text:
Getting to the top of the Google Search Engine Results Page (SERP) is no easy feat. Why? Because Google is the only merit-based search engine, which means 'buying' the best seats (or top spot) isn't an option. Instead, websites need to drive consistent, organic growth and traffic to rank 1st on Google.
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
But composers are not writers. Our medium is not the word. We are artists who have chosen sound as our medium, and who revel in sound short-lived nature and, as such an artist, I had little patience for in my youth for words. I was angered by requests for words to explain what I did in words. I care not for words. I spit. The music is my art, the art is sound, the art is music, why should I have to translate my beautiful sets of sounds into the coarseness and baseness of language, convincing others of its goodness so? Language is about communication, and maybe music isn't even about communication. Someone who is interested in the possibility of giving money to composers should just listen to a piece or two, they should come to a performance and sit there and listen. Maybe a recording is acceptable as at least an ersatz facsimile of that experience, but words have no relation to it.
You have been to an art gallery, yes?, and you have noticed how the eager-to-learn supplicants attending the art spend more time reading the title cards that are placed next to the painting than looking at the painting itself? I find myself doing it, I find myself ensnared by those words. I understand that it makes me feel that I am learning something about the work, but that's not really true. I am merely learning something about the curator. I've seen many cards with descriptions that are outrageous, consisting of turgid, pompous nonsense. Unfortunately, the prostrated communion of the art goer to those descriptions, and the weight given to narrative expressed by them, is something that seduces artists themselves. Artists begin to create pieces of art that lend themselves to descriptions that will impress. Such seduction is rife in the new music world as well. Before I became a jaded old man, I would read the program notes and think: my, this is so interesting, I'm so looking forward to hearing this, and then I would once again be disappointed, left at the altar, wondering where that piece had disappeared to that was promised to me. Had it slipped past without my noticing? Had I missed the glorious audible representation of the lovely ideas which were so lovingly presented in the program notes?
So - can we simply take all the labels off the paintings? Giacinto Scelsi, that wonderful swindler and possible composer would send, when asked for program notes, a drawing of circle. I can't say that I really know what he meant by that circle, or whether it had a meaning at all, but I hope that it read as something to the effect of shut up and listen, shut up and write music, and stop describing.
* * * * *
That all being said, can I now say that I love words, that I love to read them and write them and feel the way they feel passing by my lips? A few days ago, I had a visceral reaction, literally deep in my guts, upon hearing Michael Krasny say the word confabulate, and this is a common experience for me. I love my friend Jim Bisso's blog on words and grammar and language, the wonderfully punctilious EPEA PTEROENTA. And I've wanted to be a writer since I was a precocious child, the one who carried around the complete works of James Joyce in his briefcase, letting himself be seen kissing them in public.
Given this, maybe it's not so strange that words have stolen away my heart from my chosen art form of the construction of sound. I am surrounded by English, and I myself am a carrier of it. It is one's duty as a speaker of a language to be part of the mix, to eject those bits that no longer express what you wish to express and to create new language that expresses what you do wish to express. Like a composer, this should come from the sound up. We should each be inventing new phones and phonemes, new words, new phrases and new architectures of speaking and writing and expressing. I am happy with misunderestimate. It's a great word that expresses something that can't be expressed without it. Although at first my fellow liberalists used it only to make fun of George and his malapropisms, I've noticed that, now that some time has past and it's not so funny anymore, it is still being used, a jestful usage that has become real usage as people realize the word really might have what it takes to join its fellows, journeying up the ladder from the Urban Dictionary to the OED. We artists know that mistakes are a great generative tool across all creative endeavors. [Ed: this particular verb may be a bad example, as according to wiktionary it can trace its lineage back:
1897 ...is almost sure to misunderstand and misunderestimate the significance of the question at hand. — The Outlook, American Diplomacy on the Bosphorous April 17, 1897]Another malapropic and fellow target of my fellow liberals' ire, the late governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, tells us we should all invent words, and on this one point I agree. We overeducated folk are too nervous about our speech, we should allow for mistake. I know this is hard. It is hard for me personally. When I commit a verbal gaucherie, the embarrassment lingers. I wish I had the Oxford-or-equivalent background that is given to the Brits when they are born, allowing their even the most casual sentences to be constructed perfectly. My first wife once told me a story of how, in England, she saw two very young British Children standing outside a country house gazing across the grounds. As she watched, one said to the other: "Oh, what a marvelous garden, let us go get lost in it." If I could speak like that, I would die happy. But I fear that, when one hasn't learned a language when one is three years old, and I mean really learned it, one can never catch up, and real mastery shall always elude. But I soldier on anyway, doing my bit, correct and uncorrecting here and thre as I see fit.


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The Right Guard!
Guy wrote:
Hi. I am a university student researching the mezuza; can you please send me information on its history, and its potential use as an amulet. Thanks
Dear Guy,
When you ask about the history of the mezuza, are you asking about its origin? If so, the answer is that the mezuza has the same origin as all the commandments in the Torah: They were revealed by Hashem to the Jewish People at Mount Sinai.
Interestingly, though, the mezuza was soon singled out for criticism by a group of people rebelling against Moshe. "If a room is filled with holy books," they asked, "does it still need a mezuza on its door?!" They were basically trying to ridicule Moses, but their point was this: Does the 'House of Israel' (the holy Jewish People) need a 'mezuza' - i.e., a leader or priest who adds to their holiness?
The answer to them was simple: Everything Moses did, whether appointing priests or affixing mezuzot, was commanded by Hashem. That answers your question as well.
The mitzva of mezuza is to write two paragraphs from the Torah - "Shema" and "V'haya" - and affix them to the door-post of all gates, houses and rooms. Among other things, these two paragraphs state that Hashem is One, and that we should take the Torah's words to heart and teach them to our children.
Wearing the mezuza as an amulet stems from ignorance. One negative outcome of this practice is the desecration that occurs when, for instance, someone walks into the bathroom wearing a mezuza.
Fortunately, what is often worn around the neck and called a mezuza isn't really one, but simply a decorative case like those used to cover real mezuzot.
However, placing a valid mezuza on your door-post in fulfillment of the mitzva earns special protection from Hashem for you and for your children. This idea is related by the Talmud in the following most unusual episode:
Onkelos, the brilliant nephew of the Roman Emperor Titus, converted to Judaism and became a disciple of the Sages. Hearing this, Titus sent a brigade of soldiers to bring him back to Rome. But when Onkelos engaged the soldiers in discussion and showed them the beauty of Torah, they converted to Judaism.Titus then sent another brigade, instructing them not to speak to Onkelos, but with the same result: They too converted to Judaism.
Finally Titus sent a third brigade and instructed them not even to listen to Onkelos. When they were leading Onkelos away, Onkelos placed his hand on the mezuza and said, "What is that?"
"You tell us," the soldiers said.
"Normally, a human king sits inside and his servants stand outside and guard him. But, the Holy One Blessed be He, His servants are inside and He guards them from outside."
They too converted. Titus sent no more soldiers.
- Deuteronomy 6,9
- Shulchan Aruch Yoreh De'ah 284
- Tractate Avodah Zarah 11


