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This is the biggest and the most abused urban legend. Let's give men a break, shall we. According to a survey, men who attended college thought about sex for about 18 times in a day, while college gals thought about it for about 10 times a day.
18 times a day translates to less than once per hour, so this urban legend can be summarily dismissed. But there's something else you should know. Men think about food and sleep much more than they do about sex.
So, why do men think about sex 18 times in a day? There's no research conducted on this statistic and no one knows why men think more about sex than women. Perhaps it is because that sex gives them pleasure and that after indulging in sex they don't have to worry about carrying a baby – all fun and no responsibilities makes Jack a sexy boy.
And, hey, though men think of sex 18 hours in a day, can they perform for more than 3-4 times in a span of 24 hours? That's the matter for another urban legend.
Green M & Ms Are Considered As Nn Aphrodisiac
Chocolates are considered as aphrodisiacal since many centuries now, but Mars Inc.'s Green M & Ms are considered to be the sexiest of the lot. The company too has played up the "sexy" reputation but the truth is that it's all in the mind.
Penis Enhancement Pumps Are A Marketing Gimmick
Most men, and women, dismiss penis pumps as worthless equipment that sell because of male vanity and marketing hype. However, in reality, penis pumps work very well. Even doctors agree that the device works.
Penis pumps work by stretching the penile tissues and thereby allowing for more blood to flow into the penis. They also elongate the penis size and increase its blood retention capacity. If you don't believe us, then at least believe WebMD
This Particular Soda Reduces Sperm Count
Okay, this urban legend is popular with college-going men. College yore says that drinking Mountain Dew reduces sperm count and therefore men can drink it prior to sex, and not worry about wearing any contraceptives.
Is it true? Does Mountain Dew reduce sperm count? Nah, like all urban legend, this one too is for the birds.
The Size Of The Penis Is Directly Proportional To Sexual Pleasure
This is not an urban legend, it is a joke. A big penis size is the stuff that locker room lore is made of, and nothing else. A big size does nothing to a man's performance in bed or to the woman's pleasure levels.
Women are happy in bed so long there's a meeting of minds – even average sex with psychological compatibility makes them happy. So, if you have heard this legend and are disturbed by it for whatever reason, don't be.
Women Are Not Interested In Sex After Menopause
This is somewhat true. Though it is somewhat true that women are not easily aroused post-menopause, saying that there's no sex life for them after the event is a complete untruth.
Summing Up
Most urban legends about sex are false or based on folklore and old wives' tales. Men should know that so long they know their partner and honor her preferences, then half the battle is won.
The other half is delivering an above-average performance in bed. If the man's sexual performance is impacted by medical conditions or medicines or by injuries or psychological problems, then the man should get the condition treated.
Let's face it, women deserve better than men think, and therefore it is important for a man to maintain his sexual health – and not pay any attention to urban legends.


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Easy Entertaining
Delicious, fuss-free food for every event
Shop by occasion
Fitting food for any occasion, making entertaining a stress-free celebration
Finishing touches
Do you deliver in my area?
We deliver our Easy Entertaining range to most locations in England, Wales and Scotland via home delivery and Click+Collect. At the moment, we are not able to deliver to I.O.M, but we're working hard to deliver to this area as quickly as possible.
When should I place my order?
"Delivery will depend on the products you choose, and should expect a minimum of 4 days. If you select items with different preparation times, the entire order is prepared to coincide with the longest time. So, if you want sandwiches (ready in 3 days) and a side salmon (ready in 7 days), your order will take 7 days to prepare. Each product has details of the time needed to prepare it. If you any questions about your order or how to place an order, please call our customer service team on 0800 323 4040.
How will my order be packaged?
First and foremost, with great care and attention. Every Easy Entertaining product is individually packaged and placed in our Easy Entertaining boxes and carefully delivered to your door or Click+Collect location.

subset: commoncrawl


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Using Smartphones as time-bound IoT setup, can save huge capital investments. However, sensor data of a $10 phone is not always be as reliable as the one from a $500 phone. Differences arise in quality of data, frequency of data acquisition, consistency of data correctness or incorrectness, and due to calibration issues.
This is a third article from a series which identifies how smartphone sensors can be used reliably to produce scientific data for IoT applications. Previous article can be found here
In previous Parts (Part-1 – Data Regression & Part-2 – Data Smoothening) we have learned about Data Regression to predict the dependent variable when independent variable is known and Data Smoothening to remove noise from data set. Let's learn about Digital Filtering.
Data Filtering Basic
Data Filtering is a system that performs mathematical operations on a sampled, discrete-time signal to reduce or enhance certain aspects of that signal. Unwanted frequency components from the signal are removed to enhance wanted ones. Electronic filters can be: passive or active. analog or digital.
There are 4 basic types of filters.
Low-Pass: This filter is designed to pass low frequency from zero to certain cutoff frequency and to block high frequencies
High-Pass: This filter is designed to pass high frequency from a certain cutoff frequency to π and to block low frequencies.
Band-Pass: This filter is designed to pass certain frequency range which does not include zero and to block other frequencies.
Band-Stop: This filter is designed to block certain frequency range which does not include zero and to allow other frequencies.
There are below 4 classifications of filters
Digital Filter vs Analog Filter
Digital Vs Analog Filters
High Accuracy vs Less Accuracy
Liner Phase vs Non-Liner Phase
Flexible, Adaptive Filtering possible vs Adaptive Filtering difficult
Easy to simulate and design vs Difficult to simulate and design
Requires high performance ADC, DAC & DSP vs No ADC, DAC & DSP required
No drift due to component variation vs Drift due to component variation
Leave a Reply.


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Never Diet Again! Really?By Annette Alfieri · July 24, 2013 · Bathing suits Dieting Health Healthy Eating Lose Weight Mindless Eating Motivation Nutrition Psychology of Eating Uncategorized Weight Loss Wellness · Leave a comment
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to never have to diet again? To never have to count another calorie, measure another portion, or have to say no to your favorite foods?
What would that feel like? How would that affect the way you live your life?
Now you may be thinking that in a perfect world that would be great, but this is the here and now, and it just would never work. History has shown this to be true… or has it?
Here's a fact; any diet can be successful for somebody, for a period of time. Why?
Because when you go on a diet you commit to eating better, you have a plan and you watch your portion sizes. It's that simple.
What do you think would happen if you decided to a. commit to eating better, b. devise a healthy and sustainable eating plan you would enjoy, c. watch your portion sizes? You would lose weight.
For all the before and after's you have ever seen, it all boils down to the same thing; a commitment to change. Those who succeeded did not commit to depriving themselves, to eating foods they hate, and living every day on a diet.
Anyone who has had lasting and successful weight loss made the commitment to get healthy.
So don't get bogged down on which diet to do next, or which foods you can no longer enjoy. Eat, move and act in a way that serves your goal. Repeat after me:
"From this day forward I commit to getting healthier. I will eat healthy foods. I will exercise on a consistent basis. I will think positive thoughts."
My friend, this is all you need. Diets be damned.
Leave a comment below and tell me how this could change your life.


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Domaine Auchère
Domaine Auchère is located in Sancerre, Loire Valley, France. This Estate is a classic producer for this highly esteemed wine. The Auchère family's winemaking tradition has been passed from grandfather to father to son for generations.
At the head of the family estate ,Jean-Jacques Auchère personally approves each wine to assure quality and consistency.


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Shirley is an experienced HR consultant and coach and is a Fellow of CIPD. Her HR experience was originally within a European manufacturing organisation but since self employment, she has also worked for smaller enterprises in different sectors, including technical/ engineering and charities.
She covers the whole lifecycle of HR, from recruitment to issues in the workplace, and termination. She is regarded as practical and a trusted advisor by businesses which are her regular clients.
Also qualified as an advanced personal coach she prefers to use a personality profile to help clarify the person's preferences, and uses this to shape the discussions. Her specialism is with those who are facing challenges, or problems within the workplace and sometimes her HR expertise helps in these situations.
Shirley also has a passion for outplacement and has experienced some great results with those who have come to her disillusioned, without direction and needing to get back into the workplace. A programme which helps understand where they're headed, and then preparation of CV, LinkedIn profile, and other services tailored to their needs is something that she offers to individuals and groups.


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라이브 도움말 보기
This article shows how to upgrade an AppAssure Core and apply the latest update patch without having to go through a core service restart and a repository check between the two applications.
The latest update patch can be downloaded directly from the AppAssure Support Portal using this link
The solution is to keep the core service disabled at all times.
NOTE: Upgrading the 5.4.2 Core build removes the core service and reinstalls it. Afterwards the upgrade attempts to start the core. Therefore, just disabling the core service is not enough.
You can achieve the goal of keeping the core service stopped at all times, by entering a command in an elevated powershell console. The result is that the core service will be forcebly disabled every 2 seconds for the duration of the execution on a continous loop. For the period where the core service does not exist during the the upgrade process, the operation will be just skipped.
For a safe upgrade, please perform the following operations:
import-module appassure*
suspend-snapshot -all
suspend-vmexport -all
suspend-replication -incoming
suspend-replication -outgoing
The upgrade process is finished!
© 2022 Quest Software Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Feedback 이용 약관 개인정보 보호정책


