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Absurd Argument of the Day
This comes from an email I got from some folks called the Federation for American Immigration Reform.
FAIR's new report, The Environmentalist Guide to a Sensible Immigration Policy examines the relationship between America's mass immigration policies and skyrocketing population growth. It details how both are severely limiting America's ability to make meaningful progress toward important environmental goals.
"Some environmental groups like to pretend that this correlation does not exist," said Dan Stein, President of FAIR. "Because of pressures brought to bear by politically charged special interests demanding open borders, groups sincerely interested in advancing sensible environmental policies remain muzzled on the issue. Overpopulation fueled by uncontrolled immigration - the root cause of most resource depletion - is unfortunately deemed too radioactive to discuss in some circles."
Since the first Earth Day in 1970, U.S. population has grown by 50 percent, or about 100 million people. U.S. population now stands at approximately 308 million and is currently growing by nearly three million a year "" the equivalent of adding a new Chicago each year. By 2050, an estimated 438 million people will live in this country with more than 80 percent of the increase coming from post-2005 immigrants and their children.
Uh, these people would exist whether they live on one side of the map or the other, its not clear how immigration contributes to over-population, unless they are taking some coldly Malthusian argument that more of them would die young in poverty than do once they improve their lives in the US. Sure, they may be wealthier having come to the US and use more energy and consume more, but my strong sense is that as they come to the US and get wealthier, then their birthrates actually fall, even if they remain higher than the US average.


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As Strong as its Weakest Link: Experiments Determine Real-world Limits of Graphene
Ting Zhu an associate professor in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech, is shown with a model of the graphene structure. Georgia Tech's calculations and physical experiments at Rice University led to the conclusion that graphene, the one-atom layer of carbon, is only as strong as its weakest link. (Georgia Tech Photo: Gary Meek)
There is no disputing graphene is strong. But new research by Rice University and the Georgia Institute of Technology should prompt manufacturers to look a little deeper as they consider the miracle material for applications.
The atom-thin sheet of carbon is touted not just for its electrical properties but also for its physical strength and flexibility. The bonds between carbon atoms are well known as the strongest in nature, so a perfect sheet of graphene should withstand just about anything. Reinforcing composite materials is among the material's potential applications.
But materials scientists know perfection is hard to achieve. Researchers Jun Lou at Rice and Ting Zhu at Georgia Tech have measured the fracture toughness of imperfect graphene for the first time and found it to be somewhat brittle. While it's still very useful, graphene is really only as strong as its weakest link, which they determined to be "substantially lower" than the intrinsic strength of graphene.
"Graphene has exceptional physical properties, but to use it in real applications, we have to understand the useful strength of large-area graphene, which is controlled by the fracture toughness," said Zhu, who is an associate professor in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech.
The researchers reported in the journal Nature Communications the results of tests in which they physically pulled graphene apart to see how much force it would take. Specifically, they wanted to see if graphene follows the century-old Griffith theory that quantifies the useful strength of brittle materials.
It does, said Lou. "Remarkably, in this case, thermodynamic energy still rules," he said.
Imperfections in graphene drastically lessen its strength – with an upper limit of about 100 gigapascals (GPa) for perfect graphene previously measured by nanoindentation – according to physical testing at Rice and molecular dynamics simulations at Georgia Tech. That's important for engineers to understand as they think about using graphene for flexible electronics, composite material and other applications in which stresses on microscopic flaws could lead to failure.
The Griffith criterion developed by a British engineer during World War I describes the relationship between the size of a crack in a material and the force required to make that crack grow. Ultimately, A.A. Griffith hoped to understand why brittle materials fail.
Graphene, it turns out, is no different from the glass fibers Griffith tested.
"Everybody thinks the carbon-carbon bond is the strongest bond in nature, so the material must be very good," Lou said. "But that's not true anymore, once you have those defects. The larger the sheet, the higher the probability of defects. That's well known in the ceramic community."
A defect can be as small as an atom missing from the hexagonal lattice of graphene. But for a real-world test, the researchers had to make a defect of their own – a pre-crack – they could actually see. "We know there will be pinholes and other defects in graphene," he said. "The pre-crack overshadows those defects to become the weakest spot – so I know exactly where the fracture will happen when we pull it.
"The material resistance to the crack growth – the fracture toughness – is what we're measuring here, and that's a very important engineering property," he said.
Just setting up the experiment required several years of work to overcome technical difficulties, Lou said. To suspend it on a tiny cantilever spring stage similar to an atomic force microscopy (AFM) probe, a graphene sheet had to be clean and dry so it would adhere (via van der Waals force) to the stage without compromising the stage movement necessary for the testing. Once mounted, the researchers used a focused ion beam to cut a pre-crack less than 10 percent of the width into the microns-wide section of suspended graphene. Then they pulled the graphene in half, measuring the force required.
While the Rice team was working on the experiment, Zhu and his team performed computer simulations to understand the entire fracture process.
"We can directly simulate the whole deformation process by tracking the motion and displacement with atomic-scale resolution in fairly large samples so our results can be directly correlated with the experiment," said Zhu. "The modeling is tightly coupled with the experiments."
The combination of modeling and experiment provides a level of detail that allowed the researchers to better understand the fracture process – and the tradeoff between toughness and strength in the graphene. What the scientists have learned in the research points out the importance of fabricating high quality graphene sheets without defects – which could set the stage for fracture.
"Understanding the tradeoff between strength and toughness provides important insights for the future utilization of graphene in structural and functional applications," Zhu added. "This research provides a foundational framework for further study of the mechanical properties of graphene."
Lou said the techniques they used should work for any two-dimensional material. "It's important to understand how defects will affect the handling, processing and manufacture of these materials," he said. "Our work should open up new directions for testing the mechanical properties of 2-D materials."
Co-authors of the paper are graduate students Peng Zhang, Lulu Ma, Phillip Loya and Yongji Gong, and former graduate students Cheng Peng and Jiangnan Zhang, all at Rice; Feifei Fan and Zhi Zeng, graduate students at Georgia Tech; Zheng Liu, an assistant professor at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, with a complimentary appointment at Rice; Pulickel Ajayan, Rice's Benjamin M. and Mary Greenwood Anderson Professor in Materials Science and Nanoengineering and of Chemistry; and Xingxiang Zhang, a professor at Tianjin Polytechnic University, China.
Lou is an associate professor of Materials Science and Nanoengineering and of Chemistry at Rice. The Welch Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Office of Naval Research and the Korean Institute of Machinery and Materials supported the research.
Research News
Georgia Institute of Technology
177 North Avenue
Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0181
Georgia Tech Contacts: John Toon (404-894-6986) (email@example.com) or Brett Israel (404-385-1933) (email@example.com).
Rice Contacts: David Ruth (713-348-6327) (email@example.com) or Mike Williams (713-348-6728)

subset: commoncrawl


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the single item
- Creative Store
- Viideo
the single item
Viideo Description
Explore a captivating assortment of carefully curated products in the on our Creative Store Market. Our vast collection celebrates the ingenuity and artistry of independent creators worldwide, featuring an array of one-of-a-kind handmade items, cutting-edge designs, and innovative digital creations. With each search result tailored to your preferences, our catalogue unveils a world of creativity, craftsmanship, and genuine originality. Lose yourself in the enchanting selection of creative gems, as you embark on a journey to discover your perfect on the Creative Store Market. Your next remarkable find awaits!


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The following Federal Register Notices are listed alphabetically. To view by notice type or by year, use the filter options to the left. Because so many notice titles begin with the word "Certain," "Certain" has been excluded from the alphabetical filter/sort. To search for "Certain Electronic Devices," for example, you would search using "E."
Federal Register Notice Rules & Procedures are listed separately. Columns can be sorted by clicking on column heading. Unless specified, the documents listed below are provided in PDF format.
Displaying 1 - 50 of 10865


