fabiochiu/medium-articles huggingface dataset:
My feminism
Tags: Women, Feminism, Islam

After starting my postgraduate studies I remember one class, led by a male tutor who, who asked us, in an all female class, who considered themselves a feminist. A couple stuck their hands up confidently, and my hand went up at a mid way point, not to make a commitment to the question posed.

Now I was unsure, as to whether I should call myself a feminist, because for a long time, being referred to as a feminist had a whole host of negative connotations associated with it. But it wasn’t just my own family or community who seemed to frown upon the whole feminist thing, it was also wider society.

A few times the term ‘femi-nazi’ was used to describe me, when I shared opinions relating to issues concerning women. Although these were often in jest, it often made me rethink what I was saying.

In many ways, as in that post graduate class, I did not fit the feminist stereotype, primarily because I belong to a religion and community which is perceived to be patriarchal in nature. In so many ways, the stereotypical, western feminist didn’t depict who I was as a person and certainly not as a woman. But then I know that those stereotypes, are merely that- a stereotype.

The amazing thing was that after that class, I spoke to my professor, and he asked me if I had read anything on Islamic feminism. I half laughed at this at the time, due to my own ignorance in relation to this issue. And so my ever curious self decided to embark on a journey of discovery on what Islamic feminism was, and much to my surprise, it was a journey which taught me a lot about myself, and the thoughts I had always had — and suddenly, things clicked.

Western feminism was not entirely relevant to me. It wasn’t relevant to how I was bought up. It wasn’t relevant to my way of thinking. That isn’t to say that it hasn’t been useful, because it all interlinks and supports one another for the benefit of women.

And so a journey began, as I started to read the work of Barlas, Margot, Ahmed-Gosh, Charrad, along with a beautifully written paper by Abu Lughod entitled ‘Do Muslim women really need saving?’, amongst others.

Now I don’t agree with everything these writers have to offer, but it does open up a new and interesting debate. One which is rarely opened in the Arab world or Muslim world as a whole and often ignored in the West when it comes to Muslim women and their ideas on gender equality and feminism.

So I now prescribe to my own feminism, and I encourage others to reclaim the right to be called a feminist who had previously felt isolated by it.

My feminism is one which seeks out the best of all the amazing female (and male) thinkers from across the world, that represent me, my values, beliefs and ideas, and respects choices I and other women make, even when we may disagree.

That it true unity between women. That is my feminism.
Introducing DNC Blueprint!
By: Drew Mcdonald
Tags: Democrats, Tech, Politics, Data, Data Science

We are thrilled to launch Blueprint: a foundational dataset for quick analysis, clear reporting, and custom modeling on Democratic campaigns.

We’ve pre-loaded Blueprint with thousands of voter file data building blocks that have been cleaned, standardized, and tagged with detailed metadata. By tapping into Blueprint, data-driven campaigns can get projects up and running quickly and spend less time wrangling source data for analysis.

More importantly, we’ve curated and organized Blueprint to make Democratic data more accessible than ever before. For data directors, new-hire analysts, and seasoned data scientists alike, Blueprint streamlines access to the voter file so staff spend less time spelunking through disparate sources and more time answering key campaign questions.

A Workbench for Democratic Data

The DNC’s data warehouse, Phoenix, is a hub for mission-critical information from campaigns, voter contact tools, government agencies, and commercial sources.

Blueprint is a workbench that prepares this data for analysis by:

Organizing fields into focused themes like basic demographics, modeled scores, consumer tags, and election turnout history.

into focused themes like basic demographics, modeled scores, consumer tags, and election turnout history. Transforming and aggregating base fields to support deep reporting, self-service analysis, and advanced modeling.

to support deep reporting, self-service analysis, and advanced modeling. Tracking metadata to monitor field coverage and shifts in underlying voter file data.

Blueprint handles the most time-consuming parts of data projects so our campaigns can focus on what they do best: reaching voters and winning elections.

Powerful Building Blocks For All

Our campaigns get stronger and more effective as more Democrats can harness the power of the Democratic data ecosystem. Blueprint is a foundational dataset that is useful and accessible to the widest possible range of campaign roles and technical backgrounds.

With Blueprint at their fingertips…

New hires can dive in and explore the warehouse on day one (no SQL required!).

Data directors can create and standardize reporting and targeting templates to share seamlessly across states and districts.

Campaign managers and other executives can use self-service tools to ask and answer their own strategic questions.

Data science teams can build and monitor custom modeling pipelines, like the 2020 Democratic Support Model and others developed in-house at the DNC.

Whether a campaign’s data work is done by a single person or a hundreds-strong team, Blueprint makes key pieces of data more discoverable and accessible.

Getting Started With Blueprint

Democratic campaigns can access Blueprint today for free in Phoenix, the DNC Data Warehouse.

We’re launching Blueprint with over a thousand fields, and more will follow as we add more data to support campaigns in 2020 and beyond.

