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In this episode of The Transcript Podcast, we cover the positive developments in travel and bookings, institutional investor's concerns about inflation, and quantum computing featuring Honeywell.
00:15 – Are we heading into roaring 20s?
05:13 – How does work-from-home post-pandemic look like?
07:26 – The EV and autonomous vehicles market
09:52 – AMC and GameStop reports for the first time after the Reddit rally
11:52 – 3 billion doses of Covid-19 vaccine from Pfizer in the next 1.5 years
Scott: [00:00:00] Okay everybody welcome to a new episode of the transcript podcast. You've got me, Scott Krisilof I'm the editor of the transcript, along with Erick Mokaya who's the lead writer. We sent out a new edition of the newsletter yesterday and had a lot of good stuff in there
The roaring 20s ahead?
The headline from this week was are we at the start of a new roaring twenties? And there was a quote from Morgan Stanley's head of investment bank, suggesting that we may be starting back to a roaring twenties here. Thematically, we're definitely seeing the economy start to pick up things normalizing from where they were during the pandemic.
And the question really is what is the world going to look like now that we're exiting the pandemic phase? And one potential vision of the future is to go back into this roaring twenties, booming economy mode. It's one possibility. I'm not sure that I really buy that we're going into a roaring twenties, but it's one thing that could potentially happen. Mokaya, what do you think?
Mokaya: [00:01:00] I mean, I've heard that phrase a couple of times this past couple of weeks and think we caught it in some other, I can't remember which transcript but is was the same theme of people thinking that there will be a roarind twenties ahead. It will be interesting to see but as you saw, like travel is speaking up pretty well. I think across board, a lot of the restaurants, travel, they're picking up pretty well, but then I think there is also the awareness that a lot of small businesses are still being affected a lot. So I'm not so sure, like, you'd say there will be a roaring twenties ahead, but we sure do hope that that's the case. But a roaring twenties also maybe followed by a tough thirties.
Scott: [00:01:36] Yeah. I mean, the thing that I've been struggling with thinking about is, it's pretty foggy here what the economy is going to look like on the other side of this pandemic. And you know, it has been wrong to bet on anything other than a bull market for the last 12 years. And so there's a temptation to bet that we're just going into a continuation of that. But at the same time, it does seem like there's signs that inflation is picking up. There's monetary policy and fiscal policy is definitely going to get, have to get tighter here one would think. And so those would suggest that there's maybe more slowness than roaring twenties ahead.
Will the stimulus trigger inflation?
Mokaya: [00:02:16] I have a question for you. So, one of the things that you pick up the past couple of weeks, and even now as a consumer is pretty strong in terms of they've done a lot of savings. They still have stimulus coming in. Don't you think that that will provide a great impetus for a roaring twenties if that were to happen then?
Scott: [00:02:34] Yeah. So, I mean, I've thought a lot during the pandemic period about how there are some analogies to the world war II period and the post-World war II period, because in world war II, the economy was shut down to the extent that we weren't producing consumer goods, that we were just producing military goods and there was this huge influx of cash to consumers.
And then once the economy opened back up in 46, you know, late 45 and 46 you really just got a lot of inflation out of it. You got a lot of inflation and that was the, the reconversion economy led to inflation. But you know, the inflation experience of the 20th century has not at all been born out in the 21st century. And so are we going to get inflation here? Is that analogous? I don't know. That's a big question mark.
Mokaya: [00:03:16] It is a big question mark. And I think that's on top of the minds of a lot of institutional investors. I think you saw one of the quotes we pulled up of Ray Dalio, so worried about inflation coming up as a lot of stimulus is in the systems. I don't know. A couple of other quotes that I saw said something about companies trying to also maybe pass on a few of their price increases to customers. So I'm not so sure, like inflation may be something that we haven't seen in a while, but it may be the time for it.
Scott: [00:03:47] Yeah. I mean, I think we're getting into this phase where the cyclicality that was created by the pandemic is normalizing. And now we're getting in back into the question of structural inflation and deflation, and whether we've exited this period of structural deflation that we've been living with for the last 20 years. And like the financial elites that's why, you know, the Dalio quote was interesting. I'm hearing more chatter out of the institutional side of finance about concerns over inflation.
And that does not necessarily mean that inflation is coming to fruition. It just means that that's the way that those circles are thinking about this. Conversely, the Fed Jerome Powell was pretty clear a couple of weeks ago that The Fed doesn't view us as having moved into a structural inflation environment that [basically] think of this as cyclical or temporary inflation and that our tendency is really more towards deflation. I don't know. We'll have to see what happens.
Mokaya: [00:04:42] I mean, Europe at least is lagging behind the US in terms of, I think I'm surprised though, that Europe started early in terms of vaccinations and all, but I think the US is on the front foot on this, and I think given the start and stop kind of measures that Europe has been instituting in regards to the vaccines. I'm not so sure if we're going to catch up soon, or the us will remain ahead in that regard. Is there any other quote that you found interesting?
How does work-from-home post-pandemic look like?
Scott: [00:05:13] I think along the lines of this reopening of the economy question and what the world is going to look like on the other side of COVID We have a pretty large chunk about work from home and the way that work from home could evolve in the economy going forward. And I think the consensus is that there will probably be some additional work from home relative to the way that it used to be. But that people will still want to go into offices some, and that may be one to three days a week, people are in the office and you know, the balance of time people they're working from home. It's going to be really interesting to see how those things shake out because for businesses, there's a strong incentive to minimize the amount of time that's in an office because you can save money.
You know, in terms of office space and then also, you know, you can minimize business travel expense. And so I think a lot of businesses are moving towards that. On the other hand, what's the cost of having a distributed team? Is it harder to have culture? Is it harder to have the type of progress that needs to be made when people are working from home? That's a bigger question here. And within the investment world there's potentially money to be made on one side or the other depending on which side you fall on on that side of the debate.
Mokaya: [00:06:29] Yeah, at least what's clear for my point of view here in Sweden from the kind of business that I've observed around, a lot of businesses are selling a lot of their office equipment that they had, like tables and stuff. I think yesterday we went to buy one. This was actually from a company that is shutting down their office and moving to a flexible hotel where they can actually be having their conferences from now on. So it's pretty interesting to see how such shifts are happening. I think Jamie Damon kind of pointed out there's there may be a little less need for some real estate, that is commercial real estate for some companies. But then again, a lot of companies also need a bit more space to house a lot of the employees that they have because of the social distancing norms and all those.
And as most companies maybe anticipate by the end of the summer, this year, we will have a lot of people back in the office or a feel that people are back in the office. I think then we'll start to get a little bit of a better picture on this. Any comments on electric cars?
There's a big shift in the automotive industry
Scott: [00:07:26] Yeah. I mean, I thought the electric car section was really interesting. Volkswagen CEO talking about the shift for automobiles in general. I think the two cycle shift that he's outlining, which is more than just electric cars, it's electric cars and autonomous down the line. And so you're having these big shifts within the automotive industry. And, you know, I've always been pretty deeply skeptical of all of these EV companies that have come to market, but as he was talking, or as I was reading those quotes was starting to think maybe if there's enough disruption in that industry maybe there is room for more new entrants.
Mokaya: [00:08:07] Do you mean like more new entrants that will be acquired by the incumbents kind of cause that's what you hinted there?
A surprising player in the quantum computing space
Scott: [00:08:14] They could be acquired. They could be acquired just for brand value potentially. You know, on the technology front, there is also a pretty surprising quote that we picked up from Honeywell last week, talking about being the leader in quantum computing which, I don't follow Honeywell that closely, but reading them say that was really surprising. I had no idea that Honeywell had even invested in quantum computing. And I really don't know that I believe them. I haven't done enough work in the quantum computing space to know whether I believe it or not, but it's interesting to me for a few different reasons. Number one, there's not a lot of ways to play quantum computing in public markets.
So if that's something you really want to invest in, Honeywell may be a silent way to invest in quantum computing. But then it's also interesting to me because like, in some of the other emerging technologies, it reminds me of IBM claiming AI supremacy with Watson or, you know, Lockheed Martin has said that they're really advanced in fusion energy technology. And like neither of those programs are actually bleeding edge. And that's what this Honeywell comment sounds like to me, more of a marketing thing than reality. But if you believe it, if it's true, it's like a potential, really big catalyst for Honeywell. So it's worth keeping an eye on.
Mokaya: [00:09:29] It also struck me because quantum computing is not something we associate with an industrial manufacturer like Honeywell. You would expect, my thought was like, now they're taking on Google head to head. So in that kind of a fight you'd be betting more on Google, not on Honeywell. Right. It's impressive that they come out to brag a little bit about what they have in terms of arsenal they have.
You had a couple of quotes from AMC, by the way. Do you want to talk about them, movies being the second most popular out of home experience?
AMC and GameStop's first annual reports after Reddit rallies
Scott: [00:09:59] Yeah. I mean, I think that's another question mark of what the world's going to look like after COVID and how much of these behaviors that we adopted during the pandemic translate to after the pandemic and you know, movies, the movie theater industry was clearly on the decline, even going into the pandemic. And you would think that the pandemic accelerated trends of cord cutting and adoption of streaming and, you know, investment in home theaters and things like that. And so, I don't know, AMC is interesting on a lot of different fronts, not least of which is the fact that Reddit is helping to fuel a rally in the stock. But what's the world going to look like for movie going after this? I don't know. I don't know.
Mokaya: [00:10:45] I mean I think today, Tuesday is when GameStop is reporting their first annual reports after the issue, I mean the Reddit rally, so it will be interesting to see what kind of revenues they post or perhaps the Reddit army went and bought more movies from GameStop or something.
Scott: [00:11:04] Yeah. I was looking at each of their financial reporting and like, I think both of these are probably dead companies in the long run, but at least GameStop has some more robust financial support than AMC. I mean like AMC balance sheet is a mess. I don't know if you've looked at it, but like…
Mokaya: [00:11:22] The one I looked at was I think I looked at GameStop and they think they're trading at six X expected revenues for the last financial year. So I think like the one they're going to report tomorrow, so it should be pretty interesting to see how they perform and how the Reddit army kind of reacts to that also.
Scott: [00:11:44] Yeah. I mean, it seems all very divorced from reality, so I'm not sure that the earnings matter one way or the other at this point.
Pfizer's production capacity and oversupply concerns
Mokaya: [00:11:52] That's true. That's true. To finish on something really cool, I think Pfizer says that they will be having 3 billion doses of vaccines ready. That's pretty impressive. They've marshaled their supply chain and they're able to do that within a year and a half, I think for the next year and a half, and then we have vaccines for almost half the world from one company. That's pretty impressive I would say.
Scott: [00:12:14] Yeah, I think that was actually a statistic to me that suggested we may be getting into an oversupply phase of this vaccine pretty quickly. My expectation has been that compliance is going to be lower than people expect. So I think like fewer people are going to end up getting the vaccine than should get the vaccine. And it's one of these typical industrial cycles that if you overproduce, then you have over inventories, prices fall and like, it's usually not good for the supply chain
Mokaya: [00:12:39] Yeah. I think that's a pretty nice place to wrap up today's podcast. Always send us your comments at [email protected] and leave us some reviews in your favorite podcatchers. See you next week. And thank you for joining us this week.
Scott: [00:12:57] Thank you.
The Transcript Podcast Ep. 14: US "Very, Very...
The Transcript Podcast Ep. 13: Cities Coming ...


