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by Dora Hughes
1 year ago 0 818
Online gambling fans in the Netherlands are set to face further frustration with the announcement of new delays in the launch of online gaming in the country. Reports from the country indicate that the much heralded Remote Gambling Act will take effect from March 1 next year, while the market itself will not open for betting until September 1 2021.
The news was revealed in a letter to the lower house of the Dutch parliament from the Minister for Legal Protection, Sander Dekker. He confirmed that the legislation would now come into force two months later than had originally been planned, while the market will open six months later. Outlining the reasons for the delay, Dekker said that it was necessary for all of the parties involved in the promulgation of the law and the market launch to have enough time to prepare.
The launch of online gambling in the Netherlands was initially planned for January 2020, but November 2019, the national gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) pushed back the date to 1 July, 2021. Yet it became clear in the summer that those plans were at risk, due to the effect of the pandemic. Speaking in June, Dekker had warned that a further delay was possible.
Elaborating on the decision, KSA said that the delay was the result of discussions with a range of stakeholders and that the Minister had consulted widely.
The new gambling rules have already been submitted by the Netherlands government to the European Commission for approval. The rules include a requirement for gambling licensees to create a policy on gambling addiction prevention. They also demand that a process must be put in place that require players to set a credit limit on their account, along with a number of reporting requirements, new record keeping rules and some fresh technical standards. The new regulations will also heavily restrict bonuses and will limit gambling advertising to the 21:00 to 06:00 period. Outside of these hours, it will be illegal for any customer to receive gambling promotions.


It has been said that all home improvement projects are a hassle, but that is only the case if you aren't doing them the right way. Home improvement is much simpler if you know what you're doing. By following the advice in this article, any home improvement project that you undertake will be a success.
To stop squeaks, use construction adhesive. It is best to work your way up from inside the crawlspace or in the basement. What you do is use a caulking gun, then run a line down every floor joist. That way, your floor all sticks together.
Get new metal fixtures for your bathroom. You can find a wide variety of shapes, colors and finishes in accessory fixtures like towel racks, cabinet pulls and shower rods. In many cases, a coordinated set of hardware comes in a single, handy package. Installing one of these sets is a simple one-day (or even one-afternoon) project.
Do not hire a contractor without checking their references first. Consider it as if you're hiring employees for a business. You need to do a background check and make sure they are reliable.
Prudent advance planning is the key to successful home improvement work. Leaving important decisions unmade until the day the work gets done is a recipe for disaster. You could make the wrong choices, or delay your project by not making any decisions at all. Your project will stay on time and on budget if you plan it out in advance.
Understand what products you use to clean clogs from your drains. Some types of drain cleaners are very harsh and dangerous. Don't used drain cleaners that are crystallized; these often stick to pipes and cause damage. Your drain cleaner should be compatible with the septic tank.
Seal your tile grout. Unfortunately, grout has lots and lots of open pores. When left unsealed, water can easily leak into the grout, causing mildew and mold to grow. Grout without sealant is easier to stain, too. By sealing grout, you will save on cleaning time, and also keep you from having to do frequent repairs and replacements due to mold.
Individual solar lights can be obtained cheaply, and come in a number of different styles, but they won't do much apart from look pretty. If you want lights that highlight a walkway, consider electric models. Although the equipment is more expensive and the installation is more complex, these lights are far more reliable and durable than their solar cousins.
If you think that you need to spruce up the look of the outside of the house, think about putting in a pergola. Pergolas have become very popular among homeowners who wish to give their yards a natural, shaded look. If a few friends pitch in to help you out, the entire kit can be finished before the weekend is over.
Proper advice can make your next home improvement project easier. If you're aware of the right way to complete a home improvement project, the entire process will be much easier. Take notice of the advice that is offered here to you next time you are considering undertaking a home improvement project.


The Canadian Museum of Nature is a natural history museum in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Its collections, which were started by the Geological Survey of Canada in 1856, include all aspects of the intersection of human society and nature, from gardening to gene-splicing.
Conservation Areas Ontario's Conservation Areas are just steps away fromyour front door and offer unique outdoor experiences to millions of visitors each year!
Ontario Parks With over 330 parks, covering 9 million hectares that attract over 10 million visits each year, there is a lot to discover!
Mario Cortellucci Hunting and Fishing Heritage Centre The OFAH's centre boasts a large collection of Canadian wildlife on display and the chance to see Ontario's warm water fish, live in our giant Shimano Aquarium.
Royal Botanical Gardens Over 1,100 hectares (2,700 acres) of breathtaking gardens and spectacular nature sanctuaries, conveniently located mid-way between Toronto and Niagara Falls.
Royal Ontario Museum Explore an exceptional array of themed galleries throughout the Museum, spanning both world cultures and natural history. With six million objects in the ROM's collections, there's something new to discover around every corner.
Toronto Zoo The Toronto Zoo is Canada's premier zoo with over 5000 animals representing +460 species in various Regions and Pavilions based on geographical locations.
High Park Nature High Park is a great place for people living in Toronto and looking for a place to explore nature right in the city. There are also lots of resources on their website.


