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As expected, the news that the Air Force will eliminate some 250 fighters – including 48 F-15s from Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla. – has kicked into high gear calls from the Panama City area to bring F-35s to Tyndall.
Bay County politicians have talked about bringing F-35s to Tyndall before, knowing that the F-15s were going to be drawn down in a few years. But a renewed sense of urgency came when the Air Force announced last week that 112 F-15s, 134 F-16s and three A-10s would be retired earlier than expected. The Air Force wants to free up money for next-generation aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles.
The base hit the hardest by the early retirements is Tyndall, which will retain its 28 F-22s. The announcement prompted Rep. Jimmy Patronis to write to the Secretary of the Air Force asking that Joint Strike Fighters be considered for Tyndall. He pointed out that the community is supportive of the Air Force, and would welcome the jets.
Needless to say Okaloosa County officials, where much of Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is located, are keeping a close eye on their counterparts in Bay County. The town of Valparaiso, concerned about the noise, is suing to stop the training center from going to Eglin, so any overture from another area to get F-35s is bound to get their attention.
But establishing the training center at Eglin is mandated by Congress through the BRAC process, so there's no real concern that will change. But the issue here is this: The JSF at Eglin is designed for all branches of the military, and each is actively looking for its own training center. Tyndall is likely wise to make a pitch to get some piece of the F-35 action. It would make perfectly good sense for Okaloosa and Bay counties to talk about how they can work together to ensure Northwest Florida remains a hot spot for F-35s. There will be plenty to go around.
At Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, structural work has been finished on the A-3 test stand that will be used to test engines for the Constellation Program, and work is now underway on general construction. When completed, the A-3 stand will test J-2X engines that will propel the Ares I crew launch vehicle and the Ares V cargo launch vehicle. The stand will be finished in May 2011.
- Linde LLC of Murray Hill, N.J., has been chosen by NASA to supply 256,500 tons of liquid nitrogen and 173,000 tons of liquid oxygen to Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans and Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. Air Products and Chemicals of Allentown, Pa., and Air Liquide Industrial of Houston, were chosen to supply three other NASA facilities.
Northrop Grumman plans to test-fly for the Army its own Fire Scout unmanned helicopter next month in Yuma, Ariz. The Fire Scout, called an XM157 Class IV UAV by the Army, is part of the embattled Future Combat Systems program. The test is coming far earlier than the one the Army plans in 2011. The Fire Scout is already being test-flown by the Navy. Fire Scouts are built in part in Moss Point, Miss., at the Unmanned Systems Center.
- Here's an item you may not have seen. The Air Force Office of Scientific Research officials are funding a project to integrate solar power into the base materials used to build unmanned aerial vehicles. A team at the University of Michigan is investigating the energy harvesting potential of multiple applications, including film solar cells reshaped and coated onto continuous filaments. When woven into a fabric system, the resulting textile can be used to form the structural make-up of the UAV and generate electricity to power it. They are now working on a coating apparatus for making large quantities of fiber-based energy conversion devices. (Story)
This should be of high interest to the Gulf Coast region. UAVs are built in Moss Point, Miss., and Hattiesburg, Miss., has a high level of expertise in advanced materials.
During the week, Boeing said three KC-767J aerial tankers have achieved initial operational capability and are now in an active air wing in the Japanese air force. The tankers were designated operational after a yearlong technical evaluation. A fourth plane will be delivered in the first quarter of 2010. The KC-767 is expected to compete against the Northrop Grumman/EADS KC-45 for a $40 billion Air Force aerial tanker contract. Northrop hopes to build its planes in Mobile, Ala.
Raytheon's newest variant of the Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile completed its seventh test flight March 19 at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The AIM-120D was fired from an F-15D fighter. Initial analysis shows the missile achieved all primary test objectives. In addition, Textron Defense Systems' Sensor Fuzed Weapon smart munition system completed three successful flight tests at Eglin. The Textron SFW, a cluster munition, has redundant systems that cause warheads to self-destruct if they fail to find a target.
Because of budget constraints, the Navy is cutting one day of practice for the Blue Angels flight demonstration team. The F/A-18 Hornets will no longer practice on Tuesday, but will continue Wednesday sessions. None of the remaining air show appearances are being canceled. The team is based at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla.
Mississippi airports will share $4.7 million in grants from the Federal Aviation Administration, according to Sens. Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker. Among them, Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport will get $2.2 million for a covered walkway from the parking area to terminal building.
Far East Construction Corp., Pensacola, Fla., was awarded a $13.8 million contract for construction of parking lots and infrastructure at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. Buildings include the group support battalion logistics, tactical equipment maintenance facility, organization equipment storage facility and more. The work is scheduled to be finished in May 2010. … Broadmoor LLC, Metairie, La., was awarded $5.9 million contract for design and construction of a jet engine maintenance shop addition and an aircraft test cell foundation at Naval Air Station - Joint Reserve Base, New Orleans. The work is scheduled to be finished June 2010.
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It looks like the Air Force will get back management of the tanker competition when it gets underway this summer. Aviation Week reported early in the week that the Pentagon hadn't decided yet whether the Pentagon or Air Force would manage it, then before the week's end Reuters reported that the Air Force is "expected" to be the manager.
The Pentagon chief weapons buyer was given control over the program last summer after auditors faulted the Air Force for the handling of the competition between Boeing and Northrop Grumman/EADS. The Air Force had awarded the contract to Northrop/EADS to assemble the planes in Mobile, Ala., but the GAO found fault with the process.
- Speaking of EADS, it edged out Boeing as the biggest aerospace and defense company in the world in 2008. A study from Deloitte released during the week said a strike of machinists in Boeing's commercial division last fall allowed EADS to move ahead when gauged by revenue. Deloitte's study of 67 aerospace and defense companies or divisions of companies found that European companies grew faster than U.S. companies.
- The first A320 aircraft assembled outside Europe took off from Tianjin International Airport and completed a four-hour, 14-minute flight Monday. The plane was assembled at the Final Assembly Line China, a joint venture between Airbus, a 51 percent stakeholder, and a Chinese consortium that includes Tianjin Free Trade Zone and China Aviation Industry Corp. An Airbus official said the plane has the same quality as those assembled in Hamburg, Germany, and Toulouse, France.
The first draft of a study on the compatibility between Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., and the surrounding communities has been released and a series of public meetings has been scheduled. The study reviews the impact Eglin's mission and the base's projected growth stemming from the Base Realignment and Closure act. Comments from the meetings will be incorporated in the final version expected to be completed by July.
- Sixty residents attended Eglin Air Force Base's second town hall meeting in Niceville, Fla., during the week to discuss the Joint Strike Fighter Training Center. Much of the talk concerned the noise concerns of residents. Maj. Gen. Charles R. Davis, head of the Air Armament Center and former F-35 program manager, assured the audience that the Air Force was doing all it could to consider ways to decrease noise. He also said locating the center elsewhere is not an option.
- Development of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter keeps moving along. The Pratt & Whitney F135 short takeoff/vertical landing propulsion system exceeded thrust performance expectations in recently completed tests. The engine provided more vertical power than required, according to a company release. The testing was conducted at a hover pit at Lockheed Martin in Fort Worth, Texas. The vertical takeoff and landing version is one of three F-35 variants.
- The Air Force during the week announced plans to eliminate some 250 fighter jets – including some from Eglin and Tyndall air force bases in Florida - from its inventory to free up money for next-generation aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles. The move would save $355 million in fiscal 2010 and $3.5 billion over the next five years.
The service plans to retire 112 F-15s, 134 F-16s and three A-10s. Under the plan, Tyndall Air Force Base would lose 48 F-15s but retain 28 F-22s. Eglin Air Force Base would lose two F-15s and retain five. Don't be surprised if you see folks from the Tyndall area, Panama City, Fla., and others, make a big push to see if they can get some of the F-35 program.
This might be worth a trip to Stennis Space Center, Miss., and its visitor center, the StenniSphere. During the week Stennis unveiled its latest permanent exhibit: Science on a Sphere, a 68-inch global presentation of planetary data of the past, present and future. StenniSphere is the third NASA visitor center to offer Science on a Sphere, a computer system that uses four projectors to show dynamic, revolving, animated views of Earth's and other planets' atmosphere, geography and more.
- Although there's a review in the works on NASA's program to return astronauts to the moon and beyond, that's not stopping the pace of development of the next generation of space vehicles. The first test of the Ares I rocket's three main parachutes was completed during the week at the Army's Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona. The largest rocket parachutes ever manufactured, they slow the descent of the rocket's spent first-stage motor, permitting recovery for use on future flights. Ares I is designed to launch explorers aboard the Orion crew capsule. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi and Michoud Assembly Facility, New Orleans, are both involved in the Constellation program.
Here are some of the other news items that appeared during the week:
- The Transportation Security Administration awarded Rapiscan Systems a follow-on order of about $3 million for some more advanced scanning systems. The award for the baggage and parcel screening system for airports is one of the first made by TSA that uses economic stimulus funds. Rapiscan, of Torrance, Calif., is a global supplier of security inspection systems. Rapiscan has a manufacturing operation, Ferson Technologies/Rapiscan, in Ocean Springs, Miss.
- A combat controller was presented with two Bronze Stars with valor during a recent ceremony at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. Master Sgt. Ken Huhman, a special tactics recruiter in San Antonio, received the medals for his actions during a 2007 deployment to Afghanistan while assigned to the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla.
- A Coast Guard jet made six low passes over the Mobile River near Austal USA during the week to test radar aboard the littoral combat ship Independence. Austal is part of a General Dynamics Corp.-led team competing to build dozens of the warships. The Independence and a second LCS on order have aluminum trimaran hulls. A team led by Lockheed Martin Corp. delivered the first of its steel-hulled ships to the Navy in the fall and is working on a second vessel.
- General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems' Niceville Operations in Florida has achieved CMMI Maturity Level 3 for systems engineering. The Niceville Operation specializes in the design, development and production of warheads for tactical missiles, rockets, ammunition and bombs. The designation means the operation incorporates CMMI best practices into its system engineering processes throughout product life cycles. GD Ordnance and Tactical Systems is a business unit of General Dynamics of Falls Church, Va.
No doubt the battle between Boeing and Northrop Grumman over the aerial tanker is a high-stakes, high-profile fight. But keep an eye out on developments in the unmanned aerial vehicle field. Down the road, that's where you'll see some real battles for federal dollars.
Aviation Week during the week had a comprehensive, higly detailed story about Boeing's new rapid prototyping initiative. The company, which has been pretty much shut out of the tactical aircraft arena, is going to use company money to develop the Phantom Ray, based on the defunct X-45. It's using R&D money to flight test the demonstrator in late 2010.
That will give Boeing experience in the combat UAV market. And that's no small matter. Some analysts, according to Aviation Week, think the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter could be the last manned fighter. Aerospace company that want future dollars will have to be a healthy player in unmanned systems.
The UAV market is dominated by Northrop Grumman, which makes the Global Hawk, Fire Scout and Hunter, and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, which developed the Predator and Reaper.
The Phantom Ray is the former X-45C, three of which were ordered to demonstrate land-based unmanned combat drones required by the Air Force. But the Air Force dropped its program, leaving on the Navy, which chose the Northrop Grumman's X-47.
Boeing officials are playing it smart. Navy officials plan to hold another competition when Northrop's X-47 demonstrator flight tests end. The Phantom Ray could very well enter the competition then for a stealthy aircraft that will operate from aircraft carriers. (Story)
- During the past week a new kid, more or less, came on the UAV block. General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products and Elbit Systems of America formed a new company – UAS Dynamics LLC, which will be located in Fort Mill, S.C.
The joint venture is equally owned by General Dynamics and ESA, and will offer a line of combat-tested unmanned systems – the Hermes and Skylark – to the Department of Defense and other potential government customers. (Story)
General Dynamics has multiple operations in the Gulf Coast region.
Elbit Systems NA is the American operation of one of Israel's largest defense electronics manufacturers and integrators. ESA owns EWF in Fort Worth, Texas; IEI in Talladega, Ala.; Kollsman in New Hampshire; Talla-Com of Tallahassee, Fla.; Innovative Concepts Inc. of McLean, Va.; and VSI in San Jose, Calif., a joint venture with Rockwell Collins.
- Officials during the week said that Northrop Grumman's Hunter UAV, used by the Army since 1996, has surpassed 75,000 flight hours in service. The MQ-5B Hunter is used for reconnaissance, surveillance, target acquisition, weapons delivery and communications relay. The Northrop Grumman Unmanned Systems Center in Moss Point, Miss., has done refurbishing work on the Hunter, and could do more in the future.
- The Coast Guard is still in the market for a UAV for the new National Security Cutter fleet. The Coast Guard ended its own vertical takeoff UAV program and has been monitoring other programs, according to the assistant commandant for acquisition. He said the Navy's Fire Scout appears to be the farthest along. Fire Scouts are built in part in Moss Point, Miss., and the first National Security Cutter was built in Pascagoula, Miss.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates soon will provide data to Congress on the cost of buying tankers from both Boeing and the Northrop Grumman/EADS team. The Senate Appropriations Committee planned to insert language requiring the data in the fiscal 2009 war spending bill, but dropped the plan after Gates talked to the chairman. Pentagon officials oppose splitting the contract, saying it would be too costly. Some in Congress say a split buy would prevent a losing side from filing a protest and delaying the important procurement. Northrop/EADS will assemble the tankers in Mobile, Ala., if the team wins all or part of the contract.
- In a related developing during the week, the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. refuted a published report that indicated the economy may force it to scrap plans to build cargo aircraft in Mobile, Ala. Aerospace Daily quoted an Airbus executive as saying the company was re-evaluating the plan to assemble a cargo version of the A330 in Mobile because of slack demand for the planes. EADS had said back in January 2008 that it would build the cargo planes in Mobile if it wins the tanker competition.
- An Airbus A330 tanker transport completed a test of the in-flight handling characteristics of its refueling boom system. The flutter testing of the first A330 built for Australia was done under a variety of conditions. In a different test last month, the A330 was refueled by a French C-135. Northrop Grumman plans to use the A330 platform for its KC-45, which is competing against the Boeing KC-767 for a $40 billion Air Force contract.
Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, was chosen as the permanent home of 24th Air Force, a new numbered Air Force headquarters focused on the cyber mission. That decision is tentative, pending results of an environmental study. In October 2008 Air Force officials announced the creation a numbered group under Air Force Space Command rather than the major command that had been expected. Several Gulf Coast bases had submitted proposals when the prize was the major command.
- Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is getting some additional personnel. The Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center at Kirkland Air Force Base, N.M. is reorganizing – pending completion of an environmental impact assessment. The change will shift 33 percent of the personnel from AFOTEC's Kirtland headquarters to four AFOTEC detachments. In addition to Eglin, other bases getting additional personnel will be Edwards AFB, Calif., Nellis AFB, Nev., and Peterson AFB, Colo. The change affects 20 civilian and 71 military billets.
- A Valparaiso resident recorded the sounds of an F-35, F-15 and F-16 last month and played them early in the week at a Valparaiso City Council meeting to show the differences. Bob Webb, an audio professional, played the 45-second clip during an hour-long presentation attended by about 50 people. According to his estimates, the average person would find the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter two to three times louder than the F-16. The Air Force plans to locate the JSF training center at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.
- The new commander of the Air Armament Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Maj. Gen. Charles R. Davis, wants to improve the synergy between aircraft and weapons. Davis, who previously was program executive officer of the Joint Strike Fighter, has managed other aircraft programs as well and wants to incorporate that knowledge into Eglin's weapons programs. He thinks AAC can do a better job improving the synergy between the weapons and the airframe. Eglin is scheduled to become home to the Joint Striker Fighter Training Center and the 7th Special Forces Group.
Space/missiles
The long-term plan for human spaceflight will have to wait until the end of the summer at the earliest while a panel headed by former Lockheed Martin CEO Norman Augustine reviews it at the request of the White House. The panel will include NASA insiders and outside experts to review the Bush-era "Vision for Space Exploration."
Among topics to be covered will be narrowing the post-shuttle gap in delivering crews to the International Space Station on U.S. vehicles; pushing human exploration beyond low Earth orbit to the moon and beyond, and boosting commercial human spaceflight, according to John Holdren, Obama's science adviser. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi and Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans are both involved in the space program.
- Boeing is relocating headquarters for its Missile Defense Systems division from Arlington, Va., to Huntsville, starting immediately. Boeing initially will shift division management and support functions to Huntsville, and will evaluate moving other MDS employees. Between 40 and 50 positions may be transferred by the end of this year. Boeing says customers have been locating more operations to Huntsville and it wants to remain close to them. Boeing also has operations in New Orleans and Northwest Florida.
The Air Force during the week awarded two contracts to Raytheon of Tucson, Ariz. One is for $53.9 million to provide miniature air launched decoys. 692 ARSS/PK, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity. The other is $521.2 million for air intercept missiles. 695ARSS, Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., is the contracting activity.
Boeing and Alabama
The announcement that Boeing will move its Missile Defense Systems headquarters from Arlington, Va., to Huntsville, Ala., may not appear to have any significance for the Gulf Coast region. After all, that's way up in North Alabama, close to Tennessee.
But it is important for this region on many levels.
First, it's an affirmation that some parts of the South - including the Gulf Coast - have the pieces in place to host the most cutting-edge operations in the world. Huntsville has been building that foundation for years. Once the city got a NASA facility and the Army missile experts, it began to build on that to position itself for the future. Among the pieces put in place: ensuring the city had a campus of the University of Alabama, and taking steps to acquire the land for what is today one of the largest research parks in the nation. There was more, of course, but those are two key steps taken along the way.
For those who are not familiar with Arlington, it's got to be said that it was no small feat drawing something from the city that sits across from Washington, D.C. As home of the Pentagon, Arlington is a premier location for companies that work with the federal government. Arlington, close to so much power and influence, provides access to a highly educated workforce, where a third of the population holds a graduate degree. It also has one of the highest median incomes in the nation. So that in itself speaks well for Huntsville and what it has put together.
Boeing initially will shift division management and support functions to Huntsville. But it will evaluate moving other MDS employees from Arlington to Huntsville over time. The company says between 40 and 50 positions may be transferred by the end of this year. That's not much when it comes to numbers, but numbers do not tell the whole story of what it means to have an operation of this type.