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You Need To See These Photos of Shia LaBeouf Playing Shia LaBeouf's Dad In 'Honey Boy'
What's a more Shia LaBeouf move than Shia LaBeouf playing his own dad? This is the dude who cut his own face and yanked out a tooth while filming Fury. He's committed, and you can expect just as much commitment for his next film that's all about his own life.
LaBeouf's next project, Honey Boy, is a roman à clef take on the actor's youth as a Disney Channel star and his relationship with his father at the time. While Lady Bird's Lucas Hedges is playing the young version of the boy we met as Louis Stevens, LaBeouf will be playing a character inspired by his father, Jeffrey LaBeouf. Now the first set photos have hit the internet to inform us just how much LaBeouf has transformed himself to look like his pops, and it's really something. Please, behold a balding LaBeouf doing some light stretching on the beach in overalls and a brown vest:
That's not all! Here's LaBeouf rocking a safety vest:
As delightful as these photos are, Honey Boy is going to get into some intense material. The film, directed by Alma Har'el, will detail the time the child star spent hopping back and forth between the set of Even Stevens and 12-step-programs with his father, who was a recovering heroin addict at the time. The film gets its title from the nickname LaBeouf's father gave him. Given that the Transformers star penned the script – under the pseudonym Otis Lort – it will likely touch on some of the upsetting incidents that happened on the Even Stevens set.
In 2000, the actor's father Jeffrey LaBeouf, a Vietnam vet and former clown performer, was accused of sexual harassing an unnamed actress on the set of the Disney show, and the actor has previously spoken about the time his father attacked a gay Disney executive. His dad has a criminal history too, as a convicted sex offender who was also charged with kidnapping and assault with a deadly weapon.
That's a lot of intense, personal material to pack into a film, not to mention quite a task for LaBeouf to play his own complicated dad. (Who needs therapy when you can act it out!) But mining such heavy childhood trauma could certainly give us one heck of a LaBeouf performance.
Gallery - 20 Movie Co-Stars Who Couldn't Stand Each Other:


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I'm a fan of beauty products, as you must know by now if you're a regular reader. But you know what else I'm a fan of? Great deals on beauty products! And that's where the Kroger Cart Buster Sale comes in handy.
Now, the best part of this sale? So many of the products I use on a daily, weekly or monthly basis are included! As a matter of fact, they're part of my Fail-Safe Beauty Routine -- I don't travel without them and I certainly don't start my day without them! You can find any of the following during the sale:
Gillette Disposable Razors
Pantene Shampoo & Conditioner
Secret Deodorant
Venus Spa Breeze Disposables
Tampax Infinity & Pearl Tampons
Are they all the most glamorous products around? Maybe not. But do they help me maintain my beauty regimen and get through each and every day feeling and looking my best? Absolutely. I really can't imagine a month (let alone a week or a day) where all of these products don't play a major part.
Your only problem? Beating me to the sale so you can snatch up all these goodies before me!
Download a digital coupon for a different product each day straight to your shopper card at the Cart Buster site for great deals on your favorite products at the Kroger Co. Family of Stores!
I was selected for participation in this campaign as a member of Clever Girls Collective.


