text:
Fr. Christopher Berlo, C.P. A Passionist 'James Bond'
Home / Fr. Christopher Berlo, C.P. A Passionist 'James Bond'
Edited by Morgan P. Hanlon, C.P.
Student archivists are cautioned by their instructors to avoid gathering material that focusses too heavily on the plans, programs, buildings or real estate of the organization whose history they are documenting. One then ends up with a dry-as-dust story of programs, etc. but not the living story of the men or women who did the work, labored and suffered for the organization and whose lives are the real story. Religious communities have been especially guilty of this tendency.
Sometimes, out of genuine humility, a true hero or heroine, obscures their own role in a fascinating tale. In the following article we are previleged to share the story of such a hero—Fr. Christopher Berlo, C.P. We have this story only because "Chris," as he was known, was urged by members of his own family to commit his experiences to writing in 1948 for a family publication, THE BERLO FAMILY REGISTER & HISTORY. We hope you will find it as interesting as we did.
Fr. Morgan Hanlon, C.P., Editor
BERLO, Christopher John, C.P. 1902 – 1979
Ch. Chris J Berlo, 0-517909
Staff, Percy Jones Gen. Hosp.
I was born 45 years ago in Boston. My father was a pioneer of the automotive industry with the first garage in that city and his antecedents were French, having streamlined the name from Berleau to Berlo in 1729. My mother was descended from Alsatian stock, almost entirely self-educated and endowed with more than a normal share of that open honesty, militant common sense and willingness to work commonly associated with the old-school conservative New Englander.
Since my parents gave me complete freedom in the choice of my life's ambition, I left home at an early age and became a student at St. Joseph's Prep School, then located in Baltimore, thus beginning a nomadic existence of living out of a suitcase which has lasted, with few interruptions, for 32 years and taken me to 21 countries of this earth. My studies were continued in various cities of the eastern United States and Europe and I was ordained in 1927 in an old pilgrimage church in the Styrian Alps, which is now located behind the iron curtain. Then began a series of European assignments which took me all over the continent and necessitated the study of several foreign languages.
In addition to the normal clerical duties of a missionary and religious superior, I was also entrusted with the restoration and modernizing of Monasteries and Churches, the designing and construction of new units, and also the compilation of an extensive and artistic work in Latin dealing with Gregorian Chant. The last thousand copies of this work were destroyed at the printers in Belgium when the German Wehrmacht overran that country in 1940.
The most interesting and politically dangerous assignment consisted in the designing and construction of a new monastic unit in the Palatinate district of Bavaria immediately after Hitler's rise to power in 1934. The financing of this project involved the purchase of a large packet of frozen credit Marks from the Reichsbank in Berlin and the release of the same through the Devisenstelle in Nuremberg for the purpose of employing the jobless in a certain town—a complicated procedure by means of which the Nazi government unwittingly paid the lion's share of the cost of building a new Monastery at the same time that it was confiscating and secularizing old ones. For this piece of "business administration" I was promised 15 years in jail, and while I actually stood trial on five occasions in Amberg and Nuremberg and had to flee the country several times, it was proved in court that every step of the proceedings had been accomplished in accordance with existing laws and I have yet to see the inside of a Nazi lockup. In 1938 it was no longer possible for me as an American to hold the position of Rector of the monastery; in fact, it was no longer possible to work anywhere within reach of the Nazi strong arm, so I again returned to the United States where I spent the next year working in Pittsburgh and the adjacent coal mining areas.
In the summer of 1939 I flew from New York to Marseilles on one of the pioneer flights of Pan American Airways and then on to Rome in an Italian bomber where I arrived in late August and had another private audience with the present Pontiff, Pope Pius XII, whom I have known since he was Papal Secretary of State. On the following day Hitler's troops marched into Poland and World War II was under way. A month later I was given an assignment in Austria and Germany which I undertook with misgivings, despite my good contacts and fluent use of German dialects. In the company of Italian aviators the border crossing at Tarvis presented no problems and for a while I managed to fulfill my duties without opposition, for as it turned out later, the Gestapo did not then know I had returned. During this time the practical plans were laid for the preservation of our monastic property during the war, or its recovery after the war.
Finally, in the summer of 1940, after Dunkirk, my contact in the German Sicherheitsdienst or Secret Service warned me of impending disaster. I studied every means of exit: through Italy or Switzerland, or by air to Lisbon or Danube riverboat to the Black Sea, or even via the Siberian railroad to Vladivostock: all were closed to me.
So I made one gigantic effort to leave the country in a legal manner; I coolly walked into Gestapo headquarters in Vienna and requested an exit permit on my American Passport, presenting a letter from the American Consulate. I was ushered into the private office of the chief, who turned out to be the former chargè d'affaires of the German Consulate in Vienna. We recognized each other at once and I knew I had made a colossal mistake. He laughed in my face, took the letter from the Consulate by the corner as though it were something unclean and dropped it into his wastepaper basket, confiscated my passport and told me I was under investigation, must not leave the city, and might return in three weeks for a decision. The meaning of this was all too clear to me: my passport would be given to a German spy and I would be arrested before midnight.
Extreme situations call for extreme measures. By five o'clock that evening I had personally reappropriated my passport and bluffed my way out of the building by starting an argument between the sentry and his corporal and by midnight I was holed up in a beer tavern owned by a friend of mine in Wiener Neustadt, a city thirty miles south of Vienna. By nine the next morning I had secured my exit permit from a female employee of the county in Neunkirchen; at noon I said a hurried goodbye to my confreres in the Styrian Alps and had taken to the road as a fugitive, with 27 American dollars in my pocket. Thirty days and 8600 miles later, I landed at the Brooklyn Navy Yard determined to ask for a Chaplain's commission in the US Army.
Two hours after I left the Monastery in the Styrian Alps, a car with Gestapo agents drove up with the intention of arresting me for espionage. But not even Hitler's agents could arrest a man until they had caught him. They followed my trail back to Vienna, on a troop train to the Czech border, back to Leipsig, to the Polish border, then to Berlin, where for a while I succeeded in getting lost among the three million inhabitants. During this time I watched an English air raid on Germany's capital from the Propaganda Minister's backyard. Goebbels was in the underground shelter; I had a box seat outside. By bribing a native with a generous supply of meat ration tickets—they were no use to me for their original purpose—I secured the information I wanted and shortly thereafter managed to board a Swedish railroad ferry at Sassnitz harbor while German troops were loading for Norway at the same pier, and by the following morning I was in Trolleborg, Sweden, where I was received and cleared by armed military guards. After a short rest in Stockholm, where a friendly hotelkeeper brought me up to date on my rations, I continued on, mostly by train, to the north. At Haparanda I was fed courtesy of the mayor and spent the night in a sleeping car in the railroad yards. Then over to Tornio in Finland and a day-long trip with a wood-burning locomotive built in 1906, to Rovaniemi on the Arctic Circle.
The Finns were most courteous, but food was almost unobtainable, and for the first time I passed out from hunger. The same night I continued northward, on a kind of bus, over the Arctic Highway, destination Petsamo, about 400 miles away. This was between the first and second occupation of Petsamo by the Russians and at this time exactly 12 buildings remained standing in that city. I counted them.
Here I spent almost a week, watching the German artillery on one side of the bay and the Russian pieces on the other side, and finally the rescue, a gleaming white American ship, an Army transport, in the harbor. The magic "Sesame" to this ship was not money, but an American passport. A couple of weeks later I was again in the land of the free, and the Statue of Liberty never looked so welcome.
Early in 1943, my superiors finally released me for service in the Army and after a year of infantry training with the 75th Division in the USA, I was sent to the Pacific. For obvious reasons, I was not sent to the European Theater of Operations. For the next two years I followed the course of the fighting from Australia to Japan, first on New Guinea at Milne Bay and Finschafen, then with the 40th Division in New Britain and then with the 19th Infantry Regiment of the 24th Hawaiian Division. With these experienced jungle fighters I made the initial invasion of the Philippines on the left flank of Red Beach at Leyte and within the first week of that important campaign, hand buried 151 of my men, every one of them a hero. Later I took part in the invasion of Mindoro and the other jobs handled by the West Visayan Task Force, including the Islands of Romblon and Verde, the landing at Tagaitai Ridge and up through Ft. McKinley to Manila, and finally the entire Mindanao Operation. With the 19th I also went to Japan after the surrender and was the only Catholic Army Chaplain on the Island of Shikoku.
In the spring of 1946 I returned to the USA and after some leave time, served at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington, Camp Lee in Virginia and Ft. Knox, Kentucky and was then sent to join the Army of Occupation in Germany. There I was Chaplain with the 15th Constabulary Regiment and was known as the flying Padre, for every Sunday I visited my various troop units with a small liaison plane to conduct services. Recurrent attacks of malaria, contracted in the South Pacific, finally terminated my tour of duty in Europe and in 1948 I was again returned to the United States. But before leaving Europe I was able to visit the places where I had worked before the war and it afforded me no small gratification to see that my religious work of the pre-war days had survived the ravages of war and is now flourishing with renewed vigor.
In 1946 I made the acquaintance of Mr. Carl Gubisch and learned of his ambition to make the study of our Constitution available to every man, woman and child in our country. His plan produced a sympathetic response, for I had been nursing the same idea for many years. Then by mistake I was sent a copy of a Communistic booklet on our Constitution, "The Founding of the Bourgeois Republic," which so infuriated me that I started at once with the composition of our booklet, "Know Your Constitution".
I sincerely hope that this booklet will have as universal a coverage as possible and do its part in the education of Americans to our priceless heritage of life, liberty and happiness, its share in the saving of our country, and if possible the whole world, from any and every kind of totalitarianism.
At the present time I am duty Catholic Chaplain at Percy Jones General Hospital in Battle Creek, Michigan.
CHRIS J BERLO
Ch. Capt. USA
The preceding resume was written by Father Christopher in 1948. It was graciously sent to the BERLO FAMILY REGISTER & HISTORY by Vickie and Ernest Berlo, San Francisco, California, in September 1984. Many thanks to Vickie and Ernest for sharing this wonderful find with all of the relatives.
From BERLO FAMILY REGISTER & HISTORY by Peter W. Berlo


