Title.
We have a group of 5-6 friends and we usually play and end up 3-4 each friday.
2 of them are newer and are still getting used to MTG. Myself and the rest of the group have been playing for 2-6 years, we're somewhat competitive but our rules are pretty simple: No infinite combos, No proxies.
Outside of that our decks are pretty straight forward, we all play staples and whatnot.
I mostly play Yuriko or Edgar Markov Vampire Tribal. Most decks are pretty strong but get real momentum on turn 3+.
One of them has a relatively cheap Fynn, the Fangbearer deck.
Holy shit!
Turn 1: 1 drop 1/1 deathtouch Turn 2: Fynn drop + attack = 2 poison counters Turn 3: +1-2 additional 1/1 deathtouch drops (more if sol ring or other mana ramp because green)
By turn 4 it can get pretty devastating, had an enchantment that made creatures with low power unblockable, he could basically 1 shot anyone at that point. He also rocks proliferate so even if you lock Fynn down, he can sometimes just proliferate and kill everyone after a few turns if the game ends up being a drag.
I know most people will say just remove him or counter him, but turn 2-3 removal is often not possible. Also, if our pod happens to have 1-2 of our newer players, they dont really have time to see shit coming haha.
What would you do in this situation? Build a bit more around removal? Most games we can manage him and focus him, but with deathtouch, it almost seems like removal is the only way to go. We still love playing against it and see it as a challenge. It's funny as the deck costs pennies compared to some of our other decks lol.

This is probably a dumb question but I couldn't any information about this whatsoever.
Vehicles like the 2S38 and M247 have proxy/HE-VT shells. They seem to suggest fuze time needs to be programmed with the rangefinder. Is this true? Is this done automatically if you track the target? How would this would work with some SPG's with proxy shells?

In the MinGW-w64 repository on sourceforge, there these files:
https://sourceforge.net/p/mingw-w64/mingw-w64/ci/mastetree/COPYING.MinGW-w64/COPYING.MinGW-w64.txt
https://sourceforge.net/p/mingw-w64/mingw-w64/ci/mastetree/COPYING.MinGW-w64-runtime/COPYING.MinGW-w64-runtime.txt
It seem to suggest that distribution of binaries built using MinGW-w64 should include the COPYING.MinGW-w64-runtime.txt file.
The COPYING.MinGW-w64-runtime.txt file have this part at the bottom of the file:

=================================== Headers and IDLs imported from Wine =================================== Some header and IDL files were imported from the Wine project. These files are prominent maked in source. Their copyright belongs to contributors and they are distributed under LGPL license. Disclaimer This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Lesser General Public License for more details. 

Now I am aware that my program just need to not use these lgpl licensed codes. But how do I make sure of that?
The wiki2 page for MinGW-w64 Wine integration (https://sourceforge.net/p/mingw-w64/wiki2/Wine%20integration/) say this:

WIDL widl is Wine reimplementation of MIDL, Microsoft IDL compiler. * Needs to be imported to mingw-w64 SVN and added to build system. * Licensing worries: WIDL is LGPL-ed and its produced code must not enforce any licensing limits. Current understanding is that autogenerated code inherits IDL license. There are some code chunks in generated code that are not autogenerated, so they imply LGPL license. Alexandre Julliard (their author) agreed to relicense them. They could be also avoided by using compiler exceptions. 

What is `compiler exceptions` here?
There is also this:

IDL files Wine IDL files are LGPL-ed, which may imply LGPL typelibs and proxy/stubs. Temporary solution: not include IDL files in base product, provide them in an optional SDK. Long term solution: probably needs lawyer consultation. 

I don't really know how idl files work. Is there a way I can make sure that my program binaries built using MinGW-w64 doesn't include these files?
I am using MinGW-w64 on Windows and would like to distribute my programs binaries under the MIT license, so I cant have LGPL codes compiled to my binaries.
So, I have 2 questions:

1. How do I make sure that my binaries compiled using MinGW-w64 not include the LGPL code
2. I have been searching for a talk about this topic in the last few days. The best I found is one stackexchange post about the runtime license that have answer unsatisfy my question, or few reddit posts that only mention the licensing of libgcc and libstdc++ (Which have exceptions) and completely not mention the runtime license of MinGW-w64. Are people just doesnt know about the existence of this license file?

Thank you for answering my questions.
Edit: Make codeblock work properly

Date: 05/15/2024

Reading time: 11 minutes, 2384 words

🪖 Military

The ceremony of withdrawal of peacekeepers from Nagorno-Karabakh took place

Russian peacekeepers were in Nagorno Karabakh based on a statement of November 9, 2020. The military group was supposed to stay in the region until 2025, which could be extended for another five years. The population of Artsakh was subjected to forced displacement, more than 100 thousand people moved from Artsakh to Armenia.

CivilNet

Armenia and Slovakia discuss issues of military-technical cooperation

Armenia participated in the IDEB-2024 defense exhibition in Bratislava, Slovakia, at the invitation of the Slovak Ministry of Defense. A number of agreements have been reached between Armenia and Slovakia.

Armenpress, Armenia, Slovakia discuss expanding defence cooperation

Armenia and India plan to create a working group on defense issues

The first defense consultations between the Ministries of Defense of Armenia and India took place under the chairmanship of Levon Ayvazyan. The progress and development prospects of Armenia-India cooperation in the field of defense were discussed, including military-technical, personnel military education and tactical training, exchange of experience and other fields.

CivilNet, Armenian and Indian Defense Ministries hold first defense consultations in Yerevan, Armenia, India hold first defense consultations

🏛️ Politics & Government

Over 52% of respondents in Armenia support Tavush for Homeland movement to certain extent, Gallup phone poll shows

A total of 35.1% of respondents in Armenia said they “fully support” the Tavush for Homeland movement, Aram Navasardyan, head of the Armenian office of GALLUP International Association, said at a press conference on Wednesday. 17.8% said they feel “more than positively” about the movement, 10% - ‘more than negatively’, 10.5% “absolutely negatively”; 13.6% found it difficult to answer the question.

ArkaAm

Civil disobedience campaigns continue in Yerevan

People demanding Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation again blocked streets in Yerevan on May 15.

PanArmenian

The Baku court has extended the terms of detention of Artsakh officials for five months

Former presidents Bako Sahakyan, Arayik Harutyunyan, Davit Babayan and Davit Ishkhanyan are speaking. The detention period of the former President of Artsakh Arkady Ghukasyan was also extended by five months. 23 Armenian servicemen and civilians were arrested in September 2023, after a one-day war against Artsakh.

CivilNet

Political consultations held between foreign ministries of Armenia, Georgia

The Republic of Armenia and Georgia held a round of political consultations in Tbilisi on May 13-14. It is noted that the participants of the meeting reviewed the existing relations between the two countries.

Armenpress, Political consultations held between Foreign Ministries of Armenia and Georgia

Education reforms, institutional development, peace agenda implementation: PM delivers speech at EBRD annual meeting

Nikol Pashinyan attended the opening ceremony of the annual meeting of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in the Republic of Armenia. Armenia's economy has grown by almost 30 percent since the People's Nonviolent Velvet Revolution of 2018.

