text:
Copyright © www.yesssmoney.com SMART LEAD SOLUTIONS PTY LTD, ACN 640 864 866. Credit Representative Number 523133 which is an Introducer Appointed Representative of Marketplace Finance Pty Ltd (Credit Representative Number 487316). I understand that by completing an application form that SMART LEAD SOLUTIONS PTY LTD (the entity) will collect, use, hold and disclose my information as outlined in the Privacy Policy, which I declare that I have read and understood as it contains notifiable matters.
Collection of information
I consent to the entity collecting personal and credit information from me. I understand that if I do not provide all information that is requested from me the entity may be unable to provide me with their services. I also understand that if any of my personal information should change, such as residential address, phone number, email address, etc, it is my responsibility to advise the entity of this.
Use of information
I consent to the entity collecting my information for the purposes of providing me with referral and marketing services and any related purpose including but not limited to:
- customer service requests such as providing access to and updating personal information and resolving disputes;
- gathering information and statistical data to analyse and evaluate business functions;
- complying with legal requirements under various acts such as the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009, the Privacy Act 1988 and the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006;
- developing our service offerings and improving overall business processes and efficiency.
Disclosure of information
I consent to the entity disclosing my personal information to provide me with their referral and marketing services, and any other related purpose as outlined above, on an ongoing basis to:
- credit providers, credit brokers, other referrers and other service providers;
- the entity's auditors, contractors, agents, insurers, financiers and lawyers;
- any other persons or entities who you have consented to.
I understand my information may also be disclosed in other circumstances outlined in the entity's privacy policy.
Exchange of Information with Other Providers
I understand that by providing my consent to exchange my information with credit providers, credit brokers, other referrers and other service providers, this information may be sold to them or disclosed for a fee. The amount of the fee would be determined on referral. I understand where my information is exchanged, it is being exchanged for any of the purposes for which I have consented to the entity, including offering me their products or services.
I understand that by providing my consent to exchange my information with credit providers, credit brokers, other referrers and other service providers, I am consenting to the entity exchanging all of my application information, such as my identification details, what type of loans I have, how much I have borrowed, whether I have met my loan payment obligations and if I have committed a serious credit infringement (for example, fraud).
Promotion of Products and Services
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Exchange of Information with Credit Reporting Bodies
I give my expressed and informed consent to the entity exchanging my personal and credit information with credit reporting bodies.
I understand that by giving this consent, the entity may collect information about me from credit reporting bodies, such as credit reporting information.
I understand that the details of the credit reporting body(s) that entity Exchanges information with are as follows;
Equifax Pty Ltd (Equifax)
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- PP: www.equifax.com.au/privacy
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Illion (formerly Dunn & Bradstreet)
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I consent to receive all communications, information and documents, where possible, from the entity through electronic communications, including but not limited to:
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I declare that I have read and understood this Acknowledgement and Consent document and that I acknowledge, authorise and consent to all the terms that it sets out.


text:
SuSE 8.1 Professional Review
SuSE software has always impressed me by the attention to detail they employ in generating their best-in-class Linux OS. The installation routine is simple and straightforward, the progress bar (lie meter) is generally accurate, and the finished install is relatively painless to configure.
This release is no different in those aspects and more improvements have made their way into the finished product as well.
Eye Candy and Other Features
One noticeable feature that has crept into SuSE's install that wasn't in my last review (SuSE 7.3), or it missed my notice because I did a default install, is the addition of an auto-dependency. When the user selects a software package they want in the final install, the auto-dependency feature selects the required libraries and support packages automatically.
This is something that has always annoyed me about earlier Linux installs. I was either kept in the dark about the dependency until it was too late (at the point of launching a binary), or I had to toggle back and forth between screens to select, or deselect, packages to satisfy a dependency. With this feature, I can watch which packages are being added as I select various applications.
The graphical administration tool, YaST2, is the best one I've found to date. It has all of the relevant functions of the computer in easily understood sections with fairly obvious icons. After my initial installation, I opened YaST2 to configure my network connection and audio playback settings. Want to make adjustments to video settings, network services, security, software updates and installations? All of these functions are accessible through YaST2. As for the esthetic considerations, SuSE's implementation of KDE has an incredibly clean look.
The layout has impressed several of my colleagues and has convinced a few to start a migration path away from Microsoft's products. In fact, SuSE is riding high and reliably on my friend's IBM laptop. The look and feel of every application has the same sharp imagery and simple layout. The number of small desktop applications has blossomed as well, encompassing everything from digital logic layout tools, to calendaring and scheduling.
The Downside
Even with all of great functionality of SuSE 8.1, there are some troubling aspects that could easily keep a new user from making a switch. First of all, I have been using Gnome for more than a year and have grown used to its idiosyncrasies. I have also grown fond of some of the spin-off applications, most notably Ximian's Evolution. Regardless of whether it is the best of its class is irrelevant to me.
I have a significant investment in time and saved mail to just pitch it for something else. After installing SuSE 8.1, I took most of the applications for a test drive. No problems what so ever - so long as they were KDE/Qt apps. Evolution loaded fine, the setup went well, and the main menus worked fine. Transferring mail to folders lead to crashes. This is not a problem with Evolution, I assure you. I have been running the same version of this application at work for months without an error.
The only thing I can attribute it to, given the short time I could dedicate to this problem, is library handling. It seems that Gnome applications do not play well in the KDE desktop. The second problem occurred much earlier in the install.
The equipment auto-detect feature correctly found most of my hardware, but for some reason could not pick up my monitor. I found this particularly odd, considering that the Linux OS I used most of the time had no problem identifying it as a Dell P991. This monitor is not 'cutting-edge' new either; I have had this P991 for nearly 2 years. I found it strange that the list of supported monitors did not include this one when I scrolled though the setup. The P990 is supported, as are many other Dell monitors. I selected the P990 and then changed horizontal and vertical refresh rates to the P991 and off I went. Although not necessarily a showstopper, it was annoying none the less.
These slip-ups are not the deal killers that would keep me from installing SuSE on any of my machines. I have been using Linux since 1994 and have enough experience to move past these problems. In fact, I will eventually download the latest Ximian Gnome and install Evolution from a CD. And I had the vendor disk for my monitor and was able to get the refresh rates to manually enter them. The errors might be more challenging, however, to users who are either new to computers, or new to Linux. I'm sure SuSE will make every effort to eliminate these minor problems.
Would I Buy It?
Sure, I would make a purchase. Keep in mind that it isn't necessarily the cost of the software that should be the primary deciding factor in making a purchase; it is the value of the software. If the software is $10 or $300, the cost matters little if the stuff doesn't work - the value of the product is nil. If the product is incredibly useful, then cost will only determine when you buy it.
The organization I work for has bought software ranging in price from $100 to $50,000 and value has been the deciding factor in every case. So is SuSE 8.1 valuable? I would answer "absolutely" if I were deploying it on machines that were to be used by the widest possible audience. There is something for both experienced and novice users in this release.
The installation will not drive administrators nuts trying to get a useful install, and new users will find a friendly, attractive interface that allows them to get the most out of their workday. SuSE 8.1 has all of the features that make a great desktop OS. I know that even among Linux advocates, the idea of Linux on the desktop is not something they feel will occur soon. I would argue that the Linux Desktop has been here for some time. It just needs a little more work.
The Good - Pros- Great look
- Easy install
- Auto-dependency
The Bad - Cons
- Some lack of hardware support
- Gnome interaction difficulty
The Ugly - Issues
The Verdict - Opinion
This editor's choice for broad Linux deployment.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
It says something about Kentucky's Republican Senate primary that its most memorable aspect wasn't some fiery debate exchange between Sen. Mitch McConnell and challenger Matt Bevin, or any kind of clash like that. There was no debate.
Instead, it was a weird viral Web video from the Senate minority leader's campaign that featured him smiling in different contexts. Naturally it was one endlessly mocked by late-night comedians and parodied on the Web — it also led to the coining of a new word: "McConnelling."
On Tuesday, McConnell made short work of Bevin, his Tea Party-backed challenger. In honor of that famous Louisville native Muhammad Ali, let's just say McConnell knocked his opponent out in an early round before the Senate minority leader could even work up much of a sweat.
Judging by the punches thrown in their respective primary-night victory speeches, McConnell's November fight against Alison Lundergan Grimes, who easily won the Democratic primary, looks like its going to be punishing. The contest is now tied according to a recent Bluegrass Poll.
Giving a taste of the race to come, McConnell attacked Grimes for being a potential automatic yes vote for President Obama. He also singled out her parentage, in what some might consider a blow below the belt. Her father, Jerry Lundergan, was a state legislator and state party chairman with connections to politicians across the nation, including the Clintons. (Former President Bill Clinton has already campaigned for Grimes in Kentucky and it wouldn't be a surprise if he did so again.)
"She's a partisan's partisan who has been practicing party politics since she learned to talk," McConnell said of Grimes. "I mean, let's be honest. Anyone who learned politics at the school of Jerry Lundergan will not be a model of bipartisanship."
That signaled McConnell's intent to focus on more than just the question of Obama. He also plans to make the Democratic nominee's father an issue.
Here's the subtext: Grimes' father faced legal trouble as a lawmaker, charged with violating state ethics laws. A conviction was later overturned.
McConnell pointed putdown of Grimes' father ended any doubts that he and his allies planned to simply tie the Democratic nominee to Obama alone.
For her part, Grimes stung like a bee in her victory speech.
