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Op-Ed: "Chinese People Unwilling to Get Married" – What BBC Forgot To Mention
A recent BBC article misses one incredibly important aspect of marriage in China, Ryan Myers says.
Ryan Myers
Fewer people are tying the knot in China, the New York Times recently reported. The news triggered the hashtag "Chinese People Unwilling to Get Married" on Chinese social media. BBC News covered and contextualized the discussion in a recent article. But the article misses one incredibly important aspect of marriage in China, What's on Weibo's Ryan Myers says.
BBC News recently published an article titled "Chinese web users discuss hitches to getting married", discussing a trend on Chinese social media hashtagged "Chinese People Unwilling To Get Married" (#中国人不愿结婚#).
The article by Kerry Allen discusses how Chinese social media users have been expressing doubts about the institution of marriage. The trend was triggered by a New York Times article published on September 11, that was subsequently picked up by Chinese media.
"Although the article has valid points, there is one major issue missing from this discussion."
The original New York Times article states that Chinese people are increasingly disinclined to get married. Because of higher education and better-paid jobs, the financial incentive to get married allegedly is less important now than it was in the past.
According to the BBC, many Chinese social media users have expressed why they no longer believe in marriage. "The institution is not as relevant as it once was", "marriage is not a necessity", or "the cost of marriage is too high", are amongst the reasons mentioned.
BBC contextualizes the comments by highlighting that China's ageing population and former one-child-policy have led to an age and gender gap that leaves many men unable to find a partner.1
The article also mentions changing attitudes among young women, as there are many who want to pursue higher education and a career rather than to be financially dependent on a partner.
Although the article has valid points, there is one major issue missing from this discussion. The BBC stresses that there is not as much incentive to get married anymore in China, with people no longer "believing" in marriage, but they do not mention the fact that it is nearly impossible to register a newborn baby without a marriage certificate – which is a major reason for people to get married anyway.
In other words: the BBC article suggests that lowered marriage numbers in China linked to a general "unwillingness" to get married, while in fact people still marry (i.a. for the sake of having babies) despite their "changing attitudes" about the institution of marriage.
"Birthing a child out of wedlock is next to unheard of in China."
The People's Republic of China requires couples to be legally married if they want to have a child. This is related to the Chinese hukou or 'household registration' system. A person's hukou basically is their geographic citizenship within China. One's hukou is directly linked to one's parents, city, town, and province, and determines almost all aspects of social welfare, including how much one pays to buy housing in their city of residence and the cost of education.
People without a hukou are called 'heihu', which translates directly to 'black resident'. A heihu cannot apply for a national ID, and thus cannot have a mobile phone account, a bank account, or a health insurance policy, and cannot buy train or plane tickets legally.
Clearly, it is impossible to lead a normal life in China without hukou, and since a marriage license is required for parents to register their children in the system, birthing a child out of wedlock is next to unheard of in China.
"Any media that does not look at the policies behind negative emotions expressed via social media will not have a complete understanding of the situation in China."
While many men and women in China express negative or ambivalent attitudes towards marriage and the accompanying social pressure to tie the knot, if these people truly wish to remain single, or unmarried in any other context, they are automatically forgoing the right to have a child. While many people complain about marriage as an institution, very few in China actually follow through on their gripes.
Perhaps the reason that people indeed complain, saying they do not wish to marry or they have negative feelings about the institution, stems from a deeper, often subconscious trend to self-censor. In a country where directly criticising government policies can have serious repercussions, it is much easier and safer to express views and opinions as feelings. Instead of criticising government policies on carbon emissions, for example, netizens are likely to talk about how depressing the grey air is.2
Complaining about China's marriage system, or saying 'the government should not let us get married to have children', is something less likely to be found trending on Chinese social media.
Because of this indirect style of expressing grievances, any media that does not look at the policies behind negative emotions expressed via Chinese social media will not have a complete understanding of the situation in China, and indeed might be even so nearsighted as not to grasp a larger, more pertinent trend.
"Where are all those women who supposedly do not want to get married?"
It is, however, true that marriage rates have been declining in China. As the Chinese population is getting increasingly old, with a surplus of men on the lower end of the social scale, and a large number of educated and ambitious ("leftover") women on the higher end of the social scale, and people getting married at a later age, it is not surprising that marriage registrations in China have been falling for the last few years.
Looking on Weibo, I found that there also were many netizens with other points of view than those expressed in the BBC article. One TV presenter wrote: "Chinese people unwilling to get married – these Americans are talking nonsense. What we as Chinese value most in life is family. But because the costs to get married and start a family are now too high, many young people are forced to work hard first. But to "start a family and make a career" (成家立业) makes sense. The family is our driving force and natural harbor. Making a career is a goal and a hope."
Others also said: "This news is nonsense. This is one big generalisation. Where are all those women who supposedly do not want to get married? It's not that they do not want to get married, it's that they cannot find the right person!"
– By Ryan Myers
1 Since it is mostly those at the lower end of the social ladder who stay behind, they end up in a negative spiral: they are already at a disadvantage for statistically not being able to find a wife, but because of their economic situation, they also cannot afford to buy a home for his potential partner – making them even less popular on the marriage market.
2 This type of expression may, at least with regards to social harmony, have a positive affect. After all, China has experienced much less social unrest in recent years than most western countries.
Related Topics:china family planningchina marriageLeftover Women
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Ryan Myers is a teacher and Chinese language & culture specialist who has been based in Beijing for over a decade. Myers conducts professional workshops throughout China for Chinese audiences, ranging from professors in university to young students, and is specialized in cross-cultural teaching.
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Robin Dahling
I find your second footnote rather interesting in light of the context of your article and your explanation of the differences between Chinese and Western cultures. More specifically, I find it interesting to say that China has experienced much less social unrest in recent years than most Western countries; are you so sure of that?
I recall many different instances of social unrest, ranging from Wukan village to the Occupy movement in Hong Kong to petitions and protests against paraxalyne plants in various cities, to attempts to raise awareness of women's issues on public transit (which led to the arrest of the Feminist Five) and criticism of the 2015 Chunwan and its obvious sexism/chauvinism, which quickly became censored by social media watchdogs. These are a just a few examples where people were vocal about the issues, and almost all of these in the past few years – this does not include food scandals, "Watch Brother", issues in Xinjiang or Tibet, forced evictions, or many other similar issues that would result in what we could call (whether local or national) "unrest."
My point is that a lot of the social unrest/disharmony is quietly swept under the carpet or ignored by media based on the government's desire to maintain the appearance of social harmony (call it mianzi writ large) or to keep people from actively thinking about it or speaking about it in large forums. Within the Chinese context though, there is plenty of unrest, equal to many Western countries – just not as publicized.
Choudoufu
'the government should not let us get married to have children'
I think you mean 'make' instead of 'let.' Were you translating from Chinese (让)?
China's total population is up, but its birth rate has fallen to the lowest level.
According to the latest numbers, China's birth rate has hit a new low, but state media are instead highlighting the fact that China's population has now surpassed 1,4 billion.
This Friday, official data, released annually by the National Bureau of Statistics, shows that the total Chinese mainland's population has surpassed 1.4 billion at the end of 2019.
In light of this news, Chinese state media outlet People's Daily launched the hashtag "I'm One of 1.4 Billion" (#我就是14亿分之一#), propagating a sense of unity among such a massive population.
This message was also reiterated by other accounts, such as the Shenzhen Police, that said: "We're all one big family, our name is China, we have a lot of brothers and sisters."
China's Birth Rate Falls to Lowest
While People's Daily is publicizing the 1.4 billion number, the annual statistics also show that China's birth rate has fallen to its lowest since the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Although only 14,65 million were born in mainland China in 2019, the death rate of the country was also lower than before – meaning that the total population number still went up from 1,39 billion to 1,4 billion in the last year.
One thread started by People's Daily on Weibo received nearly 530,000 likes by Friday afternoon, with thousands of Weibo users posting a response to the latest numbers.
Many netizens responded to the news in a similar fashion, saying: "There are already enough people [in China] now, I don't need to have children anymore," or: "Good, there's so many people, I don't have to worry about having kids."
China's marriage rates hit a new low in 2019 after dropping year by year.
Over recent years, various trends in Chinese (online) media have highlighted the existing social issues behind China's dropping marriage and birth rates.
The rising costs of living and the fact that many among Chinese younger generations "prefer to marry late," are often mentioned as an explanation for China's decline in marriage rates and the interrelated lowering birth rates.
But China's so-called 'leftover' single men have also been pointed out as a "crisis," with China having millions of more men than women of marriageable age – partly a consequence of the one-child policy and general preference for baby boys.