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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TFA Spies on you. | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing
TFA Spies on you. | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing:
TFA Spies on you.
From the TFA website:
YOUR INFORMATION ABOUT WHAT TFA DOES WITH YOUR INFORMATION:
https://www.teachforamerica.org/privacy-policy
"In order to access certain features and benefits on our Website, you may need to submit "Personally Identifiable Information" (i.e., information that can be traced back to you). Personally Identifiable Information can include information such as your name, home address, telephone number, and email address. You are responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the Personally Identifiable Information you submit to Teach For America. Inaccurate information may affect your ability to use the Website, the information you receive when using the Website, and our ability to contact you.
When users come to our Website, we may track, collect, and aggregate Non-Personal Information indicating, among other things, which pages of our Website were visited, the order in which they were visited, and which hyperlinks were "clicked." Collecting such information may involve logging the IP address, operating system, and browser software used by each user of the TFA Spies on you. | DCGEducator: Doing The Right Thing:
CURMUDGUCATION: PA: New Face for Old Pearson Scam
CURMUDGUCATION: PA: New Face for Old Pearson Scam:
PA: New Face for Old Pearson Scam
Online Public Schools Are a Disaster, Admits Billionaire, Charter School-Promoter Walton Family Foundation - http://go.shr.lc/28sCTkU
If you are in Pennsylvania, you may have been seeing advertising for Commonwealth Charter Academy. CCA avoids calling itself a cyber-anything, but it is in fact one more cyber charter littering the Pennsylvania landscape. As with many schools pushing the tech solution to education issues, it leans heavily on "personalized learning" and markets itself as a family approach. That seems to be aimed at the idea of cyber-school as a source of family togetherness and not the time-honored practice of having parents complete their children's cyber-homework.
CCA may not be a familiar name because it is a new name. It previously marketed itself as Commonwealth Connections Academy. And while its press release about the name change says that the charter is "a fully independent public cyber charter school governed by a Pennsylvania-based board of directors," that's not quite right. Connections Academy is the cyber school chain owned by Pearson.
The superintendent CEO of CCA is Dr. Maurice Flurie. Flurie has a nice solid PA background, holding degrees from Duquesne, Lock Haven, Shippensburg and-- well, okay-- his original Bachelor's Degree was from the Tennessee Technological University, and it was in Health/Physical Education. He was an Asst to the Superintendent in Lower Dauphin before moving over to Connections. And he is still (since 2000) an adjunct professor at Wilkes University, a PA university that does big business in on-line classes. The "Dr." comes from his Ed. D in Educational Leadership.
Flurie has been among the cyber-school voices whining about Governor Tom Wolf's proposals to end CURMUDGUCATION: PA: New Face for Old Pearson Scam:
Pat Kelly & Thought Leadering
Thanks to reader Robert D. Skeels. This is just too fun not to pass along.
1 by Peter Greene / 5h hi
Thought Leader Duncan Has Another New Job
Arne Duncan continues to build that resume. He was already signed on with Emerson Collective, the philanthropic mish-mash of Steve Jobs widow; in that position, he is poised to work on the youth unemployment problems of Chicago.Now comes word that Duncan has joined the board of directors for Pluralsign.If you aren't a tech professional, you may not recognize Pluralsign's name, but they've been in
37 by Peter Greene / 20h
Common Core Standards (Still) Don't Cut It
Every few years the ACT folks unleash a big ole survey to find out what's actually going on Out There in the world of school stuff. This year's survey drew at least 2,000 respondents each from elementary and secondary schools, as well as college and workplace respondents. The whole package is eighty-eight pages, and I've read it, and while you don't have to, you might still want to. There are seve
46 by Peter Greene / 1d hide // save
Chester Finn's Charter Market Worries
Chester Finn, honcho emeritus of the right-tilted Fordham Institute, was back on the Fordham blog this week to continue his charter school series with a look at what he thinks are three "market malfunctions in the charter sector." Man, I just love the word "sector"- it sounds so clean and neat, not like marketplace or business. Honey, I'm going to get a tub of popcorn in the sn
13 by Peter Greene / 1d
The SAT-- Worse Than You Think
Folks have been questioning the accuracy, validity and usefulness of the SAT for decades, and the chorus of criticism only increased when College Board, the test manufacturing company responsible for the SAT, brought in Common Core architect David Coleman to take over. Coleman's fast and ugly rewrite of the venerable test was intended to bring it in line with the K-12 standards of Common Core. Col
100+ by Peter Greene / 1d
BustED Pencils Trending News: WWMDMS 2/12/16; WALK; Sweeping; Poetic; Riddled | BustED Pencils
BustED Pencils Trending News: WWMDMS 2/12/16; WALK; Sweeping; Poetic; Riddled | BustED Pencils: "
BustED Pencils Radio – What Would Matt Damon's Mom Say? (WWMDMS)
WWMDMS – 2/12/16
Considering that Nancy is a teacher educator I wonder what she thinks about "alternative" teacher credentialing? Listen up! Related Posts:Anthony CodyWWMDMS – 4/8/16WWMDMS – 3-26-16WWMDMS – 4/22/16Rebel Teacher
LET NOAH WALK!!! Sign this petition in support of Noah, it's not to late and it might just work!! http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/let-noah-walk-with-his-senior-class
BustED Pencils supports you Noah!! We are busting pencils for you!
High schooler with immune disorder told he can't walk in graduation
http://www.channel3000.com/news/High-schooler-with-immune-disorder-told-he-can-t-walk-in-graduation/39988728
Sweeping the country.
Off the Deep End: The Swim Test vs. The Standardized Test
http://www.progressive.org/pss/deep-end-swim-test-vs-standardized-test
What if a poem was judged by the number of characters??
Assessing Our Children to Death
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-nelson/assessing-our-children-to_b_9708510.html
Riddled with technical glitches!!!!!!
Technical glitches plague computer-based standardized tests nationwide
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/technical-glitches-plague-computer-based-standardized-tests-nationwide/2016/04/13/21178c7e-019c-11e6-9203-7b8670959b88_story.html?wpisrc=nl_draw
Get BustED Pencils Trending News to come right to your in-box!
Enter your email under "SUBSCRIBE" on our Home or Trending News page at bustedpencils.com
BustED Pencils Trending News: WWMDMS 2/12/16; WALK; Sweeping; Poetic; Riddled | BustED Pencils: " "
Common Core is Destroying our Children Badass Teachers Association
Badass Teachers Association:
Common Core is Destroying our Children
By: Robyn Brydalski
Let me begin with: I am not a psychologist, brain researcher or doctor. I am not a behaviorist, counselor or psychiatrist but I am willing to go out on a limb with my seventeen years of teaching experience to make a carte blanche statement:
Common Core Curriculum is destroying our children.
Rigor, fidelity, efficacy, pacing and stamina are the devil's dealings. We have lost sight of our children and how they learn best. It is June in my classroom. There are less than two weeks to go and my students are falling apart. My building is falling apart. The children are out of control. With the black cloud of state testing moving east (until the results are sent to us sometime in September), many teachers are trying to have fun with their students but Reader's Theater, visiting the playground, free play, celebrating writing, participating in self determined book clubs and exploring Science and Social Studies have left our students in a tizzy. The children should be laughing, engaged and having just plain fun, the exact opposite is happening. They are using words to lash out at one another, physical aggression to release anger, refusing to comply with adult directives and disengaging from the teacher, classroom and school.
We have created these negative behaviors. At the start of the school year, we ignored the child. We ran straight out of the starting gates so that we would not fall behind on the pacing Badass Teachers Association:
The Summer Reading Rigor Rebellion
The Summer Reading Rigor Rebellion:
If middle school students require summer reading assignments to coax them to read, shouldn't we be looking at what went wrong with reading instruction in elementary school? By the time a student reaches middle school, shouldn't they like to read?
Yesterday I noticed some of these summer reading assignments posted online. Reading rigor is found everywhere.
But why don't students jump off the school bus at the end of 6th 7th or 8th grade and race to their local library or bookstore? Why don't they automatically start reading stories on their tablets, or on the computer?
It is not that older students who dislike reading can't get help and encouragement to be better, happier readers. It just doesn't seem like piling on reading assignments over the summer is going to do the trick.
And it could be turning off the students who enjoy reading! Once reading is turned into a chore, it is hard to make it sound enjoyable.
Summer Reading in the Past vs. Present
Studying the assigned summer work, I was also thankful I am not a student. My The Summer Reading Rigor Rebellion:
The Crucial Need to Expand the Non-White Teacher Pipeline
The Crucial Need to Expand the Non-White Teacher Pipeline:
MONKEYBUSINESSIMAGES VIA GETTY IMAGES
"If not for the teachers that I had at PS 276 in Canarsie and Mark Twain Junior High School in Coney Island, New York, I would not be alive today. Maybe I'd be in jail today. But those teachers, they chose to invest in me and to see hope and possibility. Folks could have said, 'Here's a young African-American, Latino male student going to New York City Schools with a family in crisis. What chance does he have?' They could've given up on me, but they didn't. They chose to make school this place that was amazing and inspiring and engaging every day. This is what you can bring to students . . . That sense of possibility, that sense of hope, that opportunity to be a child, that opportunity to love and enjoy learning. That is the power that we have as educators, and I hope you will seize that moment. That you will see potential in each of your children."
-Secretary of Education John B. King, Jr., speaking at the Children's Defense Fund Freedom Schools® National Training
The Children's Defense Fund (CDF) has just completed a week of national training for nearly 2,000 college students and recent graduates preparing to teach in CDF Freedom Schools summer literacy programs across the country. Most come from the communities they serve and are role models for the children they serve. It is hard to dream of college and what you can be in the future if you don't see it and we are so proud of the young, energetic, hardworking and committed servant leaders who spend very long hours preparing to serve more than 11,000 low–income children when they return home to 95 cities and communities in 27 states, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. I hope many or most of them will become public school teachers who love, respect, and set high expectations for every child in their care. Since 1995 more than 17,000 college–aged students, public school teachers and juvenile detention personnel have come to CDF–Alex Haley Farm for training to teach in summer Freedom Schools. Many have gone on to become teachers, principals, administrators, college professors and more.
They are filling a great need. Secretary of Education John B. King, Jr. was among the extraordinary leaders who spoke to and inspired them this year. As our first Puerto Rican-African American Secretary of Education he spoke movingly of losing his mother at 8 and his father at 12 and how caring teachers saved his life and put him on the path to success. He graduated from Harvard University, Columbia University's Teachers College, and Yale Law School. He stressed the crucial importance of building a strong multiracial and multicultural teacher pipeline to inspire and guide all of our children — especially those who are poor and non–White. Students of color constitute a majority in our schools but teachers of color constitute only 18 percent of their faculties. Unless we are able to encourage many more talented students and teachers of color to enter and stay in the profession, this "mismatch" will only get worse. In a Washington Post Op–Ed Secretary King noted, "We have strong evidence that students of color benefit from having teachers who are positive role models, as well as from the changes in classroom dynamics that result. Teachers of color often have higher expectations for students of color, are more likely to use culturally relevant teaching practices, are more likely to confront racism in their lessons and, yes, also serve as advocates."
On May 6 Secretary King and the U.S. Department of Education held a National Summit on Teacher Diversity where education leaders, researchers, policymakers, teachers, and students spoke about the value of a diverse teaching force. Researchers noted that Black and Hispanic children in schools with high The Crucial Need to Expand the Non-White Teacher Pipeline:
Political theorist Danielle Allen worries that Americans aren't being properly educated for citizenship - WSJ
In Pursuit of Political Equality - WSJ:
In Pursuit of Political Equality
Political theorist Danielle Allen worries that Americans aren't being properly educated for citizenship
Danielle Allen PHOTO: JASON GROW FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
After writing an article critical of Donald Trump a few months ago, the political theoristDanielle Allen received dozens of racist tweets and emails from his supporters, one with a picture of a noose. But it hasn't stopped her from being heartened by one aspect of this election cycle: the increased voter turnout that helped Mr. Trump become the presumptive Republican nominee for president. She has long argued for more civic participation and engagement in the political system—and not just for people who share her own political views.
Dr. Allen responded to some of her critics directly and to others in open letters published online. She advised them to read the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Federalist Papers, and to think about issues like the character of public officials and the principles of constitutionalism. If Americans were better equipped to reflect on their laws and the promises of politicians, she believes, they would elect more thoughtful and less divisive leaders.
Dr. Allen, 44, a government professor at Harvard University and director of its Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics, is a big proponent of political equality—the idea that every American should play an active role in the workings of our democracy.
It is the subject of her 2014 book, "Our Declaration," a conversational analysis of the Declaration of Independence. The book was inspired by a night class she taught to low-income adult students in Chicago from 1999 to 2009, while she was at the University of Chicago and, later, at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, N.J. Her night students made her realize, she says, that "the Declaration of Independence is the story of human agency"—that is, of how diverse individuals join together in a shared public life.
Unlike her students at the university, her night students tended to apply the Declaration—and their other readings, from Sophocles' "Antigone" to Shakespeare's sonnets—to their own lives. They talked about issues like policing, unemployment and education and compared them to the frustrations the colonists once had under England's rule. Dr. Allen felt that the Declaration was inspiring them to take charge and try to change their own In Pursuit of Political Equality - WSJ:
Michigan legislature approves Detroit school bailout: What's next? - CSMonitor.com
Michigan legislature approves Detroit school bailout: What's next? (+video) - CSMonitor.com:
Michigan legislature approves Detroit school bailout: What's next? (+video)
Michigan lawmakers passed a bill that will keep Detroit's public schools from going bankrupt, but critics say it doesn't do as much as it could have for the public schools.
Big Education Ape: Mindless Underfunding Of Schools Continues, Doing Irreparable Harm To Kids - http://go.shr.lc/1tmLxSc
After hours of emotional debate, Michigan's Legislature approved a $617-million rescue plan for the Detroit Public Schools late last night. Yet, many say, there still is much to be done for the state's public schools.
The school rescue bill passed with the narrowest possible margin in both the House of Representatives and the state Senate, with votes of 55-54 and 19-18 respectively. The bill will now go to Michigan governor Rick Snyder for approval.
Although some say that the legislature could have done more to deal with Detroit's structural problems, others say the bill accomplishes the most important task: eliminating Detroit's debt.
"We're disappointed in many aspects," Terrence Martin, the executive vice president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers told The Christian Science Monitor, "but we remain steadfast, and we are treading forward. The good thing is that we have a school district, and that we have a school board."
Detroit's public school system has struggled for years, plagued by declining enrollment and poor facilities.
In January this year, Detroit's teachers (forbidden from striking) engaged in "sickouts"to protest inadequate facilities and educational materials. More than 50 of Detroit's schools, which serve approximately 46,000 students, were closed because of the protests.
Months later, in early May, educators again took part in sickouts to protest the city's admission that, despite a short-term bailout, itdid not have the funds required to pay teacher salaries though the summer months.
If Governor Snyder approves the legislation, which he is expected to do, the Detroit Public Schools will receive $617 million to settle existing debt. Although many are calling this a bailout, Mr. Martin told the Monitor that as the existing debt was run up by the state of Michigan while it had control Michigan legislature approves Detroit school bailout: What's next? (+video) - CSMonitor.com:
Legislature should move on teacher tenure reform - San Francisco Chronicle
Legislature should move on teacher tenure reform - San Francisco Chronicle:
Legislature should move on teacher tenure reform
Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla seeks common ground on education reform.
Vergara vs. State of California, the legal challenge to California's highly contested teacher tenure and seniority laws, continues to wind its way through the courts. The California Supreme Court needs to make the final call about the detrimental impact of these laws on California's most disadvantaged students. But California's students can't wait, which is why we're encouraged that state Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, D-Concord, is taking action now.
Bonilla's bill, AB934, is a careful and comprehensive reform of the teacher tenure system. A former teacher herself, Bonilla said in a Chronicle editorial meeting that she's "not interested in blowing up public education."
Indeed, the centerpiece of AB934 is an innovative teacher support and coaching program that's already been proved successful.
Called peer assistance review, it would require districts to provide struggling teachers with high-quality coaching and development programs, and AB934 would make it mandatory for every school district.
"It provides what the teacher has been begging for, which is: support me," Bonilla said.
AB934 would give teachers who have received unsatisfactory evaluations at least a year of support from the peer assistance review program. Only after offering teachers support and training would districts be allowed to dismiss those who remain ineffective in the classroom.
"I really do feel there's a transformational possibility here," Bonilla said. "Fixing this mechanism will bring relief to the whole system."
As far as the dismissal process itself, AB934 doesn't deny teachers due process — but it does bring some much-needed clarity and transparency to a system that's long frustrated the public.
The new dismissal process requires binding arbitration, much like the process that's currently used for other school district employees.
It requires an arbitrator's decision within 60 days, to avoid an exhausting and never-ending dismissal process.
It also requires school districts to balance evaluations with seniority when it comes to teacher Legislature should move on teacher tenure reform - San Francisco Chronicle:
California 'virtual' academies: Bill targets for-profit operator K12 Inc. - San Jose Mercury News
California 'virtual' academies: Bill targets for-profit operator K12 Inc. - San Jose Mercury News:
California 'virtual' academies: Bill targets for-profit operator K12 Inc.
SACRAMENTO -- Online charter schools would be prohibited from hiring for-profit firms to provide instructional services under a new bill that the author says is a direct response to this newspaper's investigation of the company behind a profitable but low-performing network of "virtual" academies.
That company is K12 Inc., a publicly traded Virginia firm that allows students who spend as little as one minute during a school day logged onto its software to be counted as "present," as it reaps tens of millions of dollars annually in state funding while graduating fewer than half of its high school students. Students who live almost anywhere south of Humboldt County may sign up for one of the company's schools.
File photo:Former California Virtual Academies student Elizabeth Novak-Galloway, 12, plays a video game on her laptop in her San Francisco home on Feb. 18, 2016. (Dai Sugano/Staff archives)
Assembly Bill 1084, authored by Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, D-Concord, would prevent charter schools that do more than 80 percent of their teaching online from being operated by for-profit companies or hiring them to facilitate instruction. If passed and signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown, the legislation would effectively put companies like K12 out of business in the Golden State.
"Our taxpayer dollars should be spent in the classroom to help our students, not used to enrich a company's shareholders or drive up its profits," Bonilla said in an interview.
But K12 spokesman Mike Kraft railed against the proposal, calling it "another cynical effort to take away the rights of parents to choose the way their kids are educated."
"This bill is nothing more than a PR effort designed to appease big money special interests that hide in the shadows, harming California families," Kraft wrote in an email, alluding to the support teachers unions have given to similar legislation in the past.
"Today, more than 14,000 California children attend virtual public charter schools, many in the Assemblymember's own district," Kraft added. "How many of their families has she spoken with before deciding to try to take away their choice?"
Before the newspaper's two-part investigative series was published in April, Bonilla said, she didn't know how wide the achievement gap was between students enrolled in K12's California Virtual Academies and those who attend other public schools. But the more sheCalifornia 'virtual' academies: Bill targets for-profit operator K12 Inc. - San Jose Mercury News:
May 31:
K12 Inc.: Bay Area lawmakers call for audit of California Virtual Academies operator
Apr 19:
California Virtual Academies defend online charter schools as model of school choice
K12 Inc. statement about investigation of California schools
California Virtual Academy: San Mateo board's statement about investigation
Documents: Financial, organizational ties between K12 Inc. and California Virtual Academies
K12 Inc.: California Virtual Academies' operator exploits charter, charity laws for money, records show
California Virtual Academies: Is online charter school network cashing in on failure?
TFA Spies on you. | DCGEducator: Doing The Right T...
BustED Pencils Trending News: WWMDMS 2/12/16; WALK...
Common Core is Destroying our Children Badass Teac...
The Crucial Need to Expand the Non-White Teacher P...
Political theorist Danielle Allen worries that Ame...
Michigan legislature approves Detroit school bailo...
Legislature should move on teacher tenure reform -...
California 'virtual' academies: Bill targets for-p...
Third-grade reading scores cast doubt on 'reforms'...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


