Infrastructure giant Thiess employed migrant workers on illegal contracts that allowed the company to sack and deport them for joining unions, as new evidence emerges of human rights violations under Australian visa programs.
The Thiess Services contracts, seen by The Age, were uncovered when the company laid off about 30 powerline maintenance workers last month due to declining work in Melbourne. The forced redundancies left 11 skilled Filipino migrants with 90 days to leave the country or find alternative visa sponsorship.
Their contracts are signed by the general managers of Thiess Services Australia and were issued in 2012 via an agent in the Philippines.
But unusual clauses – threatening termination for engaging in "trade union activities" – have raised serious concerns, with the Electrical Trade Union claiming the contracts amount to the "most flagrant violation of international labour rights we have ever encountered".
"In terms of coercion against joining a union this is about as extreme as you can get," the union's state secretary, Troy Gray, said.
"The terrifying part is if these threats can be made in writing to migrant workers, by an iconic Australian construction conglomerate, what's happening everywhere else?"
Australian and international human rights laws ensure the right to freedom of association, including the right to join trade unions.
It is understood Thiess Services revised the contracts several months after signing on the Filipino workers, acknowledging that bans on union representation had been illegal. It is not known how many of the 457 visa workers had contracts changed.
Filipino worker Antonio Enriquez, 45, said employees on work visas remained in fear that the company could "take away our jobs at any time" if they sought union representation.
"We were worried about what would happen if we do that," he said. "We gave up everything to come here."
The workers have also accused Thiess management of repeatedly assuring them their jobs were safe and that they would be nominated for permanent residency in Australia after two years of work.
"They gave us so many promises we would be made permanent residents," Mr Enriquez said. "But instead of giving us residency, they gave us redundancy."
Christopher Velasco, 37, said he and his colleagues were careful to always obey the rules of their employment.
"We did the best we could at our jobs, hard working and obeying the company's policies, so we are very sad that in return they are not giving us their obligations," he said.
"Our children have adjusted here in our new environment ... this was a one-way ticket for us and our families."
A company spokesman declined to comment on questions from Fairfax Media.
Federal Greens industrial relations spokesman Adam Bandt said the contracts were in clear breach of workers' rights and raised concerns that other illegal agreements could be in use among visa-sponsor employers.
He called on the government to ensure the 11 Filipino migrants could remain in Australia while the contracts were investigated.
"Thiess is one of a number of companies that have been given the power to self-regulate," Mr Bandt said. "The government must audit these companies' contracts that are currently working under 457 visas to ensure that more workers aren't having their rights taken away through illegal contracts."
Australia's workplace watchdog, the Fair Work Ombudsman, has begun inquiring.
Thiess Services is half-owned by CIMIC Group, formerly known as Leighton Holdings, which is one of Australia's largest construction companies.
A spokeswoman for the Abbott government said the allegations were "serious, and if true, are a breach of the law".
Filipino community group Migrante said the workers had contributed enormously to their new country over the past two years, and deserved the protection and security of a better future in Australia.
Laid-off worker Ricardo Bernardo said he was searching frantically for another electrical job to allow his family to keep living in Melbourne. "It's about my family's future," he said. "My son is here, my wife is here, and now we only have 90 days."


Featuring an Olympic distance - the first for a very long time on the Gold Coast - there's a race for everyone to earn Nissan State Series points from Kool Kids (7-11yrs), Short Enticer (12-13yrs), Super Sprint (14-17yrs) and the Olympic Distance (18+). Plus, if you're serious about locking in Nissan State Series points you can enter all 3 QTS races in the series (Round 2, Round 7 and Kawana Aquathlon) and save 7.5% on your entries!
Races include the Paddle/Bike/Run (1.5km paddle / bike 20km / 16km run), Beach Run (12km Run) or the SUP / Kayak (1.5km).
Bribie Triathlon Series Long (750m swim / 20km bike / 5km run) – Nissan State Series points up for grabs for 14 years +.
Bribie Triathlon Series (300m swim / 10km bike / 3km run) – Nissan State Series points up for grabs for 12-13 years.
*WHAT'S ON preview only includes events that have been submitted for sanctioning prior to October 1, 2016.


text:
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below (Arista)
By Dan LeRoy on Wed, Sep 24, 2003 at 4:00 am
R.E.M., with Sparklehorse Blossom Music Center, 1145 West Steels Corners Road, Cuyahoga Falls 8 p.m. Saturday, September 27, $35/$45/ $75, 216-241-5555.
Beatles parallels are a record reviewer's best friend and worst habit. But it's just too tempting, when listening to the fascinating sprawl of OutKast's double-length latest, to consider it urban music's heir to The White Album -- and not merely because the Georgia duo of Big Boi and Andre 3000, who each contribute a solo set to this package, is the closest thing, in terms of creativity and ambition, hip-hop has yet produced to the Fabs.
Under that scenario, Big Boi is OutKast's McCartney, a traditionalist trying to hold the group together. His Speakerboxxx will surprise no one who loved the group's breakthrough, Stankonia -- the futuristic funk beats and good-natured, pimpadelic outlook of "The Way You Move" and "Rooster" make it a very respectable follow-up. All that's missing is Dre's unpredictability.
Which brings us to the Lennonesque The Love Below. If it contains no "Revolution 9," its probing of black music's boundaries is, at times, almost as revolutionary -- and indulgent. Featuring almost no rapping, it sets Dre's suspect croon atop '60s jangle, continental jazz, and all points between and beyond, often succeeding from the sheer buzz of boundary-toppling. Its aspirations, like The White Album's, also contain the seeds of the group's demise; Dre has already stated he's fed up with rhyming and won't tour. We can hope OutKast has an Abbey Road left, but it's a tribute to its greatness and reach that this flawed exercise is still required listening for fans of any genre.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Inquest into death of cabbie killed by falling masonry
The inquest has begun into the death of a woman whose taxi was crushed by falling masonry from a building in High Holborn.
1 September 2014 at 12:06pm
Cabbie's widow wanted her to stay off work
The widower of a taxi driver killed on Valentine's Day by falling building debris asked her to stay off work because of high winds - but she refused so she could buy him a birthday present. Mother-of-three Julie Sillitoe, 49, was killed when large pieces of masonry fell from a building in High Holborn, crushing her. Her two passengers narrowly escaped with their lives after the chunks of cement fell just centimetres from their heads, an inquest has heard.
Workmen clear debris at the scene in Kingsway, opposite Holborn Tube station Credit: Anthony Devlin/PA
Her widower, security consultant Steve Sillitoe, told St Pancras Coroner's Court, how he pleaded with his wife not to go to work because of the bad weather. But she shrugged off his concerns and went out to work as normal at around 8pm. He said: "She came up and said 'I'm going to go to work now'. It was very windy outside, it was bad weather. I said to her 'Do you have to go to work? Why don't you take the night off?' "She said 'I have to go to work, I have to buy your birthday present'."
The scene in High Holborn Credit: Anthony Devlin/PA Wire
That night she picked up a young couple in her taxi at Gordon Ramsay's restaurant Bread Street Kitchen in the City. But as they drove through High Holborn shortly after 11pm masonry large pieces of cement fell from a building, crushing her Skoda Octavia. Ms Sillitoe, from Finsbury in north London, had to be cut from the wreckage but attempts to resuscitate her failed and she died at the scene.
Julie Sillitoe died when masonry fell on her car during high winds Credit: Metropolitan Police
"She was extremely family orientated - with her granddaughter and her sons. Shortly before she learnt that (her son) Ben's partner was pregnant again with a girl, which she was overjoyed at ... It is a number of months since Julie was killed, and every single day I miss her very much."
– Steve Sillitoe, speaking at the inquest into his wife's death
Last updated Mon 1 Sep 2014
High Holborn
Cost of Crossrail will continue to climb, warn MPs
Crossrail was due to be completed in December last year, but the railway may not open in full until 2022.
Charlotte Huggins: Father's joy at life sentence for his daughter's killer
The father of a woman stabbed to death on New Year's Day cheered as her jealous boyfriend was jailed for life.
Four nearly bald puppies dumped in a garden in Surrey
The puppies, thought to be six weeks old, were left inside a bucket at an address in Redhill.
Charlotte Huggins: Father's joy at sentence for daughter's killer
Woman dies after being found on fire in back garden
Teenage boy dies after collapsing at assault course in Surrey
First part of 'the world's longest artwork' goes live in London


text:
'Detroit: Become Human' Review: A Strong Narrative Leads to One of 2018's Best Games
by Joey Rassool May 24, 2018
The new video game from Quantic Dream puts you in the role of three different androids.
'Thor: Ragnarok' Review: Getting Silly with the God of Thunder
by Matt Goldberg November 3, 2017
The Marvel movies have always had humor, but Taiki Waititi's sequel is unapologetically a comedy even if it comes at the expense of the script.
'Warcraft': Check out a Side-by-Side Comparison of the Actors and Their Orcs
by Matt Goldberg May 16, 2016
See the impressive transformation from human to orc.
New 'Warcraft' Trailer Brings Humans and Orcs Together to Save the World
by Nick Romano April 19, 2016
For the Alliance and the Horde!
Clancy Brown Talks THE FLASH, Playing The General, Not Seeing His Character as a Villain, His Interest…
by Christina Radish February 9, 2015
Viewers were introduced to Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) during Season 2 of the hit CW drama series Arrow, in a way that made the character both likeable and intriguing, and it was easy to see why he immediately got his …
WARCRAFT Movie Characters Revealed; Meet The Horde and The Alliance
by Adam Chitwood November 7, 2014
If anybody can crack the curse of video game adaptations, it's Duncan Jones. The filmmaker behind Moon and Source Code has been very busy crafting a feature film adaptation of the incredibly popular World of Warcraft, and while filming is …
Oscars: Lupita Nyong'o, Josh Hutcherson, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Clark Gregg, and More Added to Academy Voting Body
by Adam Chitwood June 26, 2014
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced its list of actors, filmmakers, and others involved in the moviemaking industry that have been invited to join the Academy's membership. 271 artists made the cut this year, ranging from …
First Trailer for WHEN THE GAME STANDS TALL Starring Jim Caviezel, Michael Chiklis, and Alexander Ludwig
by Adam Chitwood April 15, 2014
Apparently it's the night for inspirational movie trailers, as Sony Pictures has now released the first trailer for director Thomas Carter's (Coach Carter) sports drama When the Game Stands Tall. The film tells the true story of the longest winning streak …
Clancy Brown Talks HOMEFRONT, Joining the Film, Collaborating with Director Gary Fleder, and Playing a Straight-Up Guy,…
From director Gary Fleder and written by Sylvester Stallone, the action thriller Homefront (now available on Blu-ray/DVD) tells the story of widowed ex-DEA agent Phil Broker (Jason Statham), who retires to a quiet Southern town with this 10-year-old daughter, only …
WARCRAFT Adds Clancy Brown and Daniel Wu; Michael K. Williams and Zach Gilford Join THE PURGE Sequel;…
Here's today's latest casting news: Clancy Brown (Homefront) and Daniel Wu (New Police Story) have joined Duncan Jones' Warcraft adaptation that stars Ben Foster, Travis Fimmell, Paula Patton, Robert Kazinsky and Toby Kebbell. The Purge 2 adds Michael K. Williams (Boardwalk …


text:
Q: Limit data by user data or role properties I have a map of points in Belgium. Each point is linked to a specific user. The points are saved into a database. So I created a layer that loaded in all the points.
I want to create a map for each user that only contists of his own data. Is there a possibility to link data to a user, filter the points and generate the map? For security reason, I can't set the user data in the url. So can I create a map for each user without creating for each user a different layer, with a different sql view?