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OCC Bulletin 2020-96| November 3, 2020
Capital and Liquidity Treatment for Money Market Liquidity Facility and Paycheck Protection Program: Final Rule
Chief Executive Officers of All National Banks, Federal Savings Associations, and Federal Branches and Agencies; Department and Division Heads; All Examining Personnel; and Other Interested Parties
On October 28, 2020, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (collectively, the agencies) jointly issued a final rule confirming three sets of revisions to the agencies' regulatory capital and liquidity rules.1 The rule finalizes without changes the Money Market Liquidity Facility interim final rule issued on March 19, 2020; the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) interim final rule issued on April 9, 2020; and the liquidity coverage ratio interim final rule issued on May 6, 2020.2 The final rule is effective for banks3 on December 28, 2020.
This bulletin replaces and rescinds
- OCC Bulletin 2020-18, "Money Market Liquidity Facility: Interim Final Rule."
- OCC Bulletin 2020-36, "Capital Treatment for Paycheck Protection Program: Interim Final Rule."
- OCC Bulletin 2020-48, "Liquidity Coverage Ratio: Interim Final Rule Addressing Treatment of Certain Emergency Facilities."
Note for Community Banks
This final rule applies to community banks if they participate in the Money Market Liquidity Facility or originate loans under section 1102 (Paycheck Protection Program) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.
The final rule supports banks' originations of PPP loans under the CARES Act and participation in the PPP Liquidity Facility and Money Market Liquidity Facility by
- permitting a zero percent risk weight for PPP loans.
- neutralizing the regulatory capital impact for participating in the PPP Liquidity Facility and Money Market Liquidity Facility.
- for banks subject to the liquidity rule, neutralizing the impact of participating in the Money Market Liquidity Facility or PPP Liquidity Facility.
Further Information
Money Market Liquidity Facility and PPP: Please contact Margot Schwadron, Director for Capital Policy, or Andrew Tschirhart, Risk Expert for Capital Policy, at (202) 649-6370; or Carl Kaminski, Special Counsel, or Chris Rafferty, Senior Attorney, Chief Counsel's Office, at (202) 649-5490.
Liquidity coverage ratio: Please contact Christopher McBride, Director, or James Weinberger, Technical Expert, Treasury and Market Risk Policy, at (202) 649-6360; or Henry Barkhausen, Counsel, or Daniel Perez, Senior Attorney, Chief Counsel's Office, at (202) 649-5490.
Jonathan V. Gould
Senior Deputy Comptroller and Chief Counsel


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Last updated 11 August 2016
The approved provider of a government-funded facility must report certain types of assault or the suspicion of certain types of assaults to police and to the Aged Care Complaints Scheme. They must also keep records of these incidents.
Reportable assaults are:
- unlawful sexual contact with a resident of an aged care facility whether perpetrated by a staff member, resident or visitor on a resident
- unreasonable use of force or assault on a resident of an aged care facility whether perpetrated by a staff member, resident or visitor on a resident.
All approved providers must encourage staff to report alleged or suspected reportable assaults, and the provider must act to protect staff members from any victimisation or recriminations.
An approved provider has discretion not to report a reportable assault by a resident when the resident has already been diagnosed as suffering from a mental illness such as dementia and they have put in place, and documented, arrangements to manage the resident's behaviour.
Approved providers are also required to ensure that all staff, including those provided by employment agencies and some volunteers undergo regular police checks and hold a national police certificate as to their suitability to work in aged care.


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Joyce Garner is a self-taught painter and native Kentuckian, born in Covington with deeper roots in Laurel County. Contemporary influences are Grace Hartigan, Paula Rego, Juan Muñoz, and Roy DeForest.
Garner's ongoing "Table Series" is an extended allegory of people coming together around a table. Her canvases, typically 6 to 18 feet, are monumental, animated, dynamic, layered: appropriately scaled and complicated for the theme of power relations between people.
Helpful figures of speech: get everyone around the table, turn the table, wait on tables, get a seat at the table, set the table, put something on the table (or take it off), lay one's cards on the table, under the table.
Also: take a back seat, grab a chair/grab a seat, in the catbird seat, the driver's seat, the hot seat, on the edge of one's seat, ringside seat, to fly by the seat of one's pants.
Garner also owns a contemporary gallery in Louisville, Kentucky. As a hobby, she renovates century-old commercial buildings.
- Sort by Default Order


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Indeed, my lethargy, sloth, torpor, etc can be summed up in the phrase, "It's too bloody hot!"
Now into our fourth week of unrelenting heat, I feel drained and this has begun to reflect in my blogability, or should I say my inablogability.
I am constantly under a fan, continually taking a cold shower, sitting here dripping in sodden underpants to enable me to write. I'd be sitting here naked, but my bum sticks to the plastic seat, which is also hot.
The lunchtime weather forecast promised tempestades (storms) later today, but we are rapidly approaching 5pm and the sky is not doing anything that would indicate such relief, any more than it did yesterday or the day before. Even Brazilians have begun to pray for a little polar vortex.
Poor Cloro is shunting from one cool spot to another. Under the kitchen sink, under the coffee table, along to the botequim to take advantage of the tile floor, repeat. He's at a distinct disadvantage in that cats do not have sweat glands, so my fans just ruffle his fur, they do not cool him. He cannot get cool the way we do; it's the same with dogs, their cooling mechanism is their tongues.
Yesterday, I was so knackered, that I gave up blogging, instead I watched the film Django Unchained, 2½ hours of good.
I can now speak Italian! The copy I downloaded was with Italian subtitles. Pecora Negra (Englishman in Italy), eat your shorts.
The Brie I mentioned the other day survived. I managed to spread it out over three nights.
As I get older, I find it so much easier to make a fool of myself. Two nights ago, I went to print a page, pffft, nothing but a few bird scratchings on the page. I tried again… same. I cleaned the printheads… same.
I mentioned this to a fregües (regular) at the bar last night. Let's have a look… I got the printer cartridges, he turned them over… I had forgotten to remove the protective seal. How to feel a fool in one easy lesson. One of the most basic things stumped me. I have been playing with computers since the halcyon days of the TRS-80 when we had to load our programmes from a cassette tape recorder, and the simplest thing stumped me. You're never to old to be fooled.
World news, France's Hollande has a mistress, headline news; who gives a shit? Probably Mrs Hollande, the shock put her in hospital. But for this to be headline news for five days straight… give us some news!
The sun has gone, I must toddle off outside and look at the sky; we may just get our rain.


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Treating Your Depression, Successfully For A Happy Life
A lot of individuals do not fully understand what depression happens! They completely blame themselves, blame themselves for how they feel, which keeps them trapped and feeling helpless about making any changes. There are a lot of techniques you recover from depression. This article contains many tips to help you ideas for things to do daily to battle depression.
If you think or say bad things about yourself, ask yourself if you see others like that. If you tell yourself you wouldn't, then you're being unfair to yourself. Try to reframe these thoughts more realistic by making statements with suggestions on how to fix the problem.
Remember the importance of your diet, exercise and diet are key.If you feel a little depressed, you can feel better by going for a walk, run, run or brisk walk.
Antidepressants will often restore the chemicals in your brain. However, these medicines can only work to help you return to normality if you combine them with consistent exercise, you must also exercise and take part in therapy.
You must keep in mind that you're in control when you are dealing with depression. Take the word depression out of your vocabulary. This kind of negative than positive thoughts.
Find someone you care about that you can hang out with, or even play a video games with.Just getting out and doing this can really improve your mood.
Depression can be caused by many underlying reasons, so you need to do your best and find what causes your personal depression. Once you know things about how your depression is manifesting itself, you should have the ability to cope with hard times better.
Whether or not it's routine sadness or clinical depression, you should keep in touch with a professional. They can also help you understand the type of depression you suffer from.
Writing in a journal is helpful if you are suffering from depression. Getting out in a tangible form can help you to feel better about things. The journal can also serve to help you understand what triggers your feelings of depression.
Mild Depression
It is important to identify the depth of depression you are experiencing. There are many stages of depression from very mild to quite severe. Many people with mild depression may not even realize their condition. Mild depression is feeling somewhat down, whereas moderate depression negatively affects daily life. Clinical depression is so severe illness where you lose outside interests and experiences behavior changes. Sharing your thoughts and feelings with people who are trained in this area is crucial to feeling better.
Even if you aren't a big eater, it's important to eat sufficient food to get the recommended daily value of all major nutrients.
Watch your level of stress levels.Stress makes depression in play and makes it stick around longer. You need to examine your life and determine what is causing stress. Once you have have identified your stress triggers, develop a system to avoid those situations.
Developing your interests might help you beat depression. Some folks get depressed when they do not have depression because there is nothing that interests them. You will find these activities lead to internal satisfaction and contentment with your life.
Avoid consuming too many products with artificial sweeteners which are believed to have a potential negative effect on people who suffer from depression. These types of sweeteners can actually stop serotonin from being produced and can cause insomnia and headaches, worsening your case of depression.Remove these items from your diet.
If you suffer from depression problems you would be wise to stay away from foods that contain the phenylalanine amino acid in it. Phenylalanine contains phenol in it and that is a big allergenic. People with depression tend to be allergic to something and phenol increases one's reactions immensely. Avoid it in your diet at all costs.
Exercise and proper rest is important to help combat depression. Studies prove that exercise is important when dealing with depression because it releases feel-good endorphins.
You will improve your craftsmanship and get the joy of watching your new feathered friends as they move in and raise babies.This simple thing can help you to be very happy.
Red Meat
Vitamin B12 packs a punch full of energy to help you get through the day. You can get it in a supplement form. You should take a supplement form over getting it from red meat. Red meat contains high calorie animal fat and calories that can cause your depression worse.
Depression can be a serious condition, but there are steps suffers and family can take to help the situation. There is plenty of advice you can use for assistance. Apply the tips you have just read to start reflecting about your life and make the changes you need.


