text:
Glasswing International
Glasswing is an innovative non-profit whose mission is to address the root causes and consequences of poverty, trauma, and violence, through public health and education programs that empower youth and communities and strengthen public systems.
Twitter	Facebook	Youtube	LinkedIn	Instagram	Website	Email
Glasswing's mission is to address the root causes and consequences of violence and poverty through education and health programs that empower youth and communities and strengthen public systems. At Glasswing, we believe that every person has both the potential and the right to thrive, no matter what adversity they face.
Throughout Latin America, where millions are born into cycles of poverty and violence, Glasswing harnesses the power of community to create a safer and more prosperous future for us all. Through grassroots, evidence-based programming and cross-sector alliances, we create opportunities for children and youth – local changemakers – to thrive. With our flexible and localized organizational structure, we are able to respond the needs of the communities we serve with varied and innovative initiatives.
We engage all community actors and stakeholders to ensure sustainable change, while fostering hope and community pride. With the support of thousands of volunteers, we provide children and youth with access to safe spaces, social and emotional skills development, and vocational opportunities in order to build resilience, foster civic participation, and rebuild social fabric from the ground up. Lastly, Glasswing's core values are based on a deep belief in human dignity, agency, and potential.
Since its inception in 2007, Glasswing has expanded its offices to 9 Latin American countries and New York City. To date, Glasswing has directly impacted the lives of more than 1 million individuals and programs are being developed in 187 communities that experience extreme poverty and some of the highest rates of homicide, femicide, and crime in the world. In 2019 alone, Glasswing reached more than 91,000 individuals through our public education, public health, and community development programs.
Trauma-Sensitive Positive Youth Development
Glasswing's Community Schools platform seeks to enhance youth's protective factors- core life skills, locus of control, supportive relationships, performance, and conduct- and reduce their risk factors, enabling children and youth to thrive despite adversity. Glasswing mobilizes and trains volunteer educators as mentors who lead weekly activities and promote students' health, well-being and build the kind of social scaffoldings necessary for positive youth development. This multi-faceted approach integrates after school clubs- arts, sciences, academics, sports, entrepreneurship- competitions, family dialogue, and community service to offer a safe and stimulating environment that fosters positive change and future outlook. Glasswing convenes parents and caregivers through community cafes where they share and learn how to create safe and stimulating environments to improve family interactions. An external evaluation by the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile demonstrated improvements in academic performance, attitude towards school and relationships, as well as behavior (reduction in aggressive and violent behaviors). The study also found improvements for students not directly engaged in the study.
Mental Health and Trauma-Informed Ecosystems
Since 2011, Glasswing has been steadily working to mobilize systems to address the impact of violence and trauma on its workforce, communities, and individuals. To disrupt intergenerational cycles of violence and trauma, resulting in structural and personal impact, Glasswing co-creates trauma-informed mental health ecosystems with two principal goals. First, provide direct care at government healthcare facilities to address the immediate crisis and psycho-social needs of injured persons to mitigate the impact of trauma. Second, strengthen institutional trauma response capacity by equipping actors with knowledge about trauma, skills for self-care and emotional regulation, and with the ability to provide psychological first aid in order to mitigate the consequences of theirs and others' trauma. Due to a committed and innovative ethos, Glasswing has pioneered trauma-based programming through the following initiatives:
Hospital/Clinic-based initiatives: direct care for injured persons: referrals, trauma psychoeducation, coping strategies.
Trauma-Informed Ecosystems: in healthcare, law enforcement, government, civil society, and social leaders, to mitigate re-traumatizing injured persons, and reducing incidences of workforce burn-out.
Community Wellbeing Committees: groups composed of students, teachers, and parents equipped with the trauma knowledge and skills to identify and address trauma in public schools located in highly violent communities.
Online referral system with localized services: linking individuals and communities to trauma-informed service, enabling a continuum of care.
USA: 25 Broadway, 9th Floor, New York, NY, 10004, USA
EL SALVADOR: Colonia San Francisco, Calle los Bambúes #18 San Salvador, El Salvado
USA: Tel. 1(646) 370-1930 | EL SALVADOR: Tel. (503) 2214-0900
rmartinez@glasswing.org
Key partners:
The Howard G. Buffett Foundation
CHEVRON-TEXACO
FUNDACION FEMSA
Youth Build International (YBI)
US Embassy (Guatemala)
BANPAIS
The LEGO Foundation HanesBrandsInc
Matilde Siman
Education Program Manager
Hospital-based violence prevention and trauma-informed program "Sanando Heridas"
COVID response – Providing Critical Mental Health Support
Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship video
Impact & insights
IMPACTO Y VISIÓN


This spring, in collaboration with Village Presbyterian Church and the Kansas City Baroque Consortium, we will present the glorious Mass in B-Minor of J.S. Bach in Helzberg Hall at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. As has always been our tradition and mission, all performances will be offered free of charge. And as a special community outreach, following the B-Minor performance at the Kauffman Center the audience will be invited to make a good will offering to benefit the Kansas City Free Health Clinic.
So, if Te Deum, which let me remind you translated means "To You, O God," is a sacred ensemble, why this Fall are we singing a concert of all secular literature? As the title claims, the Sacred is all around us.
The sacred as experienced in nature.
The sacred as experienced in music.
The sacred as experienced in love.
In our concert, "The Sacred Around Us," we make the case that all things are holy if viewed through the right lens.


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Oleksii Yuriyovych Reznikov (; nascido em 18 de junho de 1966) é um advogado e político ucraniano que desde 4 de novembro de 2021 atua como Ministro da Defesa da Ucrânia. Reznikov anteriormente atuou em vários outros cargos no governo da Ucrânia. Reznikov também atuou como chefe da delegação nacional da Ucrânia no Congresso de Autoridades Locais e Regionais do Conselho da Europa de 2015 a 2016, e foi escolhido pelo presidente Volodymyr Zelensky em 5 de maio de 2020 para representar a Ucrânia no subgrupo político de trabalho no Grupo de Contato Trilateral sobre um acordo para a guerra em Donbas.

Carreira política

Reznikov atuou em vários cargos, inclusive como chefe da delegação nacional da Ucrânia no Congresso de Poderes Locais e Regionais do Conselho da Europa de 2015 a 2016. Depois atuou como vice-presidente do Conselho Anticorrupção. Ao mesmo tempo, manteve-se no governo tornando-se membro da Equipe de Reforma para a Descentralização do Ministério do Desenvolvimento das Comunidades e Territórios.

Em 3 de novembro de 2021, após sua demissão do cargo de Ministro da Reintegração dos Territórios Ocupados Temporariamente da Ucrânia ele foi nomeado Ministro da Defesa.

Os Estados Unidos estimaram em dezembro de 2021 que a Rússia poderia reunir 175.000 soldados para invadir a Ucrânia. Reznikov disse que "temos 250.000 oficiais... membros do nosso exército. Além disso, eu disse 400.000 veteranos e 200.000 reservistas. 175.000 soldados não são suficientes para tomar à Ucrânia." Reznikov disse que a Rússia poderia lançar um ataque em larga escala à Ucrânia no final de janeiro de 2022. Em dezembro de 2021, ele acusou a Alemanha de vetar a compra de rifles antidrones e sistemas anti-sniper pela Ucrânia por meio da OTAN.

Em 25 de janeiro de 2022, Reznikov disse que não via ameaça de uma invasão russa em larga escala da Ucrânia.

Ministros da Defesa da Ucrânia
Vice-primeiros-ministros da Ucrânia
Alunos da Universidade de Leópolis
Pessoas vivas
Nascidos em 1966

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


text:
Lidzava Church () is a church in the village of Lidzava, Gagra municipality, Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia, Georgia.

History
The church was built in the Middle Ages. Excavations uncovered an early Christian church, which was tentatively dated to the 4th to 5th century AD. Although some of the walls has survive up to a height of 3 meters, the church plan was unclear.

The church walls are in a heavy physical condition and need an urgent conservation.

References

Religious buildings and structures in Georgia (country)
Religious buildings and structures in Abkhazia
Churches in Abkhazia


text:
Q: Why does my vector splits in two vectors? I'll try to explain as best I can.
I'm using canvas, and a basic vectors library I wrote in JS. Now my enemy object has a few vectors in it, the math seems right all the way through, but I end up seeing the enemy's weapon split into two and fire in both directions when I get too close to it.
Not close
Close
The player is the white circle with a green dot in the middle, and I use mousemove for the coordinates.
After looking at the images, I noticed that it creates two weapons that fire at the correct fireRate, one after the other. It doesn't show in the images, but when you look at it in the browser, there are two small red dots firing those yellow projectiles.
I looked over the code, and I can't find anything repeating itself that could cause the dot to split into two, and I started to wonder if it has anything to do with Math.atan2() or maybe something else.
Here's the enemy function:
function Enemy(enemyConfig){
    this.enemyConfig = enemyConfig;
    this.position = new Vector(enemyConfig.x, enemyConfig.y);
    if(this.enemyConfig.hasVelocity){
        this.velocity = new Vector(enemyConfig.vx, enemyConfig.vy);
    }
    this.radius = enemyConfig.radius;
    this.hasWeapon = false;
    if(enemyConfig.hasWeapon){
        this.weaponId = enemyConfig.weaponId;
        this.projectiles = [];
        this.weapon = this.position.Copy();
        this.weaponDistanceFromPosition = this.radius * .9;
        this.weaponAngleToPlayer = 0;
        this.weaponReloaded = true;
        this.fireRate = enemyConfig.fireRate || .25;
        this.reloadTimer = this.fireRate;

        this.hasWeapon = true;
    }
    this.target = cfg.player;
};

Enemy.prototype.Draw = function(){
    cfg.ctx.save();
    cfg.ctx.beginPath();
    cfg.ctx.fillStyle = "rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)";
    cfg.ctx.strokeStyle = "rgba(255, 0, 0, 1)";
    cfg.ctx.arc(this.position.x, this.position.y, this.radius, 0, PI*2, false);
    cfg.ctx.fill();
    cfg.ctx.stroke();
    cfg.ctx.closePath();
    cfg.ctx.restore();

    if(this.hasWeapon){
        cfg.ctx.save();
        cfg.ctx.beginPath();
        cfg.ctx.fillStyle = "rgba(255, 0, 0, 1)";
        // cfg.ctx.strokeStyle = "rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)";
        cfg.ctx.arc(this.weapon.x, this.weapon.y, 2, 0, PI*2, false);
        cfg.ctx.fill();
        // cfg.ctx.stroke();
        cfg.ctx.closePath();
        cfg.ctx.restore();

        if(this.projectiles.length > 0 && this.projectiles){
            this.projectiles.forEach((projectile, index, projectiles) => {
                if(projectile.exists) projectile.Draw();
            })
        }
    }
};