We can’t wait to see what you build!
Aceh police release trans women from jail on the condition they ‘live like men’
By: Gay Star News
Tags: LGBTQ, Indonesia, Aceh, Police, Transgender

Aceh police release trans women from jail on the condition they ‘live like men’

‘We helped them to return to their nature as men and it turned out that they were actually macho’

Two trans women are forced to have their hair cut by police in Aceh. | Photo: YouTube

The 12 trans women who were detained in the Indonesian province of Aceh have been released from police detention.

But there was a catch to their release. The women had to agree to keep their hair short, dress and behave like men.

Aceh police detained the women on Saturday night after raiding after five hair salons where the women worked.

Before being put into custody police forcibly cut their hair short. They were also made to change into men’s clothes in front of members of the public.

At the time of their detention local Police Chief Ahmad Untung Surianata said the women would be coached to behave like men again before they would be allowed to be released.

‘The expression of men dressed like women needs serious attention,’ he said at the time.

‘Officers also nurtured them by way of having them run for some time and telling them to chant loudly until their male voices came out.’

The 12 transgender women were arrested while at work in beauty salons, in Indonesia’s sharia-ruled province of Aceh, on Sunday.

Released on certain conditions.

Untung told media the women would be allowed to return to their work at the hair salons, so long as they still dressed as men.

‘We helped them to return to their nature as men and it turned out that they were actually macho,’ he told news.com.au.

‘They are happy now because before they were lost in their false identity.’

Aceh is a conservative Muslim province, which is the only one in Indonesia that is allowed to follow Islamic Sharia Law. Homosexuality is illegal in Aceh, but not the rest of Indonesia.

The province has recently targeted the LGBTI community including caning two men convicted of homosexuality and detaining trans women in December after the attended a birthday party.

Leaving Aceh

Some trans women in Aceh are now trying to flee the province.

A fundraising effort has been set up to donate money to help the women leave Aceh.

Words by Shannon Power

Got a news tip? Want to share your story? Email us .
Jingtum Technology & Anicert in agreement to create a decentralized & secure digital identity system
Tags: Personal Identity, Digital Identity System, Identity Authentication, Blockchain

Jingtum Technology & Anicert in agreement to create a decentralized & secure digital identity system Ng Follow Oct 1, 2019 · 2 min read

Abstract: On September 24th, Wuxi Jingtum Network Technology Ltd. (“Jingtum Technology”) and the wholly-owned subsidiary of the First Institute of the Ministry of Public Security in Beijing, Anicert Technology Development Corp. Ltd. (“ Anicert”), signed a strategic cooperation agreement to jointly promote the “Internet +” trusted identity authentication platform (CTID) service and establish a decentralized, trusted and secure digital identity system.

The “Internet +” Identity Authentication Platform

The “Internet+” trusted identity authentication platform (CTID) launched by Anicert uses the national statutory identity document as the foundation for the trusted identity authentication system to build a unified, secure and trusted identity authentication service system. The legal Identity Certificate issued by the Ministry of Public Security is the trusted source of identification by the State, which has strong legal authority and status over verification of personal status. The “Internet +” platform CTID achieves online identity authentication by issuing Resident Identity Online Certificate (referred to as “Network Certificate”) which maps uniquely to the legal Identity Certificate and is authenticated under the premise of not disclosing identity information.

Jingtum Technology’s identity authentication products are based on the decentralized digital identity platform of Jingtum’s public chain. Decentralized digital identity is essential for every Internet user and having decentralized identity not only means their privacy can be protected, but also data ownership by individual citizens is guaranteed. Jingtum Technology takes the lead in joining the decentralized identity of citizens with the trusted identity authentication platform of the Ministry of Public Security, providing decentralized, trusted and secure digital identity services for online applications as well as laying a solid foundation for subsequent blockchain applications.
Nothing to worry about
By: Vince Ferraro
Tags: Microfiction, Prompt, Friday Fix, Flash Fiction, 50 Word Stories

a micro-fiction story based on the prompt: Forget & Remember

Photo by Celyn Kang on Unsplash

“Hey Tony? Remember that money I borrowed from you? Well, I got it here.”

I placed the envelope of money on the table.

“So we’re good now, right, Tony? About the other thing? We’re good?”

Tony nodded to Johnny, who pocketed the envelope.

“Fuggedaboutit,” he said, and waved me away.
Another Word for Hypocrisy.
By: Sheldon Clay
Tags: Culture, Leadership, Election 2020, Politics, Democracy

Photo by Jacob Morch on Unsplash

In 1692 the pretty Scottish village of Glencoe was the site of a murderous treachery — members of Clan McDonald were massacred in their beds by soldiers from the Campbell clan, who had spent the night as their guests. More than 300 years later I came across a painting of the massacre hanging in a Glasgow museum. Two elderly Scottish gentlemen stood nearby muttering, “Still can’t trust them Campbells.”

Trust is a bond that, once shattered, does not quickly heal.

I bring this up because much noise is getting made these days about the hypocrisy of Republican politicians. Yet progressive voices haven’t had much luck making the label stick. They should be talking about trust instead.

It’s not that the hypocrisy isn’t real. Just ask yourself whatever happened to all those pocket-size copies of the U.S. Constitution the GOP congressional delegation used to carry around so proudly. Or all the other cherished Republican values that have gone missing these past few years. Fiscal responsibility. A robust foreign policy. Morality. Family. Competence.