text: On Sun, Feb 07, 2010 at 09:06:44PM +0100, Klaus Heinz wrote: > Joerg Sonnenberger wrote: > > On Sun, Feb 07, 2010 at 08:45:56PM +0100, Klaus Heinz wrote: > > > > How do I do that right now? I can hard-code "games" instead of GAMEOWN > > > and GAMEGRP but if I do not, I get > > > > As said earlier, GAMES_USER and GAMES_GROUP. GAMEOWN and GAMEGRP are > > mostly for legacy purposes for stupid makefiles. > > But it doesn't work because GAMES_USER/GAMEOWN and GAMES_GROUP/GAMEGRP > get set to the unpriviledged user/group. How do I get games/games > (for NetBSD) instead of the unpriviledged user and group who builds > the package? No, they are not changed. At least not if you use USE_DESTDIR without requesting unprivileged operation. *But* they are only set if SETGIDGAME is also defined. Joerg


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The owners of the "Official Tall Ship of Texas" — the Elissa — say maintaining the historic vessel is getting to be such a financial struggle they're changing their entire approach to raising money for the historic ship. Houston Public Radio's Jim Bell reports.
The Elissa is a floating museum piece. Built in Scotland in 1877, she's one of only three 19th century three-masted square-riggers in the United States that have been fully restored. After half a dozen owners and about that many lives and careers in shipping, legal and illegal, Elissa was headed for the scrap heap in 1975, when the Galveston Historical Foundation and the Texas Seaport Museum bought her for forty thousand dollars. Museum Director Kurt Voss says they thought she could be restored for about a hundred thousand dollars but they were in for a shock.
"When she arrived back in Galveston in July '79 the restoration began in earnest, and she opened to the public July of 1982. Four and a half million dollars was invested to that point, and she's sailed ever since."
Volunteer crews take Elissa out in the Gulf of Mexico on day cruises in the spring and summer to keep her in top form as a floating museum. Voss says maintaining her costs a lot of money and they need all the help they can get because they can't take paying passengers.
,em>"Modern Coast Guard regulations are not written for 1877 sailing vessels, and to bring her under those regulations would compromise her historical integrity to such a degree we're just not willing to do that."
Elissa's home is in Galveston harbor behind the Texas Seaport Museum, where people can come aboard for public tours. Voss says that brings in a fair amount of money, but she's not quite self supporting. Seaport Museum admissions help pay the approximate one hundred thousand dollars it takes — per year — to keep her in good shape. Voss says they manage, but it's a struggle, and that's why they're setting up an Elissa Endowment, to ease that strain.
"And the idea is the generate enough money so that the earned income off that endowment will cover that budgeted deficit and make Elissa's future very secure. We've had good success always raising that difference, but an endowment would guarantee it and make her that much more secure."
The Texas Legislature declared the Elissa the Official Tall Ship of Texas last year, and the US Department of the Interior lists her as a National Historic Landmark and one of America's Treasures. A treasure in need of a little financial help. Jim Bell, Houston Public Radio News.
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Fill out the form below to subscribe our new daily editorial newsletter from the HPM Newsroom.


text: Hall Research extends HMDI using HDBaseT-lite Products 26/11/2015 The Hall Research Mini-Cat brand UH-1BT extends any HDMI or single link DVI video signal up to 230 ft over Cat6 cable using HDBaseT-Lite technology. Video and embedded audio signals are transmitted without any compression to the remote.The extender is HDCP compliant with pass-through EDID and supports embedded audio, Full HD, deep color (1080p@60Hz @ 48 bits/pixel), and 3D video.The UH-1BT can also extend 4Kx2K video, which is gaining popularity. Secondary data channels such as: DDC, CEC, and HPD (Hot-Plug Detect) are also transparently extended. Plug and play operation with no user adjustments offer a truly trouble-free experience.


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A special police officer (SPO), who according to the police had "fled" his post along with his service rifle last week, was arrested Monday in Kishtwar district, reports quoting officials said.
The weapon–an AK-47– has also been seized, a senior police officer said.
Mohammad Yaseen (22), hailing from Shishnan village and posted at Marwah police station, had fled along with the AK-47 rifle on Friday night
"The SPO was arrested in a joint operation by police and the Rashtriya Rifles this evening," Deputy Inspector General of Police, Doda-Kishwar-Ramban range, Basant Kumar Rath was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Yaseen was arrested from an area within two kms of the police station and the weapon also recovered, Rath said.
"We are questioning him to find out the motive behind his action," the officer said.


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Apple is one of the most common fruits in the world. There are over 7500 varieties. Apple, Malus Domestica, is a deciduous tree of the rose family (Rosaceae). According to the legend, the apple came from the paradise and although it caused many problems there, it still has the status of paradise fruit. Apples are a symbol of eternal youth. Positive properties of apples have been known since ancient times, and historical information about them, since the year 500 BC.
Modern medicine believes that apple is one of the healthiest foodstuffs. Apple does not have high energy value but it is rich in minerals, vitamins, and other beneficial ingredients. So it is a great diet food.
How Many Calories In An Apple?
In concrete terms, a number of calories in an apple is associated with its size: a small apple (2 ¾ inch diameter) contains 77 calories, a medium-sized apple (3 inches in diameter ) 95 calories, a large apple (3 ¼ inches in diameter) 116 calories.
Apples should be eaten before a meal or a few hours after because it awakens the appetite with its high percentage of water in which the different ingredients are dissolved.
Just One Apple A Day
Just one apple a day provides a good intake of vitamin C, A, E, B1, B2, B6, beta-carotene, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and iron. Of these minerals has the highest potassium, and this allows a better cleaning of the body of the harmful substances and a better elimination of the excess water. Apples are rich in antioxidants, fibers, and flavonoids. The most useful components of apples are in the crust, so it is a big mistake to peel an apple.
Just Two Apples A Week
Just two apples a week are sufficient to reduce the risk of diabetes. Apples also provide protection against cardiovascular diseases and improve blood pressure, blood lipid and the antioxidants in the blood. In addition, reduce the possibility of stroke by as much as 50%. For teeth, an apple has the same effect as brushing teeth, as it helps remove food deposits between the teeth and stimulates gums and stimulates the secretion of saliva, which washes away plaque. Apples are excellent for the prevention of several types of cancer, including cancers of the mouth, intestine, breast, esophagus, kidney, prostate and ovarian cancers. Apple juice positively affects brain health, including the prevention mental deterioration caused by aging. To all who struggle with weight loss apples are the best allies, since accelerates metabolism.
Nutrition Facts
Phytonutrients in an apple occur in the form of polyphenolic compounds that protect the body from the damaging effects of free radicals. As well as reducing the risk of getting many diseases, they speed up the metabolism, clean the intestines, reduce cholesterol and removes harmful substances from the body. Recent research has demonstrated how much apple polyphenols positively affect the regulation of the blood sugar. One of the most famous flavonoids present in apples, quercetin, whose impact on the health has a wide range, can affect certain enzymes that perform the disintegration of complex carbohydrates into simple sugars. Most polyphenols in an apple have antioxidant functions, so it is not surprising the enormous amount of a research that has been done on an antioxidant activity of apples on the human organism.
Enjoy apples!


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I replaced the cracked base of my XL Big Green Egg (BGE), similar to Zahid. So, I also decided to try mimicking a tandoor to make naan on the inside wall while it was still clean. Read about his experience here. I went by his naan recipe, found here. I used the Kick Ash Basket … Continue reading Tandoori Naan; Take #2.
Tag: tandoor naan
Kamado-cooked Naan from India/Pakistan
Indian/Pakistani naan is leavened flatbread traditionally made in a tandoor oven by sticking it to the sides of the tandoor's wall. Tandoor ovens aren't common in the US (outside of Indian/Pakistani restaurants), so most home cooks make it in the kitchen oven. Alternatively, naan can be cooked on a outdoor grill. Kamado style cookers (e.g. … Continue reading Kamado-cooked Naan from India/Pakistan
Can Naan Be Cooked on the Inner Wall of a Big Green Egg (like a tandoor)?
When I bought the XL Big Green Egg (BGE) - a grill made from made from ceramic just like a tandoor - from BBQ Galore, my first question was "can I make naan by slapping the dough on the inner wall?" The sales guy looked at me funny and said "probably not." I later understood that the … Continue reading Can Naan Be Cooked on the Inner Wall of a Big Green Egg (like a tandoor)?


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You Can Stop Asking Simon Pegg About STAR TREK (But He Thinks It Might Shoot This Fall)
Last night Simon Pegg and Greg Mottola sat down with a bunch of journalists for a Hollywood dinner to talk about the upcoming DVD/Blu-Ray release of their alien road trip comedy Paul. We ate with them for about two hours, so a lot of ground was covered, and of course some of it was about Star Trek 2.
You kind of have to feel bad for Pegg because he knows approximately as much about Star Trek 2 as we all do. Nobody tells the actors what's up, and I can't tell you how many times I have been the person to inform actors about what's next for the franchise in which they star. But that doesn't stop people from asking Pegg ALL THE TIME about Star Trek 2.
Anyway, he doesn't know anything about the meat of the movie, but he does know this: he's planning on moving his family to LA this fall. That's not a hard date, of course, but that sounds like it means that JJ Abrams intends to get the Enterprise out of dry dock this fall or early winter. Which sort of makes me nervous. See, he's not been working on the film at all. Bob Orci, Alex Kurtzman and Damon Lindelof have been chipping away at it, but even these guys admit that JJ's been out of the loop. So when JJ finally begins taking a look at what they have - this week, probably - does development start all over again? Does he give these guys copious notes and start the process over? Or is he going to jump in with what they have?
My take: if Star Trek 2 does go this fall and Abrams only begins developing the script NOW, we're in trouble. That just doesn't feel like enough time to me - but we'll see. I'll remain cautiously optimistic that they don't blow it, and that they in fact improve upon the original.