Enemy.prototype.Update = function(){
    if(this.hasWeapon){
        this.weaponAngleToPlayer = this.weapon.AngleTo(this.target.position);
        this.weapon.Length = this.weaponDistanceFromPosition;
        this.weapon.Angle = this.weaponAngleToPlayer;
        this.weapon.AddTo(this.position);

        this.weaponReloaded = (this.reloadTimer === 0);
        if(!this.weaponReloaded){
            this.reloadTimer -= Math.min(cfg.deltaTime / 1000, this.reloadTimer);
        }else{
            this.FireWeapon();
        }

        if(this.projectiles.length > 0){
            this.projectiles.forEach((projectile, index, projectiles) => {
                projectile.Update();
                if(!projectile.exists) projectiles.splice(index, 1);
            });
        }
    }
    // console.log(this.projectiles);

    // this.target = cfg.player;
    // console.log(this.target.position);

};

Enemy.prototype.FireWeapon = function(){
    var projectile = new Projectile();
    projectile.position = this.weapon.Copy();
    projectile.velocity = this.weapon.Copy();
    projectile.velocity.Angle = this.weaponAngleToPlayer;
    projectile.velocity.Limit(15);
    projectile.exists = true;

    this.projectiles.push(projectile);

    this.reloadTimer = this.fireRate;
};

var PI = Math.PI;
var cfg = cfg || {};
var player;

cfg.expectedFPS = 60;
cfg.framesPerMs = cfg.expectedFPS / 1000;
cfg.deltaTime = 0;
cfg.previousTimeStamp = undefined;
cfg.direction = {
    up: 1.5 * PI,
    down: .5 * PI,
    left: PI,
    right: 0
};
cfg.mouse = {
    x: 0,
    y: 0,
    radius: 2
};
cfg.projectiles = [];
cfg.player = null;
cfg.enemies = [];

function random(min, max = null){
    if(max != null){
        return Math.random() * (Math.max(min, max) - Math.min(min, max)) + Math.min(min, max);
    }
    return Math.random() * min;
};

function Background(config = {}){
    var config = config;
    cfg.ctx.fillStyle = "rgba(0, 0, 0, .5)";
    cfg.ctx.fillRect(0, 0, cfg.canvas.width, cfg.canvas.height);
};

function KeepInCanvas(object){
    if(object.position.x + object.radius >= cfg.canvas.width)
        object.position.x = cfg.canvas.width - object.radius;
    if(object.position.x - object.radius <= 0)
        object.position.x = object.radius;
    if(object.position.y + object.radius >= cfg.canvas.height)
        object.position.y = cfg.canvas.height - object.radius;
    if(object.position.y - object.radius <= 0)
        object.position.y = object.radius;
};

function IsOutOfCanvas(object){
    return (object.position.x + object.radius < 0 || object.position.x - object.radius > cfg.canvas.width
        || object.position.y + object.radius < 0 || object.position.y - object.radius > cfg.canvas.height);
};

function Vector(x = 0, y = 0){
    this.x = x;
    this.y = y;
};

Vector.prototype = {
    get Length(){
        return Math.sqrt(this.x * this.x + this.y * this.y);
    },
    set Length(length){
        var angle = this.Angle;
        this.x = Math.cos(angle) * length;
        this.y = Math.sin(angle) * length;
    },

    get Angle(){
        return Math.atan2(this.y, this.x);
    },
    set Angle(angle){
        var length = this.Length;
        this.x = Math.cos(angle) * length;
        this.y = Math.sin(angle) * length;
    },

    Add: function(vector){ return new Vector(this.x + vector.x, this.y + vector.y); },
    AddTo: function(vector){
        this.x += vector.x;
        this.y += vector.y;
    },

    Subtract: function(vector){ return new Vector(this.x - vector.x, this.y - vector.y); },
    SubtractFrom: function(vector){
        this.x -= vector.x;
        this.y -= vector.y;
    },

    Multiply: function(factor){ return new Vector(this.x * factor, this.y * factor); },
    MultiplyBy: function(factor){
        this.x *= factor;
        this.y *= factor;
    },

    DivideBy: function(factor){
        this.x /= factor;
        this.y /= factor;
    },

    AngleTo: function(vector){
        return Math.atan2(vector.y - this.y, vector.x - this.x);
    },

    Copy: function(){ return new Vector(this.x, this.y); },

    Normalize: function(arg = false){
        if(this.Length > 0){
            if(arg) return this.Divide(this.Length);
            this.DivideBy(this.Length);
        }
    },

    Limit: function(factor){
        if(this.Length > factor){
            this.Normalize();
            this.MultiplyBy(factor);
        }
    }
};

function Player(){
    this.position = new Vector(0, 0);
    this.radius = 20;
};

Player.prototype.Draw = function(){
    cfg.ctx.save();
    cfg.ctx.beginPath();
    cfg.ctx.fillStyle = "rgba(0, 180, 0, .35)";
    cfg.ctx.strokeStyle = "rgba(255, 255, 255, 1)";
    cfg.ctx.arc(this.position.x, this.position.y, this.radius, 0, PI*2, false);
    cfg.ctx.fill();
    cfg.ctx.stroke();
    cfg.ctx.closePath();
    cfg.ctx.restore();
};

Player.prototype.Update = function(){
    this.position.x = cfg.mouse.x;
    this.position.y = cfg.mouse.y;
    KeepInCanvas(this);
};

function Projectile(){
    this.position = new Vector(0, 0);
    this.velocity;
    this.radius = 5;
    this.exists = false;
};

Projectile.prototype.SetInitialVelocity = function(angle, length){
    var x = Math.cos(angle) * length,
        y = Math.sin(angle) * length;
    return new Vector(x, y);
};

Projectile.prototype.Draw = function(){
    cfg.ctx.save();
    cfg.ctx.beginPath();
    cfg.ctx.fillStyle = "rgba(255, 160, 0, 1)";
    cfg.ctx.arc(this.position.x, this.position.y, this.radius, 0, PI*2, false);
    cfg.ctx.fill();
    cfg.ctx.closePath();
    cfg.ctx.restore();
};

Projectile.prototype.Update = function(){
    this.position.AddTo(this.velocity.Multiply(cfg.framesPerMs).Multiply(cfg.deltaTime));
    if(IsOutOfCanvas(this)) this.exists = false;
};
function Enemy(enemyConfig){
    this.position = new Vector(enemyConfig.x, enemyConfig.y);
    this.radius = enemyConfig.radius;
    this.hasWeapon = false;
    if(enemyConfig.hasWeapon){
        this.projectiles = [];
        this.weapon = this.position.Copy();
        this.weaponAngleToPlayer;// = 0;
        this.hasWeapon = true;
    }
    this.target = cfg.player;
};

Enemy.prototype.Draw = function(){
    cfg.ctx.save();
    cfg.ctx.beginPath();
    cfg.ctx.fillStyle = "rgba(0, 0, 0, 1)";
    cfg.ctx.strokeStyle = "rgba(255, 0, 0, 1)";
    cfg.ctx.arc(this.position.x, this.position.y, this.radius, 0, PI*2, false);
    cfg.ctx.fill();
    cfg.ctx.stroke();
    cfg.ctx.closePath();
    cfg.ctx.restore();

    if(this.hasWeapon){
        cfg.ctx.save();
        cfg.ctx.beginPath();
        cfg.ctx.fillStyle = "rgba(255, 0, 0, 1)";
        cfg.ctx.arc(this.weapon.x, this.weapon.y, 2, 0, PI*2, false);
        cfg.ctx.fill();
        cfg.ctx.closePath();
        cfg.ctx.restore();

        if(this.projectiles.length > 0 && this.projectiles){
            this.projectiles.forEach(projectile => {
                if(projectile.exists) projectile.Draw();
            })
        }
    }
};

Enemy.prototype.Update = function(){
    if(this.hasWeapon){
        this.weaponAngleToPlayer = this.position.AngleTo(this.target.position);
        // console.trace(this.weaponAngleToPlayer);
        this.weapon.Length = this.radius * .9;
        this.weapon.Angle = this.weaponAngleToPlayer;
        this.weapon.AddTo(this.position);

        this.FireWeapon();

        if(this.projectiles.length > 0){
            this.projectiles.forEach((projectile, index, projectiles) => {
                projectile.Update();
                if(!projectile.exists) projectiles.splice(index, 1);
            });
        }
    }
};

Enemy.prototype.FireWeapon = function(){
    var projectile = new Projectile();
    projectile.position = this.weapon.Copy();
    projectile.velocity = projectile.position.Copy();
    projectile.velocity.Angle = this.weaponAngleToPlayer;
    projectile.velocity.Limit(15);
    projectile.exists = true;
    // console.trace(projectile);
    this.projectiles.push(projectile);
};
<head>
    <meta charset="UTF-8">
    <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
    <title>Space Shooter</title>
</head>
<body>
    <canvas id="gameCanvas"></canvas>
    <script>
        window.onload = function(){
            cfg.canvas = document.getElementById("gameCanvas");
            cfg.canvas.focus();
            cfg.canvas.width = 760;
            cfg.canvas.height = 1060;
            cfg.canvas.style.cursor = "none";
            cfg.ctx = cfg.canvas.getContext("2d");
            cfg.canvasOffset = cfg.canvas.getBoundingClientRect();

            cfg.player = player = new Player();
            cfg.enemies[0] = new Enemy({
                x: 200,
                y: 500,
                radius: 35,
                hasWeapon: true
            });
            cfg.enemies[1] = new Enemy({
                x: 500,
                y: 200,
                radius: 45,
                hasWeapon: true
            });

            window.requestAnimationFrame(Game);
        };

        window.addEventListener("mousemove", function(e){
            cfg.mouse.x = e.clientX - cfg.canvasOffset.x;
            cfg.mouse.y = e.clientY - cfg.canvasOffset.y;
        });

        function Game(timestamp){
            if(!cfg.previousTimeStamp) cfg.previousTimeStamp = timestamp;
            cfg.deltaTime = timestamp - cfg.previousTimeStamp;
            cfg.previousTimeStamp = timestamp;
            Update();
            Draw();
            window.requestAnimationFrame(Game);
        };

        function Update(){
            player.Update();

            if(cfg.enemies.length > 0){
                cfg.enemies.forEach(enemy => {
                    enemy.Update();
                });
            }
        };

        function Draw(){
            Background();

            if(cfg.enemies.length > 0){
                cfg.enemies.forEach(enemy => {
                    enemy.Draw();
                });
            }

            player.Draw();
        };
    </script>
</body>

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Photography is a triangle of settings for ISO (sensitivity), Shutter Speed, and Aperture. Each of them affects a different element of the triangle. Change one and it effects the others.
ISO controls how sensitive your camera is.
Shutter controls how long you expose the sensor to light.
Aperture controls how much of the available light comes to the shutter from outside the camera.
Following routines with simple systems means you're always ready to react the right way. That can be complex things like programming the custom buttons on your camera or it can mean really simple things like knowing at a glance if your battery is charged or not. This battery has a conveniently placed arrow which is visible through a window in it's case. If this arrow is visible I know the battery is charged, any other way I know it's not. How do i know? Because I put it in this way as a system of working when I take it off the charger.
How often do you see sunsets and sunrises on social media. All the time, nearly every day is the answer in my stream. In my opinion the splash of colour is nice, but its not enough, a sunset by itself is like having whiskey on the rocks with no whiskey. I always try to include some foreground interest to give the eye something to settle on and usually expose so that is a silhouette. At the same time I reduce the exposure of the sky by a stop or two with exposure compensation. Why? Because it makes the sky just that much more colourful and dramatic without any distracting bright patches and blowouts. Like any landscape I focus about 1/3 of the way into the scene and use a reasonable but not deep depth of field like f/6.3.
As always comments and discussion welcome.