Staring straight into the camera and speaking directly to the incumbent, she put him on notice: "Sen. McConnell, this race is between you and me. That's the name that appears on the ballot. And as you said so many years ago, it is my No. 1 priority to make sure Mitch McConnell doesn't see another term."
That was Grimes reminding voters of McConnell's October 2010 statement that his top goal was to make Obama a one-term president. He failed in that endeavor but inadvertently provided Democrats with words that inflame them still.
In their speeches, both McConnell and Grimes laid out how they want voters to see their respective candidacies — and opponent. McConnell wants voters to view Grimes as a rubber stamp for Obama and Sen. Harry Reid, the majority leader.
He also wants Kentucky voters to value his 30 years in the Senate, especially the fact that he's poised to become majority leader if Republicans can gain the six seats they need. And he wants them to view him as a necessary conservative counterweight to Obama during his last two years in office.
Grimes, on the other hand, is trying to turn McConnell's long tenure in Washington into a liability. She accuses him of being out of touch with Kentucky voters and a servant of Washington lobbyists and money.
She wants voters to see her as the new face of change who is independent of Obama, and also from the powerful and wealthy interests who hold sway in Washington. And she sought to connect with women by subtly framing some of McConnell's attacks as sexist. "I'm here to tell you tonight that I am not an empty dress, I am not a rubber stamp and I am not a cheerleader. I am a strong Kentucky woman who is an independent thinker ..."
When it comes to defining the opposition, polling suggests McConnell may have the easier time. Many Kentuckians still don't know much about Grimes.
A recent NBC News/Marist poll found that 10 percent of voters had never heard of Grimes and 27 percent were unsure how they felt about her.
Contrast that with just 1 percent of voters who had never heard of McConnell and 11 percent who were unsure.
But familiarity in politics can breed low approval ratings, and McConnell must deal with those. A recent poll put his approval rating at around 30 percent. McConnell spent nearly $12 million to beat Bevin. For that, he wound up with the worst performance for an incumbent Kentucky senator in a primary in 76 years. Those have to be worrisome signs.
As part of McConnell's strategy to define Grimes as bad for Kentucky's interests, his campaign has accused her of being part of a "war on coal." It's a potentially potent line in a state with an almost mythic tie to the fossil fuel — it still provides jobs in eastern Kentucky, though not nearly as many as it once did.
"Kentucky cannot afford to empower the people who have been waging a war against jobs in this state for 5 1/2 years," McConnell said in his victory speech.
Grimes actually agreed with McConnell that Obama is waging a war on coal — that's one way to create distance between her and the president in a state he lost twice and badly.
But she tried to define McConnell as part of the problem, accusing him of doing little to defend coal during his tenure. "Let's get the record straight: It's on Mitch McConnell's watch, not mine, that we've lost thousands of coal jobs."
While McConnell's strategy is to put Grimes on the defensive for her national party, Grimes sought to put the senator back on his heels on women's issues.
A strong November turnout among female voters will be crucial if Grimes is to become the first Kentucky woman in the U.S. Senate. So Grimes is making issues like equal pay and a higher minimum wage central to her campaign platform. And she signaled that she plans to pummel McConnell for voting against renewing the Violence Against Women Act.
Aware of his vulnerability on issues with strong appeal to female voters, McConnell made sure to have his wife, Elaine Chao, a Cabinet secretary in the George W. Bush administration, and other women on the stage. He spoke of the important roles the women in his life had played. The examples he offered of people hurt by the Affordable Care Act? They were women.
While both candidates tried to sell themselves in their victory speeches as focused on Kentuckians, outside groups from both the progressive and the conservative camps clearly view the Senate seat as a major prize.
One outside group, Kentuckians for Strong Leadership, attacked Grimes over coal and the ACA before the primary, and that was just a warm-up for attacks to come. Meanwhile, Senate Majority PAC and EMILY's List are expected to weigh in with significant money in coming months.
Grimes will need all the help she can get as she goes up against the McConnell fundraising juggernaut.
As of his most recent financial report, he had raised about $21.7 million, spent $11.4 million and had $10.1 million on hand, according to OpenSecrets.org.
In other words, even after all his spending to date, McConnell still had more left in his campaign treasury than the $8.1 million Grimes has raised in total. Of that total, she had spent $3.2 million, leaving her with $4.9 million in cash.
Democratic outside groups have apparently been keeping their powder dry for the head-to-head contest against McConnell — GOP outside spending has so far outpaced Democrats.
All told, some think the Senate race in Kentucky could result in $100 million or more in campaign spending.
Among the most interesting things to watch in Kentucky will be how the health care law plays out in the race. The ACA law is decidedly unpopular in Kentucky, according to the NBC/Marist poll, which found that 57 percent of registered voters viewed the law unfavorably.
But the relative popularity of the state's Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear, who implemented the state's Kynect health exchange under the ACA, adds a variable. The NBC/Marist poll found a plurality of voters, 29 percent, favored Kynect while 21 percent opposed it.
So Grimes has at least a path to defending herself against Republican health care attacks by praising Beshear for his handling of Kentucky's health exchange.
Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.


text:
As a business owner, you must take every precaution to safeguard your company's data.
Cybersecurity threats can harm your success and the future of your company. Guarding against these risks is essential for your enterprise's long-term health.
The number of cybercrimes across the globe is increasing. This makes it crucial to use best practices to help protect your business from potential attacks.
Let's talk about the top ways to shield your business from cyber threats. Remember, it's wiser to prevent problems from happening than to fix them after they occur.
Focus on Employee Education and Training
A crucial step in protecting your business is making sure your employees know about cybersecurity risks. You must keep them well-informed about potential threats.
Regular training helps staff spot threats, such as phishing emails. They also learn the correct way to respond. By empowering your employees with knowledge, you create a strong first line of defense against cyberattacks.
Update and Patch Regularly
Cybercriminals often exploit vulnerabilities in outdated software and systems. To avoid this, you must update your system often. This includes the software, operating system, and firmware.
Schedule regular updates and patches, and consider using automatic updates when available. This simple practice can reduce the risk of a cyberattack on your business.
Implement Strong Password Policies
Cybercriminals frequently breach systems via weak passwords. To increase security, you should implement two-factor authentication and instruct your staff to use strong passwords. A firm password policy means using a mix of upper and lower-case letters, numbers, and special characters.
Secure Your Wi-Fi Network
Wi-Fi networks are also attractive targets. Don't let your network be the next victim of breaches. Ensure your business Wi-Fi is encrypted, password-protected, and hidden. Regularly change the Wi-Fi password and provide guest access only when necessary. These precautions can protect your business's sensitive information from prying eyes.
Regularly Back Up Data
If your company loses data because of a cyberattack or a system failure, it could have catastrophic results. Avoid this by creating a routine to back up essential data regularly.
These include customer information, financial records, and other essential documents. Store backups in a secure, offsite location or use a trusted cloud service provider.
This practice will help you recover quickly during a cyberattack or another disaster.
Develop an Incident Response Plan
Despite your best efforts, your business may still experience a cybersecurity incident. A well-thought-out incident response plan is important.
An incident response plan eases damage, speeds up recovery, and keeps customer trust. Collaborate with your IT team or a cybersecurity expert. Develop a plan that clearly defines roles, responsibilities, and procedures. This plan should address and resolve cybersecurity incidents effectively.
The Bottom Line
Always remember that effective cybersecurity needs constant watchfulness. By paying attention to cybersecurity, you're not only protecting your business. You're also building a secure, trustworthy space for your employees and customers to thrive. Together, you can build a more resilient and successful business in the digital age.


text:
Dragonfly Nightmare
(Once Upon A Secret, #1)
Author: Erin Richards
Publication Date: September 12th, 2016
Genres: Contemporary, Suspense, Young Adult
Book Description:
To be a normal teenage girl.
To forget about the past.
To fall in love for the first time.
Is that too much to ask?
To forget about the past.
To fall in love for the first time.
Is that too much to ask?
Sixteen-year-old Allie Bailey just wants a break—a break from her overly-protected life. And Dragonfly Meadows summer camp is the answer. A summer away from her parents in the California Sierras with her best friend is exactly what she needs.
But once at camp, Allie notices that things are a little off. Paid excursions are cancelled and staff is replaced with shady new people. When the camp's founder goes "missing," Allie starts to worry. Unable to let it rest due to her past, she starts to investigate, enlisting the help of Logan Montgomery, her best friend's older and adorably geeky brother.
When hauntingly familiar flowers appear in Allie's cabin, she's not sure what to think—has her past caught up to her? Yet, after Allie stumbles across a murder conspiracy and chases down the truth, she becomes a target. Pushing through her paranoia and fear to find strength, it's up to Allie to save herself and the campers from a deranged killer before it's too late.
Buy Links:
My life turned a corner today to a kickass summer. A glorious day sliding past go and collecting $200 on the highway to my freedom, two days after the ultimate Independence Day. I wanted to shout my bliss to the world, but I refrained from killing my mother's eardrums any further. Nerd, much?
For the first time in my short sixteen years, I was headed to summer camp. How stupid exciting was that? For others it was no big deal, or even lame. For me, camp meant paradise, considering I'd begged my parents to let me go for the last four summers and got the big, fat no every flipping time. It wasn't even about money. Just major overprotectiveness due to The Incident That Shall Not Be Cloned.