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/ Dion Glass
Dion Glass
Full name Dion Caldwell Glass
Born May 15, 1934, Belfast, Northern Ireland
Died April 11, 2011, Belfast, Northern Ireland (aged 76 years 331 days)
Position Wing, Centre
Five/Six Nations 1958-1961 3 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0.00
Test debut France v Ireland at Colombes, Apr 19, 1958 match details
Last Test South Africa v Ireland at Cape Town, May 13, 1961 match details

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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text:
UWC Syria
Life at UWC
UWC Short Courses
UWC Global Selections Program
About UWC Syria
/sy/
UWC Syria was first founded in 2009, driven by the UWC International Office's MENA initiative, which aimed at encouraging and supporting the creation of national committees within the Arab region. The first selections round was conducted by UWC alumni who were living in Syria at the time. Today, the committee is composed of 13 volunteers living in 7 countries across the world, and all members are Syrian nationals. It also includes some UWC alumni.
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Missing Japanese boy found alive after six days
Friday, 3rd June 2016
In General Japan News,
A seven-year-old boy has been found alive and well after six days alone in the countryside of Hokkaido in Japan. Despite being hungry and dehydrated, Yamato Tanooka was otherwise unharmed after having been abandoned on a mountainside by his parents.
Members of Japan's self-defence forces discovered the boy in an area that is normally used for training exercises in the town of Shikabe. The men entered a hut due to the rain and found the boy taking shelter among a pile of mattresses.
The location, which had been checked on Monday, was around five kilometres from where Yamato had last been seen. The discovery this morning (June 3rd) was six days since the youngster had been left in the wild as punishment by his parents.
Yamato told police that he had arrived at the camp on Saturday and had drunk water from the tap outside the hut. He had made his way out of the forest without any provision of any kind. He ate the rice balls given to him by the troops immediately, as he was very hungry.
At hospital in Hakodate, the boy was put on a drip to treat him for mild dehydration and hypothermia. As well as exhaustion, he had a few scratches on his arms and legs, but was otherwise healthy.
Yamato was also reunited with his parents and sister at the hospital. His father showed remorse for the incident, which sparked a huge search operation to find his son. Takayuki Tanooka told reporters he had apologised to the boy for his actions and extended this to the public who have helped look for the youngster. He told the Japan Times: "I feel very sorry for the boy as I came down on him hard."
The incident had come about when Yamato's parents had told him to get out of the car on a mountain road as punishment for throwing stones at cars and people. They drove off and returned to collect him, but there was no sign of the boy where he had disembarked.
A large search operation then got underway, involving police, firefighters and self-defence forces. The densely forested terrain made the manhunt harder and helicopters were used, as well as troops on horseback to try and find him.
Those involved in the search burst into spontaneous applause when they were told that Yamato had been found alive. His school friends were told in an assembly, where the 900 gathered students whooped with joy at the news of his safe return.
Yamato's class teacher and the principal of his elementary school went to the hospital to visit him. Yoshitaka Sawada, the vice-principal, said: "I want to tell him that he did a great job and was brave."


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Nation's No. 1 player Trevor Lawrence should decide very soon between Georgia and Clemson
Jeff Sentell / AJC
@jeffsentell
WCARTERSVILLE, Ga. — The race for 5-star quarterback Trevor Lawrence will be an arm race. No doubt about it.
The nation's No. 1 overall prospect in the Class of 2018 should decide Clemson or Georgia by August 1, give or take a day.
"The biggest factor is where I feel the most comfortable at," Lawrence said. "I feel comfortable at both. They are both great so I'm trying to find out which school feels the most comfortable to me."
Can Georgia add Lawrence to a quarterback room that will include freshman Jacob Eason and Jake Fromm, a 4-star commitment in the Class of 2017? Or will he compete with Hunter Johnson, the No. 1 quarterback in 2017, and 4-star prospect Chase Brice, who are both committed to Clemson? The Tigers also signed the nation's No. 7 dual-threat quarterback, Zerrick Cooper, in 2016.
"If I do what I should, I can compete with anybody in the country to play quarterback," Lawrence said. "I try not to worry about it but it does concern me sometimes. Both places have great quarterbacks ahead of me. Clemson has two in the same grade and Georgia has Jacob Eason and Jake Fromm. They are all good players. It will be hard wherever I go. It will be a struggle to compete, but I think I'll be ready for it."
He never wanted to be handed a starting job.
"You get better by competing with and facing the best players," Lawrence said. "I want to go somewhere that will help me raise my game to another level. Competing with those older guys will help me do that."
Lawrence sported a gash above his nose Tuesday that required two stitches. It was a blind-side blitz from a swimming pool ladder. He came up from below and nicked it. What happened to your nose? That was the popular topic Tuesday. Not his pending college commitment.
Lawrence is rated as the nation's No. 1 prospect for the Class of 2018. (Jeff Sentell / AJC)
The junior can't tell which staff has been recruiting him harder. He's only made one "B" in high school (Honors Biology) and a forensics major is a possibility. He's not sure which school seems like the better academic fit right now.
He plans one more visit to each campus. He isn't sure which school will get that last visit yet. Lawrence said he's seen enough to make his decision but hopes for one more visit each to see if he gets a "feeling" or "something to stick out."
This feels like a neck-and-neck 40-yard match race with both schools at the 38. There's no stated leader. It forces people to use their own forensics regarding that topic.
"Both schools have things I like," Lawrence said. "It is a give and take. I just want to find the right decision where I can find peace with it and be happy and live with it. I guess I hear more from the Georgia commitments right now. Georgia is picking up a lot of guys."
Four-star offensive lineman Max Wray is the only Georgia commitment in his signing class. He's made sure to text Lawrence and told the 5-star passer he wouldn't get touched if he chose the Bulldogs.
"He wants to go visit a lot," Lawrence said. "I have been on a visit or two with him. I really like him. He's obviously trying hard to get me to go there."
There are further clues to sift through, but these could only show which school has worked harder for Lawrence.
Remember when Kirby Smart was hired in that whirlwind week? He flew to Washington to fortify Eason's commitment. Well, he also traveled that week (about two days later) to Cartersville. He met with coach Joey King in the front office. He couldn't talk to Lawrence, but just wanted him to know he cared enough to stop by.
Georgia also had Jim Chaney up there on the first day he could during the spring evaluation period.
"Coach Chaney just loves him and he says he just has to coach him," King said.
A Cartersville tight end, Miller Forristall, signed with Alabama this January. King went to see him quickly and Crimson Tide offensive coordinator Lane Kiffin spotted the coach. Kiffin asked about his 5-star passer, but Lawrence didn't make the trip. But King said Chaney told him to tell Kiffin he said hello.
Kiffin was flummoxed that Chaney had already made the trip to Cartersville to check out Lawrence. That illustrates the priority the UGA staff has placed on Lawrence.
Lawrence will enroll early in January of 2018. (Jeff Sentell / AJC)
"It seems like Clemson is adding all the top receivers and Georgia is filling up right now with a lot of big-time linemen," Lawrence said.
The nearly 6-foot-6, 198-pound prospect has put on about 10 pounds since leading the Hurricanes to a state title last fall. The Maxpreps.com 2014 National Freshman of the Year has completed 62 percent of his 674 pass attempts in high school for 6,697 yards, 69 touchdowns and just 11 interceptions.
He's quite the athlete despite how tall he stands in the pocket. Lawrence was laser timed at 4.8 seconds in the 40 and he can already power clean 270 pounds. That's pretty impressive in the quarterback realm for a guy who fits into a size-14 cleat.
LSU offensive coordinator Cam Cameron told King that Lawrence reminded him of a young Peyton Manning the way the throws the ball with accuracy.
"His accuracy is his greatest strength," King said. "Where he puts the ball and how he gets it there have always been his biggest strengths."
He will enroll early. Eason has been an unofficial host on his recent visits to Athens.
"The players at Georgia told me what it is like to be a player there and I really appreciate that," Lawrence said. "It is really hard up there and they tell me to come compete for a spot. If you make second-string as a quarterback then you probably don't redshirt. If you are third-string, then you probably redshirt. I want to go in and compete and win my spot."
His primary recruiters at Georgia are Chaney and Smart, compared to co-offensive coordinator Tony Elliott and quarterback coach Brandon Streeter for the Tigers. Lawrence spent 90 minutes in Dabo Swinney's office on his last visit to Clemson. The conversation centered on life and helping to make Lawrence a better person. Not football.
Why would he choose Clemson? The main reason if he went in that direction would be just a feeling he gets around that staff.
"That would end up being where I would feel more comfortable at," he said. "That's all the coaches there and the whole staff and not just the head coach and the offensive coordinator that is recruiting me. It would be everybody on that staff wanting to make me a better person and not just a better football player. Clemson is a great academic school just like Georgia so I wouldn't have to worry about that there."
Lawrence has already thrown 69 high school touchdowns. (Jeff Sentell / AJC)
But the 16-year-old has been impressed by Georgia's new offensive coordinator. He has described Chaney as a genius in the past.
"He's just so very smart and his offense would challenge and make me a better player," Lawrence said. "Georgia thinks I'm a really good player and want me to have that confidence in me that can I go in and play even with those two really good players already there. That means a lot. They think I can play there. That's one good thing for me they think that. They are not going to recruit somebody they don't think can come in and play."
He said the decision is not a matter of offenses. This is not Georgia's pro-style versus Clemson's spread.
"It is just Georgia versus Clemson," Lawrence said. "Clemson will use me on the move and use my athletic ability to move me around. The coaches have shown me what they do. They do a lot of good stuff. I can play in either offense so it will just be a matter of where I want to go."
Jeff Sentell covers UGA football and UGA recruiting for AJC.com and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Follow him on Twitter for the latest on who's on their way to play Between the Hedges. Unless otherwise indicated, player rankings and ratings are from the 247Sports Composite.
Follow @JeffSentell_
NEXT Report: Police union president wants more than apology for Isaiah Crowell's offensive image
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BREAKING: 5-star junior QB Brock Vandagriff has a new college decision
Jared Wilson: Recent visit adds strength to his commitment in 2021 class
Ben Cleveland: He's following through on a plan to return to UGA in 2020
Mekhail Sherman
St. John's College, Class of '20
Washington, D.C., Washington DC