text:
Tag: DNC
RNC Draws Six Times as Many Views as Its Democratic Counterpart
Even after just the first night, the 2020 Republican National Convention is already decisively dominating the Democratic National Convention in viewership, as reported by the Washington Free Beacon.
On C-SPAN's official livestream, the RNC garnered more than 440,000 viewers simultaneously.
National, NewsDNC, Melania Trump, RNCLeave a comment
DNC Features Rapper with Ties to Nation of Islam Leader Louis Farrakhan
The Democratic National Convention's final night will feature a performance from the rapper Common, who has long-standing ties to Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.
Farrakhan has repeatedly referred to Jewish people as "satanic," blamed them for both the Holocaust and the Sept. 11, 2011, terrorist attacks, and once praised Adolf Hitler as a "very great man." Farrakhan has also denounced interracial marriage, which he said has "mongrelized" the black race.
National, NewsCommon, DNC, Louis FarrakhanLeave a comment
Joe Biden Gives Shortest DNC Acceptance Speech in Decades
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden gave the shortest Democratic National Convention acceptance speech in four decades Thursday night.
Biden's speech lasted just under 25 minutes, according to C-SPAN. An acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) hasn't been that short since Walter Mondale's 32-minute speech in 1984.
National, NewsDNC, Joe Biden, Speech TimeLeave a comment
DNC Panel Features 'Mermaid Queen-King' Who Calls for the Abolition of ICE, Police, and Prisons
The Democratic National Convention on Tuesday featured a panelist who identifies as a "nonbinary/gender transcendent mermaid Queen-King" and who called for the abolition of the police, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and prisons.
According to the panelist's Wake Forest University bio, J Mai is a "Black-Vietnamese, transgender nonbinary/gender transcendent mermaid Queen-King," who recently became a "licensed minister in the Progressive National Baptist Church."
National, Newsdefund the police, DNC, ICE, policeLeave a comment
Commentary: Democratic Voters Appear Disengaged with Joe Biden as DNC Ratings Disappoint
The first-night Democratic National Convention ratings were down almost 28 percent from their levels in 2016 in what can only be called a massive disappointment for former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) in their bid to oust the incumbent Republican President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.
The ratings for CBS, NBC and ABC were down a combined 42 percent to 6.7 million from the 11.6 million who watched four years ago, according to the Hollywood Reporter. On cable news channels MSNBC, CNN and Fox News, the numbers were similarly down 16 percent to about 11.98 million viewers from the 14 million viewers of four years ago.
Commentary, NewsDemocratic Voters, DNC, Joe BidenLeave a comment
Trump Campaign Details Counter-Programming Plans to Respond to Democratic National Convention
August 19, 2020 August 18, 2020 Sam Medley
Election season is in full swing, and with the Democratic National Convention (DNC) underway, the Trump campaign and Republican National Convention (RNC) are busy with counterprogramming this week.
Samantha Cotten, the Regional Communications Director for the Trump campaign, said that Republicans are focusing on 17 battleground states: Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia, and Wisconsin.
Battleground States, Michigan, Minnesota, News, Politics, President Donald Trumpbiden, Democratic National Convention, DNC, Republican National Convention, RNC, samantha cotten, TrumpLeave a comment
Former Ohio Governor and 2016 Republican Presidential Candidate John Kasich Delivers Speech at Democratic National Convention
Republican John Kasich, who served as Ohio's governor from 2011-2019 and ran in the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, delivered a speech on the first night of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) Monday.
Kasich, who refused to support Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, spoke to the current political division in America, saying that "America is at a crossroads."
National, News, Politics2020 Presidential Election, Democratic National Convention, DNC, Joe Biden, John Kasich, Republican National Convention, RNCLeave a comment
Whitmer Calls for Unity, Bashes Trump's COVID-19 Response in DNC Speech
August 19, 2020 August 18, 2020 Jordyn Pair
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer called for unity and for Americans to "rally together" to fight the coronavirus during a speech at the Democratic National Convention on Monday night.
Before her speech even began, however, Whitmer was caught mouthing an expletive on a live feed.
Battleground States, Michigan, News, The Upper-MidwestDemocratic National Convention, DNC, Michigan, whitmerLeave a comment
Joe Biden Taps Senator Kamala Harris as Running Mate
August 11, 2020 August 11, 2020 The Associated Press
Joe Biden named California Sen. Kamala Harris as his running mate on Tuesday, making history by selecting the first Black woman to compete on a major party's presidential ticket and acknowledging the vital role Black voters will play in his bid to defeat President Donald Trump.
"I have the great honor to announce that I've picked @KamalaHarris — a fearless fighter for the little guy, and one of the country's finest public servants — as my running mate," Biden tweeted. In a text message to supporters, Biden said, "Together, with you, we're going to beat Trump"
National, News2020 election, California, Democratic National Committee, DNC, Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Vice PresidentLeave a comment
With Less Than a Week to Go, Biden and the Democrats Are Still Juggling Virtual Convention Details
Joe Biden's presidential nominating convention will highlight the U.S. political spectrum from the left flank of New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to the Republican old guard of former Ohio Gov. John Kasich.
But that doesn't mean there's room for every prominent Democrat who would get a share of the spotlight at what would have been a traditional convention in Milwaukee before the COVID-19 pandemic made that impossible. Instead, Biden's campaign and other convention planners are continuing negotiations with various power players over how to produce a truncated virtual convention with just eight hours of programming over four nights from Aug. 17-20.
News2020 election, convention, Democratic National Committee, DNC, Joes BidenLeave a comment
Twitter Suspends DNC's Account for Retweeting Trump Clip Suggesting Kids Are 'Almost Immune' to COVID
Twitter partially suspended the Democratic National Committee's account Thursday for sharing a tweet from President Donald Trump that contains a video of the president suggesting children are "almost immune" to coronavirus.
The company made the move after the DNC tweeted a clip of Trump's Wednesday appearance on Fox News in which the president made the claim relating to children and the pandemic, CNN reported. The account intended to retweet the post with the intention of criticizing the president for spreading misinformation, but Twitter's moderators flagged the post instead.
National, NewsBig Tech Censorship, DNC, Donald Trump, TwitterLeave a comment
Biden Won't Go to Milwaukee to Accept Democratic Nomination
August 6, 2020 August 5, 2020 The Associated Press
Joe Biden will not travel to Milwaukee to accept the Democratic presidential nomination because of concerns over the coronavirus, party officials said Wednesday, signaling a move to a convention that essentially has become entirely virtual.
It is the latest example of the pandemic's sweeping effects on the 2020 presidential election and the latest blow to traditional party nominating conventions that historically have marked the start of fall general election campaigns.
National, News2020 Presidential Election, DNC, Joe BidenLeave a comment
100+ Police Agencies Pull Out of Democrat Convention Security
More than 100 police agencies have backed out of agreements to send personnel to help with security at next month's Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, The Daily Caller reported.
The original plan was to have 1,000 officers on hand from outside agencies to assist with security.
National, NewsDemocratic Convention Security, DNC, law enforcementLeave a comment
RNC Outraises DNC by Nearly Three-to-One
The Republican National Committee (RNC) outraised the Democratic National Committee (DNC) by nearly three-to-one last month, according to July 2020 campaign finance reports filed with the Federal Election Commission Monday. This was the third month in a row in which the RNC outraised the DNC.
NewsDNC, fundraising, RNCLeave a comment
Former Ohio Governor John Kasich Expected to Speak at the Democratic National Convention
July 20, 2020 November 9, 2020 The Associated Press
Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican and frequent Trump critic, has been approached and is expected to speak at the Democratic National Convention on Biden's behalf next month, according to a person with direct knowledge of the plans who insisted on anonymity to discuss strategy. Kasich is among a handful of high-profile Republicans likely to become more active in supporting Biden in the fall.
News2020 election, Democrat, DNC, GOP, Joe Biden, John KasichLeave a comment
Biden-Sanders Proposal for DNC Convention Includes Increased Taxes, Tuition-Free Community Colleges, Other Spending Increases
A task force created by presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., his former political rival, released policy recommendations for the Democratic Party Convention platform committee to consider.
Called the "unity platform," it emphasizes expanded federal spending and taxation in nearly all platform areas. It calls for increased federal funding for housing, infrastructure, Social Security, and a large-scale government-run jobs program, and increases taxes on higher income earners.
NewsBernie Sanders, DNC, Joe BidenLeave a comment
Despite Allegations, Minnesota DFL Picks Joe Biden to Keynote State Convention
May 27, 2020 Anthony Gockowski
The Minnesota DFL Party announced Tuesday that former Vice President Joe Biden will be the keynote speaker for its upcoming state convention.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the two-day convention will be held virtually on Saturday and Sunday. During the convention, the DFL will announce its U.S. Senate endorsement, as well as Minnesota's DNC representatives, presidential electors, and delegates to the Democratic National Convention.
Battleground States, Minnesota, The Upper-Midwest2020, Amy Klobuchar, DNC, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Ken Martin, Minnesota, Minnesota DFL, RNCLeave a comment
April 22, 2020 April 26, 2020 Jordyn Pair
The state of Michigan said on Tuesday that it had canceled a contract connected to its coronavirus contact tracing program after the state received backlash for the organization's connection with Democratic campaigns.
Battleground States, Michigan, News, The Upper-Midwest, TrendingCoronavirus, DNC, whitmerLeave a comment
US Democrats Delay National Convention
April 3, 2020 April 2, 2020 Michigan Star Staff
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Democratic Party postponed its national presidential nominating convention from July to August on Thursday because of the uncertainty created by the ravaging coronavirus pandemic.
NewsBernie Sanders, Democratic Convention, DNC, Joe BidenLeave a comment
Biden: Democrats' National Convention May Have to Be Postponed
Former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, the likely Democratic candidate in November's national presidential election, says the coronavirus pandemic sweeping the country is likely to force significant alterations or postponement of the party's national nominating convention scheduled for July.
The Democratic and Republican national conventions are a quadrennial showpiece of American democracy, but Biden told MSNBC late Tuesday that it is "hard to envision" the Democratic convention set for mid-July in the Midwestern city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, occurring as scheduled.
News2020 Presidential Candidate, DNC, Joe BidenLeave a comment
DNC Responds to Carter Page Lawsuit, Claiming Steele Dossier Is 'Substantially True'
March 22, 2020 March 21, 2020 Michigan Star Staff
Lawyers for the Democratic National Committee claimed in court filings this week that the Steele dossier's statements regarding Trump campaign aide Carter Page were "substantially true," a defense that is at odds with the findings of the Justice Department's inspector general.
NewsCarter Page, DNC, Steele dossierLeave a comment
Commentary: Like 2016, Trump Will Run Against a Democrat Who Is the Embodiment of Corruption
March 9, 2020 March 8, 2020 Michigan Star Staff
The candidates who most excited the punditocracy have quit the race. Over at National Review, Jim Geraghty observes that "Elizabeth Warren departs the race without finishing above third place in a single state. Beto O'Rourke, Julian Castro, Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, and Kirsten Gillibrand quit well before the voting."
Commentary, News2020 election, Bernie Sanders, Democrat, DNC, Joe Biden, the EstablishmentLeave a comment
Commentary: Intelligence and the Democrats' Internal Affairs
By spearheading #TheResistance to candidate and then President Trump, U.S. intelligence agencies have shown the public they are far less about informing the government about foreign enemies than they are about taking the leading part in the Democratic Party's use of power over its domestic adversaries.
Commentary, NewsBernie Sanders, DNC, intelligence communityLeave a comment
'Enough Is Enough': DNC Chair Wants Iowa Democrats to Recanvass Caucus Results
February 6, 2020 May 21, 2020 Admin
Tom Perez, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, called on the Iowa Democratic Party to recanvass its caucus results, which have been delayed by a series of technical difficulties.
NewsDNC, Iowa caucus, Tom PerezLeave a comment
Top DNC Host Committee Officials Under Investigation Over Toxic Work Culture
February 5, 2020 February 4, 2020 Michigan Star Staff
The host committee of the 2020 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee is under investigation over allegations of a toxic work culture cultivated by its two top officials.
NewsAdam Alonso, DNC, Liz GilbertLeave a comment
Carter Page Sues DNC Over Steele Dossier
Former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page filed a lawsuit Thursday against the Democratic National Committee and the law firm that commissioned the infamous Steele dossier, and his lawyer suggests there is more litigation to come.
NewsCarter Page, DNC, lawsuit, Steele dossierLeave a comment
President Trump to Visit Michigan After Signing USMCA
January 29, 2020 January 28, 2020 Anthony Gockowski
President Donald Trump plans to visit an auto parts supplier in Michigan Thursday, a day after he is scheduled to sign a new North American trade agreement.
Battleground States, Michigan, News, The Upper-MidwestDNC, Michigan, Michigan Democratic Party, Michigan Republican Party, NAFTA, President Donald Trump, USMCA, warrenLeave a comment
DNC Announces 'Multi-Million Dollar' Investment in Battleground States, Including Michigan and Wisconsin
The Democratic National Committee announced Wednesday a multi-million dollar investment in six key battleground states, including Michigan and Wisconsin.
Battleground States, Michigan, News, The Upper-Midwest2016, Battleground States, Democratic Party, DNC, Hillary Clinton, Michigan, Pennslyvania, President Donald Trump, Robby Mook, Tom Perez, Wisconsin2 Comments
Elizabeth Warren's Big Money Back Door
December 9, 2019 December 8, 2019 Michigan Star Staff
Democratic Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has made her opposition to pricey fundraisers a staple of her presidential campaign. "I don't do big-dollar fundraisers at all," she told "Tonight Show" host Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday.
But Warren has carved out a workaround to her pledge by speaking at high-dollar fundraisers for the Democratic National Committee (DNC), whose financial support in the general election will be crucial to Warren if she is the party's nominee.
News2020 election, Democrats, DNC, donations, donors, Elizabeth WarrenLeave a comment
What to Expect in the Justice Department's FISA Report
The Justice Department's watchdog will release a much-anticipated report Monday scrutinizing the FBI's investigation of the Trump campaign in 2016.
Republicans have eagerly awaited the report, believing it will reveal that the FBI abused the foreign surveillance court process in order to spy on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page. Democrats hope the report will show that the FBI had a sound basis to investigate the Trump campaign.
News2016 Election, Carter Page, Christopher Steele, Clinton Campaign, Department of Justice, DNC, FISA abuse, FISC, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, George Papadopoulos, Michael Horowitz, Russia probeLeave a comment
US Democrats Announce Tighter Criteria for Fifth Presidential Debate
WASHINGTON – The Democratic National Committee on Monday announced new criteria for the fifth presidential debate in November, requiring candidates to meet one of two polling requirements and have 165,000 unique donors.
News, UncategorizedDemocratic Debates, Democrats, DNCLeave a comment