"Huntsville is a leader in the aerospace industry, and Boeing is proud of its 47-year partnership with this community, which now includes work on defense, space and commercial programs," said Greg Hyslop, vice president and general manager for Boeing Missile Defense Systems. "Our customers have been locating more of their personnel and operations in this community, so now is the right time for us to center our missile defense business here as well. We want to remain close to our customers and the vital national-security programs Boeing employees support."
Some are saying moving MDS headquarters to Alabama was a smart move by Boeing as the competition starts up again for the Air Force tanker project. Boeing is competing against Northrop Grumman and its partner, EADS, which wants to assemble the tanker downstate in Mobile. The thinking is, giving Huntsville this headquarters may make Alabama politicians think twice before bad-mouthing Boeing. But that makes little sense. Boeing, the largest aerospace company in the state, already has 3,200 workers in Alabama and is one of the state's largest employers. Would 50 more and a headquarters operation change anyone's mind?
If it's PR, just how do you explain Northrop Grumman's sizeable operation in Huntsville? Last year it broke ground on the second of four buildings that will comprise the company's Huntsville campus at Cummings Research Park. The first building is four stories and 110,000 square feet, as is the second. They have offices, laboratories, integration and research and development facilities. In addition, the company established a premier Missile Defense Engineering and Analysis Center and the Huntsville System and Mechanical Engineering Center of Excellence. Northrop Grumman employs more than 1,200 people in the Huntsville area, and 1,330 in Alabama.
If the Boeing decision on the MDS headquarters is to some extent a PR move, then it could backfire. The fact that Boeing thinks enough of Alabama workers to move this crucial operation to the state should quiet politicians from Washington State who say the Pentagon should not entrust untried Alabama workers with the task of building a tanker. Of course, that argument should have been quelled long ago by pointing out the experience Northrop Grumman had when it set up its unmanned systems center in Moss Point, Miss.
The workers there had never built aircraft, let alone unmanned aircraft. But these untried workers today are building portions of the Global Hawk and Fire Scout, and as one Northrop official put it, the learning curve was short and the workers have continued to perform admirably – enough so that the company is considering sending more work to Moss Point.
PR move or note, I can't help but think there are some who simply can't accept the fact that there are places in the South that can compete for some of the best projects and operations the world has to offer. They are stuck with the image they developed long ago about anyone with a Southern accent. And they keep that image and their own peril.
The fiscal 2010 Pentagon budget released during the week held no real surprises since Defense Secretary Robert Gates in early April previewed what it would include. As expected, the budget shows the military's increasing interest in unmanned aerial systems.
It includes $1.45 billion for five Air Force Global Hawk high-altitude UAVs, as well as funding for five Fire Scout unmanned helicopters for the Navy. Both of those are built in part at the Northrop Grumman Unmanned Systems Center in Moss Point, Miss. The Pentagon also plans on buy Ravens for the Army and Shadows for the Marines. The Predator will be giving way to the more advanced Reaper.
The budget also includes $400 million to restart the competition between Boeing and Northrop Grumman/EADS for the aerial tanker project. As you know if you follow the daily Gulf Coast Aerospace Corridor news feed, Rep. John Murtha of Pennsylvania, at the start of the month, decided not to pursue splitting the contract and buying from both Northrop and Boeing. Northrop/EADS plan to build the tanker in Mobile, Ala., if the team wins the competition.
The Pentagon also is killing the alternate engine program for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter in the fiscal 2010 defense budget request. The move ends funding for the F136 General Electric/Rolls-Royce engine, leaving funding only for Pratt & Whitney's F135 engine. But lawmakers have restored funding every time the Pentagon has sought to cut it in the past, so we'll have to see what happens. Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., will become home to the Joint Strike Fighter Training Center.
I should mention, even thought it's not aerospace, that the budget also includes funding for three Littoral Combat Ships and a DDG-51 destroyer. At least one of those LCS vessels will be built by Austal USA in Mobile, which is part of the General Dynamics team, and the DDG-51 is likely to be built by Northrop Grumman in Pascagoula, Miss. If you're interested in following shipbuilding news in this region, take a look at http://www.mscoastshipbuilding.com/, and sign up for the RSS feed or the email updates. You'll find those options in the news section of the Web site.
Along with the unveiling of NASA's fiscal year 2010 budget on Thursday, the White House announced an independent review of NASA's human spaceflight activities. We first learned of that possibility from the Orlando Sentinel early in the week. That story said the review would examine whether the Ares I rocket and Orion capsule are the best options to send astronauts into orbit by 2015.
As for the budget, NASA is requesting an $18.69 billion budget to advance Earth science, complete the International Space Station, explore the solar system and conduct aeronautics research. An additional $2 billion has been added to NASA's 2009 and 2010 budgets under the Obama administration and funds a program of space exploration involving humans and robots with the goal of returning Americans to the moon and exploring other destinations. Stennis Space Center, Miss., and Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans are both involved in NASA programs. The Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition in Pensacola, Fla., is also involved in NASA activities.
- The space shuttle's latest external fuel tank built by Lockheed Martin at the Michoud Assembly Facility is now at Florida's Kennedy Space Center. The tank, constructed by using friction stir welding, will be used in the August launch of Discovery.
- High school students in communities near Stennis Space Center, Miss., can participate in NASA's Interdisciplinary National Science Program Incorporating Research Experience, or Inspire. Selectees will participate in an online learning community in which students and parents have the opportunity to interact with peers and NASA engineers and scientists. Inspire is designed to encourage students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math. For information, visit www.nasa.gov/education/INSPIRE
A Navy contract is establishing the Unmanned Systems Center in Moss Point, Miss., as a service center for Fire Scout unmanned helicopters. The Navy awarded Northrop Grumman a contractor logistics support contract valued at $5 million the first year, with options for three more years that will total $19 million. It's the first step to a long term MQ-8B Fire Scout maintenance program. That's a mighty big deal.
The center, which also builds portions of the Fire Scout and Global Hawk, will provide maintenance and periodic upgrades for the MQ-8B. The contract also includes operational and maintenance training. Officials from Northrop Grumman have been saying for a long time that they want to send more work to the highly capable Moss Point facility.
Towards that end, work has begun on a new taxiway linking the center to Trent Lott International Airport's runway. The 419-foot-long project should be finished within two weeks, according to the airport's executive director. That runway is being put in because the company plans to conduct product test flights of Fire Scouts beginning this year.
Speaking of the Fire Scout, it successfully completed fully autonomous flight operations onboard the USS McInerney. This follows at-sea operations aboard the USS Nashville, which included the first autonomous ship landings by a Navy unmanned aerial vehicle. The Fire Scout eventually will be deployed on littoral combat ships, and is scheduled to deploy on the McInerney for its next counter-narcotics trafficking deployment later this year.
While on the subject of the unmanned helicopters, according to Flight Global, the U.S. Special Operations Command plans to buy 20 Boeing A160T Hummingbird unmanned helicopters to serve as a strike and surveillance aircraft from fiscal 2012-2017. The aircraft is designated the YMQ-18A for military service, and has been in development for a decade. The helicopter has demonstrated a long endurance flight lasting 18.7hr with a 300-pound payload. (Story)
Weapon/systems
NetFires LLC, a joint venture between Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, conducted the second captive flight test of the Non Line-of-Sight-Launch System Precision Attack Missile at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The system is also one of the key Littoral Combat Ship mission modules to combat small-boat threats. The LCS Mission Module can fire as many as 45 PAM missiles from three container launch units. With a range greater than 25 miles, the PAM missile gives the LCS an increased surface warfare weapon capability. As I mentioned earlier, the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile is building LCS ships for the Navy.
- The Marine Corps deputy commandant for aviation told Aerospace Daily that the MV-22 Osprey is facing reliability issues due to inaccurate predictive modeling. Lt. Gen. George Trautman said reliability and maintainability are "not meeting my full expectations yet." He said it has become evident that early predictions of mean time between failures on certain parts were inaccurate. But he praised Bell Boeing for being engaged in working on the issues. No word on whether the CV-22 variant used by Air Force Special Operations at Hurlburt Field, Fla., is having any similar issues.
- EADS North America's American Eurocopter is teaming with Lockheed Martin to offer a new armed scout helicopter to the Army – the Armed Scout 645. The announcement was made at the Army Aviation Association of America's 2009 Annual Convention in Nashville, Tenn., during the week. The Armed Scout 645 is based on the Eurocopter EC145 commercial airframe, the platform for the UH-72A Light Utility Helicopter. The Armed Scout 645 will be produced at EADS' American Eurocopter's Columbus, Miss., facility, which also builds the UH-72A Lakota. By the way, EADS also operates an engineering center and maintenance center in Mobile, Ala., where it also hopes to assemble aerial tankers for the Air Force.
- OK, this is slightly outside the Gulf Coast Aerospace Corridor and it's not an aerospace item, but it's all part of the defense activity in this region so I'll mention it. BAE Systems on Friday celebrated the 500th M777 howitzer to be made in Hattiesburg, Miss. Hattiesburg is part of South Mississippi, if not exactly part of the aerospace corridor region. The plant is the only supplier of the M777 howitzer, producing 14 of the lightweight howitzers each month. The Hattiesburg facility opened in 2003. BAE Systems also has operations in Gautier, Miss., and Fort Walton Beach, Fla.
Surprisingly little to report from the aerial tanker front, although a lot of media picked up during the week the news from the previous week that Murtha was dropping his plans to split the project between Northrop and EADS. But there was one interesting new item.
EADS North America during the week appointed Michael Cosentino as vice president and program manager, tanker programs. He'll work closely with Northrop Grumman on the KC-45 tanker and oversee the company's tanker program and engineering efforts in the United States. EADS North America and Northrop Grumman are competing against Boeing to replace the aging Air Force tanker fleet. The KC-45 will be built in Mobile, Ala., if the Northrop/EADS team wins.
OK, here's my chance to throw in a few things that occurred during the week that don't fit very neatly into any broad category listed above. But all are important.
- A court has rejected a bid to block a new airport from being built in Northwest Florida. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied a pending petition for review of the Federal Aviation Administration's Record of Decision approving relocation of the Panama City-Bay County International Airport to a new site. The new airport is under construction with an expected opening of May 2010. It's being built on 4,000 acres donated by The St. Joe Co.
- A magazine that tracks economic development projects, Site Selection, recognized the Baldwin County Economic Development Alliance in its May issue. The organization received an honorable mention among Top Economic Development Groups of 2008. Recent accomplishments include Segers Aero Corp., a $7 million project that created 100 new jobs.
- The Air Combat Command's Eglin-based "West Coast" F-15 demo team performed its last demonstration at Eglin Air Force Base during the 33rd Fighter Wing Nomad reunion. Vintage P-51 Mustangs also performed. The 33rd has been one of the ACC's demonstration teams since the 1990s. In addition to ending its demonstration team work, the Nomads are ending 30 years at Eglin in September to make way for the F-35 Joint Strike fighter training complex.
- A Pensacola company was among 130 suppliers nationwide honored by Northrop Grumman this week. The suppliers provide Northrop's Aerospace Systems sector with products ranging from aircraft parts to electronics for spacecraft, as well as everyday services. Johnson Supply Co., which supplies coatings and sealants, was among 62 platinum award winners for 2008. The company also recognized 11 top suppliers and 56 gold award winner.
- The National Naval Aviation Museum Foundation's board of directors voted during the week to begin construction on the National Flight Academy at Pensacola Naval Air Station, Fla. The foundation approved plans for the $26.5 million construction project, which includes a 100,000-square-foot academy facility, and a 55,000-square-foot addition to the National Naval Aviation Museum.
The week didn't end on a high note for some Gulf Coast people who work at NASA's Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. NASA let go 160 people in New Orleans and Utah, the first of 900 jobs that will be eliminated over the coming months at NASA centers.
NASA is preparing to retire its space shuttle fleet in 2010. The first notices went out Friday, primarily to contractors producing the space shuttle fuel tanks outside New Orleans and the shuttle solid rocket boosters in Utah.
But earlier in the week, House and Senate leaders authorized $2.5 billion to keep the space shuttle flying through 2011, if necessary to complete planned missions to the international space station. Funding to maintain shuttle operations past December 2010 is part of the nonbinding $3.4 trillion budget blueprint passed by the House and Senate. In addition to Michoud, Stennis Space Center, Miss., is also involved in the shuttle program.
- NASA during the week chose Jacobs Technology to provide manufacturing support and facilities operations at the Michoud Assembly Facility. Jacobs will manage the Michoud facility and provide support to its multiple NASA projects and other tenants.
Language to force the Pentagon to buy aerial refueling tankers from both Boeing and the Northrop Grumman/EADS team won't be included in this year's supplemental war spending bill. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., said during the week that he's abandoning his push to add the language, but said he plans to make another push for the dual buy later this year. Northrop and EADS plan to assemble the tankers in Mobile, Ala., if they win the contract.
Earlier in the week several media outlets reported that there's plenty of opposition to a split buy, as well as some fence-sitting. The Mobile Press-Register reported that Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., blasted the split buy, and Aviation Week reported that several key senators were not persuaded about the need for a split.
- At least two news organizations, Aerospace Daily & Defense Report and Reuters, reported during the week about France's need to buy aerial refueling tankers. France would like the United States to make up its mind on a tanker aircraft so they can plan modernization of their own aerial refueling fleet with 14-15 new aircraft.
France wants its tankers to operate seamlessly with the U.S. tanker fleet, according to the French defense attache in Washington D.C. Maj. Gen. Gratien Maire said France would issue a request for information from potential suppliers, though no timetable has been set. Potential suppliers are Airbus and Boeing. How that might impact any decision in Washington about the Air Force tankers is unclear. (Story)
- The Airbus A330 tanker transport marked a new development milestone when it was refueled by a French Air Force C-135. In two sorties, the C-135 made 20 contacts with a Royal Australian Air Force A330. The A330 is the platform that Northrop Grumman plans to use for the KC-45, which is competing against the Boeing KC-767 to provide tankers for the U.S. Air Force.
During her final days in office, former U.S. Air Force acquisition chief Sue Payton wrote a letter to Northrop Grumman saying she was increasingly concerned about the management of the Global Hawk unmanned aerial system program, according to Aviation Week.
Payton's April 7 letter outlines a series of problems that had contributed to her concerns, including design, workmanship and failure to follow production processes. All that, she said, contributed to delays in the Global Hawk development program.
In response, Northrop Grumman "does not agree with Ms. Payton's evaluation of the program," according to Cynthia Curiel, vice president of communications for the company's Aerospace Systems sector. (Story)
- It was reported during the week that Northrop Grumman acquired Swift Engineering of San Clemente, Calif., a move that gave Northrop the KillerBee line of unmanned aircraft. But no sooner did that sink in then Raytheon by the end of the week announced it purchased the rights to the technology and name of the KillerBee from Northrop Grumman. The blended wing-body UAV is being offered in sizes with wingspans ranging from 6.5 feet to 33.2 feet. Both companies have operations in the Gulf Coast region, notably the Northrop Grumman Unmanned Systems Center in Moss Point, Miss., which makes portions of the Global Hawk and Fire Scout UAVs.
- Raytheon Co. during the week also received a $16.5 million Navy contract to migrate the current Tactical Control System to a Linux-based operating system and add upgrades to the system software. The Navy wants to develop a common UAV ground system for multiple platforms, allowing operators to run simultaneously on one system multiple UAVs and payloads. The contract provides for operational evaluation on the Fire Scout.
- Northrop Grumman received approval from the Defense Department for its Coastal Battlefield Reconnaissance and Analysis system. The system now moves toward low-rate initial production. COBRA is designed to detect and localize minefields patterns and other obstacles in the littoral zone and will be carried aboard MQ-8B Fire Scouts. Two team members of COBRA also have operations in the Gulf Coast: Arete Associates of Niceville, Fla., and QinetiQ North America, which operates PSI of Long Beach, Miss.
- We didn't report it in our daily news updates, but it's interesting nonetheless because it involves unmanned aerial systems, which are of high interest to the Gulf Coast region. But Lockheed Martin will build the prototype of a high-flying radar-equipped airship for DARPA and the Air Force under a contract valued at almost $400 million. Northrop Grumman was the losing bidder.
The unmanned airship will have Raytheon-developed X- and UHF-band active electronically scanned arrays built into its structure. Designed to operate autonomously, the prototype will be a one-third-scale demonstrator for an operational solar-powered stratospheric surveillance airship that would be able to stay on station at altitude of 70,000 feet for up to 10 years. The airship will feature low areal-density flexible composite hull materials and a high energy-density regenerative electric power system. (Story)
F-35 Joint Strike Fighter
Northrop Grumman delivered to Lockheed Martin the center fuselage for the first production F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, designated AF-6. It's a conventional takeoff and landing variant for the Air Force. Northrop, a partner of Lockheed Martin on the F-35 program, designs and produces the center fuselages for all three F-35 variants – conventional, short-takeoff and carrier-compatible. Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., will become the home of the JSF training center.
Meanwhile, the first structural test airframe for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter arrived in the United Kingdom to undergo tests in the Structural and Dynamic Test facility at BAE Systems' site in Brough, East Yorkshire, England. This craft, designated AG-1, is the conventional takeoff and landing variant. BAE Systems, like Northrop, is a principal subcontractor to Lockheed Martin on the F-35.
Airports/bases
Florida's Eglin Air Force Base's Air Armament Center during the week got a new commander. Maj. Gen. Charles R. Davis has taken over from Maj. Gen. David Eidsaune. Davis most recently was executive officer for the F-35 Lightning II Program Office, in charge of developing and acquiring the F-35. That might come in handy, since the F-35 training school will be based at Eglin.
- Raytheon last month launched its first GBU-53/B Small Diameter Bomb II, a glide bomb, from an F-15E during testing at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. The weapon deployed its wings and performed a series of preprogrammed maneuvers and flew to a pre-designated position. The weapon is designed to take out moving targets in adverse weather conditions.
- In Biloxi, Miss., representatives from six airlines and about 150 South Mississippi executives expressed optimism during the week about South Mississippi during the Airline and Tourism Development Summit at the Beau Rivage Resort and Casino. Bruce Frallic, executive director of Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport, said airlines are making money serving Gulfport and are considering adding flights.
1Q reports
General Dynamics announced during the week that first-quarter earnings rose 3 percent as sales of warships and other military equipment made up for lower profits from business jets. The Falls Church, Va.-based defense contractor reported first-quarter net income of $590 million, up from profit of $572 million in the same quarter last year. The company has several operations in the Gulf Coast region.
During the week there was only one contract with a Gulf Coast connection. The Air Force awarded related contracts to multiple contractors, including Tybrin Corp., of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., to provide engineering and related services in the development and sustainment of software engineering support for the 309th Software Maintenance Group.
But there were a couple of other contracts of interest, despite the lack of a direct tie. Northrop Grumman was awarded a $22.4 million modification to a previously awarded contract for the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Unmanned Aircraft System, which uses a Global Hawk platform. This modification provides for incorporation of wing static and load testing for the BAMS.
In addition, the Air Force awarded a contract to Northrop Grumman for a maximum of $49.7 million for the Small Unmanned Aerial System Research and Evaluation program. It will focus on translating promising research into systems for well-defined military needs and for rapid transition to small unmanned aerial system.