Although Chinese couples are allowed to have two children since 2015, the new regulations have not had the desired effect, with many couples simply not wanting a second child or not being able to afford it.
For some years, 'leftover women' were mentioned as a reason for China's declining marriage rates; China's well-educated, career-oriented, urban single women were sometimes singled out for making it harder for China's unmarried men to find a wife because of their 'choice' to postpone marriage and family life. This has increased the pressure on China's single women to get married, which has become a recurring topic of debate on Chinese social media.
Today's responses on Weibo seem to indicate that many young people are still not very eager to have children. "Let's not add to the population, it's enough burden for the planet," some say.
Others say the number of 1,4 billion make them or their action seem "irrelevant" and "tiny."
There are also those with entirely different concerns about the number: "There are 1,4 billion in China now, and yet I'm still not able to find a boyfriend!"
From blockchain to hardcore, this is an overview of China's media top buzzwords over the past year.
Jialing Xie
Some of the expressions and idioms that have been buzzing in Chinese media the past year. What's on Weibo's Jialing Xie explains.
Last year, we listed China's "top ten buzzwords" for you (link), giving an overview of some noteworthy expressions on Chinese social media and in the media in 2018. Recently, the chief editor of the magazine Yǎowén Jiáozì (咬文嚼字) has again announced the "top ten buzzwords" in China of the past year.
Yǎowén Jiáozì, which literally means "to pay excessive attention to wording," is a monthly publication focused on the Chinese language. Chinese (state) media have been widely propagating the magazine's selection of the top words and terms of the past year in newspapers and on Chinese online media. The ten terms have also become a topic of discussion on Weibo over the past month, with the topic receiving 290 million views.
We've listed them for you here:
1. 文明互鉴 (wénmíng hùjiàn): "Mutual Learning"
Literal Meaning: "Mutual learning," "Exchanges and mutual learning among different cultures and civilizations."
Original context: This expression can be traced back to the era around and during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC), a time of division, bloody battles, and political chaos. The demands for solutions brought forth a broad range of philosophies and schools. During this time, Confucianism, Taoism, Legalism, Mohism and many others were developed leading to the phenomenon known as the "Contention of a Hundred Schools of Thought."
What does it mean now? In 2014, at the 4th summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA), Chinese President Xi Jinping put forward a major initiative to convene a conference on dialogue between Asian countries followed by an introduction emphasizing how "diversity spurs interaction among civilizations, which promotes mutual learning." This sentence and expression were later repeated in speeches during various major events. In May 2019, President Xi once again emphasized the idea during the CICA, making the term pop up across Chinese state media again.
2. 区块链 (qū kuài liàn): "Blockchain"
Literal Meaning: Blockchain Technology
Context: "Blockchain" is no longer a new concept since it was first introduced to the public around a decade ago. Development of the malleable blockchain technology has become an important trend in China's tech market through the years.
What does it mean now? Blockchain was all the buzz in China over the past year. In early 2019, the Cyberspace Administration of China released the Provisions on the Administration of Blockchain Information Services. In October, President Xi singled out blockchain technology as an important breaking point in developing China's core innovative technology and emphasized the importance of investing and stepping up research on the standardization of blockchain to increase China's influence and power in the global arena.
3. 硬核 (yìng hé): "Hardcore"
Literal Meaning: "Hardcore" – 硬 = hard, 核 = core.
Context: "Hardcore" is known as the abbreviation for Hardcore Punk, a punk rock music genre originated in Southern California during the late 1970s. The term was later used to reference things of a certain level of complexity, such as "hardcore games" (versus casual games). The term started to mean something along the lines of "terrific" (厉害) or "strict"/"rigid" (刚硬) and in Chinese, started being used in expressions such as "Tiger mom" (硬核妈妈) or "Hardcore game players" (硬核玩家).
What does it mean now? As the Chinese science fiction blockbuster The Wandering Earth (流浪地球) was categorized as 'hardcore science fiction' (硬核科幻), the term 'hardcore' resurfaced as a popular word often popping up in (online) conversations.
4. 融梗 (róng gěng): "Mixing up ideas"
Literal Meaning: "Integrating other people's ideas into one's own work" or "integrating punchlines," "mixing up plots."
Context: Over the past two decades, many literary works, including a few by prestigious Chinese writers, have been suspected of plagiarism and triggered heated discussions online — when it comes to drawing inspiration from other art and literary creations, where is the boundary between artistic freedom and plagiarism?
What does it mean now? Soon after the Chinese movie Better Days (少年的你) came out in October (read more here), the writer of the original novel was accused of plagiarizing parts of Japanese mystery writer Keigo Higashino's work. Many netizens argued that in the field of online literature, borrowing ideas from others (融梗) is ubiquitous and does not necessarily equate plagiarism because the act (融梗) itself requires original work and creativity. From October to now, the term has become a recurring topic in Chinese media.
5. "XX 千万条,XX 第一条" (XX qiān wàn tiáo, XX dì yī tiáo): "Out of millions of things,..is the first one"
Literal Meaning: "Out of ten million things,.. xxx comes first as the rule of thumb."
Context: List thinking is prevailing in China; from codes and regulations enacted by the government and laid down by companies, to the way teachers outline their lectures, the usage of "articles" (sometimes used as 'rules') or "items" (条) to organize ideas and outline objectives is commonly seen in daily life.
What does it mean now? This phrase caught people's attention after appearing in the aforementioned science fiction film The Wandering Earth, where a robot voice reminds a driver of traffic safety in a noteworthy way, saying something along the lines of: "There are thousands of road rules, but safety rules always come first. If you disregard safety, your loved ones will end up in tears." Despite sounding like a sketch that rhymes poorly in Chinese, the lines stuck around and were later also used by Chinese traffic police across the country. The sentence structure is now also more often applied in various other contexts, for example: "There are thousands of things good for health, but sleep is the most important."
6. 柠檬精 (níngméng jīng): "Lemon monster"
Literal Meaning: "Lemon mythical spirit" or "Sour lemon goblin"
Context: In ancient Chinese superstitions, it's believed that animals and non-living objects may have the potential to grow into something with spiritual and immortal characteristics if meeting certain criteria. One of the criteria is to be around long enough, usually hundreds of years – if not thousands. For instance, in the classical work Journey to the West (西游记), the four main characters except Tang Sanzang are all spiritual beings derived from animal prototypes.
What does it mean now? Lemon tastes sour (酸), which is often used to describe the feeling of envy or jealousy. When lemon becomes a spiritual being, it basically means the lemon has reached the ultimate stage of being a lemon and maximized its characteristics such as being terribly sour. The phrase is used to deride those who feel envious of others' possession and achievement. Lately, the word is more often seen in a self deprecating humoristic context. For instance, when someone says "I'm a lemon jing now/I feel sour now( 我柠檬精了/我酸了)", instead of expressing envy towards others, it's more about acknowledging others more advantageous position compared to one's own.
7. The 996 work schedule
Literal Meaning: 996 working hour system
Context: 996 is a work schedule commonly practiced by many companies in the internet and tech industry in China. With the 996 schedule, employees are required to work from 9 am to 9 pm, 6 days per week.
What does it mean now? In April 2019, Jack Ma, the co-founder and former executive chairman of Alibaba Group, commented on 996 during an internal meeting with Alibaba employees. Ma's comments seemed to justify how companies and employees can both benefit from the work schedule, however, the comments quickly triggered criticism after widely circulating online for allegedly violating of the Labour Law of the People's Republic of China.
8. "我太难(南)了" (wǒ tài nán le): "Life is so hard for me"
Literal Meaning: "I'm feeling uneasy" or "life is so hard for me"
Context: The phrase originated from a 10-second video self-posted by a user on video-sharing site Kuaishou earlier in 2019. As the video begins, the user – an older Chinese guy – says to the camera: "I'm feeling uneasy…" followed by sad music. He then continues to say "Lao tie [bro/guys], (I) have been under a lot of stress lately." The video, in which the man dramatically drops his head in his hands and seems to cry without tears, quickly went viral. The phrase "I'm feeling uneasy" was quickly adopted and applied in daily conversations.
What does it mean now? The broad circulation of this phrase on the internet reflects that the uneasy feeling about life is relatable to many people. Acknowledging the stress in a self-deprecating humorous tone is in itself a way of relieving stress. To add a sense of humor to this phrase, many replace the initial character "难" (nán, adj. difficult) with "南" (nán, adj.& n. south), which is believed to be taken from the mahjong tile "南风"(south wind).
9. "我不要你觉得,我要我觉得" (wǒ bùyào nǐ juédé, wǒ yào wǒ juédé): "I don't want to know what you think, I only care about what I think"
Literal Meaning: "I don't want to know what you think, I only care about what I think."
Context: The line was taken from Xiaoming Huang, one of the guests in the third season of the entertainment TV show "Chinese Restaurant", which was broadcasted in the summer of 2019. In the show, Huang, who took the role as the manager of the restaurant, is self-centered, and often disregards the opinions of others in matters such as menu ideas or pricing, showing his blind self-confidence and arrogance. In addition to this line, Huang's frequently used language includes "There is no need to discuss this matter", "Listen to me, I have the final say" and so on, and it spread quickly on the internet.
What does it mean now? The popularity of this line reflects people's ridicule and resentment against arrogant and dominant personalities.
10. 霸凌主义 (bàlíng zhǔyì): "Bully-ism"
Literal Meaning: "Bully-ism"
Context: The word 霸凌 (bàlíng) comes from the English word "bully." Here, it refers to bullying other countries in the face of conflicts between nations.
What does it mean now? As the trade conflict between the US and China was ongoing in 2019, many believed that the current government administration of the United States has been handling international affairs in almost a bullying manner. The slogan "America First" is also often perceived as a declaration in front of the entire world that the interests of the United States come first. As a buzzword, "bullyism" has come to be used by Chinese media in the context of international affairs.
By Jialing Xie