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Community fridge opens in Dundee for anyone who needs help with food
by Steven Rae
July 16, 2019, 8:29 am Updated: July 16, 2019, 10:11 am
© Paul Reid
The aims to reduce food waste by making good quality fresh food available to all.
A new "community fridge" for the West End has now opened its doors to anyone who needs it.
The community fridge, created by Gate Church International, was created thanks to a £180,000 grant which will also keep it going for its first two years of operation.
Inside the fridge, located at the Miller's Wynd car park, locals who cannot afford food can pick up fruit and veg, bread and other surplus food donated by others in the area.
>> Keep up to date with the latest news and sport with the Evening Telegraph newsletter
In a statement, Gate Church International said: "Almost two years ago we applied for funding to do something that was quite different, but a proven way to help tackle the huge amounts of surplus food.
"It was hopefully something that would bring our local community together and they would be proud of – a community fridge.
"We got the funding, and a year and a half ago we approached the council to see if we could use this overgrown, wasted space across the road from our community buildings.
"It has taken much longer than anticipated (as these things inevitably do) but we've learned a whole lot along the way and wouldn't change a thing."
The fridge is open every day from 11am-2pm – but will move to full opening hours of 8am-8pm around the time of its official launch on August 4.
The project had suffered some setbacks after some local businesses expressed concerns about antisocial behaviour in the immediate area – but these were smoothed out following a period of consultation.
Community Fridge
Gate Church International.
Miller's Wynd
Historic Dundee castle – one of the city's oldest buildings – to be sold off by city council
Dundee teenager put police officer's life in danger with chokehold
Martel Maxwell: 'I have a real soft spot for our Dundee celebrities'
Police trace missing 27-year-old woman last seen in Liff


text:
Oil Leak 292 Firth of Forth
Following up on the last oil leak – this is from the Firth of Forth application
The decision against this specific proposal for ship-to-ship transfers of oil in the Firth of Forth will be welcomed by all those who have campaigned against the proposal
Richard Lochhead
Environment Secretary
Charles Hammond, group chief executive of Forth Ports, said: "In our role as the harbour authority for the Firth of Forth we have a statutory duty to assess all applications to undertake commercial activity on the river.
"We have used both internal expertise and independent expert advisors, taking into account all safety and environmental considerations and have undertaken one of the most extensive consultation exercises ever carried out in the UK.
"Given the uncertainty surrounding the scope of the proposed project, we have decided that this application is not in the best interests of the company and its shareholders."
Environment Secretary Richard Lochhead said: "The Scottish Government joins the communities of the Firth of Forth in warmly welcoming this decision by Forth Ports.
"The decision against this specific proposal for ship-to-ship transfers of oil in the Firth of Forth will be welcomed by all those who have campaigned against the proposal."
« Oil Leak 295 Spill Response Oil Leak 296 Port Authority Meeting »


Sharp pain in stomach is a serious matter. When someone faces such a sharp pain in the abdomen, he or she wonders what might be causing that pain. Well, there can be some guesses. The person can make out the real cause of sharp stomach pain using some information. There are some conditions which have characteristic symptoms that help to identify that condition.
Sharp pain in stomach after eating : This can be due to a stomach ulcer. The pain is stabbing, almost unbearable. It is felt in the upper abdomen and makes it difficult to eat food again. The pain usually subsides quickly but has an impact on the person. Stomach ulcers can form due to any reason, but the main cause is an organism known as H. pylori.
Sharp pain in stomach and back : This condition is care but requires prompt medical care. If there is fever as well, then it could possibly be pancreatitis, an inflammation of the pancreas ( the organ that produces insulin ). Pancreas inflammation is a matter of grave concern.
Sharp pain in stomach at the lower right abdomen : Most people know that it is a symptoms of appendicitis. This condition affects many people once in their lives and these people generally have to go through the standard treatment for this condition - which is surgery. Appendicitis in inflammation of the appendix in the intestine. The aim of treatment is to remove it before it bursts.
Gas pain and acidity : Excessive build up of gas in the intestine and acidity due to stomach acid make the gas acidic. This acidic gas causes sharp pain anywhere in the belly. This pain can be reduced by eating foods that are alkaline in nature, like pumpkin, beet greens, carrots and peppers. Eat carminative foods like asafoetida, cumin and fennel to help the body release gas easily.
Sharp pain with the person drawing his or her knees to the chest. This kind of stomach ache is usually caused by intussusception, a rare condition in which a part of intestine folds into a second part. This creates a pocket and leads to intestinal narrowing. This condition is known to occur more commonly in young boys and girls.
If there is vomiting and severe cramping in the abdomen, then the cause of sharp pain in stomach can be intestinal obstruction. A blockage of the intestine can be caused by numerous reasons and it is a very painful condition.
Sharp stomach is also caused by ulceration of the large intestine, a condition known as ulcerative colitis. This inflammatory disease affects many people and there are many who are not even aware of it. This condition can lead to frequent pains in the abdomen.
A home remedy for all sharp stomach pain is this - Lie down in the most comfortable position , drink some ginger ale or chicken broth. Ginger is very good for almost any ailment of the stomach.
Site powered by Blogger . For any medical needs or advice contact your doctor . The site is only for informative and educational purposes . Using this site means you accept our Disclaimer .