text:
After three long days of confirmation hearings, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, President Biden's pick to be the next Supreme Court justice, largely acquitted herself well.
She was controlled and calm and mostly needed to reassure Democrats so they stick together in voting for her. If they do, she would be confirmed as the first Black woman to serve on the Supreme Court, and there's no reason to think that won't happen at this point.
The White House remains hopeful some Republicans might cross over to vote for her, though it's pretty clear by the bitterness displayed among GOP members of the Senate Judiciary Committee toward their Democratic colleagues these last few days that the votes won't likely come from Republicans on the committee.
There was a lot more from the hearings, so let's dig in with these four takeaways:
1. Jackson employed the say little-to-nothing playbook and went further
Saying something controversial in a nomination hearing before Congress is one of the easiest ways to land yourself in a political cauldron. So the answer for Supreme Court nominees over the better part of the last 20 years has become to say nothing or to say things the other side can't disagree with on the face of the statements.
Jackson pulled from that playbook:
"I do agree with both Justice [Brett] Kavanaugh and Justice [Amy Coney] Barrett on this issue," Jackson said. "Roe and Casey are the settled law of the Supreme Court concerning the right to terminate a woman's pregnancy."
Conservatives on the Supreme Court have either already upheld or are expected to uphold strict restrictions that states have passed on abortion. It's highly unlikely that a justice appointed by Biden would hold the same view.
That should tell you everything you need to know about how not forthcoming the potential justices, perhaps necessarily because of politics, have become in these confirmation hearings.
2. Republicans on the committee didn't appear to be buying it and dug in on sentencing
Republicans homed in on Jackson's time as a judge and the sentences she gave out. They painted her as a judge who was lenient in sentencing, particularly in child pornography cases.
Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and others spent significant amounts of time on why, in some instances, Jackson sent people to jail for shorter lengths of time than federal guidelines or prosecutors recommended, particularly in child pornography cases.
"I am questioning your discretion, your judgment," Hawley said at one point. "That's exactly what I'm doing."
Jackson defended herself multiple times against the allegation. "I looked at the law and the facts," she said. "I made sure that the victims, the children's perspectives, were represented, and I also imposed prison terms and significant supervision and other restrictions on these defendants."
Democrats on the committee also defended Jackson's decisions, noting that most prison sentences handed out by judges in these kinds of cases were below the guidelines. An opinion piece in the National Review, a conservative magazine, called Hawley's allegations a "smear" and "appears meritless to the point of demagoguery." The White House and others have accused Hawley of employing a "QAnon-signaling smear."
What is clear is the line of attack seemed to not be merely about sentencing, but about labeling a Democratic nominee as soft on crime in an election year.
3. Midterm messaging was on display
In addition to the soft-on-crime allegation, which comes with violent crime on the rise in the country, Sen. Ted Cruz went after Jackson for her time on the board of the elite Georgetown Day School in Washington, D.C.
He tried to tie her to what he sees as the school teaching critical race theory, which has become code for how children are taught in schools about racism. He came armed with poster boards and even books from the school.
Jackson pointed out she has little control over the school curriculum, does not believe "any child should be made to feel as though they are racist" or "oppressors," and that it doesn't have any bearing on how she judges cases.
"It doesn't come up in my work as a judge," she said, "and it's never something I've studied or relied on, and it wouldn't be something I would rely on if I was on the Supreme Court."
But the point seemed less about Jackson's views and more about the GOP's midterm messaging. This is one area Republicans believe they can use to appeal to suburban, particularly white, moms.
At one point, during the hearing, the Republican National Committee sent out an image of Jackson and with "KBJ," her initials, crossed out and replaced with "CRT."
That also highlights the line the party has to walk in criticizing a Black nominee, though Republicans like Graham were more than happy to point out past conservative nominees of color who were either blocked or would be blocked by Democrats.
4. Republicans really wanted to air grievances and it might signal a warning about the future
The most animating moments for Republicans during Jackson's questioning actually had little to do with Jackson herself, but rather about how Democrats have treated past nominees.
"There are two standards going on here," Graham thundered. "If you're an African American, conservative woman, you're fair game to have your life turned upside down, to be filibustered no matter how qualified you are, and if you express your faith as a conservative, all of a sudden, you're an effing nut. And we're tired of it."
And that is just a taste, because what we saw from almost every Republican on the committee was an airing of grievances against how Democrats have treated past nominees put up by Republican presidents.
They are clearly still smarting from the Kavanaugh and Barrett confirmation hearings; they even brought up how Justice Samuel Alito was treated (he was confirmed 17 years ago) and even asked Jackson for her thoughts on Democrats' past conduct. She declined to comment.
Republicans know they can't stop Jackson's nomination, but they were going to make sure that with all the attention and TV time being given to these hearings, they were going to try to make Democrats as uncomfortable as possible.
There's certainly an argument that the Judiciary Committee is in need of a reset. A lot of the senators have been around for a very long time, and with all this bitterness, it raises the question of what happens when a nomination comes up when the president's opposing party is in charge of the Senate.
What if Republicans take over the Senate after this fall is midterm elections and there's another vacancy for Biden? What happens then?
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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This weekend, 80,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccines will expire in Arkansas. There simply weren't enough people in the state willing to get their jab — even though cases and deaths from the delta variant are rising there at an alarming rate.
"Prior to the vaccine, I was heartsick because people died and we couldn't help them. Now, they don't get the vaccine and we can't help them," says Tammy Kellebrew, a pharmacist who travels to rural hospitals across the state. "And so after every death, I go back to the pharmacy and I cry, and then I go back to work."
"I'm angry, upset, disappointed," says Dr. Jose Romero, health secretary for Arkansas. "As a nation, we've worked so hard to get this vaccine out. And not to have them accepted by the public is difficult to understand and difficult to accept."
Arkansas has one of the country's the lowest vaccination rates
Arkansas, a largely white, rural state powered by farming, factories and rugged individualism, has one of the country's lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates. Just 36% of the state's 3 million people are fully vaccinated.
In May, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson set a modest goal of administering at least one shot to 50% of the total population by the end of July. The state has made progress — but is falling short by more than 100,000 people.
The result of the vaccine resistance, along with the rise of the super-spreadable delta variant, is more COVID cases and more preventable deaths. Hospitals in Arkansas are again reaching critical capacity, and staff are exhausted.
Kellebrew wore a mask with Dr. Anthony Fauci's face on it to a town hall meeting held by Hutchinson in her hometown of Dumas, a small, majority-Black city in the southeast delta region on July 27. It was one in a series of community COVID-19 conversations the governor has been holding as he travels the state pleading with Arkansans to get the shot.
"I'm a Trump supporter and I am a Republican, and I got both vaccine [doses]," Hutchinson stated at another meeting on July 28 in Heber Springs, a lakeside retirement and resort community in the Ozark foothills. "It's not about politics. It's about my health."
Rumors include the vaccine making you magnetic
Reasons for vaccine resistance are diverse and many, says Col. Robert Ator, who heads the state's vaccine distribution program. "What started out as being a logistics and distribution kind of an exercise has turned out to be psychology," he says. "Our targeting strategy has been to work down on the micro level, to work with individual communities to understand what is the barrier in that area and let us address those."
For starters, there's a tide of misinformation along with distrust of the government. Debbie Reynolds attended the town hall in Heber Springs. She has not been vaccinated, and the meeting did not sway her. "They treat you like you're just too dumb to make good decisions for your family," she says. "How many people do you see laying around on the sidewalks and in their yards dying of COVID? Nowhere."
The battle to get more people vaccinated often comes down to the efforts of individuals like Dollie Wilson, a 71-year-old missionary who attended the meeting in Dumas. She plans to go door to door to persuade people to get vaccines and recently canvassed at a local Walmart. "I got cursed out by one person, but I got five people to sign up for the vaccine. It was well worth it," she says.
Cheryl Stimson, owner of the Dumas Family Pharmacy, has personally administered more than 5,800 shots in the community at churches, schools and local events. She has been trying to get every worker vaccinated at the city's various factories.
"I've been to all but one, and I'm trying to talk them into letting me come in," she says. "The plant manager has a lot of people who are leery of taking the vaccine for all various reasons. They're afraid it'll make them sick. They're afraid that they're conforming — that somebody's making them do something they don't want to do."
Kellebrew, who administers shots at vaccination clinics across the state, says she's trying hard to calm people's specific fears.
Once, at a grocery store, a woman told her she was nervous about getting the vaccine because of a rumor on the internet that it can make you magnetic. "I said, 'Do you really believe that?' And she said, 'Well, I'm not sure.' " Kellebrew recounts. So she found a magnet in the store and demonstrated on a person to whom she had just given the shot. "The magnet kept falling off her arm, and I said, 'Is that what you needed to see?' And she said, 'Yes. I think I'll get a shot.' " Kellebrew now travels with a magnet.
There are signs of change
Demand for vaccines has actually improved greatly in the past three weeks, according to Ator. He says the governor's town hall meetings are encouraging people — and the delta variant is scaring them. But with the rapid spread of the delta variant, now representing almost 90% of the sequenced virus cases in Arkansas, he worries it may not be enough. "My biggest concern is we're going to be a month too late, and we're going to have a lot of people suffer because of it."
State officials say that if they can find a way to punch through the hesitancy they're facing now, they could end up as a model for other slow-to-vaccinate parts of the nation as the delta variant spreads.
"There are a lot of places that may have higher vaccination rates than what we have in Arkansas, but they're certainly not high enough to suppress the spread of the delta variant," says Dr. Jennifer Dillaha, the state epidemiologist for Arkansas. "It may be just a matter of time before they get hit as well."
The audio story was produced by Barry Gordemer.
Editor's note: The 80,000 doses in Arkansas expected to expire in July was an estimate provided to NPR by the Arkansas Department of Health on July 29. After this story was published, a spokesperson for the Arkansas Department of Health wrote to say that the actual wastage turned out to be much lower, with only 5,744 doses expiring in July. The spokesperson attributed the gap between the expected and actual wasted doses to more complete reporting from vaccine providers and increased vaccination rates. NPR was not able to independently verify the information.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