Celebrating the joy of creating without purpose.
Rachel Hodgson, who created these images, is also on episode five of our podcast. Pouring her heart out and confessing her love for crying alone on public transport. The episode includes Rachel talking about the catharsis a good public weep brings, to her go to songs when shedding a tear on the bus, and the privilege of embracing our feminine hysteria in the age of the internet. Click here to listen.
Photos by Rachel Hodgson. Clothing by Wanting Collection, Jender Anomie and Rachel Hodgson.


Appear fashionable by wearing this pair of jeans from Elle Kids. These mild wash jeans will make you feel comfortable throughout the day. Besides, They have are fabricated using good quality fabric.
Tailored to perfection, this pair of perfect fit jeans will be a perfect choice for you to wear on casual occasions. You can team them with a T-Shirt to look trendy.


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In the event of major data loss we have the training and expertise that can help you keep your downtime to a minimum. Properly retaining a backup and monitoring it making sure that no data or customer information is being lost. Losing a document can be a disaster but with our skills and training lessons retrieving a lost document can be a click away.
Servers are the heartbeat of the office all Workstations revolve around how well they perform. Improperly managed servers or workstations can result in massive data loss and future issues. Making sure your Data Storage is safe and secure and is being regularly looked after while making sure that the data is not being corrupted or lost.
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Have new technology equipment but don't know how to use it or integrate it into your office environment. EC Computers has a wide variety of knowledge when it comes to new releases on technology. Helping to implement it with the correct procedures and steps. This will help to properly maintain and by making sure you are correctly using your device or peripheral to its full extent.


The concept may go back as far as the 1920s, but it was Microsoft (inspired by IBM) that institutionalized it as a corporate practice. FUD was (and to some extent is) a strategy designed to maintain Microsoft's hold over its customers. "Sure," Microsoft sales reps would say, "You could switch to [Apple/Linux/Lotus Notes] but here's what will happen…" They would then shower wavering customers with horror stories about the competitor's reliability, compatibility, even viability as a company. It was, as we know, very effective.


Sorrento makes a great base, but a boring destination. Not that there's anything wrong with it. Like most Italian towns, it has a few minor historic sites, good eating, friendly folks, and a charming atmosphere.
It also has some lovely sea views over the wide Bay of Naples curving away and to the North and, closer at hand, the busy Marina Piccola, where ferries and hydrofoils jostle at the pier surrounded by little orange-topped launches scuttling back and forth to the giant cruise ships anchored in the deep waters off the east end of town.
It's just that, if Sorrento weren't in a primo location, no tourist would bother with it. As it is, however, Sorrento is the launching pad for the buses down the Amalfi Coast, just 20 minutes by boat from Capri, and a quick train ride from Pompeii and Naples.
Not that there's anything wrong with Sorrento. It's just that Italy has so many more interesting places and you have such limited time. No one flocks to, oh, say, Táranto in Apulia or Brescia in Lombardy (both fine towns with far more of interest than Sorrento).
The only reason everyone's heard of Sorrento is because it is the region's public transportation node—and an admittedly convenient base—for exploring some of the greatest sights of Southern Italy. Frankly, there's not all that much to see in town. And in summer, English takes over for Italian as the most common tongue, which is a bit depressing.
I've been giving this advice for years, and as such have been accused of having something against Sorrento. I don't. I simply would prefer to stay in Amalfi, Positano, or on Capri rather than stay in Sorrento in order to visit those places.
If, however, you're the home-base type of traveler, Sorrento makes an ideal one.
The Road to Sorrento - A train ride through the Campagna heartland.
Sorrento is perfectly situated for touring the top sights in the Naples area—at the end of the Circumvesuviana commuter rail line from Naples (which passes Herculaneum, Pompeii, and the Mt. Vesuvius volcano that buried both of these ancient Roman ghost towns), the start of the bus line that services the Amalfi Coast (to Positano, Amalfi, and Ravello), and has a port with frequent ferry service to Capri.
This premier location—more than any particular sights, charm, or other benefit—is why it is such a famous resort town...and has been for more than 2,000 years.
The Greek (or perhaps Etruscan) city of Sorrentum on its bluff at the southern arms of the Bay of Naples was never terribly important in antiquity except as a middle-class resort for the Romans—and that status really hasn't changed for 2,000 years.
Since the 19th century, English and German visitors especially have flocked here on package tours (still the town's chief source of income). Ibsen even found enough inspiration here to finish writing Peer Gynt.
All that said, Sorrento can still be magical in the evening, when you stroll with the lively passeggiata through the streets, watch the sunset over the bay while sipping a drink at the Circolo dei Forestieri club, then spend the night sitting out on your hotel balcony to gaze at the twinkling manmade constellations of Naples' Bay strung out in a sweeping panorama under the dark bulk of omnipresent Vesuvius.
By car, from Naples take route 18 to Castellammare di Stabia, where you transfer over to the SS145 to Sorrento.
Getting to Sorrento by ferry or hydrofoil: There are four ferry companies serving Sorrento and connecting it to Naples and the surrounding region: www.metrodelmare.com, www.caremar.it, www.consorziolmp.it, and www.alilauro.it. Since you probably don't care which company you use (you just want a convenient departure time at the lowest ticket price), check many at once using the aggregator site www.traghetti.com.
From the station, city Bus D runs to Piazza Tasso (city center) and Corso Italia (the main drag). Bus A runs from Piazza Tasso out Via Capo (where you'll find lots of hotels). Buses B and C run from Piazza Tasso down to Marina Piccola (ferry dock) and back again. Buses run every 20 minutes.
Since Sorrento makes such a good base, picking up a car or scooter here (rather than fighting the traffic in Naples) can make a lot of sense. The most reputable agencies, roughly in order from cheapest to most expensive, are: Jolly Service & Rent (Corso Italia 3, tel. +39-081-878-2403), Penisola Rent (Corso Italia 257, tel. +39-081-877-4664, www.penisolarent.com), Sorrento rent a scooter (Corso Italia 210 tel. +39-081-878-1386, www.sorrento.it), and Hertz Scooters (Via degli Aranci 9, tel. +39-081-807-1646, www.hertzsorrento.com).
At Easter time, Sorrento throws a solemn, Byzantine religious procession in honor of Good Friday. In July and August, Sorrento hosts both a classical music festival in indoor and outdoor venues across town, and an international film festival that lacks the star quality of Cannes or Venice, but is starting to gain a certain following.