Although I was joining the Teen Leadership Program as a Cabin Leader, I was coming apart at the seams to revel in the whole camp experience. Not all would be work, though. My best friend slash partner in crime, Laurel Montgomery, and I had dibs on fun. Escaping the house for two weeks was a major step toward more freedom in my life. I just wished my parents held my same excitement. The thought deflated my insane joy.
My gaze bounced to Mom's white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel. I brushed my fingers over her thigh. "It'll be okay. You have to let me go sometime." The four black beads rolled on my leather cuff as I withdrew my hand from her leg. I spun the beads around the band, ignoring their significance for a change.
"I know, Allie. I'm just—"
I curbed the urge to pull more of my hair out before baldness set in. "We've hashed this out. You've checked out the camp a zillion times. Carla Amadori's family has owned the joint forever. Laurel and Logan love her, and you spoke to all the other parents." Overkill if you ask me. "And you know Laurel and Logan will kill anyone who even looks at me wrong." Even though I kidded, I mentally kicked myself for dredging up that bit of paranoia.
Four years ago on my twelfth birthday, a psycho abducted me and held me at gunpoint for twenty-four hours. My father's investment brokerage had fired the freak and he flipped. I knew the man from attending various company events. I was lucky he didn't lay his grubby paws on me or physically harm me. The mental damage was bad enough. Now everyone looked suspicious, and I couldn't go anywhere without spying one person who looked like a deranged kidnapper. After counseling, I'd learned ways to cope with the trauma, but I still watched my back whenever I left the house. Seriously, I had developed eyes in the back of my head.
The Incident shaped my teenage existence in so many ways. Worst of all, it royally curtailed my freedom. Four smothering years later, because Laurel and her seventeen-year-old brother, Logan, my appointed watchdogs, talked my parents into letting me go, promising they'd stay with me 24/7, I was on my way. Without Laurel's nagging, I'd be stuck at home this summer with the swimming pool, my cat, and the housekeeper eagle-eyeing my every move.
For the most part, I had buried the memories of the abduction. When I dwelled on them, I made myself believe The Incident was a fictional movie about a girl named Alex. Now, I just wanted to appease my mother before she changed her mind and locked me up at Casa Bailey for the summer. The gates to my prison had opened. By the skin of my dead body, I wasn't going back inside.
"Happened a long time ago, Mom." I fingered the bangles on her right wrist. "You have to let it go." You have to let me go. "Everything will be fine."
"I know. I know." Mom's fingers loosened on the steering wheel. "You have your phone?"
Groaning, I knocked my head on the headrest. "For the millionth time, you know we aren't allowed to bring them." The camp was electronic-free, back to nature, home to crappy cell reception. I had no problems living off the grid for two weeks. I wasn't big on social media or texting anyone except Laurel anyway. The parentals also forbade me to engage on social media, so my phone was simply a phone.
"Right." Eyes on the road ahead, Mom dug through her purse and withdrew a new smartphone. "Take this." She stuck it in my hand. "Keep it with you at all times." A charger landed on my lap.
"Are you kidding me? Mom!" I held the phone as if dog crap coated it. My nose wrinkled. "Paranoid, much?"
"No, I'm not kidding. Don't tell anyone you have it. Not even Laurel or Logan."
"You planning to call me every flipping day?" I stuffed the phone in my hobo purse and clutched the bag to my chest, my irritation fading as we neared the school.
"Watch your tongue." She wheeled the car into the parking lot.
We passed through the familiar scrolled wrought-iron gates of my private school. The campground had a deal with the San Francisco school to use their bus to cart local kids to the camp. Otherwise, you wouldn't catch me dead or alive on school grounds during the summer.
Vehicles jammed the small parking lot, ignoring the white parking lines. Logan stood by the Montgomery's silver van. He'd morphed into a taller, sinewy geek with pale skin sorely needing a tan. Maybe he'd buy one at camp, far, far away from me.
Ugh. Why'd he agree to come this summer? Seeing him set off a tumble of thoughts inside my head and an odd crick in my heart I wanted to avoid. I'd once had a tiny crush on the gangly, too-tall-for-his-body loner. Into mixed martial arts, he had a black belt which made him king of the geek squad. Laurel, Logan, and I used to hang like birds on a wire at their home when my parents worked, which was all the time. Then the abduction happened. Next thing, I had the plague as far as he was concerned. He'd disappeared without a word to boarding school in Arizona, and then abruptly returned home this past December for his final semester of junior year. My crush evaporated along with many emotions and feelings that year. We'd avoided one another since his return, both of us burying our heads in the sand. Logan had much ado about the kidnapping, and neither of us had confronted each other about that gruesome event. Talk about lame times ten. Blame, resentment, guilt, sorrow, it all boiled up into a mixed stew when I thought about him. Confusion skewered me most of all. I repeat, ugh.
Erin Richards lives in sunny Northern California. She writes young adult fiction and adult romance, where you'll typically find her characters in peril, whether based in reality or a contemporary fantasy setting. Magic, murder and mayhem are all in a days' work! In her spare time, she enjoys reading, photography, and re-landscaping her backyard, even though she hates digging holes…unless she's burying fictional bodies! Erin also confesses to a fascination with American muscle cars…and reality TV shows. Keep up with Erin's latest news, exclusive content, and giveaways and subscribe to her Newsletter.
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text: | I, Yhwh, through the mouth of my Prophet, RAEL, your awaited Messiah, am sending you this ultimate message on this day of Passover 5769, particularly special being also Birchat HaChama, reminding you of our creation of life on Earth. The first Messages that RAEL transmitted to you were a reminder that the time had come for you to return to the land of IsRael. But in no way did this signify that you were to steal the Palestinian's land and houses and massacre them. You were supposed to have been Zionists AND Palestinians. You were to have come back peacefully to this Holy Land, non-violently, and allow yourselves to be welcomed fraternally and with love by the people living there, who are genetically your brothers. By combining the wonderful resources that you acquired during centuries of Diaspora with the talent of the local populations, you could have created a wealthy and powerful state that could have been an example for the entire world. That was your Sacred Mission. Instead, you stole the lands, houses, and belongings of the Palestinian people, you forced them into mass exile, you forbade them from coming back to their homes, you forced them to live in concentration camps, where you recently bombarded them in a genocide that transformed the chosen People into a criminal people acting against humanity and which betrayed its mission where it should have been an example and Spiritual Guide for humanity. You created a state where racism and discrimination reign, you who suffered so much from this scourge for centuries and who know better than anyone how unbearable and despicable that was. Centuries of suffering and wandering and the ultimate sacrifice of the Shoah brought you feelings of compassion from the entire world, who were ready to help you find security in the Promised Land as announced. The Nations of the Earth would have supported you in the creation of a multiracial and multicultural Palestinian state that would have been an example for the entire world. Instead of that, you used violence to impose a racist and violent state that despises life and Rights of all non-jews and which has become no less than a cancer for Humanity, a state that you as the chosen People, had been mandated with guiding towards more love, non violence, tolerance and consciousness. You have totally betrayed your spiritual mission, the only one that justified your return to the land of IsRael. Because, to be Zionist without being spiritual and religious, is pure racism and is totally unacceptable. You only have the right and the duty to be Zionist and Palestinian. The monstrous and criminal state that you have created is condemned to disappear quickly and the Jews who will attempt to preserve it from the inside or out will forever be cursed and will lose their Jewishness, that is to say, they will exclude themselves from the chosen people. The State of IsRael has to disappear and be replaced by a Palestinian State where Jews and Palestinians can live in harmony, where the two peoples will mutually accept the Right of return of the Jews and the Palestinians of the two diasporas, in a sweeping effort of mutual forgiveness, which will be the most beautiful example of love and fraternity conceivable for all of Humanity. Only those Jews who, in the past and until this day, have struggled from the inside and outside of IsRael against this zionist racism, against the creation of the currently racist state of IsRael, retain their Right to Jewishness, that is to say, to remain worthy to be part of the chosen people. The others, I vomit them from my mouth. They are not even equal to the other non-chosen people. They are inferior to all living beings of the creation. They are not even at the level of animals. As such they don't deserve to live in the Land of IsRael and they and their children for 7 generations are condemned to an eternal exile, to a permanent diaspora. Those who today, reading this Message, understand their mistakes and start to militate for a Palestinian zionism that is to say, a return to the Land of IsRael as a multiracial and multicultural state, where Muslims, Christians and Jews can live in harmony and with equal rights, those will have their crimes forgiven. You, Jews of the diaspora, who are sufficiently spiritual and religious to have had the consciousness not to have associated yourselves with the zionist crimes, I tell you it is time to prepare your return to the Land of IsRael once this land peacefully becomes a multicultural Palestinian State. Lastly, to speed up this process you all need to unite to prepare the construction of the Third Temple, Our Embassy and the glorious return of our beloved son, our last and ultimate messenger, the Messiah Rael, who will bring centuries of peace on Earth with our return. Every minute counts and remember that you cannot say we did not warn you. While some of our previous Messages sent by our Prophets of old gave you centuries to be accomplished, this one here only leaves you a few years, or even months. It is time once again to abandon the stiff neck and with humility become real chosen people once more, the people of love, truth and non-violence on the path that I, Yhwh, your Creator, have marked out for you. This path which leads to the Promised Land which is indeed an entire planet and not a piece of land delimited by borders. Amen | ||


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- Check all the latest news on the news page.
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Reading habits in the UK do not embrace diversity. Notoriously we rely on English being a dominant world language, so books in foreign languages are left to students of languages and those strange bilingual people. Only 4% of fiction published in the UK is in translation. Books by women in translation form a disproportionately small percentage of that 4%.