text:
using System.Text;

namespace DAL.Core.SqlMetadata
{
    public class SqlConstraint
    {
        public string ConstraintName { get; set; }
        public string FKTable { get; set; }
        public string FKColumn { get; set; }
        public string PKTable { get; set; }
        public string PKColumn { get; set; }

        public SqlConstraint()
        {
            ConstraintName = string.Empty;
            FKTable = string.Empty;
            FKColumn = string.Empty;
            PKTable = string.Empty;
            PKColumn = string.Empty;
        }

        public SqlConstraint(string constraintName, string fkTable, string fkColumn, string pkTable, string pkColumn)
        {
            ConstraintName = constraintName;
            FKTable = fkTable;
            FKColumn = fkColumn;
            PKTable = pkTable;
            PKColumn = pkColumn;
        }

        public string GenerateSQLScript()
        {
            var sb = new StringBuilder();

            sb.AppendLine(" ALTER TABLE " + FKTable);
            sb.AppendLine(" ADD CONSTRAINT " + ConstraintName);
            sb.AppendLine(" FOREIGN KEY(" + FKColumn + ")");
            sb.AppendLine(" REFERENCES " + PKTable + "(" + PKColumn + ");");

            return sb.ToString();
        }

        public void GenerateConstraintName()
        {
            ConstraintName = $"FK_{FKTable}_{PKTable}_{GetHashCode()}";
        }

        public override bool Equals(object obj)
        {
            if (obj == null)
                return false;

            if (GetType() != obj.GetType())
                return false;

            SqlConstraint other = (SqlConstraint)obj;

            if (FKTable != other.FKTable)
                return false;

            if (FKColumn != other.FKColumn)
                return false;

            if (PKTable != other.PKTable)
                return false;

            if (PKColumn != other.PKColumn)
                return false;

            return true;
        }

        public override int GetHashCode()
        {
            unchecked
            {
                return FKTable.GetHashCode() ^ (FKColumn.GetHashCode() * 1997) ^ (PKTable.GetHashCode() * 83) ^ (PKColumn.GetHashCode() * 389);
            }
        }

        public override string ToString()
        {
            return $"[{PKTable}].[{PKColumn}] = [{FKTable}].[{FKColumn}]";
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}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
The second season of the Australian drama television series Wonderland, began airing on 15 October 2014 on Network Ten and will conclude on 19 November 2014. The season airs on Wednesdays at 8:30pm.

Production
On 22 January 2014, it was announced that Network Ten had ordered another 22 episodes of Wonderland to air in 2014 and 2015.

Rick Maier, the head of Drama at Ten stated, "All power to the cast and crew who delivered such a fun show for us last year. We are looking forward to more stories of love, lust and intrigue from the busiest and most romantic block of flats in the country." Filming for the second season began in March 2014.

Of the second season, Jo Porter, the director of Drama at Fremantle Media stated, "We will be building on the strengths of the warmth, romance and humour of our Wonderland residents. In season two viewers will share unexpected twists and turns, fast-paced storylines and dramatic cliff hangers that will test all our characters. We are looking forward to viewers getting to know Australia's favourite flatmates even better as they face love affairs, break-ups and revelations of deep secrets within the Wonderland building. We all can't wait to get started."

Plot
Set in an apartment building on the doorstep of one of Australia's most beautiful beaches, Wonderland is a warm, light-hearted and engaging relationship drama revolving around four very different couples as they navigate the pitfalls of love, meet the challenges life presents head on, and pursue their dreams.

With an idyllic beachside as the backdrop, the residents of Wonderland show that holding down a dream relationship, an attractive career and maintaining solid friendships is sometimes anything other than plain sailing.

Cast

Main cast
 Anna Bamford as Miranda Beaumont
 Michael Dorman as Tom Wilcox
 Emma Lung as Collette Riger
 Tracy Mann as Maggie Wilcox
 Glenn McMillan as Carlos Dos Santos
 Ben Mingay as Rob Duffy
 Tim Ross as Steve Beaumont
 Brooke Satchwell as Grace Barnes
 Jessica Tovey as Dani Varvaris

Recurring cast
 Les Hill as Max Saliba (9 episodes)
 Ewen Leslie as Nick Deakin (8 episodes)
 Martin Sacks as Callan Beaumont (7 episodes)
 Simone Kessell as Sasha Clarke (7 episodes)
 Michael Booth as Harry Hewitt (6 episodes)
 Elise Jansen as Ava McGuire (5 episodes)
 Peter Phelps as Warwick Wilcox (4 episodes)
 Maggie Dence as Ruth MacPherson (2 episodes)
 Roy Billing as Peter Varvaris (2 episodes)
 Joy Smithers as Felicity Philips (2 episodes)

Guest cast
 Heloisa McMillan as Mama (2 episodes)
 Claire Lovering as Rebecca Morris (2 episode)
 Sandy Winton as Liam (2 episodes)
 Helen Dallimore as Bianca Deakin (1 episode)
 Lydia Sarks as Leigh Burrows (1 episode)
 Renee Lim as Song Luu (1 episode)
 Daniel Krige as Alex (1 episode)
 Mirko Grillini as Trent Morris (1 episode)
 Christie Whelan Browne as Kristen (1 episode)

Casting
Former Rescue Special Ops actor, Les Hill and former Blue Heelers actor, Martin Sacks both joined the supporting cast as Max Saliba and Cal Beaumont, respectively. Christie Whelan Browne will reprise her character of Kristen in one episode.