1) http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/russian/instree/Rk2crc.html (Университет Миннесоты, Библиотека по Правам Человека).
2) Права человека. Сборник международных документов. Москва. «Юридическая литература». 1998. Стр. 363 – 380.
3) Международные акты о правах человека. Сборник документов. Издательство Норма. Издательская группа Норма - Инфра.М. Москва. 2002. Стр. 316 – 346.
administrative measures. 3. States Parties shall ensure that the institutions, services and facilities responsible for the care or protection of children shall conform with the standards established by competent authorities, particularly in the areas of safety, health, in the number and suitability of their staff, as well as competent supervision.
2. The exercise of this right may be subject to certain restrictions, but these shall only be such as are provided by law and are necessary: (a) For respect of the rights or reputations of others; or (b) For the protection of national security or of public order (ordre public), or of public health or morals.
2. For this purpose, States Parties shall provide, as they consider appropriate, co-operation in any efforts by the United Nations and other competent intergovernmental organizations or nongovernmental organizations co-operating with the United Nations to protect and assist such a child and to trace the parents or other members of the family of any refugee child in order to obtain information necessary for reunification with his or her family. In cases where no parents or other members of the family can be found, the child shall be accorded the same protection as any other child permanently or temporarily deprived of his or her family environment for any reason , as set forth in the present Convention.
2. An amendment adopted in accordance with paragraph 1 of the present article shall enter into force when it has been approved by the General Assembly of the United Nations and accepted by a twothirds majority of States Parties.