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At City Dental Hospital, our doctors understand this problem and our doctors try to get your child relaxed and free from anxiety even before any treatment is started. At City Dental Hospital, we have created a special section for kids which also have a playroom.
Full Mouth Rehabilitation corrects imperfections in bite position and enhances the appearance of the smile. If you have short, worn teeth or those that are chipped and broken throughout the mouth then you would need FMR.
Combining the science of Neuromuscular Dentistry with the artistry of Cosmetic Dentistry, Full Mouth Rehabilitation creates a smile that is functional, comfortable and beautiful.
Great behaviour of attend!! Welcoming with warm!! Healthy environment!! It has been composed in such a route in order to accomplish the most abnormal amount of solace and have each patient feel like they are at home.
It has been my experience that Dr. Anand jasani's City Dental Hospital Rajkot has been the most caring of all clinics that I have attended. I especially appreciate painless dentistry. I felt much more relaxed about getting my dental laminates work done.
LoremThe experience of my treatment at City Dental Hospital, Rajkot was essentially awesome. The whole group is extremely proficient and supportive. Inspite of my case requiring a few root trenches embeds and tops whole work was done effortless and in 5 days.
Amazing staff!! 100% hygienic!! I simply adored this treatment and thank you much to give bolster and cherish. I think that it's radiant.
I am a very acquiescent patient of Dr. Anand jasani. I had a full mouth restoration three years ago without any problems. I had ten implants, 2 root canals and all my teeth crowned.
My tooth had been harming and tainted for months. It brought about me a considerable measure of other systemic contaminations. She (Dr. Rashmi Jasani) was awesome with extraction.
Dr. Rashmi Jasani is a spanking dentist. She took the time to explain every procedure she was doing.
Very pleasant verily! Dr. Anand Jasani is a great doctor who listens to the patient and takes care of him/her with great attention...Environment was neat and healthy.


text:
package coop.plausible.sbt.keychain

import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets

import scala.util.control.NonFatal
import scala.util.{Failure, Success, Try}
import coop.plausible.sbt.keychain.git.{GitConfigOption, GitOptionParser, GitCredentialParser}

/**
 * Implements automatic population of sbt credentials via various keychain sources.
 */
object KeychainPlugin extends sbt.Plugin {
  import sbt._
  import sbt.Keys._

  private val LOG_PREFIX = "[KeychainPlugin]"

  /**
   * Keychain configuration.
   */
  val keychainConfig = config("keychain")

  /** The realm and (optional) username to be used when looking up the account in the keychain. */
  val keychainAccounts = SettingKey[Seq[KeychainAccount]]("User accounts to be fetched from the keychain.")

  /** A task that performs querying of the keychain and returns all available credentials
    * based on the configured publishTo destination */
  val keychainCredentials = TaskKey[Seq[Credentials]]("The keychain credentials.")

  /**
   * Keychain plugin settings.
   */
  lazy val keychainSettings: Seq[Setting[_]] = Seq[Setting[_]](
    keychainAccounts := Seq(),
    keychainCredentials <<= keychainCredentialsTask(keychainAccounts)
  )

  /**
   * Return the credentials to be used for publishing based on the configured publishTo destination.
   *
   * @param accounts The defined accounts.
   * @return The fetched credentials, or an exception if fetching credentials failed.
   */
  private def keychainCredentialsTask (accounts: SettingKey[Seq[KeychainAccount]]) = Def.task {
    /* Find all valid credentials */
    for (
      /* Fetch credentials */
      creds <- {
        /* Iterate over all defined keychain accounts, collecting errors. */
        val results = accounts.value.map { account =>
          getAccountCredentials(account, streams.value.log)
        }

        /* Report errors (side-effecting) */
        accounts.value.view.zip(results).collect {
          case (account, Left(error)) => (account, error)
        }.foreach {
          case (account, FatalKeychainError(msg)) => throw new RuntimeException("$LOG_PREFIX Credential fetch for $account failed: " + msg)
          case (account, AccountNotFound(msg)) => streams.value.log.info(s"$LOG_PREFIX No keychain account found for $account: $msg")
          case (account, other:KeychainError) => streams.value.log.info(s"$LOG_PREFIX Could not fetch keychain credentials for $account: ${other.message}")
        }

        /* Return successful results */
        results.collect {
          case Right(c) => c
        }
      }
    ) yield creds
  }

  /**
   * Look up keychain credentials for the given account and target.
   *
   * @param account A user-declared keychain account.
   * @param logger Task-specific logger.
   * @return Associated credentials, or a keychain error.
   */
  private def getAccountCredentials (account: KeychainAccount, logger: Logger): Either[KeychainError, Credentials] = {
    /* If this is a maven repository, generate a repo URL, and use it to fetch the user's credentials */
    for (
      /* Try parsing the account URL */
      url <- (Try(new URL(account.address)) match {
        case Success(url) => Right(url)
        case Failure(t) => Left(FatalKeychainError("Could not parse URL: " + t))
      }).right;
      creds <- getGitCredentials(url.getProtocol, url.getHost, account.realm, account.username, logger).right
    ) yield creds
  }

    /**
   * Execute the given command, returning either the string output, or a keychain error.
   *
   * @param command The command to execute.
   * @param input Data to pass to the command's standard input, if any.
   * @param logger Task-specific logger.
   */
  private def executeCommand (command: Seq[String], input: Option[Array[Byte]], logger: Logger): Either[KeychainError, String] = {
    import scala.collection.JavaConverters._
    import scala.concurrent.ExecutionContext.Implicits.global

