize Fiorina for being unqualified. What would be sexist is to hold her to a lower standard than a man with similarly paltry credentials.
It was considered racist to point out that Obama had no actual experience, other than winning a few elections and making a few speeches, that made him qualified to be president. Ruth can write this, but, if Fiorina was running as a Democrat, you can bet the farm Hollywood McMansion that her tune would be 100% different.
This entry was written by William Teach and posted on at 7:30 am and filed under GOP, Wonky Media. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.
3 Responses to "Ruth Marcus: Carly Fiorina's Candidacy Offends Me"
More of the liberal media going easy on Hillary:
Yes, Clinton's path to power came through her husband
Fiorina has been answering hundreds of questions from reporters; as of Monday Clinton had taken just eight in the past month.
Teach blows it:
if Fiorina was running as a Democrat, you can bet the farm Hollywood McMansion that her tune would be 100% different.
Note what she said above about Dem Clinton.
And in another column she commanded Secretary Clinton to:
Just. Stop. Speaking. For. Pay.
The "so-called" liberal media (it's actually the mainstream national press) hates Hillary Clinton and her husband and will work hard for whomever the Repubs nominate. It's what they did in 2000 and we ended up invading Iraq. "Who would you rather have a beer with, George Bush or Al Gore?". Better question – "How do you want your son to die, at 20 in Iraq or at 87 at home?".
In a silly essay about a minor Repub candidate, Marcus takes time to bash likely Dem candidate, the former US Senator and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Marcus even compliments Repubs Haley and Ayotte as qualified women.
Carly just finished paying off the last of her campaign staffers from 4 years ago. She paid them off just before announcing her run
I guess this was a good business decision, don't pay unless you really really have to pay Stiff them for as long as you can
Ruth Marcus offends me. So there.
drowningpuppies on If All You See…: "They're not as easy to murder. Lolgf" Jan 20, 14:49
drowningpuppies on If All You See…: "Good question. https://tinyurl.com/y5s8emcb Bwaha! Lolgf" Jan 20, 14:41


It was a really good experience! Everything was well-organized. The instructor was also good at interacting with the trainees in addressing all queries!
It was a great workshop. They provided detailed training which helped me become a certified Scrum Master in a short span of time.
KnowledgeHut training is really good and well worth the time spent. It was a good introduction for me to Agile methodologies, but I would like to suggest that the training should also include some more discussion on examination pattern.
Also dubbed the ?City of Science?, Darmstadt is a city that innovates and promotes its several scientific institutions, universities and high tech companies. Having gained its reputation as an administrative and technology centre, Darmstadt has now become famous as a premier educational city. Home to some of Europe?s best institutions, this city provides the perfect infrastructure in terms of libraries, cafeterias, computer and wi-fi zones, and recreational hotspots that attracts the best talent from all over the world. Darmstadt is also home to several space agencies such as the European Space Operations Centre and research institutions such as the Fraunhofer Society. Its importance as a technology hub has opened up several avenues for talented professionals who can work and grow in this iconic city. Professionals who wish to thrive in their career would find that they can do well here, with certifications such as PRINCE2, PMP, PMI-ACP, CSM, CEH and others. Note: Please note that the actual venue may change according to convenience, and will be communicated after the registration.


EUDML | Optimization Theory in Linear Spaces. Part II. On Systems of Linear Operator Inequalities in Partially Ordered Normed Linear Spaces. EuDML | Optimization Theory in Linear Spaces. Part II. On Systems of Linear Operator Inequalities in Partially Ordered Normed Linear Spaces.
Optimization Theory in Linear Spaces. Part II. On Systems of Linear Operator Inequalities in Partially Ordered Normed Linear Spaces.
RITTER, K.. "Optimization Theory in Linear Spaces. Part II. On Systems of Linear Operator Inequalities in Partially Ordered Normed Linear Spaces.." Mathematische Annalen 183 (1969): 169-180. <http://eudml.org/doc/161888>.
TI - Optimization Theory in Linear Spaces. Part II. On Systems of Linear Operator Inequalities in Partially Ordered Normed Linear Spaces.