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There are 2257 images and manga tagged with "中国語". Illustrations and artworks submitted with tag "中国語" are also tagged with "漫画", "原創", "三國無雙", "彼方(原創)", "永恆黎明世界", "空名", "落書き" and "舊作".


We woke up to a beautiful day on Saturday, August 26, ready to kick off 31 hours of learning, fun, and community spirit! More than 6,000 people passed through the doors of Queens Library at Peninsula over the weekend, with the Rockaways proving a popular location in the late days of summer. Hundreds more customers and passersby took advantage of the pop-up library on the boardwalk, the mobile library, wellness activities on the beach, and various events outside on the library plaza, including a resource fair with great community partners, movie screenings, and live music.
On Saturday night, the Steel Impressions Band wowed the crowd with calypso music, followed by an open-air double feature of two of our favorite beach-themed movies: Finding Nemo and Jaws. Later, the library hosted late-night board games and karaoke, keeping the lights on right through the night.
Sunday morning kicked off with a yoga class at sunrise on Rockaway beach, leading into guided meditation. Arts and crafts programs, face painting, back-to-school activities, and a mermaid storytime resulted in lots of happy families! Teens were able to try their hand at building their own skateboards, and a special robotics "wiggle bots" workshop hosted by Bloomberg volunteers stole the show. The day ended with another musical performance, this time by the Asen Doykin Trio, who played bossanova, Latin, swing jazz, and classic rhythm and blues.
Library staffers were on hand to answer questions and provide library services for all visitors, many of whom were simply glad to be able to use the computers, read, or borrow materials at all hours. The Summer Festival was 31 hours of conversation, celebration, and clear blue skies. We had a fantastic time!


text:
Date of Incident: March 14, 2022
Attack Types: Other
Institution(s):Chernihiv Polytechnic National University
Region & Country:Europe | Ukraine
On March 14, 2022, Russian forces carried out an airstrike on Chernihiv Polytechnic National University, resulting in significant damage to the campus.
The early morning airstrike came a little over two weeks into Russia's invasion into and war against Ukraine. Available sources do not indicate whether anyone was killed or injured in the attack.
Scholars at Risk is concerned about the apparently targeted destruction of university facilities in armed conflict. Parties to a conflict may only attack legitimate military targets. Where a party suspects that a civilian facility — such as a university building — is being used for military purposes, that party has a duty to take every action practicable to verify that this suspicion is correct before initiating an attack. In the event of such an attack, parties must take all practicable precautions to avoid or minimize damage to civilian facilities. Further, parties must refrain from launching attacks which may be expected to cause disproportionate damage to civilian facilities.
https://en.lb.ua/news/2022/03/14/10984_occupiers_destroyed.html
https://day.kyiv.ua/ru/news/140322-agressor-nanes-aviaudar-po-chernigovskomu-politehnicheskomu-universitetu-vyacheslav
https://www.facebook.com/chepolytech/posts/2675016782642016
https://www.facebook.com/chepolytech/photos/pcb.2698216100322084/2698209056989455/
Ukrainian News Agency report (archived)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
A 2.ª edição da Volta a Portugal em Bicicleta decorreu entre os dias 6 e 25 de setembro de 1931 repartidos em 19 etapas.