Episodes

Ratings

Figures are OzTAM Data for the 5 City Metro areas.
Overnight – Live broadcast and recordings viewed the same night.
Consolidated – Live broadcast and recordings viewed within the following seven days.

References

2014 Australian television seasons

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Close to Miacomet Golf Course, Bartlett's Farm, and the south shore beaches this half acre lot has a wonderfully built 4 bedroom home. The lot allows for generous expansion or second dwelling opportunity. The expansive deck and yard allow for seamless indoor/outdoor entertaining.
First Floor: The entry provides a mudroom with thoughtfully designed storage and laundry room. The back deck, outdoor shower and yard are accessed off the mudroom. To the left of the mudroom, the open-concept kitchen and dining room allow easy entertaining with access to the commercially permitted stove and range. The living room offers plenty of space for seating and can be warmed with the wood stove. A guest bedroom and one full bathroom completes the first floor. All bathrooms were renovated in 2015 with new cabinets and countertops. Custom woodwork and details can be seen throughout this home.
Second Floor: Dark hardwood stairs lead to the carpeted second floor. The master bedroom, two additional bedrooms and one full bathroom complete this floor. The master bedroom has considerable space with a sitting area and walk-in closet. The additional two bedrooms have custom double-door closets with ample storage space.
Basement: Large finished basement with four bonus rooms and considerable room for storage. Access is available from interior stairs and exterior bulkhead. Basement is currently being used as a playroom, workout area, and at-home office space.
Heat : OilFHW Yard : Large yard. Parking : Ample parking for 4+ cars.


The success of any firm relies on the type of services it provides and the level of expertise and experience that is being offered. What is equally important is how your firm is using marketing to communicate to your potential clients.
The educational system doesn't teach you about marketing strategies, but that is why we're here. We have compiled a list of our top 5 tips on how to promote your service business. Let's take a look.
Before we dive into this topic, there are a couple of things we need to discuss first. As a service provider, you specialize in certain areas. So when it comes to your firm, you obviously want to work with specific clients who need your specific services. In order to market to those potential new clients, you need to know specifically who your target audience is. This is the first step, and will help your marketing create a better return on your investment.
You may not sell a physical product, but the service you provide is just as tangible. As you read on, keep in mind that your firm is a brand. The tips listed below will greatly assist in taking your 'brand' to the next level.
Networking is critical to your business. It is essentially your gateway to new clients. Word-of-mouth communication is everything to service businesses. It not only helps your list of clients and contacts grow, but it also benefits your reputation. Frequently keeping in touch with former classmates and colleagues, attending networking events, and joining networking groups will build your referral network.
Testimonials and reviews are vital for a service-based organization's survival. Without positive client experiences and glowing referrals, your firm may have difficulty growing. In a service-type of business like yours, what the customer says and thinks carries a lot of weight. It allows potential prospects to see what you have done in the past, in the words of those who elected to work with you. In other words, the testimonials and reviews are social proof. They can also help when it comes to recruiting new employees for your firm.
You need a website—no question about it. The design, functionality and user experience need to be on point. In this new paradigm of digital marketing, your potential clients are selling themselves online. Your website is doing a lot of the heavy lifting in your buyer's journey. Showcase the areas you specialize in and show your strengths.
If you can answer these questions, you're on your way to a powerful site that will generate leads and opportunities. What can you do that others cannot? Why would someone want to do business with you vs. your competitors?
To add another layer to your website, you might also want to consider starting a blog. A blog is a great way to voice your knowledge and expertise as well as help get your site ranked on search engines.
Once you have an effective website, you must then get it in front of your prospects. There are a number of ways to do this, but search engine optimization (SEO) is a must. Your site has to be ranked high on all Google and other top search engine searches for your service. And despite what some people may say, only an experienced professional SEO expert can effectively do this.
As a service firm, do you really need to have a social media presence? The answer is yes, but you do not necessarily have to be on every channel in existence. Pick the ones that your target market(s) are using. You'll want to post about your services, experiences, testimonials, etc. Social media is an opportunity to give people a behind-the-scenes look at what you do, not just professionally, but also what you do to give back to the local community: charity work, sponsorship opportunities, and fundraisers. Write about what your target market wants to learn about…not what you sell. Your social media presence also gives you the chance the make connections and to network, which can lead to potential clients and referrals.
It's easy, inexpensive, and if done right, will have a high return on investment. Approximately 92% of U.S. adults use email regularly so it's an obvious way to stay connected to current and past clients, as well as future prospects. Information about your services, new client testimonials, a new blog post or local charity work are all worthy content for an email campaign.
And finally, when it comes to building a successful business, you must track and analyze the results for every point listed above. If you want to grow and progress as a successful service firm, this is something you must do regularly. This is not a simple task, so you should rely on the expertise of a qualified marketing company.
Well, there you have it. If you need help getting started, call the experts here at CGT Marketing and we will get you on the path to success.


Even if your business computers are working, IT consultation can make sure they are running as efficiently as possible. At Value Automation we understand that the needs of individual businesses vary. Our IT consultation will find and implement computer infrastructure specifically tailored to your business's needs. This consultation will keep your business more productive. Ultimately, we want your business to succeed in a highly competitive market. IT services provided by Value Automation will put you one step ahead of your competition. We are located in Tampa, Clearwater, and St. Pete.
Like many of our clients that come to us for help, IT is usually not an important aspect of their business or they are not familiar with the potential of integrating it into their business. Having to find solutions for all of your IT problems can become a bigger task than you anticipated if you are new to it. The time wasted in trying to find solutions is money lost which can make your business suffer. This is the reason why a professional IT consultation from Value Automation is a great investment you can make for your business. Whatever your issue may be or however difficult you think it is, we can offer our services at a reasonable cost. We have helped many customers in the Tampa, Clearwater, and St Pete area and we are willing to provide you with short term or long term IT solutions.
Even if you have an IT program up and running you can gradually develop issues later on, and these issues that pop up can be a major blow to your business. If you are unfamiliar with the current technology then you may be wasting time and money trying to find what isn't working for you. The professionals at Value Automation will work diligently to comb through and find any gaps, redundancies, or anything else that may be inefficient with your technology. The best IT consulting available from us can be what you need to revamp your business and secure its future. Besides our excellent variety of services that we offer, our courteous employees and dedicated staff members are the reason why many of our clients in Tampa, Clearwater, and St Pete continue to utilize our services.
Technology is a fast moving industry and in order for your business to succeed you need to make sure you are keeping up. Our IT consultation will help give an edge to you and your business by integrating updated technological tools. With these tools implemented you will have more time to pay attention to more pressing matters in your business operations. With our complete review of your current technology, we will be able to present you with a detailed report. This report will include the state of your IT currently, and provide you with recommendations on areas that need improvement. Our experienced workers will guide you through the process and provide various resources on how you can sustain a reliable and secure IT.