No one wants to be at the center of a scandal, but scrambling around because you're not prepared to handle it takes things from bad to worse. Anticipate potentials crisis scenarios and establish internal protocols for handling them. Before a crisis hits, outline who needs to be notified, your internal review process and the individuals who are authorized to speak publicly on your behalf.
Today's consumers want experiences that simplify their lives. That's top of mind as they evaluate what to buy. They are reading online reviews, watching videos and browsing community forums. Those Tasty videos you can't get enough of? Consumers are looking for their next favorite restaurant on those pages, too. For restaurant owners, digital evolution is happening both inside and outside of the restaurant..
Having a healthy website isn't just another box to tick as a restaurant owner. It's critical to having any success with an online channel for your business. Up time matters, and so does security. If you leave your site vulnerable to attack by using outdated plugins or WordPress versions, you're asking for trouble!
LOAS Social creates an electronic press kit with interesting facts about your restaurant. Your story is unique to everyone. Our network consists of local reporters and editors, particularly those who cover business and/or restaurants, from area newspapers, radio stations, television stations and food or business bloggers.
Our websites are designed to earn top rankings, encourage engagement, and improve conversions. Each of our web design projects is undertaken with absolute customization for our client's budget and needs. We have the skills and experience required to build a website tailored to your objectives.
Nobody has the time to chase down every single review, but every single review is important. It's hard for most establishments, because restaurant managers are usually out on the floor, not in front of their computers. We pull customer feedback from a plethora of social media and review sites, placing them together in one portal, for active monitoring.


To design a house building can use a draw in a piece of paper, using simple drawing program that can show the form building and the color that may will use on the building or using complex drawing software like Autocad or other software purposed for building design.
Rough, study models can be made quickly using, cardboard, wooden blocks, polystyrene, foam, foam boards and other materials. Such models are an efficient tool for three-dimensional understanding of a design, used by architects, interior designers and exhibit designers. For a high detailed presentation model, architects would employ a professional model maker or model making company.
Interior models are models of interior such as halls, rooms, floors showing interior planning, finishes, colors, furniture and beautification.
Urban models are models, typically built at a much smaller scale (starting from 1:500 and less, 1:700, 1:1000, 1:1200, 1:2000, 1:2000, representing several city blocks, even whole town or village, large resort, campus, industrial facility, military base and such. Urban models are a vital tool for town/city planning and development.
Engineering and construction models, showing isolated building/structure elements and components and their interaction.


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Constellium to appoint Corinne Fornara as Interim Chief Financial Officer to replace Didier Fontaine
Constellium
AMSTERDAM, Aug. 31, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Constellium N.V. (NYSE and Euronext: CSTM) announced today that, following Didier Fontaine's decision to leave the Company to pursue another career opportunity, Corinne Fornara will be appointed Interim Chief Financial Officer, effective September 7, 2016.
Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130624/NY37453LOGO
Constellium has launched an executive search to find Mr. Fontaine's successor.
"We are very grateful to Didier for his outstanding contributions to the transformation of Constellium as CFO," stated Jean-Marc Germain, Constellium's Chief Executive Officer. "He was instrumental in preparing Constellium to go public and in managing the Company's successful IPO and listing on the NYSE and Euronext markets as well as in leading funding efforts to ensure Constellium's capabilities to finance its development strategy. We wish him all the very best in his new position."
"With her financial expertise and extensive experience in her current role at the Company, Corinne is well-positioned to lead the Finance function through this transition period as we undergo the executive search process for a permanent CFO," Mr. Germain added.
Corinne Fornara has been Group Controller at Constellium since 2013. Prior to joining Constellium, she was Chief Financial Officer for Europe at NYSE Euronext.
About Constellium
Constellium (NYSE and Euronext: CSTM) is a global sector leader that develops innovative, value added aluminium products for a broad scope of markets and applications, including aerospace, automotive and packaging. Constellium generated €5.2 billion of revenue in 2015.
www.constellium.com
http://www.constellium.com
SOURCE Constellium


text:
The 12th African Swimming Championships were held October 16–23, 2016 in Bloemfontein, (South Africa).

Competition location was the Stadium Swimming Pool  in Bloemfontein.