Gender is only one aspect of this general lack of diversity. Most published fiction is written by men and reviewed by men (see the VIDA statistics for the figures for several prestigious review publications here and in the States over some years). Novels by and about people of colour feature less frequently in our reading. Novels that deal with sexuality, transgender, disability, age and any combination of those are rare.
Fiction in Translation
Let's praise those who are trying to bring more translated fiction to our attention. Peirene Press champions European literature, specifically novellas. I mention Peirene frequently on my blog because their books are beautiful objects as well as good reads, and subscribers are offered salons, supper club, newsletter and blog as well as three books every year. Their founder, Meike Ziervogel is also a published novelist: Magda, Kauthur.
Loving lists, I don't hesitate to offer you the top 5 from Peirene's List of 100 Translated Books Everyone Should Read, from their newsletter last year and chosen by readers.
- Jose Eduardo Agualusa, The Book of Chameleons, translated by Daniel Hahn.
- Alain-Fournier, Le Grand Meaulnes, translated by Robin Buss.
- Isabel Allende, The House of Spirits, translated by Magda Bogin.
- Marcel Ayme, The Man who Walked through Walls, translated by Sophie Lewis.
- Honore de Balzac, Cousin Bette, translated by Sylvia Raphael.
I've only read the second and third on this list and 17 of the whole 100. I haven't even heard of some of the titles. The list reminds me of how much foreign literature I am missing and don't know about. Only 11% of my fiction reading was in translation last year. I need to do something.
Women in Translation
Meytal Radzinski has done a great job reviewing the figures for women in translation. She put up two posts on her blog: Biblibio Life in Letters in January. She looked first at publishers and in part 2 at languages and countries. Whichever way you cut the statistics they tell the same story. Books in translation by women only represent about 30% at best. And the year on year picture does not appear to be improving. People always dispute figures about discrimination and if you want to do this you can look at the figures and her analysis yourself. She is transparent about the figures and how she interrogated them. In a third post she challenges the publishers to publish more women writers in 2016.
So novels in translation in the UK add up to about 4% of the total, and books in translation by women form at most 30% of that 4%. I think that means that novels in translation by women form about 1% of fiction. I notice that only one of Peirene's top five is by a woman (but three of the translators). In the whole list I could only see 15 by women. Come on readers 15% is too low! The combination of foreign language and female author seems more than many publishers, booksellers and readers can deal with.
Read more translated fiction, and more translated fiction by women.
Support the initiative English PEN Writers in Translation.
Seek out more foreign fiction in bookshops and encourage them to stock more.
Look at the Man Booker International Prize for 2016. Here's a list of possible inclusions suggested from the blog Tony's Reading List.
Take out a subscription to Peirene Press and receive three translated novellas a year.
Bloggers, you can join in #WIT month (Women in Translation) in November, and post recommendations on your blog. Also available is the twitter hashtag #translationThurs.
You don't have to wait for November to read and post more about books in translation, of course. Join me in April, when I am reviewing An Unnecessary Woman by Rabih Alameddie, the next in my older women in fiction series. And I'm extending my tbr list to include another from Peirene readers' top five.
Any more ways you promote fiction in translation? Any recommendations for readers here and now? What is the best book in translation by a woman that you have read so far in 2016?
To receive emails about future posts, please subscribe by entering your email address in the box.


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Cheryl Croucher
Cheryl Croucher - Producer, Heritage Trails
Cheryl's career so far has been quite diverse, encompassing the world of politics, music, the environment and, of course, radio.
Born and raised in Alberta, Cheryl from the University of Alberta with a degree in Political Science.
Cheryl was teaching piano and studying composition when a casual summer job in 1977 led to a fifteen year stint with CBC Radio and a new found career in radio journalism. During this time Cheryl established herself as a researcher, writer, producer and on-air broadcaster.
Through the 1980s, her insightful consumer commentaries were syndicated across Canada, and in 1990 she became CBC Radio's first environment commentator. Responding to public demand for more information, Cheryl was soon producing tipsheets and magazine articles, as well as travelling the province giving speeches and workshops on how consumers can be more environmentally responsible.
She has chaired Canada Trust's Friends of the Environment Board, sat on the former Environment Council of Alberta's Task Force on Economic Instruments for Waste Management, Epcor's Water Advisory Committee, and is a continuing member of Alberta-Pacific's Forest Management Task Force. In addition, she's been a judge four times for the Emerald Awards for Environmental Excellence.
Cheryl continues her media and consulting work under the umbrella of Porcupine Stone Productions which she started in 1994. She has several videos to her credit. Cheryl's involvement with CKUA Radio began with ECOFILE in 1997. In 1998, Cheryl started production on Heritage Trails, a series of 500 vignettes on Alberta history. Of late, Cheryl is producing a new series about science and research called INNOVATION ALBERTA. INNOVATION ALBERTA broadcasts on CKUA Radio at 8 pm Tuesday evenings.


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Attracting traffic to a blog or a web site is challenging enough. So from the very beginning, when you start to see visitors coming to read your blog, be sure that they feel comfortable to stick around. And there are a number of ways you can help them to do just that.
Here are seven vital ingredients for building a successful blog with a loyal following.
1. Publish Regularly.
As your readers become familiar with the frequency of your posts, it will influence their visiting behavior. If your readers know that you post fresh content every day, they will probably come every day to read it. If they know you post on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, that's when they will come.
2. Stay on Topic.
Stick to your niche. If your blog doesn't have a niche, give it one. Readers like blog's that are focused on a particular theme or topic. If you have no theme and just post about anything, then readers are less likely to become passionate about your blog and will probably move on to somewhere else.
3. Use Meaningful Titles in Posts.
This not only announces clearly what the post is about, but it will help people navigate your blog and also influence your ranking with search engines.
4. Interact With Your Readers.
Think of your blog like a conversation. You post. Readers comment. Be active and be positive as you interact and converse with your readers.
5. Highlight Your Best Posts.
Don't let your best posts get lost in your archives. It's always a good idea to link to your best posts from a 'best posts' category on the main page.
6. Provide Good Navigation to Popular Pages
If you help people find the key pages within your blog, their visit will be a much more enjoyable experience.
7. Avoid Not Posting for Extended Periods.
If someone visits your blog and discovers that the last post was three weeks ago, they will probably be disappointed. If you don't post, people may give you the benefit of the doubt and come back on a few days to check, but you better believe they will lose interest quickly if you fall out of your regular schedule and stop posting.
There you have it. Seven little tips that will make a big difference to your blog's readership. It's not rocket science. It's just using some common sense when posting and interacting with your readers.


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(written from a Production point of view)
Whoopi Goldberg (born 13 November 1955; age 68) is an actor and comedian who portrayed Guinan on occasion from Season 2 through Season 6 of Star Trek: The Next Generation. She reprised the role (uncredited both times) in Star Trek Generations and Star Trek Nemesis and two episodes of Star Trek: Picard. She earned a Saturn Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films for her appearance in Generations.
Goldberg was born in New York City, New York, as Caryn Elaine Johnson. As a young girl, she saw Nichelle Nichols on Star Trek: The Original Series and ran to her mother, shouting, "There's a black lady on TV and she ain't no maid!" She was eager to appear in the film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and there was some discussion about her possibly portraying a Klingon princess, though the idea was declined by Leonard Nimoy. (The View from the Bridge, hardcover ed., p. 211) Goldberg is a "huge fan" of The Next Generation and was eager to star in the show. She was later responsible for getting Dwight Schultz his role as Reginald Barclay on The Next Generation, having co-starred with Schultz in the 1990 film The Long Walk Home. [1](X)
Director Les Landau recalls, "Whoopi is a pleasure to work with. She's very, very creative and inventive. From a personal point-of-view, what was really thrilling was that I was the first director in Hollywood to work with Whoopi after she won the [Best Supporting Actress] Oscar for Ghost. Whoopi is enthusiastic. Whenever she gets on the set, she knows how to approach the scene. And her instincts are generally right." (The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine issue 21, p. 46)
The writers of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine second season episode "Rivals" intended the character of Martus Mazur to be a son of Guinan who was also to appear in the episode, but Whoopi Goldberg was unavailable. (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion, p. 109) Both she and Chris Sarandon, who was cast to play the rewritten character, appeared in the 1996 motion picture Bordello of Blood. DS9 guest star William Sadler also starred in the movie.
Goldberg dated and lived with DS9 guest actor Frank Langella for five years, from 1996 through 2000. The two met on the set of the 1996 comic film Eddie. [2]
Goldberg trained under famed acting teacher Uta Hagen at the HB Studio in New York. A comedic and acting talent since the 1980s, Goldberg made her first screen appearance in the 1981 ensemble film Citizen: I'm Not Losing My Mind, I'm Giving It Away, opposite Darryl Henriques. In 1983, she conceived her own one-woman play, The Spook Show. The play was brought to Broadway in October 1984, simply titled Whoopi Goldberg, and ran for 156 performances through March 1985. The production won Goldberg a Theatre World Award and Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One Person Show.
Goldberg's breakthrough film role came with her portrayal of Celie Johnson in Steven Spielberg's 1985 drama, The Color Purple opposite Leon Rippy. She earned an Academy Award nomination as Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance in this film. Also earning Oscar nominations for their work in this film were set designer Linda DeScenna and music adaptor Fred Steiner.