A corrida foi vencida pelo corredor português José Maria Nicolau da equipa Benfica, em segundo lugar Alfredo Trindade (União ciclista Rio de Janeiro) e em terceiro lugar João Francisco (Campo de Ourique).

Etapas

Ciclistas
Partiram: 29; Desistiram: 9; Terminaram: 20.

Media: 25,087 Km/h.

Bibliografia
 Moreira, Abílio Gil. A história do ciclismo português: no seu já um século de existência e o que tem sido a sua ligação com a velocipedia internacional, Alcobaça, Ed. do Autor, 1980

Ligações externas
 Palmarés em cyclebase.nl

Volta a Portugal em Bicicleta
Desporto em Portugal em 1931
1931 no ciclismo

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


So start saving all your favorite empty bottles. Soak them in hot water and peel the labels off.
Purchase Chalkboard paint from your local Hobby or paint store. It comes different ways, spray paint or paint on. There is even a website where you can make your own, but I went the spray paint version.
Follow the directions on the can, I sprayed several layers, horizontal than vertical and let dry between layers. After 24 hours its ready to use. You can write on them with regular chalk or you can purchase chalk paint markers in different colors which add a whole lot more creative fun. The use's for these are endless, beverages, flavored oils, vases, bubble baths. You could tie a piece of chalk around the neck with twine, fill with your favorite whatever and what a great gift. I really enjoy these and I hope you do also.


PORTLAND, Ore. — In a city splintered by protest, acrimony and the fresh pain of a pair of killings on a light-rail train, demonstrators gathered again — and clashed again — here Sunday afternoon, with a right-wing rally drawing thousands of counterprotesters in the heart of downtown.
The planned, permitted free-speech and pro-President Trump rally came just more than a week after 35-year-old Jeremy Christian — a man who performed Nazi salutes and screamed racial slurs at a recent right-wing rally here in late April — allegedly stabbed three men, killing two, after what witnesses said was a hate-filled tirade against two teenage girls on a light-rail train. The slain men, Rick Best, 53, and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, 23, and the survivor, Micah Fletcher, were standing up to Christian as he harassed the girls, one of whom was wearing a hijab.
Though drawing outrage and sympathy, the deaths in some ways only amplified the issue, again making Portland a magnet for the fight of political extremes.
Sunday's rally — in an outdoor plaza sandwiched between City Hall and the jail where Christian is being held — provided a vivid illustration of the city's divisions.
Protesters surrounded the plaza in the hours before the rally began. To the west, in front of City Hall, protesters chanted and displayed signs with such messages as "Wake Up Portland! Your city is racist!" and "Nazis? Never!" Steps away, dozens of local organizations took to a microphone at City Hall in a "Portland Stands Against Hate" rally.
To the north, hundreds of black-clad, left-wing, anti-fascist protesters chanted, blared music and held paper-mache spiders and skeletons, which have become signature icons at Portland protests. Beyond them, a group of Buddhists sat in silent protest.
Between every block were thick lines of Portland police and Homeland Security officers clad in riot gear; they made several arrests. Portland police announced about 3:30 p.m. that the anti-facist assembly was considered unlawful before deploying a volley of flash grenades into the crowd of counterprotesters, sending black-clad demonstrators running.
In the center of it all, at the rally, an assembly of right-wing groups including American Freedom M/C, Patriot Prayer, the III Percenters and Oath Keepers gathered, many of them vowing to defend free speech.


text:
Roman Themed Chess Pieces - 4.25" King
These chess pieces were recreated to show the imperious atmosphere of early Rome. As shown in photos, the King is a recreation of Julius Caeser in the Roman period, the...
Staunton Themed Chess Pieces - 3.5" King
The Staunton chess set is composed of a particular style of chess pieces used to play the game of chess. According to the rules of chess, this...
Alice in Wonderland Chess Pieces - 3.5" King
This beautiful chess set is based on characters by Lewis Carroll in his two famous stories "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Through the...
The Isle of Lewis Chess Pieces - 3.5" King
These chess pieces are replicas of the originals which were discovered on the Isle of Lewis off the West Coast of Scotland and which are now housed safely and securely...
Classic Staunton Chess Pieces
Marvels of grace, balance, beauty and simplicity... This is THE classic set that established a worldwide standard used since the mid-19th C. Study the King's crown and Queen's coronet, details of bishops and rooks, knights modeled after marble stallion...
The Mini Roman Chess Pieces
The miniature set is a compact set that shows the elegance of the Roman era. The chessmen are made of an antiqued ground stone with the opposing side stained a rich burgundy brown. The King is represented by Julius Caesar, traditionally dressed in...
Calvert Chess Pieces
This beautifully rich combination of chessmen and display case is a wonderful complement to any collection. The House of Staunton is proud to offer the Calvert Chess set. It features a 3.5" King is a highly detailed and accurate reproduction of the...


Today we looked at a traditional Mexican folkart"amate".
Amate is a type of paper produced from the fibers of the bark of fig trees.Typically amate paintings do not have any background colors,and are usually painted with thick black lines.
In order to reproduce our version ,we crushed up and smoothed the brown paper bag several times.This method is used to achieve a softer appearance. Then we drew flowers,animals,and birds on the bag and painted them with bright colors.
Posted by cherriecow on October 9, 2016 in Fall Art Class 2016 and tagged Hispanic Heritage Month, kids fun, painting.