text:
Jameela Jamil Reminded Twitter That Her Abortion Wasn't "A Mistake"
Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images
By Kayla Blanton
Despite what her haters want to believe, Jameela Jamil's abortion left her in a good place. Still, she had to clap back on Twitter after receiving thousands of messages telling her she made the wrong decision. "Receiving THOUSANDS of messages about how I made a mistake having an abortion 7 years ago and how I must be a miserable person," she wrote. "I am in fact a happy, thriving multi millionaire, madly in love, with free time, good sleep and a wonderful career and life. But thanks for checking."
The actor is famously known for her hilarious and beloved role as Tahani in NBC's The Good Place and is in a relationship with singer-songwriter James Blake. She first opened up about her abortion when an anti-abortion law was passed in Georgia, one of the nine states that passed similar bans earlier this year, per NPR. She called the law "upsetting, inhumane, and blatantly demonstrative of a hatred of women, a disregard for our rights, bodies, mental health, and essentially a punishment for rape victims."
The law's announcement led many celebrities, including Jamil herself, to share their own experiences. "I had an abortion when I was young, and it was the best decision I have ever made," she wrote. "Both for me, and for the baby I didn't want, and wasn't ready for, emotionally, psychologically and financially. So many children will end up in foster homes. So many lives ruined. So very cruel."
In another tweet, she said her "life *is* more important to me than an unborn fetus' one. Suck on that."
Her response to haters on Twitter garnered 13.5 thousand retweets and 154 thousand likes. And in a follow-up tweet, she thanked the kind people of the internet for the love and support. "Didn't expect to receive so much love for [the above] tweet," she replied. "And anyone who feels uncomfortable with the fact that I shouted out what my abortion allowed me personally to go on to achieve...I believe it's important for brown girls to see brown girls win big and be unashamedly proud."
The replies to her comment were filled with, yes, some more hate, but mostly shared experiences from people who thanked her for being so transparent and vulnerable with the world. As a proclaimed activist, Jamil is equally honest with fans about other, often stigmatized difficulties she has faced, like her experience with an eating disorder — proving that speaking out is an important component to creating real change in the world.


A. I believe that God created me, along with all creatures. God gave to me: body and soul, eyes, ears and all the other parts of my body, my mind and all my senses and preserves them as well. God gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and land, spouse and children, fields, animals, and all I own. Every day God abundantly provides everything I need to nourish this body and life. God protects me against all danger, shields and defends me from all evil. God does all this because of pure, fatherly, and divine goodness and mercy, not because I've earned it or deserved it. For all of this, I must thank, praise, serve,and obey God. Yes, this is true!
I believe in Jesus Christ, God's only Son, our Lord.
A. I believe that Jesus Christ is truly God, born of the Father in eternity and also truly human, born of the Virgin Mary. Christ is my Lord! Christ redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, bought and won me from all sins, death, and the authority of the Devil. It did not cost him gold or silver, but his holy, precious blood, his innocent body -- his death! Because of this, I am Christ's very own, will live under Christ in his kingdom and serve Christ righteously, innocently and blessedly forever, just as Christ is risen from death, lives and reigns forever. Yes, this is true!
A. I believe that I cannot come to my Lord Jesus Christ by my own intellegence or power. But the Holy Spirit called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with her gifts, made me holy and kept me in the true faith, just as she calls, gathers together, enlightens and makes holy the whole Church on earth and keeps it with Jesus in the one, true faith. In this Church, she generously forgives each day every sin committed by me and by every believer. On the last day, she will raise me and all the dead from the grave. She will give eternal life to me and to all who believe in Christ. Yes, this is true!


Exports the ASPxPivotGrid's data to the specified file in CSV format, and writes it to the response in the binary format.
void ExportCsvToResponse(string fileName) Exports the ASPxPivotGrid's data to the specified file in CSV format, and writes it to the response in the binary format.
void ExportCsvToResponse(string fileName, bool saveAsFile) Exports the ASPxPivotGrid's data to the specified file in CSV format with the specified settings, and writes it to the response in the binary format.
void ExportCsvToResponse(string fileName, CsvExportOptions options) Exports the ASPxPivotGrid's data to the specified file in CSV format with the specified export settings, and writes it to the response in the binary format.
void ExportCsvToResponse(string fileName, CsvExportOptions options, bool saveAsFile) Exports the ASPxPivotGrid's data to the specified file in CSV format with the specified export settings, and writes it to the response in the binary format.


El Borego De Oro is located on South Congress in name only. Just a block north of Ben White Blvd, it is not as 'cool' as its more pretentious "SoCo" siblings. There were no hipsters, oversized sunglasses, or tight pants anywhere. Thankfully, El Borego knows what it is: a straight-forward taqueria serving cheap (and kinda-ok-to-good) food to hungry denizens.
The chips and salsa appear to be a crapshoot. On this visit, the chips tasted stale and the salsa was a bit watery. This stands in sharp contrast to a previous visit, where the chips were fresh and greasy (yum!) and the queso with chorizo was thick and amazing.
The tacos were decent, but not outstanding. The portions, especially the meat, were quite generous and we all left the place full. They were served on homemade tortillas which were tasty and certainly better than any store-bought kind.
The picadillo was served with cheese, lettuce and tomato which nicely complemented the meat. The barbacoa was nice and fatty, almost creamy, and delighted Jarod to no end.
The tacos al pastor were below average. They were definitely not made on a spit, and they seemed to be marinated rather than spiced appropriately. I would not order them again. On the other hand, the beans were delectable and were the best part of the visit. They had a great bacon flavor and the texture was just right (not too runny, not too thick.) Any place that can make good beans is worth a return visit.
Borego is one of my favorites, but you are probably right that Pastor is not their strong suit. The enchiladas with chile con carne and the flautas are particularly good.
Oh, I have had the flautas on a previous visit. They were pretty good ... which is surprising and a : Chicken dishes are the achilles heel of most mexican joints.
Que Sweet! Thanks for the plug Private Chef!


GE Power India has won two orders worth of Rs 327.5 crore from Doosan Power Systems India Pvt (DPSI) to supply ambient air quality control systems to be installed at power plants.
"… awarded two contracts by DPSI to supply ambient air quality control systems for Jawaharpur and Obra C power plants operated by Jawaharpur Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd (JVUNL) and Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Ltd (UPRVUNL), respectively," a company statement said.
According to the statement, the deal worth Rs 327.5 crore million (USD 49.2 million) includes four electrostatic precipitators (ESPs) that can remove particulate matter and help meet India's ambient air quality regulation standards.
It said GE Power is also supplying super critical steam turbines for the same projects, which are being executed by DPSI on EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) basis. Once operational, these plants together will produce 2,640 mw, potentially powering nearly 16 million Indian homes. The technology is expected to bring down the emission of particulate matters below the mandated level under the new environmental guidelines.


In the extremely competitive brain sport of solar-car racing, LEO has become the leading supplier of batteries and battery pack systems for teams around the world. Our extreme energy dense battery packs coupled with over 20 years of experience has made LEO the de-facto standard in battery systems for solar-car racing.
Our growing list of teams have competed with great finishes in all the major world competitions.
LEO ENERGY has the experience, know-how to design and engineer energy efficient, balanced battery packs for your team. We produce systems that will meet your desired race regulations, weight limit, voltage, power and maximize the efficiency of your vehicle all within the rules and regulations of the sports governing bodies. Let us deisgn an award winning pack for you.
We have a wide variety of UL certified and racing body certified cells for assembly into packs to suit your race. From Japan, WSC, ASC and the demanding Turkish races, we have the battery packs for optimum power = energy requirements.
LEO Battery Cells now reaching true 250Wh/kg.


text:
Q: Why String Array only get to return first element, but not the subsequent element? I am writing this program to convert a string into a string array in C (Using char**). But it seems that the program only get to store the element of the first value, but the rest is just printing (null). May I know what I did wrong here?
Here is a snippet of how I test my code. I am allocating the memory for char**, and passing it to toStrArray functions to store each string in argv[1] to arg_1 (separating by delimeter " ").
Which means everytime the program sees a " ", it marks to stop and store the string into the array element
EXPECTED OUTPUT: This city is beautiful! But  ACTUAL OUTPUT: This (null) (null) (null)
int main( int argc, char *argv[] )
{
    int i;
    int numWords; /* Pointer size (row) for arg_1 */
    char **arg_1; /* String array for argument 1 */

    if( argc == ARGUMENT_SIZE )
    {
        numWords = getNumWords(argv[1]); /* Get the number of words in arg_1
                                          eg: "This city is beautiful" will return 4 */

        /* Allocation of string array of arg_1 */
        arg_1 = (char**)malloc(numWords * sizeof(char*));

        /* ASSERTION: Iterate through the rows of string array and allocate their memory */
        for( i = 0; i < numWords; i++ )
            *arg_1 = (char*)malloc(STR_LENGTH * sizeof(char));

        arg_1 = toStrArray( argv[1], arg_1, " " ); /* Converts each word in argv[1] to separated string array
                                                  so that we can find matching with argv[2] and change it */

        for( i = 0; i < numWords; i++ )
            printf("%s ", arg_1[i]);
    }
    return 0;
}

So here is my toStrArray
char** toStrArray(char str[], char **strArr, char delim[])
{
    char *token;
    int i;

    i = 0;
    token = strtok(str, delim);
    /* ASSERTION: Token the string until the end of the string */
    while( token != NULL )
    {
        strArr[i] = token; /* Assigning each word into element array */
        token = strtok(NULL, delim); /* Get the next token (word) */
        i++;
    }
    return strArr;
}

getNumWords function:
int getNumWords(char str[])
{
    int num_words;
    char *token;

    token = strtok(str, " ");
    num_words = 0;

    /* ASSERTION: Iterate until we reach the last token */
    while( token != NULL )
    {
        token = strtok(NULL, " ");
        num_words++;
    }
    return num_words;
}

A: You can't use strtok twice on the same character array in memory. The input
char str = {'T', 'h', 'i', 's', ' ', 'c', 'i', 't', 'y', ' ', 'i', 's',
            ' ', 'b', 'e', 'a', 'u', 't', 'i', 'f', 'u', 'l', '!',  0};

will become
char str = {'T', 'h', 'i', 's',   0, 'c', 'i', 't', 'y',   0, 'i', 's',
              0, 'b', 'e', 'a', 'u', 't', 'i', 'f', 'u', 'l', '!',  0};

after executing
char* ret1 = strtok(str,  " "); // Sets the null byte after 'This'
char* ret2 = strtok(NULL, " "); // Sets the null byte after 'city'
char* ret3 = strtok(NULL, " "); // Sets the null byte after 'is'
char* ret4 = strtok(NULL, " "); // Doesn't modify str

Note that each whitespace character is replaced with a terminating null byte. Doing so will cut the input string into multiple substrings:
printf("%s\n", ret1); // Outputs 'This'
printf("%s\n", ret2); // Outputs 'city'
printf("%s\n", ret3); // Outputs 'is'
printf("%s\n", ret4); // Outputs 'beautiful!'