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Lebanon's new government agreed to a compromise policy statement on Friday that fell short of explicitly enshrining the militant group Hezbollah's role in confronting Israel but which would give all citizens the right to resist Israeli occupation or attacks.
The agreement on the compromise language came after weeks of dispute brought the government to the verge of collapse, and now paves the way for Prime Minister Tammam Salam to put his government to a vote of confidence.
Information Minister Ramzi Jreij told reporters that most ministers had agreed on a compromise statement that declares Lebanese citizens have the right to "resist Israeli occupation" and repel any Israeli attack.
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The deal was reached a few hours after Israel's army said it fired tank rounds and artillery into southern Lebanon in retaliation for a bomb that targeted its soldiers patrolling the border. No injuries were reported on either side.
The Israel-Lebanon border has been mostly quiet since Israel and Hezbollah fought an inconclusive war in 2006, but Israeli forces still hold at least three pockets of occupied territory which are claimed by Lebanon.
"Based on the state's responsibility to preserve Lebanon's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and the security of its citizens, the government affirms the duty of the state and its efforts to liberate the Shebaa Farms and Kfar Shouba Hills and the Lebanese part of Ghajar through all legitimate means," the government statement said.
It also "affirms the right of Lebanese citizens to resist Israeli occupation and repel aggressions and recover occupied territory".
Agreement on the declaration paves the way for Salam to put his government to a vote of confidence, almost exactly a year after he was first asked to try to put together a cabinet following the resignation of his predecessor, Najib Mikati.
The declaration reflected a compromise between the Hezbollah-led political coalition, which sought to guarantee Shiite Hezbollah's right to fight Israel and to justify maintaining its huge weapons arsenal, with Sunni-led political opponents who sought to emphasize the role of the state in carrying arms.
Tensions between Hezbollah and its Sunni opponents inside Lebanon have been sharply heightened by the civil war in neighboring Syria, where Hezbollah fighters have been battling alongside President Bashar Assad's forces against Sunni rebels who are backed by many Lebanese Sunnis.
Jreij said some ministers expressed reservations because the statement failed to spell out Lebanese state control over the military conflict with Israel and because it refers to "resistance", Hezbollah's label for its military operations.
A functioning Lebanese government would finally be in a position to pursue an offshore oil and gas exploration license round that was delayed for months by the political deadlock.
Salam has also said he hoped the emergence of the new government will allow Lebanon to hold presidential elections before President Michel Suleiman's mandate expires in May and also hold parliamentary polls that were postponed last year due to the political impasse.
Lebanon, still struggling to recover from its own 1975-1990 civil war, has found its internal divisions worsened by the conflict in Syria, whose sectarian divisions mirror its own.
Sectarian violence has erupted sporadically in the past year, particularly in the north, and car bombings targeting both security and political targets have increased dramatically, with Hezbollah-dominated areas being the most frequent target.
Security sources said on Friday the death toll after two days of fighting in the northern city of Tripoli between Sunni Muslims and minority Alawites – the same sect as Syrian President Bashar Assad – had risen to five.


text:
PhyDE® (Phylogenetic Data Editor) is a system-independent editor for DNA and amino acid sequence alignments, designed to assist anybody interested in phylogenetic or other comparative analyses of sequence data.
PhyDE features various functions designed to smooth the progress of manual alignment improvement and helps in the assembly of sequence data from trace files. A plugin architecture allows the user to individually enhance the functionality by a growing list of existing plugins or by writing own plugins.
PhyDE® is a registered trade mark of Jörn Müller, Kai Müller, Christoph Neinhuis and Dietmar Quandt.


text:
Web traffic for newspapers keeps growing, but not fast enough for Washington Post staffers, who on Wednesday learned there would be yet another round of voluntary buyouts at the paper.
The buyouts – up to 48 news staffers at the Post, according to the paper's ombudsman – are the latest in a new round of cuts at major newspapers as online traffic grows and overall unemployment numbers fall nationwide.
The average number of daily visitors to Washington Post's site jumped by more than 3 million, or nearly 15 percent, during the last quarter of 2011, according to a study released last week by the Newspaper Association of America.
The number of unique visitors over that period increased nearly 6 percent, while the total minutes visitors spent on the site rose by 14 percent.
But all those eyeballs are not translating into real money, or at least not at enough of a clip to cushion circulation losses and declining print advertising revenue.
Also read: L.A. Times Rocked by More Turmoil: Top Editor Quits With Cuts Looming
Newspaper ad revenue in 2011 reached its lowest point since 1984, bottoming out at $24 billion. That figure is half of what the industry attracted at its height in 2004.
"The desperation continues," Alan Mutter, a former top editor at the San Francisco Chronicle and an adjunct faculty member at the Berkeley School of Journalism, told TheWrap. "They thought [2011] would be a reasonably stable year and it wasn't because even though advertising has recovered in magazines, radio and television, it never came back for newspapers."
In the case of the Washington Post, the newspaper has not released earnings for the fourth quarter of last year, but its most recent public filing showed a paper still struggling with the migration of readers from print to web.
Print advertising revenue at the Post fell 20 percent to $57.6 million, according to its November earnings report.
Overall, the paper's print advertising revenue plunged 13 percent for the first nine months of last year.
Also read: Washington Post Editor Jumps Back to Wall Street Journal
Executive Editor Marcus Brauchli positioned the buyouts as a necessary step toward making the paper "more efficient, agile and competitive." It marks the paper's fifth round of buyouts since 2004, according to Poynter.
In an email to staff, Brauchli said the paper's coverage would not be compromised, thanks in no small part to its success in growing the Post's digital operations.
"Our objective is a limited staff reduction that won't affect the quality, ambition or authority of our journalism. We believe this is possible, given the changes in how we work and the great successes we have had building our digital readership lately," Brauchli wrote.
Not everyone shared Brauchli's optimism.
In the American Journal Review, the publication's editor Rem Rieder wrote, "Resources matter. You can't do more with less, no matter how often you say you can and will."
"So cut if you must. But spare us the bogus happy talk," he added.
The Post isn't the only news organ taking out the carving knife. Newspapers have laid off or bought out 563 employees over the first month of the year, according to Paper Cuts, an online site that tracks cuts in news rooms.
Among the newspapers that employed the hatchet recently are the New London, Conn. based "The Day" with 15 layoffs; Escondido, Calif. based North County Times with 34 layoffs; and "The Tampa Tribune" with 134 layoffs.
In the buyouts column, the Tribune Company announced last month that it will offer an undisclosed number of buyouts. The company, which is still looking to emerge from bankruptcy, did not rule out the possibility of future layoffs.
In December, more than ten New York Times staffers took buyouts.
Also read: New York Times Editor's Legacy Depends On Its Paywall
Indeed, the Post's latest wave of reductions came on the heels of news that the U.K. based Guardian News & Media has accepted 30 buyouts.
A Guardian News & Media spokeswoman told TheWrap that the "voluntary redundancies" were re-opened in September and closed at the end of last year.
"Last year Guardian News & Media announced its digital first strategy and we made it clear that we would be restructuring some of our print products and processes, moving more resources into digital and making savings from the editorial budget," the spokeswoman said in a statement.
All of these layoffs and buyouts are a far cry from the dark days of 2008 and 2009, when the recession dealt a body blow to media companies that resulted in the loss of 15,993 jobs and 14,825 jobs respectively. After rebounding in 2010, however, it seems as though newsrooms have rediscovered their appetite for getting by with less.
Some of that newfound enthusiasm may be spurred by the lack of digital dollars to support all those flesh and blood reporters.
Many newspapers have turned to paywalls to buttress that digital revenue stream, with everyone from the New York Times to the Minnesota Star-Tribune to the Dallas Morning-News jumping on the bandwagon.
"It actually was a really good idea, but it should have been done 15 to 20 years ago," Mutter said. "I have often said failing to do so was the original sin."
Declines in advertising revenue have more than outweighed increases in subscription revenue, even at supposed successes like the New York Times. In the Times' latest earnings report, the company announced sagging profits and revenue despite its growing digital subscriber base.
In the case of The Post, which does not have a paywall, the paper maintains not only its own highly-trafficked website, but also that of Slate.com, which offers political and media commentary. Despite that suite of titles, online revenue at the company was down 14 percent to $23.3 million in the company's most recent quarter.
"Just because readers are moving from print to digital (and mobile), why do we think they will suddenly pay more for our industry's financial salvation?" The Post's former managing editor Raju Narisetti said at the Newsfoo conference last winter.
Narisetti left the paper late last month to become Wall Street Journal Digital Network managing editor.