    /*
     * Note: Due to Scala ProcessBuilder's failure to catch exceptions thrown
     * by java.lang.ProcessBuilder.start() (Scala 2.10.3) when it spins up our
     * process on a background thread, we have to use the Java process builder
     * API ourselves.
     *
     * Thanks, unchecked exceptions.
     */

    /* Set up the process builder and launch the process */
    val pb = new java.lang.ProcessBuilder(command.asJava)
    pb.redirectError(ProcessBuilder.Redirect.INHERIT)
    pb.redirectInput(ProcessBuilder.Redirect.PIPE)
    pb.redirectOutput(ProcessBuilder.Redirect.PIPE)

    /* Try launching the process */
    val proc = try {
      pb.start()
    } catch {
      case NonFatal(e) =>
        logger.debug("Command execution failed: " + e)

        /* Non-local early return */
        return Left(CommandFailed(s"Failed to start ${command.mkString(" ")}: ${e.getMessage}"))
    }

    /* Write any data to the process' stdin, asynchronously as to prevent blocking. */
    input.map { inputBytes =>
      scala.concurrent.Future.apply {
        val stdin = proc.getOutputStream
        try {
          stdin.write(inputBytes)
          stdin.close()
        } catch {
          case NonFatal(e) => logger.warn("Failed to write bytes to process' input stream: " + e)
        }
      }
    }

    /* Read process output, if any */
    val output = try {
      val buffer = new Array[Byte](1024)
      val outputBuffer = new StringBuilder
      val stdout = proc.getInputStream

      var read = 0
      do {
        read = stdout.read(buffer)
        if (read > 0) {
          outputBuffer.append(new String(buffer, 0, read))
        }
      } while (read > 0)

      Right(outputBuffer.toString())
    } catch {
      case NonFatal(e) => Left(CommandFailed(s"Failed to read process' ${command.mkString(" ")} stdout stream: $e"))
    }

    /* Wait for process completion */
    val exitCode = proc.waitFor()
    if (exitCode != 0) {
      Left(CommandFailed(s"Process ${command.mkString(" ")} returned a non-zero exit code: $exitCode"))
    } else {
      output
    }
  }

  /**
   * Fetch credentials from git's credential interface.
   *
   * @param scheme The URL scheme (eg, http, https).
   * @param host The destination host.
   * @param realm The authentication realm (eg, HTTP Basic realm).
   * @param user The username if known; otherwise, the git credential interface will attempt to fill in this information.
   * @param logger Task-specific logger.
   * @return Returns credentials, or a string explaining why credentials could not be fetched.
   */
  private def getGitCredentials (scheme: String, host: String, realm: String, user: Option[String], logger: Logger): Either[KeychainError, Credentials] = {
    for (
      /* Fetch the configured git credential helper */
      helper <- executeCommand(Seq("git", "config", "credential.helper"), None, logger).right.map(
        _.trim()
      ).right.flatMap(GitOptionParser.parseInput).right;

      /* Parse the configuration option and determine the target binary */
      helperCommand <- helper match {
        /* Value is a direct shell command */
        // TODO - Pass to sh -c ?
        case GitConfigOption(value, true) => Right(value).right

        /* Value is the name of the helper binary suffix */
        case GitConfigOption(value, false) => Right(s"git-credential-$value").right
      };

      /* Generate the request we'll submit to the helper */
      request <- Right(Seq(
        Some(s"protocol=$scheme"),
        Some(s"host=$host"),
        Some(s"realm=$realm"),
        user.map(s => s"username=$s"),
        Some("") /* Empty trailing line is required by git-credential-osxkeychain */
      ).flatten.mkString("\n").getBytes(StandardCharsets.UTF_8)).right;

      /* Execute the git-credential-$helper and parse the results */
      lines <- executeCommand(Seq(helperCommand, "get"), Some(request), logger).right;
      parsed <- GitCredentialParser.parseInput(lines).right;

      /* Extract the credentials */
      username <- parsed.get("username").orElse(user).toRight(AccountNotFound("No username returned in git credential output")).right;
      password <- parsed.get("password").toRight(AccountNotFound("No password returned in git credential output")).right
    ) yield Credentials(realm, host, username, password)
  }

  /**
   * Fetch credentials from the OS X Keychain.
   *
   * @param scheme The URL scheme (eg, http, https).
   * @param host The destination host.
   * @param realm The authentication realm (eg, HTTP Basic realm).
   * @param user The username if known; otherwise, the git credential interface will attempt to fill in this information.
   * @return Returns credentials, or a string explaining why credentials could not be fetched.
   */
  private def getOSXCredentials (scheme: String, host: String, realm: String, user: Option[String]): Either[KeychainError, Credentials] = {
    // TODO:  security find-internet-password -gs $host -r $protocol (SecProtocolType, eg, htps) [-a account name]
    Left(UnsupportedKeychain("The Mac OS X keychain is currently not supported"))
  }

  /** A command execution error result. */
  sealed abstract class KeychainError {
    /** A loggable error message. */
    val message: String
  }

  /** Command execution failed. */
  case class CommandFailed (message:String) extends KeychainError

  /** Fatal error. If returned, execution should be terminated. */
  case class FatalKeychainError (message:String) extends KeychainError

  /** The requested account could not be found */
  case class AccountNotFound (message: String) extends KeychainError