Armenpress, Prime Minister highly values the partnership with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Armenian PM and EBRD President discuss joint projects and perspectives, EBRD plans to invest up to 500 million Euros in Armenia in 2024, EBRD and InecoBank bolster science innovation hub in Yerevan

Border delimitation between Armenia, Azerbaijan should become a key tool for learning peaceful coexistence - PM

Armenia and Azerbaijan lack experience and knowledge of peaceful co-existence, says Prime Minister. Pashinyan: "What you don't know brings uncertainties, concerns, tensions, which you understandably formulate and perceive based on your experience"

Armenpress, Moscow welcomes Armenia-Azerbaijan foreign ministers' negotiations in Almaty, Demarcation should become one of the tools that will teach Armenia and Azerbaijan to live peacefully – PM Pashinyan

PM Pashinyan sends congratulatory message to the Prime Minister of Serbia

Nikol Pashinyan congratulates Miloš Vučević on occasion of his election to the post of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia. The message reads as follows: "Armenia values friendly relations with Serbia based on mutual respect and trust"

Armenpress

Armenia and EBRD sign €236 million agreement for Sisian-Kajaran road construction

The EBRD signed a loan agreement worth €236 million for the construction of the 24.2 km southern section of the Sisian-Kajaran North-South Road. The project is a strategic priority for Armenia, ensuring its connectivity and access to Europe and beyond.

Armenpress, EBRD plans to invest up to 500 million Euros in Armenia in 2024, EBRD grants Armenia 12 million euros for the construction of a logistics center in Syunik, EBRD funds largest road project in Armenia

Armenia and France expand cooperation in civil aviation sector

Meeting was held between the Director General, Mihran Khachatryan, and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of France to the Republic of Armenia, Olivier Decottignies. Issues of strengthening and expanding cooperation between Armenia and France in the field of civil aviation were discussed.

Armenpress, French Development Agency to extend cooperation with Armenia’s government, Armenia, France extend partnership in civil aviation, Armenia and France are expanding cooperation in the field of civil aviation, Armenia, French Development Agency to expand cooperation

The delegation led by Tigran Avinyan leaves for Paris

The Yerevan delegation will visit Paris from May 15 to 19. They will meet with the president of the regional council of Île-de-France.

Armenpress, Yerevan Mayor to travel to Paris on May 15-19

Moscow sees the need to resume the work of the tripartite group on the issue of de-blockade

Moscow considers it necessary to resume work of tripartite working group co-chaired by deputy prime ministers of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan on blockade issue. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said about it in an interview with the News.ru website: "We do not use the term Zangezur Corridor, but in favor of the complete unblocking of economic and transport communications in the South Caucasus. He also spoke about the role of Russian peacekeepers in Karabakh.

CivilNet

Armenia is waiting for the decision to join the European Peace Foundation. Pashinyan

Pashinyan: We are waiting for the decision to include Armenia in the European Peace Fund. The fund was established in 2021 to promote world peace, prevent conflicts and supply non-lethal weapons to countries in need. In mid-April, the media wrote that a preliminary agreement was reached in Brussels to provide 10 million euros to Armenia from this fund, but Hungary blocked the decision.

CivilNet

Mirzoyan to take part in Council of Europe ministers’ Committee session in Strasbourg

Ararat Mirzoyan will travel to French city of Strasbourg for a working visit on 16-17 May. He will take part in the 133rd session of the Committee of Ministers, devoted to the celebration of 75 years since the foundation of the Council of Europe.

ArkaAm, Armenian FM to participate in the session of CoE Committee of Ministers

High-Tech Minister: Armenia considers creating investment fund

Armenia’s Minister of High-Tech Industry Mkhitar Hayrapetyan discussed a potential creation of an investment fund in the country with Noubar Afeyan, the founder of venture capital firm Flagship Pioneering. Fund is expected to improve cooperation between Armenian authorities and the private sector.

ArkaAm

Armenia's policy is to diversify its foreign relations - Pashinyan

Armenia's policy is to diversify its foreign relations in all areas, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said at Copenhagen Democracy Summit. "We are happy about the deployment of the EU Civilian Monitoring Mission on the border between Armenia and Azerbaijan," he said. The prime minister said that the EU decision on Armenia's inclusion in the European Peace Facility is now awaited.

ArkaAm

Moscow slams EU mission in Armenia for “provocative activity”

The EU mission is doing more and more against Armenia’s neighbors Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran, Mikhail Galuzin said.

PanArmenian

Uruguay Chamber of Representatives votes to submit draft law on the Armenian Genocide Memorial Day to executive branch

Chamber of Representatives of Uruguay on May 14 unanimously passed the draft law declaring April 24 as Armenian Genocide Memorial Day in Uruguay, 74 votes in favor by the 74 MPs present. After the executive's approval within 10 days, the law will come into force immediately, the Armenian Embassy in Uruguay said in a post on Facebook.

Armenpress, Uruguay House of Representatives approves billdeclaring April 24 as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day

Slovak PM in ‘life-threatening condition’ after being shot

Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico is fighting for his life after he was shot multiple times following a government meeting. Fico's condition is life-threatening and he’s being flown by helicopter to hospital for emergency treatment.

Armenpress, Slovak PM Fico in hospital after being shot, Violence has no place in politics: Armenian PM wishes speedy recovery to Slovakia’s Robert Fico, Slovak PM in life-threatening condition after assassination attempt, Slovak PM Fico in hospital after being shot

Zelenskiy cancels visit to Spain and Portugal

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has cancelled a visit to Spain and Portugal, authorities said on Wednesday. CNN Portugal and other media reported it was because of renewed fighting in his country. Spain's King Felipe of Spain had been due to hold a reception and host a meal in his honour. He had also been expected to sign a bilateral security cooperation agreement.

Armenpress

The Power of One Dram Sums up the Two-Year Program with Teach for Armenia

During November and December 2021, AMD 9,328,753 was transferred to the “Teach for Armenia” educational foundation. The amount gathered within the framework of “The Power of One Dram” initiative of IDBank and Idram. As a result, two schools of Aragatsotn Region have been conducting an education program based on change for two years.

Armenpress, Power of One Dram sums up two-year program with Teach for Armenia

Blinken, guitar in hand, sings ‘Rockin’ in the Free World’ in Kyiv bar

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken plays guitar and sings Neil Young's "Rockin' in the Free World" with a local band. Blinken assured Ukrainians they are not alone and that billions of dollars in American military aid on its way will make a "real difference" on the battlefield.

Armenpress

Armenia’s ruling party frames anti-government protesters as ‘Russia-backed’ on social media: DEMOCRACY WATCH #4

A CivilNet investigation has found that the campaigns, mostly on Facebook, are generated by the country’s ruling party. Among the main targets is the leader of the protest movement Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, the Primate of the Tavush Diocese. They circulate videos and photos suggesting his involvement in a “Russian plan to destabilize Armenia”

CivilNet, Echoes of Déjà Vu: Reviving Resistance in Armenia, Archbishop Bagrat: This is our first victory

India and Iran have announced the launch of the Chabahar port development project

India and Iran signed a ten-year agreement on the development and operation of Iran's Chabahar port. The agreement aims to expand regional communication and facilitate trade, particularly between India, Iran and Afghanistan. India has invested in the infrastructure and modernization of the port, making it a viable transit route for Indian goods to Afghanistan and Central Asia.

CivilNet

U.S. warns Georgia not to side with Moscow against the west

Georgia has been warned by the U.S. not to become an adversary of the west by falling back in line with Moscow.