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Cheniere Energy has received government approval to build the first natural gas export facility in the lower 48 states. Critics fear fracking fallout and price spikes.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The government approved the first ever natural gas export facility in the lower 48 states on Monday, clearing the way for a project that could be a significant job creator.
But critics argue that, just like the Keystone pipeline expansion, building this project will have environmental impacts far beyond the plant itself. They also say it could raise the price of natural gas in the U.S.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission voted in favor of Texas-based Cheniere Energy's plan to build a giant natural gas liquefaction and export terminal at Sabine Pass, which straddles the Texas-Louisiana border just north of the Gulf of Mexico.
Although environmentalists have threatened to sue to stop the 500-acre, $10 billion project, Cheniere says it plans to start building before July.
Analysts agree that the project should proceed as planned.
"We do not see any items hampering the timely start of construction," Christine Tezak, an energy and environmental policy analyst at asset management firm Robert W. Baird & Co., wrote in a research note Tuesday.
For Cheniere (LNG) and the energy industry at large, getting government approval is huge.
Cheniere says the plant itself and the natural gas extraction needed to fuel it will support between 30,000 and 50,000 jobs a year.
The United Sates is currently experiencing a boom in natural gas production, largely thanks to the controversial process of hydrologic fracturing, or fracking for short.
All the big oil companies, including BP (BP), Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500), and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA), are now participating in the boom.
But the surge in production -- without any way to export it -- has caused a collapse in natural gas prices in the U.S. The gas industry sees exports as crucial to keep the boom going, along with the thousands of jobs the boom has created.
Natural gas can command five times the U.S. price in Asia or Europe. It can be used as a home heating fuel, burned to make electricity, or used in chemical or fertilizer production.
Cheniere's application was the first the government approved. Applications for seven other facilities around the country are pending. If all are approved, the nation could end up exporting one-fifth of its current gas output.
That's something critics are working to stop.
Fracking is a big reason why. Opponents say an increase in gas exports will lead to an increase in fracking.
Fracking involves injecting sand, water and chemicals deep into the ground to crack the rock and allow the gas to flow more freely. Some fear it is contaminating the ground water and leading to earthquakes.
Critics also say it could lead to an increase in natural gas prices in the U.S.
That could harm not only consumers who may pay more for heat, but also manufacturers that could pay more for electricity and materials.
That "could potentially have catastrophic impacts on U.S. manufacturing," said a report on the matter from House Democrats on the Natural Resources Committee.
The Department of Energy, which must issue permits to export gas along with the approval needed from FERC, has promised to study the impacts on price before giving the go-ahead for any more facilities.
That study was due last month, although DOE recently said it has been delayed due to issues with a subcontractor.
Many analysts don't expect to see the study until after the presidential election.
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Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)
WhoWhatWhy.com [1] / By Karen Charman [2]
Radioactive Metal from Nuclear Weapons Facilities May End up in Your Shopping Bag
February 8, 2013
This story [3]was originally published at WhoWhatWhy [4].
How would you like radioactive metal from nuclear weapons facilities to be recycled for use in consumer goods like silverware, pots and pans, eye glasses, zippers, kid's braces, and even pacemakers and artificial hip joints? If the U.S. Department of Energy gets its way (after a public comment [5] period ends Feb. 11), that is exactly what we can expect in our future.
DOE, the steward of the sprawling—and massively contaminated—American nuclear weapons complex, wants to lift a ban on recycling imposed in 2000. That action came in response to an earlier proposal to sell radioactive metal from DOE facilities to scrap metal recyclers. Once the contaminated metal is mixed into the scrap supply, it could be turned into virtually anything made with metal.
The problem is, products contaminated with radiation give off alpha particles, beta particles, or gamma rays, depending on the radioactive element (radionuclide or radioisotope) present. Though these three kinds of radiation have different properties, all are ionizing, meaning that each is energetic enough to break chemical bonds in the cells in our bodies. That kind of damage can result in cancer and other illnesses.
DOE's current plan is to release 13,790 metric tons of metal the department says is "uncontaminated" or just contaminated on the surface. This material would likely include things like metal desks, pipes, and perhaps construction equipment from radiation-contaminated areas, Robert Alvarez, a nuclear expert and former senior policy advisor to the Secretary of Energy during the Clinton administration, told WhoWhatWhy. (Click here [6] for more information on the places from which DOE proposes to release the metal.)
Alvarez, a key player in stopping DOE's earlier attempt to release its low-level nuclear waste into the public sphere, described the new effort as "a toe in the water" toward overturning the ban; in the future, it could lead to the release of a large part of the department's vast stockpile of waste materials.
"DOE's been pushing this scheme for 30 to 35 years," he said. "They just don't want to give up on it."
The Department of Energy did not respond to an interview request.
The Dirtiest Legacy
The top-secret effort that began during World War II to develop the atomic bomb—and then build America's nuclear arsenal to ensure the country's continued global military dominance—has been an especially dirty enterprise [7]. Creating and maintaining it has resulted in the release of vast but unknowable amounts of radioactive, chemical, and other toxic contamination on much of the DOE's 2.4 million acres as well as in surrounding communities.
DOE's Hanford site in eastern Washington state, for example, is the most contaminated place in the Western hemisphere [8] and the site of the world's largest cleanup operation. An article [9] in Der Spiegel notes that "240 square miles are uninhabitable due to the radioactivity that has seeped into the soil and ground water: uranium, cesium, strontium, plutonium and other deadly radionuclides." Maps showing DOE cleanup sites are here [10] and here [11].
The first and only inventory of DOE's assets, which was conducted in the nineties under Alvarez's direction, revealed the department had 20,700 specialized facilities and buildings including 5,000 warehouses, 7,000 administration buildings, 1,600 laboratories, 89 nuclear reactors, 208 particle accelerators, and 665 production and manufacturing facilities.
"At the time, we found there was more than 270,000 metric tons of scrap, which is equivalent to two modern aircraft carriers in weight," Alvarez said.
Adding in the three gaseous diffusion plants [12] in Paducah, Kentucky; Portsmouth, Ohio; and at DOE's Y-25 site at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, would contribute another 1.4 million metric tons to the department's scrap-metal heap. Gaseous diffusion, an extremely polluting technology [13], was the first technique to turn natural uranium into nuclear fuel on an industrial scale. Significant amounts of toxic and radioactive materials have been released into the air, water, and soil at all three sites.
The Midas Touch—In Reverse
So just how hazardous is all this material to living things like you and me?
DOE seems to believe that as the contaminated metal gets mixed into the larger supply of scrap metal, which in 2012 totaled 59 million tons, the contamination would be diluted enough not to cause any problems. This is the old "dilution is the solution to pollution" concept, which is belied by an onslaught of increasingly intractable local to global environmental crises [14].
Radiation, however, is a special kind of pollution. Because of the long-lived nature of many radionuclides, radioactive contamination can persist for a very long time—in the case of uranium-238 [15] (the most common isotope in naturally occurring uranium, which has a half-life of 4.5 billion years) virtually forever. (Half-life measures the amount of time it takes for half of a radionuclide's atoms to become non-radioactive. The amount of time it takes for all the radioactivity to dissipate is five to ten times the half-life.)
Radiation has another special property. As Dr. Rosalie Bertell explained [16] in her book No Immediate Danger: Prognosis for a Radioactive Earth, things that come in contact with radiation can themselves becomes radioactive: "The violence of the chain reaction is such that it can also yield what are called activation products, i.e., it can cause already existing chemicals in air, water or other nearby materials to absorb energy, change their structure slightly and become radioactive."
In order to know the exact contamination levels of each piece of metal DOE wants to release, each piece would have to be tested to see if it is radioactive; and if so, the counts per minute of radiation it is giving off, and whether it is alpha, beta, or gamma radiation.
That, however, would be an enormous—and enormously expensive—undertaking, and there is no indication the department is considering anything like it. According to Alvarez, DOE's main motivation for pushing its low-level waste out into the public sphere is to save it the trouble and cost of proper disposal.
"The nuclear weapons complex was a huge, huge industry that is now largely full of closed, shuttered, and antiquated operations that are loaded with crap that they haven't gotten around to getting rid of," he said. "It costs money and they're really trying to find creative ways to deal with it. This is one of their 'creative' ways."
Powerful Opponents
Because the American nuclear weapons complex has long operated under a heavy cloak of secrecy and privilege in the name of national security, it is accustomed to doing what it wants without much oversight or accountability. But this particular plan runs counter to the interests of the U.S. steel industry, a critical sector [17] of the American economy.
"We're not interested in receiving material potentially contaminated with radioactivity from the DOE complex as part of its teardown in its efforts to address the Cold War situation," Eric Stuart, vice president of energy and environment at the Steel Manufacturers Association, told WhoWhatWhy. "We're not in the business of cleaning up after the U.S. government."
Stuart pointed out that nearly all of the steel industry's feed material comes from recycled scrap—more than 60 million tons a year, primarily from junked cars, appliances, steel cans, and steel construction materials—and the introduction of radiation-contaminated metals is unacceptable to the industry.
For one thing, the steel industry worries that consumers will avoid metal products because of worries over radiation contamination—a direct threat to the industry's bottom line. For another, the mere prospect of having to deal with radioactive metals raises enormous safety and liability issues.
In order to guard against stray sources of contaminated metal that could come in with a load of scrap, steel mills already have radiation detection equipment set up at their intake points. "If some orphaned radioactive scrap made it all the way to the furnace, it would be volatized and create quite a situation," Stuart said.
Cleaning up messes like that has cost individual mills tens of millions of dollars. In some cases the contamination has been so bad that the mill had to close, he added.
Empty Promises
In its current proposal, DOE contends that no metal with contamination exceeding 1millirem [18] (a unit for measuring radioactivity) per year above background radiation levels would be released. But, Stuart points out, background radiation varies from location to location, which means that this assurance is virtually meaningless.
"The background level of radiation in D.C. is going to be different than the background level in Kentucky, Florida, California, and Manhattan," he says. "DOE is saying they will clean the metal to just above background. Where?"
Furthermore, if this proposal were to go ahead, once the tainted metal is made into a product, there is no way to ensure that somebody won't acquire more than one product made from contaminated material, which would increase that person's risk. And what if the contaminated metal ends up in a medical device that's implanted in someone's body, delivering an on-going dose of radiation to the surrounding tissue?
As if that prospect weren't scary enough, there are other problems with DOE's "don't worry, be happy" and "one-size-fits-all" approach to radiation doses. First, recent research [19] confirms that chromosomal damage, which is a precursor to many types of cancer, occurs with much lower radiation exposures than previously thought.
Second, some population groups are more vulnerable to the effects of radiation than others. According to the 2006 U.S. National Academy of Sciences BEIR report [20] (BEIR stands for Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation), radiation exposure is nearly twice as damaging to girls than boys of the same age; in fact, an infant girl is seven times and a five-year-old girl five times more likely to get radiation-induced cancer than a 30-year-old male.
If DOE succeeds, and if Alvarez is right that this proposal is just the nuclear sector's attempt to get its foot in the door before pushing it wide open, we could find ourselves awash in unlabeled and unmonitored products made from low-level nuclear waste.
Alvarez is not completely opposed to the idea of recycling radiation-contaminated metal. When he was still at DOE, he suggested using it to make containers to dispose of the department's vast inventory of nuclear waste. He was told that that option would be too expensive. Apparently, running an uncontrolled experiment on the effect of radiation-contaminated metal on American consumers is more appealing to the DOE's cost-benefit analysts.
[As mentioned above, the period for public comment on the DOE's proposed plans ends Monday, February 11. Those wishing to share their thoughts with DOE may click here [5].]
See more stories tagged with:
nuclear weapons [21],
nukes [22]
Source URL: http://www.alternet.org/environment/radioactive-metal-nuclear-weapons-facilities-may-end-your-shopping-bag
[1] http://whowhatwhy.com
[2] http://www.alternet.org/authors/karen-charman
[3] http://whowhatwhy.com/2013/02/07/radioactive-eye-glassessilverwarezippership-joints-anyone/
[4] http://whowhatwhy.com/
[5] http://energy.gov/nepa/ea-1919-recycle-scrap-metals-originating-radiological-areas
[6] http://whowhatwhy.com/sidebar-where-is-this-stuff-coming-from/
[7] http://cnie.org/NLE/CRSreports/Waste/waste-3.cfm
[8] http://www.psr.org/chapters/washington/hanford/hanford-facts.html
[9] http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/america-s-atomic-time-bomb-hanford-nuclear-waste-still-poses-serious-risks-a-752944.html
[10] http://energy.gov/em/cleanup-sites/completed-sites
[11] http://energy.gov/em/cleanup-sites
[12] http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/gaseous-diffusion.html
[13] http://www.earthisland.org/yggdrasil/pgdp.html
[14] http://news.mongabay.com/2013/0110-kimbrough-rirdan-interview.html
[15] http://ieer.org/resource/factsheets/uranium-its-uses-and-hazards/
[16] http://www.ratical.org/radiation/NRBE/NRBE2.html
[17] http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/a757b2/analyzing_the_us_s
[18] http://www.nirs.org/factsheets/mythmiliremfctsht.htm
[19] http://sharedresources.fhcrc.org/publications/papers/diagnostic-x-ray-examinations-and-increased-chromosome-translocations-evidence-t
[20] http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=030909156X
Donations can be sent to the Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 325 E. 25th St., Baltimore, MD 21218. Ph: 410-366-1637; Email: mobuszewski [at] verizon.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"The master class has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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Best Sights and Attractions in Sicily
Local Recommendations from our My Guide Sicily team
Ten percent of all cultural beauties of Italy are in Sicily! And just think of all the natural beauties, arts, museums & galleries, castles, churches, catacombs, palazzos & piazzas, wineries and the colourful markets - attractions not to be missed...
In Sicily you will find the best preserved Greek temples in the world, Europe's largest archaeological site, stunning cathedrals, Roman floor mosaics, Baroque towns. The ancient amphitheatres in Taormina, Segesta and Syracuse are still used today, you can wander picturesque town centres and Arab kasbahs. Medieval castles are spread all over the island, in the necropolis of Pantàlica you can explore ancient cave tombs (a great experience also for kids), Mozia boasts a Carthaginian settlement, and on the island of Panarea there are the remains of a Bronze Age village. Sicily boasts wonderful museums, art galleries with paintings of Caravaggio and Antonello da Messina, ateliers of contemporary artists. There are colourful Arab markets, gardens, town and nature parks, wonderful beaches, dozens of wineries for tall and many attractions for small people. Sicily is just paradise for culture, nature and beach fans, wine lovers and children.
Book Top Experiences and Tours in Sicily:
If youʻre booking your trip to Sicily last minute, we have you covered. Below are some of the top tours and experiences!- From Trapani: Favignana and Levanzo Shuttle Tour
- From Catania: Full-Day Mount Etna and Taormina Tour
- Mount Etna and Taormina Full-Day Excursion from Palermo
- From Trapani: Favignana and Levanzo Mini Cruise with Lunch
- Catania: 4-Hour Guided Bike Tour