Today marks the four weeks mark since I had my left hip scoped. Wow have things come a long way in four short weeks. I can now walk without crutches, do stairs one at a time (when I am not too tired), drive, kick my legs in the pool, shower without help, get dressed alone (excluding socks and running shoes), and basically function on my own. Sometimes I need help with carrying things because I am still struggling to carry my own body weight, and any added weight is not reasonable to place on the hip at the moment. All in all, I am done with the worst and am trying to stay as positive as possible.
On the less than optimal side, my anterior hip capsule is extremely angry, so much so that I can't extend at all. I can get to neutral after allowing five minutes or so of slow stretching. I practice lying on my stomach for several minutes to stretch it out. It works, but the darn thing hurts so much. More of an annoying, make-your-stomach-ache-get-an-ulcer pain that hurts even with breathing. My physiotherapist stretched the hip capsule out and gave me acupuncture to try and release the anterior hip. Not only is the hip capsule angry, but my entire leg is weak and I am guarding my hip so the hip flexors are constantly contracting. If we can get this resolved, then my walking will improve leaps and bounds!
Today I got on the stationary bike at the physiotherapist's office. I have an extreme amount of atrophy of my quads and, after three minutes with no resistance, my leg was burning and then had to stop since I couldn't feel the leg anymore from being so fatigued. Imagine, 3 MINUTES and that was it! Wow I have a long way to come yet. But the acupuncture and facial release really loosened things up for a couple of hours before it went back to being tight, which means that I walk with this funny-looking with an odd swing of the pelvis and bend of the knee on the affected side. I have two weeks to get this sorted before I see my OS again. I really don't want to go back with a bad gait! I wanna show him how well I have been doing. At least there is something to work for. Short term goals are good.
As of now, I wake up in the morning with very little pain and the hip is the most mobile it is all day. As the day progresses the hip gets more and more tired, more stiff, and more painful. By the end of the day I throb, take acetaminophen, ice, and veg like a slug on the couch. Hopefully I'll start feeling a lot better soon as I only have three weeks until I jump back into full blown school with a crazy schedule. This thought kind of makes me nervous because there is no way I will return to my full schedule being fully functional at the rate I am recovering. eek!


text:
Legal adviser slams "nightmare" business and property register
Cara Waters
The Personal Property Securities Register, launched three months ago, has been criticised by a commercial law expert who claims the register is a user's nightmare.
Daniel Turk, a corporate and commercial partner with TurksLegal, said the PPSR forced businesses to rack up unnecessary time and extra costs in professional advice to perform what should be straightforward registrations.
"The overwhelming feedback from business is that the functionality of the PPSR is off the mark," Turk said.
"Businesses seeking to enter their securities on the new online register are encountering questions laden with legalese and impractical requests for unnecessary or difficult to obtain information."
The Personal Property Securities Register is the register where details of security interests in personal property can be registered and searched. The Insolvency and Trustee Service Australia (ITSA) is the Australian Government agency responsible for administering the PPSR.
Registrants are required to provide the dates of birth of individual customers and asked if they have an Australian Registered Scheme Number, which Turk said is not relevant to the vast majority of businesses, which are more likely to have an Australian Company Number.
"Confusing or unreasonable requests like these simply hold up the process and make the register very cumbersome to use", Turk said.
"The registration process is so complicated and time-consuming, that many businesses are simply opting to pay external consultants to do the job for them – a cost they should not have to bear in the current economic climate."
Turk said there were also signs that incorrect registrations were becoming commonplace.
"This means many registrations may actually be invalid and a business's financial interests are not, in fact, legally protected. It also casts doubt more broadly, over the reliability of information on the register."
Turk added that even at this early stage, it was "abundantly clear" that the sheer volume of register entries was becoming difficult to navigate, particularly for financiers seeking to investigate the credit-worthiness of a business.
"The PPS Act recasts a wide range of common commercial transactions such as operating leases, retention of title arrangements and consignment agreements as registrable security interests," says Turk.
"As such there has been a flood of new entries onto the register in addition to the pre-existing interests migrated over from pre-PPSR registers such as the REVS and ASIC charge registers.
"At the same time, the quality of information on the PPSR about particular securities is not as comprehensive compared to what was available on many of the former registers.
"The upshot is that creditors must exercise much greater caution when conducting due diligence into a potential customer or counterparty and brace themselves for the logistical nightmare of having, in some cases, to make direct inquiries with customers where the register simply does not provide enough useful detail."
Turk said that in view of the major flaws in the PPSR that were now coming to light, it was critical for the Federal Government to act quickly to address them.
"The PPSR has not been around for long, but already it's creating ample problems for a significant number of businesses that stem from a basic failure to put the user's needs first.
"It is now up to the government to fix these design flaws without delay.
"That will involve making changes to ensure the PPSR is not overly complex to use; does not assume the user has a sophisticated level of legal knowledge; does not expect the user to undertake a myriad of impractical steps; and actually records information that's relevant for the business community."
The PPSR replaces 70 separate Commonwealth and State laws and came into effect on January 30, 2012.
Attorney-General Nicola Roxon previously claimed the PPSR would be simpler than the existing registers, would help make secured financing more accessible, and reduce transaction costs, which, in turn, would make lenders more willing to accept different kinds of personal property as security for loans.
"Instead of checking a number of registers, consumers and businesses can now check just one," Ms Roxon said.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The distribution of a statistical data set (or a population) is a listing or function showing all the possible values (or intervals) of the data and how often they occur. When a distribution of categorical data is organized, you see the number or percentage of individuals in each group. When a distribution of numerical data is organized, they're often ordered from smallest to largest, broken into reasonably sized groups (if appropriate), and then put into graphs and charts to examine the shape, center, and amount of variability in the data.
The world of statistics includes dozens of different distributions for categorical and numerical data; the most common ones have their own names. One of the most well-known distributions is called the normal distribution, also known as the bell-shaped curve. The normal distribution is based on numerical data that is continuous; its possible values lie on the entire real number line. Its overall shape, when the data are organized in graph form, is a symmetric bell-shape. In other words, most (around 68%) of the data are centered around the mean (giving you the middle part of the bell), and as you move farther out on either side of the mean, you find fewer and fewer values (representing the downward sloping sides on either side of the bell).
Due to symmetry, the mean and the median lie at the same point, directly in the center of the normal distribution. The standard deviation is measured by the distance from the mean to the inflection point (where the curvature of the bell changes from concave up to concave down).
A standard normal (Z-) distribution has a bell-shaped curve with mean 0 and standard deviation 1.
This figure shows a graph of a normal distribution with mean 0 and standard deviation 1 (this distribution has a special name, the standard normal distribution or Z-distribution). The shape of the curve resembles the outline of a bell.
Because every distinct population of data has a different mean and standard deviation, an infinite number of normal distributions exist, each with its own mean and its own standard deviation to characterize it.


If you don't want to be left with a Helen Vs Annie situation in the bridal boutique, it's probably safer to just leave them to it. That way, each bridesmaid can choose a style (and a budget) that they are happy with, and will feel totally comfortable on the day. If you've got your heart set on them looking the same, why not choose dresses that can be changed to suit each maid? Many dresses now come with the option to tie the straps differently, giving each bridesmaid her own identity on the day.
If you're not keen on letting your maids choose their own dresses, the only way to avoid a Helen Vs Annie repeat is simply to choose them yourself, and don't let them have a say. You can head to the boutique yourself and choose exactly what you want without any 'helpful' advice from them – crisis averted!
The chances are, there's going to be a bit of #benvy (bridesmaid envy) amongst your bridesmaids. It might be that your oldest friend feels threatened by your new friend and vice versa (like in Annie and Helen's case), or it might simply be that bridesmaids are jealous of someone else's figure or confidence.. It's probably going to happen. Just make sure to set time aside to make sure each of your maids is comfortable with their role, and try and defuse any potential conflict as soon as you see it coming.
We're the first to admit that a luxury weekend in Las Vegas for your hen do sounds amazing, and we can understand why Lillian was so upset that she didn't get there. However, it's also easy to sympathise with Annie, sat behind in economy, being "the poor one". It's imperative to remember that the most important thing about your hen party is spending time with your best girls, regardless of where it is. Bear in mind that not everyone has the same budget, and it's easy to alienate those that aren't so fortunate.
We love that final Bridesmaids scene where the girls are getting down to Wilson Phillips, so make sure you recreate it for your own wedding! Choose a song that is important to you and your friends, and is sure to get everyone on their feet – all that #benvy will be forgotten! Find a list of our 40 favourite wedding songs here.