The Republican Party just spent their national convention proclaiming themselves the party of law and order, all while actively flouting the law by misusing public property and federal employees at a nakedly partisan event. Not to mention violating local public health ordinances about social distancing and wearing masks. And then there was the shameful spectacle on the eve of the convention of yet another former top Trump ally being led away in handcuffs.

The law is the law, Republicans like to shout. But they have an Orwellian take on it that says some are more above the law than others.
“Going Overboard”
By: Background Noise Comics
Tags: Maine, Comics, Humor, Paddleboarding, Travel

Written by

Daily comic by Lisa Burdige and John Hazard about balancing life, love and kids in the gig economy.
Blockchain Wallet APP 區塊鏈手機錢包教學
Tags: Bitcoin Wallet, Cryptocurrency Mining, Blockchain, Cryptocurrency, Ethereum Wallet

Enlighten people with blockchain values - We provide blockchain solutions for helping SMBs to automate business, make growth & enjoy freedom, by education, adoption & development of blockchain technology.

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[Part-2] Blockchain Simplified Notes NPTEL
By: Divya Goyal
Tags: Algorithms, Blockchain, Bitcoin, Cryptocurrency, Cryptography

Cryptographic Hash Function.

Input: Any string of any length, i.e. the message.

Output: Fixed Size output,i.e. message digest(256 bits for blockchain).

Properties of Hash Function:

Collision free: For two different messages(inputs), digests(outputs) are always different. Hiding: The original message is hidden behind the message digest. Puzzle Friendly: The value of k has to be found in Y=H(X||k) using mining puzzle in Bitcoin PoW where X and Y are known.

1. Collision Free

One-Way: Message digest can be computed from message using some algorithm but the vice versa is not possible.

Message digest can be computed from message using some algorithm but the vice versa is not possible. It is difficult to find x and y such that x ≠y but H(x)=H(y).(Not impossible)

x and y such that x ≠y but H(x)=H(y).(Not impossible) Collision depends on the complexity of hash function. In case of cryptographic hash function, it is difficult to have collision.

Birthday Paradox Problem

Question Statement: What is the probability that in a set of n random people, some of them will have the same birthdays?

Solution: By Pigeon hole Principle, the probability will be 1 if the number of people reaches 366(not leap) or 367(leap) year. This probability decreases with the decrease in number of people. For 23 people, probability will be 0.5 only.

How much time will it take to hack cryptographic hash function?

Suppose a hash function produces N bits of output, then an attacker has to compute 2^(N/2) hashes for a random input to find two matching outputs with probability greater than 0.98.

Thus, for 256-bit hash function, hacker needs to compute 2¹²⁸ hash operations which is time consuming. If every hash takes 1 millisecond, then it would take ~10²⁸ years.

Summary:

If H(x) = H(y), then it is safe to assume x = y.

Need to remember only message digest(only 256-bits) rather than the whole original message.

Comparison of two large messages become easy with their message digest because you will have to compare only 256-bits of hash.

2. Hiding

If a message(x) is given, it is easier to find message digest H(x) but it is computationally difficult to find message(x) from message digest H(x).

to find message(x) from message digest H(x). Hence, the original message is hidden behind the message digest.

3. Puzzle Friendly

In a search puzzle M and Z are known and k is to be computed such that the hash value of M append k is equal to Z. This can be seen by the below formula:

Z = H (M||k)

Puzzle friendly property implies that random searching is the best strategy to solve the above puzzle.
DomRaider’s CEO on BFM TV Show: “01 Business Forum L’hebdo“
By: Domraider Team
Tags: ICO, Fundraising, Bfm, Initial Coin Offering, Domraider

Few days ago, Tristan Colombet — CEO of DomRaider — participated to a TV show on BFM 01 Business Forum L’hebdo, and discussing the landscape of Initial Coin Offering as the future of fundraising.

Tristan Colombet, DomRaider CEO, debating about CryptoCurrency and Initial Coin Offering on French leading News TV channel
Implement a Networking Layer Using Combine in Swift 5
By: Zafar Ivaev
Tags: Programming, Swift, iOS, Mobile, Xcode

Implement a Networking Layer Using Combine in Swift 5

A flexible solution to copy and paste into your new app

Photo by Thom Bradley on Unsplash

In this article, we will learn how to architect and create an efficient and easy to use networking layer by leveraging Combine publishers, Codable, CustomStringConvertible protocol, and a custom Endpoint struct.

At the end of the tutorial, you will have a ready-to-use implementation that you can easily copy and paste in your app and expand it the way you want.