text:
The life and death of Trevor Berbick
The story of the former WBC heavyweight champion Trevor Berbick who shared a ring with Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson and Larry Holmes before he was savagely murdered. By Carlos Acevedo
TREVOR BERBICK, who reigned briefly as the WBC heavyweight champion in 1986, left behind one of the strangest legacies in boxing history: for being the last man Muhammad Ali faced in the ring, in a shambolic promotion exiled to the Bahamas; for being the first title-fight victim of Mike Tyson (in which Berbick suffered such a spectacular kayo loss that he became a permanent Youtube loadstone, like Baby Shark or Gangnam Style); for a bonkers parking lot melee with comebacking ex-champion Larry Holmes seen coast-coast on every sports newscast in America; for his savage murder in Jamaica, after years of scandalous headlines had made him a laughing stock across the globe.
These grim footnotes are hardly surprising when one considers that Berbick was an entrenched member of "The Lost Generation" of heavyweights, a motley, miserable, and morose collection of overweight and undermotivated malcontents who would eventually disintegrate in various blowouts of marijuana, cocaine, Colt 45, late-night revels, Twinkies and Whoppers.
Unlike his Lost Generation stablemates, however, Berbick rarely entered the ring out of condition. His difficulties between the ropes had nothing to do with binge eating, womanising, cocaine, or liquor. After all, Berbick would steer himself back home to peruse his dog-eared bible after training sessions, break out into impromptu hymns, and spend most of his Sundays at church, where he would often preach, energetically, at the pulpit. Long before George Foreman made his miraculous return in the late 1980s, Trevor Berbick had been billed as "The Fighting Preacher." He had even become an ordained minister at the Moments of Miracles Tabernacle in Nevada. Even as a rising contender he had been considered eccentric, and it was clear that the outcome of his performances hinged on his psychological outlook before the opening bell rang. "First, I'm going to destroy all the devils, I mean the fighters, who stand between me and the unified heavyweight championship of the world," Berbick declaimed after beating Pinklon Thomas for the WBC title in 1986. "Then I'm coming home. God raised me up for a purpose! I'm here, God!"
Trevor Berbick was born in Port Antonio, Jamaica, in either 1952 or 1954, and spent five years in Guantanamo Bay as immigrant labour. Today, of course, Guantanamo Bay is notorious for its U.S. detention camp, but in the early 1970s, it was primarily known as a military base. There Berbick worked at a variety of jobs to make ends meet. According to Berbick, it was his gig as a maître d' at a rowdy mess hall that led him to boxing. "You've got to understand this," he told the Miami News. "This was during the Vietnam War and a lot of guys there were going wacko; some guys were waiting to be shipped off to war, others were coming back all busted up, legs gone, nerves shot. One time 50 ships were in the harbour and a lot of the guys were all there for liberty. They'd drink and let off steam, and they'd fight anybody in the streets. They'd put a whuppin' on you if you couldn't handle yourself. One night a marine jumped me coming home from work. But I learned a little martial arts from the Special Forces and handled him pretty well. He told me to come on down and join them boxing. I ended up beating the All-Marine heavyweight champ and winning the service tournament. After that, I figured I had a shot at being a pretty good fighter."
From Guantanamo Bay, Berbick returned to Port Antonio, and, after one walkover after another, he eventually wound up representing Jamaica in the Montreal Olympics without having thrown a single punch. Following a first-round exit from the Olympics, Berbick eventually settled in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where boxing was an also-ran against not only hockey but curling as well. With barely a dozen fights as an amateur, Berbick turned pro on September 27, 1976, scoring a TKO in Shediac, New Brunswick, known as "The Lobster Capital of the World."
In Halifax, Berbick developed a local following and lumbered his way to an 11-0 record before facing Colombian mauler Bernardo Mercado. Although Mercado had been stopped in his only fights against recognisable opposition, his clubbing right hand was a legitimate weapon. A crowd of more than 10,000 horrified fans gathered at the Halifax Metro Centre on April 3, 1979, to see Berbick plunge to the canvas, unconscious, after absorbing a booming overhand to the jaw in the first round.
For the next year, Berbick drifted across Canada, building his record up to 14-1-1 against an assortment of palookas. His future as a backwater professional seemed assured until Top Rank Promotions miscast him as a stepping stone for "Big" John Tate on the undercard of the Roberto Duran-Sugar Ray Leonard I extravaganza in Montreal. One of the few Lost Generation pugs not associated with Don King, Tate had won the vacant WBA heavyweight title in October 1979, but his championship reign barely lasted six months. In his first title defence, Tate was shockingly poleaxed by Mike Weaver with only 45 seconds left in the 15th round. His future, like that of so many of his contemporaries, would include drugs, prison, privation, early death. In June 1980, however, Tate was on the comeback trail, looking to put the Weaver loss behind him. Berbick, always a rebel at heart, had other things in mind. Just as he had against Weaver a few months earlier, Tate opened a wide lead before imploding late. In the ninth round, a right hand sent Tate wobbling across the ring, and Berbick, in hot pursuit, clubbed him repeatedly until Tate was out cold on the canvas.
The upset win over Tate eventually earned Berbick a shot against Larry Holmes, the only consistent heavyweight of the early 1980s. With seven WBC title defenses since 1978, Holmes was an established champion coming off the first marquee win of his title reign: a pitiful butchering of the feeble Muhammad Ali. On April 11, 1981, Berbick became the first title challenger to last the distance against Holmes, but that was as much credit as he could wrangle from the loss. While Berbick never seriously threatened Holmes, he underscored his ruggedness and raised his profile enough to qualify for another significant payday. In a stroke of dubious luck, a warped Muhammad Ali chose Berbick for his comeback opponent.
Already manifesting symptoms of his future affliction ("Parkinsonism"), Ali was not fit to enter the ring again. Essentially banished from America, Ali took his circus act offshore, to the Bahamas, roughly 50 miles from the Florida coast. His swan song was a pathetic sideshow that featured a fugitive (James Cornelius) dabbling as a promoter, a rickety baseball field with limited amenities used as an arena, a cowbell to toll the rounds, and two pairs of gloves shared by all the fighters on the card.
Before a ragged crowd in Nassau, Berbick outpointed a lifeless Ali and in the process earned more recognition than he had in his entire career. A decision over undefeated Greg Page seven months later seemed to solidify Berbick as a legitimate contender, but consecutive losses to Renaldo Snipes and cruiserweight ST Gordon reversed his momentum and branded him a journeyman.
Still, Berbick was an authentic spoiler, and when he scored upsets over David Bey and undefeated Mitch "Blood" Green in 1985, he qualified for a shot at undefeated WBC titleholder Pinklon Thomas. As one of the few heavyweights not given to waddling around the ring, Thomas had a chance to improve the lowly reputation of his division. Instead, he battled delusions of grandeur. Inactive for nearly a year after winning the WBC title, Thomas decided that he would not only be a manager and a trainer but also an R&B singer. These extracurricular pursuits distracted him right up to the day of the fight, when he could be found in the lobby of the Riviera Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, hawking cassette tapes of a song he had recorded in hopes of landing a major label contract. Unfocused and underprepared, Thomas dropped a grueling decision to Berbick, who forced the fight on the inside and outworked him.
His shock win over Thomas, who had been a 6/1 favorite going into the fight, set Berbick on the path to an astronomical payday. For $2.1m, Berbick signed a contract that put the entire blood sport concept of risk-and-reward in stark context: he agreed to defend his WBC title against the rampaging terror, Mike Tyson.
On November 26, 1986, Berbick squared off against Tyson at the Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas. Fittingly, for Berbick, at least, the HBO card was billed "Judgment Day." Without the mobility of a James Tillis or Mitch Green, the only men to have gone the distance with Tyson in 27 starts, Berbick would be more than just the 3/1 underdog looking for the upset: he would be the sporting equivalent of a ritual sacrifice.
However cocksure Berbick was outside of the ring, there was nothing he could do once the opening bell rang, although he tried shoving Tyson several times to assert his ruggedness. Trying to intimidate Tyson, 20 years old and permanently in search of "bad intentions" the same way a Buddhist pursues nirvana, was bound to backfire. Tyson bombarded Berbick throughout the round, and with only a handful of seconds left, he landed a right hand that sent Berbick lurching. At the sound of the bell, Berbick summoned enough energy to stick out his tongue at Tyson, but it was more than just false bravado: it was a sign that Berbick was already disoriented.
In the second, a wobbly Berbick shuddered every time Tyson connected, until, finally, barely 20 seconds into the round, a barrage of punches floored him. But Berbick immediately jumped to his feet. Wide-eyed, groggy, and surprised, Berbick took the mandatory-eight from Referee Mills Lane, and when the fight resumed, he braced himself for the worst. Two minutes into the round, Tyson opened up with a combination as Berbick tried to crowd him in centre ring. A thudding left hook landed on the forehead and produced a delayed effect that would eventually give way to one of the most frightening examples of what a precise blow from a professional boxer can do to the nervous system. There was a brief pause after Tyson connected and then Berbick plummeted, seemingly in slow motion, and crashed onto his back. His first instinct was to scramble to his feet, but his equilibrium was haywire, and he staggered across the ring, tumbling into the ropes, where an errant forearm knocked a ringside photographer out of position. With Mills Lane tolling the count, Berbick again tried to rise, and again his legs mutinied beneath him, sending him dive-bombing to the canvas with a thud. A final attempt to regain verticality ended with Berbick tottering into the arms of Mills Lane, who promptly halted the massacre.
For Berbick, the loss was humiliating. Careening around a ring that seemed more like the playfield of a pinball machine designed by Playmatic or Bally Midway – Night Rider, say, or Moon Flight – seemed to shatter his already frail psyche. In fact, his loss to Tyson seemed to mark a grim turning point. From now on, it would be one calamity after another, a seemingly endless series of tribulations. His breakdown began in the autumn of 1990 when he was arrested for assaulting a man he believed had been courting his wife, Nadine. That lead to Nadine initiating divorce proceedings. In November, Berbick was charged with aggravated assault after he menaced his ex-financial manager at gunpoint. Finally, and most disturbingly, Berbick was accused of raping his babysitter in Miami.
Six months later, on April 7, 1991, Berbick took part in a fracas with Larry Holmes that epitomised his now-disordered life. Holmes, returning to the ring after an absence of four years, had just won his first fight since 1985, stopping hapless Tim "Doc" Anderson in one round at the Diplomat Hotel in Hollywood, Florida. As if to underscore just how far Holmes had drifted from his days as a headliner in glitzy hot spots such as New York and Las Vegas, the low-rent press conference after the fight degenerated into one of the trashiest boxing highlights of the last 30 years.
There, while Holmes celebrated his kayo win, stood an impassive Trevor Berbick. His midnight-blue suit, gaudy tie, white pocket square kerchief, and sunglasses out of place among the pastel shirts, Zubaz, and tracksuits. Even when Holmes, from the dais, insulted him, Berbick remained motionless. But when Holmes wrapped up the press conference and returned to his suite, Berbick gave a surreal, disjointed speech to the media that included accusations Holmes had consorted with a prostitute and had conspired with her to destroy not only his marriage but his career, as well. In no time, Larry Holmes returned to the lobby and pummelled Berbick through the doors of the Diplomat and into the parking lot, where, for the moment, at least, the commotion was over. But while a dishevelled Berbick aired his grievances to a gathering crowd, Holmes charged out of the hotel, face contorted in anger, and raced across the parking lot. With this running start, Holmes vaulted himself over the bonnets of two cars (a Toyota Supra and an Oldsmobile) and sailed through the air like a Wuxia star and dropkicked Berbick to the pavement. A mad scramble ensued before police officers could separate the impromptu combatants. When it was over, a police escort lead Berbick back to his home in Miami, and Holmes went on to perform with his R&B band, Marmalade, that night.
In December 1991, Berbick was charged with grand theft and mortgage fraud, just a few days before he lost a farcical boxer-wrestler match to Nobuhiko Takada in Japan. Five months later, Berbick was convicted of sexual battery in the case involving his babysitter. Eventually, Berbick spent 15 months in prison.
After his release, Berbick returned to the ring in the mid-1990s and only a failed CAT Scan in 2000 kept Berbick from continuing his farcical career into his fifties. When his immigration status in Canada lapsed, Berbick snuck back into the U.S. illegally. From Florida, Berbick was deported to Jamaica, where he moved in with his mother and began menacing his neighbourhood.
On October 28, 2006, after a night out at a bar, Berbick was on his way back home when he was ambushed by two men in the darkness. They beat Berbick with a crowbar and a pipe, leaving him mortally wounded on a dirt path. His nephew, Harold, and an accomplice were arrested and later convicted of murdering Berbick. During his trial, Harold Berbick claimed that his uncle had physically abused his mother and that Berbick had also threatened him. According to the Jamaica Gleaner, Trevor Berbick, his skull split open by numerous blows, was found only a few feet from the Church of God Chapel.
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text:
Q: SQL how to group all results based on joining tables I need Help Joining table that record transaction, market transactions, and station transactions.
I want to get results based on the location, the station transaction table gets its location from the joining table.