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Malaysia's overdue housecleaning clamor
Najib Razak, 'biggest warlord in Malaysia', sends message to opponents with sackings amid 1MDB scandal
Why didn't Najib explain RM2.6b donation from Day 1? Sarawak Report editor asks
Malaysia Agency Says Money in Razak's Personal Account Isn't From 1MDB
Malaysia's stock market was down over 10 percent at end-July after Prime Minister Najib Razak, fighting to extend his six-year tenure in the wake of the 1MDB debt and campaign funding scandal, sacked his deputy and other cabinet members openly challenging him.
His public approval rating at 45 percent has suffered since the United Malay party won re-election last year, despite the opposition getting a larger vote total.
His predecessor Mahathir Mohamed did not think he deserved another term for lack of economic and political vision, as the household debt burden, which soared to 85 percent of GDP through government programs to boost consumption, is no longer sustainable to offset falling oil exports.
Foreign investors, with respective one-third and one-quarter ownership in the local bond and equity markets, were once enthusiastic about early promises to change the state-dominated business and financial sector model. But the results were meager and with the currency now at a 15-year low as the region's worst performer, aversion is spiking as in the Asian financial crisis aftermath.
The sovereign wealth fund investigation into $11 billion in accumulated debt has also begun to scapegoat international finance houses as during the early 2000s. Goldman Sachs has been singled out for high bond underwriting fees and the aggressive style of its Asia head.
The son of a wealthy Malaysian business executive, who started a fund in New York and expanded 1MDB's portfolio into luxury real estate, has been accused of shady foreign practices and steering $700 million into Najib's account.
As a central bank task force examines such conspiracies, asset sales to other government-linked companies, with stock exchange heavyweight Tenaga Nasional just bidding for a power unit, will be the main channel for servicing obligations and staying afloat.
GDP growth may be only 4 percent this year as the PMI manufacturing index fell below 50 in June, and April introduction of a goods and services tax to narrow the chronic 3-percent range budget deficit caps domestic demand.
Property and construction after a long upswing have stalled as bank credit growth drops to single digits, with personal non-performing loans rising.
The central bank has held rates despite ringgit depreciation to 3.8/dollar to discourage a further borrowing binge, which has been the main factor cited by ratings agencies for a likely sovereign downgrade.
Fitch Ratings last month maintained an 'A' grade on the prospect of household deleveraging amid the allegations swirling around the prime minister. To allow banks to handle workouts, short-term Islamic government securities issuance, which soaked up liquidity, has been stopped, effectively halving the global 'sukuk' universe to $50 billion in 2015, according to Standard & Poor's.
External accounts show a dwindling current account surplus to 1.5 percent of GDP as both high tech and natural resource exports sputter. International reserves have dropped 20 percent this year to just over $100 billion as they are used for currency intervention, and domestic and foreign-based capital outflows accelerate.
In May, a $2 billion sovereign bond was placed to boost holdings, but fund flow tracker EPFR shows steady debt and equity exit since the first quarter. Outward FDI from both private and state companies is a strong trend, as they diversify risk and react to slim infrastructure pickings in Najib's ambitious Economic Transformation Program now compromised by debt and political baggage.
These elements are also pervasive in Thailand where the stock market was off the same 10 percent at end-July on the MSCI index. It is tied with Malaysia for ASEAN's greatest household debt, which was pushed by the Yingluck administration's rice farmer and auto buying schemes before she was ousted by the military.
The generals postponed the election timetable into late 2016 as a new constitution is drafted and former government officials face trial for misconduct, including in agricultural credit. Informal money lenders and external corporate and financial institution borrowing add to the debt load which altogether is estimated at 125 percent of GDP. Balance sheet bloat in both countries regardless of criminal intent remains scandalous, and investors need to see that fiscal and political houses are equally in order.
Can the prime minister weather a full-blown wealth-fund scandal and a fractious party?
Malaysia's deputy prime ministers have rarely had it easy. To play the role of the utterly loyal number two while hinting at one's potential as a future number one requires extreme political adroitness.
Most have failed and faded into ignominy as also-rans. Others are now fierce critics of the government.
So when Muhyiddin Yassin was booted out of the cabinet on Tuesday for his attacks on his embattled boss, Prime Minister Najib Razak – who is fighting allegations that he took money from the 1MDB state wealth fund – it seemed like history repeating itself.
An already polarised country is being thrown into deeper turmoil with the capital Kuala Lumpur swirling with ominous rumours of arrests and more sackings, including that of well-respected central bank governor Zeti Akhtar Aziz, all because she is investigating the 1MDB scandal.
Charge sheets allegedly showing that Najib was about to be prosecuted for corruption surfaced on Thursday. Public prosecutors have denied their existence.
The government has also had to come out to say it is not planning to arrest Muhyiddin. Meanwhile, civic groups are planning to launch street protests.
Above all, many Malaysians are still in shock at the ruthlessness of the sacking. To some, it was un-Malay, alluding to the gentle, softer manners of the majority race.
Muhyiddin also told the media that he learned about his firing an hour before it was announced. When asked if he was about to be sacked, his boss merely nodded, Muhyiddin said while mimicking Najib's gesture, to derisive laughter.
It was only two days earlier that Muhyiddin had voiced his strongest criticism yet of the 1MDB scandal that has ensnared Najib, who is chairman of the fund. The deputy prime minister said he, too, did not know the answers to so many questions about the debt-laden fund and The Wall Street Journal report that US$700 million from the fund had been funnelled into Najib's personal accounts.
His statements were mild compared with the salvos unleashed by former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad. But the sacking came swiftly. Sources told the South China Morning Post that Muhyiddin's camp did not see it coming.
Muhyiddin is now the second deputy prime minister in the history of Malaysian politics to be sacked from the cabinet. Anwar Ibrahim, dismissed in 1998 after disagreeing with Mahathir's handling of the Asian financial crisis, is in jail over a sodomy conviction.
Muhyiddin remains deputy president of the Malay-centric Umno, the largest party in the ruling coalition. He has said he does not intend to rock the boat. But nobody expects calm waters ahead.
The two men came together in a marriage of convenience. One is from a pedigreed political family; the other rose through the ranks steadily at the state level in Johor, the birthplace of Umno.
Najib is the son of Malaysia's second prime minister and secured the top job by waiting patiently in the wings as deputy prime minister for several years, and even after the ruling coalition's massive losses in the 2008 election. He took over from PM Abdullah Badawi only a year later.
Muhyiddin, who was the chief minister of Johor for nearly a decade until 1995, had appeared as if he was in no hurry to assert himself.