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Energy Harbor has one of the most reliable and efficient generation fleets in North America. Our power plants are strategically located across Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia, ensuring that communities in these areas have a dependable source of power.
Energy Harbor is one of the largest producers of carbon free electricity generated from four nuclear power units. Our nuclear generation fleet provides critical base load that serves as the foundation for affordable and reliable electricity service for our homes and communities.


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Imagine: Paris pianist pays tribute to John Lennon
The pianist who stunned the world with a heart-wrenching performance of peace anthem Imagine after the Paris terrorist attacks in November has paid tribute to John Lennon while admiring the last piano the icon played. Davide Martello visited The Beatles Story in Liverpool while in the city filming Klavierkunst: A Documentary, which is about his life and performances. Inside the award-winning attraction, Davide journeyed through the lives of The Beatles and admired the memorabilia, including the last piano John Lennon played. The instrument was John's favourite and he insisted on moving it to every studio he worked in. The piano's distinctive sound can be heard on Beatles' songs including Walls and Bridges and Double Fantasy. Davide said: "John Lennon's music means a lot to me. He didn't do it because he had to, he did it because he wanted to. He was a true pacifist and music was his gift to people. He's the one of the most important people to me". Speaking about his performance outside the Bataclan, Davide said: "Imagine was always the first choice for me to perform. It resonates with me because the words are what people need. I didn't know how much impact the performance in Paris would have. I just had a voice behind me saying do it. It's a very important thing to send a message of peace through music and today I'm standing here next to a piece of history and I am very proud to be here. The piano is incredible, it looks very fantastic to me."
The 34-year-old achieved worldwide praise after footage of his performance of the classic track went viral with more than two million views in the wake of the terrorist attacks on 13 November. Davide watched the horror unfold at the Stade de France where explosions rocked the France Vs Germany match from a pub in Konstanz, Germany. Within minutes he put his grand piano on a trailer and drove 400 miles to Paris to perform. He wowed crowds outside the 1,500 capacity Bataclan theatre where 89 people were killed by four gunmen at a sold-out Eagles of Death Metal concert. The footage of Davide performing went viral after being posted on YouTube. He visited Liverpool to perform for crowds on Wednesday 9 December at the John Lennon Peace Memorial which is outside The Beatles Story, but visited the award-winning attraction for filming. So far, the independent film crew led by director Jack Peagam have filmed in London, Calais, Belgium, Amsterdam and Liverpool. Buy tickets for the Beatles Story online here.
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Nose, ear, and facial hair can be quite difficult to remove, especially when you do not have the right hair trimmer for the job. There are many different hair trimmers that can help keep you presentable and neat all the time. However, for a neat, smooth, and clean-cut, you will need to get yourself the best model on the market. The year 2022 is loaded with a range of high-quality Trimmer Removals to choose from. Below is a list of the best models to choose from.
List of Best Trimmer Removals in 2022
10. Xtech XHWNT-100 Nose & Ear Hair Trimmer
This trimmer grooms both dry and wet hair. It features waterproof housing that keeps it free from rusting. The trimmer incorporates hypoallergenic blades made of quality stainless steel. The blades spin in a rotary motion to deliver fast and safe cuts. The detachable head can easily be cleaned under running water. The trimmer is rubberized to provide a non-slip grip. It features a built-in LED light that enables you to easily clip hidden hair.
9. Wet and Dry Ear Nose Hair Trimmer
This is a cordless hair trimmer designed by Perfect Life Ideas. It is designed for both gender and comes in a user-friendly design that makes it much easier to use. Its water-resistant properties make it ideal for both wet and dry use. It is lightweight and ergonomically designed to provide a comfortable grip. The trimmer features high-speed stainless steel blades that spin at a whopping 10,000 RPM to deliver fast and neat cuts.
8. Kemei Nose and Ear Hair Trimmer – Trimmer Removals
Kemei is a stylish, rechargeable trimmer designed for both men and women. It features a powerful motor that drives its stainless steel blade to deliver fast and neat cuts. the advanced vacuum system neatly collects the hair clippings for mess-free operation. The trimmer features a waterproof aluminum casing that prevents any rusting. The head of the trimmer can easily detach for hassle-free cleaning.
7. Creation Springs Precision Nose and Ear Hair Trimmer
This hair trimmer offers unrivaled performance when it comes to eliminating ear, nose, and facial hair. It's no wonder that many call it the "Ferrari" of hair trimmers. It features a rust-proof and water resistant stainless steel construction. The blades are driven by a powerful rotary motor. They deliver smooth and pain-free cuts. This trimmer is designed for both dry or wet operation. It comes with a grooming attachment that enables you to neatly shape those sideburns and beards.
6. Sunmy Nose Ear and Facial Hair Trimmer- Trimmer Removals
Sunmy hair trimmer delivers well both in design and functionality. It features durable and rust-proof stainless steel construction. Its shatter-resistant casing provides worry-free handling. The trimmer features a LED light that makes it easier to trim those hidden hairs. The blade provides clean, smooth, and painless cuts. The trimmer is rechargeable to eliminate any power inconveniences.
5. Panasonic ER421KC Nose, Ear and Facial Hair Trimmer
This hair trimmer offers you the convenience of wet/dry applications. One unique feature that distinguishes it from most of Panasonic's hair trimmers is its advanced grooming light. This light provides great accuracy and precision during the trimming operation. The trimmer has a dual-edge hypoallergenic blade positioned at a 60-degree angle. The blade is made of quality stainless steel to ensure that it retains its sharpness. Its alkaline battery provides a maximum operation time of 90 minutes.
4. Panasonic ER415SC Nose, Ear and Facial Hair Trimmer
Trim your hair whether dry or in the shower with ER415SC trimmer from Panasonic. This trimmer is ergonomically designed to provide a comfortable and non-slip grip. Like most of Panasonic's hair trimmers, it features a 60-degree dual-edge angled blade. The blade cuts in a rotary motion and features a safety cone that eliminates any direct contact with your skin. The trimmer runs on an alkaline battery that provides up to 30 minutes of run-time.
3. Groom Mate Platinum XL Nose & Ear Hair Trimmer
Trim your hair in style with Groom Mate Platinum. This trimmer provides the convenience of a battery-free operation. It is entirely made of stainless steel to guarantee maximum durability and performance. The trimmer features a rotary blade that delivers clean and irritation-free cuts. It can easily be cleaned under running water. The trimmer is backed by a lifetime warranty.
2. Panasonic ER430K Nose, Ear & Facial Hair Trimmer
ER430K is a wet/dry trimmer. The trimmer features an advanced vacuum system that neatly collects hair clippings for hassle-free cleaning. It has a sharp stainless steel blade that incorporates a rotary mechanism to deliver smooth and clean cuts. The trimmer can be used by those suffering from allergies, thanks to its hypoallergenic properties. It is 100-percent washable. The trimmer powered by a battery that delivers a maximum operating time of 90 minutes.
1. Panasonic ER-GN30-K Nose Ear Hair Trimmer
This is an advanced hair trimmer that is designed to be used wet or dry. It features a sharp, hypoallergenic dual-edge blade that delivers clean cuts. It equipped with an advanced vortex system that facilitates easy cleaning and maintenance. The fact that it can be completely immersed in water makes it 100-percent washable. Its powerful alkaline battery features a maximum run-time of 90 minutes.
These are the best hair trimmers removals that provide an inexpensive way of maintaining nose, ear, and facial hair. They are reliable, safe, and convenient to use. And the best thing of all, you can take them with you wherever you go. They are definitely a must-have tool to incorporate into your bathroom collection.


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Mexican-American War 170th: The Storming of Chapultepec
The American artillery roared. Mortars thumped, arcing shells over the castle's walls. As a heavy cloud of smoke formed around the muzzles of the cannon and mortars, Winfield Scott kept a close eye on the shelling's effect. Scott's target was … Continue reading
Posted in Armies, Arms & Armaments, Battlefields & Historic Places, Battles, Mexican War Tagged Antietam, Barnard Bee, Chapultepec, D.H. Hill, David Twiggs, Ethan Allen Hitchcock, First Battle of Manassas, George Pickett, Gideon Pillow, Grasshopper Hill, Henry Heth, Israel Richardson, James Longstreet, John Quitman, Levi Twiggs, Los Ninos Heroes, Marine Corps Hymn, Mexican-American War 170th, Molino del Rey, P.G.T. Beauregard, Richard McSherry, Robert E. Lee, Santa Anna, Silas Casey, Stonewall Jackson, Thomas J. Jackson, United States Marine Corps, William Worth, Winfield Scott 4 Comments


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Bennett Gap Trail to Buckwheat Knob
When we started planning this weekend's hike it was "6 miles", we'd do a 6 mile hike. Shouldn't be a problem because we have lots of 6 mile hikes under our belt. We've done a couple 3-5 mile hikes this winter whenever it has been warm enough to get out. Six miles would just be a good next step…. but then it became between 6 and 7… and then it became, "oh its actually 7.2, but we can turn around if ends up being too much." Which I knew would be "if you make me we'll turn back early."
Final mileage 7.5. We made it to the top – which was uneventful – and back down again before the sun started to set. Bonus. I am against walking through new trails in the dark. Other J was impressed when we got home to find out how far it actually was.. good for him. Next hike we're aiming at 7.2 miles. I'm going to try and get him to stick to that this time.
BUT all of this means that working out during the winter has a least kept us where we left off at the end of last season. So this season we should be able to regular 10 miles and occasional 12 miles with no problem. The goal this year is to do a 20 mile weekend camping trip this summer. I'm really be happy with 15.
The floor is now open to suggestions for knee or hip strengthening exercises.