If you call toStrArray, this has already happened and a call to strtok with argv[1] returns NULL because the substring 'This' doesn't contain a separator.
Therefore I would suggest counting the number of separators with strchr instead: It return a pointer to the first appearance of a character. From there, the search continues until no more whitespaces can be found, i.e. NULL is returned.
#include <stdio.h>
#include <string.h>

int main() {
    char str[] = "This city is beautiful!";

    int count = 0;
    for(char* tmp = str; tmp; count++) {
        while (tmp[1] == ' ')     // Ignore preceding and multiple whitespaces
            tmp++;
        tmp = strchr(tmp+1, ' '); // Find next whitespace
    }

    printf("Number of words: %d\n", count);
}


text:
Home » Polls show Joe Biden's lead over Donald Trump growing
Polls show Joe Biden's lead over Donald Trump growing
by Neoma Simpson October 7, 2020
Former Vice President Joe Biden. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Both state and national polls show the Democratic nominee gaining ground among key voters.
A HANDFUL OF NATIONAL and state polls, which find former Vice President Joe Biden's margin of support growing into the double digits as President Donald Trump's support among key demographics erodes, could foretell a major Democratic victory come November.
A CNN poll released Tuesday shows 57% of likely voters say they support Biden compared to 41% who say they support Trump. The poll, conducted by SSRS after the first debate and mostly after the president's coronavirus infection was made public, is the latest national poll to bolster a narrative that Trump is sinking.
The poll found likely voters preferred Biden over Trump on an array of issues, including his ability to unite the country, his ability to keep Americans safe from harm and his overall plan to solve the country's problems. Even on the economy, where Trump has consistently polled higher than Biden, 50% of likely voters say Biden would handle the economy better compared to 48% who said Trump would handle it better.
The finding is an important indicator of potential erosion in the president's base and comes after an NBC/Wall St Journal poll signaled a narrowing on the issue, with voters viewing Trump as better suited than Biden to handle the economy, 48% to 41%.
Notably, the NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll, which was conducted after the presidential debate but before the president's coronavirus diagnosis was revealed, also signaled a significant and growing margin of support for Biden. Among registered voters, the poll found Biden leading Trump by 14 points, 53% to 39% – up from the 8-point lead he held in the previous poll conducted before the debate.
The NBC News/Wall St. Journal poll found another potential signal of the trouble the president finds himself in just weeks ahead of the election: The biggest declines for Trump were seen among seniors, who backed Biden by 62% to 35%, and among suburban women, who backed Biden 58% to 33%. Moreover, the poll found men 50 years and older moved to a 1-point advantage for Biden, compared to a 13-point advantage for Trump in a poll from the news outlets conducted before the debate.
These demographics were largely responsible for Trump's 2016 victory and without them, his path to reelection is difficult.
The national polling is bolstered by state polling that could also signal trouble for the president.
A poll from The New York Times/Siena College, for example, shows Biden leading Trump 49% to 41% in the battleground state of Arizona – a traditionally Republican state that has only supported a Democrat for president once (Bill Clinton in 1996) since 1952.
Trump carried the state by about three and a half points in 2016, but the poll, which was taken both before and after the president announced that he had tested positive for the coronavirus, shows women, younger voters and Hispanic people propelling Biden to a steady lead.
The polling – though not a barometer for how well a president will perform in the election – remains an important indicator about how voters feel in the crucial weeks heading into Nov. 3. Combined, the polls suggest Democrats could be looking at the largest margin of victory since 1964, when incumbent President Lyndon Johnson defeated Barry Goldwater, the Republican nominee, with 61.1% of the popular vote. It was the largest margin of victory since 1820.
Pollsters are quick to caution that, as always, anything can happen. At this time in 2016, Hillary Clinton was consistently outperforming Trump in the polls – though she wasn't breaking 50 percent or posting the types of gains Biden is currently.
And while the polls show erosion of support among important demographics for Trump, the CNN poll in particular showed the president's core supporters remain steadfast in their backing of him, if not more so now than in previous months. Among white men without college degrees, for example, Trump's support increased from 61% in September to 67% now.
Even still, pollsters say, if the race returns to an 8- or 9-point margin, where it's more or less stood over the last several months, it presents a difficult path to victory for Trump, especially with less than a month before Election Day.
By Lauren Camera, Senior Education Writer @ The US News
2020 presidential electiondonald trumpJoe Bidenpolls
Neoma Simpson
CONTRIBUTOR | Opinions expressed by contributors are their own. If you want to share your story, publish a press release or just want to ask something, contact Vietnam Insider via editor@vietnaminsider.vn. Follow us on Facebook | Twitter
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Arizona Cardinals Cheerleaders Seeking New Recruits
Ray Stern
Ray Stern | February 20, 2009 | 2:00pm
It's time to show 'em what you've got:
The Arizona Cardinals are looking for a few good cheerleaders following the team's stellar season as Super Bowl contenders.
If you've got the right moves, can squeeze your butt into one of those postage-stamp-size pair of shorts and you're hot enough to steal attention away from Larry Fitzgerald, you might even have a chance during April tryouts. According to the Cardinals Web site, clinics that prepare women for the stressful tryouts begin March 19.
This isn't a job for the desperately unemployed. Though the tryout package says cheerleaders who make the team must make a yearlong commitment starting in May, there's no mention anywhere of pay. In fact, the clinics cost a few bucks and you'll apparently have to buy your own uniform -- the Cards provide only a miserly 15-percent-off coupon at a clothing store.
Here's how the Web site describes the job:
Imagine cheering in front of 60,000 fans, being a role model for young
children, and supporting hundreds of charity/ community groups in the
valley! This group of beautiful, sophisticated, and talented women does
it all and you have a chance to be a part of it.
Indeed, imagine cheering in front of 60,000 fans at a Super Bowl.
And imagine that -- this time -- the Cardinals win.
Ray Stern has worked as a newspaper reporter in Arizona for more than two decades. He's won many awards for his reporting, including the Arizona Press Club's Don Bolles Award for Investigative Journalism.
Facebook: Ray Stern
Twitter: @raystern


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The great debacle
Published on Tuesday, 05 April 2016 13:42
Written by Peter Wallace
It didn't start off until after one-and-a-half hours because Vice President Jejomar Binay challenged the rules. He wanted to bring to the podium some documents he'd prepared.
Commission on Elections rules said no notes, so why did he want to? He said he wanted to provide support for some of the things he wanted to say that he thought important for the public to know. And he'd been told a couple of weeks earlier in a meeting with TV5 that he could. So for 94 minutes they argued, while the nation twiddled its thumbs.
Who was at fault? It wasn't the Comelec; it promulgated the rules even before the first presidential debate. It was TV5 and Binay; they should have checked with the Comelec, the organizer of the event, but they didn't.
But the worst fault was Binay's. He held up the debate scheduled to start at 5 p.m. by arguing for 94 minutes. He may well have had good reason to want the notes, but as the other three candidates had been told, and agreed to, no notes, and higher Comelec officials insisted. He should just have resigned himself to the fact that there were to be no notes. The organizers should have insisted on starting immediately, without notes. There were over 10 million viewers waiting to hear from the presidentiables.
The rules for the third debate should be transmitted in writing to all the presidentiables, and they should sign that they've read, understood and agreed to those rules. Any dispute should be resolved well before April 24.
As to the organization, it was delightful to see young college kids as the ushers, receptionists, etc. doing the job, and doing it well. But the room was way too small, with those cheap plastic monobloc chairs crammed too close together. Try sitting for five hours in one of those. So I'm pleased to learn that the third debate will be held in the Presidential Town Hall at University of Pangasinan that can seat some 2,000 (the Cebu hall held a miserly 260).
I wonder if it might not be kinder to give the presidentiables bar stools to sit on. Three hours is a long time to stand, and the extra hour was a welcome development. For the last debate I'd go for four hours. These debates have proved to be a great reintroduction after 24 years of silence. Credit must be given to Comelec Chair Andy Bautista for organizing these events.
The second debate was a great improvement on the first. More time was given to make statements and answer questions, with others allowed to interact and to challenge. The polite kid gloves in Cagayan de Oro were gone. We're getting to know the presidentiables better, and getting to make (I hope) a better-informed decision.
There being one debate left, let's make it a really intense one. As my son said, "I was glued to my seat" (mind you, on a plastic monobloc chair). Let's glue everyone to their seats, and let the fireworks fly. Pangasinan should be a no-holds-barred slugfest that will bring out the best, and worst, of each of them.
Antagonism is healthy in a presidential debate because you get to know someone's personality better when they're under attack. Their true personality comes through. That each candidate was able to direct a searching question to another was a great idea, too. Binay was asked by Mar Roxas about his alleged corruption, Grace Poe by Rodrigo Duterte on what she'd do if the Coast Guard were attacked, and Roxas by Poe if Mamasapano revealed President Aquino's lack of trust in him.
And the arguments veered into wider attacks, which brings up a point for the third debate. I find a single question directed to a single candidate with too short a time to develop an answer too limiting. You don't get much beyond the vote-appealing sound bite. More detail of how they would do it, and fund it, is necessary. I'd also address the same question to each of them. That's the best way to see who is best. It does mean fewer subjects covered, but it's a trade-off worth taking.
If the (few) important questions are carefully developed beforehand, there'll be a more in-depth assessment of the candidates and their ability to lead the nation. The voting committee originally proposed should be called (immediately) to do this. Let's have experts decide. Few of the right questions delved deep. For that, we need a really experienced, tough moderator. Luchi Cruz-Valdes did a good job, particularly toward the end when she brought a couple of candidates into line. But there was still that (Filipino) deference to community leaders. Presidentiables must recognize that the moderator must have absolute control - and exercise it - if the debate is to proceed smoothly and not get out of hand.
It must be clear that the third debate is NOT an ABS-CBN/Manila Bulletin affair but a public service that they are just kindly sponsoring, and the logistics for which they are organizing. In the next elections, it should be a Comelec-funded series of events as a service to voters. Congress should allocate a budget, with all media allowed for the widest dissemination possible.
I would certainly keep the section where each candidate can ask another a tough question. But with a longer three minutes to answer and room for two rebuttals. Have an argument. Let's draw the crowds away from the usual mind-numbing programs they now watch - at least this once.
We also need something that binds candidates to their promises when they win. We can't have another president who promises to open up government with a Freedom of Information Act - and then doesn't do it. The next leader can't be allowed to be so brazen.
The second debate was a much improved affair; the initial first-debate skirmishes were over. The gloves were off. Now they can hit each other in Pangasinan. But let's get some thoughtful answers to some serious questions, too. Watch it. Inquirer.net