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People Recall What It Was Like To Grow Up An Orphan
Thankfully, being orphaned as a child isn't something that a large number of us will experience in our lives. Losing our parents (if they're good ones, and sometimes even if they're not) as adults is hard enough, but going through that trauma as a kid can definitely be devastating.
These 11 people came out on the other side, though, and now they're recalling exactly what it was like.
11. Good parents are worth their weight in gold.
But a found family will bring the same kind of joy and belonging.
Image Credit: Whisper
10. They had to do it themselves.
With whatever tools they had at their disposal.
9. You can never tell where someone will end up.
There are so many paths that lead to happiness in the end.
8. It can be done.
But no one who has been there would say it was easy.
7. You make your own place.
Other people will belong there, too.
6. Our society doesn't make room for oddball stories.
Even though they obviously exist.
5. It can feel as if there's nothing to celebrate.
Or as if no one wants to celebrate with you, anyway.
4. You can let it break you.
Or you can let it give you compassion for others.
3. There's always a bright side.
Even if it doesn't seem like it at the time.
2. You can cut them loose.
Just like anyone who doesn't bring joy to your life.
1. A hard lesson for everyone.
But definitely more of a challenge for some than others.
I'm so thankful this was not my experience and as a parent, it's one of my biggest fears for my own kids.
If you grew up and orphan and feel comfortable, tell us in the comments what your life has been like.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


I filed a chargeback with my Amex gold card for Transaero tickets. After about a month this is the letter I received from Amex.
Are they basically denying the chargback?
We would like to advise you of the status of your claim on your account from Transaero Airlines Web Sa. We removed the amount under review of $1,383.45 from your account during our investigation.
In our last communication, we informed you that the merchant might not be able to provide the information you requested for the charges of $1,383.45 dated August 13, 2015 and that we could not guarantee credit. However, we pursued this matter with the merchant. Unfortunately, the merchant was unable to provide the requested information. If you wish to pursue this matter further, you will need to contact the merchant directly.
Since this concludes our investigation, we are closing this case.
Therefore, the amount under review has been reapplied to your account, and will reflect on an upcoming statement.
We trust this resolves your questions. Thank you for your Card Membership.
What was the full story?
Bought tickets. They went bankrupt.
I am also having a lot of problems with American Express trying to get my money back for Transaero flights. American Express has reinstated the charges several times already and today after speaking to two supervisors they told me to file a complaint by filling out a form available at www.americanexpress.com/claim, which is one step short of arbitration. The closest thing I got to an explanation from American Express is that they already paid Transaero, so if American Express issues me a refund then American Express will be losing money. Would appreciate any advice and whether anyone else has been having problems getting money back from American Express. Thanks.
If anyone has been successful in disputing a Transaero charge with American Express because Transaero went bankrupt, or if you know of anyone that has been successful, it would be very helpful if you could share that information. For some reason, in response to my dispute, Transaero replied to American Express in early October that my tickets for March 2016 were still "open for travel". American Express has not given me a clear reason why they are not refunding me the money, but in part I think they are hiding behind the response that they received from Transaero that the tickets were still good. It would be very helpful to be able to show American Express (or quite possibly an arbitrator) that American Express knew that Transaero tickets were no longer valid as evidenced from the fact that American Express had issued refunds to other consumers. Thanks.
Thanks, Red, for the suggestion. I will file with CFPB at the same time that I send the Claim Notice back to American Express.
Just to give an update: It turns out that while the Transaero website is down and the US number is down, there are still people answering the phone in Russia. The number to dial is 011-7-495-788-8080 if calling from the US. There is even an option to speak in English, although the person I spoke to did not speak English very well. An even better idea is to find someone who speaks Russian and have them call. I did that and my Russian speaking friend had a conversation that lasted for a few minutes. The very next day (today) I received an email from Transaero that they approved the refund and that I should be getting it soon and sorry for the delay in getting back to me. On the phone they also said that requests for refunds should be emailed to bilet@transaero.ru.
Moral of the story: if you think dealing with a bankrupt Russian company is bad, meet amex.


text:
Business - n.a.
Superfund Seeking for Investors in Japan
Published: February 3, 2011; 00:01 · (Vindobona)
The Austrian investment fund intends to raise new funds via Japanese institutional investors. The volume is said to account for $ 100m
Superfund Seeking for Investors in Japan / Picture: © Vindobona.org
Superfund now focuses on the Japanese equity market. According to Bloomberg, Superfund already holds conversations with pension funds and other institutional investors to assess about € 73m in the investment fund. Superfund´s CEO Christian Baha, this step is a "change in the company´s strategy".
In the past, Superfund has been focused mainly on private investors. Now, the…
Austria's Pension Funds: 6.61% yield in 2010 (January 26, 2011)
Record of Assets under Management for C-Quadrat (January 18, 2011)
Life Insurance Continues in Demand (January 18, 2011)
Austria's Funds Showed a Plus in 2010 (January 14, 2011)
Austria Savers Remain Conservative (January 12, 2011)
Additional Revenues for C-Quadrat (January 7, 2011)
Funding, Japan, Investment Funds, Superfund, Capital Markets, Equity Markets
Meet the Ambassador of Japan to Austria: H.E. Mr. Kiyoshi Koinuma
Embassy of Japan in Vienna, Austria
Meet the Ambassador of Japan to the International Organizations in Vienna: H.E. Mr. Mitsuru Kitano
Permanent Mission of Japan to the International Organizations in Vienna, Austria / 在ウィーン国際機関日本政府代表部


text:
Home/APTA Statement on U.S. Senate Democrats' Infrastructure Proposal
APTA Statement on U.S. Senate Democrats' Infrastructure Proposal
APTAAdmin2019-02-04T14:29:40-05:00January 25, 2017|
Mantill Williams
mwilliams@apta.com
"On behalf of the more than 1,500 member organizations of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), we are encouraged by the introduction of the "Blueprint to Rebuild America's Infrastructure" proposal by Democratic Leader Charles Schumer, along with Senators Carper, Brown, Leahy, Sanders and Nelson, which lays out a proposal for significant new investments in the nation's infrastructure. As sought by APTA's Board of Directors, the plan makes a substantial commitment to the nation's public transportation and intercity passenger rail systems.
APTA is encouraged that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle recognize the need to invest in our public transportation infrastructure. Enacting meaningful legislation to address our infrastructure needs will require support from the President and a bipartisan majority in Congress, and we look forward to reviewing additional proposals as this process continues."
The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) is a nonprofit international association of more than 1,500 public and private sector organizations, engaged in the areas of bus, paratransit, light rail, commuter rail, subways, waterborne services, and intercity and high-speed passenger rail. This includes: transit systems; planning, design, construction, and finance firms; product and service providers; academic institutions; transit associations and state departments of transportation. APTA is the only association in North America that represents all modes of public transportation. APTA members serve the public interest by providing safe, efficient and economical transit services and products. More than 90 percent of the people using public transportation in the United States and Canada ride APTA member systems.


The best goal is no goal. When I first read the title of Leo's blog post that day, I was shocked. No goals? I got through my last semester of working by setting goals as prescribed by Leo's very own book! And now he was telling us to ditch them entirely? I read the post and thought "Well, I'm glad that works for him, but I couldn't do it." How do you accomplish anything without goals? But the idea stuck around and simmered in the back of my mind.
After going goal-less, the day got even better. The friend with whom I was staying came home from work and said, "I was thinking we could cook together tonight." Music to my ears. Cooking! I get to cook! The shopping, chopping, simmering, stirring and – of course – the eating. And to get to do it with someone else – what could be better? It will never cease to amaze me: how when you put something out there, you get just what it is you need.
"Staying in hostels, I've met a lot of people that are traveling for a year, like you, but I couldn't do it. I can go away for two weeks, maybe three, but then I want to get back to my space, my stuff." This was what the German doctor staying at the hostel with me in St. Augustine told me one night. Once again, someone had come into my life to say just the right thing at just the right time. "That's exactly what I'm feeling," I told him. I confessed that I wanted nothing more at the moment than my own space, by myself. I wanted to curl up in my recliner chair with a good book, my blue crocheted blanket keeping me warm. Not have to search for food, but being able to go right to my fridge and find exactly what it is I'm craving – my favorite locally made goat cheese, delicious bread, and roasted red peppers I just made that afternoon. Or pine nut hummus and pita bread. Or all the ingredients for my favorite quinoa dish, sitting there ready for me. I want to cook, not have to figure out where I'm spending the next night, or how much money I have left for my year of living without a job or a permanent home.
Instead, I find that I have difficulty enjoying where I am in the present moment as I'm too confused about my future. Do I really want to do all those things I've said I was going to? But if I don't, then what will I do instead? Will I feel defeated if I just go back home? But home to what? I don't even have my own space to go back to. Yes, plenty of friends have offered me rooms in their homes anytime during this year or when I return, for which I am deeply grateful, but it's not the same.
Do I even want to go back to New York? Yes, because my family is there and I happen to be one of the very lucky people who actually likes their family (for the most part). But were they not all in New York, it's not a place I'd choose to live. Though I can't tell you where else I would choose. Or do I know and am just too scared to, again, move to a place where I have hardly any connections and start – seemingly – all over?
So this is why I haven't written a post in so long. I tend to write mostly positive posts and just didn't have the energy for one of those – because I'm not really positive about my life at the present moment.
But then I realized that might not be the reason at all for my lack of writing. It's just that I haven't been taking care of myself. I know what I love doing. Writing. Cooking. Spending time with people. Reading. I've done the last two, but am severely lacking in the first two. So tonight, having a half hour to myself, I decided to just start writing and see what came. And here you have it.