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Many General Hospital fans were devastated to lose Hayley Erin in the role of Kiki Jerome last fall, but there is a bit of good news on the horizon: her new primetime drama Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionists is scheduled to debut next month. What's more, the spin-off series has released a teaser trailer of the exciting mischief to come.
The drama takes place in the quaint community of Beacon Heights, where the picture-perfect facade of the college town is actually hiding some super dark secrets. When a shocking murder is committed, the town works to unravel the mystery, which ends up revealing sinister truths as ugly as the brutal crime they're trying to solve.
Erin stars alongside Sydney Park, Eli Brown, Sasha Pieterse, Janel Parrish, Sofia Carson, and Kelly Rutherford in The Perfectionists, which will make its premiere on Freeform on Wednesday, March 20, at 8PM.
GH hired Hayley Erin in 2015 as a replacement for Kiki's original portrayer Kristen Alderson, who chose to vacate the role. Prior to joining GH, Erin starred as Abby Carlton on The Young and the Restless.
Check out the teaser trailer for The Perfectionists below and let us know your initial thoughts on Erin's new series.
What do you think about the teaser trailer for Erin's new series The Perfectionists? How much do you miss seeing the actress in Port Charles? We want to hear from you -- and there are many ways you can share your thoughts.


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On the southern slopes of Mount Etna, in the town of Mascalucia in the Province of Catania, the harmonious complex of old buildings, orchards and gardens built in the 18th century by the Barons Rapisarda of SantAntonio has at its center a villa in late Baroque style protected by the Department of Cultural Heritage, around a lovely inner courtyard. This piece of Etnas history was given a new life in 2003 by the refurbishment of the property, under the direction of the architect Gianni Branciforti from Catania. An island of tranquillity in the old town centre, the Via Teatro is quiet and set apart, but not remote. The square-plan historic villa accessed from Via Teatro is composed of five residential units. The Main House, the Orchard House, the Barons House, the Donna Petras House and the Oleander Cottage are arranged around a square courtyard looking onto the orchards and a small garden at the back. They are divided into lounges, alcoves, a beautiful dining room with a cross vault, ceilings with 19th century stuccowork, a large fireplace, lava-stone windows and a kitchen in the former family chapel. The two roof terraces look out at the Etna to the north and, to the south, over the rooftops of old Mascalucia to Catania and the sea. The Sicilian masonry kitchens are covered in enamel tiles and decorated with traditional majolicas. On the other side of the narrow Via Teatro, a part of the property is dedicated to leisure and sports activities. The terracotta pool is set in the orchard, surrounded by a walnut and false pepper, palm and pergola of ancient vines. The gym/activity space is in the old barrelhouse which has an airy 7 metre-high ceiling with a large open space, two bathrooms and a small bar on the ground floor and two rooms on the first floor. This part of the property also includes a 60 sqm apartment known as Pool Cottage looking onto the lower part of the garden, a garage/store room and a palmento (a small 58 smq room used to press grapes), the only building that has not been renovated. There is also parking space for five vehicles.
It is strategically positioned beneath the volcano and close to Catania, the airport and the Ionian coast, just 45 minutes drive from Taormina to the north and Syracuse to the south.
Furthermore, in the past years a charming tourist accommodation facility has been run in this wonderful property, with registered trademark and active website domain.


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The NOH8 Campaign, the photographic silent protest in support of LGBT rights created by celebrity photographer Adam Bouska and partner Jeff Parshley, will be returning to Florida soon with four chances for you to have your photograph taken. Bouska, Parshley and their team will be in Fort Lauderdale on May 3, in Tampa on May 4, in Lake Worth on May 5 and in Orlando on May 6.
Over 35,000 people have participated in the NOH8 campaign nationwide since 2009. The campaign was originally started in response to the passage of California's Proposition 8 in 2008. The duct tape on the mouths of each participant signifies the silencing of these people due to such hateful and discriminatory legislation. Even though Prop 8 has since been struck down, the movement continues, promoting marriage equality and human dignity.
To participate, solo photographs cost $40 and group photographs cost $25 per person photographed. Cash and credit/debit cards are accepted at the open photo shoots. Please wear a white T-shirt and be camera-ready!
The money raised by the NOH8 campaign is used to sustain the organization and to pay for travel costs associated with the open photo shoots. Some of the money raised is also donated to various nationwide LGBT organizations such as The Gay and Lesbian Task Force, The Trevor Project, GLSEN, Human Rights Campaign, GLAAD, the You Are Loved Project, Freedom to Marry and various AIDS Walk programs across the country.
All four Florida NOH8 photoshoots are sponsored by RE/MAX Town Centre (330 E. Central Blvd., Orlando). Here are details on how to attend each event:
Fort Lauderdale – The Fort Lauderdale NOH8 photoshoot will be held on Saturday, May 3 at the Westin Fort Lauderdale, located at 400 Corporate Drive. Adam Bouska will be in attendance taking photographs from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Tampa – The Tampa NOH8 photoshoot will be held on Sunday, May 4 at the Sheraton Tampa East Hotel, located at 10221 Princess Palm Avenue. Like with the Fort Lauderdale photoshoot, the photos will be taken between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m.
Lake Worth – The Lake Worth NOH8 photoshoot will be held on Monday, May 5 at Compass Community Centers, located at 201 N. Dixie Highway. Photos will be taken from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Orlando – The Orlando NOH8 photoshoot will be held on Tuesday, May 6 at Mingos, located on 100 S. Eola Drive, #105. Photos will be taken starting at 4 p.m. and will go on until 7 p.m. Anyone in line at 7 p.m. will be permitted to have their photograph taken.
If you've participated in the past, you are allowed to participate again. For example, I had my photo taken in Arkansas back in 2011 but I will be having a new one taken this year! Come on out and show your support for human dignity with NOH8.


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We as a whole long for good wellbeing. Hypertension or hypertension rises as a noiseless executioner. Like a prepared predator, it crawls up to us, that as well, without telling us of its essence and abruptly, at an odd minute, uncovers its lethal teeth. It is not something that hits you and vanishes like a phantom. It hits you and remains with you, and might demonstrate deadly if legitimate measures are not taken. On the off chance that you have just been brought around hypertension, the best cure is insurance. What's more, in the event that you are yet to be hit by it, however do lead an existence that makes you inclined to it, the most ideal approach to manage it is again precautionary measure.
What's more, where does safeguard begin? With your dietary patterns! Eating sound keeps one solid. A solid eating regimen for heart contains all such sustenance that would supply adequate nourishment while holding out all that won't not be useful for your heart.
Sound nourishment for your heart can, along these lines, be called safe sustenance since it is most drastically averse to make any harm your heart without trading off on the nourishment supply to your body. The vast majority of such nourishment involves green vegetables and stringy sustenance things.
Common sustenances are thought to be most solid and that is the essential purpose for their perpetually expanding ubiquity. Subsequently we are seeing an extraordinary number of common nourishment saves up each other day everywhere throughout the world. An extraordinary number of books have additionally been composed, which sign gestures of recognition of characteristic sustenance.
Clearly natural nourishments are the most beneficial accessible. They are nutritious and characteristic while the quick sustenances or garbage nourishment that we have become so extremely used to is exceptionally unfortunate on the grounds that these nourishments supply next to no support to our bodies and load us with heaps of undesirable calories and unsafe cholesterol. Furthermore, destructive cholesterol is one of the significant explanations behind hypertension and even heart stroke.
Nowadays because of the rising mindfulness, organizations have begun developing natural sustenance without adding the chemicals used to improve them become speedier and. The chemicals used to upgrade the development and nature of these sustenances really wait on and take away a great part of the benefit of living on a characteristic eating routine.


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April 2015
This segment of post are on more pictures of the miniature buildings found in Miniaturk. Most of the miniature buildings have incredible details just like the real ones. It took us slightly more than an hour to go around Miniaturk. Although the day was bright and sunny, the temperature was around 18°. Nice weather.
For our return transportation to Sultanahmet, we choose the bus. It's convenient as there is a bus stand in-front of Miniaturk. It'll take about 40 minutes to reach Eminonu. Choose any of the #47 bus to Eminonu and then take a tram to Sultanahmet. Miniaturk brings an end to our holiday in Turkey as tomorrow we leave Istanbul for Dubai.


