text:
The final session of the FFA2021 Annual Conference focused on the actions planned and foreseen by the US, EU, and UN in the movement towards renewal of the global food systems.
The session started with the US perspective as Tom Vilsack, United States Secretary of Agriculture, set out the Biden Administration's stance on renewing the global food system and five "doable" domestic farming priorities in a pre-recorded video. These include producing sufficient quantities of quality, safe, and accessible food; using economically and environmentally sustainable methods; ensuring open, transparent, rules-based and competitive markets; developing more resilient and equitable food systems; and working towards the Biden Administration's target of zero net emissions from agriculture by 2050.
Agriculture is an essential player in tackling climate change and stands to benefit from emerging opportunities such as new income streams through diversification; as well great leaps forward in improving soil and water quality on a global scale.
Secretary Vilsack identified a common vision heading into the UN Food Systems Summit. "We may have different ways to get to that goal, but I think it is a shared vision." This must be accompanied by an open, transparent, competitive, rules and science-based market.
The final 'Connecting EU-UN closing interview', brought together Frans Timmermans, Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, European Commission, and Agnes Kalibata, UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for the 2021 Food Systems Summit and President of AGRA.
Special Envoy Kalibata pointed out that "fixing the food system is part of fixing climate change". COVID-19 has "put some wind in our sails" by highlighting many of the vulnerabilities in existing food systems and nurturing understanding of global interdependence. The UN Food Systems Summit provides an opportunity for all players to come together and recognise existing failures. She called on the EU to use its experience and policies, such as the European Green Deal, to help the rest of the world and "to step forward and step up".
In reply, Executive Vice-President Timmermans urged the developed world to make available the climate mitigation and climate adaptation funding it has promised to developing countries, and to share with them its technological breakthroughs. This also requires a safe climate for incoming investment. He argued that any price increases from sustainable food production would be considerably lower than "the cost of non-action which is completely underestimated". International trade and fiscal policy can help offset price rises. The biggest problem facing agriculture is not its carbon footprint, but the loss of biodiversity and the threat to one million species.
Agnes Kalibata underlined the cultural importance of food and the need to educate consumers to appreciate the cost to the environment "every time you take a meal". The food summit is looking to reach billions of people to raise awareness as it places engagement and education at its heart.
Both participants issued a clarion call for urgent reform of current food systems. In a stark warning, Frans Timmermans said: "Let me be clear. If we don't change, our children will be fighting wars over water and food."
In his closing statement, Janez Potočnik, Chair FFA2021 and Chairman RISE Foundation, called for a moment of silence, before his concluding remarks, in memory of the 32 people who died and 300 injured in Brussels bombings on the day of the Forum for the Future of Agriculture 2016.
He identified some of the recurring themes from the discussions: the need for solidarity and inclusivity, recognition that it is people who change things; the young are strongly committed to more sustainable food, and a "one world perspective" is essential to ensure equity. Four principles, he noted, apply equally to biodiversity and food system management: knowing the true impact of any decision; planning together to produce innovative policies; growing with nature; and valuing natural capital.
Looking back over the FFA2021 Month of March, which occurred in a novel and adaptive online format broadcast in 91 countries, the FFA2021 Chair said some of the novelties might be revisited in the future, and he looked forward to welcoming participants next year in person.
Prefer to watch the live presentation?
Click here to watch this and other sessions from FFA2021.


Amplifi.io is a centralized digital asset management hub designed to help medium and large size companies manage and share images, documents, logos, messaging, specs, videos and other marketing collateral.
Amplifi.io offers controlled self-serve access, integrations with other marketing and business systems, and new AI technology to reduce tedious metadata tagging and automate asset indexing for fast and easy asset discovery.
The UI is mobile capable, and simple-to-use and offers rapid search, bulk actions and secure access from anywhere. Amplifi.io offers integration across all digital tools with open APIs and is trusted by major global brands such as - Targus, Toshiba, Colorado State University, Black Diamond Equipment, Roland, and others.
For us, probably the single most beneficial aspect to having integrated Amplifi into our business is now having a self-help resource that has significantly reduced the number of phone calls and emails the marketing team receives about gaining access to assets. Not only is that a burden on the marketing team, who have to go locate files and then send them over (often causing issues with the files are large), but the requesting team member has to wait for the marketing team to get to it. Now, people have 24/7 access to our full arsenal of digital resources and can get the items they need in their own time.
Amplifi has a clean user interface that makes accessing digital files and resources quickly and painlessly. We use it to store high and web resolution visual assets, video, PDFs, and product messaging. It is used widely across the organization particularly within the marketing, sales, and ecommerce teams. One feature I'm particularly fond of is the ability to create lightboxes that allow you to aggregate various assets into a single batch and email it off. My team uses is extensively, and we have never experienced technical challenges or downtime and reliability is very important for us.
There isn't really anything I don't like about Amplifi. Perhaps there have been a few, minor quirky UI things that pop up every now and then but Amplifi has always been very responsive to address them when they do occur.
A great tool to manage our sales and marketing content!
All content in one place and customized solutions for our sales team to create their own line lists. Soon we hope to have a tool that will create custom Product Recommender sheets that are often highly requested to get information to customers quickly.
All of our images and assets are in one place. Our sales team can access all the content they need for customers and their own presentations. Marketing, eCommerce and other departments also have immediate access to all of the latest digital content for campaigns and website support.
We also implemented customized solutions for our sales team that allow them to create their own customized line lists for customers. It is great to see sales use this tool every day, and the data we see shows power users are getting more content in front of more customers!
Some of the newer users have a bit of a learning curve to get up to speed on how to utilize all the things we do. Luckily Amplif.io has helped us with video tutorials and trainings that makes it easy to understand and simple to use. We continue regular trainings to make sure all departments use this content in the right way for all of their needs.
- Easier, Faster, Sharing of assets. - Fewer inbound requests as people use self service. - Distributing campaign material, not just SKU info.
- Intuitive to use and navigate.
- File transfers acheived without downloading. Send links no reupoloding downloading for sharing assets.
- The system defaults to a single source of truth. It's buil to support global companies, global solution pushing towards a global part number which can be the right thing to do. SOmetimes you want toverride this though and that is also possible.
Targus uses the tool to house all product content, images, and marketing campaign materials.
The system is easy to use and easy to maintain. Content is easily downloadable and shareable to any audience. I love that the system allows me to download original image hi-res files, as well as compressed, smaller jpg and png files that the system generates so my design team doesn't have to manually create different file types.
The system could offer a more robust tagging and analytic features, but hear I hear it is in the works!
Best overall solution/value we found for sharing assets with our dealer channel.
Very easy to work with this company. Great support and responsiveness.
It's clean and simple, not bogged down by trying to be too many things to too many people like some of the solutions out there. It's very visual, and supports thumbnail views for more file types than other options we researched, which is key to our end users. Love the options for end users to download collections as they exist or to custom build/gather their own collection. Great search and filter tools, as well as category and language setup.
Uploading assets and then adding them to collections could be a little more streamlined. In the view of file types it would be nice to be able to have more control, so we could custom-name different types/buckets.
Thanks for the review! Glad to hear Amplifi.io is the best solution/value and we achieved good success with your channel partners. We have some major new upload features releasing soon - more controls and custom names are on the way!
As a full service marketing agency managing literally thousands of assets for our global clients, we have found the Amplifi.io management system to be a tremendous benefit to our workflow. Not only is it easy to use, but it has helped us stay organized, increase efficiencies and ultimately help our clients boost productivity with their marketing activities.
Requires some back end system understanding.
Before Amplifi.io Digital Asset Management, we were using a shared server to host the images, but we had no way to include other bits of information we needed, such as product description or SKUs. As a result, we were looking for a platform to host our images and files. I did a bit of research and came across Amplifi.io Digital Asset Management. I got in contact with the founder/CEO, Ken, and he asked me what SENA's needs were and what we really wanted to get out of it. Long story short, he helped us get everything set up from start to finish and helped train us on how to use the AMP. My overall experience with using Amplifi.io Digital Asset Management was highly positive. I'd recommend it to anyone who is looking move their files to an easily accessible, user-friendly platform to get assets.
The Amplifi.io was very easy to navigate as a first time user, making it perfect for the marketing specialist or the sales representative.
AMP makes the information easily accessible all on one platform. The product image, SKU, and description are all on one page, making it convenient to gather all the assests I need for a campaign or social post.
Setting it up was a bit confusing but we had Ken G. walking us through the entire set up process. He explained how to navigate through AMP and how to add in images to create assets that we can use for the future. Luckily, he was easily accessible by phone or email.
We recently switched from Sharepoint to Amplifi.io and it has been a game changer.
We have not yet launched our instance of Amplifi.io to our partners, but we are loving it so far. The system is easy to use (both for an administrator and a user) yet its not watered down. Our business is quite complex and Amplifi.io has been able to handle every request. I especially love that their user interface is intuitive and beautiful so we don't have to spend any time designign that or apologizing for it. We can spend all our time adding content, keeping it organized and up to date. Additionally, the involvement by the staff at Amplifi.io has been invaluable! They've added so much guidance, direction, training, best practices and wisdom!
Anytime the system doesn't work quite as we expect, Amplifi.io is quick to give it to their developers and improve it but they've all been quite minor. So far we've not found any serious drawbacks.
Toshiba has used Amplifi.io for 4 years and has about 900 daily users. We have had amazing positive feedback regarding the system compared to the old system that Toshiba used in the past. Why is it better? The technology approach in Amplifi.io is radically different in the areas of: Usability for both admin and end-users (UI), Video handling / publishing, Interoperability with other systems in a brand's technology stack, Media approval workflows/auditing, Automation of organization, conversion and sharing processes - avoids decentralized folders, permissions and tagging, Direct publishing of campaigns, guides, previews and media. Marketing teams are known to be resourceful; often balancing art and science. However, the lack of specifically designed technology, and the piecemeal use of mismatched libraries or cloud folders, and network drives can negatively impact a companies ability to expand business. Amplifi.io solves this and provides modern tools product marketers will appreciate. As the Director of Marketing Communications at Toshiba, I rely on Amplifi.io daily and it delivers.
We had the highest adoption rate of any software program launched with our company. We have 7 international offices are a global brand, a year ago we were in desperate need of a simple but holistic way to share marketing and product assets. Our biggest problems were to enforce quality control and consistency of collateral in the international marketplace. At the same time we need to get information and updates to a large amount of groups and people quickly and seamlessly. With a two person team, this was a massively time consuming task to do manually. We were able to build out this platform quickly and efficiently with the help of the Amplifi.io team. For training the company we held two, 2 hour trainings and made a Pdf as well as a video showing how to navigate and the benefits of the program. Process implementation was shockingly painless, and the site has been low matinee other than updating the content offering. Amplifi.io has helped cross functional processes company wide, and has made it possible for us to have better visibility and control of our brand communications.
I use the Amplifi.io to obtain images for our website. When I see that I have Toshiba items that I need to work on, I know that everything will go smoothly. Ever since I gained access to the Amplifi.io site I rarely need to reach out to my Toshiba contact for assistance. The interface is easy to navigate. The user can search for each item individually by their SKU number and not just by general model name, which eliminates confusion. You can download all the images all at once with a click of a button before even going into an item page. If you do go into an item page you can individually acquire images and specification sheets. I noticed that downloads are slow in Google Chrome and are faster using Firefox or Internet Explorer. Overall the site is pleasant to visit and I wish more manufacture sites were this well put together.
Amplifi.io has completely changed the way we organize & share content, and we couldn't be happier about it!
We've been using Amplifi.io at our company for about a year and a half, and I continue to receive praise for it from our users. It's made my job managing our assets tons easier, because we now have one place to house content, that anyone can search, download from, and share themselves. It helps us keep everyone up-to-date on our latest campaigns and products. Front-end navigation is super intuitive. The back-end admin interface is much easier to use than other programs. And customer support is always very responsive and helpful. As the account owner for our company, I have nothing but positive things to say about our experience with Amplifi.io. And I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a better asset management solution.