In addition to her Oscar nomination, Goldberg won a Golden Globe, an Image Award, and a National Board of Review for her role in The Color Purple. She followed this film with an Emmy Award-nominated guest appearance on Moonlighting. In the latter half of the 1980s, Goldberg starred in six feature films, including Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986, co-starring Stephen Collins and Carol Kane, with cinematography by Matthew F. Leonetti), Fatal Beauty (1987, with Brad Dourif and Harris Yulin), and Homer and Eddie (1989, featuring Tony Epper, Tommy "Tiny" Lister, Jr., Nancy Parsons, Jimmie F. Skaggs, Vincent Schiavelli, and Tracey Walter; production management by Marty Hornstein).
Since the 1980s, Goldberg has been hosting the Comic Relief HBO specials with fellow comics Billy Crystal and Robin Williams. The fourth show featured actress Pam Pruitt-McGeary. The three of them shared an Emmy nomination for hosting 1995's Comic Relief VII. During one of the Comic Relief specials, the bridge crew of the USS Enterprise-D finds an old VHS cassette of the special, including a screen capture of the three hosts, mispronouncing her name as "Whoo-pie" and noticing, but dismissing, the resemblance to Guinan.
She received her second Academy Award nomination – and her first win – for her supporting role as psychic Oda Mae Brown in the 1990 film Ghost, which also starred Stephen Root and Vincent Schiavelli. Other awards she won for this role include a Golden Globe, an Image Award, a Saturn Award (from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films), and a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) Award. Goldberg later received an Emmy Award nomination (her second) for a 1991 guest appearance on A Different World.
Among Goldberg's best known starring roles is that of Delores Van Cartier, aka "Sister Mary Clarence", in the 1992 comedy Sister Act, for which she won an Image Award and received nominations from the Golden Globes and the MTV Movie Awards. She reprised the role for Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993). Her other film credits during the early 1990s include Soapdish (1991, with Teri Hatcher), Made in America (1993, co-starring Clyde Kusatsu), and Corrina, Corrina (1994, featuring Brent Spiner). She also had a cameo at the beginning of Loaded Weapon 1 (1993, starring William Shatner).
Goldberg hosted the Academy Awards ceremony in 1994 and again in 1996. She received Emmy nominations for Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program for both occasions.
Goldberg was among the many Star Trek performers to appear in Ghosts of Mississippi (1996, with Bill Cobbs, Spencer Garrett, Jerry Hardin, Thomas Kopache, Jordan Lund, Virginia Madsen, Terry O'Quinn, Brock Peters, Richard Riehle, Bill Smitrovich, and Susanna Thompson). Goldberg followed this with supporting roles in such films as How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998), The Deep End of the Ocean (1999), and Girl, Interrupted (1999, starring Winona Ryder) and Rat Race (2001, featuring Lanei Chapman Peggy Jo Jacobs and Andrew Kavovit). That same year, Goldberg made a cameo appearance in The Hollywood Sign, starring Dominic Keating.
Goldberg has also lent her voices to a number of projects. Perhaps most notable among these is her voice role as Shenzi the hyena in The Lion King (1994, with Madge Sinclair voicing Sarabi). She also voiced Gaia on the animated series Captain Planet and the Planeteers, working with her Next Generation co-star LeVar Burton.
In The Pagemaster that same year, Goldberg and her Next Generation co-star Patrick Stewart and voice artist Frank Welker were heard as a trio of talking books. Christopher Lloyd starred and voiced in this film, as well, while George Hearn, Robert Picardo, and Leonard Nimoy also had voice roles; Ed Begley, Jr. had an acting role in the film. More recent voice credits include as a ranger in 1998's The Rugrats Movie and the voice of the title reindeer in LeVar Burton's Blizzard.
From 1998 through 2002, Goldberg was the producer of the popular game show Hollywood Squares. She also regularly occupied the famous "center square" on the show. Goldberg received four Daytime Emmy Award nominations as the show's producer.
Goldberg shared a Tony Award as one of the producers of the Broadway play, Thoroughly Modern Millie. She also won a Daytime Emmy Award as host of the 2001 TV documentary Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel. She earned her latest Emmy nomination for a 2005 televised broadcast of the revival of her one-person play entitled Whoopi: Back to Broadway – The 20th Anniversary.
In August 2007, it was announced that Goldberg will become the new moderator on the ABC talk show The View, replacing the controversial Rosie O'Donnell. Goldberg joined the show on 4 September. [3] [4]
Goldberg hosted the 62nd Annual Tony Awards at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City on 15 June 2008. Her TNG co-star, Patrick Stewart, was a 2008 nominee for his performance in the Broadway production of Macbeth. [5] [6]
Goldberg appeared in the 2010 film For Colored Girls written and directed by Tyler Perry.
Appearances as Guinan[]
- "The Child" (Season 2)
- "The Outrageous Okona"
- "The Measure Of A Man"
- "The Dauphin"
- "Q Who"
- "Shades of Gray" (archive footage from "The Dauphin")
- "Evolution" (Season 3)
- "Booby Trap"
- "Deja Q"
- "Yesterday's Enterprise"
- "The Offspring"
- "Hollow Pursuits"
- "The Best of Both Worlds"
- "The Best of Both Worlds, Part II" (Season 4)
- "Family"
- "The Loss"
- "Clues"
- "Galaxy's Child"
- "Night Terrors"
- "In Theory"
- "Redemption"
- "Redemption II" (Season 5)
- "Ensign Ro"
- "Imaginary Friend"
- "I Borg"
- "Time's Arrow"
- "Time's Arrow, Part II" (Season 6)
- "Rascals"
- "Suspicions"
- Star Trek films
- Star Trek Generations (uncredited)
- Star Trek Nemesis (uncredited)
Additional appearances[]
Star Trek interviews[]
- TNG Season 2 DVD special feature "Mission Overview Year Two" ("Whoopi Goldberg", "Gene Roddenberry"), interviewed on 20 September 1988
- TNG Season 3 DVD special feature "Mission Overview Year Three" ("Guinan Returns"), interviewed on 6 December 2001
- TNG Season 5 DVD special feature "A Tribute to Gene Roddenberry" ("Gene Roddenberry Building Dedicated to Star Trek's Creator", "Gene's Final Voyage"), interviewed on 6 June 1991 and 6 December 2001
- TNG Season 6 DVD special feature "Mission Overview Year Six" ("Resolving the Cliffhanger"), interviewed on 6 December 2001
- TNG Season 7 DVD special feature "Starfleet Moments & Memories Year Seven" ("A Unique Legacy", "A Unique Family"), interviewed on 6 December 2001


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[Cross Posted from Sixteen Small Stones]
A few years ago a film came out that my wife and I had wanted to see, but we didn't get around to seeing it in the theatre. So when it came out on DVD, I stopped by a local video rental and picked it up. In our family, we don't watch R-rated films. Since I knew that this particular film had been rated PG-13, I hadn't bothered looking at the rating on the DVD when I rented it, I just hurriedly found the title and picked it up.
Even though we both wanted to see it, my wife ended up watching the movie without me while I was at work. She called me, shocked, because the film contained a scene full of gratuitous nudity and explicit sexual activity. Embarrassed, I double checked that the film had been PG-13 using an Internet search. A closer look at the DVD container showed that the DVD contained an "Unrated" version of the movie. We had fallen for a bait-and-switch! The theatrical version had been rated PG-13, but it was not available to be rented on DVD. You could only rent the "Unrated" version.


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IBM Universal Access for Developers (Responsive Web Application) – 9d81gspl
Course #: 9D81GSPL
Duration: 2 Days
The UA Responsive Web Application allows citizens to access the functions of Universal Access on any device. The UA Responsive Web Application is built using the SPM Design System, the React JavaScript library, and Redux. Developers must understand the structure of the UA Responsive Web Application so that they can customize and extend it to produce high-quality citizen services. During the course, learners will install the web application, add custom pages, fetch data from the server, and manage custom state using Redux. In addition, developers will investigate the server configuration and REST APIs that are necessary to support the web application.
If you are enrolling in a Self Paced Virtual Classroom or Web Based Training course, before you enroll, please review the Self-Paced Virtual Classes and Web-Based Training Classes on our Terms and Conditions page, as well as the system requirements, to ensure that your system meets the minimum requirements for this course. http://www.ibm.com/training/terms
After completing the course, learners will be able to:
- Describe the purpose of IBM Universal Access
- Outline the features of the IBM Universal Access Responsive Web Application
- Install the IBM Universal Access Responsive Web Application
- Customize and extend the starter web application
- Mock REST APIs using the Mock Server
- Implement state management using Redux
- Describe how the web app fetches configuration and server data from the SPM server
- Describe the approach for handling and reporting exceptions
- Describe the support for creating localized applications
- Outline the security features of the web app
This course is intended primarily for developers and technical architects who will work on IBM Cúram implementation projects that customize and extend the UA Responsive Web Application. This course is also useful for testers and support staff who will work with the UA Responsive Web Application.
Learners must complete the following courses before taking this course:
- IBM SPM Design System for Designers (9D79G)
- IBM SPM Design System for Developers (9D80G)
In addition, learners must have some experience of using the following technologies:
- HTML, CSS, JavaScript (ES6)
- JSX and React
- Redux
The course covers the following topics:
- Overview of IBM Universal Access
- Customizing the starter application
- Integrating with the Cúram SPM server
- Localization, security, and deployment


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BOOK BLITZ: A Chip on her Shoulder by RJ Blaine
A Chip on Her Shoulder
R.J. Blain
(Magical Romantic Comedies #11)
Publication date: September 1st 2020
Genres: Adult, Urban Fantasy
After a deal with loan sharks sours, Darlene's brother is permanently transformed into a chipmunk. Not one to accept impossibility as a good excuse for failure, she's determined to rescue her brother and secure revenge against those who'd poisoned him with grade-a transformatives.