The full source code is available at the bottom of the article.
Managing your LUN in Parity
Tags: Lunyr, Ethereum, Blockchain, Crowdsale, Dapps

In order to transfer your LUN you must first launch Parity

Then go to your Account and click TRANSFER

Now click on “type of token transfer” and select LUN

Type in the recipient address and amount of LUN you wish to transfer. Click SEND and submit the transaction.
Data Analysis in python: Getting started with pandas
By: Tds Editors
Tags: The Daily Pick

Our daily picks will be back on Monday! If you want to receive our weekly digest on Fridays, it’s easy! Follow our publication and then go to your settings and turn on “receive letters.” You can learn more about how to get the most out of Towards Data Science here.
Science: How to save the world and reverse climate change by INCREASING livestock use
By: A.C. Flory
Tags: Climate Change, Allan Savory, Peter Andrews, Busting Myths, Australia

I found this video clip on Colin’s blog… and I was more than a little skeptical. I thought it would be about some sort of fake science, sponsored by cattle ranchers. After all, everyone knows cattle ruin the soil. Right?

By the end of the video my brain was on fire, connecting up the dots with a book I had read some years ago. That book was ‘Back From the Brink’, by Peter Andrews, and it opened my eyes to a whole new way of looking at the land, even small blocks like mine. That book changed how I garden, and after watching this video, I’m convinced both Allan Savory and Peter Andrews are on the right track.

Thank you so much for introducing me to this mind boggling video clip Colin [and Mark!]. If the rest of your generation are as switched on as you two then we have hope. :)
The Man With the Face Full of Life
By: Kim Mckinney
Tags: Poetry, Poetry Prompt, Character, Life, Fiction

The Man With the Face Full of Life

A writer’s prompt from The Brain is a Noodle

Photo by EVERSON DE SOUZA on Unsplash

His face is the work of the artist of life,

Deep crevasses painted in 3-D

The scars of a lifestyle of excess,

Hurting and disappointing himself and others,

Killing dreams and breaking hearts.

But there are other lines now,

Setting off the sparkle of his eyes and the smile on his lips,

They usually camouflage the past pain,

If you look closely though, you notice it never leaves completely.

He has won a few battles, but will he win the war?

She touches where the scars leave their marks,

And breathes in the honesty that defines him now.

His face is a memoir of not just today, but of his forever.

“To know you is to love you.”

He never thought that could ever be true, but maybe?
Three Sentence Stories
By: Matt Querzoli
Tags: Microfiction, Short Story, Fiction, Flash Fiction, Humor

Beginning. Middle. End.

The bald man was indeed hairless on his head, but he refused to be defined by this genetic disposition. He left his corporate job as soon as his last follicle left him; he threw himself into a new trade with a raw zeal that was a surprise to the many that had once seen him work with Excel spreadsheets. Within three years, he was styling the hair of Hollywood celebrities, and had opened up four salons across the country.

In the beginning, God created coffee. On the next day, he created Ritalin. Only then he was able to cram in the creation of everything else on the last day after procrastinating on all of the others.

As a millennial con man, Francis O’Donnell was assigned the repetitive and boring task of creating spam emails to try and trick the technologically inept into clicking phishing links. After a while, and moderate successes, he went out on his own and set up shop as a Nigerian prince. After a bumper first year, the business slowed, and he wound up at culinary school, where he discovered his new passion of cooking cheap produce and selling it for a huge markup.

Sleep came naturally to Rachel Simpkins, but dreams eluded her subconscious mind. Luckily, the writer who created her and her blank nights simply wrote a bunch of words, and all of a sudden, dreams came to her. Unfortunately, then came the plot twist: nightmares.

As his only son fell and burst into tears in the middle of the quiet library, Mark felt like joining him. The air quickly began to sizzle with the glares of strangers and the pursed lips of librarians as he hurried to pick up Max from the carpeted floor. But his resolve appeared out of nowhere upon exiting, when one studious punter had the audacity to utter a loud ‘Shoosh!’; Mark gave him the finger and kissed his son on the cheek in an act of solidarity.

Jeanne waited for the text to tell her that her husband would be late for dinner due to a work meeting running over time. Or some other excuse offered up in place of the fact that he was cheating on her. When it came, she sighed, poured herself a glass of expensive Scotch, and began to fill in the application for divorce.

As the light fucked off from the world, the couple at the end of the wharf fucked off from the end of the wharf. They dived, naked, into the ocean, and swam out until they reached the lone barge aways from shore. There, they made slippery love, discussed the future as the moon began to rise, before heading back to make the future happen.
Market overview, June 25 — July 2
By: Alexandra Petrova
Tags: Analytics, Cryptocurrency, Crypto, Market, Bitcoin

The market situation improved last week, but not much yet. The Bitcoin price tested the $5800 level twice, but had a sharp rebound having shown the “double bottom”. On Tuesday morning Bitcoin price was above $6600, it’s grown more than by 20% since the end of June with its minimal values. Thus, now we’re watching the first serious correction of the $10000 fall. The first considerable resistance level will be $6800. If the price consolidates above this value we can count on another powerful upward movement. Further market dynamics will depend on fundamental factors and media background.

Although there’s been much less projects announcing their ICO at the third quarter, the amount of companies registering token sales at the US Securities and Exchange Commission is growing. Last August SEC got 4 token sale applications, while in May 2018 the number of applications increased up to 15. These are the first signs that the security-token market is forming. Some experts assume that such tokens will become the 2019 trend.