Tables are as follow :

market_transations
+------------------------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| m_trans_id  | markeeter_id  | amount  | receipt  |   loction_id  |     trans_date      |
+-------------+---------------+---------+----------+---------------+---------------------+
|    1        +     1         |  20     |  abc123  |     1         | 2020-09-16 23:20:00 |
+-------------+---------------+---------+----------+---------------+---------------------+
|    2        +     2         |  20     |  xcv897  |     1         | 2020-09-18 09:00:00 |
+-------------+---------------+---------+----------+---------------+---------------------+
|    3        +     6         |  10     |  qwe563  |     3         | 2020-09-19 12:00:00 |
+-------------+---------------+---------+----------+---------------+---------------------+

station_transactions
+------------------------------------------------------------------+---------------------+
| s_trans_id  |   draver_id   | amount  | receipt  |   station_id  |     trans_date      |
+-------------+---------------+---------+----------+---------------+---------------------+
|    1        +     1         |  5      |  123456  |     1         | 2020-09-16 13:20:00 |
+-------------+---------------+---------+----------+---------------+---------------------+
|    2        +     2         |  50     |  qwerty  |     2         | 2020-09-17 09:00:00 |
+-------------+---------------+---------+----------+---------------+---------------------+
|    3        +     6         |  10     |  zxcvbn  |     3         | 2020-09-18 11:00:00 |
+-------------+---------------+---------+----------+---------------+---------------------+

locations
----------+-----------+
| id      | name      |
+---------+-----------+
|  1      |   a       |
+---------+-----------+
|  2      |   b       |
+---------+-----------+
|  3      |   c       |
+---------+-----------+
|  4      |   d       |
+---------+-----------+

stations
---------+---------+-------------+
|   id   |  name   | loctaion_id |
+--------+---------+-------------+
|   1    |  st1    |   1         |
+--------+---------+-------------+
|   1    |  st2    |   2         |
+--------+---------+-------------+
|   1    |  st3    |   3         |
+--------+---------+-------------+

Expected Result

-------------------+-----------+---------------+---------+----------+-----------------------+
|   location_name  | driver_id | markeeter_id  | amount  | receipt  |      trans_date       |
+------------------+-----------+---------------+---------+----------+-----------------------+
|      a           |     1     |     NULL      |   5     |  123456  |   2020-09-16 13:20:00 |
+------------------+-----------+---------------+---------+----------+-----------------------+
|      a           |     NULL  |     1         |   20    |  abc123  |   2020-09-16 23:20:00 |
+------------------+-----------+---------------+---------+----------+-----------------------+
|      b           |     2     |     NULL      |   50    |  qwerty  |   2020-09-17 09:00:00 |
+------------------+-----------+---------------+---------+----------+-----------------------+
|      c           |     6     |     NULL      |   10    |  zxcvbn  |   2020-09-18 11:00:00 |
+------------------+-----------+---------------+---------+----------+-----------------------+
|      a           |     NULL  |     2         |   20    |  xcv897  |   2020-09-18 09:00:00 |
+------------------+-----------+---------------+---------+----------+-----------------------+
|      c           |     NULL  |     3         |   10    |  qwe563  |   2020-09-19 12:00:00 |
+------------------+-----------+---------------+---------+----------+-----------------------+

A: While I couldn't test the query this should the job

SELECT  l.name AS location_name, NULL as driver_id, mt.markeeter_id, mt.amount, mt.receipt, mt.trans_date
  FROM  market_transations mt, locations l
 WHERE  l.id = mt.location_id

UNION

SELECT  l.name AS location_name, st.driver_id, NULL AS markeeter_id, st.amount, st.receipt, st.trans_date
  FROM  station_transactions st, stations s, locations l
 WHERE  st.station_id = s.id AND s.location_id l.id

A: SELECT locations.name as name ,driver_id,NULL as markeeter_id,st.amount as amount, st.receipt as receipt, st.trans_date as trans_date FROM locations
JOIN stations ON  locations.id = station.location_id
JOIN station_transactions st ON station.id = st.station_id
order by trans_date ASC

UNION

SELECT locations.name as name ,NULL as driver_id,markeeter_id,mt.amount as amount, mt.receipt as receipt, mt.trans_date as trans_date FROM locations
JOIN market_tramlsactop mt ON locations.id = mt.location_id
order by trans_date ASC

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Mobile operator Eurotel has launched commercial 3G services in Prague and downtown Brno, a year ahead of schedule. The cellco said it will expand to the country's other main cities in 2006, and plans to cover over 50% of the population by the end of 2007. The initial maximum data transmission speed will be 384kbps, but Eurotel plans to increase this to 1.8Mbps in early 2006 by implementing HSDPA technology.


text:
A boost for Cross-Cloud Architecture
By Kirsten Doyle, ITWeb contributor.
Barcelona, 19 Oct 2016
VMware has advanced its Cross-Cloud Architecture, with new releases of its compute, storage and cloud management solutions, VMware vSphere, VMware Virtual SAN and VMware vRealize Automation.
The releases aim at helping IT operations teams more efficiently run, manage and secure their traditional and modern applications on and off-premises. They also enable customers to run, manage, connect, and secure their applications across clouds and devices in a common operating environment.
New features provide support for containers, enabling developers to become more productive and IT to easily run containerised applications in production.
Cross-Cloud Architecture enables customers to run, manage, connect and secure their applications across any cloud and any device, using a common operating environment. "At its core, it is about providing freedom and control," said Pat Gelsinger, VMware's CEO, during his keynote address at VMworld Europe 2016 in Barcelona this week.
"As the world's most complete and capable hybrid cloud architecture, the Cross-Cloud Architecture delivers consistent deployment models, security policies, visibility, and governance for all applications, running on-premises and off-premises, regardless of the underlying cloud, hardware platform or hypervisor.
"Enterprises count on their hybrid cloud environments to boost business agility and accelerate application deployment on the path to digital transformation," added Raghu Raghuram, executive vice president and general manager, Software-Defined Data Center Division, VMware.
He said the architecture builds on VMware's private and hybrid cloud capabilities by offering customers the freedom to innovate in multiple clouds, and is delivered through VMware Cloud Foundation and a new set of Cross-Cloud Services.
VMware Cloud Foundation delivers the next-generation hyper-converged infrastructure for building hybrid clouds, and integrates the company's highly scalable hyper-converged software with VMware NSX, its network virtualisation platform, into a unified SDDC platform that is easy to deploy and operate due to the built-in lifecycle automation capabilities of VMware SDDC Manager.
Raghuram added that the releases will deliver "significant new customer benefits" such as support for containerised applications in production, and simplifying operations at scale. "They represent important building blocks of our Cross-Cloud Architecture to help customers scale out their hybrid clouds."


Yesterday morning the GSPCA Manager Steve Byrne with two guinea pigs Morla and Mudface popped into St Peter Port to feature on Guernsey's newest radio station.
Host James Bentley welcomed Steve and the two little piggies in need of a home just after 8.45am where they had a great chat about the work of the GSPCA and the many animals in need of homes like Morla and Mudface.
Steve Byrne GSPCA Manager said "It was fantastic to catch up and chat with James on Gsy Radio yesterday about the work of the GSPCA."
Wednesday morning the 25th October listen in to Gsy Radio to hear GSPCA Manager Steve Byrne on air with host James Bentley talking about our work, animals in need and how you can get involved with helping animals in Guernsey.