text:
In which I get chloroquine poisoning
Now that the farmers had left, there was more room at the hostel and we'd graduated to better quarters. Jeff went out in search of entertainment and I fell asleep early after taking the 500 mg of the chloroquine I'd been prescribed to prevent malaria. The next morning, I got up early for a tour of a nearby canyon. I took another 500 mg of chloroquine, as the Chilean pharmacist had told me.
It wasn't until my tour van was too far out of town to turn back that I started to feel sick. The driver was waving his cigarette in my face and chattering away merrily in Spanish to the three Italians and the one Japanese (none of whom spoke Spanish) sitting behind me. The right side of my head went numb. I couldn't focus and when I tried, I became dizzy and nauseated. My skin was clammy and I felt weak.. I asked the driver if he minded not smoking. He did have the window cracked open, he replied indignantly.
We left the paved road and jolted onto a dirt road. I felt worse. Our frequent stops to see rock formations didn't help. The driver was quite concerned that we see the many forms visible in the rocks, waving his cigarette in the direction of yet more boulders as he explained helpfully, "That's the rock that looks like a ship." Or a rabbit. Or a frog. (And just in case you were really not with it, there were signs near the road telling you the same thing.) The old Argentine couple, the three Italians and the Japanese clambered dutifully out of the van each time to capture the Kodak moments of piles of rocks in the desert while I leaned my forehead against the dash and tried to keep from vomiting.
I suffered this way until late afternoon when we returned to Salta. I had to pay for my room so went downstairs to talk to the dueño. He decided this was a good time to show me his registration notebooks of all the travelers who had stayed at his hostel over the past ten years. Each name, nationality, and passport number was noted in his flowing, careful script. Each time he came across an American, he would ask if I knew the person. I tried to explain politely that I wasn't feeling well. His wife ran into the room. "Are you sick?" she asked (somewhat hopefully, I thought).
I explained that I had taken the chloroquine and that it had left me feeling ill. The wife said, "You need to rest!"
I agreed and tried to leave, but the dueño launched into a speech about how it was important to take chloroquine and how when he was working construction in his youth that he wouldn't give his men their paychecks until they had taken their weekly chloroquine pills. "Sometimes," he said, "they would put the pills under their tongues and only pretend to swallow them! But I learned to make them swallow them for real!" I wondered how he made them swallow but didn't want to encourage conversation.
Well, I was having to take two pills a day, I told him.
"Two tablets a day!" he exclaimed. "But you only should take one tablet a week!"
But that's what the pharmacist had told me, I replied. He said I should take 1000 milligrams a day for four days.
"But if you take that much, you'll get sick!" he said.
"You need to rest!" exclaimed the wife again.
"Yes," he agreed. "You need to rest!" Then he launched into another discourse about how the Chilean pharmacist had no idea what he was talking about and did they even have malaria in Chile? I started to edge away and he started to speak more loudly. His wife jumped in every now and then to agree with him and to interject an admonishment that what I needed now was to rest. I finally just leaned against the wall and laid my head back in surrender.


Our May Health TechNet meeting focused on Changes to the Primary Care Physicians' Practice in these difficult times of adjusting to lowered reimbursement rates, increasing administrative demands, difficulties in dealing with insurers and utilization review requirements, trends toward bundling of treatments and payments, and many other factors that are challenging the viability of the current primary care model.
The meeting featured the presentations of Phoebe Stapleton of InterSystems Corporation, along with a panel of physicians including Dr. Andrew Barbash, neurologist and medical director of the Stroke Program and Neurosciences at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring and a long-time leader in developing HIT strategies for physicians; Dr. Michael Ross, Chief Executive of E-P Therapeutics and practicing physician in obstetrics and pediatrics for 27 years before entering the pharmaceutical industry; and Dr. Robert Smith, founder of Finger Lakes Family Care. As a lead physician in the Rochester Medical Home Initiative, Dr. Smith has developed innovations in e-health as well as new technologies for communicating with patients and medical colleagues. Finger Lakes Family Care is a Level 3 NCQA Patient Centered Medical Home.