If she wants to perform a miracle, she'll need to join forces with a divine, but the man upstairs and his angels refuse to help.
None of the other so-called benevolent divines are willing to help her, either.
Running out of time and options, Darlene prepares to storm the gates of hell for her brother.
She never expected to fall in love with the Devil.
Warning: this novel contains a woman with a chip on her shoulder, humor, and one hell of a hero. Proceed with caution.
Goodreads / Amazon / Barnes & Noble / iBooks / Kobo / Google Play
Rather than try to talk my brother out of the money he rightfully owed them, the local mafia's loan sharks opted for a more permanent solution to their problem. They transformed my asshole brother, Jonas, into a chipmunk and saddled me with the bill.
My brother had lost his human life for five thousand dollars.
What a waste.
Since that wasn't bad enough, the goons my brother had pissed off forced me to watch the entire process, which involved forcing him to drink a vial of clear fluid. The transformation took a matter of minutes, and he started screaming within seconds of consuming their concoction.
It took until he'd shrunk to half his true size to stop screaming, and he squealed instead.
Shapeshifting hurt like hell; I went through the gruesome process every few days, when my thin, human skin drove me to the brink of madness. Some days, I took on my more hybrid form, sporting a tail and my feline ears. Sometimes, I tossed in a light coat of spotted fur to ease my discomfort. Sometimes, I kept the thin, human skin to pretend I fit in with the rest of the neighborhood, hiding my tail and ears beneath my clothes. One day I'd give up on hiding my true nature. Every rare now and again, my hybrid transformation came with a full coat of fur, my ears, and my beautiful tail, something I loved.
My light coat was a mockery of my full glory, and one day, I'd master my magic so I decided which parts of me had light fur, no fur, or a thick coat best suited for wintry mountains.
My spots were my best assets, and I loved each and every one of them. Life would be so much better when I could wear my spots whenever I wanted.
When the mood struck me, the night was young, and the weather was cool, I ran as a snow leopard, displaying every one of my spots and hunting through suburbia for prey, typically one of the more annoying squirrels or rabbits to menace my garden.
I'd be hunting for bigger prey soon enough, and I kept my expression cold and calm. Warning my prey I would be coming for them wouldn't do.
A wise huntress gave no warning before the ambush, and I would use every opportunity to crush the entire mafia. Unlike the local law enforcement, who played by civilized rules, there would be nothing civilized about me.
They had destroyed my family, so I would destroy their family. No, I would do far worse than merely destroy their family. I would destroy their ambition while I was at it. When I finished with them, ruin and suffering would be all I left in my wake.
Sometimes, I was not a very good person. Actually, no. Most of the time I was not a very good person.
I'd learned early on being good left me taken advantage of, alone, and miserable. When I did good, I did it because I wanted to, expecting nothing in return, for I'd learned that lesson well enough.
What went around rarely came around, and I'd gained nothing from any of the good I'd done in my life.
I kept my breaths slow and even, waiting while doing my best to detach myself from the reality of my situation. Panic would win me nothing, neither would fear. Patience might win me a lot, depending on what I learned in the next few minutes.
One of the thugs, someone who'd gotten into a fight with a fire and lost, held a rather nasty gun to my head to make sure I behaved.
I behaved, but only because we had one rule in our household of two: survival came first. Once I survived my current mess, I would add a new rule to our household of one and a rodent: revenge would come eventually.
I couldn't win against eight men who'd cut their teeth on violence, not even if I transformed and put my sharp claws to good use. Not yet. I'd keep my claws a secret for a little while longer, and when I brought them out, I would shred their entire outfit.
Revenge would be mine, and I would enjoy obtaining it.
Revenge wouldn't save my brother. If I had fought against the mafia he'd tangoed with, I couldn't have saved him anyway. They likely would have killed us both. I'd find some way to do the impossible and restore my brother somehow. The man my brother had been was gone, replaced by a chipmunk with a rodent's puny little brain.
No, he was still my brother, but he possessed a rodent's puny little brain. He might remember me. He might even be able to understand English and allow me to keep him outside of a cage.
That stung.
My brother was an asshole. He probably deserved some form of punishment at the hands of the mafia, but he was my asshole brother, and nobody beat him other than me.
I would make that our third household rule, and I would adhere to it.
I took my time memorizing the faces of those who'd pay for their crimes. Their scars would make them easy to identify. I wouldn't forget their scars, I wouldn't forget their faces, and I gave it a week for me to learn their names.
Then the fun would truly begin.
They weren't the only ones who could get their hands on transformative drugs. It just cost a little money or having the right ingredients available. I could get the money, and I could go where the rare ingredients grew.
So hellbent on revenge, I barely remembered the conversation leading up to my brother's transformation into a rather small rodent. I remembered the part about the money, where they wanted me to bring it and when, but the rest remained a blur.
I needed to memorize their scarred faces so I could do what an Esmaranda woman did when she got mad.
I'd get even, and I'd charge interest.
My mother, may her soul rest in peace, had taught me that from the day I'd busted out of maternal prison and escaped her womb.
Picking my brother up by his furry little tail, the lead asshole, who had a rather ugly scar over his nose where someone had failed to slice his skull in half, tossed him my way. I forgot about the gun pointed at me, scrambling to catch my brother so he wouldn't escape. He squealed and squeaked protests before biting the hell out of my hand.
What an utter asshole. I prevented him from running away and losing all chance of becoming human again, and he bit me? When I refused to let my brother go, he took another chomp out of the fleshy part of my hand connecting my index finger and thumb.
I bled.
The mafia goons laughed, and then they left.
They'd pay for that, too.
Come hell or high water, they'd pay.
Author Bio:
RJ Blain suffers from a Moleskine journal obsession, a pen fixation, and a terrible tendency to pun without warning.
In her spare time, she daydreams about being a spy. Her contingency plan involves tying her best of enemies to spinning wheels and quoting James Bond villains until satisfied.
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I wanted to create more space for Ubuntu on my hard disk in favor of my Windows partition. I booted the livecd and resized the NTFS partition to 100 GB. Then I wanted to resize my Ubuntu (ext4) partition to fill up the created unallocated space.
A screenshot of my current disk. (With the livecd there's no 'key' icon after sda6)
My first thought was just right click on sda6 → move/resize → done. Unfortunately I cannot resize or move the partition. However I can resize the NTFS partition.
I guess it is because the extended sda4 partition is locked. I couldn't see an unlock possibility though…
So how do I resize the ext4 partition anyway, probably by unlocking the extended partition, but how?


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Happy Birthday Wishes to the Data Quality Act
December 21, 2010 marks the tenth anniversary of the Data Quality Act (DQA), also known as the Information Quality Act, 44 U.S.C § 3516, note.
The DQA has deep roots developed over nearly a half-century as the result of a seed planted during the Johnson Administration which germinated in the Nixon Administration, was watered by the Carter Administration and whose product was harvested by the Reagan Administration, made available to the public in the Bush I Administration and subsequently enhanced by the Clinton Administration and promoted by the Bush II and Obama Administrations. See: http://thecre.com/ombpapers/SystemsAnalysisGroup.htm and http://thecre.com/quality/20010924_fedinfotriangle.html
The DQA was made possible by two crucial precursor actions: 1) establishment of a centralized regulatory review process; and 2) a statutory grant of authority to the Office of Management and Budget to manage the centralized regulatory review process.
The DQA recognizes the emergence of the internet as the primary means for federal information disseminations including publication of reports and other documents. Even though these publications are not the result of a rulemaking process they often have a material impact on persons and organizations; that is to say the reports constitute regulation by information and prior to the passage of the DQA they were not reviewable by the courts – an issue currently in play.
To counter agency use of the internet as a backdoor Federal Register the DQA requires data in federal reports and regulations to be reproducible and unbiased, prohibits the introduction of policy into scientific risk assessments and allows any affected member of the public to seek correction of data disseminated by federal agencies.
The alleged shortcoming of the DQA was that it was born out of wedlock; namely that it was not subject to Congressional hearings. In that the DQA was included in an omnibus spending bill, as it the case with every element in such bills, it was not subject to hearings.
However, the language that was included as the DQA in the omnibus spending bill was subject to extensive hearings as part of the appropriation process going back to as early as June , 1998 –please see http://thecre.com/quality/house_act.html.
OMB continued to reject numerous Congressional requests to issue the DQA regulations mandated by the 1995 Paperwork Reduction Act. Finally the Congress passed the DQA legislation after receiving a letter from OMB on April 18, 2000 which denied all their requests to issue DQA regulations, see http://www.thecre.com/quality/20041010_quality.htm.
Lastly, concerns that the DQA would lead to onerous demands on federal agencies proved to be unfounded.
For a chronological history of the DQA see the website DataQualityAct.US which is also accessible through the CRE website at http://thecre.com/quality/index.html
To see "A Decade of the Data Quality Act" please see http://www.thecre.com/pra/?p=61
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text: An adventure is an exciting or unusual experience. It may also be a bold, usually risky undertaking, with an uncertain outcome. Adventures may be activities with some potential for physical danger such as exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, river rafting or participating in extreme sports. The term also broadly refers to any enterprise that is potentially fraught with physical, financial or psychological risk, such as a business venture, or other major life undertakings.