PanArmenian

💵 Economy

EBRD predicts Armenia’s economy to grow by 6.2% in 2024

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development expects Armenia’s economy to grow by 6.2% in 2024 and 4,8% in 2025. The EBRD forecasted a 4.5% economic growth in 2024 for Armenia in its previous report, published in September 2023. The World Bank expects the Armenian economy to. grow by 5.5%, the IMF predicts 5% growth for the country's economy in 2024.

ArkaAm

VTB (Armenia) expands opportunities for cross-border money transfers by phone number

Retail customers of VTB Bank (Armenia) can receive money transfers from Russia by phone number. Funds are credited instantly to the recipient's account or card in national currency. In 2023, the bank's retail customers received more than 94 thousand money transfers.

ArkaAm, VTB-Armenia Bank has expanded the possibilities of international transfers by telephone

EBRD has significantly improved the forecast of the growth of the Armenian economy in 2024 to 6.2%

The EBRD predicts 6.2 percent economic growth in Armenia in 2024, and 4.8 percent in 2025. The World Bank expects that Armenia's economy will grow by 5.5 percent in 2024. The IMF predicts a 5 percent growth for the country's economy in 2024 and 2025.

ArkaAm

Donations to Armenia:

Himnadram
ServicemenFund
Armenian Wounded Heroes
ArmeniaFund

COMING VERY SOON 😀 💵 PROGRESSIVE PREMIUM💵
What does it include?❓ 😀• Spammers, Vendors, B4u, all type of bots such as food, cc, log, credit report, tlo, and more. 📲• Full Cooking tutorials with videos, links, materials, + more 🖥• Full spam guide with videos, materials, phis pages (custom), API setup, Custom domains, Host creation, & every tool setup needed. 🖥• Slips basics, pop on times, fonts, templates, glass channels , signature vids, and link to materials to start. 😻• Full ACH guide, will provide pictures, Where to get logs, what banks going fresh, how to link log, trial deposits & 3rd party apps, how to start ach transfer & how to wipe correctly. 🥳• Chase ACH ($25,000+) will provide full process with pictures & logs needed and account type needed. (Next day) 🤬• Full M2M process with what banks are going such as Afcu, Navy, Macu, & more. Providing steps & rdp connection guide. ⚙️• Disputes on mainstream banks such as Boa, Wells, and Chase ($1,500+)
🖥• RDP+Proxy setup & how they work, will teach how to connect, what they are used for, & where to buy, also what they prevent from causing. 🔎• Best sites for punching shoes, cloth, weapons, w33d, vapes, devices, tickets, & more coming soon based on suggestions. ⌛• How to refund big sites such as Adidas, New balance, Holister, Costco, Walmart, Stadium Good, Microsoft. Full steps included with basics/ways of refunding. 🖥• Full CPN creation guide with pictures, sites, Credit report info adding, Building credit & profile, Tri merging and more. 👾• Open Ups I will provide the information to open banks such as Navy Fed, Boa, Chase, Citi, US bank, And BMO. (more coming soon) 🌟• Enroll making, cashing, unblocking, spoofing, with pics, sites, apps, bins, cashout sites. 🎁• Giffy Jwett with sites, bins, cashout methods, and walkthrough. 💰• Apps to load $1,000+ including bins, sites, materials, unknown crypto apps, & gambling apps. 💳•Bin list, punching, non vbv, and more. 🏠• Wholesale Real Estate , Contracts, Guides, Videos Guides. ❤️• YouTube Automation, Guides,Apps To Edit,How To Start ⭐• E-commerce,Found what's Best Selling,How To Start 👟• Shoes Selling, How To Start Off, How To Check Market , Where To Sell Them At 🎮• Vending Machines Investing, How To Start Off, Requirements Need

Recently completed my first year at IISc (BTech M&C). During JEE prep days, I spent a lot of my time on this subreddit, so I decided to give back by posting an honest review of my time here so far. Note that this is based only on my experiences in the first year, and things might change in the future.
The Good:

• Professors are pretty knowledgeable (obviously). Academic stress isn't too much, and it isn't that hard to maintain a 8.5+ CGPA if you're consistent. For most courses, the grading is reasonable. There are some caveats, though. More on that later.
• Campus is quite green and drop dead gorgeous. During the flowering season, Gulmohar flowers cover the roads in a red carpet. Weather is usually super nice (Bangalore, duh), although it was a bit unusually hot this summer.
• Mess food is delicious. No complaints.
• Seniors are very helpful. Absolutely no ragging culture at all. They will (try to) help you with things ranging from finding coursebooks to general advice to attendance issues. ❤️ you seniors.
• If you're into research, you have a lot of opportunities here, IISc being the best research institute in India and all that. You can usually just email professors whose work you're interested in.

The Bad:

• There is a strict 80% attendance policy. If you have less than 80% attendance, you're straight-up not allowed to appear for any exams. I personally know many students who will have to retake courses because they couldn't sit for exams due to attendance issues. Even the procedure for medical leave is needlessly complicated. No proxy either because they use fingerprint scanners.
• Clubs are basically non-existent. There are very few clubs here, and they barely function. I can't say they don't do anything, because they do try. However, almost all club events are quite boring and bland. We don't have competitive programming, Hackathons, or any startup culture, either because most people aren't interested, or because of skill issues. This program is still pretty new though, and there is potential, so do come even (especially?) if you are interested in these things.
• A few professors don't know how to teach. Sure, they may be knowledgeable in their fields, but when it comes to teaching they have absolutely no clue. Not taking any names, but some have even thrown temper tantrums in class. Both semesters, we've had at least one such teacher.
• There's a hostel crisis here. They had a lack of good hostel rooms, so they have accommodated some people into substandard rooms (though they are still much better than some IITB rooms I have seen here). New hostel blocks are being built, and I hope they are complete before the next batch arrives because otherwise I have no idea where they're going to keep the new students.
• Might be a personal thing, but I hate the labs. They take up a lot of your time and teach you things you aren't interested in and probably won't ever need to use in the future. Thankfully, I have no labs next semester.

That's all for now. Ask away if you have any questions, and I'll try my best to answer. No guarantees though.
And before anyone asks: nahi mila sax-sux mujhe