When it comes to famous celebrity parents, one of the first couples we think of is Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. Seriously, I don't think the universe will ever recover from the fact that these two split, but luckily they have a whole army of kids that still reminds us of their happier days. Now anyone who has been following the news recently knows that there has been quite a bit of drama in the former couple's custody battle, with reported fights, poor choice of words, and Brad not getting to see his kids much. Whatever the situation might be, we do really hope the couple has their kids' best interest in their minds, and that they don't let their own feelings cloud their judgment.
And well, since there has been so much talk about Brad Pitt being a bad father recently, we wanted to assemble a list to show everyone that Brad knows how to be a good dad, and he's been one for a long time. Judging someone by a mistake or two is so easy when that person is in the public eye, but the fact is every parent makes a mistake at some point, and then they just learn from it and move on.
Either way, here are 20 photos that prove Brad Pitt isn't so bad at parenting after all.
When Angelina Jolie premiered her movie Unbroken, a movie she actually directed, Brad was in charge of bringing the kids to the red carpet to support their mom. Of course, since the movie is about World War II and not quite PG13, not all kids were old enough to see it, but Brad decided to bring along Pax, Maddox, and Shiloh. And judging from the red carpet pics, the three seem to have been thrilled to attend the premiere of their moms work. It definitely looked like the three had a great time with their dad, and why wouldn't they?
And speaking of the premiere of Unbroken, everyone couldn't stop talking about Shiloh's outfit. By now we all know her parents let her wear whatever she wants, and she tends to like wearing things from the boy's section of the store more, but this premiere sort of made her gender-fluidity official. And daddy Brad was there fully supporting it. It is nice to see celebrity parents who allow their kids to be what they want, and who don't force their children to subject to any social stereotypes. And when it comes to this aspect of parenthood, Brad is an amazing dad!
Seeing celebrity parents with their kids playing in a park reminds us that even though they are living this life of glitz and glam, their parenting life isn't much different from ours. So here's Brad having a dandy good time with Pax And Zahara, helping them climb the park's playground while still making sure both of them are safe. Nope, Brad is not a dad who sits on the bench just keeping an eye on his kids, Brad is the dad who runs along with his kids, inspires them t have fun and is always up for any fun activities.
Honestly, which kid wouldn't love to see The Little Mermaid on Broadway? I'm an adult and I am jealous that Brad and Angelina took their four older kids for a fun night out to see it. While Angie was looking after Maddox and Zahara, Brad was in charge of Shiloh and Pax. And as you can see, he is the epitome of a good dad, because: exhibit A - Shiloh asked to be carried and he immediately obliged like the good dad he is; and exhibit B - he bought Pax whatever bubbly drink the little one wanted because kids should be spoiled every now and then.
Let's not forget about his youngest kids, the adorable twins Vivienne and Knox. here they are together with their dad who just bought them a ton of doughnuts. Okay, we might be wrong, but doesn't that look like two dozens of doughnuts? It must be great to be Brad's kid because even though you have to share your doughnuts with five other siblings, two dozens still mean four doughnuts per child. And isn't that every kid's dream, tbh? Okay, to be fair, we're pretty sure the kids didn't get four doughnuts each, but the fact that Brad got them any doughnuts deserves to be mentioned on this list.
Sometimes a good dad just takes their kids out for a walk, because exercise and fresh air are important. And taking four kids out at the same time isn't always an easy task, but Brad, being the good dad that he is, has no trouble with it what so ever. The kids seem to be having a good time (especially Pax who clearly feels like a winner), and that's what parenting is about most of the time. Walking around a city with your kids when you're a celeb is not easy at all because paparazzi will follow you everywhere, but Brad is managing just fine.
Honestly, how impressive are Brad's parenting skills here? Picking up and carrying not just one child at a time, but two of them? Pax and Zahara are definitely two lucky kids, cause their dad is a very strong man and he won't say no to carrying them when they want to. And when you're a kid isn't being carried around and being as tall as an adult one of the most exciting things that can happen to you? Also, side note - can we just point out how stylish Brad looks while doing all of this? I mean look at his shades and the hat, this daddy has a cool look going on.
If you thought Brad Pitt only carried two at a time a couple of times, you're definitely wrong, because there are plenty of pics of him doing this with his children, which is why we had to include another entry, to prove how extremely cool he always looks. Seriously, here he is holding twins, Vivienne And Knox while rocking a beanie and shades, proving that Boney M.'s song "Daddy Cool" must have been written for him because Brad is one cool (and very strong), daddy. Okay, now this is the last pic of Brad carrying two of his kids we promise!
Kids will always be kids, and sometimes they'll want to carry big unnecessary toys around with them, and any good parent out there should know that letting them do it is the best way to teach them to take care of their things. So here's Pax, thrilled about his teddy that he himself needs to carry and take care of. Of course, Brad will still keep an eye on the teddy to make sure Pax doesn't lose or misplace it but giving a child some responsibility for their own toys is a great thing that parents can do early on. And Brad knows that.
Okay, let's just be clear on this: it's definitely a stereotype that girls love to go shopping more than guys do, and that a good daddy should take his little girl to the mall to make her happy. But hey, sometimes that's kinda right and honestly, there should be nothing wrong with it! We bet Brad also takes his sons out for a shopping spree every now and then as well, and we bet they all enjoy it. But here it was little Vivienne's turn, and judging from the bags the two are carrying, it must have been a successful father-daughter bonding and shopping session.
Which kid wouldn't love to go zip lining and experience an adventure? Okay, granted this is definitely the kiddo version of it in a park, but hey for kids that's still pretty exciting. So here's Brad with young Shiloh, making sure she's zipped up properly and nothing goes wrong. And Shiloh is clearly just excited to do some fun stuff, as you can definitely tell from the expression on her face! Spending time with your kids and doing fun stuff, but still making sure they're safe is the best way to be a good dad. Props to Brad Pitt for already knowing that!
Sometimes kids need a little assistance for all these modern and exciting playgrounds because let's be real, falling and hurting yourself sounds like such a bad idea. But lucky Shiloh always has daddy Brad on her side, ready to help her up, down and conquer all these exciting obstacles and fun playground activities she comes across. As we already said, Brad is not the "sitting on a bench watching his kids play" kind of dad, Brad is the type to play along with them. And as a kid, having a fun grown up with on your adventures is just great!
Brad also took little Madox to a New Orleans football game, and come on, is that isn't a good daddy, then we don't know what is! Seriously, Madox was super thrilled and excited to go to a sporting event with his dad all alone, as one-on-one time is pretty important for kids who have a bunch of siblings, and well, Madox has five. Brad clearly knows how crucial it is to give some quality time to each of his kids and make sure the activity they do is unique to them and in accordance with their hobbies and preferences.
This is probably one of our favorite pics on this list, just because it's pretty hilarious how grumpy and unsatisfied little Zahara is with the situation. She clearly wanted to be the tallest one and sit on her dad's shoulder, but this time around it was Pax's turn. And obviously, Pax is thrilled about it. It's often hard to make sure every child feels special, and that the siblings aren't too jealous of each other, but Brad seems to have figured that out by letting them rotate every now and then. And here it was Pax's turn which is why Zahara didn't say anything, but she still couldn't hide her feelings well.
But hey, don't worry, little Zahara spent plenty of time on her daddy's shoulders. In fact, she was probably the most photographed kid on Brad Pitt's shoulders, and that says a lot about how much she loved that. There's just something about kids loving to be on their parent's shoulders and feeling super tall and seeing the world from another perspective. When you're young that almost seems like flying, and it's an adventure Zahara was always up for! You can tell by her adorable smile that this girl is living her best life, and none of her siblings (especially not pax) can take that away from her!
When Shiloh was still a little baby these pics of Brad lovingly staring at her made their round, and honestly, the pics still make our heart melt! You can tell Brad is super excited to see little Shiloh grow, evolve and become who she's meant too, and we believe nothing has changed. He still wants that for Shiloh, and all of his other five kids, and when a parent is caught staring so lovingly at their offspring, you know they are bound to be a good parent. Sure, everyone makes mistakes, but loving your child is the most important part of parenting, and that one should always be there.
Now here's Brad talking to his youngest boy, Knox, probably giving him some important fatherly life advice. Being able to talk to your children, have them listen and understand, as well as come to you when they need help or advice is what every parent should strive for, and Brad is clearly aware of that. We like to think that he's sharing some important secret with Knox like what the rules of Fight Club are, but for all, we know he could actually just be asking Knox what he'd like to eat for dinner. Either way, communication is very important!
Parents are generally always our number one fans no matter what we do or how well we do it, and Brad is living proof of that. Here he is supporting Zahara at a soccer match, probably giving her some tips on how to score against the enemy - as if she needs that! Either way, it's good to see that someone as busy as Brad Pitt still always finds time to attend his kids' extracurricular activities and cheer for them from the sideline. Every kid deserves that, and just because one is a world-famous actor, that doesn't mean he can excuse himself from this.
Of course, Shiloh was also participating in the soccer game, and Brad made sure to exchange some words with her before the match as well. Besides any parent who is supportive of their children's extracurricular activities and teaches them that exercising your body can be a fun thing is a parent that is doing something right. You can tell that Brad is definitely trying to give his kids as normal a life as possible, considering the circumstances, and we believe he is so far managing to do so. And we bet Shiloh was happy to have her dad cheer from the bleachers!
The last pic we decided to include is a family portrait with Brad, Zahara and his, at the time, newborn twins Vivienne and Knox. The photo is absolutely beautiful and everyone in it looks just adorable and happy. Hope you enjoyed this little list of pics that show Brad isn't doing such a shabby job at parenting after all, and his kids always seem to be happy when they're hanging with him. Having six kids is definitely not an easy job, but he (and Angelina) seem to be doing parenting the right way so far, regardless of what's going on between them.


text:
Q: 2 player dice game probability For some homework in one of my classes, we are given this problem:

In a certain dice game, player $A$ rolls six six-sided dice vs. player $B$ who rolls nine four-sided dice. Each player rolls exactly once, and $A$ wins provided that the sum of his dice is strictly greater than $B$'s, otherwise $B$ wins. What is $A$'s probability of winning? Solve this analytically.

So, seeing how the highest number either one can get is $36$, I calculated each player's probabilities of making a number from within $1\dots 36$. However, I am stuck in terms of how to figure out $A$ probability of winning the dice roll. Can anyone explain to me the steps to figure this out?
Thank you kindly.

A: Since you are talking about computer science, here's a quick code I wrote to determine that percentage. Here's a sample output:
50 games = 21 wins (42.0%)
100 games = 36 wins (36.0%)
150 games = 61 wins (40.666666666666664%)
200 games = 80 wins (40.0%)
250 games = 95 wins (38.0%)
300 games = 104 wins (34.66666666666667%)
350 games = 122 wins (34.85714285714286%)
400 games = 143 wins (35.75%)
450 games = 159 wins (35.333333333333336%)
500 games = 181 wins (36.199999999999996%)
550 games = 201 wins (36.54545454545455%)
600 games = 223 wins (37.166666666666664%)
650 games = 234 wins (36.0%)
700 games = 247 wins (35.285714285714285%)
750 games = 264 wins (35.199999999999996%)
800 games = 288 wins (36.0%)
850 games = 303 wins (35.647058823529406%)
900 games = 317 wins (35.22222222222222%)
950 games = 333 wins (35.05263157894737%)
1000 games = 353 wins (35.3%)

http://pastebin.com/K2V9T9mx
So it seems like it's about 36%.

A: Once you have the probabilities for each player to roll each number you are almost there.  For each roll of $A$, calculate the probability that $B$ gets a lower number and add them up.  For example $A$ has a chance of $\frac 1{6^6}$ to roll $36$.  He wins unless $B$ also rolls $36$, which is $\frac 1{4^9}$.  So this contributes $\frac 1{6^6}(1-\frac 1{4^9})$ to $A$'s chance to win.  Since $B$'s average is $9 \cdot 2.5=22.5$, $A$ will win precisely $50\%$ of the time he rolls $23$.  If his chance to roll $23$ is $p$ (which you have calculated), it contributes a chance to win of $\frac p2$.  Add them all up.

A: Well, if you have all the individual probabilities figured out, your answer would be:
$$
P(winning)=P(A>36\mid B=36)+P(A>35\mid B=35)+\cdots+P(A>4\mid B=4)
$$
Since your events are independent, we have
$$
P(winning)=P(A>36)P(B=36)+P(A>35)P(B=35)+\cdots+P(A>4)P(B=4)
$$
Then $P(A>n)=\sum_{k=n+1}^{36} P(A=k)$ so
$$
P(winning)=0\cdot P(B=36)+P(A=36)P(B=35)+\cdots+[P(A=36)+\cdots+P(A=4)]P(B=4)\\
$$
Finally,
$$
P(winning)=\sum_{n=4}^{36}\left(P(B=n)\sum_{k=n+1}^{36} P(A=k)\right).
$$

A: A probability generating function can solve this:
$
G(x)={\left(\dfrac{x^{6} + x^{5} + x^{4} + x^{3} + x^{2} + x}{6}\right)}^{6} {\left(\dfrac{\dfrac{1}{x} + \dfrac{1}{x^{2}} + \dfrac{1}{x^{3}} + \dfrac{1}{x^{4}}}{4}\right)}^{9}
$
Sum all the coefficients of x which are greater than 1.
E.g. In Sage, it can be done like this:
fx = expand((sum(x^i for i in range(1,7))/6)^6*(sum(1/x^i for i in range(1,5))/4)^9)
sum([fx.coefficient(x,i) for i in range(1,36-8)])

which is:
$
\dfrac{725864657}{2038431744}\approx 0.356089753378566
$
which also agrees with a simulation (done in J)
sim=: 3 : '(+/1+?6#6)>(+/1+?9#4)'
(+/%#)(sim"0)100000#0

$\approx 0.35643$