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Distributed Asynchronous Regular Path Queries (RPQs) on Graphs
Distributed Asynchronous Regular Path Queries (RPQs) on Graphs
10 December 2023
Graph pattern-matching queries enable flexible graph exploration and analysis, similar to what SQL provides for relational databases. One of the most expressive and powerful constructs in graph querying is regular path queries, also called RPQs. RPQs enable support for variable-length path patterns based on regular expressions, such as (p1:person)-/:knows+/->(p2:person), which searches for non-zero paths of any length between two persons. In this paper, we introduce a novel design for distributed RPQs that builds on top of distributed asynchronous pipelined traversals to enable (i) memory control of path explorations, with (ii) great performance and scalability. We evaluate our system and show that with sixteen machines, it outperforms Neo4j by 82 times on average and a relational implementation of the same queries in PostgreSQL by 71 times, while maintaining low memory consumption.
Venue : Industry track, Middleware 2023
File Name : papers_rpqs_middleware23.pdf


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The early years of a child's life are critically important for learning and development. No matter how we interact with children from birth to age eight — whether we're experts, early childhood teachers, first-time parents, or involved friends and neighbors — we all play a role in giving kids a strong, healthy start.
Anyone can use the guidelines to help kids grow physically, intellectually and emotionally.
The Guidelines support children with different cultures, languages and abilities. By providing these resources to everyone who interacts with children, we can help ensure that we're all working together to support young children's development.
Visit the Colorado Early Learning and Development Guidelines website for more information.