  /** The requested keychain source is not supported */
  case class UnsupportedKeychain (message: String) extends KeychainError
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
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Home » Politics
The Dems may have chosen the two wrong articles of impeachment
Submitted by brad on Fri, 2019-12-20 14:56
One has to be impressed in a perverse way at the fact that no Republican broke ranks on Donald Trump in the impeachment vote. Some even defended their votes with passion. I've often felt that since we know several of them loathe Trump that they were just acting out of party loyalty and a sense of self-preservation within their party.
But I start to wonder that some serious number of them, and their voters, don't think Trump's actions are that big a deal. Here's why:
Read more about The Dems may have chosen the two wrong articles of impeachment
Twitter and FB shouldn't ban political ads. They should give them away to registered candidates
Submitted by brad on Wed, 2019-10-30 15:12
Twitter's decision to no longer take political advertising is causing a stir, and people are calling on Facebook to do the same. Political advertising isn't just an issue now that we've learned that Russians are doing it to screw with elections. It's the sink for almost all the money spent by campaigns, and thus all the money they raise from donors. The reason that people in office spend more than half their time fundraising is they feel they have no choice.
Read more about Twitter and FB shouldn't ban political ads. They should give them away to registered candidates
How Peter Thiel almost ruined TechDirt and the peril of the selective information attack
Submitted by brad on Tue, 2019-10-29 12:37
Nick Denton was a sleazebag. I knew that within one minute of meeting him, as he described the new web site he was planning, called "Valleywag." He was proud he had learned the name of Larry Page's girlfriend and he could break that story, as if who Larry was dating was worthy news of some kind.
Read more about How Peter Thiel almost ruined TechDirt and the peril of the selective information attack
What would the popular vote be in Canada?
Preliminary results from Wikipedia
Read more about What would the popular vote be in Canada?
Report from Santiago protests and thoughts on mass protest in a robocar world
Street fire lit by protesters in Santiago, Chile
Read more about Report from Santiago protests and thoughts on mass protest in a robocar world
Investing in students instead of student loans
The site of my own education, back when tuition fees were $1200/year
Student loan debt has become a hot election issue. It's immense, has ruined some lives (but also vastly improved others) and is connected to (and possibly even the cause of) the cost of education growing much faster than inflation.
Read more about Investing in students instead of student loans
Rules for choosing a Presidential nominee
Submitted by brad on Thu, 2019-01-17 11:32
Former senators almost never get to live here
As we enter election season, people wonder who the right candidate for the Democrats (or never-Trumpers) to stand against Trump is.
There are many factors, but let me start with some generic factors for the Democrats at any time.
Read more about Rules for choosing a Presidential nominee
A plan to end the disproportionate power of small U.S. states by buying them out
Time to rebuild this body
After elections, Americans lament about the current structure of the Senate (and electoral college) because they are based on legacy, and do not follow the principle of one person one vote.
Read more about A plan to end the disproportionate power of small U.S. states by buying them out
Could we enforce an unbiased court?
Submitted by brad on Sun, 2018-10-07 13:43
Equal justice under law is a great idea
Read more about Could we enforce an unbiased court?
How would Americans vote if there were a popular vote?
Logo of the NPV Interstate Compact
Read more about How would Americans vote if there were a popular vote?
Voting Rights Amendment
Congress shall make no law, abridging the right of franchise of adult citizens of the United States, nor make any law affecting the exercise of franchise in a significant disproportionate way by supporters or opponents of any candidate, ballot question or aligned group of candidates, or members of any protected class of citizens (including but not limited to the ethnic groups, religions, sexes, income levels and sexual orientations.)
Read more about Voting Rights Amendment
The improbable secret Kim conspiracy to reunify Korea
Everybody loves a good secret conspiracy theory. Here's mine for North Korea. Of course, it is probably not true. But is it impossible?
Seoul Subway stations are equipped with gas masks, ready for attack by the North
Kim Jong-Un is a tyrant, perhaps the last of his kind, and living in the new modern era. With this Swiss education, unfettered access to the internet and a love of foreign media, what sort of mindset might he hold? We don't know a lot.
Read more about The improbable secret Kim conspiracy to reunify Korea
Solve the Proposition 13 problem by paying off the difference when you sell
Even if you are not in California, you may have heard of Proposition 13 the ballot measure which changed property tax rules.
It was part of a tax revolt, and it changed how the value of your real estate is calculated for property taxes. As California property started zooming up in price, there were people who owned homes but had minimal incomes. They were facing growing tax bills even though they had not realized the gains on their house. Some were being forced out of houses they had lived in for decades, the story went.
Read more about Solve the Proposition 13 problem by paying off the difference when you sell
Flyover: Is the left's vocabulary meaner than the right's?
Like many, I have been highly interested in understanding the rift in US and global politics that has resulted in the rise of Trump, LePen, Ford and Brexit.
While I run mostly in left/urban/secular/keen circles, I try as often as possible to talk to people in other circles to understand their view. My own politics match neither side, which gives me some extra perspective. However, living in left circles, I have encountered more of their terms.
Read more about Flyover: Is the left's vocabulary meaner than the right's?
Moving gun regulation to the states from the federal level
(Warning: An explosive topic. Those who only want to talk robocars, you can subscribe to only that feed if you wish to!)
Read more about Moving gun regulation to the states from the federal level
Could states affect gerrymandering outside their state with conspiracy rules?
In puzzling over solutions to gerrymandering, I remain stymied by the following problems:
The people in power don't want to undo the gerrymandering that is putting them in power.
The courts want to stop gerrymandering but they only overturn rules, they try not to write new ones.
States could act, especially a few in concert, but what they do might be overturned by the courts
Arguments were heard this week in a lawsuit attempting to get the supreme court to stop gerrymandering. Courts have been ready to declare that a district is gerrymandered, but are reluctant to force states to adopt some rule on how they draw their districts. The concern is that there is no one best and most fair way to draw districts. You can tell when a district is unfair, but it's up to states to write the rules and the courts to rule on their constitutionality. The plaintiffs have a hope that the courts might rule that any districting is a disenfranchisement, and force states to allocate representatives based on a proportional system from a statewide popular vote.
I have wondered if states can find, on their own, the power to fix this. Many states have already written anti-gerrymandering rules for their own districts, but can they make those have extra-territorial effect.
One way is with an interstate compact. I outline a plan for this here. It has the problem that the counter-gerrymandering might be found illegal by the court. Remember the court is ready to say, "That's not a valid district shape" without saying a formula for what a valid district shape is. They just know it when they see it.
Here's another idea -- possibly unconstitutional as well, but it may be improved with refinement.
Read more about Could states affect gerrymandering outside their state with conspiracy rules?
Getting rid of winner-takes-all in the electoral college could backfire badly
Submitted by brad on Mon, 2017-09-25 11:59
A new organization named Equal Votes is pushing to make a supreme court case to undo the electoral college. They hope to use a precedent set in the famous "Bush v. Gore" 2000 election case, which strengthened the application of the equal protection clause to election law. They want to show that the "Winner takes all" approach that 48 states use to hand out electoral college votes is a violation of the idea of one person one vote. States would then not be able to use it.
It's an interesting idea, but I have grave concerns that it might backfire, and badly. Worst case, it could guarantee a Republican President into the indefinite future. Hopefully not, but that's a bad result, even if you're Republican leaning.
My friend Larry Lessig is supporting this, and I don't doubt the theory that it might win. The idea is that since a state could assign its electors in proportion to how its citizens voted, it is depriving them of their rights by not doing so. If you are in a safe state and not in the dominant party, your vote is useless and effectively counts for nothing.
It is far from certain that this logic can win. Winner takes all is of course the norm in democracies. The country only gets one President even though almost half the country didn't want him. States only get one governor. In California, where state legislators are elected by districts and some Republicans get seats, the reality is that the Democrats get complete power, not partial power. And in the current congress, it takes defections or filibusters to stop complete rule by the Republicans (even though, due to gerrymandering, they got fewer votes than the Democrats in the house.)
Voting by gerrymandered district
And this is where we get the first big risk. Two states, Maine and Nebraska, don't do winner takes all. They follow what seems a very sensible plan at first. A state's electoral college delegation is equal to the number of congressional representatives they have: House members plus two. These states select two electors based on statewide vote, and then select the other electors based on the vote in each district. Just like members of congress, the electors represent their "districts."
There is a risk that if the court held that winner-takes-all is invalid, they might not rule that the established district based system is invalid. Equal Votes will ask for that, but they might not get it. If they don't get it, then some states, in particular the gerrymandered states, may decide to follow the Maine system. And being gerrymandered like this, they are likely to return a slate of electors that is not too different from their congressional delegation -- a heavily skewed delegation. Even if many other states use a different system (like the proportional allocation Equal Votes wants) the result would be a college very much like congress. And that's a GOP college.
Why? Because of operation Redmap. This insidious, I would say evil, cheat on the electoral rules was done by Karl Rove and the RNC in 2010. They poured millions into a carefully selected number of unsafe Democrat statehouse seats around the country, enough to swing those statehouses to the GOP. Then they used that power to redraw the districts in those states in a gerrymandered way to favour the GOP. Not just in the congressional elections, but in future statehouse elections, cementing the power indefinitely. It will need a major anti-GOP swing, or supreme court ruling, to fix it.
Read more about Getting rid of winner-takes-all in the electoral college could backfire badly
Don't feed the radical right trolls by counter-protesting them
We're all shocked at the idea of a growing neo-Nazi movement, at the horrible attack in Virginia and the lack of condemnation by the President. It's making us forget that the neo-Nazi radical right are trolls with many parallels to online trolls. And the only thing to do is not to feed the trolls, and definitely don't attack the civil rights that they make use of.
A protest march has 3 main functions:
Read more about Don't feed the radical right trolls by counter-protesting them
To fix gerrymandering, a test is needed -- or an interstate compact
One of the key flaws in the US political system is gerrymandering. I have written about this before even proposing my own method of redistricting, but such proposals only have a limited utility.
In this article I present why court solutions have had trouble, and a potentially new approach using an interstate compact.
Gerrymandering is particularly bad in the USA, but it's a general "bug" in many democratic systems. The flaw is often summed up with the phrase "The politicians pick the voters instead of vice versa." When the incumbent legislators and parties can draw the districts, they can bias the system heavily in their favour. In the USA, the house of representatives is currently highly biased towards the Republican party. It is often cited that the Republicans won 49.9% of popular votes for congress but got 55% of the seats. You can't actually add the individual house votes, because people vote (or rather stay away) differently in safe districts than they do in contested one, but the margin is large enough that the trend is clear.
This is in large part due to Operation Redmap which is documented in the book Ratfucked. It truly fits the description "fiendishly clever plan" and exploits the bug to the level of making it close to permanent.
How districts are drawn is left to the states both in the constitution and the law. Some states have moved to create more fair districting rules, the sort of rules you would make up if you were doing it from a nonpartisan standpoint. However, the hard fact is that those states which do this are chumps. It does not make the system more fair if one side stops cheating -- and I do think of gerrymandering as cheating -- and the other side keeps on cheating. It just assures victory for the cheating side going forward. At the same time, having all sides cheat indefinitely is not a good solution either.
The constitution says very little about districting. In fact, it doesn't even demand districts! States could have, if they chose, selected their representatives in a statewide proportional vote. Later federal laws, however, have demanded each person have one congress member, which demands geographic districts. About half the states require the districts be contiguous, but the others don't. The voting rights act and other principles have forbidden drawing the lines on racial or minority grounds, but not on the grounds of "this helps incumbents keep their seats" -- that's still largely within the rules.
In any event, as long as gerrymandering is benefiting the GOP, they are not going to commit political suicide to remove it. States controlled strongly by one party or the other will resist willfully hurting their own parties, though there are exceptions when states have ballot resolutions. The supreme court ruled, barely, that the public can supersede the legislatures on this matter with a ballot proposition, and so that has happened. While the public belong to parties, they are actually more interested in fairness than party loyalty.
A constitutional amendment could fix this, but that's not going to happen. And strong federal law could probably fix it, but that's not coming from houses controlled by the people which benefit from the cheating.
As such, the solution can only come from the courts, or ballot propositions in a balanced set of states.
A good summary of the rules around districting in the different states can be found at this site.
But it's not actually fair play, say the courts
Justices of the supreme court have reportedly all denounced gerrymandering to cement political control. They agree that it violates the principles of the constitution of one person one vote and equal protection, as it effectively eliminates for partisan reasons the voting power of many. Even agreeing with this, for now they feel powerless to stop it.
We can all see gerrymandering happen, but for the courts to do something about it, they would need to define fair and unbiased test which says when it is happening. This is hard, as courts are reluctant to write sets of rules like that -- that is the province of the other branches of government. Courts don't make the rules, they just decide if people are playing fairly by the rules that the other branches created.
So while it's easy for you or I to propose fair rules for districting -- rectangular districts or my own convexity test above -- these just aren't the sort of rules courts are willing to make up. You can't extract them from the constitution. A court can look at a crazily shaped district and know "this is unfair" but it has to come up with a way that the states can objectively know what is fair and what isn't, without being the author of its own rules.
One proposed rule that's been advocated is the voting efficiency gap. Here, they try to measure how many votes were "wasted" because of district design. If a district went 80% for one party and 20% for the other, 30% of party A's votes are wasted, and20% of party Bs, and the difference between these numbers tells how biased that election was.
It's a nice test but one can see immediate flaws. For example, in a state biased 55% to 45%, a "perfect" districting where every district has the same balance as the state would result in 100% of seats for the dominant party. Since one party is strong in cities and the other strong in the country, any geographic set of districts is going to have these "inefficiencies" with inner cities voting 80% Democratic in the same state as a rural district votes 80% Republican -- without any intent to cheat in how the lines are drawn. As noted, proportional non-geographic districts are not going to happen.
The courts, if they are to help us, need a test which will clearly let them tell states, "If you don't draw your districts to match this test, they will be ruled invalid." It's easy to come up with fair, non-partisan tests to use, but the problem is that it is easy and so there are several you could use -- and why should one be chosen over another? The legislatures can choose one option from many, but the courts are not to be arbitrary in that way. Their test has to clearly match some principle they find in the law.
You can propose convexity, or straight lines, or random selection -- but none of them answer the question of "why does the law demand that particular one, vs. another?" They will ask this because any system, even if non-partisan, will benefit one party more than a different choice and thus have the appearance of being chosen from the pool for a partisan reason. And perhaps more than the appearance.
Ballot propositions and a State Compact
Individual states deciding to play fair just cede their power. Perhaps another option is possible -- through a compact of states dedicated to fair districting.
Read more about To fix gerrymandering, a test is needed -- or an interstate compact
Only the Republicans can bring down Trump
Submitted by brad on Sat, 2017-02-18 14:05
Sooner than most expected, the Trump administration is in trouble. Many are talking about how to end it, or hasten that end.
Read more about Only the Republicans can bring down Trump
1JLEzkRutp2q5xrv9
jzd9CVgLp4g79S4M8
Electric rvs 1 day 3 hours ago
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How to save a lot of money when installing electric vehicle charging in your home
In car navigation needs to learn to shut up
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Battery, ICE, Hybrid: What About Temporary Mixes?
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Food Ingredients: Custard Powder, Cow Milk, Seasonal fruits such as apple, banana, grapes, pomegranates etc.
Descriptions: Fruit Custard simple and delicious summer Dessert, fruit salad with custard is made with custard powder and mix various types of fruits such as apple, banana, grapes, pomegranates etc. This is very easy and delicious Dessert recipe and loved by all whether kids or adults. Creamy Fruit custard serve in 1 kg box.