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Practical Considerations
Capacitors, like all electrical components, have limitations which must be respected for the sake of reliability and proper circuit operation.
Working voltage: Since capacitors are nothing more than two conductors separated by an insulator (the dielectric), you must pay attention to the maximum voltage allowed across it. If too much voltage is applied, the "breakdown" rating of the dielectric material may be exceeded, resulting in the capacitor internally short-circuiting.
Polarity: Some capacitors are manufactured so they can only tolerate applied voltage in one polarity but not the other. This is due to their construction: the dielectric is a microscopically thin layer of insulation deposited on one of the plates by a DC voltage during manufacture. These are called electrolytic capacitors, and their polarity is clearly marked.
Reversing voltage polarity to an electrolytic capacitor may result in the destruction of that super-thin dielectric layer, thus ruining the device. However, the thinness of that dielectric permits extremely high values of capacitance in a relatively small package size. For the same reason, electrolytic capacitors tend to be low in voltage rating as compared with other types of capacitor construction.
Equivalent circuit: Since the plates in a capacitor have some resistance, and since no dielectric is a perfect insulator, there is no such thing as a "perfect" capacitor. In real life, a capacitor has both a series resistance and a parallel (leakage) resistance interacting with its purely capacitive characteristics:
Fortunately, it is relatively easy to manufacture capacitors with very small series resistances and very high leakage resistances!
Physical Size: For most applications in electronics, minimum size is the goal for component engineering. The smaller components can be made, the more circuitry can be built into a smaller package, and usually weight is saved as well. With capacitors, there are two major limiting factors to the minimum size of a unit: working voltage and capacitance. And these two factors tend to be in opposition to each other. For any given choice in dielectric materials, the only way to increase the voltage rating of a capacitor is to increase the thickness of the dielectric. However, as we have seen, this has the effect of decreasing capacitance. Capacitance can be brought back up by increasing plate area. but this makes for a larger unit. This is why you cannot judge a capacitor's rating in Farads simply by size. A capacitor of any given size may be relatively high in capacitance and low in working voltage, vice versa, or some compromise between the two extremes. Take the following two photographs for example:
This is a fairly large capacitor in physical size, but it has quite a low capacitance value: only 2 µF. However, its working voltage is quite high: 2000 volts! If this capacitor were re-engineered to have a thinner layer of dielectric between its plates, at least a hundredfold increase in capacitance might be achievable, but at a cost of significantly lowering its working voltage. Compare the above photograph with the one below. The capacitor shown in the lower picture is an electrolytic unit, similar in size to the one above, but with very different values of capacitance and working voltage:
The thinner dielectric layer gives it a much greater capacitance (20,000 µF) and a drastically reduced working voltage (35 volts continuous, 45 volts intermittent).
Here are some samples of different capacitor types, all smaller than the units shown previously:
The electrolytic and tantalum capacitors are polarized (polarity sensitive), and are always labeled as such. The electrolytic units have their negative (-) leads distinguished by arrow symbols on their cases. Some polarized capacitors have their polarity designated by marking the positive terminal. The large, 20,000 µF electrolytic unit shown in the upright position has its positive (+) terminal labeled with a "plus" mark. Ceramic, mylar, plastic film, and air capacitors do not have polarity markings, because those types are nonpolarized (they are not polarity sensitive).
Capacitors are very common components in electronic circuits. Take a close look at the following photograph -- every component marked with a "C" designation on the printed circuit board is a capacitor:
Some of the capacitors shown on this circuit board are standard electrolytic: C30 (top of board, center) and C36 (left side, 1/3 from the top). Some others are a special kind of electrolytic capacitor called tantalum, because this is the type of metal used to make the plates. Tantalum capacitors have relatively high capacitance for their physical size. The following capacitors on the circuit board shown above are tantalum: C14 (just to the lower-left of C30), C19 (directly below R10, which is below C30), C24 (lower-left corner of board), and C22 (lower-right).
Examples of even smaller capacitors can be seen in this photograph:
The capacitors on this circuit board are "surface mount devices" as are all the resistors, for reasons of saving space. Following component labeling convention, the capacitors can be identified by labels beginning with the letter "C".
Lessons In Electric Circuits copyright (C) 2000-2020 Tony R. Kuphaldt, under the terms and conditions of the CC BY License.
See the Design Science License (Appendix 3) for details regarding copying and distribution.
Revised November 06, 2021
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Saturday, August 13, 2011
But Were They Jewish?
The case was about whether the estate of a State Department employee killed by a roadside bomb in Gaza could sue the Palestinian Authority under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1991. The appellate panel agreed with the district court that the conspiracy claims were too speculative to stand, but reversed a decision which would have prevented the case from proceeding to a jury on material support for terrorism claims.
Friday, August 12, 2011
It's Easier To Attack Than Defend
I've only skimmed the majority and dissent (the opinions, in total, run over 300 pages). But it is notable that the majority couldn't bring itself to embrace the fabled activity/inactivity distinction -- at least not directly. Instead, it seems to rely on a vague pastiche of constitutional red-flags (as the opinion puts it "indicia of constitutional infirmity"), including the mandate's "unprecedented" nature, the status of health care as a traditional state function, and the inactivity problem which appears to flit, ghost-like, in and out the majority opinion.
Faced with such an amorphous majority opinion, Judge Marcus wrote a dissent that is, in my opinion, sterling. In part, I think that's simply because it is easier to write a dissent than a majority opinion. It's easier to attack than defend, easier to break down than build up, easier to negate than affirm. The majority's struggle to simultaneously strike down the law while circumscribing their decision is indicative of this slant. Still, it's ironic that a high-profile dissenting opinion might represent the most aggressive and persuasive defense of the ACA in the judiciary today.
Judge Marcus hits the critical points, which are (a) that the case against the ACA entails a dramatic shift in Commerce Clause jurisprudence that has not yet been hinted in Supreme Court jurisprudence, (b) that many of the objections against the ACA are based not on infirmities with the law itself, but rather vague gestures towards a "slippery slope" which don't take into account the constitutional limits on the commerce power that actually already exist, and (c) the tendency of anti-ACA advocates to demand the courts act as "super-legislatures", using the blunt hammer of judicial review to strike down laws on basis of technical objections to their scope and structure. He also observes that, without relying on the supposed activity/inactivity distinction, the majority never in fact clearly states what the constitutional problem with the law actually is.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Critical Jewish Studies?
This is cross-posted from Concurring Opinions. I don't think the content will be particularly new for long-time readers of this blog, but I figured some might be interested.
The first two areas I could say I had an actual scholarly interest in were Church/State law and Critical Race Theory. This wasn't an accident -- I got interest in CRT because the method of analysis it used really spoke to me as a Jew. It seemed to do a better job of capturing the various problems and barriers faced by members of marginalized groups beyond the standard, thin liberal story.
When I finally got access to Lexis as an undergraduate at Carleton, one of the first things I did was run a search for something approximating a "Critical Jewish Theory". And I came up with ... virtually nothing. With one very notable exception -- Stephen Feldman at the University of Wyoming (I know, I know: Jewish studies in Wyoming -- could it get any more cliched?) -- it was a virtual dead-end. Even Professor Feldman's work, which I admire and has influenced me greatly, focuses primarily on the American Church/State context. An important topic, to be sure, but hardly the only one which intersects with Jewish lives and areas of concern (international law, in particular, seems like a gimme).
This absence struck me as very strange. In general, the CRT movement has been pretty good about extending itself to a variety of different identities. Though the original works focused primarily on African-Americans (and really, African-American men), we now have Critical Race Feminism, LatCrit, Asian-American themed CRT, Queer Studies, and a host of others. The lack of an analogous school of discourse applied to the Jewish experience is not a function of disciplinary narrowness.
So what gives? I have some thoughts, but I don't find any of them particularly satisfactory. The cheap answer is that CRT is a "left" movement and contemporary anti-Semitism is primarily a leftist project. I reject that for two reasons: first, because I don't think right-wing anti-Semitism is as dormant as conservatives like to claim, and second, because the various crit movements have never really shied away from "friendly fire". There have been some particular points of tension between CRT writers and the Jewish community -- Mari Matsuda's famous hate speech article in the Michigan Law Review strongly considered the possibility of labeling Zionism "hate speech", one of Daniel Farber & Suzanna Sherry's critiques of CRT was entitled Is the Radical Critique of Merit Anti-Semitic? (83 Calif. L. Rev. 853 (1995)) -- but nothing severe enough to force a permanent fissure.
Possibly the best answer I have relies on the particular form in which anti-Semitism is often instantiated in the modern world. Most other -isms are predicated on inferiorizing their targets. This can be done contemptuously (as often is the case in racism), or clothed as paternalism (as often is sexism). Modern anti-Semitism, by contrast, does not treat Jews as incompetent or inferior at all. Much the opposite -- it views them as hyper-powerful; a conspiratorial, parochial sect whose tentacles control the government, the media, and the banks, but whose loyalty lies only with themselves. There's often a grudging respect to it, but the respect one gives to a particularly dangerous villain. It's easy to see these tropes popping up again and again in "anti-Zionist" discourse worldwide, where accusations of dual loyalty are very much part of the discussion and standard Jewish interest-group lobbying is seen as uniquely nefarious and abusive. Still, the crits, focused on groups whose problem is that they don't have enough voice or sway, are ill-equipped to talk about a group whose "problem" is that they are seen in the popular eye as being too influential. Couple this with the fact that Jews, as a group, are relatively well-off (though this flattens distinctions within Jewish subgroups) and it can be hard to see them as suffering from an "oppression" worth analyzing.