A: One potential solution is to create a view for each user where you only pull out their data (assuming you are tracking this)
CREATE VIEW <viewName> AS SELECT * FROM <TABLE> WHERE <CreatedBy> = 'UserName'
Then set permissions on each of the views.

A: I have done this in the past by creating a custom GeoTools DataStore wrapping a PostGIS one, which would add filters on the fly based on the user, and alter the insert/update/delete statements accordingly (for a customer project, it's not available to the public).
If I were to do it again today I'd probably try to implement a custom ResourceAccessManager using the current user to add a read filter: https://github.com/geoserver/geoserver/blob/master/src/main/src/main/java/org/geoserver/security/ResourceAccessManager.java
Extending GeoFence could also be interesting, there is the ability to set read and write filters already, but not to make them parametric based on the current user name.
As a last alternative, you could setup your own server side proxy that given the user, sets the right viewparam in the requests (assuming they are read only, no WFS-T) and pass that down in a parametric sql view.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: How to show progress with percentage in the form of color change on top of a image I am very new to Android.
I want to have a horozontal progressbar like below image(I have a rectangle horizontal bar image with 4 divider,in that image i need to show progress with red color).For that i am adding setIndeterminateDrawable to progressBar and am getting the image in the background of progressbar.
In the same image i want to show progress like below with red color
Below is my code of xml layout
<LinearLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent">

    <ProgressBar
        android:id="@+id/pb_test"
        style="?android:attr/progressBarStyleHorizontal"
        android:layout_width="match_parent"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_centerInParent="true"
        android:indeterminate="true"
        android:max="100"
        />

</LinearLayout>

And code of Activity
public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {

 ProgressBar progressBar;
    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.main_layout);
        progressBar = findViewById(R.id.pb_test);
        progressBar.setIndeterminateDrawable(ContextCompat.getDrawable(this, R.drawable.pbimage));
        progressBar.setProgress(30);
        }
    }

How to show the progress of 30% with red color like above image.How to do this.
I am new to stackoverflow,so i am not able to upload any image.

A: i suggest you look at this library it has various examples also which do your thing
EDIT
see this library for a progress bar for images as in whatsapp status, instagram and snapchat


Searching for the right Utah Island recruiters and Utah headhunters can be difficult. That's why many employers and organizations are turning to Recruiters LineUp to help simplify the process. Recruiters LineUp can match you with the right Utah search firms according to location, industry, and niche. Utah boasts a competitive job market within the tourism, mining, and banking industries in different cities like Salt Lake City and West Valley City. To get started on your path to bringing the best and brightest talent to Utah, simply use our free search bar to the right of this page to be matched with the right recruiters.


text:
Federation University Australia > Connect > Alumni > Alumni profiles > PITMAN, Heather
Giving to Federation University Australia Foundation
Alumni details and involvement opportunities
my Alumni Centre
Contact alumni office
PITMAN, Heather
2018 Distinguished Alumna of the Year (posthumous)
Heather broke down barriers in engineering with an integrity that earned her tremendous respect in the sector and led to her becoming the first female Head of Engineering for the City of Ballarat. She studied at the School of Mines and Ballarat College of Advanced Education and was awarded the Civil Engineering Scholarship in 1977.
Heather pioneered sustainable design and developed and approved Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) projects, ranging from large scale wetlands projects to innovative water detention systems. She was the first of a new breed of engineers to consider the urban water cycle in its entirety and not in isolated parts, a radical approach at the time.
In her honour, the Pitman Benjamin Engineering Prize was founded, to recognise students like Heather, who have chosen not to accept the status quo, but instead to change the world to make it better for all. Heather died in 2005.
Page ID: 457240 | Last Updated: 25 August 2020 | Authorised by: Executive Director, Chancellery | Content Coordinator: Rebecca Perovic | Copyright | Privacy | Accessibility


text:
Virginia Tech Stats
Take on 10
Around the Way with EJ
WSLS Insider
Dining for Charities
Top 10 Deals
Feel Good VA
Daytime Blue Ridge
Mom Day Monday
Round Town
In A Day's Drive
Pick of the Litter
Know Your Zone - Lynchburg Area
Know Your Zone - Roanoke
Know Your Zone - New River Valley
Know Your Zone - Southside
Know Your Zone - Highlands
4 warnings in effect for 29 regions in the area
Jonathan Landrum Jr.
Published: November 2, 2021, 1:03 PM
Updated: November 2, 2021, 3:17 PM
Tags: Jamal Joseph, entertainment, Otis Redding, Donny Hathaway, Tupac Shakur, Arts
7 unique Valentine's gifts for the person who is hard to shop for
Workout at home and save 20% on this highly-rated Pilates machine
Lynchburg deals with freezing rain after Sunday's snow
Snowstorm makes for a difficult, yet fun for some move-in day at Virginia Tech
Plow companies across the Roanoke Valley see major boost in business during winter storm
Snow creates perfect sledding conditions on Stanley Avenue in Roanoke
Tupac Shakur's life, legacy to be subject of massive exhibit
Published: November 2, 2021, 1:03 PM Updated: November 2, 2021, 3:17 PM
FILE - Rapper Tupac Shakur attends a voter registration event in South Central Los Angeles on Aug. 15, 1996. Shakur's handwritten lyrics from classic songs such as "California Love" and "Dear Momma" along galleries that pay homage to his upbringing and mother are among the artifacts featured in a massive touring museum exhibit. The Shakur Estate announced Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021, that the "Tupac Shakur. Wake Me When I'm Free" will open on Jan. 21, 2022, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Frank Wiese, File)
LOS ANGELES – Tupac Shakur's handwritten lyrics from classic songs such as "California Love" and "Dear Mama" along with galleries that pay homage to his upbringing and late mother are among the features in a massive touring museum exhibit.
The Shakur Estate announced Tuesday that the " Tupac Shakur. Wake Me When I'm Free " will open Jan. 21 in Los Angeles. The exhibit is described as a fully immersive, thought-provoking museum experience that explores the life and legacy of the late rapper.
Shakur, one of the most prolific figures in hip-hop, died in 1996 from gunshot wounds. He was 25.
The exhibit is expected to spend six months in Los Angeles with the hopes of touring other cities.
"There are thousands of pieces of paper, handwritten pieces of paper – which is everything from his lyrics to all of the songs and poetry that you know down to a grocery list for a birthday party," said Arron Saxe, president of Kinfolk Management + Media, who is working with Shakur's estate. Saxe has worked with estates for other iconic music artists including Otis Redding and Donny Hathaway.
"The whole point of this exhibit was to not only show the kaleidoscopic nature of Tupac, but also show how he is relatable," Saxe continued. "There are incredible pieces of clothing. This exhibit is also a mix of contemporary art and technology too. Many of the artifacts have never been seen before."
The 20,000-square foot exhibit will showcase Shakur's music, poetry, wardrobe, activism journey and other items in galleries.
One of the galleries will be dedicated to the rapper's late mother, Afeni Shakur, the former Black Panther who inspired the work of her son. She died in 2016.
Saxe said Shakur's mother is the "guiding light" of the exhibition.
"Afeni was the baddest Black woman to walk the planet," said Jamal Joseph, the rapper's godfather and special advisor to the estate, in a statement. "She raised awareness and shifted the atmosphere wherever she went. Tupac's brilliance shined brighter than the sun. He lived and moved with creative - revolutionary - fearless-passion fueled speed of a comet. Afeni and Pac challenged, re-imagined, and transformed history."
Shakur's estate-sanctioned museum experience is produced in partnership with Universal Music Group, CAA, Round Room Live and Kinfolk Management + Media.
"Tupac Shakur was my Malcolm; he was my Martin, and to build an experience that honors such a prolific man, cannot be summed up in words," said Jeremy Hodges, whose firm, Project Art Collective, is working with The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on the creative portion of the exhibit. "We wanted to create a memorable experience that will inspire you to be better than when you walked in, all while leaving you with the knowledge that he was a true revolutionary spirit."
Careers at WSLS 10
Internships at WSLS 10
Copyright © 2022 WSLS.com is managed by Graham Digital and pubished by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings.