(The information on the three gold companies in this report is not definitive. Instead, this information will drive you to do more due diligence and make an investment decision.)
A different way to invest in gold is to look for great properties. If you bundle the three companies/properties in this piece, you could own three great properties collectively for under CDN2.00 a share.
https://preview.redd.it/r3ojx4rynl0d1.jpg?width=1500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f188257532dc4ca3a50611b50bbde4ffa44ea47c
GOLDEN RAPTURE MINING (GLDR: CSE) is a collection of premier Ontario mining properties in the Rainy River region that have done enough work to unveil potential, below but left a significant amount of gold with great g/t numbers. As of this morning, some numbers will indeed up its profile. Considering the stock has been listed for about two weeks, these results are excellent. Forgive the length of the table, but given the quality of the results, investors must get the whole picture.
https://preview.redd.it/fzy13fb0ol0d1.png?width=833&format=png&auto=webp&s=a844bbabf8febd58fa858fe4f4d1b62f89c5f1c6
First, the newest, being listed in the last month, is Golden Rapture Gold. The Company intends to reactivate past mines in the Rainy River area of Ontario. The property is so new that management has only walked about 5% of it, but the numbers are already impressive over its two projects. The Company holds a 100% interest in the high-grade Phillips Township Gold Property, Rainy River District, NW Ontario. The land package totals 225 claim cells for approximately ten thousand acres located close to 4 mineral deposits. These assets include the New Gold Rainy River Mine (+8 million Oz.), the Cameron Lake Deposit (1.8 million Oz.), the Agnico Eagle-Hammond Reef deposit (3.3 million Oz.), the Tartisan Nickel, Copper, and Cobalt Deposit, and many others. Mature local infrastructure, workforce, heavy-duty equipment, hospitals, major highway systems, and local services are nearby.
https://preview.redd.it/jqg05eo1ol0d1.png?width=1135&format=png&auto=webp&s=a02df752577dbd62bddcd872fc131fe7794fce59
Mr. Richard Rivet, CEO of Golden Rapture, commented: “I am incredibly pleased that we have just made some essential and rapid steps toward identifying additional high-grade drill-ready targets. We were pleasantly surprised to discover many high-grade quartz veins on the surface, with the majority of them carrying gold. Unlike many exploration companies, we are not just chasing the typical geophysical anomaly but also many vast high-grade gold structures identified on the surface that can be drilled at any time.
https://preview.redd.it/303n77s7ol0d1.png?width=843&format=png&auto=webp&s=96df5f7ae205367b1a51d30b482d9940c91d0d22
The Company holds a 100% interest in the high-grade Phillips Township Gold Property, Rainy River District, NW Ontario. The land package totals 225 claim cells for approximately ten thousand acres located close to 4 mineral deposits.
These assets include the New Gold Rainy River Mine (+8 million Oz.), the Cameron Lake Deposit (1.8 million Oz.), the Agnico Eagle-Hammond Reef deposit (3.3 million Oz.), the Tartisan Nickel, Copper, and Cobalt Deposit, and many others. Mature local infrastructure, workforce, heavy-duty equipment, hospitals, major highway systems, and local services are nearby.
Ryan Yanch CIM, a director of GLDR, states***, ‘One extremely important fact is that GLDR’s drilling cost is an industry-leading CDN140 a meter. It is not unusual for other gold comp[anbies to spend CDN200-400 or more a meter. One major contributor to this is that one significant cost is the location of the drilling company. 17 km away from the properties significantly lowers the capital cost and allows a more robust drilling program”.***
Given the uniqueness and exceptional quality of GLDR’s properties, there could be excellent investor support. Gold is rallying, and the prospect of further rises may portend in the shadow of interest rate cuts.
Previous work on the properties quickly removes the ubiquitous ‘drill’ on the property or other tropes. These are serious businessmen and women with decades of mining and entrepreneurial experience.
In the world of junior mining IPOs, there is a feeling that the stars must align to profit. Au contraire***. The keys to investing success are the right properties, management, and, in this case, a rallying gold price.***
Numero Deux
https://preview.redd.it/p6h56dz9ol0d1.png?width=479&format=png&auto=webp&s=67770cada4ffa1e689c4611a19309ea0d9eadbfc
Element79 Gold Corp (the “Company”) (CSE: ELEM) (OTC: ELMGF) is a fascinating gold company and the second in our gold triumvirate located primarily in Peru through its flagship Lucero, Peru, property.
(Full Disclosure: James Tworek, CEO of Element79, is an adviser to the GLDR Board. Your humble scribe owns a small position in each Company.)
The past-producing Lucero Mine (“Lucero”) is one of the highest-grade underground mines in Peru’s history, with grades averaging 19.0g/t Au Equivalent (“Au Eq”) (14.0 g/t gold and 373 g/t silver).
https://preview.redd.it/of62jjsbol0d1.png?width=557&format=png&auto=webp&s=63799ac26087364b8afa847435d1ba86de0701d3
In its past 5 years of production, ending in 2005, it produced an average of 40,000oz+/yr.
Assays from March 2023 yielded 21-ore-grade and high-yield up to 11.7 ounces per ton of gold and 247 ounces per ton of silver from underground workings, further validating the potential for a significant high-grade future operation.
Consolidating its focus in this region and its impressive geology, ELEM acquired the Roxana Vein and surrounding 1200ha property, Lucero del Sur 28, via auction held on May 17, 2023. The property is located strategically just east of the high-grade Lucero gold-silver project.
Instead of going into much history, let’s look at the Press release ELEM put out on April 23. New assays were released, and CEO James Tworek stated, “The data obtained is not just promising; it’s the cornerstone upon which our future endeavours will be built,” said James Tworek, CEO of Element 79. “These recent results, coupled with historical data, represent the bedrock upon which we are advancing our Lucero project.”
Corporate Presentation.
https://preview.redd.it/q0peilsdol0d1.jpg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=70ca19204d296b5505017134f9a3238b6d713256
From the PR: A total of 97 samples were sent for assays, 56 of which returned greater than 0.1 g/t gold (up to 8.55 g/t gold and 523 g/t silver. Several samples also were rich in base metals (up to 23.7% lead and 9.9% zinc), all of which underscores the richness of our project, further supporting the Company’s belief a robust resource base can be delineated. (Actual assay numbers are shown in the PR)
James C Tworek further states, “Element79 Gold has transformed from an asset amalgamator and seller to a near-term production story, responding to Peru’s government push for formalizing artisanal mining operations. We at Element79 Gold are thrilled to share our unwavering dedication to bringing our Lucero gold project in Peru into production. This past-producing, high-grade gold and silver mine holds immense potential to revitalize our Company and foster economic growth and prosperity in the region. “
The other ELEM property brings us back to North America. Nevada, to be precise. Reason to pay attention?
https://preview.redd.it/ahbl9b9gol0d1.png?width=504&format=png&auto=webp&s=de8c1fe7b99e4fee542ebd7b57e12b0fb60ddf28
Maverick Springs is adjacent to the Carlin Trend. For the uninitiated, the area contains several of the largest gold mines on Earth. The area includes a number of the largest gold mines on Earth. Maverick Springs is a blind deposit comprising a 30-120 metre thick, flat-lying zone centred on an anticlinal structure with oxidation pervasive to 120 metres and intermittent to 270 metres. (5)
West Whistler property is in the same area as Maverick, closer to the Battle Mountain Trend, alongside Carlin: Near several gold deposits, including the Cortez Mine, North America’s third largest gold mine with 2021 gold production of 828,000 ounces.
Finally, the Clover Property, 16 km west of the massive Hecla Mine in the Northern Nevada Rift. The property sits at the top and centre of the Carlin and Battle Mountain Trends.
Nevada Gold’s active Turquoise Ridge Mine, the third largest gold mine in the United States with 537,000 ounces of gold production reported in 2020, as well as the Twin Creeks open pit mines and the dormant Pinson and Getchell mines.
Element 79 has drilling programs announced for the 2023/24 years and a more vigorous program for 2024/25.
https://preview.redd.it/jm0ixwjhol0d1.png?width=943&format=png&auto=webp&s=e54f1368dac6eb4b173daed8f101989cd1ff26de
As (GoldSilver.com) an aside, the gold price—and silver—have softened after particularly gold had a decent run. The first two in our group have slid a bit but seem to be holding in nicely.
If one follows gold forecasts, the pundits call for USD 2500-3000 over the next few years. The strategy is simple: A move to USD 3,000 represents a 50% appreciation. However, that also comes with physical and liquidity issues should you want to sell.
And the Gold price?
On December 30, 2022, gold closed the year at $1,819.70 per ounce. Flash forward to one year later, and gold closed 2023 at $2,062.40. That’s a gain of 13.3% in a single year.
With gold pushing to new record highs, it’s a fascinating time for gold investors.
Predicting the future of gold prices is never easy, but to offer some insights into what 2024 might hold, we’ve (compiled an array of gold price forecasts, outlooks, and predictions from renowned banks, industry experts, and financial analysts.
Let’s take a look.
https://preview.redd.it/hvtfmvojol0d1.png?width=1270&format=png&auto=webp&s=e010811fe9a82a92ebcfbce86a0b8ef1a3ca60f8
Numero Three
https://preview.redd.it/c3piq1qlol0d1.png?width=368&format=png&auto=webp&s=5e03a374e70713d3d9c1d284149582b1bef3797d
Off we go to South America. This time, Columbia with SOMA Gold. (TSXV: SOMA) (WKN: A2P4DU) (OTC: SMAGF) (the “Company” or “Soma“) recently announced that gold production for Q1 2024 was 7,335 AuEq ounces, an increase of 8% over the same period in 2023.
Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
https://preview.redd.it/zs05p1jnol0d1.png?width=625&format=png&auto=webp&s=2495c1d6df13c2ef31100c031528f8e970d8940d
The Company owns two adjacent mining properties in Antioquia, Colombia, with a combined milling capacity of 675 tpd. (Permitted for 1,400 tpd). The El Bagre Mill is currently operating and producing. Internally generated funds are being used to finance a regional exploration program.
https://preview.redd.it/3oy5cbapol0d1.png?width=872&format=png&auto=webp&s=f777cb52c01985d3c554fabc0cd2eb42ca45cd89
Soma is further ahead than our previous companies, which doesn’t make it better; it is just a different stage of development.
Corporate Presentation, 2023 results, Tech Report.
https://preview.redd.it/39o70anqol0d1.png?width=729&format=png&auto=webp&s=d3542994b4fcfb9fdc0ee7150497a8df2bd2d448
Properties
Cardero Mine