But obviously, economic wherewithal is not the alpha and omega of CRT-style analysis (after all, a considerable portion of the movement's energy is dedicated to refuting the idea that "it's not race, it's class!"). And Jewish history in particular is replete with instances of Jews being placed in the role of the "buffer", given a fair amount of influence but designed to be the targets of popular resentment. Simply taking at face value that Jews have it all and that prejudice against them has been relegated to sporadic acts of rabid hate by Klansmen is precisely the sort of quiescence that Crits tend to rebel against.
Indeed, the fact that the mechanics of anti-Semitism in particular are not adequately captured by contemporary stories of oppression is all the more reason why it desperately needs analysis akin to what CRT has provided in the context of race. And I do believe a similar approach has a lot to offer in the Jewish context. The allegedly pervasive presence of the "race card" is the old nemesis of anti-racist workers everywhere, but of late the "anti-Semitism card" has been an increasingly prominent method of dismissing claims by Jews of unfair treatment. The myth of the "Judeo-Christian" tradition (which, as a political trope, is invariably 100% Christian) acts to sublimate an independent Jewish political voice -- while there are many Jews in politics, there are very few who speak "as Jews", particularly when doing so would seriously challenge dominant conceptions of the Jewish role or place. It is highly notable, in my view, that "Judeo-Christian morality" is seen as a deeply conservative normative commitment, despite Jews being among the most socially liberal denominations in America today. That Christians politicians have appropriated Jewish experience in ways foreign to the actual Jewish political and theological tradition is an example of the boundaries on the "love" they have for us; that Jews have been unable to effectively resist is an example of our marked political limitations. And while Israel certainly has its fair share of sins, the massively disproportionate vitriol and condemnation directed its way (indeed, directed to the very concept of it existing) by international legal actors clearly implicates anti-Semitic norms (and the fact that I, an early supporter of J Street and a strong critic of the Netanyahu administration, feel compelled to verify that "yes, I can tolerate criticisms of Israel without labeling them anti-Semitic" is itself symptomatic of a discourse gone badly awry).
It's not the case that nobody has done any writing on these topics. In addition to Feldman, Albert Memmi's The Liberation of the Jew would have to be considered a foundational text in any "CJT" movement, and David Hirsh has recently written a stellar paper entitled Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism: Cosmopolitan Reflections (Hirsh also writes often for the Engage blog, which is essential reading for anyone interested in this subject). But there's a lot more to be done, and I still find it odd that the disciplinary gap has persisted for this long.
The Good, The Bad, and the Uncertain
The bad: The relative vulnerability exposed by the protesters caused Netanyahu to back out at the last minute of a planned Israeli/Turkey rapprochement.
The uncertain: A recent poll finds that if elections were held today, Kadima, Labor, and Meretz would combine for 48 Knesset seats while Likud, Yisrael Beiteinu, and Shas would combine for 47. On the one hand, Shas' 8 seats in that set are a bit swingy (see the "good", above). On the other hand, there are still 25 Knesset seats unaccounted for in that tally, some of which will go to the Arab parties, some of which will probably go to the Israeli Communist Party, and some of which will go to various fringe settler parties. The question of how those minor parties shake out will ultimately determine who is the real winner.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Champaign Versus Chicago: The Early Evaluation
For example, there are more good restaurants in close walking distance of our Champaign Apartment. And the Chinese delivery we've gotten is much better. On the other hand, our downtown Chicago apartment was very quiet and peaceful, while we're on top of two beer gardens in Champaign, one of which decided to bring out a live brass band to play at 12:30 in the morning.* I also had more of a "community feel" in Chicago than I do here, though that's a little unfair of a metric.
In any event, so far the noise in the beer garden has dropped off by around 1:30 each night. And other than that, I'm a happy camper.
* I'm already plotting my counterattack to this. Since we're in downtown, a noise complaint probably won't fly. So instead, I'll just fight fire with fire -- blast out the most obnoxious rap and heavy metal I can think of out my second-story window. I can just imagine the ensuing complaint:
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Playing music. What are you doing?"
Tuesday, August 09, 2011
Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Recall?
So, we won two out of six, three if we're lucky. Obviously, this affects the narrative considerably, because three is the magic number needed to take back the State Senate.
But regardless, I think the recalls might have achieved one thing -- spooking some GOP caucus members. After all, there are quite a few state senators who were not subject to recall this time around (there is a minimum amount of time they must serve after their election before they can be recalled). And many of them are reasonably vulnerable -- at least six are in seats more liberal than all those challenged today, save Dan Kapanke's. They have to know that they're next in line.
Will it cause them to moderate a bit? I don't know. Republicans tend to be better at whipping their wobblies into line. But it can't hurt. And even if we don't take back the chamber, it definitely gives Democrats far more leverage.
Cheering up the Base
But he still needed to do something to placate angry conservative, something that would provide a more effective way of obstructing the President's agenda (clearly, one of the major failures of the Republican Congress has been its inability to effectively obstruct). And he thinks he's got the answer: impeachment!
When one attendee suggested that the House push for impeachment proceedings against President Barack Obama to obstruct the president from pushing his agenda, Burgess was receptive.
"It needs to happen, and I agree with you it would tie things up," Burgess said. "No question about that."
When asked about the comment later, Burgess said he wasn't sure whether the proper charges to bring up articles of impeachment against Obama were there, but he didn't rule out pursuing such a course.
"We need to tie things up," Burgess said. "The longer we allow the damage to continue unchecked, the worse things are going to be for us."
Undoubtedly, when the founders included an impeachment provision in the Constitution, they meant it to be just one more tool for a recalcitrant Congress to use for delay. Hell, Burgess doesn't even know what charges would be appropriate. That step comes later -- the important thing is to further "tie things up."
Monday, August 08, 2011
Moving On In
Today is, in a particularly real (or perhaps particularly metaphorical) way, the first day of the rest of my life.
Game on.
Sunday, August 07, 2011
To Champaign I Go!
Anyway, this is my goodbye to the city of Chicago. It's been real. The apartment we lived in this year was fantastic, Printer's Row is a lovely neighborhood, and all-in-all it was a very solid, successful year. Can't ask for more than that.


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(CNN) – About 83,000 Defense Department employees and contractors with security clearances to protect the nation's secrets have delinquent federal tax debts totaling $730 million, according to an internal government audit.
The findings in the new Government Accountability Office study raise security concerns for the U.S. government. Officials say employees and contractors who have financial problems are top targets of foreign intelligence agents.
Federal regulations governing security clearances say that a person "who is financially overextended is at risk of having to engage in illegal acts to generate funds" and that indebtedness should be among factors considered when someone applies for a clearance, the GAO study said. But the study found that government agencies in charge of the issue can't readily collect data on tax debt, in part because IRS privacy rules prohibit sharing certain taxpayer data.
The GAO study is expected to be released Monday. CNN reviewed a copy prior to the release.
The study comes as federal intelligence and law enforcement officials are grappling with ways to tighten access to classified information in the wake of major unauthorized disclosures carried out by insiders cleared to handle the nation's most sensitive secrets.
Edward Snowden, a former NSA contractor, and Bradley Manning, an Army private who now calls herself Chelsea Manning, passed the required background checks to obtain their security clearances. Snowden, under Russian government protection in Moscow, is charged with releasing to reporters millions of NSA surveillance documents. Manning was convicted of violating the Espionage Act, for releasing thousands of diplomatic cables and military documents.
The 83,000 employees and contractors with tax debt in the GAO study are among 3.2 million people who the Pentagon says held or were approved for secret, top secret, SCI [sensitive compartmented information] and interim security clearances from January 2006 to December 2011, the period covered by the GAO study. The $730 million in tax debt was as of June, 30, 2012, the most recent data analyzed by the study.
Most accrued their unpaid tax debt after they received their clearances.
Of the 83,000 with tax debt, about 4,800 had IRS liens against their property. About 28% or 23,000 of them were subject to wage garnishment and other collection tactics by the IRS to collect taxes owed.
According to the GAO, the Pentagon distinguishes between those who are eligible for access to classified information and a smaller subset of those who "need to know" and are therefore granted access to classified documents.
But even by that measure, the numbers are problematic. The GAO found 26,000 Defense Department employees and contractors with access to classified information owed about $229 million in delinquent tax debt.
There are now 5.1 million federal employees and contractors eligible or holding security clearances, a number hard to police, government officials say.
The Office Director of National Intelligence, which is developing new procedures to tighten the security clearance procedures, agreed with the GAO's recommendation that tax debt be more readily available to investigators who gather background data on applicants for security clearances.
The problem is the government is still struggling with technology that could provide automated tax debt information on applicants at the time of their application and during the time the security clearance is valid, according to the GAO. There are also privacy restrictions that limit what data the IRS can provide on taxpayers.


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Odessa Endoscopy Center is an advanced technology Endoscopy Suite specializing in the examination of the upper and lower gastrointestinal tract. Procedures are done in a comfortable outpatient setting, designed with high quality of care, safety and patient privacy and convenience in mind.
Our physicians and nursing staff appreciate the confidence you have placed in us, you have chosen one of the finest facilities for your medical care. Our mission is to provide highest quality of GI care to all members of our community, and make your visit as pleasant as possible.