Fees have suddenly increased and transaction processing has slowed-down within Ethereum network. A new Asian exchange FCoin (which is being very active) is believed to be the main culprit. To get listed on the exchange project teams have to use airdrops and spend large gas volumes. But ETH price usually even takes advantage from Ethereum difficulties. Last December the CryptoKitties game almost crashed the network, but the ether rate grew over $500 at the same period.

It’s also worth mentioning the upcoming trading at the new DX.exchange that started registering its users. The exchange states that it’s using the Nasdaq infrastructure for trading and guarantees fast and stable work including complex algorithmic traders’ strategies. If the exchange keeps its promises, the cryptomarket will be able to accept some new professional traders implementing algorithms, scalping and high-frequency trading. It can significantly increase liquidity on the market.

The most significant news of the last several days is the launch of Coinbase Custody, the new tool aimed at institutional investors. Coinbase Custody was announced a year ago. It’s designed mainly for large financial organizations and provides opportunities for cryptocurrency safekeeping. It’s not unlikely that this very announcement turned the market to a more positive tone. Facebook plans to publish pre-approved cryptocurrency related advertising can provide additional support.

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Roots That Want A Way
By: Somsubhra Banerjee
Tags: Poetry, Literally Literary, Trees, Roots, Thoughts

Buried, always, deep, in the dungeons of earth,

we know about the soil, the inhabitations bubbling,

in the crevices of the earth’s under-world,

we absorb the water, necessary nutrients,

storing them, and doing the supplies,

working round the clock, tirelessly, for the plant or a tree,

in the open, below the blue sky, appreciated by people, many,

never, ever wishing to get the limelight, but we wish,

we wish we could see what’s out there, what it feels like,

to face the earth devoid of mud and claustrophobia,

surrounding the insides, one root caressing the other,

in the minimal space-time continuum of a barricaded pot,

we wish to breathe in the open, to bare our lungs, for once,

to the airy atmosphere, facing the sunrays and moonlight,

and snows and rains,to feel those feelings, away from the filth,

of the darkness, that is here, that is here,

Is there a way out, dear friend?
I Want to Explain Arranged Marriage to People in the West
By: Shruthi Sundaram
Tags: Relationships, Tradition, Culture, Myths, Marriage

India is famous for lots of things, one of them being arranged marriages.

The West I think, has serious misconceptions, and even stereotypes, about arranged marriages. And I aim to bust at least some of them for you.

“There is a difference between forced marriages and arranged marriages, and I think a lot of people get those two things confused,” says author Nisha Sharma a first-generation Indian American and the author of “The Takeover Effect” — who was in a semi-arranged marriage after seeing the success of her parents’ union — argues that love and arranged marriage are not mutually exclusive and that books can offer “texture” to readers outside the culture who may want to understand it more.

Let me first tell you this, not all marriages in India are arranged. My own wedding planner says that, 6 to 7 out of every 10 of his clients have arranged marriages, so he sees a third of his clients in “love marriages,” which seems to be an increasingly popular choice. His perspective is just one example.

Times have changed. People have changed. Customs and the implementation of those are also changing. We are no longer living in a period, where the woman meets the man on the day of marriage, and they live happily ever after. No, it doesn’t happen anymore. Or I would say it has reduced tremendously (at least in cities).

The parents and bride/groom, both come to common grounds about the requirements, and in the process of “matchmaking”. For the parents, at the end of the day, they just want their child to stay happy, and for us, we get our “wish list” ticked. So it is a win-win situation for both parties.

Love and arranged marriage are not mutually exclusive.
The Lazy, Annoying Invitation of “Ask Me Anything”
By: Rachael Hope
Tags: Relationships, Relationships Love Dating, Dating Advice, Dating, Communication

The Lazy, Annoying Invitation of “Ask Me Anything”

Why I hate it when men ask me what I want to know about them

Photo by Polina Zimmerman from Pexels

Navigating dating apps can be a minefield of red flags and disappointment. Still, I keep going back, working my way through the muck in search of the elusive oasis of chemistry. Of all the pet peeves I have about online dating and connecting with potential partners through chat, there’s one that gets under my skin more than others.

At first, it seems like an invitation, but my experience has taught me otherwise.

My favorite conversations start with full sentences and active engagement, but I’m generous with the wiggle room. I know it can take courage to strike up a conversation with someone who seems cool, and that it can take a little time to get into a good rhythm.

If we get past the hellos and the person is responsive, I’m game to give it a chance. But in at least half of the conversations I’ve been a part of on dating apps, the conversation quickly devolves into one word answers and lack of reciprocal conversation. Then, it happens. He utters the words I can’t stand.

Ask me anything! I’m an open book!

What do you want to know?

I’m open to anything.

At first, it seems like an invitation, but my experience has taught me otherwise. This is not a gateway to getting to know someone. It’s an instant indicator that all of the emotional labor for the conversation is going to be put squarely on my shoulders.
Student Debt Forgiveness Is Not The Stimulus The US Needs
By: Asger Bruhn
Tags: Economy, Economics, Covid 19, USA, Politics

US ECONOMY — POLICY DESIGN

Student Debt Forgiveness Is Not The Stimulus The US Needs

Forgiving student debt is a hot topic, but it won’t solve the current pressing issues in the covid-hit US economy.