text:
Weekly Reports | Jun 21 2021
Download related file: Vested-REIT-Table_210621
FNArena provides comprehensive data on listed REIT and property developer stocks.
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Foxtrot is a smooth progressive dance characterized by long, continuous flowing movements across the dance floor.
The Foxtrot was introduced into the mainstream in 1913 by a man named Harry Fox. It ultimately became the most popular and lasting dance of the twentieth century, but not before going through many stylistic changes. Compared with today's standards, the original Foxtrot was moderately fast, simple and unrefined, not unlike the music of the time. The popularity of the dance stemmed from its overall versatility and rhythmic variation (Foxtrot is noted for being the first dance to introduce the "Slow" count, before which time the popular dances such as the Waltz and the One-Step had only a single-count rhythm). But it wasn't until the early 30's that Foxtrot began to take on a smoother and more flowing quality in contrast to the new and exciting Latin dances hitting the scene. A modified version called the Slow Foxtrot was evolved by the English, and is the technical basis for the version we now have. Footwork: Forward walking steps are normally taken with the heel first in contact with the floor, with the toe lowering as the body moves over it. Backwards walks are taken with the toe first, with the heel lowering as the body moves over it. At the same time, the toe of the forward foot should release from the floor as the body moves away. Side steps and chasses normally use the toe first. Rise & Fall The rise & fall action is present in Foxtrot, although it is more subtle than that of Waltz. In Bronze levels, there is a very slight rise & fall action on most chasses. In Silver and above levels, rise & fall is present in a more consistent 3-step cycle, yet it is still more subtle than in Waltz, owing to the continuous passing of the feet in a lengthwise manner. Contra-Body Movement Typical of the smooth and standard ballroom dances, contra-body movement is used to commence most rotational movements. Sway Sway is defined as the inclination of the body to the left or right, usually accompanying movements to the side. Sway is present in Foxtrot, particularly in the Silver and above levels, where movements tend to be fuller and more sweeping. In Bronze Foxtrot, a subtle sway can be used on the Chasse movements. Continuity Continuity is defined as the continuous passing of the feet from step to step, without any closing or chasse actions. Typically, a series of three or more passing steps constitute a continuity action. Continuity movements are introduced in the Silver level of Foxtrot, and are almost entirely absent in the Bronze level. In fact, in American style dance competitions, continuity is expressly prohibited in the Bronze level. Foxtrot is danced using a normal ballroom-style closed position dance hold. This typically includes the use of body contact, although a more relaxed semi-closed hold is often used in social dance situations, or for learning purposes. In closed position the man and lady stand in front of each other, slightly offset to the left. The lady's right hand and man's left hand are joined in an upper-hand clasp at approximately the lady's eye level. The man's right hand is placed on the lady's shoulder blade, with the lady's left arm resting easily on his right. The resulting dance "frame" should be held sturdy, but relaxed and absent of tension or strain. For a more detailed study of closed position, see the Glossary of Dance Positions. |
Copyright © 1997-2024 BallroomDancers.com | ||||||||||||||||


text:
AIG dominates Obama's 9th week
The president continues to promote long-term economic agenda, but fallout from AIG bonus debacle overshadows attempts to rescue the economy.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Outrage over bonuses AIG paid to top executives after having received more than $170 billion in taxpayer-funded assistance eclipsed President Obama's ninth week in office.
"I understand how mad everybody is about this AIG bonus business," Obama said Thursday at a town hall meeting in Los Angeles. "And even though I didn't draw up these AIG contracts ... it's my responsibility to fix the system."
The flareup fueled the anger many Americans already feel over the government's handling of the financial crisis. But the president maintained that aggressive action is key to the nation's economic recovery.
"We can be as mad as we want, but the fact of the matter is, we've got to work through this huge mess that was made in the financial system," he said.
Looking to the week ahead, Obama will address the nation on Tuesday in a prime-time news conference.
Also on Tuesday, Obama's Treasury secretary, Tim Geithner, will testify before the House Financial Services Committee about AIG. He'll be joined by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
CNNMoney.com will continue to track Obama's first 100 days in office and keep score of the government's unprecedented efforts to fix the ailing economy. (Last week's article is available here.)
Bonus backlash: Obama bluntly criticized AIG on Monday, calling the bonuses an "outrage," and directed Geithner to explore ways to block them.
"This is a corporation that finds itself in financial distress due to recklessness and greed," Obama said before unveiling a plan to help boost lending to small businesses. "It's hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses."
But the controversy came to a head Wednesday when Edward Liddy, AIG's chief executive, testified before Congress that paying the bonuses was "distasteful" but necessary because the company was contractually obligated to do so.
Liddy said he had asked some employees to give part of the money back, and that some had already complied. But lawmakers said they remained concerned about how AIG is being managed.
House lawmakers went one step further Thursday passing legislation aimed at recouping the bonuses by taxing individuals at companies that have received taxpayer-funded assistance.
Meanwhile, differing accounts of when officials learned of the bonuses resulted in a bout of finger pointing between Liddy and Geithner.
The Treasury secretary was also scrutinized for a provision in the recently passed economic stimulus bill, included at his department's behest, that allowed AIG to pay out the bonuses.
AIG's woes stem from losses on insurance contracts it sold to holders of complex derivatives that have plummeted in value. The company also took massive writedowns on bad bets tied to the mortgage market made predominately by its financial products unit.
Budget: Obama continued to push his long-term economic goals, saying that postponing investments in health care, renewable energy and education would be irresponsible.
"To kick these problems down the road for another four years or eight years would be to continue the same irresponsibility that led us to this point," he said.
Last month, the president unveiled a 10-year outline for the federal budget that calls for large investments in social services and would allow certain tax breaks for higher earning households to expire.
The plan, which projects a budget deficit of $1.75 trillion this year, has come under criticism for being overly ambitious and too expensive given the challenges already facing the nation's economy.
"There are those who say these plans are too ambitious," Obama said in Los Angeles. "Well, I say our challenges are too large to ignore."