The speakers provided us with an overview on the driving factors affecting primary care, including 1) economics, 2) administrative burdens, 3) physician's preferences, 4) patient complaints and preferences, and 5) the role of technology in coping with these trends.
The presentations of the speakers were followed by an active discussion among our members in Northern Virginia as well as in San Francisco from Pillsbury's offices there. Available presentations are attached.


UVEX Sports, the pioneer in ultraviolet (UV) protection sunglasses UVEX Sports, the pioneer in ultraviolet (UV) protection sunglasses with 80 years experience making optical products, introduces three new sunglasses to its bike line for 2007.
The the new UVEX Rebel is a center-mounted, interchangeable lens sunglass unlike any other. Designed and engineered in Germany, the Rebel features a minimally shaped frame that is durable and flexible enough to be twisted completely around without breaking. The lenses are suspended in the center of the frame and can be replaced in a single movement.
Manufactured of unbreakable Makrolon, the high-tech material from Bayer, UVEX integrates a UV absorber in the base material which guarantees 100% UV absorption. Despite their strongly curved shape, the Rebel lenses are 100% optically correct, and because of their curved shape, they provide draft-free protection to the wearer.
The new UVEX Rebel comes in black matte frame with litemirror smoke and clear lenses; steel blue frame with litemirror smoke and clear lenses; and silvery shiny frame with litemirror orange and smoke lenses for a suggested retail price of $60.
The new UVEX Motion is an interchangeable lens sunglass with 11 lens options for any light condition you can imagine.
The UVEX Motion features flex temples for exceptional comfort and venting along the top of the frame to prevent fogging on hot rides. The easy-change lens system ensures you'll be changing your lenses as needed for changing light conditions. Motion is available in three frame colors, each with two lenses, for $70 retail. Additional lenses are $15.
The polycarbonate lenses are 100% optically correct and provide 100% UV protection. Available colors include gray blue frame with blue mirror (sunny weather) and clear flash (wind and dust protection) lenses, crystal clear frame with gray flash (sunny) and clear flash lenses and matte black frame with gray flash (sunny) and clear flash lenses. Additional available lenses include: blue mirror which absorbs glare/reflection; rose for all light conditions, especially moderate to hazy, offers the sharpest contrast; gray mirror; yellow for low-light enhancement, blocks blue light which causes visual haze and increases clarity; gray, suitable for all light conditions, especially bright sunlight; and copper, for all light conditions, especially moderate light, increases contrast and depth perception.
The new UVEX Crow Ultra is the first interchangeable lens sunglass with a mirror lens and UVEX's proprietary Supravision® anti-fog coating. In addition to the breakthrough lens design, the Crow Ultra provides draft-free protection for cyclists, a sweat stopper which prevents sweat from dripping down into a rider's eyes and a removable headband.
Supravision anti-fog coating was developed by UVEX engineers in Germany and provides superior anti-scratch resistance in addition to the fog-free properties. The Makralon lenses are 100% optically correct and provide 100% UV protection. The lenses are available in a gradient orange lite mirror lens (white shiny frame) providing superior contrast and a gradient, stress-reducing yellow lite mirror lens (black shiny frame) for all conditions. An additional lite mirror silver lens comes with each pair.
The Crow Ultra provides the latest in optical comfort and design with ultra-soft, hypoallergenic nose pads and grip temple ends. Designed by UVEX with professionals from the T-Mobile racing team, the Crow Ultra is a lightweight, high performance sport glass with superior comfort. Frames are available in shiny white and shiny black with two lenses for a suggested retail price of $100.
For more information about UVEX Sports or to find a dealer near you, visit www.uvexsports.com or call toll-free, 1-888-616-UVEX.


The Cardholder will earn Cashback for every €10.00 spent.
This cover is being offered to ALL cardholders including debit cardholders. Please click here for details.
Gold cardholders also benefit from a Travel Policy. Please click here for details.
All new credit card applicants also enjoy a joining gift.
You may use any of these cards to pay for day-to-day expenses as easily and efficiently as you would with cash.