Photo by Alejandro Barba on Unsplash

The US economy is in dire need of fiscal stimulus. The Federal Reserve conducts expansionary monetary policy not seen since The Great Recession.

Chair Jerome Powell has committed to continue stimulus efforts while urging fiscal policy-makers to provide additional fiscal stimulus to an economy severely hit by lockdowns.

In April, American citizens received $1,200 in a check from the government as part of the first fiscal stimulus package. Further cash transfers have been negotiated as part of a new package, but congress is yet to agree on the matter.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has urged the Trump administration to get back to the negotiation table, as no stimulus has been provided for several months.

While both sides appear to be standing their ground despite agreeing on the importance of reaching a deal before year-end, suggestions of a controversial component in the coming stimulus package have started to gain traction.

Forgiving student debt — mostly owed to the federal government — has for years been debated in relation to structural reforms of the post-secondary educational system.

Prominent advocates include Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. But lately, forgiveness has also been proposed as part of fiscal stimulus action.

First, as a provision in the Heroes Act — the stimulus bill proposed by congress. Second, by President-elect Joe Biden, who recently declared his support, urging the current government to amongst other things forgive everyone with public student debt $10.000.

But as argued below, loan forgiveness is an inefficient tool for stimulating the economy.
New Course
By: Iván De Prado
Tags: Masters, Computers, Economics

After 3 years at Enormo, I have started to study a MSc in Economics. It will last 2 years. During these years I will focus on studying, so I will not work at the same time.



Why this change? After knowing how the monetary system works I realized that I didn’t really know what money is! Besides, crisis made me see that the economic system is very important, but also far from perfection.



As a person interested in systems in general, I see the economic system as one of the most complex and important over the world.
Explore Gritty Stories and Advice from an Abuse Survivor
By: Liz Porter
Tags: Self Improvement, Philosophy, Life Lessons, Abuse Survivors, This Happened To Me

Explore Gritty Stories and Advice from an Abuse Survivor

My true stories are difficult to write and to share. I do it anyway, to grow personally and help break the silent cycle of abuse.

Liz Porter shares a collection of her stories in short-form style.

Photo by DESIGNECOLOGIST on Unsplash

My hope is to educate, empower, and inspire you to find your voice, inner power, and your ultimate freedom.

Many of you won’t reach out; your crippling fear and intense shame keep you silent. I understand, I really do. Abuse is rampant in every walk of life. Our silence must be broken because it’s an intricate piece of the overall problem.

If you suspect you’re in a destructive relationship or know someone who is, please read and share my stories of hope.

A book saved my life; I want to pay that forward.

As always, thanks for your support!

End Your Abuser’s Power — Advice from a Survivor

Published in The Ascent and chosen for further distribution by Medium

Abusers count on our silence to gain control and hold their power. Speaking up can be terrifying, but this detailed guide will help you get your power back.

When Sex Is Used to Crush You

Self-Published on Medium

This was the absolute toughest chapter to write in my Memoir: Silent Fright. Sharing this deeply private experience was one of the biggest steps in my healing process.

12 Signs of Abuse You Should Never Ignore

Published in The Ascent and chosen for further distribution by Medium

This story is written from personal experience and loaded with information that can help anyone in a destructive relationship. It’s not always about black eyes and bruises, so be sure you know the signs.

I’m grateful and appreciative to all of my readers, followers, editors and publications who support my work—cheers to all of you who make Medium a wonderful and safe place to find my voice.

I’m Liz, the self-empowered, red wine & coffee lovin’, personal growth fanatic behind this article. I’ve stopped shrinking into places I’ve outgrown, and I’m a fan of straight talk and practical solutions. That’s why I’m here to Empower, Educate and Entertain.
Blockchain needs its Apple moment
By: Peter Harrigan
Tags: Defi, Cryptocurrency, Blockchain, Bitcoin

Going from hard to easy

Think what Apple did for the “home computer”.

Before Apple, the industry made kits for hobbyists. Many believed these kits represented the future, somehow. But the average person had no idea how to use them and for what. After Apple, computers became accessible. Anyone could put their hand on a mouse, and do interesting and useful things on the screen. Uses flourished and users grew.

Coinbase started us down this “Apple path.” Buying or selling Bitcoin on Coinbase is very simple. But that’s kind of all. I know they’ve added assets, but does trading your BTC for BAT really count as “doing something interesting and useful”?

We need new uses and they need to be accessible. That means:

• Simple, intuitive interfaces that anyone can understand,

• Reaching previously un-served markets with novel business models that provide real value,

• Offering users a system agile enough that they can design their own solutions for real economic needs.

Once we build new things to do, combined with accessible ways to do them, we will finally see the explosion we’ve been awaiting for so long.
The Edited Story of Us
By: Hilary Fitzgerald Campbell
Tags: Comics, Relationships, Hilary F Campbell, Love

Cartoonist for the New Yorker among other places. I love my mom and white wine. My graphic memoir MURDER BOOK out in 2021. Follow on Insta @CartoonsbyHilary!