Rope and attachments not supplied. Professional install recommended. For indoor/undercover use. Measures approximately 110cm high x 80cm wide x 65cm deep. *Please note: not all cushion options may be in stock at any one time, your cushion may be made to order, please allow 2-3 weeks.
To keep your rattan looking fab, wipe over regularly with a damp cloth, this rejuvenates the rattan and keeps it looking new and to remove scuff marks clean with eucalyptus oil and a dry cloth. Don't position your piece over a heater or air conditioning vent. Do not position directly in sunlight. Do no leave outside in rain, must be stored under cover.


text:
The Drowned
Art. Fables. Memory.
War Crimes. Complicity.
A new film
Pandora Machine.
As COVID-19 swept across the globe, I finished a play called The Drowned Girl.
Eventually, during the crucible of the pandemic, that play became a film script.
The Drowned Girl explores the complicity of art in totalitarianism and mass slaughter as viewed through the Nazi film industry. It also examines how gender and marriage play out in the making of art.
Yet perhaps the central current of the film is a meditation of the relationship of history and fable.
As the final surviving victims of the Holocaust pass from our midst, the process by which memory is transformed, softened, blurred, or even erased is a vexing question. The strategies of art – and the human urge to (over)simplify – combine and conspire with familiar legends and motifs and literature to revise or reinvent even the darkest chapters of human experience.
The Drowned Girl grapples with the difficult questions raised by history's tendency to slip into fable. When the river of evidence about the horrors of the Holocaust comes into confluence with Goethe, or Shakespeare, or German legends of water spirits, what happens to memory? Is history doomed to be shaped by these forces? Or do we retain the power to (re)shape fables with our own truth and our own artistic powers, so that the memory of evil burns always at the center of any retelling?
Months after we shot The Drowned Girl, I came across this passage from Gregor von Rezzori's extraordinary work, Abel and Cain:
"The dropsical air carried it to him, in gull shrieks expelled wildly into nothingness, weaving the emptiness of eternity on gull wings—a nightmare carnival: Pierrots shooting clownishly to and fro and up and down, crossing, chasing one another, reeling, plunging, now surrounded by powdery whirls of snowflakes, now streaked obliquely with strands of rain. He could hear it in the city's din, which surged restlessly like the straying wind, now and again punctuated by the walrus bellow of a ship's siren, haunted by ghosts of the past. He heard it in the constricted voices, the faded intonations, the crumbling speech of the people he passed during his constant, futile walks: pale blond men and women who looked at him with eyes of faded blue in which blank uncomprehending amazement froze into the enigmatic gaze of nixies. Estrangement stood between him and them, and this strange place to which they were together condemned did not unite them."
I had a shock of powerful recognition as I read this evocation of my own project in words published by von Rezzori in the 1970s: The nightmare carnival. Faded intonations. Crumbling speech. This strange place to which they were together condemned.
And, yes, the enigmatic gaze of a nixie – who was once an actress, long ago, and still uncomprehending – that confronts the viewer throughout the film.
Watch the teaser for The Drowned Girl.
The Drowned Girl was shot between September and December 2021 in Washington, DC, Jersey City and Paterson, NJ, as well as in Manhattan and Brooklyn. We shot it with the safety of our performer and the rest of the team as a top priority.
Annalisa Loeffler plays The Drowned Girl. Andrew Bellware directed and composed music for the film. Paula D'Alessandris was the project's performance director. Laura Schlachtmeyer produced the film.
(Above, right: The writer on The Downed Girl set in Paterson, NJ.)


Comparing Real Estate Agents in Council Bluffs IA?
Buying or selling a property in Council Bluffs IA? Excellent!
As you know there are lots of options when it comes to real estate agents in Council Bluffs IA and you've got a decision to make.
If you're looking to sell your Council Bluffs IA house Homes By Chris can help you sell your house for the highest price, making it effortless for you on your terms. We will implement a cutting edge strategy specifically developed for you. Utilizing digital marketing, optimizing various social media platforms to target market to the masses.
If you're buying a home or Council Bluffs IA area property Homes By Chris has the experience you need to help make the buying process easier, less time consuming, and we're on your side to help make sure you get the best deal while we worry about all of the details.
Either way, countless local homeowners and investors trust Homes By Chris to help them wade through the real estate buying and selling process while keeping more cash in your pocket and helping you save the time and headache of working with less experienced brokers.
Give me a call at 402-378-9462 or dive into the resources we have on this site.
Looking for a home in Council Bluffs? Search available listings and experience buying a home with our amazing buyers agents.
Homes By Chris is a licensed Broker in the state of IA and is a leading authority on Council Bluffs, IA area real estate. Our love for the communities we live and work in are why we do what we do. Stop by the office and experience the Homes By Chris way of Council Bluffs area real estate.


make / manufacturer: Gundlach Mfg. Corp.
A triple convertible photo lens marked: Gundlach Manufacturing Corporation, Fairport, N.Y., 8x10, ANAST F: 7.0 SER II 211669 There is a shutter actuating lever as well as a connection for a remote shutter control cable. It is labeled as: BETAX No. 4 with settings "T B 50 25 10 5 2" and three focal scales 12, 19 and 25. There is a label on the rim of the outer lens reading: EQ 12" 304.8 MM and FR 25" 635 MM, The inner lens is marked: BACK 19.7" 500.4 MM. There is a threaded mounting plate with 5 holes for screws. Outer diameter: approx. 3-3/4" Length approx. 3-1/4"


the, uh <counting> Fourth Regional Conlang Conference next weekend.
Anyone and everyone who can attend is welcome and urged to come join us.
Time:  Saturday, April 3rd; noon to one p.m.
coffee/hanging out for those who can stick around.


"Based on the CLI provided by the DeviceManager, this document describes how to use variouscommands classified by functions and how to set the CLI and manage the storage system throughthese commands."
As part of an effort to improve and enhance the performance and capabilities of its product line, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. from time to time releases revisions of its hardware and software. Therefore, some functions described in this manual may not be supported by all revisions of the software or hardware currently in use. For the most up-to-date information on product features, refer to your product release notes.
If a product does not function as described in this manual, please contact your Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. technical support.


The world of tax-exempt equestrian organizations is wide and varied, and these organizations obtain federal tax-exempt status in a variety of ways. The type of tax-exempt status obtained by an organization is important because it dictates many of the requirements and benefits that come with the tax exemption. This first post will give an overview of some of the various federal tax exemptions available to equine organizations. Subsequent posts will dive deeper into each of the tax-exemption categories, their requirements and benefits, and the types of equine organizations that often qualify for each tax exemption category.
The first and most well known category is the tax-exemption under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(3). To qualify as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization, the entity must be organized and operated exclusively for religious, charitable, scientific, testing for public safety, literary, educational purpose, or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals. In addition, organizations that foster national or international amateur sports competition may obtain 501(c)(3) status, but only if no part of their activities involve the provision of athletic facilities or equipment. In an interesting twist, however, certain "qualified amateur sports organizations" may obtain federal tax exemption under IRS Code Section 501(j), even if they have facilities, equipment or are local/regional in nature, if they are organized and operated primarily to conduct national or international competition in sports or to support and develop amateur athletes for national or international competition in sports.
Equine-related organizations that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) abound. Examples include the United States Equestrian Federation, the United States Dressage Federation, the United States Hunter Jumper Association, the United States Eventing Association and the United States Pony Clubs Inc.* Additionally, organizations that provide equine therapy to enrich the lives of individuals with disability are often tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3).
Finally, clubs organized for pleasure, recreation, and other nonprofitable purposes may be treated as tax-exempt under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(7). Local riding clubs are often incorporated as 501(c)(7) social clubs.
© Deborah Buyer Law PLLC 2018 These materials do not constitute legal advice or create an attorney-client relationship. The reader is advised to consult with an attorney to obtain legal advice.
*All references to a specific organization's tax exemption are based on the organization's most recent IRS Form 990, obtained from www.guidestar.org.
Effective October 23, 2017, New York became the 48thstate to enact an equine activity liability law. The new law was included in the New York State Safety in Agricultural Tourism Act. Unlike most other state's equine activity liability laws, the New York law governs liability of operators of "agricultural tourism", and "equine activities both outdoors and indoors but excluding equine therapy" are considered agricultural tourism for this purpose. See here for the text of the new law.
Posting a conspicuous Warning to Visitors sign, notifying visitors of the inherent risks relevant to the on-farm activity, the farm operation and site conditions. According to guidance issued by the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets, the operator is responsible for developing this sign, which should be as specific as possible regarding the risks of specific activities, farm operations and site conditions. Generic signage will not be sufficient, and a risk assessment and periodic reviews are necessary.
Posting directional signage showing paths, areas and buildings that are open to the public. According to guidance issued by the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets, such signage should identify "off limits"areas.
Posting a conspicuous notice of visitor responsibilities (see description of such responsibilities below).
Posting a conspicuous notice to visitors of the right to a refund for those unprepared or unwilling to accept the risks or responsibilities.
Distributing written information to visitors, with language provided by the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets, directing the attention of all visitors to the required Warning to Visitors sign. The language provided by NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets also includes information directing the visitor to the visitor responsibilities notice, as well as information about a refund if the visitor is unprepared or unwilling to accept the risks or responsibilities.
Providing adequate training to employees.
Taking reasonable care to prevent reasonably foreseeable risks to visitors consistent with landowner obligations to keep the premises reasonably safe for intended and reasonably foreseeable uses and users.
The NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets guidance indicates that either the failure to disclose a foreseeable risk or the failure to take reasonable care to prevent foreseeable risks could result in the loss of statutory protection. Additionally, operators should assess risk through the eyes of a visitor who is unfamiliar with the farm's operations.
Note that the operator may establish additional rules of conduct to help manage risks, which may be more specific or robust than what is required by the statute. If properly displayed or communicated, these rules may provide further protection from liability.
Exercise reasonable care regarding the disclosed risks.
Reasonably comply with posted directional signs and reasonably remain in designated areas.
Reasonably follow any and all written information or conspicuously posted rules of conduct provided by such operator to visitors, or verbal or other form of communication of rules of conduct where needed for effective communication for people with disabilities.
Not willfully remove, deface, alter or otherwise damage signage, warning devices or implements or other safety devices.