• The 84 thousand tonnes (kt) production rate in 2022 will ramp up to a peak mining production rate of 248 kt (680 tpd) in 2024. Achieving the planned peak production rate of 248 kt per annum would allow the Company to restart its previously operating El Limon Mill, with feed from Cordero in late 2023.
• El Bagre Gold Mining Complex is located approximately 167 km northeast of Medellín in the Department of Antioquia, Colombia. Soma produced 23,115 ounces of gold at its El Bagre Mill in 2022, an increase of 30% from the previous year. Soma’s production forecast for 2023 is for a further 50% increase to 35,500 ounces of gold produced.
• In addition to its operating El Bagre Mill, Soma owns the 225 tpd Limon Mill, which is located 47 km south of the El Bagre Mill. The Limon Mill has been on care and maintenance since 2020 but will be restarted when production from the Cordero Mine exceeds the capacity of the El Bagre Mill.
• The Limon Mill operates similarly to the El Bagre Mill with two-stage crushing, ball milling, gravity concentration, flotation, cyanidation, Merrill Crowe precipitation, and smelting to produce doré. The mill was upgraded in 2017 to a capacity of 225 tpd and is permitted for up to 400 tpd.

As mentioned, these three companies are similar in that they have what appear to be skookum properties. They are also all great gold proxies, and they all trade for under CDN1.00. Cheekily, I may have said that investors can own all three companies for under CDN 2.00 a share.
While I like the companies, I would buy them for their land positions. All have land that isn’t some dust pit but has either historical or proven assays. And most are near large producers. Element79; Nevada.Carlin Trend? Seriously?

Details here. It seems to come with an updater that only patches the parts of the program that need updating- for me that was ~100MB and too seconds.
Quick update- there are reported issues with AMD GPUs crashing. I'd skip 314 if you are on AMD until that is resolved.
Anyway here's what's new:
Improvements and Bug fixes:

• Correctly copy event properties of an Adjustment Event when a new event is created as a result of a split operation
• Fixed crash which may occur when user tries to open help but help is not available
• Media with mono audio now plays audio back at proper rate
• AVC media with format profile of High@6 now is imported as expected
• HEVC MOV media now imported with proper aspect ratio
• Stereo AC-3 in MP4 container now reads audio properly
• Resource leak that caused UI to become mangled is now fixed
• Prevent crash which may occur when application is brought back into focus
• MXF media is now decoded properly
• HEVC 4:2:2 CPU media now decodes as expected
• Fixed problems with errors in decoding with NVidia GPUs
• Context menu is missing when right clicking on meters
• Proper handling of Alpha channel with Adjustment Events
• Fixed a continuity problem with keyframes in the color correction plugin
• Copy attributes function in Titles and Text plugin no longer throws an exception when multiple fonts are used
• The Auto Correct function in the Stereoscopic 3D Adjust plugin no longer causes a freeze or crash
• Canon 600d media decoding errors are now fixed
• Rendered audio is no longer out of sync
• Fixed issues with MKV files with improper thumbnails, playback issues and memory usage
• Fixed crash inside of the video cache manager
• AI Upscaler no longer distorting output when scaling is between 1.1 and 1.25
• Fixed a crash which may occur after undo/redoing shortly after bringing VEGAS back into focus
• Improve speed when application comes back into focus
• Fixed AMD pixelization problems

Known issues:

• Blue and Red colors may be swapped in VEGAS Effects and HitFilm when using recent AMD Adrenalin drivers. It is recommended to revert the driver to version 23.7.2 to avoid this problem
• Project versioning has been incremented. This means that you will not be able to open project files created or saved with build 300 (and later builds) with older builds of VEGAS Pro 21 or VEGAS Pro 20 or earlier
• Projects with large amounts of media that contain a large amount of metadata may take a substantial amount of time to open
• The preference to unload media when the VEGAS application loses focus has been turned off, which may cause some problems if you are editing the same media in multiple applications at the same time.
• Some long GOP MXF files may show corrupted frames on Nvidia GPUs

You may download this update via the auto-update feature or directly from here.
https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/update-vegas-pro-21-build-314--145714/

Edit: Update- i created an excel document to keep track of every time my after effects crashes, or glitches, and how many times i have to wait for 10 seconds of footage to export just so i can see a preview of my video- im gonna keep track of how much time i waste waiting for this thing every day and show him after a week.
Hi people, I have a Mac Mini with M2 chip and 500GB Storage. But it only has 8GB RAM.. I have asked my boss if we can find a way to update the RAM, coz my computer really seems to struggle with AE (After Effects) and even other adobe Programs too. But he says the M2 should make up for lack of RAM.. I looked into creating RAM Disks using virtual memory but from what i understand, Mac's do this automatically... Is there anything I can do to maybe create more virtal Memory? Or anything I can say to convince my boss that we need to make a different plan? Or is he right, and my computer should be handling it, and maybe I am doing something wrong?
I generally make videos for socials, so not much longer than 15 sec, at most an internal video might be 2 min. I use proxies if I have video footage, I have changed my preview settings, I keep everything closed except one program at a time.. and still everything is so slow and often glitchy (perhaps this is just an Adobe issue?)
The other thing is that we work off a server.. which really seems to slow it down even more, I try to work of my computer for big projects- but its quite inconvenient coz all our media is stored on the server anyway..
PLS HELP, ANY ADVICE :(