But the 1MDB scandal proved too hard to resist taking on. Along with Muhyiddin, Najib sacked other ministers who had also been vocal about 1MDB. Attorney general Gani Patail, who was involved in the investigation into the wealth fund controversy, was also fired.
Since the firings, a leaked, undated video has emerged online, showing Muhyiddin, in a private conversation, reporting that Najib had told him that he did take the US$700 million.
Najib has denied taking any money for "personal gain", rejecting the accusations as malicious lies to force him out of office.
With the sackings, he has shown he is bent on staying on until the next election, due by 2018. But can he last that long and will Umno stay united?
The Malay ground in Malaysia is in strife. Umno has lost favour with vast sections of the urban Malay middle class that has abandoned it in droves since the 2008 election, when the ruling coalition lost its two-thirds majority in parliament.
But broad swathes are also disillusioned with the opposition alternatives of Anwar's party, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and the Partai Islam Se Malaysia (PAS). PAS is now being torn apart, with defectors rumoured to be setting up a new political party in the coming months.
In the past, when two deputy prime ministers left the cabinet, the ensuing infighting left Umno in shreds.
In 1986, after quitting as deputy to Mahathir, Musa Hitam joined forces with another Mahathir nemesis, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, to challenge the top leadership post of Umno. Both lost, but the bruising battle split the party for several years, into Semangat 46, or "Spirit of 46", harking to the founding year of Umno, and Umno Baru, a newly constituted party.
In 1998, when Anwar was sacked, he launched the Reformasi protests against his former boss. Umno again split as defecting members joined Anwar to form PKR.
But Umno may not suffer such a fate this time. Like many Asian countries, Malaysian democracy is rife with the politics of patronage. And Najib has ensured the loyalty of the Umno rank-and-file: at a party meeting in March, more than 160 out of 191 division chiefs pledged their endorsement of him.
Sources told the Post that Najib also has the support of most members of the supreme council, the highest leadership body in the party and, barring other more damaging evidence, can ride out the storm until the party elections next year.
For Umno unity to come undone, some mighty machinations and even more money would be needed to establish a whole new source of patronage.
Few expect Najib to survive the current crisis, but for now, it would appear he has done enough to pacify the different "warlords" who control the different sections of the grass roots.
When this reporter interviewed him in 2009 soon after he took office, I asked Najib how he would deal with them. He waved aside the question and quipped: "Don't forget, I am the biggest warlord."
With the sackings, he has ensured his opponents will not forget.
TMMO
Founder and editor of whistleblower website Sarawak Report (SR) Clare Rewcastle-Brown has questioned Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak's failure to explain from the very beginning that the RM2.6 billion found in his accounts had come from "donors" and not from 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) as previously suspected.
Defending SR's reports on the funds, the Sarawak-born British journalist pointed out they had been based on information obtained from the investigation on 1MDB, which she said had suggested the possibility of a link between Najib and money from the troubled state investor.
"Gosh! How come the PM didn't clear all that up immediately on Day 1 then? What we said was that the information had come from the investigation, because it was believed by investigators to be linked.
"How else would we have obtained it?" she wrote in an email reply to Malay Mail Online yesterday.
Rewcastle-Brown also suggested that these donors come forward and reveal their identities.
The London-based journalist did not contest the conclusion that the RM2.6 billion had not come from 1MDB although she noted that it was made by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) after the series of arrests of some of the agency's own leading investigators.
"People can reach their own conclusion about this latest MACC statement," she added.
She went on to question the purpose of the donation, saying that if it had been used as suspected for Barisan Nasional's Election 2013 campaign, the ruling pact would have broken election laws by exceeding the legal limit for political funding.
Yesterday, former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad had made a similar point in his blog.
Rewcastle-Brown also took a swipe at Najib, asking him if it was okay for "white foreigners" to influence to outcome of the federal polls, after alleging that the funds had originated from an Abu Dhabi bank.
Last weekend, Najib had said in a speech during an Umno divisional meeting that "white people" should stay out of Malaysia's administrative affairs.
As an example, the prime minister had singled out Rewcastle-Brown's whistleblower site.
Other than SR, several other international media organisations have written extensively on 1MDB and Najib's alleged involvement in the state owned fund.
An article by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) recently claimed that US$700 million (RM2.6 billion) was funnelled through 1MDB into Najib's private account.
Najib has not directly denied the claim, but has repeatedly said that he has never taken 1MDB money for personal gain.
A special government task force comprising officials from the Attorney-General's Chambers, the MACC, Bank Negara Malaysia and the police was set up to investigate the allegations in WSJ.
Some of the key investigators from the task force however have been hauled up by the police for a separate investigation on information leaks.
– See more at: http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/why-didnt-najib-explain-rm2.6b-donation-from-day-1-sarawak-report-editor-as#sthash.TCzm4uMY.dpuf
Anticorruption group says money was from 'donor contribution' but doesn't identify donor
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia—Malaysia's anticorruption agency said Monday that 2.6 billion ringgit (about $700 million) was deposited into Prime Minister Najib Razak's personal account and that the money was from a "donor contribution," not from 1Malaysia Development Bhd, a state investment fund also known as 1MDB.
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission didn't say, however, who the donor was, nor the purpose of the contribution. MACC officials didn't immediately respond to further queries.
"Results of the investigation found that 2.6 billion ringgit alleged to have been deposited into an account belonging to the Prime Minister was a donor contribution and not from 1MDB," the commission said in a statement.
On July 2, The Wall Street Journal reported that Malaysian investigators had traced nearly $700 million of deposits into what investigators believe were Mr. Najib's personal bank accounts after the movement of cash among agencies, banks and companies linked to 1MDB. The Journal has reported that the original source of the money was unclear and that the government investigation hadn't detailed what happened to the money that allegedly went into Mr. Najib's personal accounts.
The prime minister's office didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Mr. Najib, who heads 1MDB's advisory board, previously has denied any wrongdoing or taking any money for personal gain.
Authorities so far have detained eight people and are currently seeking two former 1MDB executive directors to assist the investigation into the activities of 1MDB, which had racked up more than $11 billion in borrowings while facing a cash crunch.