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Tag: farming
Meanwhile, Back At The Snail Ranch (Article featured in TakePart.com)
May 19, 2013 courtneyguerra1 Comment
Credit: Willy Blackmore
A Los Angeles restaurant is turning to a front-yard garden for its vegetables—and some slow-food protein too.
Snails have an ignoble reputation in America: Not only are they pests, but invasive ones at that. Helix aspera's leaf-munching presence in gardens and farms around the country is an irritating legacy of France's less easily understood culinary mores (see also: horse, frog's legs, ortolan).
But if you're in the restaurant business, faced with the choice of either serving imported snails or paying as much as $30 per pound for their domestic counterparts, the supposed backyard pest can quickly turn into a welcome friend.
So alongside the fava beans, radishes and beets Courtney Guerra tends at her Flower Avenue Garden in Venice, CA, are snails. And they're there by design.
Guerra, 32 years old, is tanned and blonde, looking more like a Venice surfer than anyone you might peg as a farmer. Her working attire veers more toward Lululemon gear rather than anything cut from ochre duck canvas. She started the Flower Avenue Garden back in January, when she moved to Venice after working in the rarefied world of Napa Valley restaurants.
After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America and cooking for a private caterer, Guerra worked with Christine Kim, the head gardener at Meadowood, in St. Helena. Kim oversees a half-acre of crops, an apiary, hen house and a herd of goats for the three-Michelin star restaurant. Guerra's hope is to adapt that kind of operation to the city, building gardens dedicated to supplying restaurants with produce and other products, like those snails.
"That's been the reason why I really moved down here in the first place," Guerra tells me as we walk among the beds of turnips, fava beans and obscure greens like New Zealand spinach and ice lettuce. "I really fell in love with farming, but then it was like, OK, if we want to reform our food system in any way, we have to think of alternative ways to get our food. Because what we have going on right now pretty much everyone can agree is not working. So, I was like, I'm not one to turn down a challenge, so let's do this in L.A."
The snails are picked off the branches of a friend's organic cherimoya orchard in Santa Barbara, where they're very much unwelcome. After driving them south, Guerra places them in a muddy, subterranean box, about four-foot square, where they feed on radishes, turnips and greens. Twice a week, Guerra swings open the plywood lid, casting daylight down on the slow, sliming packs, and plucks out 50 or so specimens. Those snails are starved for a few days, which purges their slimy bodies of any gritty dirt they've sucked up, before they travel 15 miles east, to Alma, a Downtown L.A. restaurant run by chef-owner Ari Taymor.
Taymor, 27, grew up in the Bay Area, and the scent memories of the chaparral and redwoods are a major influence in his cooking—his is a culinary effort to distill California onto a plate. So it's no wonder that it was a meal at Chez Panisse that pushed him toward a career in the kitchen, andAlice Waters' local-food ethos has influenced his own cooking philosophy.
Before opening Alma last year, Taymor had his own experience working with a traditional restaurant-garden setup. In 2010, he spent six months working at La Chassagnette, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Southern France's Camargue, just outside of Arles. But Alma, which sits next door to a hostess dance club, where patrons pay women by the minute for grope-y turns around the dance floor, is substantially removed from the rural swamps of Provence, where, like Napa, agriculture is a common industry.
For Taymor and Ashleigh Parsons, Alma's co-owner and general manager, the business is something more than a restaurant—it's a means of being involved in a community, a lofty ideal that's exemplified by the health and wellness after-school program they run at two nearby schools, both of which serve students who live in neighborhoods underserved by grocery stores. And while Guerra's business may be about growing esoteric ingredients like buckwheat sprouts and caraway greens for chefs, she also sees the garden as a way to show the potential for an urban space to grow food.
Taymor says it was the impressive produce from Flower Avenue that sold him on working with Guerra, and she similarly felt that the Alma kitchen staff would treat her painstakingly raised vegetables appropriately. But it would appear that chef and gardener make excellent partners on a level that goes beyond what's in the dirt and what's on the plate; both think in big, somewhat didactic terms, and they strive to run businesses that do more than make money—they want to feed, to inspire.
"It was actually like dirt with a futon frame in the front and bikes in the back. It was just a bunch of bachelors who lived here," Guerra says of the one-story Venice bungalow she moved into at the beginning of the year. She broke ground on January 4, digging up the front yard, mixing in manure, compost, and a truckload of soil hauled down from the cherimoya orchard. And she's working with good dirt to start with, judging by the area's history. "The land here in Venice was actually an old bean farm," Guerra says she learned from a neighbor. "Before all of these housing tracts went in there, it was all beans."
Simple two-by-six frames hem in the crops in the front yard of the corner lot; a tall magnolia tree casts a patch of shade over a portion of the garden, which Guerra is learning to take advantage of, planting lettuces and agretti, a coastal succulent with a snappy, salty bite, around its base. Save the variety and density of what's growing there, Guerra's yard isn't much different from the other yards on the street—or the millions of other plots Angelenos choose to fill with roses, bougainvillea, succulents or California poppies.
"You could have half of the stuff that I have coming out of this garden and you and your neighbors would be lousy with vegetables," Guerra tells me as we stand in her backyard, where I can see her neighbor picking lemons off a tree on the other side of a low stucco wall. His citrus might not be destined for a restaurant that Jonathan Gold raved about in the Los Angeles Times, but he's quietly practicing part of what Guerra's preaching. "I think that says a lot about what kind of power you can hold in terms of what role you can play in your food system. Basically, you should be buying meat, dairy and grains from a grocery store. Everything else you can provide for yourself."
Taymor and his kitchen staff are prepping for dinner service when I speak to him about working with Flower Avenue. He moves between the stove and a cutting board, charring and chopping strawberries he then purées in a blender, listing the ingredients from Venice that are featured on the menu that night as he works. "We're using her radishes, her turnips, some of her carrots, we're for sure using her snails, we're using a bunch of different greens."
"We're starting to see what the potential volume is" for produce from Flower Avenue, Taymor says. "The goal, at first, is to have the tasting menu be exclusively out of the garden, and then, from there, to move the menu toward that if we can get a bigger garden."
And that's the perennial challenge of re-envisioning Napa and the Camargue in the Southern California sprawl. Yards may be common, but a few continuous acres are hard to come by. Walking through Guerra's greenhouse, the metal racks packed with two-by-two dirt squares of cucumber, squash, basil and fennel seedlings, it becomes clear that what is essentially a very ambitious home garden is only one step toward a self-sustaining restaurant.
"I kind of knew going into it that this would be an issue, obviously," Guerra admits as she walks by one of the last unplanted pieces of dirt on the property, a small, oddly shaped patch that will soon be blanketed with herbs. "I'm already running out of room or have run out of room, actually. And that's really frustrating for me because I can't give chef a really nice bulk harvest of broccoli."
"As much as I love it, I sometimes see limitations in terms of scope and scale and water and stuff like that," Taymor acknowledges. "But we really want to be embedded in the community, and to be embedded in the community in this way, to actually have a place where people can see where our food comes from and to participate in it, it makes a big difference."
Alma Restaurant Rooftop Garden Project: Beginnings
April 11, 2013 courtneyguerraLeave a comment
It happened, and I knew it would, I have officially run out of room at the Flower Ave Garden in Venice. My new mission, if I chose to accept it (you best believe I have!) is to find more space for Alma's veggies!!
Thankfully the success of my mission came in the form of a tiny rooftop space directly above the restaurant in downtown Los Angeles. It isn't ideal, the space is small, the roof a bit old and could probably use some repairs, but it is a good fix for the short term.
Once again I owe a HUGE thanks to Tony, the ranch owner in Santa Barbara. He and his family drive down every Wednesday to sell produce in the Santa Monica's farmers market. On his last trip he brought down a truckload of buckets filled with beautiful Santa Barbara soil…and of course donkey shit 😉
I decided to repurpose crates to turn into planters. I lined the inside with landscaping material that will allow for proper drainage. They are lightweight, portable, and can easily be setup or moved.
The next step was to design a trellis system for the beans that I planted in the crates. I used these buckets, anchored with brick and filled with concrete to make movable posts. Then up to the rooftop to zip-tie the fencing to the posts!
Alma's rooftop garden also acts as good practice for me, as I am patiently awaiting our next step in urban farming…a warehouse rooftop! Stay tuned kids =)
"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."
~Walt Disney
(One) Farm-to-Table: Courtney Guerra and Alma's Ari Taymor on Farmer-Chef Monogamy (Article from BonAppetit.com)
March 28, 2013 March 28, 2013 courtneyguerra1 Comment
Credit: Matt Duckor, Bon Appetit Assistant Editor
I'm standing in front of a modest home in Venice, California. There's a popular cafe down the street that serves sixteen different types of breakfast cereal and, behind the house, 1,000 square feet of white strawberries, scarlet frill mustard, and breakfast radishes. Venice is in Los Angeles, but this sure doesn't feel like it.
The greenhouse belongs to farmer Courtney Guerra, and the micro bronze fennel she's growing is for Ari Taymor, the chef-owner of Alma.
"What size do you want for the micro?" asked Guerra.
"Micro what?"
"Bronze fennel. What presence do you want it to have on the dish?"
That's exactly the sort of conversation Guerra hoped she'd have when she moved to Los Angeles.
Formerly a cook and gardener at The Restaurant at Meadowood in Napa Valley, Guerra's aim was to work closely with one L.A. restaurant, supplying it with produce. That exclusive relationship would allow her to focus on what the chef wants planted, when that chef wants it picked, and how much of it the chef needs, not to mention the unified flavor the comes from ingredients growing in the same patch of dirt. She had a friend in Venice who wasn't using his yard–that is, "besides to store futons, trash and office furniture"–so she moved in and had the garden up and running in a matter of weeks.
At first, Guerra says, she "felt like Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams: 'If you build it, he will come.'" She didn't have to wait long. This past Valentine's Day (a coincidence, I'm told), she met Taymor through Rustic Canyon Wine Bar chef Jeremy Fox. The two clicked and quickly signed an exclusive contract.