text:
Crate argmin[−][src]
A pure Rust optimization framework
This crate offers a (work in progress) numerical optimization toolbox/framework written entirely in Rust. It is at the moment potentially very buggy. Please use with care and report any bugs you encounter. This crate is looking for contributors!
Documentation of most recent release
Design goals
This crate's intention is to be useful to users as well as developers of optimization algorithms, meaning that it should be both easy to apply and easy to implement algorithms. In particular, as a developer of optimization algorithms you should not need to worry about usability features (such as logging, dealing with different types, setters and getters for certain common parameters, counting cost function and gradient evaluations, termination, and so on). Instead you can focus on implementing your algorithm.
- Easy framework for the implementation of optimization algorithms: Implement a single iteration of your method and let the framework do the rest. This leads to similar interfaces for different solvers, making it easy for users.
- Pure Rust implementations of a wide range of optimization methods: This avoids the need to compile and interface C/C++/Fortran code.
- Type-agnostic: Many problems require data structures that go beyond simple vectors to represent the parameters. In argmin, everything is generic: All that needs to be done is implementing certain traits on your data type. For common types, these traits are already implemented.
- Convenient: Easy and consistent logging of anything that may be important. Log to the terminal, to a file or implement your own observers. Future plans include sending metrics to databases and connecting to big data piplines.
- Algorithm evaluation: Methods to assess the performance of an algorithm for different parameter settings, problem classes, …
Since this crate is in a very early stage, so far most points are only partially implemented or remain future plans.
- Line searches
- Trust region method
- Steepest descent
- Conjugate gradient method
- Nonlinear conjugate gradient method
- Newton methods
- Quasi-Newton methods
- Gauss-Newton method
- Gauss-Newton method with linesearch
- Golden-section search
- Landweber iteration
- Brent's method
- Nelder-Mead method
- Simulated Annealing
- Particle Swarm Optimization
Add this to your Cargo.toml
argmin = "0.4.4"
Optional features (recommended)
There are additional features which can be activated in Cargo.toml
argmin = { version = "0.4.4", features = ["ctrlc", "ndarrayl", "nalgebral"] }
These may become default features in the future. Without these features compilation to
seems to be possible.
: Uses thectrlc
crate to properly stop the optimization (and return the current best result) after pressing Ctrl+C.ndarrayl
: Support forndarray
: Support fornalgebra
Running the tests
Running the tests requires the ndarrayl
and feature to be enabled:
cargo test --features "ndarrayl"
Defining a problem
A problem can be defined by implementing the ArgminOp
trait which comes with the
associated types Param
, Output
and Hessian
. Param
is the type of your
parameter vector (i.e. the input to your cost function), Output
is the type returned
by the cost function, Hessian
is the type of the Hessian and Jacobian
is the type of the
The trait provides the following methods:
apply(&self, p: &Self::Param) -> Result<Self::Output, Error>
: Applys the cost function to parametersp
of typeSelf::Param
and returns the cost function value.gradient(&self, p: &Self::Param) -> Result<Self::Param, Error>
: Computes the gradient atp
.hessian(&self, p: &Self::Param) -> Result<Self::Hessian, Error>
: Computes the Hessian atp
.jacobian(&self, p: &Self::Param) -> Result<Self::Jacobian, Error>
: Computes the Jacobian atp
The following code snippet shows an example of how to use the Rosenbrock test functions from
in argmin:
use argmin_testfunctions::{rosenbrock_2d, rosenbrock_2d_derivative, rosenbrock_2d_hessian}; use argmin::prelude::*; /// First, create a struct for your problem struct Rosenbrock { a: f64, b: f64, } /// Implement `ArgminOp` for `Rosenbrock` impl ArgminOp for Rosenbrock { /// Type of the parameter vector type Param = Vec<f64>; /// Type of the return value computed by the cost function type Output = f64; /// Type of the Hessian. Can be `()` if not needed. type Hessian = Vec<Vec<f64>>; /// Type of the Jacobian. Can be `()` if not needed. type Jacobian = (); /// Floating point precision type Float = f64; /// Apply the cost function to a parameter `p` fn apply(&self, p: &Self::Param) -> Result<Self::Output, Error> { Ok(rosenbrock_2d(p, self.a, self.b)) } /// Compute the gradient at parameter `p`. fn gradient(&self, p: &Self::Param) -> Result<Self::Param, Error> { Ok(rosenbrock_2d_derivative(p, self.a, self.b)) } /// Compute the Hessian at parameter `p`. fn hessian(&self, p: &Self::Param) -> Result<Self::Hessian, Error> { let t = rosenbrock_2d_hessian(p, self.a, self.b); Ok(vec![vec![t[0], t[1]], vec![t[2], t[3]]]) } }
It is optional to implement any of these methods, as there are default implementations which
will return an Err
when called. What needs to be implemented is defined by the requirements
of the solver that is to be used.
Running a solver
The following example shows how to use the previously shown definition of a problem in a Steepest Descent (Gradient Descent) solver.
use argmin::prelude::*; use argmin::solver::gradientdescent::SteepestDescent; use argmin::solver::linesearch::MoreThuenteLineSearch; // Define cost function (must implement `ArgminOperator`) let cost = Rosenbrock { a: 1.0, b: 100.0 }; // Define initial parameter vector let init_param: Vec<f64> = vec![-1.2, 1.0]; // Set up line search let linesearch = MoreThuenteLineSearch::new(); // Set up solver let solver = SteepestDescent::new(linesearch); // Run solver let res = Executor::new(cost, solver, init_param) // Add an observer which will log all iterations to the terminal .add_observer(ArgminSlogLogger::term(), ObserverMode::Always) // Set maximum iterations to 10 .max_iters(10) // run the solver on the defined problem .run()?; // print result println!("{}", res);
Observing iterations
Argmin offers an interface to observe the state of the iteration at initialization as well as
after every iteration. This includes the parameter vector, gradient, Hessian, iteration number,
cost values and many more as well as solver-specific metrics. This interface can be used to
implement loggers, send the information to a storage or to plot metrics.
Observers need to implment the Observe
Argmin ships with a logger based on the slog
crate. ArgminSlogLogger::term
logs to the
terminal and ArgminSlogLogger::file
logs to a file in JSON format. Both loggers also come
with a *_noblock
version which does not block the execution of logging, but may drop some
messages if the buffer is full.
Parameter vectors can be written to disc using WriteToFile
For each observer it can be defined how often it will observe the progress of the solver. This
is indicated via the enum ObserverMode
which can be either Always
, Never
, NewBest
(whenever a new best solution is found) or Every(i)
which means every i
th iteration.
let res = Executor::new(problem, solver, init_param) // Add an observer which will log all iterations to the terminal (without blocking) .add_observer(ArgminSlogLogger::term_noblock(), ObserverMode::Always) // Log to file whenever a new best solution is found .add_observer(ArgminSlogLogger::file("solver.log", false)?, ObserverMode::NewBest) // Write parameter vector to `params/param.arg` every 20th iteration .add_observer(WriteToFile::new("params", "param"), ObserverMode::Every(20)) // run the solver on the defined problem .run()?;
The probability of crashes increases with runtime, therefore one may want to save checkpoints
in order to be able to resume the optimization after a crash.
The CheckpointMode
defines how often checkpoints are saved and is either Never
(every iteration) or Every(u64)
(every Nth iteration). It is set via the setter
method checkpoint_mode
of Executor
In addition, the directory where the checkpoints and a prefix for every file can be set via
and checkpoint_name
, respectively.
The following example shows how the from_checkpoint
method can be used to resume from a
checkpoint. In case this fails (for instance because the file does not exist, which could mean
that this is the first run and there is nothing to resume from), it will resort to creating a
new Executor
, thus starting from scratch.
let res = Executor::from_checkpoint(".checkpoints/optim.arg", Rosenbrock {}) .unwrap_or(Executor::new(Rosenbrock {}, solver, init_param)) .max_iters(iters) .checkpoint_dir(".checkpoints") .checkpoint_name("optim") .checkpoint_mode(CheckpointMode::Every(20)) .run()?;
Implementing an optimization algorithm
In this section we are going to implement the Landweber solver, which essentially is a special
form of gradient descent. In iteration k
, the new parameter vector x_{k+1}
is calculated
from the previous parameter vector x_k
and the gradient at x_k
according to the following
update rule:
x_{k+1} = x_k - omega * \nabla f(x_k)
In order to implement this using the argmin framework, one first needs to define a struct which
holds data specific to the solver. Then, the Solver
trait needs to be implemented for the
struct. This requires setting the associated constant NAME
which gives your solver a name.
The next_iter
method defines the computations performed in a single iteration of the solver.
Via the parameters op
and state
one has access to the operator (cost function, gradient
computation, Hessian, …) and to the current state of the optimization (parameter vectors,
cost function values, iteration number, …), respectively.
use argmin::prelude::*; use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize}; // Define a struct which holds any parameters/data which are needed during the execution of the // solver. Note that this does not include parameter vectors, gradients, Hessians, cost // function values and so on, as those will be handled by the `Executor`. #[derive(Serialize, Deserialize)] pub struct Landweber<F> { /// omega omega: F, } impl<F> Landweber<F> { /// Constructor pub fn new(omega: F) -> Self { Landweber { omega } } } impl<O, F> Solver<O> for Landweber<F> where // `O` always needs to implement `ArgminOp` O: ArgminOp<Float = F>, // `O::Param` needs to implement `ArgminScaledSub` because of the update formula O::Param: ArgminScaledSub<O::Param, O::Float, O::Param>, F: ArgminFloat, { // This gives the solver a name which will be used for logging const NAME: &'static str = "Landweber"; // Defines the computations performed in a single iteration. fn next_iter( &mut self, // This gives access to the operator supplied to the `Executor`. `O` implements // `ArgminOp` and `OpWrapper` takes care of counting the calls to the respective // functions. op: &mut OpWrapper<O>, // Current state of the optimization. This gives access to the parameter vector, // gradient, Hessian and cost function value of the current, previous and best // iteration as well as current iteration number, and many more. state: &IterState<O>, ) -> Result<ArgminIterData<O>, Error> { // First we obtain the current parameter vector from the `state` struct (`x_k`). let xk = state.get_param(); // Then we compute the gradient at `x_k` (`\nabla f(x_k)`) let grad = op.gradient(&xk)?; // Now subtract `\nabla f(x_k)` scaled by `omega` from `x_k` to compute `x_{k+1}` let xkp1 = xk.scaled_sub(&self.omega, &grad); // Return new paramter vector which will then be used by the `Executor` to update // `state`. Ok(ArgminIterData::new().param(xkp1)) } }
- More optimization methods
- Automatic differentiation
- Parallelization
- Tests
- Evaluation on real problems
- Evaluation framework
- Documentation & Tutorials
- C interface
- Python wrapper
- Solver and problem definition via a config file
Please open an issue if you want to contribute! Any help is appreciated!
Licensed under either of
- Apache License, Version 2.0, (LICENSE-APACHE or http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0)
- MIT License (LICENSE-MIT or http://opensource.org/licenses/MIT)
at your option.
Unless you explicitly state otherwise, any contribution intentionally submitted for inclusion in the work by you, as defined in the Apache-2.0 license, shall be dual licensed as above, without any additional terms or conditions.
core | Core functionality Argmin Optimizaton toolbox core |
prelude | Definition of all relevant traits and types |
solver | Solvers |
check_param | Release an |
make_kv | Creates an |
trait_bound | Reuse a list of trait bounds by giving it a name, e.g. trait_bound!(CopyAndDefault; Copy, Default); |