The Albert Luthuli Centre for Responsible Leadership aims to develop a new generation of responsible leaders, shaping local and international business practices and policies in support of social and environmental justice. Its strengths lie in its ability to harness the academic integrity of a variety of academic disciplines cutting across areas such as economic and management sciences, environmental sciences, natural sciences, law, engineering and humanities, to name a few. Its legitimacy lies in its ability to respond to key issues in the field of corporate responsibility and responsible leadership.
a) How do we define responsible leadership?
b) What constitutes responsible leadership?
c) How can we develop responsible leadership?
Linked to these questions the Albert Luthuli Centre for Responsible Leadership identified a number of relevant projects that investigate the emergence and development of responsible leadership within the context of a changing contract between leaders, organisations and society. A discourse set against the backdrop of securing a socially just and environmentally sustainable future for all.


IMPORTANT NOTES: Once again, be aware that some of the shader commands may be order dependent, so it's good practice to place all global shader commands (keywords defined in this section) at the very beginning of the shader and to place shader stages at the end (see various examples).
These Keywords are global to a shader and affect all stages. They are also ignored by Q3Map2.
farbox : Specifies a set of files to use as an environment box behind all cloudlayers. Specify "-" for no farbox, or a file base name. A base name of "env/test" would look for files "env/test_rt.tga", "env/test_lf.tga", "env/test_ft.tga", "env/test_bk.tga", "env/test_up.tga", "env/test_dn.tga" to use as the right / left / front / back / up / down sides.
cloudheight : Controls apparent curvature of the cloud layers - lower numbers mean more curvature (and thus more distortion at the horizons). Higher height values create "flatter" skies with less horizon distortion. Think of height as the radius of a sphere on which the clouds are mapped. Good ranges are 64 to 256. The default value is 128.
nearbox : Specified as farbox, to be alpha blended ontop of the clouds. This has not be tested in a long time, so it probably doesn't actually work. Set to "-" to ignore.
There's a bug in Quake 3 (but fixed in Enemy Territory) that causes a shader vertex overflow (SHADER_MAX_VERTEXES HIT IN FILLCLOUDSKYSIDE) if more than two cloud layers are used in maps with a lot of visible sky. To compensate, either reduce the amount of visible sky or limit the shader to two cloud layers.
Q3Map2 sky shaders work differently from the original and contain a number of improvements in terms of efficiency and visually. The example given below is an original Quake III Arena sky shader. While it is still operational, it is a little outdated and is being kept here for legacy purposes only. It is recommended that you take advantage of the new features of Q3Map2 skies by consulting Appendix I: Light Emitting Shaders > Skies.
To "cull" means to remove. The value parameter determines the type of face culling to apply. The default value is cull back if this keyword is not specified. However for items that should be inverted then the value front should be used. To disable culling, the value disable or none should be used. Only one cull instruction can be set for the shader.
front : The front or "outside" of the polygon is not drawn in the world. It is used if the keyword "cull" appears in the content instructions without a side value.
back : Cull back removes the back or "inside" of a polygon from being drawn in the world.
disable or none : Neither side of the polygon is removed. Both sides are drawn in the game. Very useful for making panels or barriers that have no depth, such as grates, screens, metal wire fences and so on and for liquid volumes that the player can see from within. Also used for energy fields, sprites, and weapon effects (e.g. plasma).
For things like grates and screens, put the texture with the cull none property on one face only. On the other faces, use a non-drawing texture.
The div and amplitude parameters, when used in conjunction with liquid volumes like water should take into consideration how much the water will be moving. A large ocean area would have have massive swells (big div values) that rose and fell dramatically (big amplitude values). While a small, quiet pool may move very little.
Designed for water surfaces, modifying the values differently at each point. The div parameter is used to control the wave "spread" - a value equal to the q3map_tessSize of the surface is a good default value. It accepts the standard wave functions sin, triangle, square, sawtooth or inversesawtooth.
This deformation affects the normals of a vertex without actually moving it, which will effect later shader options like lighting and especially environment mapping. If the shader stages don't use normals in any of their calculations, there will be no visible effect. The div parameter is used to control the wave "spread" - a value equal to the q3map_tessSize of the surface is a good default value. Good values for amplitude ranges from 0.1 to 0.5 while values of 1.0 to 4.0 are good for frequency.
Putting values of 0.1 to 0.5 in Amplitude and 1.0 to 4.0 in the Frequency can produce some satisfying results. Some things that have been done with it: A small fluttering bat, falling leaves, rain, flags.
This forces a bulge to move along the given s and t directions. Designed for use on curved pipes. The bulgeS and bulgeT parameters is the amount of bulge displacement measured in game units. bulgeSpeed is the number of seconds it takes for the bulge to complete a single cycle.
The move parameter is used to make a brush, curve patch or model appear to move together as a unit. The x y z values are the distance and direction in game units the object appears to move relative to it's point of origin in the map. The func base amplitude phase freq values are the same as found in other waveform manipulations.
The product of the function modifies the values x, y, and z. Therefore, if you have an amplitude of 5 and an x value of 2, the object will travel 10 units from its point of origin along the x axis. This results in a total of 20 units of motion along the x axis, since the amplitude is the variation both above and below the base.
If an object is made up of surfaces with different shaders, all must have matching deformVertexes move values or the object will appear to tear itself apart.
This function can be used to make any given triangle quad (pair of triangles that form a square rectangle) automatically behave like a sprite without having to make it a separate entity. This means that the "sprite" on which the texture is placed will rotate to always appear at right angles to the player's view as a sprite would. Any four-sided brush side, flat patch, or pair of triangles in a model can have the autosprite effect on it. The brush face containing a texture with this shader keyword must be square.
Note: You must also specify "surfaceparm fog" to cause Q3Map2 to identify the surfaces inside the volume. Fogparms only describes how to render the fog on the surfaces.
r g b : These are normalized values. A good computer art program should give you the RGB values for a color. To obtain the values that define fog color for Quake III Arena, divide the desired color's red, green and blue values by 255 to obtain three normalized numbers within the 0.0 to 1.0 range.
opacity : This is the distance, in game units, until the fog becomes totally opaque, as measured from the point of view of the observer. By making the height of the fog brush shorter than the distance to opaque, the apparent density of the fog can be reduced (because it never reaches the depth at which full opacity occurs).
Surfaces rendered with the polygonOffset keyword are rendered slightly off the polygon's surface. This is typically used for wall markings and "decals." The distance between the offset and the polygon is fixed. It is not a variable in Quake III Arena.
Use this for wall or floor markings, particularily for direction arrows for team games. Texture the brush with the decal shader on one face and the other faces with a nodraw shader. Then place the brush flush with the surface of the wall or floor.
When using a _decal entity for texture projection, polygonOffset must be used to prevent Z-fighting. If you experience problems with depth sorting, try using sort 6.
Specifies that this texture is the surface for a portal or mirror. In the game map, a portal entity must be placed directly in front of the texture (within 64 game units). All this does is set "sort portal", so it isn't needed if you specify that explicitly.
Use this keyword to fine-tune the depth sorting of shaders as they are compared against other shaders in the game world. The basic concept is that if there is a question or a problem with shaders drawing in the wrong order against each other, this allows the designer to create a hierarchy of which shader draws in what order.
Banner (6): Transparent, but very close to walls.
Nearest (16): This shader should always sort closest to the viewer, e.g. muzzle flashes and blend blobs.


WASHINGTON - Pentagon officials have concluded that hundreds more trainers, advisers and commandos from the United States and its allies will need to be sent to Iraq and Syria in the coming months as the campaign to isolate the Islamic State intensifies.
In meetings with President Barack Obama's national security team in recent weeks, military officials have told the White House that they believe they have made significant progress in the fight against the Islamic State in both Iraq and Syria, administration officials said. But to deal a lasting blow to the extremist Sunni militancy, they believe, additional forces will be needed to work with Iraqi, Kurdish and Syrian opposition fighters on the ground in the two countries.
In the past, the Pentagon's requests for additional troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have been met with skepticism by Obama, and his aides have said he has resented what he has regarded as efforts to pressure him. But the rise of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, has alarmed the White House, and a senior administration official said Thursday that the president was willing to consider raising the stakes.
The United States already has about 3,700 troops in Iraq, counting a handful of Special Operations forces in Syria. One official said he did not anticipate that number increasing to more than 4,500 over time, and even that increase, the official said, could come incrementally, much as the deployment of the 3,700 U.S. troops occurred over a year and a half. During that time, the White House and the Pentagon have taken pains to avoid describing the deployments as combat troops, instead calling them special operators, trainers and advisers.
Defense Secretary Ash Carter, in an interview last week with CNN in Davos, Switzerland, emphasized the limited role he anticipated U.S. forces to play.
"We're looking for opportunities to do more," Carter said, but added, "We're not looking to substitute for local forces in terms of governing the place and policing the place."
The Pentagon's desire to expand the military presence on the ground comes as the U.S. public remains skeptical of the United States' getting more deeply involved in the Middle East. Polls have shown that Americans are not convinced the Obama administration has a plan to defeat the Islamic State, which has maintained control of nearly all the large cities it took over in 2014.
"With more capacity, you can do more," said Derek Chollet, a former assistant secretary of defense in the Obama administration. But, he added, "The challenge has always been what is that line between enabling and owning, and that's something the president will be focused on."
Recent victories by Iraqi security forces and Syrian opposition groups - aided by airstrikes from the U.S.-led coalition - have made Pentagon officials, including Carter and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Joseph Dunford, more optimistic about the effectiveness of Iraqi forces.
With the liberation of the Iraqi city of Ramadi last month, coupled with recent gains in northern Syria, senior military leaders say the war effort can focus on isolating - and then liberating - the Islamic State-held cities of Mosul in Iraq, and Raqqa in Syria. "The reason we need new trainers or additional trainers is because that's really the next step in generating the amount of combat power needed to liberate Mosul," Col. Steve Warren, spokesman for the U.S. military in Baghdad, said last week. "We know we will need more brigades to be trained; we'll need more troops trained in more specialties."
The United States has had little success in persuading allies to provide more troops. But Carter and Dunford do not want the United States to be the only source for more forces. With ISIS posing a threat to Europe, they are trying again.
Late last year, Carter sent letters to many of his counterparts.
"We deeply appreciate Italy's commitment to this fight; however, much work is yet to be done," Carter said in one letter, dated Dec. 1, to Italian Defense Minister Roberta Pinotti. The letter was obtained by Wikilao, a Rome-based security website.
Carter said the Italians, who have led the training of Iraqi police forces used to hold cities reclaimed from the Islamic State, could help the coalition by sending more trainers and other personnel.