Depending on the card scheme, a limited period of interest-free credit on purchases may be available; and competitive annual fees are assured.
Balances on credit cards may be repaid monthly, as long as the minimum monthly repayments are made.
You may apply for a supplementary card to allow access to your account by another cardholder.
You can use the Lombard cards locally and abroad.
Complete the application form available here, and submit it to your Lombard Bank branch. Applicants must be at least 18 years of age and subject to a credit assessment.


CORE certification provides the basic skills and knowledge for the management of life-threatening illness and injury both within and outside of a rescuer's immediate working environment. CORE ADVANCED is designed for the advanced rescuer who is expected to manage and supervise resuscitation events.
This course is assessed both on knowledge and practical skills. There is a minimum three week pre course study period to prepare for the knowledge exam. Participants are required to study the NZRC text "Resuscitation – A Guide for Advanced Rescuers". This can be hired or purchased from us- please indicate which option you would like on registration.
This course has been endorsed by The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners (RNZCGP) and earns 12 CPD points.
We specialize in high quality education- with low class numbers and large amounts of hands on time our participants finish our course with all the resuscitation skills they need to be confident and capable in their own clinical settings . Full catering is provided on the day.
You will need the NZRC manual for your pre-reading. Would you like us to provide this?


Did you know that the number three reason startups fail is they were unsuccessful hiring the right team in the beginning?
Because of this, we want to look at what you should do and look for when putting together your new company's team.
Let's look at five tips for startups making their first few hires.
If you can afford it, begin hiring your staff as soon as you need them. While the budget might be tight at first, you'll benefit from having extra brainpower in your early days.
Plus, you might find that someone who joins your startup in the early days is more invested in your company than someone you hire in year three.
When you hire early, you can get more done. It's easy to delegate tasks so you can focus on growing your business.
Think about all the things you could get done if you add some help, and the added expense soon seems worth it.
Any good candidate can put forth a good resume and cover letter, and many of them are great during the interview.
Important to you, though, is whether they can start, roll up their sleeves and get to work.
Vet your new hires thoroughly. Then, ask them to complete a task for you.
For example, if you're hiring a marketing person, ask them to design a product email for you with a fruitful call to action. Or, if you're hiring a sales person, ask them to sell you something.
This helps you separate the great resumes and interviews with those who also have some actual aptitude.
Let's say you have a partner, and you've already hired a product developer.
When conducting your interviews, you want each of these team members to interview potential new hires.
Because a startup begins small, you want to ensure that each member of your team is fit for your company culture.
It's vital that you all can get along with and work well with your new hires. Interview your best candidates several times to make sure the fit is right.
Hiring employees and paying them involves some legal-ease.
Before making your first few hires, you want to make sure you consult a lawyer or outsourced human resources team.
You'll most likely want an employment contract, policies and procedures, an employee handbook, information on benefits, and more.
You'll also need someone to help you with the federal, state and local paperwork and filings you need to take care of when processing payroll and managing employees.
The most important thing you can do for a new hire is to have a terrific new-hire onboarding experience.
Your onboarding should involve more than a half-day session covering your policies and procedures (which, by the way, you should have before hiring anyone).
Create an agenda for new hires that spans over a week time frame. Assign them a mentor if you can spare the time.
Not only should you talk about job expectations and go over the employee handbook, but you want to firmly install your company culture in the mind of the new hire.
They should be as well-versed in your mission, vision and goals as you are.
Taking the leap and hiring your first staff members is scary and exhilarating all at the same time. It means you've actually "arrived."
You do want to follow these tips, so you make sure you hire right the first time around.
Having to let employees go and then conduct the job search, interviews and on-boarding all over again takes time away from your work and costs you a lot of extra money.
Finally, help your new team members feel like they're part of the family. Provide them benefits, have an open-door policy, and provide them with the resources they need to be active, productive members of your team.


ThumbJam Forum - View topic - CC for tremelo and vibrato PLEASE??
CC for tremelo and vibrato PLEASE??
I'd love to be able to assign the ribbon controller or sustain button to control vibrato and also tremolo on the organ sounds. These are pretty much essential when playing solos but I can't seem to find the CC's for these?