Merry Christmas, Hyvää Joulua, God Jul, Glædelig Jul, Frohe Weihnachten!
From a spectacular Christmas market in Hamburg to Lego Santa's in Copenhagen, one of the most wonderful things about travelling Europe in December is the abundant sprinkle of Yule dust over the land.
It leaves you feeling warm and festive, with goodwill to all who cross your path. It means cupping a steaming mug of glögg with gloved hands, nibbling on gingerbread reindeer and learning all the marvelous ways to wish 'Merry Christmas' in different languages.
My previous Christmas to this was in China, and yes, there was a little festive spirit, although of the commercial, retail type. It is better to be here though, where Christmas pervades everything, wrapping you in its joyful wonder.
I've been to quite a few Christmas markets on this rail trip: Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Finland.
They were all a little different, some more overtly festive than others, variations in wares and nourishment.
The Christmas Market in Hamburg, Germany was by far the most festive: a riot of fairy lights and traditional German gifts and handicrafts.
I was happily warming myself with a cup of glühwein when Father Christmas took to the skies in his sleigh to tell a story (in German, of course) to all the little Children.
Father Christmas takes to the air!
After spending a couple of Decembers house-sitting in Switzerland in the past, it was wonderful to be back in the world of glühwein and raclette, a sure-fire way to get me in the Christmas spirit!
Copenhagen was a little more demure with its Christmas markets, of which there were many, maybe not quite as showy but just as festive.
I quickly discovered that I love Glögg even more than glühwein, the addition of raisins and almonds take it from delicious to heavenly!
Pretty street decorations. Oh Copenhagen, I love you too!
Scooping out that plumped up fruit and those whole almonds with a spoon at the end is just too good!
Glögg/gløgg/glögi is now my favourite Christmas drink!
I headed to Tivoli Gardens, the second oldest amusement park in the world.
It's a short walk from Copenhagen city centre and is right opposite the railway station.
It opens for a month at Christmas, a magically festive place of lights, food and rides.
A train ride up the coast from Copenhagen took me to the small town of Helsingør and Kronborg Castle: forever immortalised by Shakespeare as Elsinore, Prince Hamlet's castle.
In the central courtyard a single Christmas tree stood proud and festive.
I moved on to Sweden, to Stockholm by train.
There were many more Christmas markets, such as this one in Gamla Stan, the old quarter of the city: perfect for a glögg while I explored the medieval streets.
I visited Sweden's outdoor museum Skansen while I was there.
At the weekends throughout December there is a Christmas Market packed with seasonal goodies, traditional foods and of course, glögg.
Many of the historic houses and buildings were decorated with Christmas traditions of the past, examples of festive meals and decorations. There was traditional music and stories too.
From Stockholm I took the ferry to Turku, Finland where I found Turku's celebrated Cathedral looking splendidly Christmassy with a gorgeous big tree.
All this scene needed was a sprinkle of snow!
Another lovely tree tastefully decorated one of the halls inside Turku Castle.
I stayed with a friend in Tampere and we found this super cute camper at Tampere Christmas market.
This cheery little van certainly put a smile on my face, what a fun little shop: I'm such a sucker for bunting, and if it's on an old Vdub then all the better!
Maybe I could just get another old bus, have a shop and roam the world…….
Thoroughly enjoying myself in Finland, I took the train, gliding through a snow-blanketed wonderland to Helsinki, a destination I'd dreamed of for about a year!
Helsinki didn't disappoint me either, I fell completely in love with this city! At it's heart stands Helsinki Cathedral, a pearly white church overlooking Senate Square where a twinkling Christmas market was in full swing.
One morning I wandered through the square to find the Helsinki Fire Department demonstrating fire safety at Christmas.
I may have gone over there with an ulterior motive (ahem, Finnish firemen!) but flaming trees made up for the fact that I couldn't understand the warnings, alas my rudimentary – well, pleasantries really, and numbers – Finnish didn't quite stretch to the hazards of flammable decorations.
I managed to do a little christmas shopping, in this rather too hip Xmas Garage, pop up shop. There was lots of cool stuff in there that would have stretched my budget to breaking point but it's fun to browse, and I bought one small gift.
I've had a wonderful run up to Christmas, Europe sure does know how to do it!
Stockholm: From Copenhagen to Finland Super festive Sweden!
I Could Have Kissed Shakespeare! Elsinore Castle Wandering in the footsteps of Hamlet.
Copenhagen on a Budget 8 Things to do in Copenhagen that cost virtually nothing, or are free!
Thank you! Aw, sorry I was a bit off the interweb for a while over the last couple of weeks.
Haha, yes. We spent a Christmas in NZ and it was super hot. Great but it felt less festive. China wasn't festive at all but it was a little cold! Definitely Northern Europe for it.


text:
package com.yogee.zhebuy.modules.ebuy.service;

import java.util.Date;
import java.util.List;

import com.yogee.zhebuy.common.utils.StringUtils;
import com.yogee.zhebuy.modules.ebuy.entity.EbuyDeliver;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Service;
import org.springframework.transaction.annotation.Transactional;

import com.yogee.zhebuy.common.persistence.Page;
import com.yogee.zhebuy.common.service.EbuyService;
import com.yogee.zhebuy.modules.ebuy.dao.EbuyDeliverDao;

/**
 * 配送员Service
 * @author jackqth
 * @version 2017-06-02
 */
@Service
@Transactional(readOnly = true)
public class EbuyDeliverService extends EbuyService<EbuyDeliverDao, EbuyDeliver> {

	public EbuyDeliver get(String id) {
		return super.get(id);
	}

	public List<EbuyDeliver> findList(EbuyDeliver ebuyDeliver) {
		return super.findList(ebuyDeliver);
	}

	public Page<EbuyDeliver> findPage(Page<EbuyDeliver> page, EbuyDeliver ebuyDeliver) {
		return super.findPage(page, ebuyDeliver);
	}

	@Transactional(readOnly = false)
	public int save(EbuyDeliver ebuyDeliver) {

		if(StringUtils.isEmpty(ebuyDeliver.getId())){
			ebuyDeliver.setgmtCreate(new Date());
		}else{
			ebuyDeliver.setGmtModified(new Date());
		}
		return super.save(ebuyDeliver);
	}

	@Transactional(readOnly = false)
	public void delete(EbuyDeliver ebuyDeliver) {
		super.delete(ebuyDeliver);
	}

}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


The Chinati Foundation is widely considered one of the world's most important destinations for experiencing large-scale contemporary art. It was founded by Donald Judd (1928-1994), whose specific ambition was to preserve and present a select number of permanent installations that were inextricably linked to the surrounding landscape. Chinati is located on 340 acres of desert on the site of former Fort D.A. Russell in Marfa, Texas. Construction and installation at the site began in 1979 with help from the Dia Art Foundation, and it was opened to the public in 1986.
This handsome publication is the first comprehensive presentation of the Chinati Foundation's collection in more than twenty years. The book describes how Judd developed his ideas of the role of art and museums from the early 1960s onward, culminating in the creation of Chinati (and including its two predecessors--his buildings in New York and his residence in Marfa). The individual installations at Chinati are presented in chronological order with stunning photography; these include work by John Chamberlain, Dan Flavin, David Rabinowitch, Roni Horn, Ilya Kabakov, Richard Long, Carl Andre, Claes Oldenburg and Coosje Van Bruggen, as well as Judd himself. His installations at Marfa include 15 outdoor works in concrete and 100 aluminum pieces housed in two carefully renovated artillery sheds. The book also features writings by Judd relating to Chinati and Marfa, and a complete catalogue of the collection.