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[Editor's Note: James "Nocando" McCall is a critically acclaimed rapper, co-founder of the Low End Theory and founder of indie rap label Hellfyre Club. Here's his previous piece, about why he no longer battle raps.]
I consider myself a connoisseur of public transportation.
My mother worked for MTA when I was a kid, which kept my young neck draped those in those yearly bus pass lanyards. I took the Red Line on the first day it opened; I was proud that my city had gotten a train. Now, when my family up North talked about BART, I could chime in.
A while back there were plans to make what is now the Purple Line extend to the beach. As far as I can remember, the plan was halted because some Beverly Hills people were worried about underground methane gas pockets that could supposedly explode. But I heard the real reason was because some people didn't want folks not from the area popping up from the underground, like ethnic Ninja Turtles, or Morlocks from the X-Men comics. This is when it hit me that public transportation issue in L.A. was a class issue. Did that mean I, who grew up in South Central, was poor?!
See also: Why Don't White People in L.A. Take the Bus?
As an adult I've traveled all over the country, and to a few different continents. I've taken trains and buses in Oakland, San Francisco, Chicago, New York and Boston, the Tube in London, the Yamanote Line in Tokyo, and whatever that pissy-smelling line in Paris is called. I've taken buses in Amsterdam, Greyhounds, and random vans with gun-carrying pisas. (The last one a trip to TJ a while ago; never again.) What I learned is that public transportation in other cities isn't just for the poor. I saw doctors next to school kids, moms next to tech industry brainiacs, next to a sleeping homeless guy.
As L.A.'s public transport slowly catches up to these other cities, the classes will have more opportunity to mingle with each other — or ignore each other, I guess. I saw an example of this last week on the Expo Line.
It was around noon, and the train was at Vermont and Expo. There was an African-American gentleman in his mid '50s, middle to upper middle class, with his head buried in a pretty serious book. On the other side of the aisle was another African-American gentleman, also mid-50s, who was working class or below and piss drunk, muttering to himself and holding a flask.
The muttering drunk fellow started to irritate the guy trying to read. He looked up at him with that "niggas always fucking shit up for black people" face. They locked eyes.
Then the drunk guy said "hell," and started talking to him like they were old friends. The funny part was that he was super faded and didn't have many teeth, so no one could really understand what he was saying. He laughed to himself, pointed out the window, and ended every sentence with, "feel me."
Finally he barked out a question: "What you reading?"
"The Mis-Education of the Negro, by Carter G. Woodson, brotha," the sober guy said. Then his look grew more stern. "You should read it." Ooohhhhh burn!!!
The drunk dude was still in good spirits, mostly because he didn't feel the subtle diss. He muttered some more. Then the other guy started explaining what the book was about, in a condescending tone. He talked about people being "trained" and all that.
Out of nowhere the drunk guy cut him off and began talking about pigeons, which he related to all sorts of different topics: Breeding and bloodlines, nature vs nurture, risk takers, fear of failure, coloration, certificates, and pedigrees. Without knowing it, or even intending it, he was using pigeons as an analogy for people.
The passion with which he was speaking, and the attention to detail, made it an inspiring speech. Dude was an expert on this topic and clearly loved it. Through the subject of pigeons, he touched on class, genetics, and how the group influences the individual. Then, he got off the train in a great mood, leaving the guy reading to look like a dumb, bourgeoisie asshole.
Upitty Niggas: 0
Drunk Toothless Niggas: 1
L.A. Public Transpo: 100
We Angelenos sit in our cars with the AC on and ignore the in-between while we go to and from our destinations. We avoid eye contact with others, and build these surface level opinions about the neighborhoods that we pass through – if we even think about them at all.
The thought of the Expo Line slowly developing toward Santa Monica and the Purple Line extension finally getting the green light makes me smile. It will be great to watch people in this city learn from each other, or at least just piss each other off. A better public transport system will help lessen congestion and pollution, and cut down on DUIs.
But what I'm really looking forward to is some of us becoming a little bit less douchey, and a little more cooth.
See also: Check Out Our Metro Gold Line Bar Crawl
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So maybe the third time really is the charm.
Here we are at the end of September and it feels we are ankle deep into our third year of Homeschooling and the water feels warm and refreshing. While I know from experience that it can be an ever changing situation, I am beyond relieved that there seems to be a general air of peace in our home as we begin another year of this journey.
I think every last one of us has felt a great relief to welcome the structure of our school day back into the rythym of our week. And admittedly the presence of two toddlers buzzing around has presented a certain amount of challenge at times, we have had relative luck settling into 2nd grade.
So far, minus a little glitch while Grandmother was in town, (because understandably, who wouldn't rather play with Grandmother than do schoolwork), I'm thrilled to report that our top pupil seems eager to please and happy to tackle whatever falls on our daily agenda. It feels like a good time to share some moments since our official start...


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The past five years turned out to be a major game changer in the Telecom industry. It's like a long walk from buffering 2G services to high-speed 4G connections available to every common man but still, there's a lack of perfection. Whether you're running a business or working in one there's one heck we don't ever want to be in our way is poor telecommunication services. So, here we are presenting the list of best telecom providers in Chandigarh.
Telecom Providers in Chandigarh – Top 5
Airtel maintained top mark in the list of best telecom services in most of the cities. In terms of connectivity/network, Airtel does a great job in Chandigarh whereas it costs a bit higher than its rivals. They have a decent 4G speed and one of the best customer support but you may face call drops with Airtel if you don't pay your bills on time.
Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio brought a revolution in the telecom industry. They not only provide the best 4G data connection speed but also responsible for the affordable internet prices we have today in India. You can enjoy VOLTE with Jio and their network strength is quite strong across Tricity.
Vodafone is a British multinational telecommunication company which operates services in the regions of Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. They have excellent network connectivity and customer support service but lacks in providing 4G services in Chandigarh. Although, you can enjoy their high-speed 3G network at an affordable price.
Idea becomes Vodafone Idea Limited after the successful merger of Idea and Vodafone in India. It is India's largest telecom operator with its headquarter based in Mumbai. Idea provides a good 4G speed to there users in Chandigarh region. Aditya Birla Group Venture is not cursed for call drops which proves that they provide decent connectivity in Chandigarh but you might face network fluctuations while travelling across the states.
Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited is a government telecom company headquartered in New Delhi. BSNL is one of the most reliable telecom providers if you travel across states on a regular basis. They have a huge infrastructure but unfortunately, the internet speed of BSNL in Chandigarh region is not too good. They provide 3G connectivity, but you might not be able to enjoy 4G services in Tricity.
So, if you are planning to move in the city beautiful and curious to know which telecom connection is good enough to compete for your requirements, then this article must help you out. If you are facing issues in using any of these connections, you can share your reviews in the comments section below.