On GarageBand the tremolo comes in when I press the sustain button on the vortex and it sounds gorgeous!! I cannot find anything to explain why that happens as the sustain button controls sustain 99% of the time?? Maybe with some trickery you could make this happen on ThumbJam??
Re: CC for tremelo and vibrato PLEASE??
Right now ThumbJam doesn't have an automatic vibrato or tremolo feature at all... it is only really done with accelerometer gestures, etc. People have requested a traditional LFO based vibrato feature, and maybe one day I'll add it!


text:
The Jews of Afghanistan
The report of Benjamin of Tudela (d.1173) on the Jewish communities of Ghaznah and Naisabur:
"… Ghaznah – Ghaznah … the great city on the river Gozen, where there are about 80.000 Israelites. It is a city of commercial importance…, Naisabur – to the mountains of Naisabur by the river Gozan…., four of the tribes of Israel dwell, namely the tribe of Dan, the tribe of Zebulun, the tribe of Asher and the tribe of Naphtali, who were included in the first captivity of Shalmanaser, king of Assyria… The extent of their land is twenty days' journey, and they have cities and large villages in the mountains; the river Gozan forms the boundary on the one side. They are not under the rule of the Gentiles, but they have a prince of their own, whose name is R. Joseph Amarkela the Levite. There are scholars among them. And they sow and reap and go forth to war as far as the land of Cush by way of the desert."
(The Itinerary of Benjamin of Tudela. Translation and Commentary by Marcus Nathan Adler, London 1907:58-59)
Dr. Irena Vladimirsky
A historian and researcher with the Department of History, Achva College of Education, Israel, specializing in the history of Central Asia.
Traditionally, the Jewish communities of modern Afghanistan trace their beginnings to the Assyrian Exile (720 BCE) and the Babylonian Exile (560 BCE). Although there is little archaeological evidence supporting this traditional belief, various findings have provided material evidence to indicate a continuous Jewish presence on the territory of Afghanistan since the 8th century CE until the 20th century.
Early History of the Jews of Afghanistan
There are only a few textual sources mentioning the presence of the Jews on the territory of modern Afghanistan before the 8th century. They consist primarily of Biblical commentaries and Responsa sent by the sages of the Talmudic academies in Babylonia. Various religious texts in Arabic and Hebrew collected by the Karaite Yaphet ben Heli de Basra in the 10th century mention that the "Land of the East" is inhabited by Jewish communities. The "Land of the East" during the Middle Ages (8th-14th century) was associated with the Khorasan (literally the "Land of the Sun") region and corresponded with northern Afghanistan and neighboring regions of north-eastern Iran and southern parts of Central Asia. The Biblical commentaries of Rabbi Sa'adia Gaon, Karaite Daniel Al Qumisi and Japheth ben Heli also identified Khorasan as the region to which Jews were exiled. These commentators testify to a thriving Jewish community in the region. El-Hadj Mohammed el-Idrisi, a Muslim historian (c.1099-c.1166), also mentions the Jewish communities in the cities of Ghaznah and Naisabur in his work on the historical tablets of the Beni-Djellal dynasty.
Medieval sources refer to several Jewish centers in Afghanistan; the most important were located in the cities of Merv, Balkh, Kabul, Nishapur, Ghazni and Herat.
The Babylonian Talmud relates to the Jewish presence in Central Asia through a story about the refusal of an Amora called Samuel bar Bisna (first half of the 4th century) to drink wine and beer in Merv. Early Muslim sources (late 7th/early 8th century) refer to the presence of Jews in the area. At the beginning of the 8th century, a Jew called Akiva is mentioned as a collector of taxes from the Jewish community of Merv.
Located near modern Mazar-i-Sharif, Balkh was sometimes called "the mother of the world cities" during the Middle Ages. The Jewish community of Balkh is mentioned in Kitab al-Mosalik va-l-mame-lik (A Book of Routes and Countries), written by the Arab geographer Ibn Khurdadhbah in 846 CE. In this book he refers to those "who called themselves Jews" probably Khazars or Karaites, and to Jews who can be identified as the Radaniya Jews, a unique group of Jewish international merchants in the late 8th-early 9th century who maintained close economic ties with the Jewish Kingdom of Khazar.