text:
What happened when Biden and the Royals came to Boston
Union members in Dorchester held a phone bank Biden could use to show his solidarity with labor after he signed a bill averting a freight rail workers' strike Friday.
Help Raphael Warnock from afar: Check. Earn some union credibility: Also check.
President Joe Biden returned to Boston on Friday for a whirlwind afternoon that began with a Prince William meeting and ended with a fundraiser for the vulnerable Democratic senator ahead of Tuesday's Georgia runoff election.
But it was the union-sponsored phone bank that underscored the dual purposes of Biden's hastily thrown-together trip — finding a safe way to help Warnock and showing off his union support hours after he signed a controversial bill averting a freight rail workers' strike.
A grinning Biden was met with a standing ovation and a "we love you, Joe" at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 103 in Dorchester as photographers clicked away. A few union members wore "IBEW FOR JOE" t-shirts. A plastic bag full of buttons with Biden's name on them sat on a table by the door.
President Joe Biden greets people as he visits a phone bank at International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 103, Dec. 2, 2022, in Boston.
"What you're doing really makes a gigantic difference," Biden told the room. "We need that 51st vote."
The IBEW provided friendly territory for Biden. It's a few blocks from Labor Secretary Marty Walsh's home in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood. The union hosted Vice President Kamala Harris for an abortion-access roundtable in August. Lou Antonellis, the Local 103 business manager, told reporters that "the president has already established himself as the most pro-labor, pro-worker president in the history of the United States." He declined to answer questions about the president's handling of the rail strike.
While Biden basked in the glow of the IBEW's goodwill, the phone bank for Warnock was relatively brief. Members began making calls only about 45 minutes before the president entered the room. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who joined in alongside fellow Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Ed Markey, could be heard talking to someone who said they were in New York. Press were ushered out of the function room after the president took a few selfies and made a few calls. A few minutes after he left, many of the dialers picked up boxes of leftover pizza and headed for the door.
And just miles away, where Biden met the prince, a couple hundred activists, including railroad workers and members of the Democratic Socialists of America, were protesting the president for forcing the contract deal that averted the rail strike but left workers without the ability to fight for paid sick leave.
Biden likely made up for it at a Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee fundraiser — the original reason for his return to Massachusetts less than a week after he left Nantucket — with Warren and Markey at a private residence in Boston's pricey Beacon Hill neighborhood where he reiterated the need for Democrats to gain the upper hand in the Senate that's currently split 50-50.
Biden has no plans to visit Georgia ahead of Tuesday. Instead, by campaigning for Warnock some 1,000 miles away, the president is continuing his successful midterm strategy of helping from a distance. Biden aides told the Associated Press that Warnock's campaign requested the Boston trip. And deep-pocketed Massachusetts is as good a place as any to help replenish the coffers Senate Democrats' campaign arm drained by pouring millions into Warnock's runoff election against Republican Herschel Walker.
Yet Biden drew the most attention Friday for his meeting with the Prince of Wales at the John F. Kennedy Library for a mostly private meeting in which the two took in the "spectacular" skyline view and shared "warm memories" of the late Queen Elizabeth II, according to pool reports.
The two also share an affinity for the late president. The British royals were concluding a three-day tour of Boston on Friday that culminated in their Earthshot climate innovator prize awards — an initiative named after Kennedy's famed "moonshot" speech. Biden delivered remarks on his administration's similarly named cancer moonshot initiative during a visit to the library in September.
#Prince William #Joe Biden

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Laurie Nye: It Wasn't a Dream, It Was a Flood
21 August - 25 September 2021
"I love the idea of fictional places, fabled places, memories and experiences of real places all mixed together in a non-linear way - playing with the notion of what landscape painting could be or should be." – Laurie Nye
"It Wasn't a Dream, It Was a Flood," 2021
47 x 52 1/2 in
Painted in Los Angeles and Tennessee - the state in which Nye grew up - Laurie Nye's works present landscape, both real and imagined, as a place in which to encounter the spiritual possibilities of nature.
"Horus Forest," 2021
The titles of the works in "It Wasn't a Dream It Was a Flood" point to a range of real and mythic places. "Horus Forest" suggests the Egyptian sun god; "Greer's Ferry" is a lake in Heber Springs, Arkansas. "I use my intuitive process and combine it with memory and ideas about nature and landscape," Nye writes.
"Greer's Ferry," 2021
"I grew up camping and fishing in the Ozarks in Arkansas. My father instilled in me a reverence of stillness and oneness with the water. It wasn't boring to sit in a boat for hours, learning to cast a line and catching only guppies or twigs. It was everything else that mattered. The sounds of the birds, the animals all around, the mysterious dark of the water and how it sounded when we floated along with the motor off."
"Floating Opera," 2021
In her work, Nye encourages the viewer's sense of landscape, not only in terms of specific locales, but also in terms what these locales mean with regard to personal expression and freedom.
"Lemuria Tree," 2021
Nye's painting, "Lemuria Tree," references the writings of English zoologist Philip Sclater (1829-1913), who describes "Lemuria," a fabled continent or "lost land" that disappeared beneath the Indian Ocean; "It Wasn't a Dream It Was a Flood," takes its title from the poetry of Frank Stanford (1948-1978), a "swamprat Rimbaud," who activated Southern Gothic landscape as a place of impulsive desire.
"The Fountain," 2021
Nye's vivid brushwork, succinct color, and sophisticated use of line breaks up the picture plane, emphasizing its materiality, flatness, and the construction of painterly space. Color in her work is a symbolic way of communicating.
"Sherbet Cloud Formation," 2021
Trees, gardens, rivers and birds weave together in her compositions; blocks of color push a sense of emotional space. Nye writes, "The motifs and ideas that I continue to be drawn to always return me to a visionary space. I depict places and things the way I'd like to see them."
Works by Laurie Nye
Click image to inquire
Laurie Nye, Sunflower with Sturm and Drang, 2021
Laurie Nye, Greer's Ferry, 2021
Laurie Nye, Lemuria Tree, 2021
Laurie Nye, Sherbet Cloud Formation, 2021
Laurie Nye, The Fountain, 2021
Laurie Nye, Aureolin Dream, 2021
Laurie Nye, Country Mouse, 2021
Laurie Nye, Iris at Huntington Gardens, 2021
Laurie Nye, Floating Opera, 2021
Laurie Nye, Horus Forest, 2021
Laurie Nye, It Wasn't a Dream, It Was a Flood, 2021
Laurie Nye, Country Home, 2021
Philip Martin Gallery is proud to present, "It Wasn't a Dream, It Was a Flood," an exhibition of new oil-on-linen paintings by Laurie Nye. Painted in Los Angeles and Tennessee - the state in which Nye grew up - the works in Laurie Nye's show present landscape, both real and imagined, as a place in which to encounter the spiritual possibilities of nature.
The titles of the works in "It Wasn't a Dream It Was a Flood" point to a range of real and mythic places. "Horus Forest" suggests the Egyptian sun god; "Greer's Ferry" is a lake in Heber Springs, Arkansas. "I use my intuitive process and combine it with memory and ideas about nature and landscape," Nye writes. "I grew up camping and fishing in the Ozarks in Arkansas. My father instilled in me a reverence of stillness and oneness with the water. It wasn't boring to sit in a boat for hours, learning to cast a line and catching only guppies or twigs. It was everything else that mattered. The sounds of the birds, the animals all around, the mysterious dark of the water and how it sounded when we floated along with the motor off."
In her work, Nye encourages the viewer's sense of landscape, not only in terms of specific locales, but also in terms what these locales mean with regard to personal expression and freedom. "I love the idea of fictional places, fabled places, memories and experiences of real places all mixed together in a non-linear way - playing with the notion of what landscape painting could be or should be." Nye's painting, "Lemuria Tree," references the writings of English zoologist Philip Sclater (1829-1913), who describes "Lemuria," a fabled continent or "lost land" that disappeared beneath the Indian Ocean; "It Wasn't a Dream It Was a Flood," takes its title from the poetry of Frank Stanford (1948-1978), a "swamprat Rimbaud," who activated Southern Gothic landscape as a place of impulsive desire.
Nye's vivid brushwork, succinct color, and sophisticated use of line breaks up the picture plane, emphasizing its materiality, flatness, and the construction of painterly space. Color in her work is a symbolic way of communicating. Trees, gardens, rivers and birds weave together in her compositions; blocks of color push a sense of emotional space. Nye writes, "The motifs and ideas that I continue to be drawn to always return me to a visionary space. I depict places and things the way I'd like to see them."
Laurie Nye (b. 1972, Memphis, TN) received her BFA from the Memphis College of Art (Memphis, TN), and her MFA from the California Institute of the Arts (Valencia, CA). Nye's work has recently been the subject of solo and group exhibitions at Louise Alexander Gallery (Porto Cervo, Italy); The Pit (Glendale, CA); Odd Ark (Los Angeles, CA); Big Pictures LA (Los Angeles) Blake and Vargas, (Berlin, Germany); The Dot Project, (London, UK); Day and Night Gallery (Atlanta, GA); La Loma Projects, (Pasadena, CA); and Unpaved Gallery (Yucca Valley, CA). Her work has been reviewed in such publications as Artillery, Los Angeles Times, Artforum, FAD Magazine and LA Weekly. Nye lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.
Laurie Nye's exhibition of new oil-on-linen paintings is on view at the gallery August 21 through September 25, 2021.
Philip Martin Gallery is open Tuesday - Saturday from 10-4 and by appointment. Pre-scheduled appointments are available, and walk-ins are welcome. To make an appointment, or to get additional images, or information please email info@philipmartingallery.com, or call 310-559-0100. Philip Martin Gallery is located at 2712 S. La Cienega Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90034 in the Culver City area of Los Angeles between Venice Blvd. and Washington Blvd., just south of the 10 Freeway.
To inquire about works by Laurie Nye, click here


KON 2018 F/W Series with the new vision of "LAVA Flame" as the design concept, the use of brand iconic black and white orange as the tone, with the flame changes in the process of red, yellow, purple and other warm colors, for this bleak autumn to add a hint of vitality and warmth.
The design of the use of color, splicing, segmentation and other means of expression, the segmentation line is both functional and decorative, so that the single product simple and not lose the sense of design, and strive to find a balance in style design and clothing function.
This season's product style has also become more abundant, clothing category launched a tooling vest, a variety of sizes of pockets to put your belongings in place, light travel, Accessories category added scarves, belts and outdoor picnic mats.
The series will debut on August 21 , when please pay attention to the latest developments in Kon official website and e-commerce platform!