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Free at last
By: Joseph Emmi
Tags: Self Improvement, Journal, Commitment, Goals, Discipline

Photo by Kal Loftus on Unsplash

From time to time a writing piece will arrive to my life to make things complicated, and it is always the same. It comes disguised as an easy job, one that happens to flow naturally without even thinking about, where the words come out straight into my fingers rapidly filling the screen and usually completed in what seems to be just a matter of few minutes.

However, the reality after that always changes, the editing becomes endless and shaping those thoughts a colossal task.

What originally felt like something that was about to be completed ends up dragging for days, sometimes weeks. This was exactly that case.

Many things go through my mind when this happens, from questioning myself and skills, to asking several times what I’m actually trying to say with the piece, to desirable consideration that is quitting, just ditch it and move away onto the next one.

Yes, I really wanted to quit, no matter how many times I asked myself what I was trying to so, that concept continue changing every time I try conclude it, but it was never an option, otherwise it would have defeated the purpose in the first place.

It took me too long, and it started to feel like it was putting me away from many other things and projects, and to an extent it actually did, but there’s also a level of satisfaction that comes from it, from knowing that despite of not been economical or practical, and that is the commitment that comes when taking a task that no one else expecting but myself, but also that despite the difficulty I just got it done. And done is always good, done means freedom.
Rafael Nadal Returns to Winning Ways in Davis Cup
By: Johannes Riese
Tags: Spain, Rafael Nadal, Tennis, Sports

The Spanish world number one won his first match since January against Philipp Kohlschreiber in the Davis Cup quarterfinal against Germany.

This was Nadal first match since retiring against Marin Cilic in the Australian Open quarterfinal because of a hip injury

The match lasted for two-and-a-half hours with Nadal winning 6–2, 6-2, 6–3

Germany’s Alexander Zverev beat David Ferrer in the first match of the quarterfinal

Photo by David Aliaga / NurPhoto via Getty Images (ESPN)

The victory marked Nadal’s 23rd consecutive Davis Cup match victory (counting both singles and doubles), a new record for the competition.

The Spaniard seemed pleased with his performance that included 28 forehand winners:

“It’s positive of course, winning in straight sets. It was a solid match. I feel comfortable back on the clay” Rafael Nadal to DavisCup.com

In the other Davis Cup quarterfinal Croatia and Kazakhstan split their singles matches and so did France and Italy. The US on the other hand won their first two matches against Belgium

Sources:

ESPN, ATP, BBC
Wet Dream Moonbeam
By: Martin Rushton
Tags: Sex, Stlprompt, Poetry, Wet Dreams, Humour

Wet Dream Moonbeam

A nighttime sprinkle of magic

I went to see a guru,

My earth-born life was bland.

Rumour was the wise old man,

Could give me a helping hand.

See poor old me was lonely,

At night times on my own.

Even the cat runs off at night,

must be my cologne.

This guru was really clever,

His advice was sound and sweet,

Leave my window open,

and you’ll be in for a treat.

I waited until nighttime fell,

Left the window slightly ajar.

The wind blew curtains softly,

No sound, not even a car.

Out of nowhere, a moonbeam came,

and brushed my silky sheet.

even brushed my leopard print thong,

I think I’m in for a treat.

It was a bit of a turn on,

but everything happened quickly.

Oh my god, I had a wet dream,

and now my sheets are sticky.
Arm’s Length
By: Melinda Smith
Tags: Love, Isolation, Poetry, Pandemic, Friendship

Arm’s Length

The embrace that waits

Photo by Joseph Gonzalez on Unsplash

Friend,

if these, my arms

were allowed to go outside

to touch another person

I would lead them to you

I would use them to pull you in, and

I would hold you so tightly

that I’d reach the small version of you

the one I didn’t know

the one that has died

but sometimes calls your name

when you’re lost

I know this voice

because I have one, too

she speaks to me from a grave marked with

teenage wishes and violated dreams

not to haunt me

but to remind me I’ve grown strong

Friend,

you say we are but once-planted seeds

but now what have we grown into?

a mighty oak?

a cactus with threatening spines?

no, I’d like to think I am a weeping willow

with leaf green eyes turned toward the sun

hardened bark skin that shields each nascent ring within me

and most of all, long branches that hang open, in wait

to give of myself to those who need

to hold you and tell you we are going to be all right

even if it takes a few times

before either of us feel it

Friend,

I shall wrap you in tendrils and branches

as soon as these arms of mine

are allowed to go outside
How To Generate Writing Ideas About Personal Growth
By: Katharine Chan, Msc, Bsc
Tags: Personal Development, Personal Growth, Writing Prompts, Writing Tips, Self Improvement

Reflect on your personal history

The past is the past. What’s happened has happened. Don’t hold on to the past like there’s no tomorrow. I am a big believer in not dwelling on things I cannot change. Your regrets do not define your future.

However, there’s a difference between suppressing your memories and embracing your history. Every moment before this moment has led you here.

Your past shaped who you are. So it’s important to understand how certain experiences influenced you today because that determines how you react to adversity, pain, failures, and success.