text:
Exxon Mobil Corp. must pay a $2 million fine for showing "reckless disregard" for U.S. sanctions on Russia while Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was the oil giant's CEO, the Treasury Department said Thursday. Exxon sued the U.S. government to stop the fine.
Treasury said that Exxon violated sanctions when it signed contracts in May 2014 with Russian oil magnate Igor Sechin, chairman of government-owned energy giant Rosneft. The U.S. blacklisted Sechin, Tillerson's longtime business associate, as part of its response to Moscow's actions in Ukraine and annexation of Crimea.
The same month that Exxon signed the deals, Tillerson said the company generally opposes sanctions and finds them "ineffective."
Exxon maintained it had done nothing wrong. Hours after the fine was announced, the Texas-based company sued Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and the government, saying the U.S. had clearly told companies that doing business with Rosneft was allowed — just not with Sechin himself.
As America's top diplomat, Tillerson has insisted the sanctions will stay in place until Russia reverses course in Ukraine and gives back Crimea. Still, the sanctions breach on his watch raises significant questions about his ability to credibly enforce the sanctions and to persuade European countries to keep doing so.
Yet the Treasury Department said that Exxon's "senior-most executives" knew Sechin was blacklisted when two of its subsidiaries signed deals with him. The Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, said Exxon caused "significant harm" to the sanctions program.
The dispute between Exxon and the government centers on whether the sanctions differentiated between "professional" and "personal" interactions with Sechin, who had been blacklisted only weeks earlier.
Exxon, in its lawsuit, noted that the former Obama administration had said the sanctions strategy was to identify individuals like Sechin who were contributing to the Ukraine crisis and to "target their personal assets, but not companies that they may manage on behalf of the Russian state," according to a White House fact sheet from the time.
The company pointed out that Treasury had even said it would be permissible for an American CEO to attend a Rosneft board meeting with Sechin as long as it wasn't related to Sechin's "personal business." Rosneft itself was not subject to sanctions at the time.
"OFAC seeks to retroactively enforce a new interpretation of an executive order that is inconsistent with the explicit and unambiguous guidance from the White House and Treasury," Exxon said in the suit.
The Treasury Department disagreed, arguing that it never said there was an "exception or carve-out for the professional conduct of designated or blocked persons." The government noted that its website at the time explicitly warned companies not to enter any contracts signed by people on the blacklist.
The U.S. said that the presidents of two Exxon subsidiaries and Sechin had signed eight legal documents in May 2014. That same month, Neil Duffin, president of subsidiary Exxon Mobil Development, signed several deals to continue their work on the massive Sakhalin oil and natural gas project on Russia's eastern coast.
A photo posted on Rosneft's website shows Sechin and Duffin smiling broadly and shaking hands at a conference table with documents and a pen in front of them. A few days later, Tillerson was unambiguous about Exxon's opposition to the sanctions during his company's annual meeting.
"We do not support sanctions, generally, because we don't find them to be effective unless they are very well implemented comprehensibly and that's a very hard thing to do," Tillerson said.
Tillerson had played a central role over the years in developing that multibillion dollar deal. Tillerson knew both Sechin and Russian President Vladimir Putin for more than a decade before he became secretary of state.
The Treasury Department called the violation an "egregious case" and noted that Exxon "is a sophisticated and experienced oil and gas company that has global operations" and should know better when it comes to U.S. sanctions. It leveled the statutory maximum civil penal of $2 million for the breaches. Exxon's suit asks the court to set aside the fine.
After the Ukraine-related sanctions were put in place under President Barack Obama, Tillerson saw Exxon's stake in a lucrative offshore drilling project with Rosneft come under threat. Tillerson visited the White House numerous times as CEO in the immediate aftermath of the sanctions being announced, but they remained in place.
Concerns about Tillerson's potential conflict of interest dominated his confirmation hearings in January, and the secretary has recused himself from matters dealing with his former company. The State Department said it wasn't involved in the decision to punish Exxon for violating the sanctions.
"The secretary continues to abide by his ethical commitments, including that recusal from Exxon-related commitments," said State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert.
As a diplomat, Tillerson has struck a different tone on sanctions and sought to maintain pressure on Russia to stop interfering in eastern Ukraine.
"The U.S. and EU sanctions on Russia will remain in place until Moscow reverses the actions that triggered these particular sanctions," Tillerson said earlier this month during a visit to Ukraine.


text:
Can you hear it?
Can you hear it coming?
With immense passion it's gaining momentum,
Like a huge thunderous cloud rollin' in.
Do you know what it is?
It's Country.
And I can't believe I'm going to do this.
Never in my life would I think of confessing to this.
I am going to admit to something I never thought would ever happen.
And that is…
I am listening to…
Yes, as in, Country music.
And I'm not alone.
Country has even taken over The Voice. Which is now taken over the Country.
I'm not talking about Hillbilly, Bluegrass or Honky tonk.
No, this is not the music Grandma and Grandpa used to play.
Somehow, over the last several decades, Country has infused with Rock.
Don't ask me how it happened. But it is hap-pen-ing!
Hubby and I got an invite over the weekend to attend a free outdoor concert over at the Irvine District Mall in southern Orange County, California. This invitation came from some friends of ours that we've known, well, almost forever. It involved their son who is playing in a band called Black Label.
Well, may I just say this Country Band rocked!
Black Label is a group of five very talented musicians, whose background is mainly Rock. Confused? I was. That was until I heard them play. Or should I say sing. Well, sing and play actually.
But I was suspicious. Why would a group of obviously talented young men who lived and loved Rock 'n Roll play Country?
It was the Voice.
No, not that Voice.
The Voice.
Let me explain.
The minute Hubby and I walked into the outdoor mini-amphitheater we heard it.
We heard—the Voice.
The voice was belting out notes with immense passion, like a thunderous cloud rollin' over the crowd. It was powerful. It was resonating. It was captivating. It was a little Kenny Chesney, Brad Paisley and Garth Brooks, all mixed into one. It melted like butter seasoned with grit. And it, the voice, is the reason why this group of musicians sacrificed Rock and made the switch-a-roo…
To Country.
So can you hear it?
Can you hear it coming?
Country is taking country by storm.
Here's a little of what I'm talking about…
And Lady Gaga no less! Not bad, eh?
And if you live in the vicinity, Black Label will be appearing for a free concert at the Surfin Cowboy in Capistrano Beach this Friday, June 14th. Should be lots of fun! 🙂
So what do you think? Do you think that Country is taking over Country? What kind of music do you enjoy? Are you a little bit Country or a little bit Rock n' Roll? Does your mood reflect the type of music you listen to? Do you find that listening to music stimulates your creativity? Got plans for a summer concert? Who are some of the musicians that you like to listen to?
Thank you everyone for stopping by and for sharing your thoughts!


text:
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SCUBALAB Review: Best Buy TUSA Soverin-Alpha BC


text:
Acute Advisory Services Ltd, is a dynamic and progressive firm of Chartered Accountants in Cyprus, providing audit, tax, accounting and management consulting services. It was incorporated in 2010 as a continuation of a practice that counted 40 years of successful presence in the market. Our clients range from large local and international organisations to owner-managed businesses and individuals from a broad spectrum of industries.
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text:
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"EVICLEAR" rigid pipe/tube made of schedule 40 Grade PVC (U-PVC/PVC-U). OD =114.3mm, av. bore =103mm. Can be fitted using our clear sockets and fittings either dry, or sealed for liquid, with a solvent cement. Also compatible with standard grey inch sized UPVC fittings.
7 bar WP, WRAS approved(suitable for potable water)
Currently in stock at our UK warehouse


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The kids showing up to Kindergarten classes are much more tech-savvy than their predecessors five years ago. These digital natives are only a little older than the iPhone and they are used to a world where they are surrounded by technology, and where technology has evolved as they've grown.
Northwestern University reports that among children 8 years of age and younger, 21 percent use smartphones regularly for activities that range from texting to using educational apps. Common Sense Media found that 72 percent of children age 8 and younger have used a media device for watching a show, playing a game or engaging with educational apps, and that 38 percent of children under 2 have used a mobile device for media.
Children are no longer satisfied with seeing their favorite characters on a TV screen; they want to interact through mobile applications, YouTube videos and more. It presents new challenges for the early teachers these kids encounter who must find ways to keep students' attention while focusing on the important early lessons of their academic careers.
It seems that technology companies caught on early that there was a demand from parents for high-quality educational apps and other tech offerings that targeted young children, but the road to creating that content for classroom settings has been slower. That's starting to change though, much to the benefit of teachers.
In fact, some big names in education technology are seeing the value in sharing their platforms with teachers, in addition to parents. StoryBots, originally envisioned as an early childhood education resource for parents, has just launched its Classroom platform. It takes the best of what StoryBots has always offered -- learning videos, interactive reading, activity sheets, and more -- and ramps it up to work for classroom settings.
Founded in 2012, StoryBots focuses its educational resources for kids between ages 3 and 8 with personalized content, including Starring You® learning experiences that utilize a child's photo for customization (uploaded by a parent). The mobile apps have been downloaded 3.4 million times, videos viewed 300 million times and books viewed 8 million times. Already 10,000 teachers across the country are in the StoryBots Educator Network which gives free access to the resources.
StoryBots Classroom, which launched earlier this week, offers an expanded library of resources--all free to educators--to help engage students while teaching them foundational skills at the same time. By getting students excited to learn, the platform helps ease the transition from pre-K to elementary. Some of the specific Classroom offerings include::
- Math skills guidance, including standards-aligned math games
- Teacher planning tools - including class roster, lesson planner, group builder, and other tools that help educators manage their classroom and create custom plans to best suit their students' unique needs
- Learning videos, with a library of 110+ animated musical videos that explore a wide range of topics, from shapes to healthy eating to outer space information.
- Learning video eBooks that help kids practice reading
- Activity sheets that include 20 printable books and 350+ sheets for teachers to use in their classrooms
Teachers are able to invite parents to be part of the process so that there is a connection between what is happening in class and what is happening at home.
In an early education landscape that has becoming increasingly about high stakes, and less about the fun that should accompany learning, it's nice to see educational resources like StoryBots for teachers. Kids are comfortable when they have access to technology and the teachers who use tools that incorporate that comfort level with required learning will see positive outcomes.
Visit the StoryBots site to learn more about its Classroom platform.