Jim Sarbh is the king of quirk, and no, we're not referring only to his choice of roles. When it comes to matters of style and fashion, the man is as non-mainstream as his roles are. Right from rocking gender-fluid ensembles to wearing clothes that manage to steal the collective thunder of the entire Bollywood. His latest avatar, however, is something we have never seen before. Take a look.
Jim is legit looking like an edgy Indian king, wearing statement sherwanis by Shantanu & Nikhil. The impeccably stitched pieces spell elegance and royalty like nothing else, and we're obsessed with the innovative layering game.
What stands out is the subtlety of the ensembles, in terms of the colour palette. The fact that they can look super conspicuous in spite of that, in terms of sheer design elements, is noteworthy.
Modern Indian grooms can definitely take a leaf out of Jim's book when it comes to standing apart, as opposed to opting for the same old tried and tested outfits. The draping in some of the outfits are so unusual, that they are effortlessly ramp-ready.


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CHI Clinic opens in Council Bluffs area slated for a major revitalization
Darland completed the CHI Health Valley View Clinic in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The 38,844-square-foot clinic features 56 exam rooms, focusing on primary care with specialties including radiology, ultrasound, pharmacy, behavioral health and physical therapy. The new clinic is part of the organization's ongoing mission to provide affordable, accessible, high-quality care for all. "Keep people...Read more
'Wanamaker Hills' in Topeka opens with five national retailers
A former K-Mart store in Topeka, KS is seeing new life at the Wanamaker Hills Shopping Center. Once an empty building that blighted Topeka's main shopping street, the former K-Mart building is now home to retailers Ulta, Old Navy, DSW, Five Below and Petco. Darland completed the more than 108,000-square-foot project on time and more than six percent under the client's budget....Read more
FRHS 130,000-SF medical office nears completion
Darland is under construction on a four-story, 130,000-square-foot medical office building in Norfolk, Nebraska. The Faith Regional Health Services (FRHS) South Medical Office will bring together multiple practices into a highly efficient, shared space.
FIRST FLOOR: An outpatient surgery center will be located on the first floor. The new space will...Read more
Baxter to open new Chrysler-Dodge-Ram-Jeep Dealership
Darland is under construction on the new Chrysler-Dodge-Ram-Jeep dealership near Interstate 80 and Highway 370 in Papillion. The building features more than 59,000 total square feet; including a showroom, service center, customer lounge with kids play area, single lane car wash, two storage mezzanines and more than 10 acres of exterior paving. Finishes include metal wall...Read more
Mandela Elementary expansion adds early education program
When Nelson Mandela Elementary in North Omaha looked to expand its programming to include an Early Childhood Development Center, they enlisted Darland to serve as the construction manager. Darland worked with the owner and architects to ensure the building would meet the client's budget and needs.
The new school features six classrooms, designed to serve students between...Read more
Darland breaks ground on new CHI Health Clinic in Millard
Darland marked the official groundbreaking of one of Omaha's newest medical office buildings-CHI Health Clinic Millard. The new, 38,844-square-foot clinic will feature 59 exam rooms and focus on primary care with specialties including: radiology, ultrasound, behavioral health, nutrition and physical therapy. The facility will be located on the property south of the existing clinic near ...Read more
Darland among Nebraska's safest companies
Darland was named one of 'Nebraska's Safest Companies 2019' by the National Safety Council, Nebraska Chapter in recognition of strong safety programming and a positive safety culture. Organizations recognized as being among "Nebraska's Safest Companies" must demonstrate their commitment to safety excellence through documentation of their safety programs, including OSHA logs of work-...Read more
Pacific Springs Center II opening this fall
Darland is underway on one of West Omaha's newest class A office buildings, Pacific Springs Center II, located on the northwest corner of 168th and Pacific Streets.
The two-story, 40,000-square-foot office complex features architectural precast, fiber cement cladding, glass storefront and an underground parking garage.
The area, known as...Read more
Darland underway on MHC Kenworth
MHC Kenworth has teamed up with Darland Construction to build its new location near highway 370 and Interstate 80 in Omaha. Construction began in November, with substantial completion expected this fall.
MHC Kenworth is a full service dealership network with more than 100 locations across 16 states.
The more than 107,000-square-foot building features precast walls,...Read more
CHI Valley View Clinic named "Best New Development"
The CHI Health Valley View Clinic in Council Bluffs received a 2018 HREI Insights Award on Dec. 6. The award, part of Healthcare Real Estate Insights™ (HREI) magazine's sixth annual national awards program, was presented during the RealShare Healthcare Conference in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Todd Varney of NexCore says the Council Bluffs project will serve as a prototype for...Read more
Growing business, LGT Transport settles, in to Omaha headquarters
Darland recently completed a 12,640-square-foot office and service center for cryogenic transportation company, LGT Transport. Just five years after its inception, LGT had grown into a nationwide company that was quickly outgrowing its modest Omaha headquarters. Following the recommendation of a relative, Owner Pam Spaccarotella consulted Darland for preliminary...Read more
Darland completes major remodel and expansion at Providence Medical Center
Darland recently completed a two-year expansion and remodel project at Providence Medical Center (PMC) in Wayne, Nebraska. The more than 80,000-square-foot project included the addition of a new, five-room emergency department and ambulance garage-with renovations to nearly every part of the hospital and upgrades to more than 75 percent of the building's electrical and mechanical...Read more


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A novel adaptive scoring system for segmentation validation with multiple reference masks
: Moltz, J.H.; Rühaak, J.; Hahn, H.K.; Peitgen, H.-O.
DOI: 10.1117/12.877813
Dawant, B.M. ; Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers -SPIE-, Bellingham/Wash.:
Medical Imaging 2011: Image Processing : 14 - 16 February 2011, Lake Buena Vista, Florida, United States
Bellingham, WA: SPIE, 2011 (Proceedings of SPIE 7962)
Paper 796214
Conference "Image Processing" <2011, Lake Buena Vista/Fla.>
The development of segmentation algorithms for different anatomical structures and imaging protocols is an important task in medical image processing. The validation of these methods, however, is often treated as a subordinate task. Since manual delineations, which are widely used as a surrogate for the ground truth, exhibit an inherent uncertainty, it is preferable to use multiple reference segmentations for an objective validation. This requires a consistent framework that should fulfill three criteria: 1) it should treat all reference masks equally a priori and not demand consensus between the experts; 2) it should evaluate the algorithmic performance in relation to the inter-reference variability, i.e., be more tolerant where the experts disagree about the true segmentation; 3) it should produce results that are comparable for different test data. We show why current state-of-the-art frameworks as the one used at several MICCAI segmentation challenges do not fulfill these criteria and propose a new validation methodology. A score is computed in an adaptive way for each individual segmentation problem, using a combination of volume- and surface-based comparison metrics. These are transformed into the score by relating them to the variability between the reference masks which can be measured by comparing the masks with each other or with an estimated ground truth. We present examples from a study on liver tumor segmentation in CT scans where our score shows a more adequate assessment of the segmentation results than the MICCAI framework.