Edit: Update- i created an excel document to keep track of every time my after effects crashes, or glitches, and how many times i have to wait for 10 seconds of footage to export just so i can see a preview of my video- im gonna keep track of how much time i waste waiting for this thing every day and show him after a week.
Hi people, I have a Mac Mini with M2 chip and 500GB Storage. But it only has 8GB RAM.. I have asked my boss if we can find a way to update the RAM, coz my computer really seems to struggle with AE and even other adobe Programs too. But he says the M2 should make up for lack of RAM.. I looked into creating RAM Disks using virtual memory but from what i understand, Mac's do this automatically... Is there anything I can do to maybe create more virtal Memory? Or anything I can say to convince my boss that we need to make a different plan? Or is he right, and my computer should be handling it, and maybe I am doing something wrong?
I generally make videos for socials, so not much longer than 15 sec, at most an internal video might be 2 min. I use proxies if I have video footage, I have changed my preview settings, I keep everything closed except one program at a time.. and still everything is so slow and often glitchy (perhaps this is just an Adobe issue?)
The other thing is that we work off a server.. which really seems to slow it down even more, I try to work of my computer for big projects- but its quite inconvenient coz all our media is stored on the server anyway..
PLS HELP, ANY ADVICE :(

Hi people, I have a Mac Mini with M2 chip and 500GB Storage. But it only has 8GB RAM.. I have asked my boss if we can find a way to update the RAM, coz my computer really seems to struggle with AE and even other adobe Programs too. But he says the M2 should make up for lack of RAM.. I looked into creating RAM Disks using virtual memory but from what i understand, Mac's do this automatically... Is there anything I can do to maybe create more virtal Memory? Or anything I can say to convince my boss that we need to make a different plan? Or is he right, and my computer should be handling it, and maybe I am doing something wrong?
I generally make videos for socials, so not much longer than 15 sec, at most an internal video might be 2 min. I use proxies if I have video footage, I have changed my preview settings, I keep everything closed except one program at a time.. and still everything is so slow and often glitchy (perhaps this is just an Adobe issue?)
The other thing is that we work off a server.. which really seems to slow it down even more, I try to work of my computer for big projects- but its quite inconvenient coz all our media is stored on the server anyway..
PLS HELP, ANY ADVICE :(

Edit: Update- i created an excel document to keep track of every time my after effects crashes, or glitches, and how many times i have to wait for 10 seconds of footage to export just so i can see a preview of my video- im gonna keep track of how much time i waste waiting for this thing every day and show him after a week.
Hi people, I have a Mac Mini with M2 chip and 500GB Storage. But it only has 8GB RAM.. I have asked my boss if we can find a way to update the RAM, coz my computer really seems to struggle with AE and even other adobe Programs too. But he says the M2 should make up for lack of RAM.. I looked into creating RAM Disks using virtual memory but from what i understand, Mac's do this automatically... Is there anything I can do to maybe create more virtal Memory? Or anything I can say to convince my boss that we need to make a different plan? Or is he right, and my computer should be handling it, and maybe I am doing something wrong?
I generally make videos for socials, so not much longer than 15 sec, at most an internal video might be 2 min. I use proxies if I have video footage, I have changed my preview settings, I keep everything closed except one program at a time.. and still everything is so slow and often glitchy (perhaps this is just an Adobe issue?)
The other thing is that we work off a server.. which really seems to slow it down even more, I try to work of my computer for big projects- but its quite inconvenient coz all our media is stored on the server anyway..
PLS HELP, ANY ADVICE :(

Hey everyone!
I recently dove deep into the fascinating world of web unblockers and thought I'd share some insights that might just change how you see internet restrictions and web scraping. You might already know that web unblockers are like secret passageways that let you sneak past internet censorship or geofencing. Think of them as VPNs on steroids, allowing not just encrypted data transfer for privacy but also unrestricted browsing freedom.
But here's where it gets really interesting, especially for folks in the web scraping arena. Web unblockers serve as these powerful APIs designed to outsmart anti-bot protections. They’re like the ninjas of the internet, using tactics such as IP rotation, browser fingerprinting, CAPTCHA solving, and even Javascript rendering to access the data we need.
Now, you might think a proxy does the job by changing your IP address. But web unblockers? They're the whole package, offering a bunch more than just a disguise. Yet, it's not all smooth sailing. No single web unblocker can claim victory over every anti-bot mechanism out there. Tech giants like Cloudflare are in constant evolution, crafting more complex defenses to keep bots at bay.
This is exactly why I conducted the Great Web Unblocker Benchmark. It's a showdown to see how different web unblockers stack up against the toughest anti-bot solutions in the wild. Sure, there's a price tag attached to these unblockers, but picking the right one isn't just about spending money—it's about investing in seamless data access for our projects.
In the end, the key takeaway is weighing the cost against the potential to maintain an uninterrupted data flow for our customers. Let's keep pushing the envelope and finding the best tools to navigate these challenges together.
Cheers to an open and accessible web for all our scraping needs!
Linkt to the full article: https://substack.thewebscraping.club/p/what-is-a-web-unblocker

Hi everyone, I need some help and have been in tears the last hour trying to figure this out. Adobe Premiere Pro will not stop "unexpectedly" quitting mid tasks.
For the life of me I have tried (seemingly) everything and nothing seems to be working. For context:

• I just bought a new Macbook Pro
• I also use a 2 TB HD and have purchased an SSD drive for tomorrow
• I've tried clearing my cache
• I've tried resetting the workspace settings
• I've tried creating a new project (multiple times) and new sequences
• I've tried everything on this list
• I've created proxies and encoded my media
• I've uninstalled and reinstalled Adobe Premiere Pro
• I am using Premiere Pro 24.3 and am running MacOS sonoma 14.5

Multiple scenarios have caused the program to crash including:

• Playback
• Clicking the "Export Button"
• Looking at Premiere Pro funny.

I have also contacted Adobe support who merely sent me this list and then wanted to have me download something (Bogmar?) to share complete access to my computer (SKETCHY). Their manager is apparently calling me in the morning, but I'm not even entirely convinced this was a real Adobe rep who helped me in the first place (they were super rude and pushy about me downloading Bogmar).
I have been using Premiere Pro for a while and have never had this issue before switching computers. I am by no means a Premiere Pro expert, but am here to learn. I'm unable to render or export a project I have been working on for days.
Please help if you can :(