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Published: The Communist, Vol. IV, No. 5, January 2, 1978.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
Copyright: This work is in the Public Domain under the Creative Commons Common Deed. You can freely copy, distribute and display this work; as well as make derivative and commercial works. Please credit the Encyclopedia of Anti-Revisionism On-Line as your source, include the url to this work, and note any of the transcribers, editors & proofreaders above.
According to the October issue of REVOLUTION, the newspaper of the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP), the Revolutionary Workers Congress (RWC) was recently dissolved and many of its members joined the RCP. We have had some close experience with these organizations – in particular with the RWC – which consolidated the main right opportunist tendency in the old Black Workers Congress (BWC) and find the result a predictable outcome of the failure of either to take up the tasks of party building or the struggle to defeat right opportunism and economism in our movement.
The RCP has used the occasion to dredge up discredited lines of the old Revolutionary Union (RU) on party building and the Black National Question.
The vehicle is a history of the National Liaison Committee (NLC), a coalition formed by the RU, the BWC and the Puerto Rican Revolutionary Workers Organization (PRRWO) in 1972 to carry on joint work and to lead to a party. Speculating on the ignorance of many comrades new to the struggle, a former leader of the BWC and the RWC, "D.B.", rewrites the history of the NLC making three basic points: (1) the NLC was a correct method to build the party sabotaged by the BWC and PRRWO; (2) the NLC was sabotaged by the narrow nationalism or "bundism" of these organizations; and (3) the lines of the RU/RCP were right all along on party building and the national question.
The fact is that the NIC was fundamentally incorrect as a method of party building and was rejected by the whole movement. This for two reasons: (1) during the life of the NLC neither the RU nor any other member considered party building the central task of communists; (2) in a movement characterized by circle autonomy, amateurishness and lack of training, the NLC did not have a plan to prepare the conditions for a party nor did it address itself to the task of preparing the conditions.
Although he once learned better in the BWC, "D.B." now argues that it is dogmatic to consider party building as the central task whenever you don't have a revolutionary vanguard party. In spite of the degeneration of the CPUSA, "D.B." has adopted the RU line that before 1974 "building the new Party was not the main task because the young communist movement in this country had not accumulated enough practical experience in mass struggle...."(REVOLUTION, May 1974)
This is a line which belittles the indispensable role of the conscious element at all times and all places if our practical political work is to have a class conscious revolutionary character. It is a product of tailest work in the spontaneous movement. In other words, it is in essence a theoretical attack on the leading role of a vanguard party and an ideological justification for bowing to spontaneity.
The RCP and "D.B." claim that accumulating experience in the mass movement prepares the conditions for party building. We agree that the conditions mist be prepared to organize a party. But these forces expose their backwardness by attacking party building as the central task on this basis. Instead it is essential to see preparing the conditions as a decisive part of the task of party building. A Marxist-Leninist approach insists on identifying openly and attacking in a conscious way the obstacles of theoretical backwardness, organizational amateurishness and political narrowness which prevent the formation of a solid, vanguard core. These struggles axe necessarily linked to the task of fighting for the practical leadership of the day to day struggles of the masses, but there is a world of difference between "accumulating enough experience in mass struggle" and fighting for the leadership and conscious political unity of the vanguard.
However, adapting the narrow economist view that characterized the RU/RCP party building effort, "D.B." writes: "As the objective conditions were changing, including the fact that the struggle of the whole class was beginning to grow, the mass movement had corns up against the absence of a genuine vanguard to lead the struggle..."
Not before?! Not in the Civil Rights movement or the great national rebellions of the 60s?! Only at the point where RU cadres had accumulated enough experience in practical activity?! Not since, as in last year's rebellion at Humboldt Park?!
To insist on this reasoning today is laughable, laughable and hypocritical. Though standing now on the RCP's line that party building could not have been the central task before May of 1974, "D.B." suggests that the NLC could have formed a party if it had not been sabotaged by the BWC and PRRWO. We disagree, the NLC could not have led a genuine party building effort under any circumstances because at that time the conditions for a new party had not been prepared and the NLC had no plan to prepare them. The only proposals brought forward were for a merger of the leading bodies of the RU, BWC and PRRWO and for "flying squads" to contact and collect local groups that were 'out there'. The proposal did not identify the source of fragmentation and disunity in our movement. It did not propose a concrete method to overcome these obstacles and lay the foundation for principled unity. No proposal was put forward for organizations and collectives to develop their work in a step by step way around a common plan, no proposal for revolutionary training, no plan for developing and stiffening organizational life, no method for protracted struggle over differences – in other words, a plan that was no plan. Honest comrades thirsted for direction, but the NLC offered none. After all, party building was not the central task.
As the BWC pointed out long ago, the basic view of the RU regarding the NLC was that it was a way to form a party before opportunist elements (meaning the October League and the Communist League) formed one first.
Shamelessly capitulating to the RCP's opportunism, "D.B." now claims that the NLC was split because of the "bundism" or narrow nationalism of the BWC and PRRWO.
These two organizations grew out of the Black and Puerto Rican national movements of the late 60s and early 70s.
From the outset the BWC was saturated with petty bourgeois tendencies and petty bourgeois nationalist tendencies also. But the effort to make these the main thing in the struggle is incorrect and an obvious reflection of the RU/RCP's longstanding national chauvinism. It is nothing but a new attempt to revive its discredited line that narrow nationalism, not great nation chauvinism was the main danger to the communist and party building movements in 1974.
The BWC made serious nationalist errors, the most important of which was to justify a nationally exclusive form of communist organization as reflected in its name. But with study and progress in the grasp of Marxism-Leninism – progress which took a qualitative leap forward as the struggle with RU unfolded – it repudiated these lines and made public self-criticism. The break with the RU in the NLC, in other words, did not reflect a turn toward nationalism, but a higher level of Marxist Leninist consciousness on party building and the national question.
On the other hand, it was the backwardness and social democratic character of the organization that left it vulnerable to continuing nationalist tendencies in its ranks. The BWC's error on "revolutionary nationalism" is an example of this. At one point the BWC called Mao and other Marxist-Leninists of the third world revolutionary nationalists. What Mao said is that communists of an oppressed nation are patriots who give staunch support to the revolutionary aspirations of the masses for national liberation. This patriotism he called applied internationalism. But while a communist can be a patriot and be in the forefront of the national struggle, he is not a revolutionary nationalist, but a Marxist-Leninist. The BWC's failure to distinguish in an effective way between nationalism and patriotism showed an important theoretical confusion, but not bundism.'
These errors came forward in a militant effort to defeat the much more grave national chauvinism of the RU which denied that the nationalism of the masses of oppressed nations is revolutionary. DB now joins in criticizing that line and writes: "revolutionary nationalism is itself a question of motion, and in the final analysis, again, either it must take a qualitative leap to the stand of the proletariat or go backward to bourgeois nationalism." This is abstract reasoning that liquidates the revolutionary significance of the national question under imperialism today. The political fact is that the aspirations of the Afro-American masses for national liberation in the Black Belt South are a component part of world proletarian socialist revolution and, in the "final analysis," are aspirations for the seizure of state power. That is the point the RCP liquidates. Of course communists will wage tireless struggle to raise the revolutionary class consciousness of the Afro-American proletariat. A Marxist-Leninist is never content with national consciousness only. But the genuine national aspirations of the popular masses of the Black nation are revolutionary without any leap to proletarian class consciousness.
But of course "D.B." and the RU/RCP also disagree on the question of state power for the Afro-American nation. Comrades remember that according to the RU because the "negation" had been "negated" we had entered a new era on the national question in the U.S. – a "nation of a new type" had emerged. Under rising capitalism the national struggle is an anti-feudal struggle and an internal and particular state problem. But as Lenin and Stalin make clear, in the era of imperialism and proletarian revolution, the national problem in an oppressed nation is an anti-imperialist struggle as well and becomes part of the general international problem of worldwide proletarian revolution. This would seem clear. But, creative to the bone, RU explained that we had entered a new third period where the Black National question in the US was once again a particular and internal state problem based on the completely superficial fact that the Black nation fell within the boundaries of the U.S. state.
The RU also explained that a nation of a new type was one that existed anywhere in the US Black people happened to be – that is, one that did not conform to the scientific criteria for the existence of a nation established by Stalin and the Bolshevik Party.
Can there be any doubt that these bizarre formulations, which the BMC and PRRWO adopted for a tine, were at the source of their split with RU – and not the strawman of "bundism". These "young communists" from RU who had not accumulated enough practical experience to make party building their central task nonetheless took on the task of substituting their "new type" of views on the national question for the bested principles of Marxism-Leninism. In fact they came up with nothing new at all – their results were classical revisionist positions and the method was a classical ruse of petty bourgeois liberals as Lenin explained in WHAT IS TO BE DONE:
As this criticism of Marxism has been going on for a long time now, from the political platform, from university chairs, in numerous pamphlets and in a number of learned treatises, as the entire younger generation of the educated classes has been systematically trained for decades on this criticism, it is not surprising that the 'new, critical' trend in Social Democracy should spring up, all complete, like Minerva from the head of Jupiter. The content of this new trend did not have to grow and take shape; it was transferred bodily from bourgeois literature to socialist literature. (Pek. ed., p. 8)
Practical experience had to be accumulated (though not even much of that!), but Marxist theory was easy – that could be transferred bodily!
The attack on one error covers another and it is indisputable that the RU/RCP's attack on narrow nationalism was a cover for its own liquidation of the national question and of its revolutionary significance. Self-determination is not at the heart of black liberation, the RCP says, and yet self-determination is the highest, essential democratic right of every nation. The right to self-determination, which means the right to political secession and state power, can not be reduced to the status of just another demand in the struggle against discrimination. As Lenin said:
This privilege (state power) was not mitigated by secession (the essence of reformism lies in mitigating an evil and not in destroying it), but entirely removed (the principle criterion of the revolutionary character of a program.) DISCUSSION ON SELF-DETERMINATION SUMMED UP.
For the RU/RCP, and for "D.B.", self-determination is a reformist demand.
The line of the RU/RCP also pretends that the proletarianization of the Black nation solved the land question in the Black Belt South and belittles the significance of the control of territory for an oppressed nation. But proletarianization has not eliminated the anti-imperialist tasks of the Black liberation struggle. It has not transformed economic control over land and capital in the Black Belt South by the bourgeoisie of the oppressor nation. It haa not reduced the national question to a question of class exploitation only. To merge the national and class struggles in the US does not mean that there is only the struggle against common class exploitation. The point is that the common struggle – in both cases for state power against the same enemy – is the basis for an alliance that will destroy US imperialism. But this involves the common revolutionary front of two struggles, not the liquidation of the one or the other.
Can there be any doubt that the revisionist and national chauvinist lines of the RU/RCP sabotaged what principled unity had been achieved in the NLC?
The real failure which led to the disintegration of the BWC was the failure of those leaders who went on to the RWC to take up the struggle against right opportunism, economism and a social democratic style of work in the old organization. They refused to give up the habits of an earlier period and justified the refusal theoretically. They attacked the necessity to centralize the leadership of the BWC and defended the autonomy of local districts, they attacked the lending role of leadership, they attacked democratic centralism and the need for a unified center, they attacked regular reporting (one leader claiming that the tradition of the Black masses is oral), attacked the role of the newspaper in party building and the task of deepening and expanding the scope of propaganda to the advanced, and yet they developed a bureaucratic and cliquish style of work thoroughly isolated from district life which left them unable to give principled direction to inner-party struggle.
Their work after the formation of RWC was a reflection of the bankrupt principles they had defended in the BWC. Their call was "back to the mass movement" and they showed themselves incapable of taking on the tasks of party building. Their newspaper "Movin' On!" was painfully economist and written in a condescending style of false simplicity which reflected their contempt for the working masses, and especially for advanced elements. This newspaper appeared only sporadically for a few issues. Later another paper, the "Revolutionary Worker," was published only long enough to attack the line of the Chinese Communist Party on the international situation and to abandon dialectics, calling both superpowers the same danger to the same degree and to the same extent.
Errors which plagued the leadership of "D.B." and others in the BWC also undermined the work of the African Liberation Support Committee, which to our knowledge is the only systematic task the RWC did take up. Although in leadership of this organization for a certain time, they did not provide systematic summations of the organization's work to local chapters or reports on the work of leadership. There was no conscious planning for a newsletter or national campaigns. When local chapters took initiative on these points, there was no coordination of work. In short, a downright sloppy style of work provided the elements for the disintegration of that mass organization as it had earlier done in the BWC.
There is a lesson here exposing the RU/RCP Line on party building: Practical experience in the mass movement is worthless unless it is based on the effort to develop a vanguard style of work based or the revolutionary theory and method of Marxism-Leninism. But this in turn requires training and a conscious plan which considers first of all the task of training the advanced from our midst and from among the masses. The leaders of the RWC fought this line in the BWC and social practice has demonstrated with what results.
(An expanded version of D.B.'s history of the NLC is in the Fall/Winter 1977 issue of the RCP's theoretical journal.)