Stars Grill Room and Rooftop will be open for Weekend Brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 10:00am-2:00pm. Stop by on Saturday after you've finished the big race, or come on Sunday for the perfect ending to your weekend in the Holy City. Whichever day you choose, you'll enjoy the all-inclusive, locally sourced spread featuring mouthwatering selections like a build-your-own Omelet Bar, Local Shrimp and Grits, Pecan Praline French Toast, Fried Chicken Benedict and much more! See the full menu here. Plus, brunch goers enjoy $4 Bloody Marys, and $3 Mimosas. Go ahead, treat yourself – you've earned it!
Stars Rooftop Bar will be closed during the day on Saturday, but will open again at 2:30 pm, just in time for drinks under the stars! Starting on April 1 the Rooftop will be open from noon Monday thru Friday.


text:
Proven Pop Mart Strategies
by admin September 3, 2022 September 20, 2022
Various albums bought more than 1 million in Turkey; while all data with the mark of half-million and above are by Turkish artists, few albums have gone on to sell more than one million copies because the 2000s are in line with Yeni Akit. It takes a little bit more vision to create a definitively chic kitchen but, in addition, warm and inviting — a kitchen that can take heart stage while entertaining. Dividing the risks and obligations can provide a degree of security for the companions, one thing that's absent in a sole proprietorship. The cute grownup lucky field figures' toys' colors characters are vivid and not simple to fade. Perfect gift for Tiny Girl or Boy: An ideal blind box toy present for birthdays, Christmas, Halloween, Valentine's Day & more!
The figurines are compact and handy, making them the proper desk ornaments! Slight discrepancies are considered regular. The chance to get a hidden figurine is round 1 in 144 blind containers, so if you get it, you might be very fortunate! The thought behind blind packing containers is kind of simple: prospects buy a field without realizing the precise toy that's inside. Blind bins have changed into fashionable in China's Pop Mart toy scene, and Beijing-primarily based toy firm Pop Mart has grown its popularity with them. About Random NOTE – Each blind field is randomly organized. Pop Mart's momentum resulted in a profitable Hong Kong listing in December 2020, where the company's shares closed at 80% above its challenge worth. Founded in 2010, Pop Mart currently operates more than a hundred outlets and over 1,000 vending machines throughout China's online channels.
On 20 Aug, the art toy model POP MART formally opened its first Australian physical store at Chadstone – The Vogue Capital, the famed procuring destination in Melbourne. This special assortment of Whats up Kitty figures by Pop Mart introduced out to rejoice its 45th Anniversary are so cute you will have to collect the set. They are so uncommon! The liquid waste is spun into yarns which can then be blended with cotton. What's behind the most popular Chinese language toy firm? If you're critically wired, make a state-of-the-artwork computer desk your focal point. The first season of Shopkins was launched in June 2014. The season got here out in main retailers. Changing fixtures will naturally provide you with a more enticing, better-performing bath. Still, it won't address massive problems reminiscent of lack of ground area or storage, inappropriate entry, or a poor location throughout the house.
Online Sports Betting Advantages
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A boy is sent to a brutal desert detention camp where he diggs holes.
Brims with storytelling flourishes and gently deployed life lessons that even accompanying adults may dig.
[T]here's too much going on, and none of it is executed well enough to recommend.
It's smart, strange, unpredictable, and defies the formulas that typically define this sort of motion picture.
A wonderfully dark fairy tale.
One can't help but feel thankful that the movie doesn't always go the expected route, that the characters have a little more depth to them than average, and that the complexity, which is the movie's basic weakness, is also its fundamental virtue.
Crazy as it is, Holes could be the Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory of 2003.
Older kids, fans of the book and parents who remember the fun of reading dark stories under the covers should be happily engrossed in this adventure.
A slightly better-than-average tale of friendship, sacrifice and survival.
As kids' films go, it's a thoughtful, superior piece of work, an entertaining picture that youngsters can enjoy on first viewing and perhaps fully grow into as they get a bit older.
[Sachar's] sprawling, shaggy-dog story snaps together as neatly on film as in print, but its artificial design is glaringly exposed.
A dense yarn with a range of humor, imagination and emotions as wide as the desert floor upon which it is set.
Fills a hole in the genre by not treating kids with kid gloves.
Whimsical, harrowing, heartwarming and, all props to Harry Potter, quite magical.
At the least, it's original.
This is the sort of family film people keep wishing Hollywood would make. Well, they made it. Go see it.
I walked in expecting a movie for thirteensomethings, and walked out feeling challenged and satisfied.
Readers familiar with the book may negotiate the film's antic crosscutting, but newbies will need to pop a Dramamine before the lights dim.
A movie that feels a bit like digging a hole in the ground -- an exercise that may build character but doesn't seem to accomplish much else.
Suffers even more than the Harry Potter films from a compulsion to be faithful to the source material, including cramming in a head-spinning assortment of characters and subplots.


We are an after school learning programme based in Dundee that provides wholesome Islamic education for children aged 4-15 years. We provide an enriching learning environment through modern teaching methods and inspirational and motivational teachers. We do this by providing classes that teach holistic subjects that include the Qur'an, Arabic Language, Islamic Studies and Life Skills. We engage with stakeholders to ensure we are benefiting the young people who are at the core of our work.


Click Video El Pa Vs Tsunami Jr.
Toyota Starlet - 16.03 @ segs.
Honda Civic - 13.02 segs.
Felicidades a Malcolm Glasset & George Marcevski (eat20b) From Australia, new owners of the formerly known Ian RX-3 from Puerto Rico.
!! We wish you guys all the luck in the world, from GRS-Motorsports.Com!!
Felicidades al Team de Chapulin Performance por la nueva marca en La Psyco.
La Atrevida en primera posicion & La Otra en tercera posicion.


text:
Towards sustainable land use? Land management, knowledge claims and land practices in the global north
Management of agricultural resources to sustain a growing world population is seen as one of the key challenges of our time. Agricultural land is a vital yet limited resource – we depend upon it for food production, but it is also in direct competition with other land-based activities, such as housing, infrastructure, mining, investment, carbon off-setting, nature conservation, recreation and industry. This working group will focus on understanding principles and practices of land use in the global north. Land is a finite resource different interests and agendas compete over. The protection of land through regulations and law has always caused controversy and conflict. With varying interests and objectives, come also different means and modes of power. What is sustainable land use in a context of climate change and global population increase? How can this be achieved across levels of governance and through different means of participation? How are various forms of knowledge integrated and how do they influence land use governance processes?
Subject areas can be, but are not restricted to:
Processes of balancing different societal goals to achieve economic, ecologic and social sustainability
The role of measurement and models in land use governance
Transparency in political processes
The dilemma between collective values and private property rights
This working group welcomes papers that contribute to a broadening of the understanding of land use processes in the global north.
Organisors:
Heidi Vinge, Centre for Rural Research and Dep. of Sociology & Political Science, NTNU
Elin Slätmo, Unit for Human Geography, Depatment of Economy and Society, University of Gothenburg


text:
Obama wants Ukraine to 'de-escalate,' focuses on campaigning for Democrats!
Neil Munro VIA THE DAILY CALLER
President Barack Obama says he's hoping to "de-escalate" the Crimean crisis, which would help him focus on his top priority — escalating U.S. political fights so his base turns out to vote in November.
By advancing into the Crimean region of the Ukraine, "the Russians are engaging in a fundamental breach of international law," Obama told donors Tuesday night. "We may be able to de-escalate over the next several days and weeks, but it's a serious situation and we're spending a lot of time on it," he said at a fundraiser in McLean, Va. Obama did not tell the donors that he hoped to reverse the Russian takeover.
The modest goal of de-escalation reflects Obama's desire to downgrade the crisis. In recent days, he's tried to downplay the prospect of a further escalation. He's also tried to rally European leaders to impose some sanctions on Russian trade and banking, and on travel by wealthy Russians.
Obama's main focus during the fundraiser was boosting Democratic turnout in the midterm elections.
He sketched out plans to spike Democratic turnout in November via sharpened rhetoric and political fights.
"We are really good at presidential elections these days, if I do say so myself," he said. But midterms are a problem, he said. "We get a little sleepy, we get a little distracted. We don't turn out to vote. We don't fund campaigns as passionately," he said.
"That has to change and has got to change right here, because too much is at stake for us to let this opportunity slip by," he added. "Everything that you all care about — advancing every issue that is of deep concern to you — depends on us successfully maintaining Democratic control of the Senate," he said.
Obama hinted at some of his turnout-boosting wedge issues.
"If you care about the environment… If you care about women getting equal pay for equal work or having control over their health care decisions, or who is in the Supreme Court determining those laws… if you care about making sure that we're investing in early childhood education and continuing to reform our schools to make them serve every child, you better make sure that we still have Democrats in control of the Senate," he said.
On Wednesday, Obama will hold a rally in Connecticut to tout his election-year push for an increase in the minimum wage.
He's also angling to boost Latino turnout, by working with big business to strong-arm the GOP into passing a bill that would increase migration. If passed, the bill would provide amnesty to at least 12 million illegals and roughly double the annual inflow of 1 million lower-wage immigrants for use by business.
Obama would be able to claim credit for the bill's passage among immigrants to aid the Democrats in the long term.
If the bill fails, Obama can ignite a turnout-boosting fight against Republican legislators who didn't vote for the bill.
So far, GOP leaders have rebuffed business advocates for greater immigration, and have avoided a pre-election split among their supporters.
Obama also sought to portray the GOP's small-government goals as hostile to better government, and described the highly ideological progressive movement as non-ideological problem-solvers
"I know the Democrats in our Senate. They're not a dogmatic bunch. They're interested in what works," he said.
He sought to blame the GOP for his administration's failed policies. "The problem of course is… the party on the other side," Obama said about the GOP.
"There's a segment of our loyal opposition that basically thinks that government has no role to play whatsoever in anything and have been spending most of their time trying to obstruct and grind the wheels of government to a halt rather than figuring out how do we make things work better and more efficiently," he insisted.
Obama's fundraiser was hosted by former Democratic Sen. Chuck Robb. The event also featured Virginia Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. The price for the few dozen donors ranged from $10,000 to $32,400. Obama is expected to attend another fundraiser Wednesday night.
OBAMA SUCKS!
CLARK KENT @ AMERICAS FREEDOM FIGHTERS
LIKE US ON FACEBOOK TOO!