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Marijuana Legalization Advocates Encouraged by State Wins but Trump Factor Gives Pause
By Paul Elias, Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The number of Americans living in states with recreational marijuana more than tripled after at least three states voted to fully legalize the drug. But the election of Republican Donald Trump and GOP majorities in the Senate and House tempered advocates' excitement about an easing of federal restrictions.
"There is a massive sense of momentum, and this will put a lot of pressure on the federal government," said Ethan Nadelmann, founder of the nonprofit Drug Policy Alliance, a pro-legalization group. What gives him "real concern" is Trump.
Nadelmann and other advocates say the president-elect is "unpredictable," and they are unsure where he stands on marijuana issues, though Trump has said in the past that he supports state laws legalizing medical marijuana.
Still, analysts and advocates alike say, the industry may be too big and valuable for a Trump administration to stop, especially after California voters legalized the recreational use of marijuana.
Seven states have now legalized recreational pot, and a recent Gallup poll showed close to 60 percent of Americans support the idea.
Colorado, where stores began legally selling recreational pot in 2014, reported almost $1 billion in legal pot sales last year. Arcview Market Research, which tracks the marijuana industry, estimates that legal annual California pot revenues could exceed $7 billion by 2020.
"The black market will not disappear overnight," said California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who helped craft the state's ballot measure. But he said the illegal market will shrink significantly if California can establish its marijuana regulations without federal interference.
"This is the beginning of the end of the war on marijuana in the United States," said Newsom, who is running for governor.
Todd Mitchem, a Denver-based marijuana industry consultant and lobbyist, said the pot business should expect an infusion of new interest from investors and would-be marijuana growers and retailers.
"It's going to be huge," said Mitchem, who pointed out that Colorado's pot industry is worth $1 billion a year but the state has only about a tenth of California's population. "Economically, you're going to see a lot more people enter the space and a lot more money enter the space."
Other states, too, will also look with envy at the taxes generated by California and other states where marijuana is legal, analyst predicted.
"The states that voted yesterday have a lot of work ahead of them to set up a legalization and tax structure, but I expect many more states will follow their lead," said Joseph Henchman of the Washington, D.C., think tank Tax Foundation.
Even the financial industry's reluctance to do business with marijuana businesses may soon disappear. Most banks refuse marijuana-related customers because of the federal ban.
"It is one thing to ignore the millions generated in Colorado. It is entirely a different thing to ignore the tens of billions that the California cannabis industry will generate," said Michael Weiner, a Denver lawyer who represents pot-related companies. "The big national banks will want to deposit those funds and put those funds to work by making loans."
Northern California farmers said they hoped Trump would recognize the business benefits of legalized pot and leave alone the states where it is allowed.
Recreational marijuana is "going to attract a lot of business," said Nikki Lastreto, a Northern California pot grower. "If the Trump thing wasn't hanging over our head, we'd be in heaven."
Associated Press Writer Kristen Wyatt in Denver contributed to this story.
To Learn More:
Americans Backing Marijuana Legalization Hits 60% Record High (by David Crary, Associated Press)
Only Conservative Republicans Still Oppose Legalizing Marijuana (by David Wallechinsky and Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
Half of Americans Support Legal Marijuana for First Time (by Noel Brinkerhoff and David Wallechinsky, AllGov)
Obama Escalates Attack on Legal Marijuana (by Noel Brinkerhoff and David Wallechinsky, AllGov)
CBS Bans Marijuana Legalization Ad in Times Square (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
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Terms & Conditions of Purchasing of affiliated EJOT Group Companies - hereinafter referred to as "EJOT" –
General Terms and Conditions (Valid from 01.02.2017)
Conditions of Sale and Delivery of affiliated EJOT Group Companies - hereinafter referred to as "EJOT" -
1. Area of application
1.1 These General Terms and Conditions apply to business owners, legal entities under public and private law and special funds under public law.
1.2 All deliveries and services are provided exclusively on the basis of the terms and conditions below and any other agreements. In addition to these General Terms and Conditions, any specifications, drawings, descriptions, standards and other documents, and in particular agreements of confidentiality and compliance agreements stipulated between EJOT and the contractual partner, as amended, are applicable. Contractual partner's contradictory or additional terms and conditions, or terms deviating from the EJOT General Terms and Conditions not expressly acknowledged by EJOT in writing, are not valid. EJOT's General Terms and Conditions also apply if EJOT, being aware of the contractual partner's contradictory or additional terms and conditions, or terms deviating from the EJOT General Terms and Conditions, executes the delivery to the contractual partner without reservation.
1.3 These General Terms and Conditions also apply to all future orders and contractual relations between EJOT and the contractual partner, unless agreed otherwise.
2. General regulations
2.1 Generally, the agreement is concluded by contractual partner's order and EJOT's confirmation (acceptance) in text form (also via fax, email, or Web portal).
2.2 If the order qualifies as an offer in the sense of § 145 BGB (German Civil Code), EJOT can accept this offer within 2 weeks.
2.3 The parties to the contract shall either jointly document any verbal agreements, e.g. in the form of negotiation records, or immediately confirm them in detail and in written form.
3. Long-term and call-off purchase contracts, price adjustments
3.1 Unlimited contracts and contracts with a term of more than 6 months (long-term contracts) can be terminated by both parties at any time giving 3 months' notice.
3.2 If a major change in the cost of labour, material or energy occurs in the course of a long-term contract, each of the parties to the contract shall have the right to demand adequate adjustment of the price having regard to these factors.
3.3 Where a binding order quantity is not agreed, EJOT's calculation will be based on the non-binding order quantity expected by the contractual partner for a specific period of time (target quantity).
3.4 Where the contractual partner purchases less than the target quantity, EJOT has the right to increase the unit price by an appropriate amount.
3.5 In the case of call supply contracts, unless otherwise agreed, binding quantities are to be notified to EJOT by call not less than 1 month before the delivery date.
3.6 Any additional costs caused by EJOT's contractual partner through late calling or subsequent amendments to the call in respect of time or quantity are to be borne by the contractual partner; in this respect a calculation will prevail.
4. Confidentiality
4.1 The contractual partner shall use all not generally known documents which are commercial or technology-related (and analogously samples, models, drawings, templates, similar objects, and data) and information received by it as a result of the business relationship with EJOT only for the jointly pursued purposes, and maintain secrecy in respect of third parties with the same due care as applied to its own documents and information, provided that EJOT described them as confidential or has an obvious interest in maintaining secrecy in respect of such documents or information.
4.2 The reproduction of such items is permitted only in the frame of operational requirements and copyright regulations.
4.3 This obligation commences upon receipt of the first documents or information and ends 5 years after the end of the business relationship.
4.4 The obligation does not apply to documents and information which are generally known, or which were already known to the contractual partner on receipt and where the contractual partner was not under obligation of secrecy, or where they are subsequently disclosed by a third party who is authorised to pass on such documents or information, or where the documents or information are developed by the receiving contractual partner without exploitation of EJOT's documents or information.
4.5 Subsuppliers must be bound to respective commitments.
4.6 The contractual partner shall not use the fact of the business relation for PR purposes unless previously agreed by EJOT in writing.
5. Drawings and specifications
EJOT reserves property rights and copyrights in all pictures, drawings, calculations and other documents. This also applies to written documents marked "confidential". Before disclosing these documents to third parties, the contractual partner must procure EJOT's express consent in writing.
6. Samples and production equipment
6.1 Manufacturing costs for samples and production equipment (tools, moulds, templates, etc.) will, unless otherwise agreed, be invoiced separately from the goods to be supplied. This also applies to production equipment which has to be replaced as a result of wear and tear.
6.2 If, during the period of manufacture of samples or production equipment, the contractual partner abandons or terminates the co-operation without EJOT giving the contractual partner a justified reason to do so, all manufacturing costs incurred up to that time will be borne by that contractual partner.
6.3 Even where the contractual partner has paid for it, the production equipment remains EJOT's property at least until completion of the supply contract. The contractual partner is then entitled to reclaim the production equipment, where a mutual agreement has been reached in respect of the time of delivery and the contractual partner has fully complied with its contractual obligations.
7. Prices
EJOT's prices are in Euro, exclusive of turnover tax, packing, freight, carriage, customs duties and insurance. Statutory turnover tax will be stated separately on the invoice in the amount applicable at invoice date.
8. Payment terms
8.1 All invoices are due for payment within 30 days of the invoice date. In case of payment within 14 days after the date of invoice, cash discount in the amount of 2 per cent is granted provided the contractual partner has settled all claims when due.
8.2 If EJOT has indisputably supplied goods which are partly defective, the contractual partner is nevertheless obliged to pay for the non-defective part, unless partial delivery is of no use to the contractual partner. The contractual partner cannot set off any claims unless its counterclaims have been awarded in a final judgement, are uncontested, or accepted by EJOT.
8.3 If the payment terms are not met, EJOT shall be entitled to bill interest on arrears at the rate charged to EJOT by the bank for current account overdrafts, but at a minimum of 9 percentage points above the base interest rate of the European Central Bank at the time.
8.4 In the event of any delay in payment, EJOT may, after giving notice in writing to the contractual partner, suspend its obligations until payments have been received.
8.5 Bills of exchange and cheques will only be accepted where this has been agreed, and only on account of performance and on condition that they may be discounted. Discount charges will be calculated from the due date for payment of the invoice amount. A guarantee for presentation of bills of exchange and cheques at the due and proper time and for the lodging of a protest is excluded.
9. Delivery
9.1 Unless otherwise agreed, EJOT shall deliver "ex-works"/"EXW". Compliance with the delivery date or delivery period will be based on EJOT's notification of readiness for despatch or collection.
9.2 The delivery period commences at despatch of EJOT's order confirmation and will be extended as appropriate where the provisions of Section 17 apply.
9.3 Partial deliveries are permitted within reason. They will be invoiced separately.
9.4 Production-related long or short deliveries are permitted within a tolerance of 10 per cent of the total order quantity. The total price will be adjusted accordingly.
10. Despatch and transfer of risk
10.1 Goods which are notified as being ready for despatch are to be taken over immediately by the contractual partner. Otherwise, EJOT has the right, at its option, to despatch such goods or to store them at the cost and risk of the contractual partner.
10.2 In the absence of any special agreement, EJOT will select the transport method and routing.
10.3 On contractual partner's request, EJOT will take out transport insurance to cover the delivery. The contractual partner shall bear the costs.
10.4 The risk passes to the contractual partner on handover to the railway, forwarding agent or freight carrier, or on commencement of storage, but in any case not later than departure from the factory or warehouse; this also applies if EJOT has arranged for the delivery.
10.5 Special arrangements apply for taking back packaging.
11. Delay in delivery
11.1 When EJOT can anticipate that it will not be able to deliver the goods within the delivery period, EJOT shall immediately inform the contractual partner in writing of the reasons for this, and also if possible indicate the probable delivery date.
11.2 In the event of delivery being delayed by one of the circumstances set forth in Article 17 below, or as a result of any action or omission on the part of the contractual partner, an extension of the delivery period will be granted appropriate to the circumstances.
11.3 The contractual partner is only entitled to withdraw from the contract if EJOT is responsible for the delivery date not being met and the contractual partner has allowed EJOT a reasonable period of grace without result.
12. Reservation of title
12.1 EJOT reserves the right of ownership in respect of the goods supplied until such time as all claims under the business relationship with the contractual partner have been met. In case of violation of the agreement by the contractual partner, in particular delay in payment, EJOT is entitled to retrieve the purchased goods. EJOT's retrieval of the purchased goods constitutes a withdrawal from the agreement. Following retrieval of the purchased goods, EJOT has the right to sell them; the proceeds of such sale, minus reasonable selling costs, shall be deducted from the contractual partner's liabilities.
12.2 The contractual partner is obliged to treat the purchased item with care; in particular, it is obliged to insure it at its own expense against fire, water, and theft at its original value. The contractual partner shall duly carry out any maintenance and inspection work, if required, at its own expense.
12.3 The contractual partner is entitled to sell these goods in the regular course of business, provided it meets its obligations arising from the business relationship with EJOT in good time. However, it may neither pledge the reserved goods nor transfer ownership in them as a security. It is obliged to protect EJOT's rights if goods which are subject to reservation of title are resold on credit.
12.4 All claims and rights deriving from the sale or any leasing, for which EJOT may have given the contractual partner permission, of goods in which EJOT has property rights, are herewith assigned by the contractual partner to EJOT as security with immediate effect. The contractual partner also assigns to EJOT the claims for securing EJOT's claims against it arising against a third party from the connection of the purchased goods with a plot of land. EJOT herewith accepts the assignment.
12.5 For good cause, the contractual partner is obliged at EJOT's request to announce the assignment to the third-party buyers, and to give EJOT the information and hand over the documents required to assert EJOT's rights.
12.6 Any machining or processing of the goods which are subject to reservation of title shall at all times be carried out by the contractual partner on EJOT's behalf. If the goods which are subject to reservation of title are processed or inseparably mixed with other items not owned by EJOT, EJOT shall acquire joint ownership in the new product in the proportion of the invoice value of the goods which are subject to reservation of title to the other processed or mixed items at the time of processing or mixing.
12.7 If EJOT's products are combined or inseparably mixed with other moveable items to form a single product and the other product is deemed to be the principal product, the contractual partner shall transfer joint ownership to EJOT on a pro rata basis, as far as the principal product is owned by it. The contractual partner shall maintain ownership or joint ownership on EJOT's behalf. In all other respects, the same shall apply to the product created by processing or combination or mixing as to the goods which are subject to reservation of title.
12.8 The contractual partner must inform EJOT immediately of enforcement measures being taken by third parties in respect of the reserved goods by handing over to EJOT the documents required for any intervention. This also applies to infringements of any other kind.
12.9 If the value of the existing securities exceeds the secured claims in total by more than 10 per cent, EJOT shall, at the contractual partner's request, release securities to which EJOT is entitled in the respective amount. EJOT is free to choose which securities to release.
13. Breach by the contractual partner
In the event of breach of contractual partner's duties, in particular in the case of delayed payment, EJOT is entitled, after a reasonable period of grace allowed to the contractual partner for performance has elapsed without result, to withdraw from the contract and to retrieve the goods; this shall not affect the statutory provisions concerning cases where it is not necessary to allow a period of grace. The contractual partner shall be obliged to surrender the goods. EJOT is entitled to withdraw from the contract if an application is filed for insolvency proceedings to be instituted against the contractual partner's assets, or out-of-court settlement is applied for.
14. Defects of quality
14.1 The contractual partner can assert claims for defects only if it duly fulfilled the requirement to inspect and to make a complaint in respect of a defect immediately on receipt of goods in accordance with § 377 HGB (German Commercial Code).
14.2 The quality of the goods is determined exclusively by the agreed technical supply specifications. In the event of EJOT having to supply in accordance with drawings, specifications, samples and the like provided by the contractual partner, the latter will take over the risk of fitness for the intended use. The condition of the goods in accordance with the contract is determined as at the time of passing of risk.
14.3 EJOT shall not take liability either for any material defects attributable to the violation of operating, maintenance, and installation regulations or to unsuitable or improper use, faulty assembly or commissioning by the contractual partner or third parties, normal wear and tear, defective or negligent handling, nor for the consequences of unsuitable modifications or repairs undertaken by the contractual partner or third parties without EJOT's approval.
14.4 Claims for material defects shall become statute-barred 12 months after passing of risks. This shall not apply where the law prescribes longer periods of time as mandatory, particularly for defects in a building and in a product which has been used in accordance with its customary form of use for a building and has caused the latter to be defective.
14.5 Complaints about obvious faults shall be made in writing immediately after receipt of the goods, and about hidden faults immediately after occurrence of the failure.
14.6 If an acceptance test or initial samples test was agreed, notification of defects which could have been discovered by the contractual partner in the course of thorough acceptance test or initial samples test is excluded.
14.7 EJOT must be given the opportunity of assessing the reported defect. The goods complained of must be returned to EJOT immediately; EJOT will take over the transport costs where the notice of defect is justified. If the contractual partner, without EJOT's approval, modifies the goods which are subject to a complaint already submitted to EJOT, any claims for material defects shall be forfeited.
14.8 In the event of notice of defect which is justified and made at the due and proper time, EJOT will, at its own choice, make improvements to the goods complained of or supply a replacement free of defect. In case of a defective delivery, the contractual partner shall allow EJOT to have the stock sorted at short notice.
14.9 If EJOT fails to meet these obligations, or fails to do so within a reasonable period of time in accordance with the terms of the contract, the contractual partner may set in writing a final deadline within which EJOT must fulfil its obligations. After unsuccessful expiry of this period, the contractual partner may demand a reduction of the price, or withdraw from the contract.
14.10 Warranties regarding product characteristics and useful life must expressly and individually be defined as such in writing.
15. Other claims, liability
15.1 Unless otherwise specified below, any additional or more extensive claims by the contractual partner against EJOT are excluded. This shall apply in particular to claims for damages for a breach of duties arising from delays, impossibility of performance, culpable breach of contractual ancillary obligations, and torts. EJOT is therefore not liable for any damage not deriving from the delivered goods themselves. EJOT is in particular not liable for any loss of profit, damage from interrupted operation, or other financial losses by the contractual partner.
15.2 Generally, EJOT is only liable to pay damages if EJOT is to blame for the damage caused by EJOT.
15.3 The liability to pay damages is excluded as far as the contractual partner effectively restricted its liability vis-a-vis its customers. Here, the contractual partner shall endeavour to agree limitations of liability, as far as legally permissible, also for EJOT as a supplier.
15.4 Contractual partner's claims are excluded in so far as the damage has been caused by the violation of operating, maintenance, and installation instructions, unsuitable or improper use, improper or negligent handling, natural wear, or faulty repairs for which the contractual partner is responsible.
15.5 The limitations of liability indicated above do not apply in the case of specific intent, gross negligence on the part of EJOT's legal representatives or executive employees, and in the event of culpable violation of significant contractual obligations. In the event of culpable violation of significant contractual obligations, EJOT is liable - other than in cases of specific intent or gross negligence on the part of EJOT's legal representatives or executive employees - only for standard contractual loss, or loss which might reasonably have been expected.
15.6 The limitation of liability is also not applicable in those cases where there is liability in accordance with product liability laws for personal injury or material damage in the case of defects in goods supplied for private use. It is also not applicable in case of injury of life, body or health and in the absence of guaranteed characteristics, if, and insofar as the object of the guarantee was to cover the contractual partner against any losses not deriving from the goods supplied themselves.
15.7 If the contractual partner intends to assert claims against EJOT pursuant to the above regulations, it shall inform and consult EJOT immediately and in full detail. It shall give EJOT the opportunity to examine the damage. The contractual parties shall coordinate the measures to be taken, in particular in case of settlement negotiations.
15.8 Insofar as EJOT's liability is excluded or limited, this is also applicable to the personal liability of EJOT's employees, workers, personnel, legal representatives and vicarious agents.
15.9 The legal provisions relating to burden of proof are not affected by this.
16. Patent rights
The contractual partners agree to inform each other immediately of any patent rights and purported violation of patent rights and patent right applications, and to endeavour to proceed against such claims jointly.
17. Force majeure
Acts of God, industrial disputes, disturbances, official measures, non-arrival of deliveries from EJOT's suppliers and other unpredictable, unavoidable and serious events will release EJOT from its duty to perform for the duration of the disturbance and to the extent of its effect. This is also applicable where these events occur at a time when EJOT is in default. The parties to the contract undertake to immediately provide, within the limits of reasonableness, any information necessary and adapt their obligations to changed circumstances in good faith.
18. Place of performance, place of jurisdiction and applicable law
18.1 Unless otherwise indicated in the order confirmation, the place of performance is EJOT's principal place of business.
18.2 The place of jurisdiction for all legal disputes, including any action relating to payment bills of exchange or cheques, is EJOT's principal place of business, provided the contractual partner is a merchant, a legal entity under public law and a special fund under public law. EJOT is also entitled to bring an action at the place of business of the contractual partner.
18.3 The contractual relationship is exclusively subject to the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany under exclusion of the conflict of laws regulation. Application of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG - "Viennese sales law") dated 11 April 1980 shall be excluded.
18.4 If a provision of these General Terms and Conditions and additional agreements concluded by the parties to the contract is or becomes invalid, the validity of the remaining stipulations of the contract shall not be affected.