text:
Missouri is Actively Investing in Leading-Edge Industries
Missouri is actively investing in high-tech industries including agtech, geospatial analysis, cybersecurity, human health and animal health.
The Global Agtech Leader
Missouri is the global leader in agtech and the gateway to the future of advanced farming, leading future growth with innovative technology and research.
39 North is the world's first agtech innovation district. It spans nearly 600 acres and includes many of the region's top agtech companies such as Bayer Crop Science's Global Seeds & Traits HQ, the Danforth Plant Science Center, Bio-Research & Development Growth (BRDG) Park and the Helix Incubator.
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is the world's largest independent research institute focused on plant science, with more than 1,000 plant scientists conducting research targeted at increasing crop yields, their nutritional value, and resistance to drought and disease.
Nearby, Missouri Botanical Garden (St. Louis) conducts the most productive and diverse botanical research in the world, employing nearly 50 Ph.D. botanists.
Missouri has the largest concentration of plant science PhDs in the world.
Missouri's Animal Health Corridor
Missouri is home to national headquarters for leading agricultural associations – including the American Angus Association and the U.S. Animal Health Association. More than half of the world's animal health industry is represented in the Kansas City region, home of the Animal Health Corridor. It stretches from Kansas to Columbia, Missouri. The corridor is home to more than 300 animal health companies, representing the largest concentration in the world.
Missouri's Knows Geospatial – We Map The World
Missouri is home to the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency HQ West, and much of the R&D in the region is connected to this leading-edge U.S. government agency.
Rendering of the planned NGA West HQ in St. Louis
Eight research institutions recently joined forces to create the Taylor Geospatial Institute.
GeoHornet Lab at T-REX serves as a career path launching pad for geoscience students.
The NGA Accelerator Powered by Capital Innovators recruits startups developing technology that can help address geospatial challenges.
The Geospatial Innovation Center at T-REX, Powered by Bayer, is 16,000 sq. ft. of innovative and creative workspace dedicated to connecting and growing our geospatial community.
NGA opened its first unclassified innovation center inside T-REX incubator Moonshot Labs.
Missouri is Healing the World
Institutions within the Cortex Innovation Community district receive more than $400 million in NIH funding annually. The Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) Innovation Center aims to "address health security and foster job growth."
Pfizer's Missouri locations played a critical role in developing and manufacturing a key component of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. The Saint Louis University Center for Vaccine Development is a multi-disciplinary research facility for vaccines and biologics, and it is one of only nine NIH-funded vaccine research institutions. The Center conducted pivotal research on the H1N1 influenza vaccine, biodefense, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and tuberculosis vaccines.
The Stowers Institute for Medical Research (Kansas City), conducts basic research on genes and proteins to determine the causes, treatment and prevention of diseases. The McDonnell Genome Institute at Washington University in St. Louis was one of the first three sites to begin full-scale human sequencing as part of the Human Genome project. Scientists there were the first in the world to decode the complete DNA sequence of a cancer patient.
Missouri Universities are Key to Research Innovation
Missouri has two universities ranked in the top 100 in the U.S. for R&D spending, Washington University in St. Louis (28th) and the University of Missouri in Columbia (78th). In fact, U.S. News and World Report ranked Washington University 14th in its ranking of Best National Universities.
Washington University received $879+ million in total research support in 2021 with more than 3,000 research projects underway each year. The University of Missouri in Columbia had $389 million in total research expenditures in 2021 and is the home of the first Center for Regenerative Agriculture in the Midwest.
Make. Grow. Move.
What can Missouri do for you?
See how Missouri's business climate ranks in comparison to other states.
Healthcare Marketing Company Expands in St. Louis, Missouri
Hedy & Hopp, a healthcare marketing agency focused on holistically activating effective and ... Read More
Biopharmaceutical Company Expands in Kansas City, Missouri
Catalent Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, recently announced plans to expand in Kansas City, ... Read More
San Francisco-based Biotech Company Opens Missouri Office
Vir Biotechnology Inc., a San Francisco-based immunology research company focused on treating a ... Read More
Related Brochures
Health Innovation Industry Brochure
... Download
Industry Snapshot: Health Innovation
Missouri's Tax Climate Rankings (PDF)
EaglePicher
Ron Nowlin, Senior VP of Aerospace Systems
It's local people that went to Missouri universities that have helped develop a lot of the things that we're dealing with today.


I''ve been fortunate to work with great string orchestras both onstage and in the studio for years now. I also work with all of the major orchestral sample libraries and have the 200-plus tracks in my DAW template to prove it. When 70 DVZ Strings was sent to me for review, I thought there must be a mistake when I read the specs, which claimed that all string articulations were available at all times for each section and the whole library operated on only five MIDI channels and was around 8GB in size. How could that be?
Fig. 1 70 DVZ Strings lets you control every aspect of the library in real time.
70 DVZ Strings, the brainchild of noted composer Chris Stone, employs an innovative approach toward controlling samples. The DVZ Master Orchestrator application resides on the PC with Kontakt Player and allows the user to control every aspect of the library in real time from the GUI without having to ever work directly in Kontakt. MIDI is sent from the DAW to DVZ, where it is processed and split into five MIDI streams (Violins I, Violins II, Violas, Celli, Basses) and sent back to your DAW and recorded onto separate MIDI tracks, where it can be further edited. Simultaneously, the channelized audio from Kontakt is also routed to your DAW. The whole system works in real time, in effect allowing you to play on your keyboard and hear the notes come back intelligently split among the various string sections. The effect is quite stunning, especially when you realize that this is happening in real time (see Figure 1).
A single LAN connection over Ethernet is capable of moving the entire MIDI back and forth, as well as the audio stream from Kontakt via either Vienna Ensemble Pro or Audio Impressions'' AudioPort Universal software. Setting up a DVZ system properly is not a simple matter; however, the support team at Audio Impressions was very helpful in sorting out the details and getting me up and running. In my case, I was running Logic on a Mac, and eventually settled on using a separate MIDI interface and USB audio interface, which is my preferred method for a live performance setting and works equally well in the studio.
Fig. 2 The Master Orchestrator GUI lets you build an ensemble of any size from a single player per section up to a 70-piece section.
One of the main aspects of DVZ is that each "desk" of players is actually a unique set of samples and is recorded by different players. The Master Orchestrator GUI allows you to turn on and off the various desks and build an ensemble of any size you want, from a single player per section all the way up to a 70-piece (18-16-14-12-10) section (see Figure 2). Articulations can be automatically switched among arco, tremolando, pizzicato, "Bartok pizz," col legno and harmonics, and the effect is an immediate change in articulation with no new samples to load. You can use auto-bowing or specifically determine up or down, heel, mid or tip bowing. You can choose open strings, Sul II, Sul III, or Sul IV positions, and all employ different samples that transition seamlessly. Con sordinos are also available; however, a modeling approach is used rather than utilizing new samples. The effect is very well-done and believable.
Onscreen sliders allow you to vary performance parameters even further. One of my favorites is modulating between Sul tasto (bowing closer to the fingerboard) and sul pont (closer to the bridge). As you modulate between the bow positions, the sound changes in real time and sounds completely natural; this feature is not found in many other libraries. The time and pitch between desks can be spread—particularly useful for replicating the inaccuracies of players on fast runs.
Fig. 3 An example of an M-Audio Oxygen 8 mapped to 70 DVZ Strings.
All of these performance parameters can be controlled onscreen or assigned to an external MIDI controller in addition to your main keyboard controller''s pedals, wheels, and buttons. For my setup, I used an M-Audio Oxygen 8 for switching between articulations on the fly (see Figure 3). I have spent 25 years performing "strings" live, and I can do things in real time with this system that is simply impossible with any other setup. I can see a whole crop of live musicians using a roadworthy turnkey DVZ system onstage.
Once the main MIDI performance is recorded and channelized, you can also edit each section individually, applying all of the above editing features to each section independently. However, one of the strengths of DVZ is that a lot of the work is already done for you if you have your controllers set up well, resulting in much less editing time after the fact.
I tested DVZ on a turnkey AiDAW PC system. Although more expensive than the standalone library, the system is guaranteed to meet the demanding specs and is set up and tested before shipped. The AiDAW also provides all the technical support necessary to get you up and running properly with the rest of your setup, while the standalone library provides an hour of technical support. In my opinion, anyone serious about string playing and recording professionally would be better served with the turnkey system rather than relying on building an appropriate system themselves.
Audio Impressions will be releasing a brass library soon, followed by woodwinds. Additional libraries and refinements to DVZ are also in development.
Click on the Product Summary box above to view the 70 DVZ Strings product page.


text:
Almer S. Tigelaar
I like to travel. This category particularly contains posts relating to my longer adventures abroad.
Top 8 Prejudices about Americans
When travelling abroad it is difficult to go with an open mind. Despite our best efforts we bring with us an excess of prejudice shaped by our own culture and view of the destination country. So to it was for me when I visited the United States. When coming back, people at home are very insistent that you play into their prejudice regarding where you've been as well, perhaps as a means of reinforcing their own identity.
Categories: Travel
A Brief Guide for the Dutch
Since I've spent some time in the United States, what follows are some ideas for shopping and eating that could save fellow traveling Dutchmen some time. Some of these may be specific to the Pittsburgh area, but others may also generalize to other parts of the country, particularly medium to large sized cities. Use to your advantage.
… or roughly 32 000 feet above the ground, that's where I am now, as you are reading this. In about six hours I will land at Schiphol airport in the Netherlands, back where I started hundred and twenty-three days ago. It doesn't seem so long when you are at the end of it, but that's still a good third of year.
Advogato
Tech Nibble
Archive Select Month April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 October 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 August 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 July 2018 May 2018 December 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 March 2016 October 2015 July 2015 January 2015 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 November 2013 September 2013 August 2013 May 2013 April 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 May 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 February 2011 July 2010 March 2010 February 2010 December 2009 September 2009 April 2009 February 2009 October 2008 July 2008 May 2008 January 2008 May 2002 October 2001 July 2001 June 2001 May 2001 April 2001 March 2001 February 2001 January 2001 December 2000 November 2000 October 2000 September 2000 August 2000
Copyright © Almer S. Tigelaar