El-Idrisi, the Muslim geographer and cartographer, mentions the Jewish community of Kabul in his book Nuzhat al-Mushtaq fi Ikhtiraq al Afaq (The Delight of Him who Deceives to Journey Through the Climates). Kabul occupied a central place on the trade routes connecting Central Asia and India. The merchants were considered the elite of the Jewish community of Kabul. The Jews of Kabul lived in a separate Jewish quarter – Mahall-i-Jehudiyeh. Its gates were closed at nightfall and were opened again at dawn.
Ghur
The discovery of a Jewish cemetery in the city of Ghur in 1946 testifies to the existence of a large and flourishing Jewish community there. Ghur is located in the mountain region of eastern Afghanistan. The earliest tombstones date from 752-753 and the latest date from 1012-1249. The inscriptions on the tombstones are in Hebrew, Aramaic and Judeo-Persian, a language with elements of medieval Persian and containing Hebrew-Aramaic components, written in Hebrew script, and spoken by the members of the local Jewish community. The tombstones not only include names and dates but also communal titles and functions. The title of 'Alut' was given only to judges; the title of 'Hakham' referred to teachers or rabbis. The teachers of the community and those who led public prayers were generally referred to as 'Melamed'. Other titles, such as 'Zaken' and 'Yashish' were given to community elders and distinguished persons. The Jewish community of Ghur had a rabbinical court, a synagogue and religious schools for both children and youngsters. Following the Mongolian invasion of the region at the beginning of the 13th century, the community members either fled or were forced to convert to Islam.
For a long time, Herat was home to the largest Jewish community in the territory of modern Afghanistan. Located in the western parts of the country, the local Jews were culturally connected to the Jews of Iran. Moreover, some 200 Jewish families of Meshhed in Iran, following the forced conversion to Islam of the Jews of Meshhed, settled in Herat during 1839-1840. These new immigrants helped strengthen the existing Jewish institutions and contributed to Jewish life in general in Afghanistan. For much of the 19th century and for the first half of the 20th century, Herat was the main Jewish community in Afghanistan. However, their changing fortunes forced many Jews to leave the city, and in the last decades there has been no organized Jewish life in Herat.
Home of a Jewish Family in Herat, Afghanistan, 1966. Photograph: Ida Cowen, USA. Beit Hatfutsot Visual Documentation Center
In 1978, following archeological excavations that were conducted in Herat, four synagogues were discovered, all of them located in the Bar Durrani and Momanda sections of the old city, an area previously known as majalla-yi musahiya, the "neighbourhood of the Jews". The names of the synagogues were Mulla Ashur, Yu Aw and Gul, the fourth was unnamed. In 1978 the Mulla Ashur synagogue was used as a 'maktab', a Muslim primary school for boys. The building formerly known as the Gul synagogue has been converted into a Muslim house of prayer and is known as the Belal Mosque. Only the Yu Aw synagogue has been preserved with most of its original characteristics. Located in the Momanda neighborhood of the old city of Heart, the Yu Aw synagogue is a two-story mud brick building with a baked brick foundation and an interior courtyard. The Torah Ark is built into its western wall, facing Jerusalem. The architecture of all three synagogues shows a clear Persian influence.
In the 16th century the Moghul dynasty of India, adopted Shia Islam whereas Central Asia and Afghanistan retained their allegiance to Sunni Islam. The traditional links that existed between the Jews of Persia, Central Asia and Afghanistan were severed. From the middle of the 18th century, the Afghan Kingdom was ruled by the Durrani dynasty which tried to prevent Western and especially British influence on Afghan society. This led to the relative isolation of the local Jewish community.
The traditional Jewish costume was similar to that of the Muslim population with the exception of the black turban worn by all Jewish men. According to one tradition, the black turban was considered a sign of mourning for the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem. Others believe that the Jews were forced to wear black turbans as a mark to distinguish them from the Muslim population. Many Afghan Jews were active in the cotton and silk trade and specialized in the dyeing process. Making the dye – which is produced from the dried bodies of the female cochineal insect and indigo – rendered the craftsmen's hands blue, causing many to falsely believe that this was a characteristic of the Jews of Afghanistan.