So when reflecting on your past, you can think about each year of your life that you’ve existed thus far.

What stood out for you?

Who was in your life when you were 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30? How did they influence you? How were your interactions with them like? How have you changed in the way you are with similar people? Authority figures, romantic partners, peers, acquaintances, strangers, friends, family members…etc

What were the toughest decisions you’ve made in each area of your life? Health, friendships, romantic relationships, finances, career, family etc. How did those decisions pan out?

It can be empowering to know you have a choice whether you want to approach future challenges in the way you were conditioned to or to change your behaviour and approach it in a way that you want to approach it. And that opportunity to choose gives you ideas to write about personal growth.
Creating Elasticsearch Analyzers Programmatically
By: Ibrahim Tasyurt
Tags: Elasticsearch, Lucene, Text Analysis

Implementation

Dependencies

Elasticsearch should be added in the classpath in the dependencies , you can see a gradle.kts version as follows:

implementation(“org.elasticsearch:elasticsearch:7.8.1”)

Tokenizer

Components in an Elasticsearch Analyzer are created for each analyze request. For this reason, instead of components themselves, analyzers are composed with the factories that are responsible for instantiation of these components.

Below you can see how a Tokenizer factory is created as an anonymous object.

Character Filters

Similar to the TokenizerFactory, we create an array of CharFilterFactory objects. In the example below, you can see how such an array is created and a factory for HTMLStripCharFilter is added.

Token Filters

Similar to Character Filters, an array of TokenFilterFactory objects have to be created for the custom analyzer. In the code below, you can see how factories for Lowercase Filter, Stopword Filter and Synonyms Filter are created.

For Stopwords and Synonyms, please note that we are hardcoding stopword and synonym dictionaries in the filters.

Combining them Altogether

Once we have the tokenizer and filter factories created, we can combine them to create our custom analyzer as follows:

Calling the Analyzer

After creating the analyzer, you can see how it can be used to decompose text into tokens.

Internally analyzer components work similar to a responsibility chain and each token is passed to the next component in the chain. At each increment (incrementToken()) the next token is extracted and consumed by the analyzer chain. At the end of the chain, a set of attributes have already been set by the analyzer chain. In the example above we are extracting the CharTermAttribute (i.e: text of the token) and adding in our result list. Also it’s possible to extract other information like position info etc. from the tokens.

When all the tokens are consumed, we are ready to return our analyzed token list.

Below you can see an example analyzer call within a unit test:

Summary

In this post, we discussed how Elasticsearch/Lucene analyzers can be implemented programmatically without deploying an Elasticsearch cluster. On this purpose, we manually configured a Tokenizer, a set of CharFilterFactory and TokenFilter instances to create an analyzer and exposed text analysis as a method. You can find the full source code in this github repo.
Script Roundup: glowshi-ft.vim, Clighter
By: Alex R. Young
Tags: Motions, Highlighting, Plugins, Scripts

Script Roundup: glowshi-ft.vim, Clighter

glowshi-ft.vim

glowshi-ft.vim (GitHub: saihoooooooo / glowshi-ft.vim) by Shinya Saiho is a cool visualisation plugin for the f and t motions. When a line has multiple targets, it display highlights and allows you to jump between them.

There are settings for changing the mapping behaviour, case handling, and timeout length.

Glighter

Clighter (GitHub: bbchung / clighter) by BB Chung is a semantic source highlighting plugin based on Clang. It can do things like highlight occurrences of matching words under the cursor. It doesn’t replace the built-in C syntax handling, but instead enhances it.
Book Review Recommendation System
By: Tds Editors
Tags: The Daily Pick

Photo by Alfons Morales on Unsplash

By Sangeetha Veluru — 12 min read

I always read book reviews before purchasing a book and I often find myself wondering how much weight I should give them. How similar were the reviewers to me, in terms of what genres they usually read and how they rated those genres, and therefore how much would their experience reflect my own?
CoinMarketCap integrates Serenity.Exchange trading volume
By: Serenity Financial
Tags: Trading Volume, Crypto Exchange, Serenity, Listings, Coinmarketcap

Major cryptocurrency capitalization tracking website CoinMarketCap now provides trading volume data on Serenity.Exchange.

In September 2019, CoinMarketCap listed Serenity.Exchange, and now the service has integrated the exchange’s trading volume with detailed data for cryptocurrency pairs. The information is available on our project’s page on CoinMarketCap.

The exchange’s trading volume is formed based on the changes in the volume of cryptocurrency pairs and trading activity. Now it’s possible to track the trading volume behavior of cryptocurrency pairs in real-time on CoinMarketCap.

Serenity.Exchange was launched a year ago, and only three months later started showing growth and providing the possibility of trading major cryptocurrencies at any moment, regardless of whether there’s a matching order in Serenity.Exchange. This was achieved thanks to the liquidity aggregation from major cryptocurrency exchanges: OKEX, Kraken, Binance.

If you’re working on a project, your community has over 3,000 real participants and over 2,000 real token holders, we’ll consider listing your token (ERC20) on our exchange. Learn more here.