text:
Fourth Source is an independently-owned online marketing and news publication dedicated to bringing readers the latest news, advice, tips and trends to do with Digital Media Marketing, with a focus on small business.
The digital media landscape is constantly changing and evolving into something bigger and better. Marketers need to be "in-the-know" to stay ahead in this increasingly competitive industry. Our website is somewhere that marketing professionals come to be updated with what is happening within digital media, where they can learn from their peers, and where they receive the latest in industry trends and reports. Fourth Source aims to become a must-visit website for those in digital media.
Fourth Source features,
Regular Columnists: featured regular monthly editorial from some of the leading companies within their industry currently including 2ergo, Gravytrain, G2 Joshua, ValueClick Media and Silverpop who provide advice, comments on industry developments, reports in the subjects of Social Media Marketing, Mobile Marketing, Email marketing and Search Marketing.
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Weekly Newsletters: sent out to our subscribers with expert advice and industry news.
Opinion pieces from some of the leading experts and practitioners in all areas of Digital Media Marketing.
If you would like to get in touch or contribute, please visit the Contact Us page.


text:
Kraft Heinz Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Primal Kitchen
Published on Nov 30 2018 12:50 PM in A-Brands tagged: Trending Posts / Kraft Heinz / Healthy Food / Primal Nutrition
Kraft Heinz has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Primal Kitchen branded products for approximately $200 million. Primal Kitchen, owned by Primal Nutrition, is a...
Kraft Heinz has announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Primal Kitchen branded products for approximately $200 million.
Primal Kitchen, owned by Primal Nutrition, is a food nutrition company focused on condiments, sauces, and dressings - including mayonnaise, salad dressings, and avocado oil.
It also has growing product lines in healthy snacks and other categories.
Primal Kitchen holds leading positions in both e-commerce and natural channels, Kraft said, and is expected to generate approximately $50 million in net sales this year.
Health-Conscious Brands
"The proposed partnership with Primal Kitchen is consistent with Kraft Heinz's vision to be the best food company, growing a better world. The Primal Kitchen team has built an amazing portfolio of the world's best-tasting, health-enhancing, real-food pantry staples," said Paulo Basilio, US zone president for Kraft Heinz.
"Primal Kitchen is an authentic, premium and growing brand that fits perfectly with our core Condiments & Sauces categories, and we are excited to partner with the Company's strong existing team to drive growth across multiple categories going forward."
Mark Sisson, Co-Founder of Primal Kitchen, said that his mission has always been to change the way the world eats, which led to the introduction of the brand aimed at health-conscious consumers.
"While our growth to date has exceeded all industry standards and expectations, our partnership with an industry leader like Kraft Heinz now offers an unrivalled opportunity to reach millions more of the consumers who have been seeking products like ours for years," Sisson said.
"Based on the significant time I've spent with the Kraft Heinz team, we share a common vision regarding the future of food and the importance of consumer choices. I look forward to working with them to grow this amazing brand."
© 2018 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Aidan O'Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up for the Checkout print edition.
Latest in A-Brands
Tereos To Exit Malt Business, Eyes Romanian Sugar Unit Closure
Lidl Ireland Extends Vegan Range
Tereos To Issue New €300m Bond To Repay Some Debt


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text:
Q: SQL Server - Get Datetime with Minute and Seconds Removed (Date and Hour only) How to get Datetime to retain only its Date and Hour?
The Minutes and Seconds should be converted to 0.
That is, to Convert a DateTime to Date and Hour only.
eg: I want, datetime GetDate() or '2020-01-01 12:45:50' to be, '2020-01-01 12:00:00'

A: The fastest and most efficient solution to get DateTime without Minutes and Seconds is:
DECLARE @testDate DATETIME = GETDATE();
SELECT DATEADD(hour, DATEDIFF(hour, 0, @testDate), 0);

Below are other alternatives, but slightly less efficient because of the extra CASTs.
Adding the below queries as some might find it more comprehensible.
DECLARE @testDate DATETIME = GETDATE();
SELECT CAST(CAST(@testDate AS DATE) AS DATETIME)+CAST(DATEPART(HOUR,@testDate) AS FLOAT)/24;
SELECT DATEADD(HOUR,DATEPART(HOUR,@testDate),CAST(CAST(@testDate AS DATE) AS DATETIME));

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
layout: page
title: Davis 20th Anniversary
date: 2016-05-24
author: Karen Sloan
tags: weekly links, java
status: published
summary: Aenean maximus tempor pharetra. Morbi.
banner: images/banner/office-01.jpg
booking:
  startDate: 06/14/2018
  endDate: 06/19/2018
  ctyhocn: TPAOMHX
  groupCode: D2A
published: true
---
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1 Integer porttitor lacus ut placerat hendrerit.

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text:
Trojan Center making dining safer for students
Brady Talbert
The Trojan Center food court added more outdoor seating last week following some COVID-19 concerns expressed by students.
"Has anyone else thought about how awful and dangerous TC is (going to) be this year, especially during the first couple weeks of classes," Nicholas Bush posted in the "Troy Students" Facebook group on Aug. 9.
"There are still literal hundreds packed in there practically shoulder to shoulder on a normal day during lunch hours," Bush said, adding to the voices of some concerned about a bustling food court atmosphere.
Alongside social distancing markings on the floor and hand sanitizer stations, a tent with more than 10 new tables was pitched to provide students with more space outside to eat in the open air.
"There's a lot more tables out here, so if there's too many people in TC – and its full in there –people can come out here and eat outside," said Tommy Benjamin, a sophomore computer science major from Panama City, Florida, adding that he still feels safe dining in the Trojan Center.
"I agree that there was definitely not enough tables inside," said Bailey Faulkner, a senior interdisciplinary studies major from Venice, Florida. "I really appreciate the university listening to our concerns and taking action immediately."
Faulkner said she has seen some students ignoring the social distancing markings, but she still feels secure in the food court.
"I do feel safe sitting at the tables, and there's been a few times when people have come up and asked people to step on the stickers to make sure that we are social distancing," she said.
The university's food vendor, SODEXO, said an app is in the works to allow students to further social distance and order from their mobile devices. A release date was not provided.
Football releases schedule for upcoming season
Bibb Graves to be renamed John Robert Lewis Hall


We had fun visiting southern Arizona with the Lemke cousins in the spring of 2013 so we wanted to go back and check out more! We took a trip to Tucson, AZ. We when we wanted to check out two places: 1) the Kartchner Caverns and 2) the Pima Air & Space Museum. Both didn't disappoint us! Both were AMAZING! We highly recommend anyone visiting Arizona, southern AZ to be specific, to check them out. We also spent some afternoons down by the pool and spa. The kids loved that! ;) We got to try a few fun restaurants too. All in all, a good little fall break trip!
Checking out the Murphy bed. The kids have never seen one before.
At Kartchner Caverns. No pictures were allowed in the caverns so all of these posted here are what I found online. They don't do it justice, though! It is awe-inspiring! Amazing!
The caverns, from the outside. It's crazy to think that the caverns are under those little mountains.
Out for dinner at a yummy Mexican restaurant. Mmm! Great handmade tamales!
A Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird. So cool!
Brielle with the Starr Bumble Bee, once recorded as the smallest aircraft from 1949.
Now outside to check out MORE! There are HUNDREDS of aircraft on site!
Check out all of the missile/bomb markings on its side. Wow!
Paul's been in one of these! A Boeing KC-97G Stratofreighter, used to refuel planes midair.
Ooo! So cool! This became known as "Freedom One" after serving in the return of the American hostages from Tehran, Iran in 1981. The technical name of it is a Boeing VC-137B.
A Boeing EC-135J Straotanker. Very similar to the KCs in that refuel aircraft midair. So cool!
Get.out.of.TOWN! Air Force One for Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, 1961-1965. So cool!
And a McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A Hornet. They are so sool!
Then, on our way out of Tucson, after the Air Museum, we went to a yummy sandwich restaurant for lunch. So good!!


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You can use the output SpeechSynthesisStream and save it as a .wav audio file in app's local storage.
This is not the best method to save the speech stream to audio as it takes a long time to get processed.
Sound off in comments/forums if you find a workaround.
UPDATE: We just found another method to do it and it seems to be quite faster. The sample Transcoding media project uses Windows.Media.Transcoding API to transcode a media file in a Windows Store app.
I am pursuing BTech in Software Engineering from Delhi Technological University. I develop apps, create websites and blog about my app experiences.
Never miss out on new tutorials!


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text:
Villechétif est une commune française, située dans le département de l'Aube en région Grand Est.

Géographie

Urbanisme

Typologie
Villechétif est une commune rurale. Elle fait en effet partie des communes peu ou très peu denses, au sens de la grille communale de densité de l'Insee.
Elle appartient à l'unité urbaine de Troyes, une agglomération intra-départementale regroupant  et  en 2017, dont elle est une commune de la banlieue.