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text:
from django.test import SimpleTestCase
from corehq.apps.reports.filters.api import paginate_options

class TestEmwfPagination(SimpleTestCase):
    def make_data_source(self, options):
        def matching_objects(query):
            if not query:
                return options
            return [o for o in options if query.lower() in o.lower()]

        def get_size(query):
            return len(matching_objects(query))

        def get_objects(query, start, size):
            return matching_objects(query)[start:start+size]

        return (get_size, get_objects)

    @property
    def data_sources(self):
        return [
            self.make_data_source(["Iron Maiden", "Van Halen", "Queen"]),
            self.make_data_source(["Oslo", "Baldwin", "Perth", "Quito"]),
            self.make_data_source([]),
            self.make_data_source(["Jdoe", "Rumpelstiltskin"]),
        ]

    def test_first_page(self):
        count, options = paginate_options(self.data_sources, "", 0, 5)
        self.assertEqual(count, 9)
        self.assertEqual(
            options,
            ["Iron Maiden", "Van Halen", "Queen", "Oslo", "Baldwin"],
        )

    def test_second_page(self):
        count, options = paginate_options(self.data_sources, "", 5, 10)
        self.assertEqual(count, 9)
        self.assertEqual(
            options,
            ["Perth", "Quito", "Jdoe", "Rumpelstiltskin"],
        )

    def test_query_first_page(self):
        query = "o"
        count, options = paginate_options(self.data_sources, query, 0, 5)
        self.assertEqual(count, 4)
        self.assertEqual(options, ["Iron Maiden", "Oslo", "Quito", "Jdoe"])

    def test_query_no_matches(self):
        query = "Waldo"
        count, options = paginate_options(self.data_sources, query, 0, 5)
        self.assertEqual(count, 0)
        self.assertEqual(options, [])


text:
Cyprus Makes Effort to Establish Itself as a Desirable Filming Destination
After seeing the considerable impact filming has on a country's perception and economy, Cyprus too is making its own set of efforts to establish itself as a filming destination for film makers far and wide.
Branding their work as Olivewood, the island nation has decided to offer lucrative incentives to film makers who choose to film in the country. Incentives are many, and include seamless paperwork process, less red tape, tax credit of up to 35 percent, and cash rebates of up to 35 percent as well. is
According to Antonis Antoniou, a contributor for Forbes, not only is the effort lucrative because of the incentives in question, they extend beyond films and to other media formats such as mini-series, TV series, Made-for-TV movies, documentaries, and animations. The aim here is not just to attract film makers but to attract new talent and capital from producers all over the globe.
Mr. Antoniou also remarked on the smart move of naming the industry as 'Olivewood,' much on the lines of Bollywood and Hollywood, paying reference to the famous olive fields of the island nation.
Two films are currently undergoing shooting in Cyprus – William Baldwin-starrer 'S.O.S: Survive or Sacrifice' and Nicolas Cage-starrer 'Jiu-Jitsu.'


text:
Fauci no longer confident COVID-19 emerged naturally
Chillin' @ Choo's
Anthony Fauci is now calling for further investigation into the origins of COVID-19 in a departure from his dismissal of the Wuhan lab leak hypothesis last year.
REPORT: Peter Daszak Worked For CIA, EcoHealth Alliance Is A 'CIA Front Organization' January 21, 2022
have a beautiful day
Joe Biden's chief medical adviser, who has led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases since 1984, said he was unsure when asked by Politifact's Katie Sanders about whether he was still confident that COVID-19 emerged naturally.
"No, actually. … No, I'm not convinced about that. I think that we should continue to investigate what went on in China until we find out to the best of our ability exactly what happened," Fauci said during the May 11 interview. "Certainly, the people who've investigated it say it likely was the emergence from an animal reservoir that then infected individuals, but it could've been something else, and we need to find that out. So, you know, that's the reason why I said I'm perfectly in favor of any investigation that looks into the origin of the virus."
Over a year ago, during a May 4, 2020, National Geographic interview, Fauci laughed off the possibility that COVID-19 escaped from a lab when science editor Nsikan Akpan asked, "Do you believe or is there evidence that SARS-CoV-2 was made in the lab in China or accidentally released from a lab in China?"
Fauci argued that "if you look at the evolution of the virus in bats, and what's out there now is very, very strongly leaning toward this could not have been artificially or deliberately manipulated — the way the mutations have naturally evolved." He said that "a number of very qualified evolutionary biologists have said that everything about the stepwise evolution over time strongly indicates that it evolved in nature and then jumped species."
"If you accept the premise, which is very strongly supported by scientific evidence, that it was not deliberately mutated and deliberately changed, and you say, if it was in the wild and evolving, the likelihood it jumped species naturally, someone will say, 'Well, maybe somebody took it from the wild, put it in the lab, and then it escaped from the lab.' But that means it was in the wild to begin with!" he continued.
Fauci then laughed as he claimed not to understand why the possibility that COVID-19 had escaped from a lab was being raised.
"So that's why I don't get what they're talking about. If it isn't manipulated in the lab and you're trying to say it escaped from the lab, then how did it get in the lab? It got in the lab because somebody isolated it from the environment. So that's why I don't spend a lot of time going in that circular argument," he said.
Officials from both the Trump and Biden administrations have said that the Chinese government worked for over a year to thwart an independent investigation into the origins of the virus, which has killed 3.45 million people worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University, and both administrations have cast doubt on the manner in which the study from China and the World Health Organization was conducted in early 2021. Though the WHO-China report said a jump from animals to humans was most likely, Trump officials have pointed to an accidental escape from the Wuhan Institute of Virology as a highly plausible origin for the pandemic.
A State Department fact sheet released in mid-January contended Wuhan lab researchers "conducted experiments involving RaTG13, the bat coronavirus identified by the WIV in January 2020 as its closest sample to SARS-CoV-2 (96.2% similar)" and that the lab "has a published record of conducting 'gain-of-function' research to engineer chimeric viruses." The fact sheet added the lab "has engaged in classified research, including laboratory animal experiments, on behalf of the Chinese military."
In March, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the WHO, said the joint team had not fully investigated the potential of COVID-19 originating through an accidental leak from a Wuhan lab, a hypothesis that he insisted needed further study despite it being deemed "extremely unlikely" by the team, which claimed the most likely origin was a jump from animal to animal to human.
House Intelligence Committee Republicans released a report on the coronavirus pandemic on Wednesday and pointed the finger directly at the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
"Unfortunately, Beijing has hindered the conduct of a full, credible investigation. There is overwhelming circumstantial evidence, however, to support a lab leak as the origination of COVID-19, while there is no substantive evidence supporting the natural zoonosis hypothesis," the House GOP report concluded.
Fauci and Francis Collins, the leader of the National Institutes of Health, are adamant in insisting that NIH did not fund "gain-of-function" research at the Wuhan Institute of Virology. Gain-of-function research is defined by the Department of Health and Human Services as research "that improves the ability of a pathogen to cause disease" in an effort to "enable assessment of the pandemic potential of emerging infectious agents." It warns that these studies "may entail biosafety and biosecurity risks." Fauci and Collins also admit they don't actually know what the secretive Chinese lab at the center of COVID-19 speculation has been up to.
EcoHealth Alliance received at least $3.7 million from 2014 to 2020, and Peter Daszak, a key member of the WHO-China joint study team and the leader of the EcoHealth Alliance, steered at least $600,000 in National Institutes of Health funding to the Wuhan lab for bat coronavirus research. Daszak criticized the United States for appearing skeptical of the WHO's findings and defended China to Communist Party-linked outlets. U.S. Embassy officials in China raised concerns in 2018 about lax biosecurity at the Wuhan lab led by Shi Zhengli, dubbed "bat woman," who worked closely with Daszak.
Trust God, Not Man
Nachash: Seed of the Serpent in Genesis
Intelligence Briefing with Robin and Steve - episode 9 May 17th
MANUEL JOHNSON: BIRTH PANGS - IN OUR CHURCH AND THE WHITE HOUSE!
WEDNESDAYS WITH KAT AND STEVE - EPISODE 25
BEYOND THE VEIL - PROPHETIC WORSHIP - WE ARE THE REMNANT
Pastor Torah Grace - WAR MODE - WHEN THEY REFUSE TO LET YOU GO