The Jews of Afghanistan used Hebrew for liturgy and religious studies, while Judeo-Persian was the main language for day to day usage. There are some differences between the written form of Judeo-Persian and its spoken dialects. In addition, there were distinct differences between the dialect of Kabul and those spoken in other communities. In Herat, for instance, Jews spoke at least three main idioms: the main dialect of Judeo-Persian was used by Jews of Afghan origin, while immigrants from Meshhed and their descendants preferred their original local dialect, just as those coming from Yezd, another city in Iran, continued to use their own dialect.
There are various estimates regarding the extent of the Jewish population on the territory of Afghanistan at the beginning of the 20th century. Older sources tend to put the number at close to 40.000 persons living in about 60 communities, but modern researchers consider this number to be greatly exaggerated and generally agree on a much smaller figure of only 4,000. To this number, reported by the leaders of the Jewish communities in Afghanistan in the late 1940's, one must add a few thousand who by then either had emigrated to Israel or settled in other parts of the world, mainly in Central Asia and India, thus bringing the total number of Afghan Jews in the world at the middle of the 20th century to about 10,000. A similar controversy refers to the number of Jewish communities. Recent research outlines the existence of only fifteen Jewish communities, with some only hosting a temporary Jewish presence of merchants. The two main Jewish communities of Afghanistan were located in the cities of Kabul and Herat, each numbering about 2,000 Jews during their peak days in the 1930's. Balkh had the third largest Jewish community and was made up of many Jewish immigrants from Central Asia; smaller Jewish communities could be found in the towns of Gazni and Kandahar.
Until the middle of the 20th century, the Jews of Afghanistan had little contact with modernity. Living in a country that had never been colonized by foreign powers, their links were limited to the neighboring Jewish communities in Iran, Central Asia, and India. Although many Jews left Afghanistan during the first half of the 20th century, some of them settling in Israel, it was only in 1950 that the Jews were officially allowed to leave Afghanistan. Zionist activity was completely forbidden within Afghanistan and immigration to Israel was only permitted from the end of 1951. By 1967 the number of Afghan Jews who had immigrated to Israel reached 4,000. Each of the three main communities still active in Afghanistan after the 1950's – Kabul, Herat, and Balkh – had a Hevrah (community council), which took care of the needy, dealt with burials, represented the community in matters connected to the authorities and was responsible for the payment of taxes. From 1952 Jews were exempt from military service and had to pay a special tax (har bieah) instead.
In 1990 there were only 15 to 20 Jewish families left in Kabul; however they soon left for Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and India. As of 2001 at least two Jews are known to live in Kabul and five or six Jewish families are believed to live in Herat. Itzhak Levi, 69, the caretaker of the Kabul synagogue passed away in January 2005 and was brought to be buried on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem on February 2, 2005. There is currently only one Jew remaining in Afghanistan.
BEZALEL, Izhak. A Community of its Own: The Jews of Afghanistan and their Classification between the Jews of Iran and Bukhara, Pe'amim, 79(1999):15-40 (in Hebrew)
SABAR, Shalom. The Origins of the Illustrated Ketubbah in Iran and Afghanistan, Pe'amim, 79(1999):129-158 (in Hebrew)
SEROUSSI, Edwin and DAVIDOFF, Boaz. On the Study of the Musical Tradition of the Jews of Afghanistan, Pe'amim, 79(1999):159-170 (in Hebrew)
SHAKED, Shaul. New Data on the Jews of Afghanistan in the Middle Ages, Pe'amim, 79(1999):5-14 (in Hebrew)
YANIV, Bracha. Content and Form in the Flat Torah Finials from Eastern Iran and Afghanistan, Pe'amim, 79(1999):96-128 (in Hebrew)
Havdalah Service in the last Synagogue of Kabul, Afghanistan, 1978. Photograph: Judah Segal, USA. Beit Hatfutsot Visual Documentation Center
Herat Synagogue Gate, Herat, Afghanistan, 1975. Photograph: Didier Guthmann, Paris. Beit Hatfutsot Visual Documentation Center. Courtesy of Miriam Freind
Megillat Esther Reading on Purim. Kabul, Afghanistan, 1966. Photograph: Ida Cowen, USA. Beit Hatfutsot Visual Documentation Center
Ketubbah of Rachel Bat Amram and Benjamin Khafi. Herat, Afghanistan, 1933. Photograph: Savi Khafi, Singapore. Beit Hatfutsot Visual Documentation Center
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Yes, this is where you sign up for AWANA for the 2018-2019 school year. Sundae Monday is on Monday, September 3rd from 6:30P-7:30P in the Lobby. The first club night is on Monday, September 10th from 6:30P-8:00P.