Par ailleurs la commune fait partie de l'aire d'attraction de Troyes, dont elle est une commune de la couronne. Cette aire, qui regroupe , est catégorisée dans les aires de  à moins de .

Occupation des sols

L'occupation des sols de la commune, telle qu'elle ressort de la base de données européenne d'occupation biophysique des sols Corine Land Cover (CLC), est marquée par l'importance des territoires agricoles (78,2 % en 2018), une proportion sensiblement équivalente à celle de 1990 (79,3 %). La répartition détaillée en 2018 est la suivante :
terres arables (78,2 %), forêts (13 %), zones urbanisées (6,9 %), zones industrielles ou commerciales et réseaux de communication (2 %).

L'IGN met par ailleurs à disposition un outil en ligne permettant de comparer l'évolution dans le temps de l'occupation des sols de la commune (ou de territoires à des échelles différentes). Plusieurs époques sont accessibles sous forme de cartes ou photos aériennes : la carte de Cassini (), la carte d'état-major (1820-1866) et la période actuelle (1950 à aujourd'hui).

Histoire

Villechétif absorbe la commune éphémère de Belley entre 1795 et 1800.

Politique et administration

Démographie

Évolution démographique

Pyramide des âges
La population de la commune est relativement âgée.
En 2018, le taux de personnes d'un âge inférieur à  s'élève à 27,8 %, soit en dessous de la moyenne départementale (35,2 %). À l'inverse, le taux de personnes d'âge supérieur à  est de 33,9 % la même année, alors qu'il est de 27,7 % au niveau départemental.

En 2018, la commune comptait  pour , soit un taux de 51,28 % d'hommes, largement supérieur au taux départemental (48,59 %).

Les pyramides des âges de la commune et du département s'établissent comme suit.

Lieux et monuments
 Église de la Nativité-Notre-Dame (Image de l'église)

Personnalités liées à la commune

Article connexe
 Communes de l'Aube

Liens externes

 Site officiel de la communauté de communes Seine Melda Coteaux

Notes et références

Notes

Références

Commune dans l'Aube
Unité urbaine de Troyes
Aire urbaine de Troyes

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


In the White Ribbon (Das weisse Band), strange events happen in a small village in the north of Germany during the years just before World War I, which seem to be ritual punishment. The abused and suppressed children of the villagers seem to be at the heart of this mystery. This film won many awards including a Golden Globe. 2009, 144 minutes, MPAA rating: R, in German with English subtitles.


abandonment leave us full of loneliness, fear and self-loathing.
The doctrines of holiness apply to the principle of RESENTMENT, as well as to other parts of the mind. It is impossible for a holy person not to be displeased, and sometimes greatly displeased, at acts of iniquity. The injunction of the Apostle, "be ye angry and sin not," seems to imply, that there may be cases, in which a person may be displeased and may be angry without necessarily incurring sin. It is said of the blessed Savior himself, that he looked upon the Pharisees "with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts." But here again the evil hand of nature, (not nature as it was, but nature as it has become,) has been at work. Selfishness, which is but another name for the life of nature, infuses into the displeasure of the unsanctified man, even when there is a foundation for it within proper limits, a degree of severity and unforgivingness, which is inconsistent with holiness, and is fatal to true inward peace.
How often, and how sadly this has been the case; how often and how deeply individuals and churches have been injured from this cause, no one is ignorant. Families and nations, as well as individuals, have experienced the dreadful effects of the displeased and angry feelings, when they are not overruled and kept in check by true piety. The history of the world, from its earliest periods, is a solemn and monitory lesson on this subject. "He, that is slow to anger, is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh a city." There seems to be need of greater effort and of more faith and prayer, to regulate entirely this department of the Affections, (usually denominated the Malevolent Affections,) than is required in the regulation of the other. But the grace of God is sufficient even here.


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Kendall Jenner Testifies In Stalking Case, Says She Was Terrified At Scene
October 13, 2016 admin Celebrity Gossip, Fashion 0
Kendall Jenner testified Thursday at the trial of a man accused of stalking her that she was terrified when he followed her up the driveway of her Hollywood Hills home and repeatedly knocked on the window of her car.
The 20-year-old model and reality TV star used her hands to illustrate how she made frantic phone calls to friends after locking the doors and watching Shavaughn McKenzie until help arrived.
"I've never been so scared in my life," Jenner told the Los Angeles jury hearing the case against McKenzie.
PHOTOS: Kendall Jenner's Cool Street Style
Jenner also said she recognized McKenzie as the same person who had accosted her twice while she was driving outside a condo she owned in Westwood.
Jenner kept her composure through nearly an hour of testimony about McKenzie, 25, who was arrested in August outside her home and charged with misdemeanor stalking and trespassing.
He could face up to six months in jail if convicted of either charge.
WATCH: Kendall Jenner's Ballet-Inspired Photoshoot: Why Some Don't Think It Was En Pointe
McKenzie is a transient from Florida who has several trespassing convictions unrelated to Jenner.
He stared at his lap or toward a wall on the opposite end of the courtroom throughout much of Jenner's testimony.
McKenzie's attorney Taylor Shramo told jurors during opening statements Wednesday that his client has a severe mental disorder and was unarmed and simply trying to talk to the model.
Jenner, who wore a backless beige blouse and jeans to the crowded courtroom, said she first spotted McKenzie sitting in a street outside her Hollywood Hills home and was suspicious as she pulled into her winding, tree-lined driveway and watched the 13-foot-tall gate close behind her.
PHOTOS: Kendall & Kylie Jenner: Reality TV's Stylish Sisters
McKenzie somehow slipped through and wasn't noticed until Jenner prepared to leave the car, she testified.
Even after McKenzie was arrested, Jenner refused to leave her car. "I was terrified," she said. "I was literally traumatized."
Deputy City Attorney Alex Perez said during opening statements that McKenzie was an "obsessed, mentally unstable fan" who had repeatedly tried to meet Jenner outside her homes.
Family friend Shelli Azoff, who rushed with her husband to aid Jenner after getting a call that night, has testified that the incident left Jenner shaken.
Jenner stayed with the Azoffs for several nights and was afraid to sleep alone, Azoff testified.
Jenner is the younger sister of Kim Kardashian West and she shyly recounted her career, which includes appearing on her family's reality show "Keeping Up With the Kardashians," appearing on the cover of Vogue and modeling for several top fashion lines.
Bella Thorne Reveals Demi Lovato As Her Celebrity Crush: 'She's A Pretty Toasty Woman'
J.K. Rowling's 'Fantastic Beasts And Where to Find Them' To Span 5 Films