"I love it here," Kenneth told me, the strength of the emotion making up for the weakness in his voice.
Gray storm clouds stretched across the horizon, past the boundary between forest and sea. Salt laden gusts whipped at us, playing with our jackets, hair, and the wind chimes. Part of me wanted to race down to the beach and play in the waves, but I knew I couldn't leave his side or safely take him down there if I wanted to make it back up here. It wasn't safe to leave the house. Of course, it wasn't really safe to have come here, either.
"In every season, Kenneth?" I asked him.
"Every!" Kenneth was smiling despite the pain. "I love this place. My father brought us here to fish. Many Christmases, Thanksgivings, summers and Spring Breaks have been spent here."
"I was looking for tea in the cabinets and saw all the stuff. I didn't realize there was already enough food here to last for years." Kenneth went rigid at the last word in my sentence. I cursed silently. Time was the last thing he needed was reminding. "Did you and Marguerite have you honeymoon here?"
"Yes, we did." He relaxed slightly, as if good memories could cure him. "And ..." his eyes were misting over, the last few months seemingly disappearing. "Last fall, just last fall, we were together! Jenady, we were together ... she was here, with me, here."
"I know." I put my hand on his shoulder. A breeze whipped up, stirring leaves down below. Kenneth shifted in his chair, his sweat shirt falling away to reveal a bony shoulder poking through the dark skin. I could imagine a bone jutting through the skin barely covering his lean frame and knew I couldn't stand the risk of touching him more than I already had, vaccines be damned. I knew we were breaking so many laws being here.
"I wish it was spring," Kenneth muttered.
"I would have liked to have seen the whales and orcas swim off the point again."
"Do you want to go inside?"
"Yeah. Inside. Just put me somewhere near a window." I watched the sun touch the water, slowly melting golden into a darkening sea. "This is a fine vantage point."
"Hot tea, and make it sweet."
Kenneth's profile through the glass door revealed his small movements, signs of his inward struggle against the pain. "Sugar or Splenda?"
"Sugar. I want the real stuff. I want everything real. Gotta keep it real, right?" His joke fell flat. He tried to laugh and winced at the pain.
"Do you want some of the painkiller?" I asked.
Steam rose from the cups as I poured. I picked up the medical storage box and sorted what I'd pilfered. A hypodermic I'd refused to use so far, some aspirin and a few not-yet-expired Advils lay inside. I gave the Advils and the tea to Kenneth. He choked down the painkiller down, then sipped the tea, and then swallowed an aspirin. "They never give me enough of this stuff in the hospital. They're afraid they'll exceed the rations or just want to pilfer it for the black market with the ones they should give but don't. But I don't care. Not now." With that, he popped another pill. "You can't see Orion yet, but the Big Dipper is coming out."
"I see it." He sipped slowly. "Three months. They gave me three lousy months, with lots of supervised care. Care? Damn, they did not. They kept me alive, I think, just to study the disease from start to finish. Then, right before I'm stage 4, they invent what's supposed to be a cure." We sat in silence for a long time. "Are you sure the vaccine you got is good?" he asked me. I shrugged. We both knew that in a care-giver role, the disease exposure was likely. The only question was if I'd be exposed to one person intensely or hundreds in a flow of patients. The only difference was that here I only had one person to supervise, and no one was screaming at me. It felt good to have the world calm and normal, like it used to be.
I fetched blankets and refilled his cup and every other thing he needed before he could ask. I felt so sorry for him. I'd lost my best friend. He'd lost his wife. He'd asked me to bring him home for a weekend. "I enjoyed this time, Jenady. And our conversations." Another sip. " Thank you. For everything." He swallowed another pill with deliberate force. He smiled with utter relief. How long had he been left to suffer without any pain killers that he craved them so badly?
"I've enjoyed our time together, as well." Without a legal power of attorney, taking him out of the hospital was technically a crime. Violating quarantine orders was a crime. Refusing a termination order was, too, though I could have delegated it to someone else because I knew the man. But instead of killing the man who had identified the disease in the first place and started the research toward its cure, I had used my credentials to sneak him out as a dead body and bring him home. It's so much more convenient to kill the infected who cannot be cured.
A brilliant crescent moon hung high up in the sky, bleaching the color from the evergreens and beach below us. Silver tipped waves echoed across the ocean. It was pretty, like a high definition screen saver. I could imagine myself falling in love with Kenneth if he'd shown me this scene rather than Marguerite. Far too late for that now, I gave him my attention again. "Comfortable?"
"Yes, it's taking effect." He sank into the pillows. "There's no more pain, Jenady." His voice grew fainter as sleep threatened to overtake him. "Finally, there's no pain." I watched as his body relaxed. A stupid smile that in other times would have been mistaken for drunkenness spread across his face. "I would have liked to have seen the whales again," he whispered. Kenneth's eyes closed slowly. He was asleep.
I watched him through the night. Memories of me and Marguerite were hard to push away. The bedroom's dark door was past the couch, though it was impossible for me to enter. I tried to think about them and myself with my various dates when we went out as a four-some. That felt depressing. I listened to nature instead, worryingly listening for sirens or flying cameras. The only sounds were the natural wave machine outside and a few lonely insects. With the quarantine in effect and strict rationing of fuel and everything else essential, there were no boats or cars out at all. The peaceful quiet was relaxing, soothing me for the first time since the pandemic struck. I listened to the waves until I, too, fell asleep.
A bird chirped. It sounded like a siren like those from my dreams. My mind tried to process the natural sounds to what I expected. I uncurled from around the blanket I'd clutched all night. I rose quietly to avoid waking him, watching the still form. Then it hit me that he was totally still - his chest wasn't moving.
A small voice in my head wondered if I should have simply given him the painkillers he asked for then and let him die in the ward instead of using the formal euthanasia injections, giving him relief while only leaving me with a "waste of medical resources" charge. Had I misunderstood and then overachieved, trying to impress him to the very end?
Yet Kenneth had said nothing as we got out of the hospital, to a car, on the road and then here. Did he think it was a hallucination and thus played along? Or did he think it was a reward from higher up, of the orders I carried, to go home to die instead of being terminated in the ward?
I didn't want to think about what I had just done or the full import. He'd died at home. Kenneth seemed to blur into the shadows of the cabin, as if his body had already faded into this being of this place to join his spirit, which had always been here and had never left. To join his wife, who had died here, too, one of the first victims of the disease. She'd died in their bedroom here, still sealed off with quarantine tape.
The vaccine was an unknown factor, untested. If it failed, I'd be infected without permission to receive treatment due to my crimes. If it worked, I'd tested it in field conditions – and I still violated quarantine orders and disobeyed orders. I sipped chamomile tea as the weight of my actions hung in the air and my mind. I hadn't told him about the patients I had "released" per orders, only stopping when I realized how many could be saved if given the right anti-viral drugs. And then I came across Kenneth.
I'd driven a car so old it had no GPS, but they were looking for me. Had to be, given the magnitude. They'd find the car, eventually. It was a miracle no one had located us yet, an infected man and caregiver.
I toyed with a few ideas. Hiking into the woods would take time and energy and mean stepping into an environment I knew nothing about. There were rumors of an underground, Luddites and pro-lifers fighting the technocrats. But I'd been a scientist of sorts and had put down some of the infected. And then there was the fact that I'd been exposed to the disease caring for infected and was not certain the vaccine would provide protection.
I could not, in conscience, risk becoming a modern typhoid Mary or Gaëtan Dugas of AIDS. All the choices would mean a painful end at the hands of those who would want to make an example out of me. I looked back at Kenneth's still form, relaxed peacefully on the couch.
My body seemed to be on automatic when I went over to get the hypodermic. I lay down next to his still warm body. I had seen how fast this stuff worked in my patients. I laid against the fading warmth left by the fever. No worries about exposure risks now, a small voice in my head laughed. Another thought about being with Kenneth now that there was no reason not to be lingered, images of the three of us together, him asking her out because I had a date beside me, one that dropped me the next day. Their romance blossomed as mine bombed. This would be, no matter what, the last time we'd be together.
My eyes instinctively went to the bedroom door and its layers of quarantine warning tape. She was dead, I was here, and nothing else was between us. I tried to nestle beside him, his body still warm. There wasn't any hesitation once I was comfortable beside him.
There was hardly any pain, though the drugs suffocating effect worked faster than the drugs that stopped the heart. While part of me knew it was the lack of oxygen, I saw the imprints of those who had walked these halls here, ignoring me. Kenneth saw the faint image of his wife, seeming to ignore me while I was alive. I reached out to him, and his gaze passed through me.
My last coherent thoughts were that it would indeed have been nice to have seen the whales again, to know that something intelligent and free still lived in the world. They couldn't do worse than we had in the world.
The natural wave machine lulled me to sleep. The screaming of sirens became like seagull cries. The lights flooding into the room couldn't match the darkness that took me to be with Kenneth.
Thank you. If you enjoyed this, you'll like my other short stories on Hubpages and anthology "Humanity's Edge".


The Catchy Antique Wall Sconces with Antiques Atlas French Pair Of Cherub Antique Wall Sconces is one of pictures of furniture ideas for your residence. The resolution of Catchy Antique Wall Sconces with Antiques Atlas French Pair Of Cherub Antique Wall Sconces was 1000×1000 pixels. In addition to ideas about Interior Furniture. You can find the other picture or post related to Antique Wall Sconces just push the gallery or if you are interested in similar pictures of Catchy Antique Wall Sconces with Antiques Atlas French Pair Of Cherub Antique Wall Sconces, you are free to browse through search feature that located on top this page. If you are pleased, please share this link to social media to make the people near you are also inspired. We hope some of the furniture design below can add to the beauty of your home.
Remarkable Antique Wall Sconces with Vintage Antique Refurbished Wall Sconces. Remarkable Antique Wall Sconces with Edwardian Style Antique Wall Sconces Pair Of Light Fixtures Circa. Remarkable Antique Wall Sconces with Antiques Atlas Pair French Antique Wall Sconces Lights. Impressive Antique Wall Sconces with Awesome Antique Wall Sconces Lighting F58 About Remodel Collection. Wonderful Antique Wall Sconces with Austin Allen Co 2 Light French Antique Sconce 9a198a The Home Depot.
Picking the best Antique Wall Sconces furniture is a practical way to produce the well put-together look for your area. You could need to know what to obtain from a furniture store. When you are picking furniture for your room, you should think about a variety of aspects – style motif of your Interior, and also your way of living. So, we will offer you a couple of photos of antique wall sconces might be your best furniture design ideas.
Thanks for visiting our site, If you found any images copyrighted to yours, please contact us, and we will remove it. We don't intend to display any copyright protected images. We hope you can find what you need here. We always effort to show a picture with HD resolution or at least with perfect pictures. The Catchy Antique Wall Sconces with Antiques Atlas French Pair Of Cherub Antique Wall Sconces can be the beneficial inspiration for those who seek an image according to distinct categories. Finally, all images we have been displayed on this site will inspire you all.