Participating countries
Countries which sent teams were:

Medal standings
Final medal standings for the 2016 African Swimming Championships are:

Results

Men

Women

Mixed

Open water race

External links
"2016 CANA African swimming championships" 2016 African Swimming Champs Results
 "XII CANA African swimming championships"

African Swimming Championships
Swimming competitions in South Africa
2016 in South African sport
2016 in African sport
International sports competitions hosted by South Africa

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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'Deadpool 2' Will Now Duke It Out With 'Infinity War' and 'Solo' in May
Following today's report on Gore Verbinski's exit from Channing Tatum's Gambit movie, Fox is making some big moves — the most major of which is, unsurprisingly, with Deadpool 2. The studio has moved the sequel to 2016's R-rated anti-superhero hit up to May, almost a whole month earlier than its June 1 release date.
The news comes from The Wrap, which reports that Fox is doing some pretty hefty release date shifts with its upcoming X-Men spinoffs. While we'll get to see Deadpool 2 a few weeks earlier on May 18, the highly-anticipated sequel will now go head-to-head with Marvel heavyweight Avengers: Infinity War (which hits theaters two weeks earlier) and Lucasfilm and Disney's Solo: A Star Wars Story (which arrives one week after).
Given Disney's recent acquisition of Fox, that move would lend credence to the thinking, based on the lack of a trailer four months out, that Solo will inevitably get pushed back to December — though director Ron Howard recently dismissed that assumption by assuring fans that Lucasfilm wanted to give The Last Jedi plenty of breathing room. Still, it's an interesting shift, and a fairly sizable show of confidence in the sequel, which features Ryan Reynolds reprising his role as the Merc With a Mouth opposite newcomers Domino (Zazie Beetz) and Cable (Josh Brolin).
The film also features returning star T.J. Miller as Weasel — despite recent allegations of sexual misconduct against the comedian and actor, Fox has no plans to remove or replace Miller.
25 Classic Moments When Movies Broke the Fourth Wall
Source: 'Deadpool 2' Will Now Duke It Out With 'Infinity War' and 'Solo' in May
Categories: Entertainment News, Movies


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Anime News Network Launches a Preemptive Censorship and Gaslighting Campaign for Redo of Healer
(Warning This article contains minor spoilers for Redo of Healer)
Christmas came early this year with the announcement that Redo the Healer would get an anime adaptation. Redo of Healer, or as it is known in Japan, Kaifuku Jutsushi no Yarinaoshi, is a series that started as a light novel before being adapted into a successful manga. Similar to Shield Hero, the main protagonist experiences an insane level of hardship before realizing he can use his healing magic to reset the world by four years. Granting him the opportunity to right the wrongs he experienced and witnessed.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LYl1gH368c&w=560&h=315]
At this point, you may be wondering what could possibly have the perpetually offended up in arms. To put it succinctly, Keyaru's vengeance is rather brutal. One character who raped him after he was raped, drugged, and abused by multiple people, including a male hero, he rapes before altering her memories, so she will never even know she was raped.
This has, according to reporting from Sankaku Complex, sent the Anime New Networks CEO, along with the outlet's Chief Editor into a preemptive censorship and gaslighting campaign.
This series is certain to cause a lot of controversy, and Anime News Network welcomes and encouraged discussion of this anime and even the social issues that it touches upon. However rape is never an acceptable punishment and we will not tolerate any posts that even remotely suggest that it is.
Furthermore we will not tolerate posts that take glee in the controversy that this show is likely to cause, nor will we tolerate any posts that appear to be trollish or baiting in nature.
Finally, we ask that all posters be considerate of those who may read these threads and have past traumatic experiences.
Failure to abide by this will result in immediate and permanent removal from our community.
Discussion or criticism of this policy may be made in the feedback forum.
Christopher Macdonald
Anime News Network Publisher
As for the controversy the series has generated, it is not for everyone. As previously stated, the protagonist gets revenge in some pretty heinous ways. To such a degree it is perplexing how this show got greenlit for an official anime release and should raise concern if the series will dumbed down the plot as Shield Hero previously did.
What Anime News Network is not telling you is the people he gets revenge on are absolutely despicable. In particular, the two princesses of the kingdom delight in raping, drugging, and breaking the main character in the original timeline. Flare, the first princess of Jioral Kingdom, uses the main character as a pack mule. When he is not carrying their stuff, he is a literal training dummy for her lackeys. She routinely beats him and gets him addicted to a drug that he has to do tricks like a dog if he wants access.
Her sister and second princess of the Jioral Kingdom was considerably nicer to Keyaru. Only raping him after witnessing her sister didn't entirely break him. Don't mistake her for anything approaching decent. During their war with the Demon Lord, she poisons a captured city and orders three others to be burnt to the ground by her sister. All that to hinder reinforcements that might arrive and liberate the cities.
Also on display is a homosexual who rapes and abuses both men and women. Alongside him is a pedophile who, when his victims become too old, kills and taxidermies them. Preserving their youthful beauty for all eternity.
Perhaps if they were not ignorant of the source material, they would be aware that both Shield Hero and Redo of Healer take staunch anti-slavery stances. In the latter, slavery and abuse become the driving point of the ongoing hostilities between demi-humans and humans. Naofumi's need for a slave makes vastly more sense in the original print and manga as his life is considerably worse and mistreated. Placing him in a position where his only option is to have a partner who will not question his commands. Without spoiling what will happen in Redo of Healer there is an entire arc involving slavery that ends in spectacular fashion.
If the anime adaptation sticks true to the source material, Christmas will indeed have come early. Like Shield Hero, it tackles serious issues from a male perspective without sugar-coating the world or his driving motivations. If it succeeds, it will demonstrate a market demand for more mature works, so publishers will be less likely to shy away from "controversial" works. As a bonus, it'll rile up the perpetually offended who will be unable to do anything about the series success—a triple win.
Posted in Media, NewsTagged drugged, Manga, mature content, mature light novel, mature manga, rape, shield hero, slavery
Christmas Present: New PC without an operating system? Now get your windows 10 for 13$
Fallout: The Frontier is Finally Releasing