Only one dish on Alma's menu is currently made up of Guerra exclusives: An early spring salad featuring frill mustard, buckwheat, pea trendril, among other things. But the plan is for everything to come from the garden by early next year. And then there are the snails. Guerra selects them in the morning and Taymor served them to you after being sautéed in garlic and butter at night. They are delicious and evidence that every restaurant should raise its own snails.
While nearly every restaurant that opens its reclaimed wood doors these days preaches farm-to-table (and a handful of LA restaurants grow their own herbs and limited produce), none match the scope and ambition of Guerra and Taymor. In December, Fox told me he hoped to have a garden supply his restaurant like he had when he was chef atUbuntu, but that it was at least a few years off. While Guerra's garden is perfect for the 30-seat Alma, it couldn't exclusively support a high-volume restaurant. Not yet.
So yes, this is new ground for L.A. "I try to explain to people people–not restaurant people–what it is I do here," says Guerra. "I think when people see it, that we've taken nothing and turned it into a restaurant's culinary garden, they'll get that you don't need two acres in Napa Valley to have something that works."
Still, expanding out of someone's backyard would be nice. So Guerra and Taymor are looking up. Literally–they're working on a 60,000 square-foot rooftop garden in downtown L.A., where Alma is located. That means more room for everything she plans on growing, including fava beans, Ryokuho broccoli, purple peacock broccoli, and sea kale. For now, I'll settle for another order of snails and the best salad I've had all year.
http://www.bonappetit.com/blogsandforums/blogs/badaily/2013/03/alma-farm-venice-california.html
"Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world."
~Harriet Tubman
The Changing Landscape of The American Farmer (Article published on theultimateyogi.com)
March 21, 2013 March 21, 2013 courtneyguerraLeave a comment
It's possible that the only place you will see a farmer standing in overalls with a pitchfork these days is on a package of some highly processed food, selling you the imagery that the food was made by said overall-wearing, pitchfork-welding farmer. But in actuality, the nostalgic image couldn't be further from the truth, and the story of who is bringing cheap, commoditized food to our plates is starting to be told.
Who grows our food?
The veil is slowly being lifted for millions of Americans, and as a nation we are beginning to see what it really looks like to be a farmer in America. We'd like to believe that at the other end of that Moons Over My Hammy breakfast sandwich from Denny's is a farmer carefully harvesting the eggs from happy chickens roaming around the farm, hand-milking the cows for the cheese, while his wife pulls fresh sourdough from the oven, ready to slice. Ok, so maybe we don't all take it that far, but we can certainly admit to being blissfully ignorant of just who is growing and raising our food in America.
Urban Farming is Here
As our nation reaches a tipping point with out food system, we are beginning to look at the new emerging face of the American Farmer. Like splinter-cells rising out of they tyrannical strong hold of "big food", the small farmer is finding a renaissance in this country like never before. A new generation of Americans have seen the pitfalls of our current food system and are starting to take interest in things like urban farming and urban homesteading.
A new Revolution
The 60's had the civil rights movement and free love, the 80's had punk rock and anti-authoritarian ideologies, today we have the urban farmer. Furthermore, just as these movements had a specific focus (i.e. playing music and boycotting war), they spoke to a generational counter-culture movement that galvanized and mobilized.
So what happens to a society where growing your own food can be one of the biggest acts of rebellion? You support the rebellion. You foster it. You empower the youth of the movement to keep going, keep seeking truth, and keep their independence from "the man"; show them that their health and their environment are not for sale. Make it cool to be a farmer, make it sexy to work with your hands, and play in the dirt. Let Hollywood catch on to the movement, let political leaders take note that if they support food system reform, then they will be supported by votes. You encourage a new generation of farmers, that's what you do. You make being a farmer and actual career possibility.
A common thread
To open society's mind to what the modern American farmer is will be the next step in the evolution of farming in the US. This is done through storytelling. Sharing stories of urban farmers in New York that are using rooftops to feed a neighborhoods, residents in LA turning their front lawns into vegetable gardens to market to chefs, regular folks brewing their own beer to sell to microbreweries. These are all examples of the modern American farmer, and all examples of reform.
As consumers, we hold all of the power in our hands. Want to see change? Vote with your dollar. Want to encourage and support the local small farmer? Buy local! Eat at restaurants that serve ingredients grown by local farmers. Shop at farmers markets, and cook your own food. Make it impossible to ignore that a paradigm shift is taking place, and change is happening now.
Courtney Guerra
Courtney Guerra is the co-founder of the urbanfarmmovement.com and also has her own blog. She studied cooking at the Culinary Institute of America, Greystone and fell in love with farming while working in the garden for The Restaurant at Meadowood.
Flower Ave Garden Project: RADish
We had our fist harvest of radish come out of the garden! They couldn't be more beautiful. Just another sign that So Cal is going to be a perfect location for this culinary garden.
One of the big advantages of a restaurant having their own garden, is they get to dictate what size they would like the radish harvested at. You can have itty bitty ones that make a delicate statement on a plate:
Or you can have medium sized ones that have a little more 'meat' on their bones:
Kris lives at the house and part of the perk of having a culinary garden in your front yard is access to fresh veggies!
And to wrap up the day we had some neighbors visit. Courtney, baby Mika, and 7 year old Mark stopped by to check out the garden and ask questions. Come to find out that Courtney and her family are urban farmers as well! She told me they had a few things planted and grew edamame last season and it came out sweet and delicious. I sent them home with some fave bean starters, I hope they enjoy! I think it is a beautiful thing that Courtney is teaching her family what it looks (and tastes) like to grow your own food, they are the next generation of farmers this country needs! And baby Mika is obvy really in to fava beans 😉
"That which seems the height of absurdity in one generation often becomes the height of wisdom in another."
~Adlai Stevenson
Getting To Know Your Farmer: Gary Carpenter, Squab Ranch~Ojai CA
March 13, 2013 courtneyguerraLeave a comment
As consumers, we live in an age where the term "free range" simply means poultry are allowed some access to the outdoors with no regulation on the quality or size of the "outdoor" area or the length of time granted access, and the term "cage free" which simply means the animal isn't kept in a cage but the owner of the facility isn't required to give any access to the outdoors and practices such as beak cutting are allowed.
So how can a consumer navigate all of the ambiguous and unclear labeling laws in our country? By getting to know their farmer!
This is Gary Carpenter,
Gary owns and runs Carpenter Squab Ranch in Ojai CA, just south of Santa Barbara ( http://carpentersquabranch.com/home.html ). Gary and his family have been squab farmers in Southern California since 1921, and have been dedicated to producing a quality product like no other. The ranch produces squab, chicken, geese, and duck. And it also acts as a processing facility for locals in the community.
Nestled in a small canyon on the outskirts of Ojai, the Squab Ranch is a tiny example of a farmer and his family committed to doing things the right way.
The squab Gary raises are some of the most beautiful fowl I've seen. The breed are White King/ Hubbell birds, and are a broad breasted pigeon bred in the 1920's by Dr G. M. Hubbell and acquired exclusively by Dr. Edwin Carpenter for his ranch. The current flock traces its roots back to those original birds.
The "free range" chicken and geese are just that, FREE RANGE! They are allowed to have full access to the ranch to dig in the dirt for bugs and worms, or make a little nest along side the ranch house and soak up the sun.
The doors to the spacious coops are left open to give access to the real outdoors.
It is important to become more savvy about the unclear labeling laws administered by our government, and to be informed about how your food is being brought to your table. Supporting farmers like Gary Carpenter is one small difference that you can make in trying to repair our broken food system. If you would like to try Gary Carpenter's products, they can be found on the menu at Alma Restaurant in Downtown LA ( http://www.alma-la.com/index.html ).
"Good farmers, who take seriously their duties as stewards of Creation and of their land's inheritors, contribute to the welfare of society in more ways than society usually acknowledges, or even knows. These farmers produce valuable goods, of course; but they also conserve soil, they conserve water, they conserve wildlife, they conserve open space, they conserve scenery."
~Wendell Berry
Flower Ave Garden Project: Gatekeeper
March 1, 2013 courtneyguerraLeave a comment
Everyday, little by little, the garden is taking shape. I have a looooong list of little projects to get done, and building an actual gate for the front was top on the list!
Designing the frame for the gate was step one.
The next step was tacking on the fencing to close in the frame of the gate.
I had a little help with the next step. My parents were in town for a few hours with a layover from LAX to Seattle, so I put 'em to work! They were able to get the holes dug for the fence post, and were able to offer TONS of great advice as they are both very experienced builders.
After the posts were measured and the holes were dug and the parents were dropped back off at the airport, it was off to my home away from home, Home Depot to pick up some concrete.
I couldn't have done it without the help from this little guy! He helped me keep everything level as I poured the concrete.
Coming in to this project, the most experience I had with power tools or construction was hanging a shelf from Ikea. It's been so fun to learn to build things, it's empowering! I think the gate came out rather well if I do say so myself 😉
And to finish up the day, we had another visitor! Janene lives two blocks away, and did a U-turn once she saw the garden. She just retired from teaching at an elementary school for the LAUSD. She told me of some budding programs for school gardens around LA. It was inspiring to hear about others teaching our kids the importance of staying connected to their food system, and what REAL FOOD looks like!
It has been such a wonderful blessing to get to share this garden with others. Everyone who comes here loves the garden for different reasons; and all of these different reasons are all reasons why I started the garden! To educate about farming, to connect people to their food, to stay active, to grow and eat healthy food, to encourage others to do the same, to have a working garden in an urban setting…the list goes on!
"I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor."


Scratch Studio - Pixel Art Awards!
This studio is the Pixel Art Awards! Every week we do Pixel Art Of The week, every month we do Pixel Art Of The Month, and every year we do Pixel Art Of The Year!
4. (IF U DONT HAVE THESE) Be my friend in real life.
2. Have at least 2 good pixel art projects.
PROJECT RULES: Must be pixel art.
Judging remains the same as the projects, but they must have a winning project.