text:
Dissecting Code With Ruby's caller Method
location = caller.first
location = location[0...location.rindex(":")]
line_number = location[(location.rindex(":")+1)..-1]
file = location[0...location.rindex(":")]
puts location
puts File.open(file).readlines[line_number.to_i - 1]
puts "#{values}"
puts "--"*20
This short snippet has become one of my favourite debugging tools recently. It's not efficient, definitely not elegant, but man is it useful.
But let's back up a moment, how did I get to this stage?
As part of our consultancy service at reinteractive, we often inherit applications developed by other Rails shops of varying quality. Previous developers of the code we receive have often used, well, let's just say "creative" approaches.
In most rails apps a line like this is pretty clear:
Widget is an ActiveRecord model,
cost_of_production is either a DB field or a method defined in
Widget. Easy right? Except when
widget is not an ActiveRecord class.
Off the rails
In this particular case, the previous developer(s) used immutable structs (via the Hamsterdam gem) internally. Not only so, but each ActiveRecord model would be transformed into three of these structs –
calculated, and
combined. With
combined being a wrapper that zipped
data and
calculated into one struct.
Basically, imagine re-implementing ActiveRecord but without any of the "magic" that makes it nice to use.
Crawling through the code was difficult to say the least. "Jump to definition" fails because the "method" you're looking for is not a method, it is a member of a struct. Even a simple grep is misleading because the structs are combined using
.merge on the hashes, so the individual "fields" may not be named in the file. Not to mention that the structs and the DB may be using different names for the same field…
Debugging Ruby
Aaron Patterson (of core Ruby and core Rails fame) has an awesome blog post titled I am a puts debuggerer which should be required reading for any Rubyist, where he outlines some of the things we can do in Ruby when debugging. Perhaps the most memorable sentence is this one:
This is debugging code, so you can do whatever you want.
Debugging code is inherently throw-away code. It can be messy, inefficient, and downright ugly, as long as it's useful.
A simple example
I'll use
OpenStruct here as a simple example of using the snippet at the top of this post, but you can drop it into any class really.
Let's start with a basic script:
require 'ostruct'
struct = OpenStruct.new(
value: 'complicated calc result'
puts "#{struct}"
Easy stuff. Run the code and we get:
#<OpenStruct value="complicated calc result">
Now imagine you don't know where that value came from, and jumping through the code isn't making things any clearer.
Luckily, Ruby allows us to re-open a class and inject our own code (aka "monkey patching"). This makes for a great debugging tool in the tool belt.
Using our own
OpenStruct constructor and snippet, we get this script:
require 'ostruct'
class OpenStruct
def initialize(hash=nil)
@table = {}
if hash
hash.each_pair do |k, v|
k = k.to_sym
@table[k] = v
location = caller.first
location = location[0...location.rindex(":")]
line_number = location[(location.rindex(":")+1)..-1]
file = location[0...location.rindex(":")]
puts location
puts File.open(file).readlines[line_number.to_i - 1]
puts "#{hash}"
puts "--"*20
struct = OpenStruct.new(
value: 'complicated calc result'
puts "#{struct}"
The basic
initialise method code here is taken straight from the
OpenStruct source code, with our snippet added to the bottom of the
if hash block.
So what's happening here?
caller gives us a stack trace up to that line. For my purposes, I only care about the first entry (i.e. the point where
OpenStruct.new was called).
Next, we do some quick-and-dirty parsing of that line to grab the filename and line number (the trace will be in a format like:
./<filename>:<linenum>: in '<method>')
Lastly, we print out: the file location, the line in that file that called the method I'm in, any values we want to see, and then a lot of hyphens (hyphens purely as a divider in the log as there might be a lot of these printed out).
Running the above gives:
struct = OpenStruct.new(
{:value=>"complicated calc result"}
#<OpenStruct value="complicated calc result">
Location of call, actual line that does the call, and the values passed in.
Now tracing back the value allocations can be done by looking at the logs. I wouldn't say this made the process "easy" by any means, but it was certainly an improvement over trying to trace through the convoluted logic with my brain.
Cool story bro
You might be saying to yourself "Yeah well that was cool and all for that one weird scenario, but in a normal rails app we don't need that kind of stuff right?"
Since "crafting" that snippet (and yes, I'm being extremely generous with the term craft here) I've already used it on another project.
This time the scenario was a Rails upgrade. The code was much more conventional and, most importantly, used the money) gem.
Around version 6.7
money included a breaking change so that
== would raise when comparing against other non-Money objects. i.e.
Money.new(1) == 1 would now raise an exception, unless you are comparing against zero –
Money.new(1) == 0 will not raise an exception.
This was pretty tricky to clear up, in part because you can't just search your codebase for Money objects (unless you know every single Money object's name I suppose). And in some cases the call may not be for
== but rather
eq (as in a spec). In one particularly troublesome case, I was actually hitting this exception inside ActiveRecord's validations when creating a new test object (using FactoryBot), so the call stack was full of
ActiveSupport and
FactoryBot entries, making it difficult to pinpoint where the error was occurring in the app code. To help out, I just monkey-patched the above snippet into the
Money::Arithmetic#== to have a look at what was causing the exception.
Poking around I eventually discovered that ActiveRecord's
numericality validation basically calls
old_value != new_value (not an exact copy, just to give the idea) and this was causing my problem.
Some more investigation and I found there was a custom validation inside the model that updates one of the fields. The problem? It was updating the raw
value_cents field (i.e. not the Money-ified
value version) with a Money object. This Numeric <-> Money mismatch was the root cause of my problem, and the solution was as simple as changing
value_cents = <Money obj> to
value = <Money obj>.
Ruby has some very powerful tools baked in (
source_location is another notable mention worth knowing about), and combined with the ability to monkey-patch these into existing classes, it gives us some very useful debugging techniques that few languages can compete with.
Just remember, anything goes with debugging code. It can have terrible performance, it can be riddled with dodgy monkey-patching, it can be full of duplication. After all, there's no point polishing it – once the bug is fixed you'll be throwing it away.
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text:
Will the White House's $3.1 Billion IT Modernization Fund Become a Reality?
One of the most noteworthy aspects of President Barack Obama's fiscal 2017 budget proposal, at least from a federal technology perspective, is a $3.1 billion revolving fund to modernize federal IT systems.
However, it's not a foregone conclusion that the Republican-controlled Congress will wind up appropriating the money for the fund, even though administration officials, including federal CIO Tony Scott, have been lobbying for it for months, noting that it should be a nonpartisan issue.
The administration's national cybersecurity plan, unveiled with the budget in February, pushes agencies to evaluate their vulnerable IT infrastructure. The fund, officially dubbed the "Information Technology Modernization Fund," or ITMF, is designed to accelerate the adoption of more modern systems and is part of the president's Cybersecurity National Action Plan. The ITMF is also intended to be self-sustaining. Scott said in February that "as agencies adopt these more modern technologies and more cost-effective ways of doing things" they could pay back into the fund to support more modernizations.
Fighting for the Fund
In early April, the White House proposed legislation to create the ITMF, which would be administered by the General Services Administration (GSA). That decision came several weeks after the House Budget Committee rejected an amendment for the fund as part of a vote on the House's fiscal 2017 budget resolution.
The administration argues that while it has made progress on updating legacy IT systems, more work remains to be done, as older systems are vulnerable to cyberattacks and more difficult to protect. "A comprehensive review last year of Federal cybersecurity found that government relies on legacy systems, software, applications, and infrastructure, which are harder to defend against sophisticated actors and less cost-effective," Scott says in a White House blog post. "Currently, civilian agencies spend 71 percent ($36 billion) of their IT budget to maintain legacy IT investments, which limits funding for the development of more secure and efficient technology solutions."
Under the proposed legislation for the fund, H.R. 4897, an independent board of experts would, Scott says, "identify the highest-priority projects across government," ensuring that the "most pressing and highest-risk systems are targeted for replacement." The board will also "identify opportunities to replace multiple legacy systems with a smaller number of common platforms, facilitating a Government-wide transition to common platforms and re-engineered business practices."
Scott says that since the fund will require agencies to repay funds they receive, "ITMF is not only self-sustaining, but also can continue to support modernization projects well beyond the initial infusion of capital." He says the initial $3.1 billion in funding will "address at least $12 billion in modernization projects over the first 10 years and will continue to remain available into the future."
IT acquisition and development experts at the GSA, Scott says, will give agencies "integrated modernization expertise to agencies" as they update their systems. As FierceGovernmentIT has reported, under Scott's vision for the fund, "agencies would pitch their modernization plan to the GSA program office in an effort to gain funding. Investment from the revolving fund would be provided incrementally, as modernization projects hit major milestones. Conversely, if deliverables are not met, funding will not be awarded."
One goal of the fund, according to Scott's blog post, is also to "replace multiple legacy systems with a smaller number of common platforms — something that is difficult for agencies, acting on their own with limited insight into other agencies' operations, to do. As a result, the ITMF will facilitate a transition to common platforms and re-engineered business practices across Government." Scott says this will reduce risks and save money, among other benefits.
"By establishing a central fund that agencies must apply to and compete for, the legislative proposal will provide strong incentives for agencies to develop comprehensive, high-quality modernization plans," Scott says in the post. "Additionally, stable funding allows for long-term thinking and shorter development times, rather than costly one-off fixes."
Scott argued that the fund "fundamentally changes the way appropriations are done for information systems in the federal government," according to an FCW account of an April 25 event at the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology's Critical Infrastructure Forum in Arlington, Va.,
Ultimate Outcome Is Uncertain
Lawmakers in late February expressed skepticism about the proposed fund, FCW reported, wondering how the GSA arrived at the $3.1 billion figure and whether agencies would use the fund to avoid the appropriations process.
"Ultimately, since it is a one-time request, I believe the thought is that we can define it as a one-time request and have it come forward and then have it as a revolving fund," GSA Administrator Denise Turner Roth said during a Feb. 29 hearing of the House Appropriations Committee's Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee, according to FierceGovernmentIT.
Ray Bjorklund, a former federal program manager and policy officer who is now a consultant with market research firm BirchGrove Consulting, told FedTech in an interview that he was not certain the fund would get congressional backing.
"There is a lot of merit in the way the commercial marketplace does this kind of thing, where they make investments, and it's the concept of spending money to save money later," he says. "But that's a real, real bitter pill for Congress to swallow. They've always been very uncomfortable with appropriating, or even authorizing in this case, such a high level of authority for contingencies in the future."
Bjorklund says the size of the proposed fund might be spooking lawmakers. He also notes that many federal agencies already have line items in their budgets for purchasing IT infrastructure.
Additionally, Bjorklund says he is skeptical that GSA will be able to bring together the IT acquisition, agile development and cybersecurity experts to evaluate agencies' modernization proposals. He also says that the structure of the proposed fund, and the fact that agencies would need to get permission from the GSA to get funding, would likely impede agencies' procurement.