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Go to Toy Soldier Saga Homepage
Sisterhood of the Den Mother
A faith advancing the rights of women in the orcish patriarchal culture -- and much more
Content Warning: Mention of Sexual Violence, Mention of Suicide, Prostitution
The Sisterhood of the Den Mother is a religious organization devoted to the Orc goddess Cethlenn, the Den Mother. It is an order concerned with the healing of warriors and the well-being of women and children. However, it is also a powerful political entity that advocates for women's rights in a culture with a strong patriarchal tradition.
The Grandmother was happy enough to receive them in her lavish suite of rooms, where younger acolytes of the Sisterhood attended to her needs. She reclined in her chair like a queen, and Y'Anid supposed that she was the closest thing to a queen that her people had. Draped in gold and finery, silk and fur, she regarded them with sly amusement. Her silver-frosted black hair, still full and luxurious, formed a fine mantle about her terra cotta shoulders. They did not bow or make obeisance. They were ladies of the Bloodfist clan, and they declined their heads in mutual respect, a gesture the Grandmother matched. She folded her six-inch lacquered claws beneath her sharp chin. "Welcome, Ladies Bloodfist," she greeted them with a twinkle in her eye. "I've been expecting you. Leave us," she said to the acolytes sharply. They obediently filed out after touching fists to foreheads.
— from To Know Your Enemy by Diane Morrison
The Sisterhood elects a Grandmother from the elder High Priestesses to serve as their leader. A quorum gathers on the Island of the Mother when the leadership is contested or a new Grandmother must be chosen. Consensus nominates two candidates, represented by a white and black stone, given to each Priestess. Votes are cast by dropping the appropriate stone into a clay vase, painted with the Goddess' sacred animals, as it rests in a crux of the Mother Tree. The other stones are returned without being shown to anyone. The different coloured stones are counted to determine the new Grandmother.
High Priestesses
High Priestesses are recognized by the Grandmother as having the wisdom, knowledge, faith and training to be leaders of the faith, often (but not always) chosen from the ladies of the Thirteen Clans. They teach the Priestesses beneath them and advise the Grandmother in council. Each Temple is administered by a High Priestess.
Traditionally, the position of Mother is only held by a woman with sufficient faith and training who has also borne children. However, Priestesses who run orphanages and schools have also been granted the title. Their duties include midwifery, healing, and administrations of Shrines.
All other Priestesses are Sisters. They witness to weddings, heal warriors, and tend Shrines and Temples.
The Sisterhood is concerned with the well-being of women and children, and the smooth functioning of society in a warrior culture. They assume responsibility and authority for all matters of women's health, including childbirth and end-of-life care. They see to the physical, mental, and emotional healing of warriors. All household activities must be blessed by a Priestess. They keep the sacred hearth fires and are responsible for overseeing their smooth transition in the seasonal migration. They also manage most of the affairs of an orcish household, and acquisition and serving of food.
The Sisterhood controls a Temple in every major Fomorian city, and a shrine in most towns. They control vast hoards of treasure, books, food and medical supplies, thanks to the tithe of the Great Clans, and donations from Temple visitors. Show Spoiler
Secretly, the Sisterhood also controls a small cache of ships, weaponry, and poisons.
When the Balorian orcs first settled Elatha, society coalesced into clans. Women had no power, and were bound to the clans they married into. There was one exception: Clan Doomspear, with a warrior tradition for both men and women. After Elatha's death, the Thirteen Clans fell into infighting and competitions for dominance. Political ideologies further divided the Balorians. Some pushed for greater acts of conquest, to build a Great Horde for their inevitable war against the elves and the Avalonian Imperial Navy. Others believed they should build a strong government and society first. Common Fomorians also agitated for greater rights and influence. A few ladies from the Great Clans formed an alliance to protect themselves and improve their political standing. Historical sources conflict as to which clans were involved, but the Sisterhood's records credit Hrutta Bloodaxe, Tashaka Bloodfist, and Katya Icefell, with support from Grokka Doomspear. As witches in service to their clan mother goddesses, the Clan Ladies recognized a common thread. They created a pan-goddess movement, centered on the most universal Fomorian goddess, Cethlenn. Subsequently, they recruited as many ladies of the Great Clans as possible. Their movement might not have have spread as quickly were it not for the capture and rape of Katya Icefell. By the standards of the time, Katya was considered "damaged goods" -- unmarriageable and a liability to her clan. She choose vengeance and suicide by poisoning her captors in a very intimate way. The surviving High Priestesses raised an enormous public outcry. Orc women of all social classes flocked to the Sisterhood's banner and declared themselves Priestesses. The women of Elatha demanded more control over their own destinies. Clan Baneblood , the Imperial Clan, responded by executing 300 women for treason in an event history calls the Day of Scythes. The Sisterhood struck back. They distributed contraceptive herbs to every Clan Lady, and as many Orc women as possible. They then spread the story that Cethlenn Herself had raised Her hand against the Empire for its blasphemy, and would hereby deny them heirs, unless restitution was made and the balance restored. Most Clan Lords scoffed. A few tried to force the issue by asserting their conjugal rights aggressively. But they quickly discovered that those who had done so either met with horrible accidents, or vanished. Mysteriously, their wives all had airtight alibis for each such event. The Clan Lords learned that the Den Mother had indeed withdrawn her blessings as the birth rate plummeted. High Chief Garlghak Baneblood 's popularity plummeted with it. Eventually he was forced to accept a challenge from Keltar Bloodfist , who defeated him in single combat and assumed the High Chieftainship. The new High Chief promptly approached Hrutta Bloodaxe and Tashaka Bloodfist with great humility, and offered on behalf of the Empire to make whatever amends the Den Mother saw fit to request. The Grandmothers demanded an ongoing tithe to the Sisterhood from each of the Great Clans. Each Chief must either take a Priestess to wife, or their Clan Lady must be instructed in the ways of the Sisterhood. Lineage was to be traced through the Clan Lady. Rape, particularly rape of a Priestess, was declared a blasphemy and high crime, and not only were suitors required to have the means to provide for their wives, but the intended brides must consent to the wedding. Soon, most Clan Ladies were expected be Priestesses, and the Sisterhood secured a great deal of political influence.
The maiden lifted his feet and washed them in a basin. It had been so long since anyone had lain such gentle hands upon him that he shivered. Seeing this, she smiled a little at the corners of her mouth and took even more time and care with the process, right up to massaging knots he had been unaware of until she touched them and the pain stopped. "Nôrr'lakaârr," he said roughly when she was finished. "You will go for a massage, won't you, my lord?" the maiden suggested. "It's clear you have great need." At something in his expression she added, "The wounds of war weigh heavy on you." Shaundar surprised himself with a noise that was something between a cough and a snort. "I just came for a bath, actually." He wasn't sure he wanted anyone getting that close. The maiden just smiled and, after kissing the top of each foot, guided him into a private room with a steaming pool. Without waiting for him to confirm or refuse she unbuckled his armour and hung it up on an armour rack. It was amazing what relief he felt when its weight was lifted from him.
Let Me Take the War Out of You by Sable Aradia
The Mother Goddess is the giver of life, and women are Her vessels. The power of life is the greatest power in the universe, and it's a power men do not hold. Men are built for war and women for peace, so while men should handle the affairs of war, women should manage the business of civilization. Yet civilization cannot continue if men don't participate in it. Hence, when they return from the battlefield, they need to be cleansed of blood to become husbands and fathers again. Without this cleansing, men carry ghosts with them into the family home and the marriage bed, and it makes them strange and dangerous. That healing might require talking, sacred dreaming, magic, touch, or sexual touch, and all of these are the sacred calling of the Den Mother's daughters. Women and children are to be protected. Children are to be cared for. Sex is a sacred gift of the Goddess, and should never be cheapened or defiled. Therefore, rape is a blasphemy, and sex is only sanctified if it takes place within the bonds of healing work, or of marriage. But never forget that the Goddess gives life as She chooses, and She may also deny it, or take it away. Thus, women, as the Goddess' daughters, should control their own fertility.
Political Influence & Intrigue
Show Spoiler
Because they exert influence and control over marriage, fertility, births, deaths, and inheritance rights of women, the Sisterhood subtly manages the Balorian political structure in ways that most of their erstwhile leaders don't comprehend. The men of the Great Clans are literally in charge, because the women of the Sisterhood tells them that they can be. Many times they have managed marriages, and controlled birth rates, to force a shifting of power, and they are capable of plotting their designs over a period of generations.
The Dark Sisters
The Goddess gives life, but She also takes it away. When the Sisterhood needs to eliminate an enemy, they call upon the Dark Sisters, who serve the Den Mother's grimmer aspect. Not only are they Priestesses, but they are assassins, seers, and spies. They also serve as the intelligence branch of the Sisterhood.
Don't forget that you can click on the blue compass on the left to access the Table of Contents at any time!
Want to read all of the Toy Soldier Saga fiction, even before the rest of the world does?Subscribe now!
Ffĕth Mĕkarra, Zà Tû ~ "Den Mother, Bless You"
Tashaka Bloodfist by digitalstorm
3rd First-Month, Year 51 from the Founding
Religious, Primacy
Thrag
Sisters, Priestesses
Grandmother Olga Bloodfist
Cethlenn, the Den Mother
Planet of Elatha
Orcish
Neighboring Nations
Holmgang
Related Ethnicities
Balorian
Fomorian Orc
Indigenous Orc
Orcs of the Fomorian Empire
Join Toy Soldier Saga Discord!
The Toy Soldier Saga is made possible by:
Akimotos * An Angell's Life * Angela Biscup * Angsthase * Braelor Rolston * Brianna Healey * Chris Hamilton * Dandy Serenity * DaniAdventures * David A. Fouchey * Dominic Wheeler * G_Man_No_99 * J. I. Rogers * Katje van Loon * Kummer Wolfe * POC Gamer * Ricardo Victoria * Rowean McRoy * Sap, and also Stars * Sarah Buhrman * Serena J. Fleming * Serukis
~ Thank you for your support! ~
The Toy Soldier Saga is copyright (c) 1995 by Diane Morrison. All rights reserved.
Cover image: Toy Soldier Saga Part 1 by Aaron Siddall
Year 40 from the Founding
Beginning of the Pan-Goddess Movement
Religious event
Hrutta Bloodaxe, Tashaka Bloodfist, Katya Icefell, and Grokka Doomspear, found a Pan-Goddess movement under Cethlenn, the Den Mother.
Related Location
Additional timelines
History of the Fomorian Empire
3 First-Month, Year 51 from the Founding
Founding of the Sisterhood of the Den Mother
Hrutta Bloodaxe, Tashaka Bloodfist Katya Icefell, and Grokka Doomspear found the Sisterhood of the Den Mother.
17 Fourth-Month, Year 55 from the Founding
Rape of Katya Icefell
Life, Trauma/ Loss
One of the three founding High Priestesses of the Sisterhood of the Den Mother is kidnapped and raped by mercenaries. Women all over the Fomorian Empire rally to the Sisterhood's banner and begin agitating for their rights.
1 Seventh-Month, Year 55 from the Founding
Debut of "Katya"
Gurgh Icefell debuts Katya, condemning the death of his sister, the Imperial government's lack of response, and patriarchal Balorian culture; and celebrating his sister's vengeance. The opera opens in Holmgang to become a worldwide sensation and controversy. Eventually it is banned as seditious.
Eighth-Month, Year 55 from the Founding -- 24 Third-Month, Year 56 from the Founding
Winter Women's Riots
The opera Katya sparks a series of riots across the Fomorian Empire. The unrest lasts for the entire wet winter season. The High Chieftainship responds with harsh oppression. Non-family gatherings of more than five women and the performance of the opera are banned. A women's curfew is levied.
21 First-Month, Year 56 from the Founding -- 1 Fourth-Month, Year 63 from the Founding
Curse of the Den Mother
After the Day of Scythes, Cethlenn, the Den Mother Herself denies heirs to the Fomorian Empire for its blasphemy until restitution is made and the balance restored. Most Clan Lords scoff. Some try to assert their conjugal rights aggressively. Those who do either vanish, or meet with horrible accidents. As birth rates plummet, the Fomorian Government progresses from dismissal, to concern, to panic. Show Spoiler
The Sisterhood distributes contraceptive herbs to every Clan Lady, and as many Orc women as possible, then conspire to spread the story of Cethlenn's wrath to topple the social order.
21 First-Month, Year 56 from the Founding
Day of Scythes
Political event
High Chief Garlghak Baneblood orders the round-up of as many known rabblerousers of the Winter Women's Riots as possible in a massive military raid, including Gurgh Icefell, composer of Katya. Over 300 Fomorians, almost all women, are publically executed by scythe by the priesthood of Cichol, the Deathbringer. The Iron Champion refuses to participate.
1 Fourth-Month, Year 63 from the Founding
Keltar Bloodfist Assumes the High Chieftainship
Garlghak Baneblood is forced to accept a challenge from Keltar Bloodfist, who defeats him and assumes the High Chieftainship. The new High Chief offers to make amends on the Empire's behalf to the Sisterhood of the Den Mother and the Goddess. The birth rate once again rises.
Sisterhood-of-the-Den-Mother priestesses orcs Balorians Fomorian-Empire Elatha
Toy Soldier Saga
Orcs of the Fomorian Empire in Fomorian Empire
SableAradia
Forgemaster melior64
TJ Trewin
Great article! The tenets section is really well thought out, amazing drawing as well!
Check out my worldbuilding in the dark fantasy world of Melior
Grandmaster of the Inner Sanctum SableAradia
Thanks so much TJ! :)
Author of the Wyrd West Chronicles and the Toy Soldier Saga Eater of pickles, Friend of nerds, First of her name
Sage Ondo
I enjoyed this article! It has the right amount of content to explore the organization in some depth without being too much information. The history is very well-though (in my non-historian opinion :P) and I liked the logic behind the tenets of faith. Maybe I would have switched the tenets of faith and history sections, so that readers know what they stand for before reading what they have done, but I guess that comes down to personal taste. Great job, see you around! :)
Creator of Black Light, a science-fantasy universe.
Thanks Ondo, much appreciated! I am not one of these CSS wizards, unfortunately, and that's just the way they pan out in the template. But maybe I'll see if one of the CSS gurus can tell me how it's done. :)
Oh, right. I'm used to writing everything in the vignette (where I have total structure freedom) so I tend to assume that everyone does, sorry about that xD It was just a minor nitpick, so don't worry about it! ^^
Journeyman Arklaw
Arklaw
6 Jun, 2020 18:05
Not bad. Women liberation as a result of an early invention of wide-spread contraceptives is a deep concept. It allows a lot of orc females to participate in more activities around the camps, at school, in war, and others. A great equalizer who helped your sisterhood secure power through the religious implications and the improved performance of their sisters.
Eternal Deity Ademal
Ademal Jacklyn
Before I settled into writing my critiques, you asked me aside if I could elaborate on what details might make you "always the bridesmaid and never the bride". I ended up critiquing yours almost last for this reason, as pinning that question down is a challenging one for an article so well done.
First, it's worth noting that it's rare that a "bad" entry makes it to the top ten of either league. While the system is based on likes, people still only tend to hand out likes on articles they feel really deserve it, so our top ten is usually a bouquet of good stuff, and this is no different. It's weighing good against good here, which makes the critique more difficult. Hopefully I manage to pin it down a bit for you, or at least give you something to work with. It doesn't help that different judges have different tastes, either, and I'm not the normal judge.
Now, starting from the top and focusing on what I think would have helped you win in this
particular scenario, and what you did well.
For the depth of the lore, yours was certainly near the top of the charts, if not there at the top of it. It is exceptionally complete, and leaves no questions in its wake. You've got a full explanation of what the organization is, who runs it, the hierarchy, the rules, the mission, and even a glimpse of how others view it. It feels like I'm reading a part of a larger whole, which is what lore should manage.
What isn't present, and which I feel would have lent itself towards the feeling of a more complete and polished article, is a common thread to tie it all together. Your article is full of discrete blocks of lore that are tied together by subject, but not by narrative. This means that any one part can be removed without affecting the whole.
A challenge I present to you is to take the contents of all these fields and dump them into the vignette, and re-order them a bit so that, from starting the article to finish it, we take a sort of a tour of the history of the group. You see this in the winning article, where the body is dedicated almost exclusively to the history of the organization, and where the content answers questions about the org. Of course, a downside to this is that the content might be hard to find and reference for a quick read, which is where sidebars come in—they are a great way to summarize.
Now this doesn't mean you have to rewrite all of your content into a narrative. this contestant did a very good job (for the first half) of weaving a progression through the lore-chunk segments of the article. It's not an easy task, but the ability to make chunks of info feel like a progression in a story, recounting, or history makes it so that the article is very self-reinforcing and interesting.
In a similar vein, the History and Tenets of faith aspects of your article feel very long and dense. I recommend doing blogform on articles, and trying to have a header every 3-4 paragraphs. Text is cleaner and easier to read on a screen, but page widths mean it's also easier for text walls to look massive and for us to lose our place while scanning lines from the end of one to the start of another. Having subheaders to break up the content, even if the content itself is unchanged, goes a long way towards making it feel digestible, and makes long posts feel short and sweet. For example, after your sentence women should manage the business of civilization. you could put a header for "Cleaning the Spirit" and dive into the next section with no other changes. This breaks up the text into more visually manageable blocks without sacrificing continuity or quality.
What this all really comes down to is taking advantage of the medium. While CSS and BBCode go a long way towards doing that, there's also a discipline of conveying stories which is unique to WA, something which combines the disciplines of blog writing, design, and microfiction writing. If an article were a plate, then the best ones are the kind which are an array of foods—entree, salad, sides, dessert. Organizing your article accordingly goes a long way towards delectability—appetizer up top (article hook, quote, or summary), with side dishes (Political Influence & Intrigue, Sects, Assets) in the sidebar, an entree (history, formation, important events) in the body, and a tasty dessert at the end to wrap us up. I hate to fall back on my own work for something like this, but I am particularly proud of this article in the way that it's all just chunks of lore, but as you move from top to bottom you get deeper and deeper into the organization. Hook up top, entree of going deeper into the org, side dishes of fun extra lore tidbits, and a song reference for dessert. Now, to extrapolate that concept out to something as large as this article.
These didn't really affect your rating. They're just thoughts or questions which arose.
I suggest maybe talking a bit more about how they interact with the related ethnicities or some of the other factions in the setting. Do they have any major enemies? Are there any great clans which particularly favor them, or dislike them?
Also, am I misreading the timeline or is the Sisterhood only 23 years old?
You have a bad timeline link in the sidebar.
I avoided judging the article for any advanced layout and CSS, so I did focus only on the content itself, but I do suggest using containers to create multiple sidebars, and some CSS tweaks. We can discuss this in Discord. This CSS theme was made for a more modern sci-fi tone, so detracts a bit from the compassion and heart of the setting. It's a good theme, but is a slight mismatch for Toy Soldiers. I'm happy to help tweak, but suggest perhaps looking into commissioning Oneriwien for something more Spelljammy or space-napoleonic.
Overall, this really is a great article. I hope my feedback helps!
Admin of the WA Codex & Discord
Ethnis | Ko-Fi | Twitter
Thank you very much for this, Ademal! You have given me a lot to chew on. I think I will take a closer look at it after SummerCamp, and see if I can break it down a bit. I totally see what you mean about the narrative, and about breaking up the block of text with headers. In the meantime, I would be eager to get your opinion on ways to make it look a bit more "Age of Sail in Space," and I would be most grateful for your instruction on how to work containers, since I haven't the foggiest clue how that works! :D Your advice is greatly appreciated and I may be pestering you frequently to hone the details, if that's okay. Thanks for your work on judging this!
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Spygate: a big affair that will soon blow over
Claude Moniquet is president of the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Center in Brussels.
euronews asked him what he thinks of this latest spy affair.
CM: First of all, I'm not surprised that the Russians may be continuing to spy, some 20 years after the end of the Cold War, the Americans probably do the same. What is surprising however, is the length of this affair – it's lasted nearly 20 years, well at least 15. The American surveillance of this alleged network itself has been going on for at least 7 years…and during this period they've been following and recording, they've bugged and monitored their homes and meeting places. They even put a tracking device in their cars. Step-by-step they've watched them and that's really fascinating. When you read the US charges that have been made public, you could easily think you're reading the synopsis of a Cold War spy thriller.
EN: What precisely is in this document?
CM: Over dozens of pages it's the concentrated result of six or seven years of a solid investigation. There've been secret searches of people's homes, approved by judges. They've searched, installed listening devices, bugged their telephones and taken copies of computer hard drives. Sometimes, US agents have even gone undercover to meet them. All these has given them a massive amount of intelligence. This investigation was huge, with dozens of agents, millions of dollars must've been spent. This is the type of information that's been boiled down to some fifty pages which makes up the accusations.
EN: What do you believe are the consequences of this spu scandal on relations between Washington and Moscow?
CM: As a general rule, history has taught us that this kind of incident triggers a certain chill in relations. There will certainly be ripostes, at least in the short term. There will probably be some expulsions of Russian diplomats in the United States because some have been identified as having had links with the spy suspects. At the same time, we can expect some US diplomats to be sent home from Moscow. But this exchange of hostilities will be short lived and then it'll be business as usual because history has shown that every country uses spies and every country accepts it. But being caught red-handed isn't very comfortable… the moment will, however, pass as politics always moves on.
EN: What's a bit curious, awkward or embarrassing is that this affair has erupted just a few days after the seemingly warm and cordial appearances between the Russian and American presidents. And then a few days later – wham! Multiple arrests in a spy scandal….
CM: Absolutely! But that said, it's just a coincidence. Clearly the FBI feared some of the suspects might leave the country and escape the long arm of US justice. they decided to move after the US-Russian summit and not before, fortunately. But I think that's it's just a coincidence. However, the Russians are very pragmatic. There was a similar case a few years ago and they made it clear they would put to one side the legitimate intelligence concerns and keep them apart from political and public relations.