REGISTER for AWANA and pay your dues HERE.


Last week Norfolk City Council voted to approve an easement that would allow Dominion Energy and its partners to build a natural gas pipeline underneath two of Norfolk's drinking water reservoirs in Suffolk.
Here is the Virginian-Pilot article about the vote, by city journalist Ryan Murphy.
Voting yes were Mayor Kenny Alexander, Mamie Johnson, Angelia Williams, Tommy Smigiel, and Martin Thomas.
Voting no were Paul Riddick and Terry Whibley.
"I hope many of you read in the paper recently that we are the second… biggest increase in sea level rise in the country. And I appreciate the fact that our public works have told us there is no risk for this pipeline, and I accept that.
My angst with this is that this is technology of the past. And we, and Dominion, should not be investing in old energy sources. And we should be using this money to moving towards sustainable and renewable sources.
The Norfolk Environmental Commission — who is appointed by Norfolk City Council — was opposed to the project.


Two of my favorite places to shop online, Target and Amazon, are having incredible sales for Cyber Monday. I've linked my FAVE finds below, plus codes to major retailers at the bottom of this post! I hope you find some good Christmas presents!!
Vintage Kitchen // $81 (normally $150) // We paid $160 for this kitchen last year so this is an AMAZING deal!
Gymboree // Entire store 50-80% off + free shipping – no code needed. Extra $25 off orders of $100+ with code BONUSDAY.
H&M // 20% off your order of $30+ with code 5144. 25% off your order of $50+ with code 0275. 30% off your order of $100+ with code 8284.
Happy shopping! Can't wait to see what you buy!!
This is NOT a hobby, it's my JOB.


Its the 15th of the month, and that means it is time for the Dueling Darlings : ) This month Barb (Divas) and Tracie (Dazzlers) have challenged us to create with the theme Rain or Shine.
Cuteness alert! I love that you have so much on your card! IT's a visual treat for the eyes! Great coloring and love the rainbow :) Fabulous card, Shel! Hugs!
Wow...that's a lot of fussy-cutting! Very cute and well done!
What a great card. I love your layout. Thanks for doing such a great job with the challenge this month.
Shelly, this is so adorable.
Oh my Shelly what a great card. I love the layout you chose. The clouds are fun made out of the dsp. Great job with the kit.
Wow Shelly, what a great layout! Those were super nice papers from Tracie and you really have a nice way of showing them off without upstaging Sophie! Great card!
Gorgeous card Shelly - love the teal colours you have emphasised that make the sun and rainbow really stand out.
Shelly, your card is so cute... and look at you. Fussy cutting. How fun!
So cute, Shelly! Love the added rainbow. Great idea. Great use of the designer paper too. Really cute card!
Such an adorable card with a cute scene for all this wet weather we are having.
I'm loving this cutie with her polka-dot umbrella!! Such an adorable card, Shelly!
This is such a pretty card--I love all of the elements! I am so glad you played along with us for our April Showers!
The green colors are just perfect on this card. Such a great layout for the theme of the card and image.
This is so cute Shelly and I love the image. I like the colours and how you extended the image beyond the circle... that looks really good. I haven't purchased a Whippersnapper stamp in ages which is a shame because they really are adorable.