The holidays are the perfect time to treat yourself without feeling guilty! At Favuzzi, panettones are without a doubt our favourite Christmas delicacy. We await them impatiently all year long and love them so much we confess to having eyes bigger than our bellies when it is time to stock up! However, since they begin to dry out and lose their aromas a few days after being opened, panettones should ideally be eaten within three to four days.
In a food processor, blend the cream and the panettone until smooth.
Pour into a saucepan and bring to the boil.
Add the gelatin and cook for 2 minutes over medium heat.
Pour into four ramekins or glasses and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
To prepare the topping, combine the cubed plums, the wild blueberry jam and the lemon juice.
Garnish each panna cotta with a generous spoonful of wild blueberry jam, then top with the plum mixture.
The panna cottas can keep in the refrigerator for up to one week if they have not been topped with the jam and the plum mixture.


text:
perabeats
Pera Sports
Inter University Sports
Inter University Games
World University Games
Beats of a Player
Beats of a Player – Article Series
perabeats Life
Beauty of Pera
Hidden Shutterbugs of Pera
perabeats Shutters
Photo Manipulation Contest
Stop Motion Contest
perabeats Insights
University Of Peradeniya
Faculty of VET
Faculty of Dental Sciences
Faculty of AHS
General Convocation
Perabeats GO
Nenasawiya
Photomarathon
Registration for 2021
University of Peradeniya
Home » About Us » Faculty of Medicine
The Faculty of Medicine is one of the nine faculties in the University of Peradeniya and situates itself at the entrance of the Galaha road leading to many other faculties of the University of Peradeniya.
The faculty of Medicine was established in 1962 as the second medical school in the country with the demand for medical education from the Ministry of Health. First, it existed and ran as an addition to the faculty of Colombo. In 1967 the faculty became independent with their own new elected dean. The founder dean of the faculty is prof. Senaka Bibile who is largely responsible for the growth and development of the faculty. Since his time the faculty was subsequently managed by an administrative team. It was him who established the Medical Education Unit in the faculty which was recognized as a teacher training centre for health professionals in the South East Asian Region by the World Health Organization. It was in Prof. Senaka Bibile's time that the initiative for the plans for the building of the teaching hospital was taken and was completed in 1980. Between the years 1970 to 1980 an umbrella organization was formed with the Dental and Veterinary schools of the University of Peradeniya called the Faculty of Medical, Dental and Veterinary sciences. By 1986 these schools became self-governing. The Teaching hospital Peradeniya was built and commissioned during 1972- 1981. The new Preclinical building was built and commissioned in during the years 2000-2004. And a new Paraclinical building is yet to be completed.
The Faculty contains 16 departments: Anesthesiology & Critical Care, Anatomy, Biochemistry, Community Medicine, Forensic Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Paediatrics, Parasitology, Pathology, Pharmacology, Physiology, Psychiatry, Radiology and Surgery) and many other units and centres (Centre for Research in Tropical Medicine, Centre for Education, Research & Training on Kidney Diseases, eLibrary, Health Emergency & Disaster Management Training Centre, Medical Education Unit, Nuclear Medicine Unit, Research and Development Unit, Skills Lab and Technical Resource Centre.)
Approximately a thousand students containing six batches are receiving training at the Faculty of Medicine. The students receive their clinical training at the Peradeniya Teaching Hospital, Kandy Teaching Hospital, Kegalle and Gampola Teaching Hospitals, Base Hospital Mawanella, and STD Clinic District Hospital Katugastota.
The faculty operates a rural field practice area known as "Hindagala Community Health Project" covering 62 square kilometers and with a population of 20,000. It is administered and provided by the Department of Community Medicine together with the government Department of health Services. It assists as a 'field laboratory' to the students for practical training and research.
*Sources:
Website-Faculty of Medicine
•Wikipedia
Copyright © 2021 perabeats | Powered by HelaWeb Design with


What Is Python module "requests"?
"requests" is a Python external module that allows you to send organic, grass-fed HTTP/1.1 requests, without the need for manual labor. There's no need to manually add query strings to your URLs, or to form-encode your POST data.
For more information, see Python "requests" Website.


text:
Youth to the fore in Silsden Murder Mile
By Su Thompson
YOUTH definitely outstripped age and experience at the Silsden Murder Mile race.
Known locally as the longest mile in Yorkshire, it is a lung-busting charge up the hill that takes in various twists and turns as it winds its way from start line by the bridge on Brunthwaite Lane to the welcome finish at the junction with Light Bank Lane.
It does provide the odd section of less steep incline in which to recover before the final sting in the tail of a punishing uphill finish and relief.
All ages run together which, like this year, gives some interesting finish orders.
Unlike in 2018, the weather was at least on the side of runners as it was cloudy, cool and dry.
The overall race winner was under-17 boy Alex Flaherty of Bingley Harriers in 7.33. Second and third under-17 boys were Wharfedale Harriers duo of Addison Willis (8.47) and Benji Grundy (12.14).
The first under-17 girl was Ilkley Harriers' Bernadette Raven (9.02) in 21st place overall from Trawden's Alice Fleming (10.54) and Clayton-le-Moors Hannah Eccles (11.24).
Wharfedale's Tom Millard was first senior man to cross the line (7.54) in second place overall from Keighley and Craven's Chris Loftus (8.05) in fourth place overall and Keighley's Ian Willis (8.07), who was third but in fifth place overall.
The first three senior ladies to cross the line were Keighley's Sarah O'Sullivan (9.43) in 42nd place overall, from Catherine White (9.56), second, and Calder Valley's Jo Buckley (10.06), third.
Overall female winner was under-14 girl Amelie Lane of Wharfedale Harriers, who not only sprinted home in third place overall but smashed the current female record by over 30 seconds, setting a new record time of 8.03. Second and third under-14 girls were Bingley's Rebecca Flaherty (8.40) in 12th place overall and Trawden's Abigail Stratton (8.52).
The first under-14 boy was Bingley's Theo Clay (8.11) in sixth place overall, ahead of Trawden's Callum Osborne (8.46) and Keighley's Nathan Caunt (8.49).
Keighley's Archie Peaker was first under-12 boy across the line (8.22) from Trawden's Oliver Brown (8.27) and Wharfedale's Tom Hooper (8.35), third.
Barlick's Lucille Pickles won the under-12 girls' title (9.11) from Keighley's Katie Buckley (9.34) and Otley's Charlotte chambers (9.37), third.
First under-9 boy across the line was Keighley's Jacob O'Sullivan (9.56) from Settle's Carl Sanderson (9.57) and Luke Robinson (10.53).
The first three under-9 girls were Keighley's Bethan Buckley (9.27), and Wharfedale duo Isobel Patefield (10.27), second, and Elena Hooper (10.30), third.
REPORT AND STATS: Pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for Cougars
Hussain helps Crossflatts stay top after victory
Crossflatts set up potential derby in cup final
Congs on top after super Silsden victory
Captain marvel Hargreaves steers Cross Roads to semis
Miller time for treble as Cougars take Pride in victory
Hallas signs deal with Cougars
Royston calls for Cougars to take Pride in performances
Ann Coe quits as Craven League secretary


text:
Pete Palangio
Pete Palangio was but a depth player on the 1938 Stanley Cup champion Chicago Black Hawks team. He played just 19 regular season games and appeared in 3 more in the playoffs.
For his efforts Palangio's name was inscribed on the Stanley Cup not once, but twice. Mind you the second time they spelled his name wrong.
In an oversight somehow both "Pete Palangio" and "Pete Palagio" were honoured. This didn't actually happen until 1957 when the Stanley Cup was redesigned and re-engraved.
Pete Palangio, North Bay, Ontario's favorite son, was a long time minor league star, notably in St. Louis and Tulsa. He got tastes of NHL action early in his career with Montreal and Detroit., after being noticed by referee Mike Rodden. He tipped off the Montreal Canadiens who signed the speedster, but he never caught on.
Palangio then waited 8 years before returning with Chicago, though he was able to lead the St. Louis Flyers to a AHA championship while playing with brother Tom. Carl, another of the Palangio's 11 children, also played pro hockey in the minor leagues.
North Bay was home for Palangio, and once his lengthy pro career was over he returned to star in the Ontario senior league circuits. He later owned and sponsored several North Bay amateur teams. His devotion of hockey saw the city renamed their arena after him in 1991. They also honour their local sportsperson of the year award in his name.
Palangio returned to North Bay in the offseasons and for a while he worked as a chocolate dipper! He later worked for the local Chrysler dealership before establishing his own vending machine business.
Palangio's last exposure to NHL audiences was in 1996 when he was invited by the Montreal Canadiens to the ceremonies to close down the Montreal Forum. He was the oldest living former Montreal player at the time.
On Christmas eve, 2004, Pete Palangio passed away at the age of 96. He was the last surviving member of the Chicago Black Hawks 1938 Stanley Cup championship team.
Labels: Pete Palangio
OVER 3000 HOCKEY LEGENDS PROFILED! SEARCH BY ALPHABETICAL LISTING
N O P Q R S T UVW XYZ
Women's Hockey Legends
International Legends
My New Hockey Book
OLYMPIC HOCKEY HISTORY
GreatestHockeyLegends.com is the home of an extensive history of Olympic hockey. You can view each Olympic hockey tournament (men's and women's) below by clicking on the year of your choice. You can also enjoy my profiles of Olympic Hockey Legends.
1920 - Antwerp, Belgium
1924 - Chamonix, France
1928 - St. Moritz, Switz.
1932 - Lake Placid, USA
1936 - G.P., Germany
1940 - No Games - WWII
1952 - Oslo, Norway
1956 - Cortina, Italy
1960 - Squaw Valley, USA
1964 - Innsbruck, Austria
1968 - Grenoble, France
1972 - Sapporo, Japan
1984 - Sarajevo, Yugoslavia
1988 - Calgary, Canada
1992 - Albertville, France
1994 - Lillehammer, Norway
1998 - Nagano, Japan
2002 - Salt Lake City, USA
2006 - Torino, Italy
2010 - Vancouver, Canada
GHL Donations
I take pride in offering my work for free. If you like my work, and you think it's worth buying me a cup of coffee, donate a buck. I'm going to keep doing my work for free because I love doing this, but I'd greatly appreciate your support!