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HOT COLD SWEET SOUR CRUNCHY SOFT
The six-point formula for a perfect sandwich
Hot, cold, sweet, sour, crunchy, soft.
Image: Courtesy/Blink Publishing
Rosie Spinks
To hear Max Halley talk about a sandwich is to witness a full-throated defense of the thing as a serious culinary undertaking, not a lowly lunchtime convenience food.
To prove his point, the British chef and author opened Max's Sandwich Shop in northeast London's Stroud Green four years ago and decided it would only be open in the evenings. You know, for dinner.
Before he opened, he asked a couple dozen of his chef and restaurant industry friends—he formerly worked for the UK-based Spanish food importer Brindisa as well as London's Michelin-starred Arbutus—to draw up lists of their favorite sandwiches.
"It was all BLT, egg and cress, cucumber and Marmite—all lunchtimey. Your sausage might be hot, but it's a fucking breakfast sandwich," Halley said. "I just got slagged off by people—people in the industry, my mom—saying it's never going to be anything beyond lunchtime."
"Hot cold sweet sour crunchy soft," Halley breathlessly rattles off, as if reciting a religious mantra. "It's the secret of delicious."
So how, exactly, did he manage to elevate the humble midday sarnie into something to look forward to for dinner? "Hot cold sweet sour crunchy soft," Halley breathlessly rattles off, as if reciting a religious mantra. "It's the secret of delicious."
This six-point formula is the basis of every smorgasbord of a sandwich on the Sharpie-scribbled menus at Max's Sandwich Shop, from the classic "Ham, Egg 'n' Chips"—slow-cooked ham hock, a fried egg, piccalilli, malt vinegar mayo, and a portion of house-made shoestring fries that is way more than a garnish—to the "Et Tu Brute? Murdering the Caesar," which comes with roasted guinea fowl, pickled grape and tarragon salsa, baby gem, chicory, anchovy mayo, and garlic croutons. (Of the croutons, Halley proudly says: "People said you couldn't put bread in a sandwich—but they didn't think about deep frying it.")
Halley is quick to point out that he doesn't claim the six-point philosophy as his own—"any great plate of food should be like that"—but he is, perhaps, the first British chef to apply it to the sandwich with such zealous commitment.
"On a regular plate of food, the chef can't control the order in which you eat everything, so each mouthful is different and each mouthful has a bit more of this and a bit less of that," Halley said. "Whereas, in the context of a sandwich, you are getting all six of those elements into every mouthful. The advantage that I have as a chef [making a] sandwich is that I can control how it's eaten."
In a country like Britain, where the so-called "high street sandwich" is as ubiquitous and unremarkable as a cup of tea, convincing diners that a sandwich is more than just a convenience food takes effort. As journalist Sam Knight wrote in his near-anthropological exploration of the British triangular sandwich last year, "The homeliness of the sandwich has been able to mask its extraordinary effectiveness as a commercial product."
"There's nothing wrong with an egg and cress, my problem is with what the triangular sandwich has become," Halley says. "These now are literally things of convenience, and it is not convenient for us—it's convenient for [British supermarket chain] Sainsbury's. I don't like the receding of deliciousness."
"My problem is with what the triangular sandwich has become. These now are literally things of convenience, and it is not convenient for us—it's convenient for Sainsbury's. I don't like the receding of deliciousness."
To encourage diners to take his maximalist sandwich philosophy home with them, Halley co-authored a book with his business partner and fellow chef Ben Benton, which was published in May. He hopes that, in addition to giving readers an enhanced appreciation of, say, mixing bacon fat into your mayonnaise or including Scampi Fries—a packaged pub snack—in your fish finger sandwich, they can encourage readers to look at the concept of leftovers differently, too.
"Together, Ben and I would like to encourage just generally, the idea of making a delicious dinner for tonight, with a sandwich in mind for tomorrow," Halley writes.
Though they are both founded on the same six-component formula, the sandwich shop and the book serve different purposes, Halley says. The former is to simply delight people—while providing a somewhat sophisticated culinary experience that's "masquerading as a silly sandwich shop." The latter is to help people realize that, with slight adjustments and a little attention to detail, they can elevate the same old ingredients in the pantry or from the corner shop into something rather more delicious.
"You should ask yourself two questions: Can I deep fry that? And can I mix that into mayonnaise? These are life lessons."


For years, ransomware has been a particularly annoying cybersecurity threat. And despite reports that cybercriminals are shifting their efforts away from encrypting malware to cryptomining malware, ransomware infections continue at an alarming rate.
In one week in March 2018 alone, government-run targets in two of the biggest cities in America — Atlanta and Baltimore — were hit by ransomware. These attacks, which disrupted important city services, are far from isolated; similar ransomware attacks have targeted U.S. municipalities for years.
Stories about smaller cities falling victim to ransomware often go unreported by the national news ... or anywhere at all. Nevertheless, municipalities and cities in all corners of the U.S. have seen ransomware infect their networks.
According to a 2016 survey conducted by the International City / County Management Association, only 33 percent of city municipalities had a written cybersecurity risk-management plan, and only 34 percent had a disaster recovery plan.
Perhaps this widespread lack of preparation for facing cyberthreats, makes government municipalities in cities of all sizes vulnerable to malware.
Often, when you read about ransomware in a report, the victims are faceless and just a statistic. We don't often get to hear the individual stories of the communities impacted. To remedy this, Spiceworks unearthed news reports of ransomware infections in local government going back to January 2017.
Before I began my tally, I bet myself that I would find at least one major ransomware attack every month against local government agencies. I wasn't disappointed.
Below you'll find a list of U.S. local governments that have fallen victim to ransomware over the past 15 months, along with links to local and national news coverage. Their stories comprise a cautionary tale: In the months ahead, more cities and municipalities will fall victim to ransomware in the U.S. and around the world.
Atlanta, Georgia — SamSam ransomware disrupted services in the state capital for more than a week, causing disruptions to the court system, online payment systems, and the police department. Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms called the incident "much bigger than a ransomware attack ... This is really an attack on our government, which means it's an attack on all of us." The $51,000 ransom was not paid, and weeks after the infection, some government agencies were using paper and pen to get work done.
Baltimore, Maryland — The Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) systems that power 911 service were locked up by ransomware, forcing 911 operators to relay information manually for the 17 hours the system was out of commission. The vulnerability that let the malware in was a recently opened port that was a "result of an internal change to the firewall by a technician who was troubleshooting an unrelated communication issue."
Denver, Colorado — Two thousand Colorado Department of Transportation computers were encrypted by the SamSam ransomware, locking employees out of their corporate devices. Here's the kicker: As IT pros wiped and reimaged 20 percent of the affected machines, a different strain of ransomware reinfected those devices, resulting in a multi-week infestation.
Washington, D.C. — More than a100 police CCTV cameras were taken offline by "two forms of ransomware." The ransom was not paid, and service was restored within 48 hours.
Farmington, New Mexico — A SamSam ransomware infection locked multiple computers; the ransom (about $35,000) was not paid. Nevertheless, the city was able to recover the encrypted information.
Cockrell Hill, Texas — After refusing to pay the ransom, the police department wiped the infected machines to prevent further damage, resulting in the loss of seven years of data, including video evidence dating back to 2009.
Mecklenburg County, North Carolina (includes Charlotte) — Multiple computers got hit with LockCrypt ransomware, which affected "municipal financial reporting, child support enforcement, transactions processing, and a few more online services." The $23,000 ransom was not paid.
Spring Hill, Tennessee — The trouble began when an employee clicked on a "bad link," resulting in a weeks-long infection that affected email, accounting, police, emergency dispatch, and online bill payment systems. The $250,000 ransom was not paid, and emergency dispatchers were forced to do their work using dry-erase boards for more than 10 days.
Issaquah, Washington — The small city was hit by CryptoLocker, which took city services offline for four days. The city, which only employed two IT pros at the time, suffered from a "decade of underinvestment of IT," which resulted in the infection. Luckily, they did manage to spend some money on a backup solution (a Unitrends appliance), and they were able to get back up and running, but it required "hundreds of man-hours to recover."
Englewood, Colorado — All internal city systems were shut down because of ransomware, affecting online payment systems and various public facilities. IT pros from the nearby city of Denver pitched in to get them back up and running within several days.
Montgomery County, Alabama — Services relating to vehicle registration and the issuance of business and marriage licenses were affected. The county's revenue and district attorney offices were also locked up in the attack.
Butler County, Kansas — Due to an unspecified ransomware infection, 911, law enforcement, and county attourney systems went down. One interesting tidbit from this story: Butler County's insurance provider had allegedly previously "dealt with 100 cases of (ransomware infections) in local government."
San Ysidro, California (part of San Diego) — Hackers demanded $19,000 in Bitcoin to unlock email servers, but the ransom was not paid. Despite disruptions in service, the district was eventually able to restore all files.
Washington, Missouri — Ransomware knocked out the "city network" in the small town, and the city ended up spending $140,000 in consulting fees to get rid of the infection and bring older systems up to date to prevent future attacks.
Lawton, Oklahoma — While the "digital virus" cited in this vague report is not definitively ransomware, the attack wreaked havoc on 500 computer systems in the small town, affecting police and bill pay services for almost a month.
Murfreesboro, Tennessee — A couple months after WannaCry burst onto to the scene, two file servers and 19 computers in the police and fire departments were encrypted by the global ransomware phenomenon.
Calallen, Texas — A school district noticed an infection when its email server was encrypted by ransomware that demanded $500 in payment. IT staff shut down affected servers and were able to rebuild the machines.
Memphis, Tennessee — This instance of a ransomware outbreak didn't necessarily affect government agencies, but it did seriously impede operations of Memphis' largest employer. FedEx estimated a $300 million loss due to disruption from the NotPetya malware outbreak.
Cook County, Illinois (Chicago) — In its first known infection of government computers in the U.S., WannaCry made landfall in the Chicago area on May 12, 2017. Officials remarked that a "small number of systems" had been encrypted.
Brewer, Maine — Seeing that the news report of this ransomware infection was published on May 10, 2017 (two days before the WannaCry outbreak), this was probably not related. Bucking the trend of organizations refusing pay ransoms, according to reports the Brewer School Department spent a total of $1,400 in Bitcoin to unlock multiple systems.
Newark, New Jersey — Unspecified computers in Newark's city hall were hacked, and a $30,000 ransom was demanded. Files were locked using RSA-2048 encryption.
Atlanta, Georgia — Poor Atlanta has allegedly been hit by ransomware twice in less than a year. According to one report, five internet-facing systems were compromised by ransomware via an SMB vulnerability in April 2017.
Buffalo, New York — Erie County Medical Center was forced to rely on manual processes thanks to a ransomware infection that hobbled operations for six weeks.
Mountain Home, Arkansas — A server used by the city's water utility service was encrypted by ransomware. According to a report, 90,000 files were encrypted in about 90 seconds. The server was wiped, then restored successfully.
Pennsylvania Senate — The computer network of the Democratic Caucus office was hit by ransomware, affecting email, file servers, web servers, and email access for 16 Democratic senators and their employees.
Licking County, Ohio — In this attack, phone and computer systems were locked, affecting services in court offices, and at 911 emergency dispatch centers. Many county employees were forced to do their jobs without the use of computers or telephones. Additionally, the county's website went down.
Bingham County, Idaho — While most of the encrypted information was recovered without paying the ransomware authors, $3,000 of the $28,000 ransom was paid to restore data on two servers IT was unable to restore from backups.
Saint Louis, Missouri — The public library system was infected by ransomware, but it refused to pay up. With the help of IT, the book checkout system was brought back online in one day, and after two days, public computers were brought back online. It took 10 days to restore all services.
Bigfork, Montana — Ransomware wreaked havoc on "most of the schools' servers — including the student-information system" in the Bigfork public school system.
As these many cases of ransomware infections show, city and county governments need to concern themselves with cybersecurity. And with around 30 reported ransomware infections in local government in 15 months, the problem isn't going away anytime soon. And the situation is probably worse, considering that many ransomware cases go unreported.
On the bright side, it is heartening to know that most organizations highlighted in this story were able to recover their data without paying ransoms. So at least many local governments are keeping and testing their backups.
Do you think local governments will wise up and better protect themselves against ransomware, or will they continue to grapple with the effects of malware?
People need to stop clicking crap that arrives in email!!
i would rather be bothered by end users asking than them clicking something and have me clean it up!
I live in Buffalo NY. The ECMC thing was brutal. They had to reroute a few less critical patients to other hospitals at first until they got the manual process somewhat down. I was called by a job recruiter who was literally trying to find people to help full time for a few weeks to get them back up and running. They are still feeling the effects from it one way or another from what I hear.
They are aware enough but sometimes they get panicked. One of my room mate's friend payed $1400 in itunes card to a scam artist pretending to be a deportation agent.
He heard of Tax agent scam but this was new to him and situation made him do that as these garbage people are coming up with new stuff day by day.
They are aware enough but sometimes they get panicked. One of my room mate's friends payed $1400 in itunes card to a scam artist pretending to be a deportation agent.
I have never once been got by a tax, deportation, police, delivery, alien or any other scam........why?
Really informative and sobering to see these attacks listed in one place — thanks for collecting them! One more to add to the list is Davidson County, NC, which was also infected with SamSam in February of this year.
SamSam is different from other ransomware in some very notable ways. For starters, it does not rely on spam/phishing emails to infect victims (sorry, no blaming end users). Instead, the attackers behind SamSam use tools like Shodan and masscan to identify organizations with vulnerable servers exposed to the Internet. One of their favorite things to target is exposed RDP connections (via port 3389), but they also have a history of exploiting vulnerabilities in things like JBoss installations.
These attacks are more advanced than your average mass spam campaign. Once the attackers have gained access to an exposed/vulnerable server, they install the ransomware manually and often abuse legitimate system tools like wmic and PsExec in attempts to deploy it throughout organizations.
They also have a proven track record of evading AV. Ex: They evaded McAfee to infect the CDOT, then after McAfee issued a new update to block that particular sample's signature, the attackers simply used a new, slightly modified version to infect the CDOT a second time.
There are other methods SamSam attackers can use to gain access, of course, but this is a good start that will make things more difficult for them by removing low-hanging fruit.
Is this what they call an oxymoron - government and wisdom?
Bossman: "Why do we need to pay for backup product X?"
IT Dude: "Since it will save us in the case of a catastrophes such as ransomware, accidental deletion, hardware failures, etc"
Bossman: "That will never happen to us, let just not buy it."
Well luckily in most of these cases, they were able to restore their data at least partially. A couple local governments did have to pay up to get some critical data back.
And there was a mention of a cash-strapped organization at least budgeting for a backup appliance from Unitrends, which saved the day ... so there is some hope.
Ransomware is scary. That's why backup is crucial, we never know when the ransomware will hit us.
Educate your employees and nothing beats a good backup. Always test backups on a monthly or even weekly basis.
Here's the thing that the hackers are betting on - most governments are restricted by the funds available to them through their budgets, which mostly come from the taxes that they collect. This means that most government agencies hold on to older technologies, including backup, antivirus, and firewall solutions, until they absolutely have to get something new. Even with the best DR plan, if your most recent usable full backup is a month old because your firewall/antivirus didn't catch the infection for that long, you've still lost a month's worth of data. With that being said, most DR plans take into account what an organization would do if their hardware was lost due to a fire, flood, etc, but the data is still good, or a few clients have been impacted by ransomware or a virus, not what would happen if the entire org's data is infected. Since most orgs will want to wipe all clients before restoring the data, including all workstations, and there's probably at least 3,000 workstations and servers in the City of Atlanta, this is going to take a while. How long would it take your organization to perform this task?
Thanks for sharing! This is really great statistics. Also I an recommend to take a look at how to prevent ransomware best practices.
If I were to give one bit of advice it would be to test your restore processes religiously. Secondarily, and maybe even more importantly, make sure that your backup storage is not vulnerable to the same processes that could infect your other systems. There must be physical separation between your "live" environment and your backup or it will be attacked as well using the same method that got your live.
One more thing. If you think ransomware is the other guys issue, you're flat out wrong. Act on it now and point to articles like this as a rallying point.
Everyone should be aware of Ransomware attacks and ensure they at least have a basic understanding of how they work and (where possible) of how they are 'unleashed'. At the moment at University, we are looking at ICS (Utilities, power plant, nuclear) attacks and its really interesting! Obviously, should such and attack happen again (Stuxnet and Ukraine Power Plant attacks in 2010) it could cause a whole world of problems and potentially life threatening issues! Scary but very, very interesting!