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Gate Repair Pro technicians are experts in sectional garage door repair and sectional garage door maintenance in Aventura, Florida.
What is a Sectional Garage Door?
A sectional door is also called a sectional garage door.Sectional Doors are the most popular industrial door nowadays. The choice of installing s sectional garage door depends on the availability of space. The sectional garage door has three lift ways:
- Standard lift door / Standard elevator door
- Vertical lift door
- High lift door
Kinds of the Sectional Garage Doors Repair:
- Up And Overhead Sectional Garage Door
- Roller Sectional Garage Door Rollmatic
- Side Sliding Sectional Garage Door
- Sectional Garage Side Doors
- Sectional Garage Door
- Flatline Garage Door
- Sectional Overhead Doors Commercial
- Doorhan Sectional Doors
- Assa Abloy Sectional Doors
- Aaynor Sectional Doors
- Vertical Sectional Door
- High Lift Sectional Door
- Vertical Lift Sectional Door
- Crawford Sectional Doors
- Centurion Sectional Garage Door
- Classic Cedar Colorbond Garage Door
- Sectional Overhead Door
Sectional Garage Door Panel Repair - Aventura, Florida
Most of the modern construction projects in Aventura prefer sectional garage gates. It works a lot like the traditional, single slab garage door. The Sectional Garage Door offers up to 14 cm more passage width. When the door is closed, the door section is flush with the panel. We are certified, skilled and experienced in installing and repairing sectional garage door panels.
Sectional Garage Door Cost in Aventura
The cost of sectional garage door for Aventura residence ranges from $1,000 to $ 6,000, depending upon the size of the sectional door.
Advantages of Sectional Garage Door in Aventura area
A Sectional garage door has certain advantages:
- It no longer opens outward
- Sectional garage door sections are inpidually replaceable.
- Sectional door has no need for forwarding clearance
- A sectional door provides the same amount of security as a traditional door
Our Services in The Sectional Garage Door Repair and Sectional Garage Door Repair in Aventura
We have a name among top leading companies of sectional gate repairing and installation. We are quick and available 24/7 for any kind of Aventura Sectional Door Repair. We understand what our customers need and we try to provide them the best of our services of sectional door repairing and installation. You can call any time to get your job done on your sectional garage door whether it is installation, replacement, maintenance, or repair. The security of the sectional door is dependent on proper installation and Gate Repair Pro has experienced technicians who take care of all minute things to provide you the best of their services in your budget.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sectional doors are typically built of three to eight panels and move up and also overhanging. Sectional doors inhabit precisely the same quantity of internal garage area as a monolithic door. Each panel of a sectional door has its own connection to the door track.
How much does it set you back to set up a sectional garage door? To set up a single brand-new garage door it needs to set you back in between $500 and $800. They show that the typical property owner can typically deal with such a task in a nine-hour time period as well as an expert will have the ability to complete it in roughly 5 hrs.
Part 2 Lubing the Relocating PartsPurchase a lithium-based oil or garage door lube. Open your sectional door and spray the lube on each of the joints. Lube the rollers. Spray the beyond your springs and birthing plates.
The best sectional garage door lubricating substance for the majority of applications is WD-40 Safety White Lithium Grease. This high-efficiency lube is perfect for metal-to-metal applications that need sturdy lubrication as well as protection versus corrosion and also corrosion.
Silicone Spray or White Lithium Grease You can not just make use of any lubricant on your sectional garage door without triggering even more damage. ... The most effective lubricating substance for garage doors is a silicone spray or white lithium oil. These greases work to really lubricate all the relocating parts of your garage door.


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It is not our ideal arrangement, but right now all three of the kiddos share one bedroom. Because our house has two bedrooms upstairs and two bedrooms on the ground floor, and because we aren't yet comfortable doing two-story sleeping arrangements with our babies still relatively young, this is what works for us. I wrote about the boys sharing a room a while back, but this third kid thing has been a game changer and I've been asked a few times to write about how we make it work. The good news is: it does work. Here's what it looks like for us.
{As I talk about all of this, I want to mention that OBoy will be five years old this week (HOW????), OBrother is three years old, and ODear is eight months.}
Furniture, storage and decor:
The only furniture in the room are the bunk beds for the boys on one side, a crib for ODear on the other, and a big 'ol dresser between that holds everything for all of them including the changing station. Each kid has one large Clothes They Wear Everyday drawer, one small Pajamas and Underthings drawer, and then the boys share one more large Swimsuits and Other Infrequently Used Apparel drawer. Out of season and outgrown clothes are in labeled plastic bins in their closet along with miscellaneous winter coats etc.
The bunk beds were unbunked until last spring when we were expecting ODear and began playing furniture tetris. It was a hoot, lemme tell you. With OBoy at almost four years old and OBrother freshly two we stacked those beds, made very firm rules, and crossed our crossables that it would work. The rules include: they don't play in their bedroom, especially with friends over (because it is amazing how quickly bunk beds morph into jungle gyms in the eyes of a child, and also because we have a playroom), and OBrother was not allowed on the top bunk or even on the ladder until very recently and even now it is only when a grown up is in there. (Remind me to tell you about the morning that we were in the hospital, 8 hours after giving birth to ODear, and we got a call that OBrother might need stitches on his head because of playing up on the top bunk. This stuff is real life.)
More generally, we treat the room as a sleeping room and there are other places in our house for playing etc.There are no bedside tables or bookshelves (or toys for that matter) because 95% of the time we play in the playroom and living room (and kitchen and dining room…). We utilize other spaces, the mudroom for example, if someone is napping and another child needs some alone time (whether consequence or personal choice).
O, and blackout curtains. Always blackout curtains.
Our rocking chair and ottoman were in the room when it was just the boys, but when ODear joined the ranks it was exiled to the hallway. At the time I though this was a negative thing – the kids furniture expanding into the hallway – but it has turned into a positive for several reasons. First off, I can nurse her down to nap in the hall which is at the top of the stairs and open the the level below where the boys are playing, meaning I can keep an ear on them but still be far enough away to allow sleep atmosphere for the baby. Secondly, it is common that the boys' bedtime and the baby's bedtime are staggered, so it is nice to be able to put the boys in bed and do their routine, then close the door to their room and be in a different but near-by space while rocking ODear to sleep.
The room was originally a boy room complete with navy walls, an americana theme, and airplanes hanging over each bed. One of the airplanes has been taken down, but the other one still hangs proudly over our daughter's crib. To be honest I haven't gotten around to decorating the room to include baby girl. (Poor ODear. Don't tell her that her corner of the world consisted only of a third-time-around crib and a new-to-her mobile when she was a baby, m'kay?) I have made this mood board of a nautical themed room in greys and yellows and navys to neutral things up in there, and a mood board is half the battle, right?
Age of transition:
Age-wise, ODear has been in with the boys since she was about three months old which is how old OBrother was when we put the boys together as well. We stumbled upon this age when we went on a family vacation when the boys were little (OBrother was eight weeks old) and all four of us shared a bedroom. We were pleasantly surprised at what OBoy slept through on that trip and decided to try putting them together at home after that. When we do switch, we ease into the transition with a night time combo of baby in the crib/baby in our room depending on how soon we think different parties will wake up. For example, when she was four months old ODear would sometimes nurse around 4:00am and then want to keep sleeping, in which case we kept her in our room because more than likely she would sleep in later than the boys. This helps for a while but once everyone has their feet under them (usually by 6mo) then baby is in the kid room full time.
Bedtime and mornings:
We have a light called The Good Nite Lite and we love it with our whole heart. It looks like a moon and lights up blue at night, then it changes to a yellow sun in the morning at the time of your choosing (7:30am for us right now, although it changes at different times of year). We have had it since OBoy was a toddler and we never leave town without it; that thing has seen both coasts of our great nation and several fly-over states in between. In the morning the boys are expected to stay in their own beds and not make more noise than quiet talking or singing before the light changes to a sun. They can come out to go to the bathroom (obviously) but other than that if they are out of their beds before 7:30 we ask 'Is the sun on?' and if the answer is no, back in bed they go. The Good Nite Lite schedule obviously doesn't apply to ODear; if she is awake and hungry at 6:00am I nurse her and she is up for the day. With the boys, it gives us a clear boundary for what otherwise can be a hairy situation.
I should also talk a bit about sleep preferences here. My cousin recently put words to something DanO and I have believed for a long time about parenting that is played out in room sharing: We should teach our children that they are not their own. For us that is because of the sacrificial life of Christ which is our example. Even at this young age, our boys need to do things they don't want to or not do things they do want to because they are serving others. The kids sleep with their door closed and we keep the white noise machine on at a dull roar. If this ever comes into question, we remind them that this is what needs to happen because of the others in our family, similar to cleaning up after ourselves or being gentle when playing near ODear. Each boy (and eventually ODear) has dominion over their own bed – which stuffed animals, which covers, pillow or no pillow, etc., but the room itself – airspace and door and lighting – is shared. Obviously when compromise is possible it can be a very good thing, but there are times when it is not possible and so we remember that we are not our own.
Because of our age spacing, we handle the kids' bedtimes as 'the boys' and 'the baby'. Sometimes the boys are tucked in bed and ODear is still going strong due to a long afternoon nap. This is where that outside-the-room rocking chair is pretty clutch. We have a place to ease her into sleep after the boys are asleep or while they are having their own wind-down time in their beds. Other times ODear just needs to be sleeping in her crib before the boys head to bed. In this instance we will do all of our in-room bedtime routine stuff with the boys (reading, singing, praying) on the couch in the living room under dim lights and then remind the boys that we are about to walk into a room where a baby is sleeping and that we are going to be 'all the way quiet'.
We have found that the motivation of staying quiet in bed 'because baby is sleeping' is a powerful one both in the morning and before falling asleep. These boys love their sister and when we make it clear that she needs their help (in the form of quiet) they are valiant for the cause. We have also been known to threaten the removal of her from their room if they can't be respectful of her needs. I will say that some of the most precious times between our three kids have happened when they are all awake and happy in their room before the sun is on. Giggles and songs and long distance games of peekaboo – it is so heart warming to hear them in there doing their thing.
Midnight wake-ups:
ODear is still nursing at least once a night. I have no illusions of 'sleeping through the night' anytime soon, nor do I try to rush that with my nurslings (<— separate post ;) ). When she wakes to nurse usually DanO goes to get her and brings her into our bed where I breastfeed her laying on my side (half-asleep) and when she is done either DanO or I will bring her back to her crib and lay her down. DanO and I sleep with our door open and are pretty responsive to her cries at night because 1) we don't do the cry it out thing 2) we don't want the boys to wake up if we can help it. To be honest, this way – the baby waking the boys – has never happened. I don't know if this is because the boys are hard sleepers or because they do wake but just roll over and know that Daddy will come get her soon, OR because we have the sound machine cranked.
I think of room sharing with nurslings like the tooth fairy thing: it's impressive what kids can sleep through.
We would enjoy a little more freedom here if they weren't in the same room, to see if when she makes noise at night she is just working through bowels stuff and her fussing is short-lived or if she actually needs to nurse and is awake with hunger. I would say that this is the area where the three-to-a-room is hardest on us right now but it is nowhere near insufferable, more just inconvenient.
As far as the other way around – one of the boys waking the baby – yes. OBrother waking up crying from a bad dream has awoken ODear before. In fact, it happened last week. If it is close to when she normally wakes to eat I will just nurse her back to sleep, and if not she gets a little extra attention – back patted, rocked in the chair – and is quickly sound asleep again. Really though, this is maybe a once or twice a month occurrence and has yet to be a crisis.
Random important tip:
This might sound micro-managerial, but we have taught the boys to turn the door handle as they close the door so that the latch doesn't click loudly and we have a small dot of rubber on the door frame to keep it from banging. The boys are known to use the bathroom at any time of night, and as you'll see below they may also leave a room while someone else is napping. Practicing quiet door closing is a requisite to our room sharing model.
Ah, nap time: you are simultaneously my best friend and my worst enemy. During some of my lower times, nap time snafus were a serious anxiety trigger for me. I still think I feel a higher-than-average amount of mental pressure for nap to go well, but even with that we are able to make room-sharing work with a routine that I'm comfortable with. My basic premise is that two kids can nap at the same time in that room and if three kids need to nap we sub in the master bedroom for the baby.
Believe it or not, my experience is that little ones can sleep through someone waking up, walking out, and closing the door to room they are sleeping (see: teaching children to close doors quietly and rubber bumpers). Sure, about once a week they wake up at the same time and I wonder who was the catalyst for whom, but overall I have been impressed by this aspect of nap room sharing. That said, I think two kids leaving the room gets to be a little risky, which is why I max it at two in a room at nap.
For a longtime, OBoy was still napping almost daily and even now when the morning holds something exhausting like swimming he will sleep. In this case I put the boys down together in their beds while holding ODear and then if she needs to start her nap while the boys are sleeping she takes that nap in our master bedroom. [NOTE: We do not have a pack'n'play set up in our master. Our bed is a mattress on the ground and if she is napping in there I strip the blankets and pillows and lay her in the middle.] More often, though, our oldest can be found in the playroom during nap time, sitting on a cushion reading books for an hour of 'rest'. When this is the case, I put OBrother (3 years old) and ODear down together in their room after lunch. Most days ODear out-sleeps OBrother by a good hour.
Some things we haven't figured out yet:
We have a remote-controlled video monitor in the room. We can scan over and see if the boys are being rowdy in their beds or aim it at the crib and see if ODear is pulled up on the railings waiting for us. I realize that it is not normal for a 5 year old to have a camera in his bedroom, but for now it is a necessity. Also on our radar is the shared gender aspect. I have no idea when that becomes an issue or if there are sufficient work-arounds so that the room can continue to be shared, but we know that that is a bridge down the road that we will cross eventually.
If three kids in one room is the situation you find yourself in (or want to put yourself into) I guess I'm just here to say that it can work and it is not nearly as anxiety inducing as I thought it would be. It works, y'all. It really does.