So I open my email okay an look at my emails an I just got notification saying "claim your Marlboro coupon I'm thinking like back then why Marlboro never sends me coupons when I was smoking now all of sudden BOOM I got a coupon realllllyyyy shaking my head I sure don't want anything dealing with tobacco products so I removed myself from the mailing list and emails woohooooooo!!!! Man not slave to cigarettes anymore!!!! I feel like death you guys like seriously I'm on amoxicillin anyone ever know what their antibiotic is or took it before let me tell you what it does to me makes me feel all drained an no energy an my nose keeps whistling at me I keep blowing it an underneath my nose is raw an red and I'm just like I'm sick of feeling this way an that isn't all I sound like I talk through my nose it's October an feels like July that's why I'm sick this dang weather ughhhhhhhh!!!!! On another note if I was still smoking an sick I would be puffing on cigarette while sick smh I'm serious I wouldn't make myself stop I would literally put a cough drop in my mouth to smoke that cigarette while coughing up a lung I'm serious I use to do that don't tell me I wasn't a committed smoker lol sad sad an y'all right if I was smoking still it would take forever to get well! Amen it took 3 weeks while a smoker to get over bronchitis why bc I kept a cigarette in my mouth while on meds sad sad I'm so sureeeeee someone has walked this path before I'm not the only one! Did y'all see my son jeron on my photos??? That's my twin right? Well y'all have a blessed day cooking chicken bacon ranch pasta an garlic bread and oh yeah so this morning I noticed something about myself I woke up at 7:05am okay my kids bus don't come to 7:14 well the day I actually let's the kids miss the bus bc why my phone was on vibrate yess so I said oh no y'all not staying home y'all missed the bus bc of me so I walked my kids to school yes one and 1/2 mile walk with my kids you know I never ran out of breath I'm so serious y'all not once and my boys was not late for school either but my face was red an sweaty though lol but it was awesome to do that this morning I was thinking if I was a smoker now I would of died doing that just saying. I do noticed my breathing is so much better like alot better bc I never lost my breath r needed water at all.