California affirmative-action ban: Why liberals should let it stand.
Why liberals should let California's affirmative-action ban stand.
Students hang out on the steps of Doe Library at UC–Berkeley. The university has used socioeconomic factors to boost diversity over the past 18 years without affirmative action.
More than 500 Chinese-Americans angrily protested recently in the rain, outside the offices of California State Assembly member Ed Chau. They were upset about a new effort to repeal California's ban on affirmative action in university admissions.
In 1996, California voters passed Proposition 209, the hot-button referendum that barred the consideration of race in public university admissions. At the time supporters, led by businessman Ward Connerly, argued that racial preferences were wrong and that individuals should be judged without regard to skin color. Critics responded that society is not colorblind, and barring universities from considering race would lead to a decline in African-American and Latino representation at elite campuses such as UC–Berkeley and UCLA.
On the power of these arguments, SCA 5 sailed through the State Senate earlier this year. But now that the legislation is in the Assembly, Asian-Americans are organizing against it. Under Prop. 209, Asian-Americans have been overrepresented at the University of California, so many community members worry that they would be hurt by its repeal. Meanwhile, supporters of repeal think they have a decent shot of winning because of the explosive growth of Latino voters. Welcome to the current politics of affirmative action, which are far more complicated than black vs. white.
Nationally, more than one-quarter of high-school students live in states where racial preferences are outlawed at public universities. (Along with California the list includes Washington, Michigan, Nebraska, Arizona, Oklahoma, Florida, and New Hampshire.) These bans often led to sharp drops in black and Latino student enrollment initially, but over time states and universities adopted a number of race-neutral strategies to indirectly boost their enrollment, such as providing a leg up in admissions to low-income students of all races. In seven of 10 leading public universities, my colleague Halley Potter and I found, these strategies were able to help colleges meet or exceed the levels of African-American and Latino representation they'd achieved in the past with racial preferences.
UCLA and UC–Berkeley were two of the exceptions, however. Many liberals understandably support repealing 209 in California to make those universities more racially and ethnically inclusive. But lifting the ban is a bad idea for two reasons.
First, under Prop. 209 California has adopted a whole host of terrific measures to boost racial diversity indirectly, mostly by looking at socioeconomic status. Schools have reduced their reliance on standardized test scores for admissions, banned legacy preferences for the children of alumni, encouraged more community-college transfers to four-year institutions, and created new outreach programs to high-poverty high schools. In part because of these efforts, UCLA and UC–Berkeley are far more socioeconomically diverse than most selective colleges. In 2011–12, the proportion of students eligible for Pell grants (federal financial aid for lower-income students) at UCLA was 38 percent and at Berkeley 37 percent, compared with just 13 percent at another top public institution, the University of Virginia.
These steps helped accomplish what education is supposed to do—promote social mobility. But they are likely to disappear if universities can go back to recruiting by race. Prestige-conscious universities receive no points from the U.S. News & World Report rankings for admitting low-income students. They're actually "diverting" funding from things that will boost rankings.
That helps explain why most universities create racial diversity by recruiting fairly advantaged students of all colors. Indeed, one study found that 86 percent of African-Americans at selective colleges were middle- or upper-class, while the white students were even richer. To their credit, universities care about racial diversity, perhaps because the lack of it is visible. But they generally do not aggressively pursue socioeconomic diversity except where race has been taken off the table and recruiting low-income students is the next best way to achieve racial diversity.
So if SCA5 is not the right answer, what is? How can California's important gains for socioeconomic diversity be coupled with stronger representation of black and Latino students? One step would be to improve the state's class-based affirmative action program by considering the net wealth of an applicant's family, as opposed to only income. Coming from a low-wealth family is a real disadvantage in life, so students who perform well academically despite that obstacle are deserving of special consideration. Moreover, because wealth, unlike income, is handed down over generations, looking at net wealth helps capture the country's history of slavery and segregation and will especially benefit African-Americans. Eighteen years after California became the first state to ban racial preferences, it should resist the urge to become the first to reinstate them. The state has better options.
Correction, March 12, 2014: A previous version of the caption on this article misstated where the students in the photograph are sitting. They're on the steps of Doe Library, not Sproul Hall.


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Home Politics Justice is coming for Daphne – VoxEurop (English)
Justice is coming for Daphne – VoxEurop (English)
by host November 27, 2019
More than two years after the murder of anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, public pressure and the tireless work of her colleagues to continue her investigations are beginning to bear fruit. The alleged instigator, his links with the authorities, and the corruption that plagues the archipelago have come to light, plunging Malta into an unprecedented political crisis.
"Justice for Daphne!" That cry reverberated through Valletta every 16th of the month to mark the day Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated in 2017.
But Lady Justice appeared to be taking her time. The early breakthrough of the arrest of the three men charged with having planted the bomb was not followed by any visible progress. Where were the masterminds? Were they being protected? These were among the burning questions being asked by the protesters who gathered religiously every month. Things appeared to be stuck.
They came unstuck two weeks ago with the arrest of the alleged middleman in the assassination and the rest is history – still unfolding in a rapid succession of spectacular events related to both crime and politics.
Justice appears to be back on track. There are both heroes and villains in this incredible story. The heroes are those in different fields of endeavour who, despite the obstacles and obfuscation, pressed on with the criminal investigation, pursued Daphne's probing to fruition and persisted in holding their demonstrations, all with searchlights scanning for truth, despite the government's insistence to clean up the evidence of their protests.
The villains in the piece – let's call them alleged – are starting to emerge. After the bombers, we found out about the suspected middleman, taxi driver Melvin Theuma, and potential mastermind, the mogul Yorgen Fenech.
Luckily for the truth seekers, there is no honour among thieves and they are ready to squeal. On the now blurred borderlands between crime and politics, Economy Minister Chris Cardona has suspended himself after being questioned by the police, the Prime Minister's chief of staff, Keith Schembri, has finally stepped down after facing enormous internal pressure and his own police interrogation, and Konrad Mizzi has followed suit.
More should and will face justice. The country is in turmoil partly created by the Prime Minister and the men close to him. The murder investigation would not have precipitated a political crisis of this magnitude had he shown Mr Schembri and Dr Mizzi the door when their rotten financial dealings first came under Daphne's own searchlight. His wilful blindness has helped the rot to spread, making it 'normal' for thousands to turn a blind eye to corruption so long as they got a piece of the cake. Most of that corruption was institutionalised – it has been surreal for us to report the hundreds of jobs given to the boys, the direct contracts, and so on.
Now we have a country where wealth is the highest value whichever way it's earned, excessive construction has ruined the country for good and the rich are raking it in at the expense of the poor – because that's what corruption does.
Yesterday, the Prime Minister was asked whether he would step down given that Mr Schembri, the man behind his throne, is now under the shadow of suspicion. Dismissively, prime minister Joseph Muscat spoke of moving forward, the need to make decisions, take responsibility and provide stable leadership. Given his past inaction, his closeness to Mr Schembri, the suspicion by association that falls upon him and his contribution to the current political mess, the Prime Minister needs to reconsider.
He needs to ask himself whether progress, political responsibility, stable leadership and wise decision-making – in the interests of achieving justice and resolving the country's crisis – would be better served if he stepped aside, perhaps after an adequate transition period.
This cannot last for several months though. Malta needs to revert back to a semblance of normality where social justice and the common good reign over greed, corruption and cronyism.
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