Northern Brookhaven is a desirable section of Atlanta because of it's convenient location close to Northside Hospital, Phipps Plaza, Lenox Mall, Peachtree Golf Club, Oglethorpe University and many fine dining, casual dining and shopping boutiques. Havenridge is a well established, quaint neighborhood in this part of town. The neighborhood began in 1988 with beautifully constructed wood frame traditional houses. Many of these houses have been upgraded to include crown molding, granite counter tops and hardwood floors.
The mature landscaping in this neighborhood gives a homey feeling in the middle of the convenience of the city. Many of the homes enjoy large rear patios and decks overlooking spacious back yards so that residence are truly able to enjoy their homes inside and out.


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Q: Falsy? How does the && operator cause a 0 to return 0 rather than NaN? I read that sometimes the && operator is used to "short circuit" JavaScript into believing that a return value of 0 is 0 and not NaN because 0 is a falsy number in JavaScript.  I've been looking around to figure out what all this means.  Can someone explain it to a layman?
For example:
function sign(number) {
    return number && number / Math.abs(number); }

Will return 0 if number is 0.

A: This sounds like an answer that I saw earlier, but cannot find now (a link would be helpful), but you've got the wrong end of the stick here.
Given a situation like:
foo = 0 ;
bar = foo && 2 / foo;

On line two, foo will be evaluated. It is 0 and therefore a false value. The left hand side of && (foo) will be returned and assigned to bar.
Now if we have foo = 1:
foo = 1 ;
bar = foo && 2 / foo;

Again, foo will be evaluated. It is a true value, so the right hand side of && will be evaluated and returned. 2 / foo is 2 so 2 is assigned to bar.
"Short circuit" just means that as soon as part of && fails then it returns the part the failed without evaluating anything to the right.

A: In JavaScript, the boolean operators && and || don't necessarily return a boolean. Instead, they look at the "truthiness" of their arguments and might short circuit accordingly. Some values like 0, the empty string "" and null are "falsy".
Short circuiting just means skip the evaluation of the right hand side of an expression because the left hand side is enough to provide the answer.
For example: an expression like var result = 100 / number;  will give you NaN when number = 0, but:
var result = number && 100 / number;

Will give you 0 instead of a NaN since 0 is falsy. In a boolean context false && anything is false, so there's no point in evaluating the right hand side. Similarly:
// supposed msg is a potentially empty string
var message = msg || "No message";

Will give you msg if the string msg is not empty (truthy) since true || anything is true. If msg is empty, it gives you "No message instead".

A: I think I understand what you mean, however, it's not.
var some_bool = (func_a() && func_b());

Now, when func_a returns false, func_b indeed doesn't get called. However, when it returns NaN (which is, just like 0, equal to false) it still returns false!