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Men's Shirt Active-Stretch Long Sleeves Modern-Fit
Price includes VAT.
If you're a business in the EU create a business account to deduct the VAT from your purchases.
Model: BM 12
- Elegant, classic men's shirt for restaurant service staff.
- High wearing comfort in everyday working life thanks to breathable cotton.
- Stretch content in the fabric ensures exceptional freedom of movement.
- Also ideal for casual occasions thanks to the simple design.
- Versatile combination: casual with jeans, fashionable with chinos or elegant with a suit.
- Easy-iron fabric saves time in everyday life.
- High washability at 60 °C against stubborn stains.
- Fitting: modern fit ( (slightly tapered cut).
- Smooth button placket and Kent collar.
- With back yoke, bust darts and waist darts on front and back.
- Poplin, 94% cotton / 6% elasthane, 120 g/m² .
- Easy-care, easy-iron, colourfast.
- STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX®: Tested for harmful substances, certified by Hohenstein, S13-0998, www.oeko-tex.com/standard100.
- Easy care: mild process up to 60°C (145F).
- Do not bleach.
- Mild drying processes (tumbler max. 60°C/145 F).
- Moderate ironing max.150°C (steam allowed).
- Prof. dry-cleaning (P in circle).
Up to 3 working days.
Please allow for a longer delivery time for a product with embroidery.
Up to 3 working days.
Please allow for a longer delivery time for a product with embroidery.
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Men's Shirt Active-Stretch Long Sleeves Modern-Fit
Sale price€63,46 EUR
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(BPT) – The holidays are for giving, but with all the driving around for shopping, parties and family events, you may end up giving more at the gas station due to Grinch-like fuel costs. Holiday jeer can quickly become holiday cheer, though, by simply practicing some gas-saving tips.
"There are all sorts of ways to make sure you're getting the best fuel efficiency out of your car," says Andrew Briggs, director of product planning for Yokohama Tire Corporation, makers of a variety of truck and car tires. "One of the best – and easiest – is to properly inflate your tires. Tires that are under-inflated by eight pounds per square inch (psi) can reduce vehicle fuel economy by as much as 2 percent. By keeping the right air pressure, you can begin cutting down on your annual fuel costs."
Briggs says that even though tires are engineering marvels affecting everything from braking distance and accident avoidance to ride comfort and fuel efficiency, they are easily overlooked – especially when it comes to checking tire pressure. "It's natural to forget, but for the best gas-saving results, checking your tire pressure should become a monthly routine. It only takes five minutes. If you're not doing it once a month, chances are you're driving on under-inflated tires and burning money."
Another way to save at the pump is to drive on low rolling resistance tires, which improve fuel efficiency because they generate less internal heat as the tire rolls down the road. "With low rolling resistance tires, less energy is wasted," says Briggs. "That's a big benefit for budget-conscious consumers who want to maximize their mileage. Studies show driving on low rolling resistance tires alone like Yokohama's AVID Ascend can save hundreds of dollars over the life of the tire on gas. The tire has Yokohama's unique orange oil technology, which uses the oil from orange peels to create a special compound that makes an unusually strong bond between synthetic and natural rubber. The result is a tire that offers low rolling resistance. It makes the Ascend about 20 percent more energy efficient than standard touring tires."
Briggs says there are many ways your tires and vehicles can help save money for the holidays, including driving smarter. Here are some of his money-saving tips:
* Keep your tires properly inflated. Once a month, when the tires are cold (at least three to four hours after the vehicle has been driven), check tire pressure with a reliable tire gauge. Be sure the valve stems have a plastic or metal cap to keep dirt out and seal against leakage.
* Slow down. All vehicles lose fuel economy at speeds above 55 mph. Driving 55 mph instead of 75 mph can reduce fuel cost by 25 percent. Driving 65 mph instead of 75 mph can save 13 percent.
* Keep your car tuned up according to the manufacturer's recommended schedule to keep all systems in good working order.
* Turn off your engine if you're stopped for more than a couple of minutes. Fuel efficiency savings of up to 19 percent are possible by not letting your engine idle too long while stationary.
* Accelerating less from a stop and slowing moderately can increase fuel efficiency by more than 30 percent.
* Tire alignment should be checked once a year. Misaligned tires can cause the car to scrub, which lowers mileage and causes unnecessary tire wear.
For additional tire care and safety tips, visit www.yokohamatire.com or www.rma.org.