text:
TUNISIA: Calls for Tenders for Solar and Wind Projects Totaling 1,700MW
Section: PARTNER CONTENT, Tenders · January 22, 2023 · No comments | Tags: feature, featured, tender
Three calls for tenders for the development of solar and wind projects over 2023-2025 with a total capacity of up to 1.7 GW TUNISIA
Organization Name: The Tunisian Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mines
Organization Type: National Government
Tunisia issued the following three calls for tenders: 1 – Call for Tenders # 01-2022 for Photovoltaic Power Projects as follwos:
The Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy (the Ministry) intends to select eight (8) power generation projects from photovoltaic solar energy of 100 Mega Watts (MW) each in four (4) rounds over 2023-2025 as the following:
Round #1: 2 Photovoltaic Power Plants of 100 MW each with a submission deadline on Thursday, June 15, 2023 at 12:00 p.m. Tunis time.
Round #2: 2 Photovoltaic Power Plants of 100 MW each with a submission deadline in March 2024.
Round #3: 2 Photovoltaic Power Plants of 100 MW each with a submission deadline in November 2024.
Round #4: 2 Photovoltaic Power Plants of 100 MW each with a submission deadline in September 2025.
The Ministry is inviting interested bidders to submit offers for the implementation of solar photovoltaic concession pro jects on sites suggested by bidders. In order to receive tender documents and additional information by email, interested bidders must register on inscription AO 01-2022.
2- Call for Tenders # 02-2022 for Wind Power Projects
The Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy (the Ministry) intends to select eight (8) power generation projects from wind energy of 75 Mega Watts (MW) each in four (4) rounds over 2023-2025 as the following: Round #1: 2 Wind Power Plants of 75 MW each with a submission deadline on Thursday, September 14, 2023 at 12:00 p.m. Tunis time.
Full details here.
« Petrofac Partners Mozambique to Develop an Elite Hydrocarbon Workforce
NIGERIA: Request for Qualification (RFQ) for the concession of the 700MW Zungeru Hydropower dam »


This is so informative. I'm from and live in Boston and I always assumed botox was a NY or LA thing. I don't know too much about it but I was surprised that you said it can almost be used for preventative care for younger people since we start to lose volume at 25, that makes me want to get a serious skin care routine down!


The joombig banner rotation images is a Joomla banner slideshow rotation module.
With this module, we will create slideshow auto loading images.
- Support create multiple modules on one page.
- Useful to create the slideshow for website.
- Useful to create the banner for website.
- Useful to create feature content article for website.


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text:
Scanners throw laser light on the 'dark ages' in Orkney
One rune carving is on a stone hidden by grass at the base of a wall in ruins of
the Bishop's palace
The latest laser scanning technology is being used to investigate ancient inscriptions left on Orkney by the Picts and the Vikings.
Experts from Sweden hope their software will make it possible to recognise the work of individual carvers.
The study may tell us more about the transition between the different groups who occupied sites like the Brough of Birsay over hundreds of years.
The team are hoping for preliminary results by the start of 2020.
Viking Warrior Women and the Public Archaeology of Death
Talk: Viking Warrior Women and the Public Archaeology of Death
Chester: Saturday 26 October, 10.00–11.00
Talk synopsis: This talk introduces the 'public archaeology of death': the popular culture and politics of archaeological investigations of the dead. Focusing on recent research and public debates regarding 'Viking warrior women' to highlight the ethical challenges archaeologists face in digging, displaying and debating death in the digital age.
Research reveals secret of who owned the Galloway Hoard
Ecgbeorht rune on silver arm-ring [Credit: National Museums Scotland]
Dr Adrian Maldonado, Glenmorangie Research Fellow at National Museums Scotland, said: "It's really exciting to be able to reveal the first major research finding from the conservation of the Galloway Hoard, a message left by one of the individuals who deposited the hoard 1100 years ago.
We don't know any more about Egbert than his name right now but there's something really tantalising about connecting the Galloway Hoard with a named person. Egbert is a common Anglo-Saxon name, and with more research on the rest of the contents of the hoard, we will be able to narrow down its dating and suggest some candidates from the historical record."
"If the hoard belonged to a person or group of Anglo-Saxon speakers, does it mean they were out raiding with other Vikings? Or that these Viking hoards were not always the product of Scandinavian raiders? There are other explanations, but either way this transforms our thinking on the 'Viking Age' in Scotland."
Thousand Year Old Arrowhead Found In Hardanger
The arrowhead is about 12cm long. Photo: Hordaland fylkeskommune
This 12cm-long iron arrowhead was found high up in the mountains near Eidfjord, at the end of the Hardangerfjord.
As glaciers melt and the ground changes, historical artefacts are turning up more frequently. The latest find in the mountains of Hardanger paints an interesting picture.
Around one thousand years ago, a reindeer hunter was out hunting 1,400 metres above sea level at Store Ishaug in Eidfjord, just north of what is now Hardangervidda National Park. He had with him a bow and arrow on his hunt for reindeer. But his aim was poor, and he lost an arrow into the snow.
In September 2019, a local out for a walk near his mountain cabin stumbled across the arrowhead, laying on the floor next to a snowflake. "I immediately realized that it was something special, something from before they used rifles," said Ernst Hagen.
Hoards Of Viking Coins Discovered On The Island Of Saaremaa
Some of the silver coins and other finds dating from viking-era Saaremaa.
Source: Saaremaa museum
Located in the Baltic Sea, Saaremaa is the largest Estonian island. Archaeologists can now investigate two large hoards of silver coin that will offer new light on Vikings' presence on the island.
The archaeological discovery was made by a licensed hobby detector, who reported the findings to the Heritage Protection Board.
According to EER Estonia, "two separate hoards were found. One of these dating to the second half of the 10th century contained silver coins which came via the Viking trade route which crossed the Baltic from the present-day Swedish island of Gotland to Saaremaa's southern coast, and then on to Lääne County and on to present-day Tallinn."
Among the coins was also a 1,700-year-old gold bracelet that may be of Viking origin. During the Viking Age in Estonia, the area of Estonia was divided between two distinct cultural areas – Northern and Western Estonia and Southeastern Estonia.
Another Saaremaa archaeological haul includes viking-era silver coins
Another archaeological find has been made on the island of Saaremaa, just weeks after a major haul including a 1,700-year-old gold bracelet came to light.
The recent find dates from a later era, the viking period, ERR's online news in Estonian reports, and includes a large number of silver coins, according to both the Heritage Protection Board (Muinsuskaitseamet) and Saaremaa Museum.
As with the earlier treasure trove, the latest find was the work of a metal detector hobbyist, who, in line with Estonian law, informed the authorities.
Man's name found on the 1100 year-old Galloway Hoard
The Egbert Rune. © National Museum Scotland
Egbert was here! Name discovered and deciphered from a runic inscription on the spectacular Galloway Hoard
Perhaps more than anything else in the hypothesis-filled world of archaeology, burial hoards invite the most conjecture. What does they mean? Who buried them and why?
Archaeologists in Scotland are however a step closer to answering these questions after they discovered a message left by one of the people who may have deposited the Galloway Hoard 1100 years ago.
Described as one of the most significant Viking discoveries ever found in Britain and Ireland, the hoard consists of more than 100 gold and silver objects from the Viking age and was discovered on Church of Scotland land in Kirkcudbright, Dumfries and Galloway in September 2014.
Fragments of 100 Viking swords unearthed in north Estonia
Part of the hilt of the sword of the XI-XIII centuries from Läänemaa. Picture is illustrative.
Source: Department for the Protection of Antiquities
Archaeologists have discovered fragments of about a hundred Viking swords, the largest find of Viking swords in Estonia to date, in northern Estonia.
The fragments were found in two closely located sites in a coastal area of north Estonia, in the territory of the ancient Estonian county of Ravala, late last autumn.
The finds consisted of dozens of items, mostly fragments of swords and a few spearheads.
Mauri Kiudsoo, archaeologist and keeper of the archaeological research collection of Tallinn University, told BNS the two sites were located just 80 meters apart. The swords date from the middle of the 10th century and are probably cenotaphs, grave markers dedicated to people buried elsewhere.
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Father's Day might always be a tricky holiday for Woody Allen but this year was particularly awkward. Ronan Farrow, the 24-year-old son of Mia Farrow and Woody Allen, let loose yesterday tweeting, "Happy father's day - or as they call it in my family, happy brother-in-law's day."
Mia Farrow even got in on the act, re-tweeting his message and adding her own comment: "BOOM."
Woody and Ronan have been estranged for years since his parents split and because Woody was dating (and later married) Soon-Yi Previn, Mia's adopted daughter, Ronan's step-sister. He has been quoted in the past as saying, "He's my father married to my sister. That makes me his son and his brother-in-law. That is such a moral transgression."
Soon-Yi has said that she never considered Allen her father or even a father figure, noting that Andre Previn, Farrow's former husband was her adoptive father.
Ronan, named Satchel Ronan O'Sullivan Farrow when he was born in 1987, is the sole biological child of Woody and actress Mia Farrow. He is currently serving as special adviser to the Secretary of State for Global Youth Issues and director of the State Department's Global Youth Issues office.