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Ferrero Giotto is an irresistible hazelnut pastry specialty made after an original italian recipe. These delicious little cream filled orbs have a crunchy wafer shell which is covered in deliciously fragrant hazelnut chunks. What a treat and the perfect addition to your coffee break. Each pack contains 4 individual tubes, containing 9 Giottos mini pastries.
Store in a cool and dry place.
154g / 5.43 oz NET. WT.
Deviations between the product information as well as their illustrations are possible. The product information on our website refers to the currently valid product on the market and the information provided is being updated regularly. However the ingredients or the recipe may be changed by the manufacturer at any time and without prior notice. During a transition period it is therefore possible, that customers receive both, the previously valid as well as the recently updated product in the same shipment. Always observe the product packaging for the most accurate description of the content which includes but is not limited to the formulation as well as the updated list of ingredients. This precautionary step can help prevent possible adverse reactions. Please note that GermanShop24 does not accept returns of grocery products (including baby food etc.) or health and personal care items.
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Clementine Rose and the Bake-Off Dilemma
Written by Jacqueline Harvey
Clementine Rose is bursting with plans for the school holidays! But with the announcement that a new cooking show will be filmed in the village, everything changes. While Clementine is disappointed that her activities have been cancelled, she soon has an idea and takes to the kitchen in a baking frenzy. If only her mother wasn't feeling so sick and could help out when things turn sticky.
Everyone wants to be a part of the show – especially Mrs Bottomley! – and it doesn't take long before temperatures are running high. With the main event being held at Penberthy House, Clementine has the inside scoop and spies some surprising behaviour from the contestants. Will she uncover a secret? And will the show be a flop, or a scrumptious success?