text:
FOUNDATION_EXPORT double DLFPhotosPickerVersionNumber;
FOUNDATION_EXPORT const unsigned char DLFPhotosPickerVersionString[];

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


Posted byadmin December 31, 2018 December 31, 2018 Posted inChurchLeave a comment on War on Christmas!
Posted byadmin December 31, 2018 December 31, 2018 Posted inChurchLeave a comment on What Is God's Will?
…we access that grace through faith in Jesus. To me, this begs the question, what is faith, really?
Posted byadmin December 31, 2018 December 31, 2018 Posted inChurchLeave a comment on What Is Faith?


text:
Agriculture in the Classical World
Carlo Scardino
in Classics
Published online July 2018 | | DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780195389661-0315
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780195389661.001.0001
In pre-industrial societies, agriculture was one of the most significant economic factors. Not only was agriculture essential for providing the population with food, but it also played an important role in the way societies viewed themselves. Subsistence farmers as well as the elite class, whose wealth stemmed largely from the land, invested in agriculture. Particularly in the Mediterranean, a region that enjoys comparable land and climatic conditions, agricultural practices remained remarkably stable despite multiple political and cultural revolutions. Similar techniques and methods were...
In pre-industrial societies, agriculture was one of the most significant economic factors. Not only was agriculture essential for providing the population with food, but it also played an important role in the way societies viewed themselves. Subsistence farmers as well as the elite class, whose wealth stemmed largely from the land, invested in agriculture. Particularly in the Mediterranean, a region that enjoys comparable land and climatic conditions, agricultural practices remained remarkably stable despite multiple political and cultural revolutions. Similar techniques and methods were used for the cultivation of cereals, olives, wine, fruit and vegetables, as well as in animal husbandry across all regions. Archaeological fieldwork, which employs modern scientific methods (e.g., paleobotany and archaeozoology) provides valuable information on technical, economic, and social aspects of agricultural production, complementing our knowledge from written sources (literary, epigraphic, and papyrological). Alongside literary, sometimes idealized representations aimed at an educated audience (such as Virgil's Georgics), we find systematic, subject-specific approaches. The latter were aimed less at smallholders than owners of medium-sized or large estates. Like many other ancient sciences, agriculture moved between the poles of empirically verifiable knowledge on the one hand, and instructions and recipes based on magic or esoteric teachings on the other. In addition to instructions on how to grow crops and manage animals, agricultural works often include information on botany, pharmacology, nutrition science, human and veterinary medicine, geology and hydrology, meteorology, astronomy, chemistry, alchemy, engineering, and so forth. Conversely, scientific and even literary works that are not focused on agriculture can contain information about how to cultivate the land (compare the description of the shield at Iliad 18.541–589). Only a few remains of the large body of Greek agricultural works have come down to us. Examples include the second part of the didactic poem Ἔργα καὶ ἡμέραι (Works and Days), composed by Hesiod at the end of the 8th century bce, or the Geoponica, which is the only fully preserved compendium in Greek, written in Constantinople in the 10th century ce. For other authors, we possess merely fragments, quotations from Roman authors, or Oriental (mainly Arabic) translations of late antique compendia. Conversely, the work of Latin authors has largely survived. It draws significantly on Hellenistic writings, but also the work of Carthaginian farmers such as Mago. The corpus includes texts by the Republican authors Cato and Varro, the Augustan authors Virgil and Columella, as well as Palladius from Late Antiquity.
Article. 9050 words.
Subjects: Classical Studies ; Classical Art and Architecture ; Classical History ; Classical Literature ; Classical Philosophy


text:
Jade Rees isn't the only woman to commit suicide after an abortion
By Cassy Fiano-Chesser | April 5, 2016 , 10:53am
It's no surprise that women can come to regret their abortions. Despite what abortion activists like to claim, it's not an unusual occurrence, especially among women who were lied to or manipulated by the "counselors" at their abortion clinic. Yet pro-abortion extremists never want to acknowledge that women may regret their abortions, or be negatively affected by them; they like to claim that everything is sunshine and roses after an abortion, because for them, abortion fixes everything.
Unfortunately, the reality can be much more tragic.
Jade Rees was a 21-year-old student and mother of one. She had been dating someone for five months when he broke up with her and began dating someone else. On top of that, when she tried to visit the bar they used to go to together, she found that he had insisted she be banned from the premises. Rees was also pregnant. She ended up having an abortion – and not long after, she was dead, haunted by the decision she had made. She hanged herself while playing Ed Sheeran's song "Little Bump," which he wrote after a friend of his had a miscarriage.
This is a heartbreaking tragedy, something that no one should ever have to go through. But thanks to the predatory abortion industry, far too many women do.
Rees had a history of eating disorders and depression, information that should have barred her from being able to have an abortion, due to the long-term consequences associated with these conditions and abortion. And as is all too typical, she likely wasn't given any kind of follow-up care.
Abortionists collect the money, perform the procedure, and then send women on their way – sometimes still bleeding and in pain – and without the slightest bit of concern for how their patients are coping days or weeks later. Why should they? They got paid. That's all that matters.
Sadly, Rees is not alone. There are countless other women who have committed suicide after having an abortion. One notable case is that of Charlotte Dawson, a model and judge of Australia's Next Top Model. In her autobiography, Dawson said she had an abortion because her ex-husband thought a pregnancy would interfere with his Olympic career, even though she wanted a baby – and that her struggle with depression was because of the abortion.
Ashli Blake is another heart-wrenching example. Blake was 13 when she got pregnant, and was pressured to have an abortion by her mother, even though she wanted to keep the baby. After the abortion, her boyfriend made fun of her, even sending her a Mother's Day card in a horrific act of cruelty. Two years later, she killed herself.
Even more women attempt suicide after an abortion, like the teenager who fell into depression and tried to kill herself after being coerced into an abortion by her boyfriend. One woman tried to kill herself after clinic counselors lied to her about her baby's development, and still struggles with nightmares and depression.
And while abortion activists won't want to acknowledge it, it's not uncommon for women to have negative psychological consequences after an abortion. It's a fact that women who have abortions are at higher risk for mental health disorders, including depression, anxiety, drug and alcohol abuse, and suicidal behavior. In fact, 29 out of 30 studies have found a high risk of psychological trauma after abortion. For someone like Rees, who already struggled with depression, it was catastrophic.
Will the abortion industry care about Jade Rees, and the women like her? It seems unlikely; they prey on vulnerable women, and do whatever they can to make the sale – lie, manipulate, and pressure this woman who is, in many cases, scared and alone, or feeling forced into the abortion as it is.
It's because of women like Jade that it's so vital for pro-lifers to reach out to these women with love. We should also support organizations like Rachel's Vineyard, which offers healing and support for women who have had abortions. It is a safe place where women can find renewal and rebuild their hearts after they have been destroyed by abortion. Women can speak openly about their emotions surrounding their abortion, and face not judgment, but compassion and caring. Rachel's Vineyard will also connect post-abortive women to counseling to help them heal from their psychological trauma. OptionLine (with options to chat online, text, or call) can also often connect women with a pregnancy resource center in their area that has a post-abortion recovery program.
An unplanned or crisis pregnancy can be terrifying. There's no doubt about that. But abortion is not the answer, and it can lead to even more suffering for women who are desperate and scared. We are failing not only our children, but also women who need us to be there for them during what could very well be the most difficult time of their lives. We shouldn't be forcing women into a situation where they're told that the only cure is violence, while we abandon them afterwards to cope with the loss of their child on their own.
We can do better. We must do better.


Anyway, I've also included some news (photos, plus links to comics on publications + future stuff).
I made my wildest dreams come true and exhibited the original Malarkey #3 cover of me pooping, at the Fantagraphics Bookstore and Gallery!
Me with the great Mimi Pond!!!
Was lucky enough to have Andy Pratt from CAKE tabling behind me!
Hell yeah, I want updates!