Click a category to see all compositions of George Frederick Bristow in that category. Click a composition title to see more detailed information.
Find scores for George Frederick Bristow at Sheet Music Plus.
George Frederick Bristow was one of the most important early American composers.
Enviado por Jean-Paul Giraudet el 2006-12-19 09:53.


text:
Q: Как получить int значения из SQL-запроса Как получить число (int), полученное в результате такого SQL-запроса:
SELECT id FROM table1 WHERE name="name"

Получается выводить только с применением foreach, что очень громоздко:
SQLiteDataReader reader = command.ExecuteReader();
foreach (DbDataRecord item in reader)
{
    intvalue = Convert.ToInt32(item["id"]);
}

Видимо так более правильно, потому что заработала функция MAX

A: using(SQLiteDataReader reader = command.ExecuteReader())
{
  while (reader.Read())
  {
    intvalue = Convert.ToInt32(reader["id"]);
  }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay	1789 CE
This region of South America has assumed much greater importance than before.
1789AD South America
1789AD Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay
BrazilPeru, Ecuador and BoliviaChile
What is happening in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay in 1789CE
The south-east region of South America has assumed much greater importance in the late 18th century. Direct trade with Spain is now permitted, and with the rise of transatlantic trade the fortunes of Buenos Aires and surrounding areas have greatly improved. The city itself is growing dramatically, and has been raised to equal status with Lima and Mexico City as one of the capitals of Spanish America.
Herds of wild horses, whose descendants arrived with the Spaniards two hundred years before, now roam the Pampas of Argentina. These are being rounded up, tamed and used for transport purposes. As a result of this activity there is growing up a class of South American "cowboys" called gauchos – complete with formidable Indian foes, now also riding on horseback.
At this date the southern parts of Argentina, Patagonia, remain almost entirely untouched by Spanish rule.
The Jesuit communities of Paraguay and southern Brazil have now vanished. The Jesuits had aroused the jealousy of the local landowners (who coveted the Indian labour the Jesuits controlled) as well as the Spanish government (who had an eye on the great wealth the order had accumulated). In 1767 the Jesuit order was banished from all Spanish lands. Their communities were handed over to officials, who, either through incompetence or corruption, allowed them to wither away. Their Indian labourers soon found themselves working as serfs on the large landed estates of the region.
Next map, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay in 1837
Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia history 1789CE
Peru has experienced administrative and economic decline
Brazil history 1789CE
The region around Rio de Janeiro has become the main centre of Brazilian economy and society
Venezuela, Colombia and the Guianas history 1789CE
The north-west region of South America has seen much development during the 18th century
Peru now lies at the heart of the vast Spanish empire in South America
The complex societies of Amazonia have vanished
North-west South America remains comparatively under-developed
Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia have fallen under the control of caudillos
Brazil is now independent from Portugal under a branch of the Portuguese royal family
Colombia and Venezuela are now independent countries
Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador have been ruled by numerous caudillos
Under Emperor Pedro II, Brazil's economy has greatly expanded
Colombia and Venezuela experience violent political instability
In Brazil, the empire has been replaced by a republic
Colombia and Venezuela experience unrest and chaos - but also economic expansion
Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador have all experienced intense political instability
A revolution brought Getulio Vargas to power as dictator (1930). His dictatorship was comparatively tolerant of the people's freedoms, and he presided over a period of economic recovery, despite the sharp economic downturn of the early 1930s. Brazil developed a larger home-grown industrial base than ever before. After democracy was restored in 1946, Vargas was […]
Both Colombia and Venezuela have become democracies
Britain history 2005CE
In the 60's and 70's Britain let go most of her remaining overseas territories. These years also saw Britain become a cultural trend-setter to the world, symbolised by the emergence of the Beatles as a global phenomenon. However, constant strikes and economic underperformance continued to drag Britain's prosperity down. Long-lasting troubles in Northern Ireland completed […]
Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador have all become democracies
Colombia has been troubled by drugs wars


Debates : Flynn never lied?
Republicans and Democrats alike should be scared about one overriding fact in the Flynn case. The FBI said Ret. Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn never lied, yet he had to plead guilty to lying in order to avoid a protracted fight he could no longer afford.
Ret. Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn's son, also Michael, wants justice for his father. He reacted to the release of the FISA abuse memo with hope but he might be underestimating the level and extent of corruption in both the media and the administration of our intelligence agencies. He went on fire on Twitter with several tweets. Here are two.
He has every reason to believe his father was wronged.
Recently, Robert Mueller asked for a delay in Lt. Gen. Flynn's sentencing because both defense and prosecution were not ready. Mueller allegedly also wants to talk with Flynn again.
Flynn pled guilty to one charge of lying to the FBI and is "cooperating" with the agency investigators in their Russia probe.
In the spring of 2017, FBI agents who interviewed the retired general said he didn't lie. They said he was confused and couldn't remember the details. Then Mueller came in with his team of witch hunters and they decided Flynn did lie after all.
Now I have learned how the DOJ was trying to prosecute Flynn via the Logan Act.
Apparently the DOJ was going after General Flynn via the Logan Act. What is the Logan Act you say? The Logan Act was a vague law created by the then Alien and Sedition Acts created by the colonial government in 1799 that made it illegal to speak out against the government. This obviously violates the Constitution due to free speech issues and, as a result, most of the Alien and Sedition Acts were done away with by Thomas Jefferson, luckily for us.
What was left of the Alien and Sedition Act, FDR locked up innocent Japanese Americans during WW2, which was also a clear violation of the Constitution, and the DOJ is now going after General Flynn. Ironically, no one has ever been successfully prosecuted under the Logan Act. It is so unconstitutional it is akin to a paper tiger.
But that is just how desperate the deep state is to make something stick to the Trump administration. Their biggest accomplishment was simply catching Flynn in a lie, and probably their last accomplishment. Will this be enough to justify their witch hunt using the DOJ and FBI to bring down an elected President of the United States? Probably not, but it will at least it will help justify their attempted coup and maybe help them in 2020.
From what I hear, their best bet now is to try and prove Trump obstructed the investigation. The funny part is, obstruct what? There is no crime. It's not like Nixon obstructing an obvious crime.
Good luck Dims. Odds are you have enough stooges within the Deep State to avoid prosecution for an attempted coup de tat so no worries.
The legal system is such that people are sometimes forced to back down and concede because they can't match lawyer fees.
He's a multi-Millionaire. He has plenty of money, He paid 20 million in bail, I'm sure that alone would have covered his lawyers. He plead guilty because he is guilty. Get a clue. He's guilty by a court of law now. End of story.
He's a multi-Millionaire. He has plenty of money, He paid 20 million in bail, I'm sure that alone would have covered his lawyers. He plead guilty because he is guilty. Get a clue.
Dims know how much money everyone has and how much they should have. After all, they do know everything.
That 's what makes them special cuz it's all they are fixated upon.
Perhaps it was more money than he was willing to part with.
The state has unlimited funds and unlimited power.
You reap what you sow treasonous Russian! LOL, Lovin every minute of it!
"The house has not hit the market yet officially; Flynn still owns a residence in Rhode Island."
Flynn has not filed for bankruptcy.
On page 6, Flynn says "I make this statement knowingly and voluntarily and because I am, in fact, guilty of the crime charged". The statement is signed by Flynn.
Damien Echols is an interesting case of a man who signed a statement that said he was guilty of the crime to be let out of the prison but publicly maintains his innocence.
Your profession of law, Marauder, makes these kinds of fantastic and logic defying situations possible in a nation corrupted by rotten laws.
Or, something like that, IDK. I am not that invested in American law & the Shining Beacon on the Hill, etc.
Is the law against lying to the FBI a "rotten law" IYO?
How about murdering children which Echols was convicted of?
Indeed. Lock him up. We all know it won't happen. We both also know locking him up is the only way for the left to save face.
It does strike me strange, however, that Flynn was caught in one lie while Hillary was publically lying about her e-mails in droves. Even Comey said she lied but the FBI inexplicably did not have her talk to them to see if she was lying to get her on record as lying to the FBI?
Moreover, it is odd that they refused to prosecute Hillary for Gross Negligence as Comey cited the inability to prosecute someone for that crime, yet they are going after Flynn using the Logan Act and are crucifying him for one lie?


text:
Jaime Diaz: The Closer
By Jerry Tarde Illustrations by Andy Friedman
Dan jenkins once said of this year's recipient of the PGA of America's Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism: "Nobody loves golf more than Jaime Diaz." I've witnessed that love affair in press tents and on golf courses for almost 30 years. He'll be the sixth Golf Digest staffer to receive the award behind (only chronologically): Jenkins, Nick Seitz, Bob Verdi, Dave Kindred and, in a moment of questionable judgment, me. Jaime is also the writer of the Hank Haney book excerpted
in this issue.
Instead of me writing about him, I thought I'd offer a Proustian Q&A so you can hear his distinctive voice in an email exchange:
Annie Leibovitz, the photographer, always had the ability to get celebrities to take off their clothes. You have the same skill as an interviewer. What's your secret?
Flattering comparison, but no secret. Just being genuinely interested in what these golfers do and who they are and what it all takes. People like being interested in.
What's your favorite description of a golfer (you wrote)?
After Sam Snead's death: "He would have appreciated the irony that he died from a series of small strokes."
Favorite golf passage (somebody else wrote)?
Dan Jenkins' concluding sentence in The Dogged Victims of Inexorable Fate. In a brilliant portrait of Arnold Palmer, whom he called "the most immeasurable of all golf champions," Dan concluded, "He has been, after all, the doggedest victim of us all." The greatest golf book ever has the greatest kicker.
Favorite moment in tournament golf?
Even though I only saw it on TV, my mind always goes back to the 1971 U.S. Open at Merion. The perfect fusion of the most important championship, an incredible course, and the two best players head-to-head (Nicklaus and Trevino). I was a very impressionable 17.
You win this year's Masters in heroic fashion. What's your lead?
"Sometimes, even Walter Mitty can close."
The title of your new book with Haney, The Big Miss, has many meanings. What's it mean to you?
For a long time, it seemed that Tiger never missed on the golf course or in life. Then he did. Mostly, the title signals sadness and loss.
Nobody divides opinion like Phil Mickelson. Why do you like him?
He has good manners, no matter what.
Best modern tour pro to have a brewski with?
Presuming modern means fairly young, dozens of candidates. It helps if it's not a tournament week and the notebook is put away. But Geoff Ogilvy is great company, as are Brandt Snedeker, Justin Rose and Nick Watney. When the occasion presents itself, I'm almost always pleasantly surprised.
Fight breaks out in a PGA Tour bar. Who do you want covering your back?
Angel Cabrera has been there before. Sean O'Hair has a black belt in karate. In the senior division, Mike Hill stands out.
Arnold Palmer instinctively got a lot right. What's the best thing a modern pro could learn from him?
Understanding fans are people, too. And being grateful for being adored.
You know all these guys. Do I have to call Nick Faldo "Sir Nick"?
I think not. However, the words come out more easily with just a hint of irony.
What's with the facial hair today?
In my case, a vain attempt to compensate for baldness and a weak chin. But today's pros are more fashion conscious than ever and follow Hollywood.
I think it was Tom Weiskopf who said golf started going to hell when the pros wore Dockers and tennis shoes to the course.
I understand the sentiment but disagree. One of my favorite sentences was written by Bernard Darwin about St. Andrews in 1910: "It is delightful to see a whole town given up to golf, to see the butcher and the baker and the candlestick maker shouldering his clubs as soon as his day's work is done ..." Today, a lot of those people, if they actually had time to play, would be wearing khakis and tennis shoes.
Which LPGA pro do you most admire now?
Jiyai Shin. This might get me in trouble, but women pros tend to be more admirable as people than the men.
You're a well-known believer in the need to roll back equipment to preserve shotmaking. C.B. Macdonald said it could all be fixed with one rule change: "The ball must float." What's your fix?
With a nod to Peter Thomson, eliminate the tee.
What's been the USGA's biggest mistake?
Fearing antitrust trumps the right of a sport to make its own rules.
Your best at a major-championship course?
A 71 at St. Andrews is my fondest. On a bright summer morning cooled by the gentlest zephyrs. If it had been the British Open, someone might have finally shot 62.