text:
World Music Series
New Music @ Lawrence
2016-17 Artist Series
Kavafian–Schub–Shifrin Trio
Friday, Oct. 7, 2016 / 8 p.m.
After 25 years of friendship and music-making, Ani Kavafian, Andre-Michel Schub and David Shifrin—each a true virtuoso and a member of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center—come together as a trio with undeniable chemistry. "The spontaneity, the excitement and the fun we have playing together is beyond what we ever anticipated," they said. Combined, they have performed with nearly every major orchestra around the world and in recital at the major concert halls. Violinist Ani Kavafian is one of the most sought after chamber musicians in the country as well as a frequent soloist and professor of violin at Yale University. Clarinetist David Shifrin has appeared in critically acclaimed recitals across the country and is a frequent orchestra soloist with major orchestras. As a piano recitalist, orchestra soloist and chamber musician, Andre-Michel Schub has been praised by critics and audiences since his career began more than three decades ago.
"No praise can be too high ... for the three hypervirtuosos ..." —The Boston Globe
Elias String Quartet
Friday, Feb. 3, 2017 / 8 p.m.
The Elias String Quartet is internationally acclaimed as one of the leading ensembles of its generation. Known for its intense and vibrant performances, the quartet has traveled the globe collaborating with some of the finest musicians and playing in the world's great halls. Last year saw the quartet complete its groundbreaking Beethoven Project: performing and recording the complete string quartets of Beethoven. The project was broadcast by BBC Radio 3 and performed in 11 major venues in the UK. The quartet has also recorded the cycle for the Wigmore Hall Live record label. The Elias will soon take all-Beethoven programs to Carnegie Hall (New York) and San Francisco performances. The quartet has performed alongside such artists as Leon Fleisher, Michael Collins, Christian Zacharias, Pascal Moragues and Ralph Kirshbaum. The Elias is passionate about new music and has premiered pieces by Sally Beamish, Colin Matthews, Matthew Hindson and Timo Andres.
"Spectacular … a perfectly balanced mix of vitality, depth, formal elegance and that playful, flirtatious wit that makes all of Haydn's quartets so impossible to resist." —The Washington Post
Wednesday, March 29, 2017 / 8 p.m.
Mnozil Brass has established itself as one of the world's premiere brass ensembles. With more than 130 performances a year, the group has sold out houses from the farthest reaches of the European continent to Israel, China, Taiwan, Japan, Australia, Canada and the United States, and has captivated audiences with its blend of immense virtuosity and theatrical wit. No wonder its videos have garnered millions of YouTube views and its fans have traveled countless miles to hear it play.
Mnozil Brass takes its name from the Gasthaus Mnozil, a restaurant across the street from the Vienna Conservatory, where, in 1992, seven young brass musicians met and began playing at a monthly open mic. Since then, the group has embraced repertoire for all ages and stages of life: from folk to classical to jazz to pop; all executed with the same fearlessness, immense technical skill and typical Viennese "schmäh" (almost impossible to find an English translation, but best rendered as a kind of sarcastic charm!).
"The group are famous for mixing fantastic brass playing, close harmony vocals and the highest rate musical entertainment you could wish for." —The Public Reviews
Friday, April 7, 2017 / 8 p.m.
Roomful of Teeth is a Grammy-winning vocal project dedicated to mining the expressive potential of the human voice. Through study with masters from singing traditions the world over, the eight-voice ensemble continually expands its vocabulary of singing techniques and, through an ongoing commissioning process, forges a new repertoire without borders. Founded at Williams College by music professor Brad Wells, its members are classically trained singers who draw on techniques and genres as disparate as yodeling and Tuvan throat singing. The ensemble works closely with contemporary composers in creating an ecstatic, entirely commissioned repertoire. NPR declares, "their singing is fiercely beautiful and bravely, utterly exposed."
The group has collaborated with a variety of composers, including Judd Greenstein, William Brittelle, John Luther Adams, Terry Riley and 2015 Pulitzer Prize recipient Julia Wolfe. In March 2015, it performed Drone Mass, a world premiere by the Icelandic composer Johann Johannsson, whose score for the film The Theory of Everything was nominated for an Academy Award.
"Roomful of Teeth is making some of the most rigorously venturesome and thrillingly inventive music being made by any ensemble, vocal or instrumental, today." —The Nation


text:
Q: Compilation fails/imports missing when switching build variants (aar dependencies missing) Everytime when I switch the buildvariant in android studio all my imports of an aar file fails. To get it working again I need to do one or serval things like cleaning the project, changing something in the gradle file, rebuild or if all doesn't help use the 'invalidate caches / restart" option. Is there a way to make it working correctly?
Here's my gradle file:
apply plugin: 'com.android.application'

android {

compileSdkVersion 23
buildToolsVersion "23.0.2"
defaultConfig {
    applicationId "com.example.foo"
    minSdkVersion 19
    targetSdkVersion 23
    versionCode 1
    versionName "1.0.0-SNAPSHOT"
}
buildTypes {
    debug {
        debuggable true
        minifyEnabled false
        proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'
    }
    release {
        debuggable false
        minifyEnabled false
        proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'
    }
}
productFlavors {
    a {
        applicationId "com.example.foo.a"
        versionName "-a"
    }
    b {
        applicationId "com.example.foo.b"
        versionName "-b"
    }
    c {
        applicationId "com.example.foo.c"
        versionName "-c"
    }
    d {
        applicationId "com.example.foo.d"
        versionName "-d"
    }
}
}
dependencies {
 compile fileTree(dir: 'libs', include: '*.jar')
 compile 'com.android.support:support-v4:23.1.1'
 compile 'com.android.support:appcompat-v7:23.1.1'
 bCompile project(':some-aar-for-b-release')
 aCompile project(':some-aar-for-a-release')
 cCompile project(':some-aar-for-c-release')
 dCompile project(':some-aar-for-d-release')
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
// $ANTLR 2.7.2: "ValidWhenParser.g" -> "ValidWhenParser.java"$

package org.apache.struts.validator.validwhen;

import java.util.Stack;
import org.apache.commons.validator.util.ValidatorUtils;

import antlr.TokenBuffer;
import antlr.TokenStreamException;
import antlr.TokenStreamIOException;
import antlr.ANTLRException;
import antlr.LLkParser;
import antlr.Token;
import antlr.TokenStream;
import antlr.RecognitionException;
import antlr.NoViableAltException;
import antlr.MismatchedTokenException;
import antlr.SemanticException;
import antlr.ParserSharedInputState;
import antlr.collections.impl.BitSet;

public class ValidWhenParser extends antlr.LLkParser       implements ValidWhenParserTokenTypes
 {
Stack argStack = new Stack();
Object form;
int index;
String value;

    public void setForm(Object f) { form = f; };
    public void setIndex (int i) { index = i; };
    public void setValue (String v) { value = v; };

    public boolean getResult() {
       return ((Boolean)argStack.peek()).booleanValue();
    }

    private final int LESS_EQUAL=0;
    private final int LESS_THAN=1;
    private final int EQUAL=2;
    private final int GREATER_THAN=3;
    private final int GREATER_EQUAL=4;
    private final int NOT_EQUAL=5;
    private final int AND=6;
    private final int OR=7;

    private  boolean evaluateComparison (Object v1, Object compare, Object v2) {
        boolean intCompare = true;
	if ((v1 == null) || (v2 == null)) {
		if (String.class.isInstance(v1)) {
			if (((String) v1).length() == 0) {
				v1 = null;
			}
		}
		if (String.class.isInstance(v2)) {
			if (((String) v2).length() == 0) {
				v2 = null;
			}
		}
		switch (((Integer)compare).intValue()) {
		case LESS_EQUAL:
		case GREATER_THAN:
		case LESS_THAN:
		case GREATER_EQUAL:
			return false;
		case EQUAL:
		    return (v1 == v2);
		case NOT_EQUAL:
		    return (v1 != v2);
		}
	}
      if ((Integer.class.isInstance(v1) ||
           String.class.isInstance(v1)) &&
	    (Integer.class.isInstance(v2) ||
           String.class.isInstance(v2))) {
	    intCompare = true;
      } else {
	    intCompare = false;
	}
	if (intCompare) {
	    try {
		int v1i = 0, v2i = 0;
		if (Integer.class.isInstance(v1)) {
		    v1i = ((Integer)v1).intValue();
		} else {
		    v1i = Integer.parseInt((String) v1);
		}
		if (Integer.class.isInstance(v2)) {
		    v2i = ((Integer)v2).intValue();
		} else {
		    v2i = Integer.parseInt((String) v2);
		}
		switch (((Integer)compare).intValue()) {
		case LESS_EQUAL:
		    return (v1i <= v2i);

		case LESS_THAN:
		    return (v1i < v2i);

		case EQUAL:
		    return (v1i == v2i);

		case GREATER_THAN:
		    return (v1i > v2i);

		case GREATER_EQUAL:
		    return (v1i >= v2i);

		case NOT_EQUAL:
		    return (v1i != v2i);
		}
	    } catch (NumberFormatException ex) {};
	}
	String v1s = "", v2s = "";

	if (Integer.class.isInstance(v1)) {
	    v1s = ((Integer)v1).toString();
	} else {
	    v1s = (String) v1;
	}

	if (Integer.class.isInstance(v2)) {
	    v2s = ((Integer)v2).toString();
	} else {
	    v2s = (String) v2;
	}

	int res = v1s.compareTo(v2s);
	switch (((Integer)compare).intValue()) {
	case LESS_EQUAL:
	    return (res <= 0);

	case LESS_THAN:
	    return (res < 0);

	case EQUAL:
	    return (res == 0);

	case GREATER_THAN:
	    return (res > 0);

	case GREATER_EQUAL:
	    return (res >= 0);

	case NOT_EQUAL:
	    return (res != 0);
	}
	return true;
    }

protected ValidWhenParser(TokenBuffer tokenBuf, int k) {
  super(tokenBuf,k);
  tokenNames = _tokenNames;
}