Hi there, I’m actively losing my mind over here and am desperate for help 😅
I keep having this reoccurring issue where I’ll be editing normally, things will be running just fine, then all of a sudden FCP just totally locks up and becomes unresponsive to any clicks, commands, any efforts to quit (outside of a force quit via a different window), nor will the top or bottom menu even appear. But it’s not a “crash”—the program will stay open and active indefinitely. Nor is it a traditional freeze—there is no beach ball and the program does not show “unresponsive”, nor does anything in the activity monitor look weird.
I have no rhyme or reason as to why or when it’ll happen, but more often than not it will randomly happen right as I’m pressing space to play after making basic edits. Most times it happens right after the video starts playing and the video will literally play as normal and KEEP playing as if nothing is wrong (play head will move and everything) despite the fact that, by all appearances, the program is totally locked up and not responding to anything I do. It’ll play and play (audio and all) until I command over to another window to force quit—no error messages, no crash, no beach ball, no “not responsive” in activity monitor / application menu, nothing. And only force quitting will close it.
It used to happen every now and then but recently, for whatever reason, it’s happening literally every 10-20 minutes, sometimes sooner, and I’m avoiding finishing projects like the plague bc of the frustration. It happened in my last project too, just not this much.
I’ve done everything I know how. I’ve deleted preferences (which has never actually solved anything for me in general lol). I’ve restarted. I’ve updated plugins. I’ve removed them and put them back in. I’ve swapped the project folder location to and from my internal and external storage (yes, it’s formatted correctly, and yes I have lots of space on both hard drives) and it happens the same regardless. I even downloaded the last update to MacOS just as a Hail Mary but it continued. I’ve not changed anything I can think of that would make this happen so often all of a sudden nor have I started using any new plugins recently. No, I don’t use Chrome, nor CleanMyMac.
I used ProRes proxy media in my last project thinking it would help since my camera footage is 4k h.265 (which apparently FCP doesn’t love) but it really didn’t change anything. This current project actually runs extremely smoothly so far even without proxy and my CPU/RAM usage are laughably small so it’s clearly not a matter of the computer working too hard. In fact, funnily enough, the project runs very smoothly set to “better quality” but somehow performs noticeably WORSE when “better performance” is selected which 😂😅 and regardless of which is used, this locking up issue still happens.
What could be causing this? And has anyone else experienced this? I can’t find anyone else online talking about it anywhere so I’m afraid I’m uniquely cursed 😅
I really appreciate anyone who reads this and gives me any insight in any way! 🙏🏻
Computer Details: 2021 MacBook Pro 16” M1 Max Chip 32GB of RAM 720GB of storage free out of 1TB macOS Sonoma 14.4.1 (happened on 14.3 too) Latest FCPX Version (10.7.1)

14-minute read.

average monthly nominal salaries and YoY change in Q1 2024

Yerevan +8% to ֏324K/$836
Syunik +7% to ֏295K/$760
Shirak +7% to ֏142K/$366
Yerevan had the highest wages. Syunik had the highest wages among provinces, while Shirak had the lowest.
REPORT: While the average nominal monthly salary does not always show the level of economic prosperity in a region, its rise has made a tangible difference in Syunik.
SUREN PARSYAN (economist): Syunik has higher wages and strong employment. It is the most prosperous province with the lowest unemployment poverty rate in Armenia: 24% in Armenia, 15% in Yerevan, and 2% in Syunik.
REPORT: Over the last 5 years, the average monthly nominal salaries have risen by 40% while the inflation was 21%.
source,

Armenian army launches command staff exercises

They will exercise the practical implementation of deployment and combat plans, evaluate the commanders' skills, improve the synchronized work between various groups, develop the officers' moral characteristics and practical skills during preparation and combat operations, etc.
They will use automated control systems and modern technologies during the exercises.
source,

Armenia and India will form a new working group for defense cooperation

Defense ministries of AM and IN held a meeting on Tuesday. They discussed the 2024-2025 cooperation plan and the creation of a new working group to coordinate the cooperation.
source,

from PM Pashinyan's speech at Copenhagen Democracy Summit:

PASHINYAN: Democracy has indeed become a reality in Armenia. Before the 2018 Velvet Revolution, massive electoral frauds were the usual companion of elections in Armenia. There was no trust among the citizens that there was a real chance for them to elect the government.
Now the situation is totally different; citizens know that they are powerful enough to decide. The two general elections that were held in Armenia after the Velvet Revolution have been acknowledged as democratic, free, and competitive both by the Armenian society and the international community.
Armenia made huge progress in strengthening the democratic institutions, an achievement reflected in reputable democracy indexes:
(a) Now we are the 43rd in the Reporters Without Borders’ Freedom of Speech index, compared to 79th place in 2017.
(b) Categorized as having partially free internet in 2017 by Freedom House, now we enjoy the status of a country with free internet.
(c) In Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index, Armenia is now 62nd instead of 107th in 2017.
(d) In the Economist Intelligence Unit’s democracy index we are 84th compared to 111th in 2017.
In order to assess this progress, it's essential to note that alongside democratic reforms, Armenia has been contending with external security challenges: the 44-day war in Nagorno-Karabakh, Azerbaijan's invasion of Armenia in 2021 and 2022 and the occupation of over 200 km² amid inaction by [Russia's] CSTO, the forced displacement of over 100,000 Armenians from Nagorno-Karabakh, have cast doubts among Armenian citizens weather democracy is the right choice. So, democracy needs to prove its efficiency while dealing with security, economic and humanitarian challenges.
We are pleased with the deployment of EU monitoring mission alongside the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, and we welcome EU’s decision to expand its capacity. On the other hand, we hope for the inclusion of Armenia into the European Peace Facility and in this regard, we rely on the support of all EU member states [Hungary].
A new set of commitments aimed at strengthening Armenia’s economic resilience, state institutions, and addressing the humanitarian needs of refugees has been taken on by the European Union and United States during the high-level meeting on April 5 in Brussels. The rapid and effective implementation of those commitments is of utmost importance.
Despite all the challenges, we believe that the real and most aspiring companion for democracy is lasting and sustainable peace. My government took the share of its responsibility for this. Recently we reached an agreement with Azerbaijan to launch the delimitation of our interstate borders on the basis of the Almaty Declaration of 1991. That means that during the delimitation we should simply reproduce the Soviet-era administrative borders. This is the implementation of the agreement reached in Prague in 2022. Now it is time to incorporate and reflect those agreements in the peace treaty and have it signed.
Another key point for our regional stability is the «Crossroads of Peace», project, initiated by my government. This project implies that Armenia and Azerbaijan restore and open transport and other communications in accordance with the sovereignty and jurisdiction of the countries through which they pass, and comply with the principles of equality and reciprocity. These elements of the concept were agreed upon during the July 2023 meeting with Ilham Aliyev and Charles Michel. //