The use of customer loyalty survey data to help manage customer relationships has received much technological innovation over the past decade. Web-based surveys provide an easy vehicle for customers to provide feedback. For example, individual customer concerns are addressed through the use of automated prompts (typically in the form of emails) to Account team members who are responsible for quickly resolving specific causes of customer loyalty. Additionally, organization-wide customer loyalty issues are identified through automated analyses (e.g., driver analysis) which highlight common causes of customer loyalty/disloyalty. Furthermore, customer survey results are accessible 24×7 by all employees through Web-based reporting tools. Finally, companies even link customer survey data to their CRM systems to enhance day-to-day account management with both attitudinal data and operational data. It is clear that efforts in the field of customer loyalty have simplified the process of data collection, analysis, reporting, and integration with existing business systems.
While the quality of the customer loyalty survey process has seen a great deal of improvement in business settings, the quality of the measurement and meaning of customer loyalty has not kept pace. Our latest research on customer loyalty, however, tries to narrow this gap. Customer Loyalty 2.0 represents this advancement in the measurement and meaning of customer loyalty. The purpose of the discussion is to demonstrate the limitation of current customer loyalty measures, highlight our latest research findings, introduce the idea that customer loyalty measured through surveys is best conceptualized as a multidimensional entity. That is, customer loyalty is not a single entity. More on that idea later.
While many objective measures of customer loyalty exist (e.g., defection rate, number of referrals), customer surveys remain a frequently used way to assess customer loyalty. There are a few reasons for the popularity of customer survey use in customer experience management. First, customer surveys allow companies to quickly and easily gauge levels of customer loyalty. Companies may not have easy access to objective customer loyalty data or may simply not even gather such data. Second, results from customer surveys can be more easily used to change organizational business process. Customer surveys commonly include questions about customer loyalty as well as the customer experience (e.g., product, service, support). Used jointly, both business attribute items and loyalty indices can be used (e.g., driver analysis, segmentation analysis) to identify reasons why customers are loyal or disloyal. Finally, objective measures of customer loyalty provide a backwards look into customer loyalty levels (e.g., defection rates, repurchase rates). Customer surveys, however, allow companies to examine customer loyalty in real-time. Surveys ask about expected levels of loyalty-related behavior and lets companies "look into the future" regarding customer loyalty.
While there has been a change in business nomenclature around the application of customer surveys from "customer relationship management" to "customer experience management," the analytical techniques used to understand the survey data (e.g., segmentation analysis, driver analysis) remain exactly the same. The ultimate goal of customer loyalty survey analyses, no matter what business nomenclature you use, is to identify the reasons why customers are loyal or disloyal. You might think of customer loyalty as the ultimate criterion in customer relationship/experience management.
Based on the objective measures of customer loyalty, we can see how company financial growth can occur through the increase in customer loyalty. Through the referral process, companies can grow through the acquisition of new customers. The idea is that the customer acquisition process relies on existing customers to promote/recommend the company to their friends, who, in turn, become customers. Another way of strengthening the financial growth of a company is through increased purchasing behavior (e.g., increase amount of purchases, purchase different products/services) of existing customers. Finally, company growth is dependent on its ability to not lose existing customers at a faster rate than they acquire them. For example, customer defection rate is an important metric in the wireless service industry where customer defections are common.
The first question is rated on a scale (e.g., 0 = Extremely dissatisfied to 10 = Extremely satisfied. The remaining questions allow respondents to indicate their likelihood of behaving in different ways toward the company (e.g., 0 = Not at all likely to 10 = Extremely likely. Higher ratings reflect higher levels of customer loyalty.
Constructs are unobservable entities we use to describe a set of observable indicators. In the survey world, these observable indicators are responses to questions. We use constructs in everyday life when we describe the state of people. We say Mary is "happy" because she laughs, smiles, and jokes. We say that John is "depressed" because he is frowning, slouching, and is looking downward. In this case of attitudinal measures, we use constructs to describe a set of responses to standard questions. Tests/Surveys are developed that measure "anxiety," "job satisfaction," "supervisor support," "introversion/extroversion," and "customer loyalty." The questions on these tests/surveys bring the constructs into the observable world. Questions in inventories measure personality traits; questions in surveys measure customer loyalty; questions in employee surveys measure supervisor support. Figure one illustrates the relationship between the construct and the observable indicators (questions).
When measuring a particular psychological construct, researchers develop many items in order to calculate an overall score as a measure of that particular construct. Everything being equal, we know that scores based on many questions are more reliable than any one of the single scores. Consider measuring your child's math ability in college. In general, you would have more confidence that a score based on a 50-item math test would be a more reliable indicator of your child's math ability than a score based on any single item from that test.


text:
puts 'What\'s your first name?'
first_name = gets.chomp
puts 'What\'s your middle name?'
middle_name = gets.chomp
puts 'What\'s your last name?'
last_name = gets.chomp

puts 'Please to meet you ' + first_name + ' ' + middle_name + ' ' + last_name + '!'

# Bigger, Better Favorite Number

puts 'What is your favorite number?'
number = gets.chomp
new_number = number.to_i + 1
puts 'Why not ' + new_number.to_s + '?'

=begin

[Define A Method](https://github.com/jochickadee/phase-0/blob/master/week-4/4.3/define-method/my_solution.rb)

[Return a Formatted Address](https://github.com/jochickadee/phase-0/blob/master/week-4/4.3/address/my_solution.rb)

[Defining Math Methods](https://github.com/jochickadee/phase-0/blob/master/week-4/4.3/math/my_solution.rb)

How do you define a local variable?
variable name = string
The variable name needs to begin with a lowercase letter.

How do you define a method?
def method_name (arguments)
  the code you want to run
end

What is the difference between a local variable and a method?
A variable is used to hold a string or number, a method is used to hold a block of code you want to run.

How do you run a ruby program from the command line?
Type 'ruby' in the terminal and the file you want to run.

How do you run an RSpec file from the command line?
Type 'rspec' in the terminal followed by the file you want to run.

What was confusing about this material? What made sense?
Everything made sense to me, I just sometimes get mixed up on whether I should write a method or not.

=end


As we approach the World Cup, for women's fifteens (as Charles Dickens might have said) it's the best of times, or is it the worst of times?
For anyone who follows women's rugby – especially women's fifteens rugby – the last year or two have seen more ups and downs than most roller coasters.
Even before a World Cup that will appear live on free-to-air TV in the UK for the first time (only three years after this milestone was broken in France, bringing with it spectacular rating from which their game have never looked back) we had an unforgettable Six Nations this year, building on previous years, but now with every game available with broadcast quality streams, record breaking crowds, and a title going down to the last game.
It is not an exaggeration to say that interest in women's test rugby – at least in the countries that play it - has never been higher, along with the standard of play.
Women's test rugby was making headlines – surely commercial sponsorship could not be far behind?
One worrying fact, for lovers of test rugby, is that this year's World Cup had its lowest entry ever (or at least since it ceased to be a largely invitational event). Just 18 national unions entered teams, including the seven who were granted automatic places.
18 nations is a very small world.
An exciting Asia/Africa/Oceania qualifier quickly descended into near farce with the top three expected participations – all of whom had been in Paris in 2014 – pulling out, for one reason or another, leaving Japan and Hong Kong to go through the motions only challenged by a Fijian team playing in just their second test match for a decade.
And even beyond the World Cup, test rugby is not a game in rude health. In the three years before the 2010 World Cup 41 teams player 183 tests. In the same period before 2014, 32 teams played 149 tests. In the three years since the last World Cup just 29 teams have played only 121 tests. At this rate test rugby will have all but disappeared by the 2025 World Cup - if there is one. And if it hasn't, it will be a curiosity played by a handful of nations, mainly in western Europe.
The RFU's fifteens contracts – the first and only nation to offer such opportunities to its players – was a massive step forward, and showed their worth almost straightaway, with the superior fitness of the England team dramatically turning defeat into victory against France in a classic opening game. Given this step you felt that the rest of the Six Nations were really going to have to follow suit or be left behind.
All of that positivity has been largely lost in just a few days. Even accepting all of the RFU's case – that the contracts were only for a year, that the players knew this, that no other nation offered contracts at all, that it was all about retaining the World Cup – there can be little or no doubt that the controversy has been handled appallingly badly by the RFU.
It almost does not matter if the RFU's policy is correct, it is perception that matters. Having built up expectations for a new era for women's test rugby in a whirlwind of glitzy publicity it was foolish to think that they could take it all away again without anyone noticing.
The big increase in media coverage, crowds, and TV audiences players were beginning to become real stars. Grounds were selling out, and not just in France, but in Ireland and Italy. Even though Wales' game against England did not fill the Arms Park, but (by some accounts) it made money. Not a lot, but getting onto the black side of the balance sheet is a huge thing.
The 2010 World Cup was designed by the old RFUW and RFU primarily to keep costs to a minimum after the 2006 tournament had left the IRB and Rugby Canada with bit of a financial hangover. It worked and the tournament made only a small loss. The same model was followed in Paris in 2014 - and crowds of spectators were being turned away. Come 2017 on a rising tide of interest in the game perhaps the time might have come to move on from this risk averse model and maybe maximise possible income?
No. Which is why UCD has sold out weeks ahead, with however many thousand potential spectators now just watching on TV. So women's test rugby remains a financial drain on World Rugby, the poor side of the game begging for support when it could, just possibly, – in big events at least - be starting to stand on its own feet.
Although the number of tests played over the last three years has fallen, in the last year or so the fall has slowed. For the first time in many years a new team– Papua New Guinea – made their test debut, and test teams and programmes have been revived in Botswana, Fiji, Finland, Germany, Russia, Sweden, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Some of this has come about through player power –demand by players to be able to play 15s rugby for their country (most notably in Germany). Away from the international stage, players in countries like Brazil have begun to dip their toes into 15s.
And just to encourage them a bit more, World Rugby now has women's test rankings – so unions, spectators and players can have ambitions to see they team climb the ladder.
Whatever anyone else may want, the Unions and World Rugby want sevens. If the RFU contract debacle has shown anything at all it is that, in the very birthplace of rugby, sevens rules the roost, even though the media, and spectators show little interest in it (unless it's part of a big party). Even men's sevens attracts almost no coverage in the UK, even when home nation teams are winning.
Yet from next winter this is where most of the leading players from the World Cup will be. Excited young fans who watch the World Cup on TV and want to see their heroes pulling on a national shirt live will be disappointed, unless they can get out to Dubai or Sydney because (with a certain irony) no Home Union will host international sevens because it costs too much. Indeed it is no exaggeration to say that some England stars will never pull on an England shirt at home until at least 2020, if ever again.
This matters because personalities sell sports, but if all the leading personalities from the World Cup effectively disappear after August, spectators, potential sponsors and TV executives excited by what they have seen over the last year may just start turning away to something more reliable.
Any fan of women's test rugby will have an August of delights ahead of them. Who cares how many teams entered, the best 12 teams are arriving in Ireland (more or less – sorry Scotland) for what promises to be the most open, most exciting, most high quality, most accessible (on TV at least) World Cup ever. A two week glorious celebration of the game that cannot fail to attract new fans and players (of all ages).
And then that will be it, as far as top quality women's test rugby is concerned, until 2020? Is test rugby now destined to be the mayfly of the game – every four years an Autumn Series to shake the rust off, a Six Nations to get the pulse racing, World Cup to savour, and then three years of sevens goldrush until it all comes round again?
This is not meant to be a diatribe against sevens. Sevens is a great sport, but it is a sport for the usual athletic type – which why so many players have managed to switch to it from so many other sports. A whole raft of great rugby players from Rocky Clark to Gaelle Mignot to Fiona Coghlan, to up-and-coming stars like Amy Cokayne, would have no place in a sevens team – certainly not at international level.
And women's sport has been here before. Women's cricket put its weight behind a shortened, cheaper form of the game to help developing nations – and women's test cricket is now (apart from games between literally just two countries) dead. If the test rugby has to play second fiddle to sevens and is only prioritised in years where there happens to be a World Cup (if there is another World Cup - we all assume there will be, but the silence on potential venues is deafening) then it is heading in the same direction.
So where are we in this roller-coaster ride? Are we on the way up or on the way down? Is this the best of time for women's test rugby, or the worst of times? Or is it, somehow, both?
John Birch is a wide ranging contributer to this website, penning detailed previews and reviews of the game from around the world. John has also established a superb fixture archive on the women's game which are listed on Wikipedia.