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Jain Scriptures
63. Scripture is the synonym of the holy text, which consists of religious dogmas, and assertions of an authentic authority (Apta Purusa). The Jainism has its own scriptures called Agamas or Srutas, which are directly derived from the Tirthankaras. The Agamas are divided into two Streams viz. Sutragamas and Arthagamas. The sermons of the Tirthankaras are called Arthagamas and the Sutras written over them are named Sutragamas. The Agamas compiled by Pratyekabuddhas or Sthaviras are also valid. Like the Buddhist Pitakas, they are called Ganipitakas. Agamas are the composed form of Angas and Purvas. Puravas are no longer in existence. They were based on spirituality and self – realization consisting of esoteric methods of attaining emancipation form all Karmas (Moksa). They might have established their own tradition that would have been absorbed in the Angas. The knower of fourteen Purvas is called Srutakevali. The Scripture that we have at present is derived from Tirthankara Mahavira. The main teachings of Purvas are included into Drastivada, the twelfth Anga that is totally lost in the eyes of Svetambara tradition. But the Digambaras were able to preserve the few sections dealing with the Karma theory from the Agrayanipurva and Jnanapravada Purva . Drastivada is briefly divided into five parts, viz. Parikarma, Sutra, Purvagata, Anuyoga and Culika. The Kasayapahuda and Satkhandagama Texts are perhaps the earliest source of knowledge of the Purvagata Drastivada. In course of time it was lost with obliteration of Kevalajnana gradually as can be understood by the posthumous spiritual titles of Caudasa, Dasa and Nava Puvvis.The works of Kundakunda and other Acaryas are also recognized as the scriptures of Digambaras. Digambara Adhyatma Texts are based on the Purvas while the Svetambara Agamas are founded on Angas excluding Drastivada. The fourteen Purvas, which are all extinct, are as follows:1) Utpada, 2) Agrayani, 3) Virya, 4) Astinastipravada, 5) Jnanapravada, 6) Satpravada, 7) Atmapravada, 8) Karmapravada, 9) Pratyakhyanapravada, l0) Vidyanuvada, 11) Kalyanavada, 12) Pranavada, 13) Kriyavisala, and 14) Lokavindusara.
64. The traditional way through hearsay (Evam maya suyam) has been the only means to preserve and protect the Anga Scriptures for sometimes. In due course, the addition and omission ought to take place in the Agamic Texts, which were used to examine by holding the Councils called Vacanas, like Buddhist Sangitis from time to time at Pataliputra, Mathura and Valabhi. The Third or Fourth Vacana was held at Valabhi 980 years after the Nirvana of Mahavira under the president ship of Devardhigani Ksamasramana who compiled and written down the available Scriptures. It may be mentioned here that no reference to these Councils is made in Digambara traditional literature. In its view the original form of Agamas went into oblivion and alienation up to 683 years after Mahavira's Nirvana. The part of the Drastivada was of course remained which became the basis of the Sadkhandagama and Kasayapahuda. The Svetambara tradition does not refute the view but states that even if the original form of the Agamas is changed, its whole form cannot be completely rejected and ignored. Some cultural aspects and linguistic peculiarities prove its originality to a certain extent. Whatever the Agamas we have at present is belonging to Svetambara tradition. Digambaras are of view that they are lost and mingled with local elements.
65. The Jaina Scriptures are divided into several ways. Viz. I) Angapravista and Angabahya, ii) Kalika and Utkalika, iii) Anga, Upanga, Chedasutra, Mulasutra, Prakirnaka and Culika, IV) Krta and Niryuhana, v) Carananuyoga, Dharmakathanuyoga, Ganitanuyoga, and Dravyanuyoga, and VI) Prathamanuyoga, Karananuyoga, Carananuyoga, and Dravyanuyoga. The present Agamas are found in Prakrit. It was spoken in the part of Magadha and was mingled with other dialects. Therefore it is called Ardhamagadhi in which the Svetambara Agmas are written. The Digambara Agamic literature is found in Sauraseni Prakrit. The Agamas can also be, therefore, divided into two ways, viz. Ardhamagadhi and Sauraseni. The Murtipujaka Svetambaras recognize only 45 or 84 Agamas while the Sthanakavasis and Terapanthis accept 32 Agamas. On the other hand, the Digambaras are of view that the original Agamas became extinct. In their place they recognize the works of Pushapadanta, Bhutavali, Kundakunda, Vattakera, Sivarya, Umaswami, Samantabhadra, Akalanka and other Acaryas as the Agamas.
66. The fact that the Digambara and the Svetambara traditions agree on fundamental features of the structure of the Jaina Scriptures establishes beyond doubt, I) that the Jaina Scripture had been compiled, arranged and recognized before the schism and ii) that the traditional divisions were remembered even after the Digambaras rejected the Svetambara Scriptures as the later innovation. Thus there is no controversy between Digambara and Svetambara traditions about the twelve Angas, viz. Ayaranga, Suyagadanga Thananga, Samavayanga, Viyahapannatti, Nayadhammakahao, Uvasagadasao, Antagadadasao, Anuttarovavaiyadasao, Panhavanhagaranaim, Vivagasuyam and Ditthivaya. Due to lack of space, it is not possible to go through the Scriptures in detail, but it may be pointed out that they are full of linguistic, cultural, historical, philosophical and spiritual material. Likewise, the Kasayapahuda of Gunadhara, Sadkhandagama of Puspadanta and Bhutavali, Dhavalatika of Virasena, Samayasara, Pravacanasara etc. of Kundakunda, Mulacara of Vattakera or Kundakunda, Bhagawatiaradhana of Sivarya, Kattigeyanuvekha of Kartikeya, Tattvarthasutra of Umasvami, Ratnakarandasravakacara, Aptamimamsa etc. of Samantabhadra, Sanmatisutra etc. of Siddhasena, Tattvartha-rajavartika of Akalanka and some more Texts are treated as the Scripture of Digambara tradition.
67. Jain literature is written in Prakrit, Sanskrit, Apabhramsa, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Tamil, and Kannad languages. Prakrit and Sanskrit literature can be divided into Anga, Upanga, Mulasutras, Chedasutra, Culikasutras, Prakrinakas, Agamic Vyakhyas, Niryuktis, Bhasyas, Curnis, Tikas, Karma literature, Siddhanta, Acara, Vidhividhana, Bhaktimulaka, Pauranika- Aitihasika Kavyas, Kathatmaka, Laksanika (Jyotisa, Ganita, Vyakarana, Kosa, Chanda, Nimitta, Silpa etc.) and Lalita literature. There is also the vast literature written in Apabhramsa.
68. Out of five epics in Tamil literature, three of them belong to Jainism. They are Silappadikaram, Valayapani, and Cintamani. Likewise, Pampas, Ponna, Ratna, Camundaraya and others are main Jain Kavis in Kannada literature. Similarly Hindi literature is enriched from its inception. Due to lack of space it is not possible to write on these types of volumes Jain literature.


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Integrated with Landing Page Optimisation tools
The results of an A/B split test are an essential part of producing an effective website that delivers results. However, if you don't take into account call tracking data, then the figures generated in the A/B test may not indicate the most effective landing page.
Imagine a scenario where a business generates considerable email inquiry from the 'A' landing page, but the 'B' landing page generates fewer emails but more calls that lead to higher overall revenue. Without the integration of call tracking and the inclusion of call tracking data, the business would inaccurately identify landing page 'A' as the most successful landing page. Analysing call tracking data together with online data, the user experience team will receive a more accurate measurement of the most effective landing page when testing two pages in an A/B environment.
Delacon's call tracking solution is integrated with Optimizely.
Why integrate Landing Optimisation tools with Call Tracking?
- To conduct more accurate A/B split testing of landing pages
- To obtain accurate measurement of goals such as conversions
- To make optimisation decisions based on the most accurate measurement
- To more effectively improve landing page content that enhances the customer journey and experience
Optimizely proudly asserts their dominance as the leading website optimisation platform in the world. The brand was originally founded by two former Google employees who noted that optimisation was challenging for user experience teams. Their aim was to develop easy-to-use software that would "provide a platform for businesses to be able to conceive and run experiments that helped them make better data-driven decisions."


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Bette Midler has a great song entitled "Only In Miami". The story goes that only in Miami is Cuba so far away. Or as Sarah Palin once said, "I can see Cuba from my hotel."
Diplomatic ties with the tiny island nation have been thawing recently and you can now fly there directly from JFK without fear of entrapment of the US government and the conservatives say that Obama hasn't done anything for this country. Cuba is the melting pot of the Caribbean. |
Way back when in 1959, Fidel Castro and Che Guevara overthrew the corrupt Cuban government, only to establish a more corrupt communist regime.
Is Fidel dead? Will we ever know? Probably not. I personally hope he lives on as the immortal godfather of Cuba. His brother Raul is keep the family dictatorship in the family and has taken over as the figurehead for his brother. |
Our trade embargo has affected the tiny little country for 55 years, with nothing but the cold strong armed Soviet Union to assist them in international trade. My favorite story has always been of President Kennedy stocking up on Cuban cigars before enforcing the trade embargo. I love capitalism.
Cuban cuisine has been a recent topic of discussion. Will Cuba become the next hot spot tourist destination? Cuba is a true communist country. The cuisine was known to be as good as their cars. Ingredients range from delicious canned and processed to my personal favorite of powdered. At the least athletes were happy. |
Gastronomy in Cuba is for the eclectic in variety. I read in an article in Vogue of 'teti'. Tiny fish that are a centimeter long and as the author describes have "the richness of tiny eels". Delicious.
If any of this interests you'll have to make a trip to Havana. Just like Jay-Z and Beyonce did. You can meet the people. Learn new culture. Maybe even learn a new language if you stay long enough.. If your a flight risk or would rather not leave the country and end up in a foreign prison for drunk and disorderly conduct. You can always visit Little Havana. A nice tourist destination in Miami. They even have their own gangs. |
Ajiaco Cubano
10 quarts of Water
1 pound of Beef Jerky
2 pounds of Flank Steak
2 pounds of Pork
4 ear of Corn
2 pounds of Malanga
4 Green Plantains
2 pounds of Yuca
2 pounds of Cuban Boniato
2 pounds of Pumpkin
1 pound of Name
1 pound of Guagui
4 Plantains
4 Limes
Full recipe here
4 slices of Ham
4 slices Roast Pork
3 slices of Swiss cheese
4 Pickles
Yellow Mustard
Cuban Bread
Full recipe here


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Blackboard Learn has a robust set of tools and the flexibility to add new tools to the platform. On the Tools page, you can view the list of tools. Each row shows the availability of the tool to authenticated users, guests, and observers.
On the Administrator Panel in the Tools and Utilities section, select Tools.
- Open the Filter by menu and make a selection to narrow your list.
- The type of tool is listed, such as course or organization.
- In the Availability column, change to ON or OFF.
- Lock or unlock the tool availability setting. If locked, instructors can't change the setting at the course or organization level.
You manage course tools on the Course Tools page.
- In the Scope of Change column, select the lock icon to open the menu and select where the change is applied, such as for new courses only. Based on the change, the menu may only have one option.
- In the Available to Guests and Available to Observers columns, if check boxes appear, you can allow these roles access to the tool. You can't make tools with a circle and diagonal line icon available to guests and observers.
Select Submit to save your changes.