Emergency Preparedness Week (EP Week) is an annual event that takes place each year during the first full week of May and is an opportunity to encourage Canadians to take concrete actions to be better prepared to protect themselves and their families during emergencies.
For more information, please contact info@GetPrepared.ca or call 1-800-830-3118.
This national event is coordinated by Public Safety Canada, in close collaboration with the provinces and territories and partners.


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It may seem to some an impossibly daunting task to be conscious of all the components that comprise food justice, but to Woke Foods founder's Merelis Catalina Ortiz and Ysanet Batista, it's their mission.
Their solution to being "Woke" about our food can be seen in all aspects of the food they create. It starts with sourcing ingredients from local gardens, then taking those ingredients and utilizing them to create plant-based dishes based on traditional Dominican dishes.
Catering of these healthy options is then offered to the community, with a focus on offering subsidized and affordable options to organizations that couldn't normally afford them.
As the company grows it wishes to hire more immigrant women, and empower them to become a voice for promoting food justice and food sovereignty around the world.
Woke Foods is currently crowdfunding to promote their endeavors. Find out more about their company and hire them for your events at their website.
WOKE FOODS
Woke Foods is NYC's first vegan Dominican kitchen. Founded by Merelis Catalina and Ysanet Batista, Woke Foods aims to bring Food Justice to NYC.
Food justice is an intersectional approach to being conscious about all aspects of the food we eat.
There's the environmental aspect which focuses on sustainable farming techniques, crucial in an era where too often companies leave land pumped full of nitrogen and depleted of all nutrients.
There's food sovereignty which focuses on land rights, essential to understand if we are to understand current and historical imperialism.
There's animal rights activism, a necessity that's clear to anyone who's seen the atrocities of factory farming.
There's economic inequality, which can be seen in the obesity fueled by malnourishment, most easily illustrated by the fact that one third of all adults of the United States are obese.
There's cultural sensitivity and awareness, seen too often in the commercialization of proud traditions, commercialization that ignores the very roots that those traditions wish to uphold.
Fighting For Food Justice
WOKE FOODS
Woke Foods:


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The Gaslight Anthem's drum setup in pictures
By David West 2011-03-02T17:15:00.6Z
Benny Horowitz talks kit, recording American Slang and click tracks
Benny Horowitz's drum setup
"I'm not the most technical or flair-y drummer," says Gaslight Anthem drummer Benny Horowitz. "I think my greatest attribute is to really pound away, to hit super hard and keep a song really trucking in the right direction. I want a constant state of motion."
Rhythm magazine spoke to Benny just as The Gaslight Anthem wrapped up the British leg of their last tour when the momentum was undeniably behind the band. Their second album, the '59 Sound, propelled the New Jersey rockers to international success and the follow-up, American Slang, only added to their rapidly growing army of ardent admirers.
Read more: Zildjian A Series City Pack
Among the exclusive shots of Benny's setup you'll see in this gallery are snippets from that interview, in which the drummer discusses his gear, the songwriting and recording process, his penchant for Motown, and the challenges of playing to a click track.
You can also check out Rhythm's current issue 187 fronted by Stone Sour's monster sticksman Roy Mayorga. Or subscribe to Rhythm here.
First up: a closer look at Benny Horowitz's drum kit
Dark Horse Percussion (live) and vintage Gretsch (studio)
Benny and producer Tim Hutt spent a day getting the right drum sound on American Slang, which involved playing mix and match with the gear. Benny tours with a set from Dark Horse Percussion, but the studio kit is another beast…
"I used some vintage stuff," he explains. "I used an old Gretsch kit…"
Next: snare and toms
Dark Horse snare and toms or Ludwig snare (studio)
Snare and toms
"…and we had this old Ludwig snare, 14"x7". I used my Dark Horse toms, my 12" from home and my 18" floor tom…"
Next: cymbals
Sabian AA and AAX, Zildjian ride
"…and I used my basic cymbal set-up, mostly Sabian with my Zildjian ride. I rented out some 15" hi-hats for the session. I really wanted kick, snare, hat to be big and as Motown-y as possible."
Next: single kick drums
"I really believe in making four drums sound awesome rather than compensating with extra stuff."
Single kick drum
Benny's four-piece set-up reflects his no-frills, no-nonsense mentality to his craft…
"If anything, through the years I've taken away pieces of my drumset more than adding."
"I'm a strict advocate of single kick drum. I really believe in making four drums sound awesome rather than compensating with extra stuff. If you're playing anything involved in rock, you've got to get your snare, kick, hi-hat patterns and you better have a lot of them in your piggy-bank too."
Next: songwriting
"Getting together in a room and just starting to jam is fun but it doesn't usually turn into anything more worthwhile."
(Image credit: Robb D. Cohen/Retna Ltd./Corbis)
Where some groups like to jam and see what they come up with, Benny prefers to work from a sketch of a song rather than a blank canvas.
"Getting together in a room and just starting to jam is fun but it doesn't usually turn into anything more worthwhile.
"Brian is the main lyricist and songwriter, so typically a song will start with Brian having a riff or sometimes a song that he has the lyrics and melody to but no music. Typically it starts out with some sort of demo Brian comes up with and he brings it to the chopping block.
"We cut and paste and arrange and after that it's a pretty open process."
Next: writing drum parts
"I make a very active effort to play for the song, not for myself."
(Image credit: Anil Sharma ./Retna Ltd./Corbis)
Writing drum parts
"With writing drum parts, I really appreciate it when Brian has a melody constructed when he brings in the song because I try to write to the hook and the melody."
For his own parts, Benny is not interested in busting chops...
"I make a very active effort to play for the song, not for myself," he says. Yet despite the drummer's dedication to meticulously crafting grooves and not showboating, he can still run up against the producer in the studio.
"It's always a battle with me being produced because I'm pretty pig-nosed about my parts once I write them. If it's a song we've been comfortable with and practising for a while and I already have fills and little nuances mapped out, I hate changing it.
"It's part of the give-and-take of working with somebody and trying to hear something as a whole."
Next: Motown soul
"I grew up with a lot of Motown through my father. I've been fairly obsessed with it for the last couple of years…"
(Image credit: Denny Mack ./Retna Ltd./Corbis)
One element that quickly comes to the fore when listening to Benny's playing is his love for Motown. Beneath the punk exterior of the Gaslight Anthem lies a heart pulsing to the beat of classic soul.
"I grew up with a lot of Motown through my father. I've been fairly obsessed with it for the last couple of years, ever since I got over being too hardcore.
"Once I hit 15 or 16, if something wasn't super fast and super heavy I had no interest in it. It took me years to re-develop my ear for melody. I gave it a rest for a long time."
Next: Dance floor grooves
"I don't think a lot of people write like that anymore, with those four-on-the-floor beats…"
Dance floor grooves
Benny's approach is built around maximising the potential of his kick, snare and hi-hat, like the drummers of Motown who laid down their grooves for the dance floor.
"I listen to some of that stuff and the rhythms are not that hard, they are pretty simple, but if you follow these basic recipes for their rhythms you can create so much action inside of it.
"That's why I feel that my parts aren't particularly difficult to play but they are difficult to write. I don't think a lot of people write like that anymore, with those four-on-the-floor beats and doing things with a repetitive kick drum pattern in the middle of a beat just to give it that extra dance element.
"That's definitely something I try to do."
Next: Recording with a click track
"I believe in push and pull in music. I don't think that rock music should be written along a flat line."
(Image credit: Anil Sharma/Retna Ltd./Corbis)
Recording with a click track
For American Slang, the band recorded using a click track, which poses its own challenges for any drummer looking to capture a feeling.
"The thing that took a while was learning how to play inside the click, which is a skill in itself.
"I believe in push and pull in music. I don't think that rock music should be written along a flat line. Speeding up and slowing down when it feels right is fine and I personally don't have a big issue with it or even pay much attention to it. That was something I had to learn, to be able to do that inside the click, which is possible. It's hard, but possible.
"That was my biggest hurdle, to get some groove and some dimension to the drums without going off the click."
Now check out Rhythm's current issue 187 fronted by Stone Sour's monster sticksman Roy Mayorga. Or subscribe to Rhythm here for a monthly dose of new gear reviews, kit buying guides, pro drum lessons and all-star interviews.
Liked this? Now read: Band Of Horses' drum setup in pictures
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WAO Presents: "Butane-Bob and the Blue Flames"!
Set 1 (101 megs)
Not only was Tuesday, January 26th (2010) the last 'Woodland Acoustic Orchestra' show (a tradition that I was surprised to look back and discover started all the way back in February of 2007 with the original 4-piece lineup of Philpin, Smith, Strauss, and Woods and "Neon Brown Beats the Rainbows out of Kittens"), but it was also the last 'Neon Brown Presents:' show, (a tradition that's been running twice a month since summer solstice of 2002 ... but more on that in my NBP wrap-up post.)
Befitting just such a momentous finale, we had a huuuuge orchestra, including long-time collaborators TQ Berg (guitar and voice), William Precht (accordion, bass-box-drum, and others), Dave Foley (stick-tambourine) Dennis Jolin (ukelele and voice), Ian McKagen (guitar and voice), Jesse Silvertrees (djembe and voice), Daniel Nelon (voice), Bill Wolford (banjo and iPod), and Me Woods (bass-box, trumpet, percussion, voice), *plus* first-timers Elliot Levin (guitar) and "this guy", whose name I never did learn. Anybody? ...not to mention the spirit of John Foss on 'super-barista'!!!
After a fantastic 6-8pm DJ set by Skoi and a speedy setup, we kicked it off with a "3, 2, 1 Lunch" (what Tina and I say before hoisting Lucy up over our heads) and rolled our bittersweet way to 10pm with a steady cascade of grooves -- shifted periodically by our traditional white-board-based signaling system -- and lyrics -- improvised on the spot either from the evening's theme or some other half-conscious brain-tickle brought to the fore and decorated.
With the late start and the momentum provided by the strong collective vibe, it was really just a single set, with only a brief stall at 9:20-ish as we unplugged Elliot and Bill and added William. But I might break it up there, depending on how it feels on a second listen. (Aw screw it! I'm leaving it all there for posterity. There's a bit of entertaining banter there and the rest is a pretty nice sound-collage-intermission.)
All in all, it was a great glowing musical celebration and a fitting farewell to the series at Mr. Spot's Chai House. (Thanks to Robert and Tina for the photos!)
Posted by F R E E L A B at 6:01 PM 8 comments:
Juggler's Challenge Revival (Episode 25)
Prelude (11 megs)
Here's a Juggler's Challenge Revival show that is noteworthy in so many ways! Just looking at a couple of "set-and-setting" factors, it was the first show on our new Tuesday slot, but then -- with the sudden news of the closure of the Chai House at the end of January -- unexpectedly also became our last JCR show! (...for quite some time, at least) I'll try to talk more about some of the significance of that in February, but for now lets return to the specifics of Episode 25:
The band for the evening was a tight quartet of TQ Berg (guitar), Dennis Jolin (guitar), Jesse Silvertrees (djembe, voice, and piano), and Me Woods (keyboard and voice). Challengers included a few Chai House regulars and several old friends who had come out to help celebrate the last JCR for a while.
Set 1 warmed up with a deep, melancholy prelude of Def Leppard style guitar-arpeggiations. TQ picked up a variant of Dennis' line so quickly here that I didn't know who had started first and was convinced it must have been a riff that TQ had been playing with at home (Dennis is playing it first on the recording at least, but who knows what happened before I started up the Edirol...?). Then at the beginning of set 2 -- where TQ *did* start off with a riff from one of his old compositions (omitted here in the recording) -- Dennis somehow telepathically hooks up and spontaneously weaves a spot-on 2nd guitar part. Especially in the second case, I was certain they must've been rehearsing these bits, but apparently not!
Finished challenge-sheets started appearing near the projector during the prelude, starting with a "musical experience in 10 words or less" and continuing through fresh new versions of just about all of the current challenge styles. Highlights appear throughout the evening, but some of my favorite 'juggles' of the night happen towards the end of Set 1, including one of my favorite Abstract Graphical Scores (built entirely of recognizable forms while nonetheless retaining strong abstract (gestural) properties), another highly exploratory and rousing version of "5 Adjectives", and a particularly ridiculous version of "The Key" to close the set.
Set 2 had some fun moments as well, jumping right in with a truncated story about Sasquatch the Labor Negotiator and continuing boozily through to the closing "Style Blender".
So that's about it for this one for me. While we're quickly coming to the end of the NBP (at Mr. Spot's Chai House) recordings, I wouldn't worry about this blog drying up any time soon. I doubt that even this sad situation is going to be able to kick this 'walking-with-spontaneous-music-and-worshipping-the-footprints' monkey off my back. But man, it's gonna be tough both to leave this fantastic ongoing gig at the Chai House behind and to try to decipher some of its significance for me. Luckily there's still one left so I can put that off for now! :) So, if you're reading this before Tuesday, January 26th, 2010, there's still time to come out and celebrate one last time with us as the 'Woodland Acoustic Orchestra'. As always, please add your own liner-notes here in the comments and I hope to see you again soon!