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Grand Theft Auto V: Life, Death, and Rebirth in San Andreas
Chris Olszewski, Staff Reporter
There's been a lot of talk this year about gaming's "Citizen Kane moment," meaning a release in the industry that could innovate it as Citizen Kane took innovative steps in the film industry. For it's time, Citizen Kane was highly innovative on the technical front. The film industry generally hadn't seen many of the techniques used in the film, and many techniques first seen in the film are still used today. And while it is my belief that gaming's Citizen Kane moment has come and gone, (hello, Half-Life's Mr. Freeman…) Grand Theft Auto V is the closest thing we have this year.
The area in which GTA V is most innovative is the storytelling method. In a first for the series, the story revolves around three protagonists: Michael De Santa, a retired bank robber who got a sweetheart deal with the FIB (GTA's version of the FBI); Trevor Phillips, Michael's former running buddy; and Franklin Clinton, a repo man whom Michael takes under his wing. You can switch between the three at any time, barring some missions and their aftermaths, and when you leave a character, you zoom out, Modern Warfare-style, and zoom in to your chosen character, and the character you left keeps going on with their lives.
You might leave Michael at his posh house to find Trevor in the midst of beating the snot out of a body builder, and come back twenty minutes later to find Michael in the middle of traffic, or playing golf. With the game's long list of activities, our three protagonists could be found anything, from golfing to playing tennis to flying. This, along with the multitude of epic moments, both scripted and unscripted(such as one particular episode where, as Franklin, I hijacked a car only to find the driver packing an assault rifle, leading to a police chase halfway across the map) only serves to contribute to the sense that Rockstar North has created a living, breathing world in San Andreas that feels real.
San Andreas also has an amazing sense of place. Rockstar absolutely nailed the different ambiances of each section of the map without making the areas feel compartmentalized or making them feel like they don't really fit together. The areas feel like they fit together organically, seamlessly flowing from city to country, and back again.
The sense of place is heightened by the absolutely fantastic graphics, which push the seven-year old PS3 and Xbox 360 hardware further than it probably has any right to. The state of San Andreas is always bustling, with multiple characters on the screen at once, and at night the countryside looks absolutely gorgeous. What's most impressive, though, is how this is done without loading while the characters are alive. Once you die, the game has a loading screen, but it's a negligible loading time, and the characters can enter shops and buildings without having wait through a loading screen a la Skyrim.
A living, breathing world with a sense of place doesn't work if the characters and dialogue weren't interesting or well written. Thankfully, at least the protagonists are. Trevor, in particular, is rather well-written and nuanced beyond his outwardly insane exterior, and this makes him one of the best characters in gaming history, and most definitely one of my favorites. So too, with the out-of-mission dialogue, which presents a knife-sharp satire of modern America, from the liberal-lampooning Impotent Rage cartoon, to the Weasel News radio bulletins, to the stellar talk shows and radio stations hosted by such folks as Kenny Loggins and DJ Pooh(the latter of whom wrote parts of GTA: San Andreas). The radio stations have something for everyone, and I was able to find at least one song on every station that I loved.
As for the controversy, sex, drugs, and brutal violence, that have been staples of the GTA series, all are in abundance in GTA V. It's all handled tongue-in-cheek, but there is a particular mandatory torture scene that I found to be rather disturbing, although I found it necessary in the grand scheme of things.
However, the excellent writing generally doesn't exist in the main story line (with the notable exception of Trevor, who delivers multiple fantastic bits throughout the story). Most of the main story line is boring, with side characters who are either annoying, (see: Jimmy, Michael's 20-year old son, and Steve Haines, hotshot FIB agent for two prime examples), distasteful, or idiotic. I found myself skipping over most cutscenes in the game to get to the gameplay.
The mere fact that there are three protagonists instead of one is another major innovation for the series. The multiple protagonists mean that you no longer have the anti-violence cut scenes followed directly by random , hyper-violent killing sprees (I'm looking at you, GTA IV.) Each protagonist, then, fills a certain niche in mission terms: Trevor gets the mayhem, including a mission that involves the infiltration of and subsequent murder of an entire military base; Franklin gets most car-based missions, and Michael's missions generally revolve around his mid-life crisis and his fraying relationships with his family. This arrangement is complemented by each protagonist's special ability; Franklin can slow time while driving, which comes in handy as many times as you'd think in a game called Grand Theft Auto; Michael can slow time while shooting; and Trevor can enter the Orc's Berserker mode from Skyrim.
The multiple protagonists also imbues the game's missions with an abundance of variety beyond "run or drive here, shoot, and leave". One mission has Michael racing Jimmy down Vespucci Beach on bikes, while another has Trevor impersonating a longshoreman and moving crates from bay to bay in order to prepare for a heist (seriously, that one's more fun than I make it sound). The variety of missions in the game always keeps things fresh and interesting, and there's very few, if any dull moments in the gameplay.
This mission variety, and the game's grand scope as a whole, are best personified by the heists that form the game's narrative climaxes. These multi-stage missions give the player a whole stable of options, from the approach to the crew, that allow for a lot of end-games in these particular missions. Do you go in stealthy, or fast and loud? Do you employ a weaker hacker, gunman, or driver in order to maximize your cut? The ability to replay every mission adds to the experimental nature of these heists, as you can try different combinations to see what best without fear of picking the "wrong" combo. Rockstar has also slain one of it's longest-persisting demons: mission checkpoints. The missions are always well-checkpointed, making sure you don't have to do the entire mission all over again, and there's a skip option once you fail a section a certain number of times, which is a godsend, as it keeps the story's flow, and kept me interested in the game, as it didn't seem like there was a brick difficulty wall that kept me from progressing at any point. Not that the game is controller-breaking hard, but the ability to skip certain sections you have particular trouble at is always nice, and would be appreciated for gamers with disabilities such as myself.
The gameplay has seen much improvement since Grand Theft Auto IV. Rockstar has taken the games they've put out since GTA IV, and put the mechanics into GTA V. The vehicles, first and foremost, handle far, far, better than the boat-like handling of GTA IV, having tons more grip and adding a lot of fluidity in the driving sections, Rockstar North taking a cue from Midnight Club: LA. The cars still feel a little floaty, and they're not as bound to road as, say, Sleeping Dogs, but Rockstar has found a good balance for the vehicle sections, making Franklin's special ability, essentially a bullet time for cars, that much more effective and useful, and making the drives in between the wide breadth of surprisingly robust activities from golf to tennis to movie watching just as enjoyable as the activities themselves. The flying is also fantastic, although it takes little getting used to at first. It is, however, very fun once you do, and there's an abundance of flying vehicles in the game.
The shooting has also taken many cues from it's older Rockstar brothers, specifically Max Payne 3 and Red Dead Redemption. It feels snappy, fluid, and natural. The aiming is decent, with how accurate the shots are upon first aiming dictated by the shooting skill (what a concept!) and this can be improved by going to shooting ranges, and well, shooting. However, the aiming reticule, even on complex, is very small, and I lost track of it on multiple occasions.
There's only one other blemish on the otherwise very good combat system: the melee combat. After playing Sleeping Dogs's Arkham Asylum-esque melee combat flow in an open world, it makes Grand Theft Auto V's melee combat feel clumsy and cumbersome, and GTA V would've been better off with a better flowing melee combat system.
Overall, Grand Theft Auto V is an absolute masterpiece. It's an extremely enjoyable videogame that shows Rockstar's growth as a developer and refines everything that GTA IV had, and more. No game comes close to matching it's scope and ambition, and I don't think that a game will come close to pulling it off as successfully as Grand Theft Auto V has for a rather long time.
Chris Olszewski, Opinion Editor
Chris Olszewski is nothing if not a walking contradiction. Though he prefers being a lone wolf, he always enjoys good company. If there is one thing Chris...
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