public ValidWhenParser(TokenBuffer tokenBuf) {
  this(tokenBuf,6);
}

protected ValidWhenParser(TokenStream lexer, int k) {
  super(lexer,k);
  tokenNames = _tokenNames;
}

public ValidWhenParser(TokenStream lexer) {
  this(lexer,6);
}

public ValidWhenParser(ParserSharedInputState state) {
  super(state,6);
  tokenNames = _tokenNames;
}

	public final void integer() throws RecognitionException, TokenStreamException {

		Token  d = null;
		Token  h = null;
		Token  o = null;

		switch ( LA(1)) {
		case DECIMAL_LITERAL:
		{
			d = LT(1);
			match(DECIMAL_LITERAL);
			argStack.push(Integer.decode(d.getText()));
			break;
		}
		case HEX_LITERAL:
		{
			h = LT(1);
			match(HEX_LITERAL);
			argStack.push(Integer.decode(h.getText()));
			break;
		}
		case OCTAL_LITERAL:
		{
			o = LT(1);
			match(OCTAL_LITERAL);
			argStack.push(Integer.decode(o.getText()));
			break;
		}
		default:
		{
			throw new NoViableAltException(LT(1), getFilename());
		}
		}
	}

	public final void string() throws RecognitionException, TokenStreamException {

		Token  str = null;

		str = LT(1);
		match(STRING_LITERAL);
		argStack.push(str.getText().substring(1, str.getText().length()-1));
	}

	public final void identifier() throws RecognitionException, TokenStreamException {

		Token  str = null;

		str = LT(1);
		match(IDENTIFIER);
		argStack.push(str.getText());
	}

	public final void field() throws RecognitionException, TokenStreamException {

		if ((LA(1)==IDENTIFIER) && (LA(2)==LBRACKET) && (LA(3)==RBRACKET) && (LA(4)==IDENTIFIER)) {
			identifier();
			match(LBRACKET);
			match(RBRACKET);
			identifier();

			Object i2 = argStack.pop();
			Object i1 = argStack.pop();
			argStack.push(ValidatorUtils.getValueAsString(form, i1 + "[" + index + "]" + i2));

		}
		else if ((LA(1)==IDENTIFIER) && (LA(2)==LBRACKET) && ((LA(3) >= DECIMAL_LITERAL && LA(3) <= OCTAL_LITERAL)) && (LA(4)==RBRACKET) && (LA(5)==IDENTIFIER)) {
			identifier();
			match(LBRACKET);
			integer();
			match(RBRACKET);
			identifier();

			Object i5 = argStack.pop();
			Object i4 = argStack.pop();
			Object i3 = argStack.pop();
			argStack.push(ValidatorUtils.getValueAsString(form, i3 + "[" + i4 + "]" + i5));

		}
		else if ((LA(1)==IDENTIFIER) && (LA(2)==LBRACKET) && ((LA(3) >= DECIMAL_LITERAL && LA(3) <= OCTAL_LITERAL)) && (LA(4)==RBRACKET) && (LA(5)==LBRACKET)) {
			identifier();
			match(LBRACKET);
			integer();
			match(RBRACKET);
			match(LBRACKET);

			Object i7 = argStack.pop();
			Object i6 = argStack.pop();
			argStack.push(ValidatorUtils.getValueAsString(form, i6 + "[" + i7 + "]"));

		}
		else if ((LA(1)==IDENTIFIER) && (LA(2)==LBRACKET) && (LA(3)==RBRACKET) && (_tokenSet_0.member(LA(4)))) {
			identifier();
			match(LBRACKET);
			match(RBRACKET);

			Object i8 = argStack.pop();
			argStack.push(ValidatorUtils.getValueAsString(form, i8 + "[" + index + "]"));

		}
		else if ((LA(1)==IDENTIFIER) && (_tokenSet_0.member(LA(2)))) {
			identifier();

			Object i9 = argStack.pop();
			argStack.push(ValidatorUtils.getValueAsString(form, (String)i9));

		}
		else {
			throw new NoViableAltException(LT(1), getFilename());
		}

	}

	public final void literal() throws RecognitionException, TokenStreamException {

		switch ( LA(1)) {
		case DECIMAL_LITERAL:
		case HEX_LITERAL:
		case OCTAL_LITERAL:
		{
			integer();
			break;
		}
		case STRING_LITERAL:
		{
			string();
			break;
		}
		case LITERAL_null:
		{
			match(LITERAL_null);
			argStack.push(null);
			break;
		}
		case THIS:
		{
			match(THIS);
			argStack.push(value);
			break;
		}
		default:
		{
			throw new NoViableAltException(LT(1), getFilename());
		}
		}
	}

	public final void value() throws RecognitionException, TokenStreamException {

		switch ( LA(1)) {
		case IDENTIFIER:
		{
			field();
			break;
		}
		case DECIMAL_LITERAL:
		case HEX_LITERAL:
		case OCTAL_LITERAL:
		case STRING_LITERAL:
		case LITERAL_null:
		case THIS:
		{
			literal();
			break;
		}
		default:
		{
			throw new NoViableAltException(LT(1), getFilename());
		}
		}
	}

	public final void expression() throws RecognitionException, TokenStreamException {

		expr();
		match(Token.EOF_TYPE);
	}

	public final void expr() throws RecognitionException, TokenStreamException {

		if ((LA(1)==LPAREN) && (_tokenSet_1.member(LA(2)))) {
			match(LPAREN);
			comparisonExpression();
			match(RPAREN);
		}
		else if ((LA(1)==LPAREN) && (LA(2)==LPAREN)) {
			match(LPAREN);
			joinedExpression();
			match(RPAREN);
		}
		else {
			throw new NoViableAltException(LT(1), getFilename());
		}

	}

	public final void comparisonExpression() throws RecognitionException, TokenStreamException {

		value();
		comparison();
		value();

			    Object v2 = argStack.pop();
			    Object comp = argStack.pop();
		Object v1 = argStack.pop();
		argStack.push(new Boolean(evaluateComparison(v1, comp, v2)));

	}

	public final void joinedExpression() throws RecognitionException, TokenStreamException {

		expr();
		join();
		expr();

		Boolean v1 = (Boolean) argStack.pop();
		Integer join = (Integer) argStack.pop();
		Boolean v2 = (Boolean) argStack.pop();
		if (join.intValue() == AND) {
		argStack.push(new Boolean(v1.booleanValue() && v2.booleanValue()));
		} else {
		argStack.push(new Boolean(v1.booleanValue() || v2.booleanValue()));
		}

	}

	public final void join() throws RecognitionException, TokenStreamException {

		switch ( LA(1)) {
		case ANDSIGN:
		{
			match(ANDSIGN);
			argStack.push(new Integer(AND));
			break;
		}
		case ORSIGN:
		{
			match(ORSIGN);
			argStack.push(new Integer(OR));
			break;
		}
		default:
		{
			throw new NoViableAltException(LT(1), getFilename());
		}
		}
	}

	public final void comparison() throws RecognitionException, TokenStreamException {

		switch ( LA(1)) {
		case EQUALSIGN:
		{
			match(EQUALSIGN);
			argStack.push(new Integer(EQUAL));
			break;
		}
		case GREATERTHANSIGN:
		{
			match(GREATERTHANSIGN);
			argStack.push(new Integer(GREATER_THAN));
			break;
		}
		case GREATEREQUALSIGN:
		{
			match(GREATEREQUALSIGN);
			argStack.push(new Integer(GREATER_EQUAL));
			break;
		}
		case LESSTHANSIGN:
		{
			match(LESSTHANSIGN);
			argStack.push(new Integer(LESS_THAN));
			break;
		}
		case LESSEQUALSIGN:
		{
			match(LESSEQUALSIGN);
			argStack.push(new Integer(LESS_EQUAL));
			break;
		}
		case NOTEQUALSIGN:
		{
			match(NOTEQUALSIGN);
			argStack.push(new Integer(NOT_EQUAL));
			break;
		}
		default:
		{
			throw new NoViableAltException(LT(1), getFilename());
		}
		}
	}

	public static final String[] _tokenNames = {
		"<0>",
		"EOF",
		"<2>",
		"NULL_TREE_LOOKAHEAD",
		"DECIMAL_LITERAL",
		"HEX_LITERAL",
		"OCTAL_LITERAL",
		"STRING_LITERAL",
		"IDENTIFIER",
		"LBRACKET",
		"RBRACKET",
		"\"null\"",
		"THIS",
		"LPAREN",
		"RPAREN",
		"\"and\"",
		"\"or\"",
		"EQUALSIGN",
		"GREATERTHANSIGN",
		"GREATEREQUALSIGN",
		"LESSTHANSIGN",
		"LESSEQUALSIGN",
		"NOTEQUALSIGN",
		"WS"
	};

	private static final long[] mk_tokenSet_0() {
		long[] data = { 8273920L, 0L};
		return data;
	}
	public static final BitSet _tokenSet_0 = new BitSet(mk_tokenSet_0());
	private static final long[] mk_tokenSet_1() {
		long[] data = { 6640L, 0L};
		return data;
	}
	public static final BitSet _tokenSet_1 = new BitSet(mk_tokenSet_1());

	}


Beth Sparboe Schnell is the President and CEO of Sparboe Farms. Sparboe, a third generation family business founded in 1954, has farms in several states and produces cage free and traditional eggs. A certified woman-owned business, Sparboe markets eggs and egg products to retail, foodservice and industrial customers. Schnell served on the American Egg Board for twelve years, and was Chairman in 2005 and 2006. She serves on the Marketing Committee of the International Egg Commission headquartered in London, England; and is a Board Member of the Egg Industry Center at Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. Schnell serves on the Board of Trustees for Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN and has been the Chair of Center National Bank, Litchfield and Plymouth, Minnesota since 2005, and a director since 1985. Schnell resides in Minnesota.