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Report: Water near Memphis coal ash dump ranked among worst in the country for arsenic contamination
Micaela A Watts
Memphis' Sand aquifer is sitting below one of the most polluted coal ash landfills in the country, and levels of arsenic found in the nearby groundwater are 350 times higher than what is considered safe, according to a study by the Environmental Integrity Project.
The report analyzed industry data available to the public for the first time, as a result of an Obama-era coal regulation that took effect in 2015.
Ten power plants across the nation were identified as having the highest levels of pollutants found in groundwater near coal ash ponds. The Tennessee Valley Authority's Allen Fossil plant is one of them.
The Allen Fossil plant's three coal-powered units retired in 2018.
The study, released Monday, follows a recent report from the U.S. Geological Survey that revealed this contaminated groundwater is "hydraulically connected" to the Memphis Sand aquifer, the city's source for drinking water.
The arsenic levels are found in the shallow aquifer. Memphis' drinking water comes from a deeper source. Separating the two is a thin layer of clay.
However, a report released Friday by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) acknowledges the clay barrier separating the shallow aquifer from the deeper Memphis Sand aquifer is absent in a testing site near the coal ash pond.
TVA is adamant the plume of contaminated groundwater is not moving towards the deep aquifer where drinking water is derived from.
TVA, operators of the Allen plant, also say there is no evidence the drinking water supply contains the high levels of arsenic.
Further, TVA says Memphis Light, Gas & Water has been unable to find evidence of high concentrations of arsenic in the city's drinking water.
TVA says they have already begun the work of finding a solution that meets federal guidelines.
After learning of the arsenic levels present in the groundwater, Rep. Steve Cohen is calling for a congressional hearing from the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure in order to examine the "impact and effects of all coal ash plants and coal ash dumps on groundwater quality, human health, and aquatic life," according to a letter released by Cohen.
"If this is true," Cohen wrote, "it is obviously alarming."
Civic pressure
According to their website, the Environmental Integrity Project is a nonpartisan, nonprofit environmental watchdog group comprised of public interest attorneys, investigators, industry analysts and community activists.
Their report identifies coal plants containing high levels of pollutants and also provides recommended guidelines for eliminating toxic threats coming from coal ash ponds.
The report isn't exactly a surprise to Scott Banbury, the conservation program coordinator for Tennessee's Sierra Club chapter.
"Removing this threat to our city's drinking water should be a top priority for all elected officials in Shelby County and Tennessee," Banbury said. "We hope that TVA does the right thing and removes the toxic coal ash from these ponds and reinters it in an appropriately engineered landfill."
Protect Our Aquifer, a civic group that has concentrated its efforts on stricter groundwater regulations and raising public awareness, has been monitoring threats to the Memphis Sand aquifer since 2016.
Along with the Sierra Club, the aquifer group has been monitoring each development of not only the coal ash ponds, but also TVA efforts to draw 3.5 million gallons a day from the Memphis Sand aquifer to cool the new Allen Combined Cycle plant, powered by natural gas.
The water used to cool the Combined Cycle plant would come from five wells drilled by TVA.
Currently, strict limitations have been placed on the wells by the Shelby County Health Department. TVA can only use the wells for short periods for regular maintenance, research purposes, or if water from MLGW is not available and the plant is heading towards a catastrophic event.
"We also hope that TVA will make the investments necessary to utilize grey water from the T.E. Maxson Sewer Treatment Plant to cool their new gas-fired electric generation facility, as originally envisioned, and forgo the use of water from our precious Memphis Sand Aquifer," Banbury said.
TVA has some steps ahead
TVA spokesperson Scott Brooks said the report's results do not come as a surprise to them.
"We don't disagree with those numbers. This is information that we found from groundwater monitors that we installed in 2017," Brooks said. "This is an example of the CCR Rule working as it should. Once we found those elevated numbers, we reported those to TDEC."
The CCR, or Coal Combustion Residuals Rule, is an Environmental Protection Agency order that requires companies operating coal plants to study whether associated pollutants that result from coal-powered plants contaminate the groundwater.
In accordance with that rule, TVA has been monitoring contaminates at the Allen plant, and updated their findings as recently as Friday.
Brooks said that TVA is now looking ahead, as the power supplier begins to address pollution.
"TVA is conducting a remedial investigation on the arsenic exceedances found in the shallow aquifer and has provided TDEC with a recommended interim corrective action to address the environmental impacts," Brooks said.
TVA also says field work on the corrective action is expected to begin in 2019 as TVA explores the best course for removing or closing the coal ash pond.