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8.19. Object Identifier Types
Object identifiers (OIDs) are used internally by Postgres Pro as primary keys for various system tables. OIDs are not added to user-created tables, unless WITH OIDS
is specified when the table is created, or the default_with_oids configuration variable is enabled. Type oid
represents an object identifier. There are also several alias types for oid
: regproc
, regprocedure
, regoper
, regoperator
, regclass
, regtype
, regrole
, regnamespace
, regconfig
, and regdictionary
. Table 8.24 shows an overview.
The oid
type is currently implemented as an unsigned four-byte integer. Therefore, it is not large enough to provide database-wide uniqueness in large databases, or even in large individual tables. So, using a user-created table's OID column as a primary key is discouraged. OIDs are best used only for references to system tables.
The oid
type itself has few operations beyond comparison. It can be cast to integer, however, and then manipulated using the standard integer operators. (Beware of possible signed-versus-unsigned confusion if you do this.)
The OID alias types have no operations of their own except for specialized input and output routines. These routines are able to accept and display symbolic names for system objects, rather than the raw numeric value that type oid
would use. The alias types allow simplified lookup of OID values for objects. For example, to examine the pg_attribute
rows related to a table mytable
, one could write:
SELECT * FROM pg_attribute WHERE attrelid = 'mytable'::regclass;
rather than:
SELECT * FROM pg_attribute WHERE attrelid = (SELECT oid FROM pg_class WHERE relname = 'mytable');
While that doesn't look all that bad by itself, it's still oversimplified. A far more complicated sub-select would be needed to select the right OID if there are multiple tables named mytable
in different schemas. The regclass
input converter handles the table lookup according to the schema path setting, and so it does the "right thing" automatically. Similarly, casting a table's OID to regclass
is handy for symbolic display of a numeric OID.
Table 8.24. Object Identifier Types
Name | References | Description | Value Example |
oid | any | numeric object identifier | 564182 |
regproc | pg_proc | function name | sum |
regprocedure | pg_proc | function with argument types | sum(int4) |
regoper | pg_operator | operator name | + |
regoperator | pg_operator | operator with argument types | *(integer,integer) or -(NONE,integer) |
regclass | pg_class | relation name | pg_type |
regtype | pg_type | data type name | integer |
regrole | pg_authid | role name | smithee |
regnamespace | pg_namespace | namespace name | pg_catalog |
regconfig | pg_ts_config | text search configuration | english |
regdictionary | pg_ts_dict | text search dictionary | simple |
All of the OID alias types for objects grouped by namespace accept schema-qualified names, and will display schema-qualified names on output if the object would not be found in the current search path without being qualified. The regproc
and regoper
alias types will only accept input names that are unique (not overloaded), so they are of limited use; for most uses regprocedure
or regoperator
are more appropriate. For regoperator
, unary operators are identified by writing NONE
for the unused operand.
An additional property of most of the OID alias types is the creation of dependencies. If a constant of one of these types appears in a stored expression (such as a column default expression or view), it creates a dependency on the referenced object. For example, if a column has a default expression nextval('my_seq'::regclass)
, Postgres Pro understands that the default expression depends on the sequence my_seq
; the system will not let the sequence be dropped without first removing the default expression. regrole
is the only exception for the property. Constants of this type are not allowed in such expressions.
The OID alias types do not completely follow transaction isolation rules. The planner also treats them as simple constants, which may result in sub-optimal planning.
Another identifier type used by the system is xid
, or transaction (abbreviated xact) identifier. This is the data type of the system columns xmin
and xmax
. Transaction identifiers are 32-bit quantities.
A third identifier type used by the system is cid
, or command identifier. This is the data type of the system columns cmin
and cmax
. Command identifiers are also 32-bit quantities.
A final identifier type used by the system is tid
, or tuple identifier (row identifier). This is the data type of the system column ctid
. A tuple ID is a pair (block number, tuple index within block) that identifies the physical location of the row within its table.
(The system columns are further explained in Section 5.4.)


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Trane Educates EE Global Attendees on How Connected Building Technology is Evolving Conventional Energy Management Techniques
Trane Educates EE Global Attendees on How Connected Building Technology is Evolving Conventional Energy Management Techniques
Washington D.C., May 8, 2017 — Trane, a leading global provider of indoor comfort systems and services and a brand of Ingersoll Rand, will participate in a panel discussion at the 2017 EE Global Forum (EE Global) in Washington D.C., on May 8 at 1:15pm ET.
Titled "No More Status Quo: Are Technologies Disrupting Conventional Models," Brad Trevillian, director of energy services at Trane, will discuss how connected building technology drives efficiency of commercial buildings and how the transition to an integrated systems and services model is transforming the industry.
"In order to transform the industry and build new, effective models for energy management, we must look beyond individual system efficiency," Trevillian said. "By focusing on the customer experience and making it easy for facility teams to gather and analyze data within their building systems, we can show measurable results that can be replicated across other industries."
Buildings are one of the top users of energy around the world, consuming more than 40 percent of energy in the United States. With 60 percent of that total coming from heating, ventilation, air conditioning (HVAC) and lighting systems, there is a great opportunity for facility management teams to improve energy management efforts to drive efficiencies by improving the efficiency of their operations. Trevillian will describe how connected buildings are changing how commercial buildings are managed.
Trevillian will also discuss how Trane is evolving beyond the mechanical systems to connect the building and other important systems together, which help drive efficiency and provide real results for organizations who have sustainability efforts.
About Ingersoll Rand
Ingersoll Rand (NYSE:IR) advances the quality of life by creating comfortable, sustainable and efficient environments. Our people and our family of brands — including Club Car®, Ingersoll Rand®, Thermo King® and Trane® — work together to enhance the quality and comfort of air in homes and buildings; transport and protect food and perishables; and increase industrial productivity and efficiency. We are a $13 billion global business committed to a world of sustainable progress and enduring results. Trane solutions optimize indoor environments with a broad portfolio of energy efficient heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems, building and contracting services, parts support and advanced control. For more information, visit www.ingersollrand.com or www.trane.com.
About EE Global 2017
EE Global is the energy efficiency elite's annual gathering place where business executives, government leaders and advocates join together for two days of actionable dialogue and partnership-building.
SOURCE: Trane


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One in four renters in the U.S. pay half their income to rent and utilities (bigstory.ap.org). In California it's 30% of renters. More than 36% of Americans rent housing as compared to 31% before the 2007 recession began.
U.S. and Israel lead the world in income inequality (truthdig.com). Meanwhile, U.S. lags far behind other developed countries in upward mobility.
U.S. lags behind other major Western economies for upward mobility. |
How does the U.S. stack up for minimum wage? Not well at all (economist.com). When minimum wage is broken out on a GDP-per-capita (apples to apples) basis, the various states stack up against various countries as if the U.S. is a kingdom apart:
How the U.S. compares to other countries for minimum wage. |
In the U.S., a minimum-wage employee with a family to support needs to work over 60 hours a week to stay above the poverty line.
The average American family has saved enough money to send one kid to college for half a year (businessinsider.com). The average cost of attendance this year is $19,000 for public colleges and $33,000 for private colleges, according to The College Board.
"It is now more likely than not that the U.S. economy has dropped through the Fed's stall-speed threshold of two consecutive quarters below 2% growth. Exactly how far below is unclear." HSBC fears world recession with no lifeboats left (telegraph.co.uk). Note that if the U.S. economy is actually contracting (and it's not mere seasonality), the Fed has no basis at all for bumping rates; but at the same time, we'll have worse things to worry about than what the Fed does.
How to Keep Down Sky-High Hospital Bills: Don't Pay (newsweek.com).
Is your boss tracking you after hours? (bloomberg.com).
Can Mozilla survive in the world of mobile? (technologyreview.com). Probably not.
Browser market share trends. |
The price of nice hair (thinkprogress.org) is a long list of health risks. When hair salon workers are required to start wearing respirators, maybe people will get it.
Written communication may be much older than we thought (www.newhistorian.com).
A Surprise for Evolution in Giant Tree of Life (quantamagazine.org). Study finds that random genetic events drive speciation. Natural selection, not so much.
And now for something you don't see too often:
Looking down on auroras from the International Space Station. |
Join us here every Friday for news of the weird and wonkish!
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