... Politico reporter's Q&A with Pashinyan

REPORTER: [Ex-NATO leader] Anders Fogh Rasmussen called your neighbor an autocracy. You are in a very difficult geopolitical and geographical position. How do you solve the security problem in that environment?
PASHINYAN: I would not like to comment on the internal situation of our neighboring countries. Democracy fully corresponds to the mentality of our people. It is a strategy for our government, it is our political belief, it is also our political identity. The members of our political team have spent most of their lives fighting for democracy, the rule of law, and freedom of speech. Now we have the opportunity to realize all these values in our country.
The security situation was complicated because of the regional and global situation; the world order is collapsing at the moment. My assessment is, and I have had occasion to say this publicly, that the 2020 war was a prelude to further developments. And now the main issue is security.
What is our strategic point of view, how are we going to guarantee the security of our country? Recently, I gave a speech in our parliament, where I said that the most important tool for ensuring security is a foreign policy based on legitimacy. This is the reason why we so often speak about the 1991 Almaty Declaration.
It is very important that during the 2022 Prague meeting, two very important agreements were reached. Armenia and Azerbaijan recognize each other's territorial integrity and sovereignty on the basis of the Almaty Declaration and will use it as the basis for the border demarcation. This is the reason why I said that we are not drawing a new border, we just need to reproduce the existing one on the ground. This process is happening right now, and I hope that we will continue it steadfastly.
REPORTER: The border conflict that has occurred in recent years has had a negative impact on relations with Russia and Russia's role for Armenia. What would you say about this?
PASHINYAN: Armenia is a member of CSTO. We are officially a CSTO member, but I have announced that we have frozen our participation.
REPORTER: So are you still a member or...?
PASHINYAN: It is a matter for further discussion, but it is very important to record the current situation. A crisis arose in our relations after Azerbaijani troops invaded Armenia, and according to CSTO procedures, the Organization and its member states had to support Armenia in this situation. But even after the formal application, the CSTO refused to take any concrete steps, and in fact, that is the main reason for freezing our participation in the CSTO at all levels.
REPORTER: Do you expect the West to occupy the current vacuum and ensure your security?
PASHINYAN: We are diversifying our foreign relations in all spheres. Now we are developing defense cooperation with India, France, and other countries. We have a certain cooperation with the European Union because as I mentioned, we are happy about the deployment of the EU Civilian Observation Mission on the border. It is a civilian mission but in a way, it is a new factor for the security of our region. This is the first time that the European Union participates in the security agenda of Armenia.
REPORTER: Would you like to become an EU member?
PASHINYAN: We are waiting for the EU's decision to include Armenia in the European Peace Facility. We also hope to start visa liberalization negotiations, and last year I announced in the European Parliament that Armenia is ready to be as close to the European Union as the European Union deems it possible. This is our position.
REPORTER: Can you elaborate on what initiatives Armenia is taking in the fight against corruption?
PASHINYAN: We have made huge progress but have not eradicated corruption from Armenia. We must continue to be persistent in the agenda of democratic reforms. This is the reason why cooperation with the European Union is of utmost importance for us because today the European Union is our main partner in the implementation of our democratic reform agenda. We hope that the European Union, as well as the USA, will increase their support to Armenia in the implementation of democratic reforms, because, as I said, democracy is a strategy for us.
By the way, in 2019 we started a Strategic Dialogue with the USA, and today we see the strengthening of our cooperation with the European Union. We recently had a tripartite meeting with the participation of the USA, EU, and Armenia. It was an unprecedented format, where we adopted a huge agenda of institutional and economic reforms. It is also very important that we receive more tangible support from the EU and the US to address the humanitarian needs of the Nagorno Karabakh refugees because it is a very sensitive and emotional issue for us.
REPORTER: In which year would you like Armenia to become a member of the EU?
PASHINYAN: This year [as soon as possible]. //
Pashinyan met Anders Fogh Rasmussen. The latter emphasized the importance of the “Crossroads of Peace” project in the context of unblocking the regional infrastructure.
Pashinyan discussed various topics with the PM of Denmark. The latter accepted his invitation to visit Armenia.
full video, source, video, other, other, source, video,

former regime continues to hold protests and briefly shut down roads in Yerevan with demands for PM Pashinyan's resignation

ԳԼՈՒԽ 1
Dozens of participants were detained and released the same day for blocking roads. The detentions decreased from 170 on Monday to ~63 on Tuesday. They want Pashinyan to resign or to be impeached. The protest organizers visited universities to gather student supporters, some of whom joined them with a dance. The organizers also stopped by at a bakery where they were given free food.
A felony investigation was launched after a police vehicle, "with the sirens on", struck a reporter on the street. In another instance, an investigation was launched against a protester who brought a long sword. One other case was launched over alleged threats made on Facebook by a Galstanyan fan who wants scores of people to be beaten in dalans and exiled from Armenia, "մենակ էտ դեպքում էս սրբազան հողը կմաքրվի էս տեսակ շան ծնունդներից, ուրիշ ձև չկա!!!!"
ԳԼՈՒԽ 2
A ruling faction member of Yerevan City Council complained about "harassment" by opposition figures who are attempting to convince ruling party members to join the protests and the impeachment.
RULING MEMBER: That is not how it works. No one will join you with that conduct. People will join if they see you have a legitimate agenda with trustworthy leaders. Instead, you are "ethnically cleansing" the citizens of Armenia [referring to one opposition speaker telling non-Armenians to leave] և հեռու չէ են օրը երբ դուք գուցե ասեք որ հայ լինելու համար պետք է Հայկ նահապետից տեղեկանք բերել: //
ԳԼՈՒԽ 3
Yesterday the protest co-organizer Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan said he received a report suggesting that the Deputy Rector of Yerevan State University supposedly urged deans and others to retaliate against students who joined the protests. Galstanyan said he was unsure whether the report was true, but decided to read it out loud anyway. On Tuesday he rallied his supporters to the backyard of the University where he demanded to speak with the Deputy Rector for clarification.
The Deputy Rector went downstairs and greeted Galstanyan, who shook her hand but wouldn't let it go for an uncomfortably long period, prompting her to ask him to let go of her hand. The Deputy Rector declared that whatever Galstanyan read about her was a defamatory lie.
GALSTANYAN: I never believed it myself.
DEPUTY RECTOR: Then you should not have said out loud something you did not believe.
GALSTANYAN: Listen, there is a recorded fact...
DEPUTY RECTOR: Where is that "recorded fact"?
GALSTANYAN: It was on the media. As I said yesterday, I had no verification that it was true, which is why we came here to clarify it. If it's false, then I apologize.
DEPUTY RECTOR: Thank you. //
The Deputy Rector urged the protest organizers not to enter the building or disrupt the classes, and that "anyone who wants to follow you can follow you, anyone who wants to stay in classrooms should stay in classrooms".
The angry Deputy Rector left. Another university official criticized Galstanyan for not checking the information before reading it to his followers. Galstanyan said he stands behind his words, and that he was "just reading what was on the media", but reiterated that he had no intention to insult the Deputy Rector.
ԳԼՈՒԽ 4
Galstanyan and his supporters visited the monument dedicated to Operation Nemesis. He praised the figures behind Nemesis for "assuming personal responsibility". In front of the crowd, Galstanyan introduced Hambig Sassounian who recently joined his movement. He pointed to the Nemesis monument and said Sassounian is "one of the successors, one of the brightest people." In related news, on Sunday a ruling faction MP complained about receiving death threats with reference to Operation Nemesis.
ԳԼՈՒԽ 5
DANIEL IOANNESIAN (NGO chief): When this protest dies down, we need to discuss the following: (1) The transparency of political and media funding. There are some regulations in place, but they are incomplete and easily bypassed. For example, I'd like to know who paid for Archbishop Galstanyan's giant stage in Republic Square. In 2018 Pashinyan organized a fundraising for it and disclosed a detailed report. (2) Should the media organizations that do not respect the rules of financial transparency enjoy all the mechanisms for the protection of journalists? (3) Are the customs authorities confident that the church is not facilitating the business activities of certain figures disguised as donations? (4) Is it fair for the church and clergy members not to pay taxes? Should they be able to have a Bently and LX570 without paying taxes? [The "Bentley" is based on a true story.]
ԳԼՈՒԽ 6
Archbishop's fans spotted Miss Armenia 2003 and a H1 host Lusine Tovmasyan drinking a coffee at a Yerevan café and approached her.
PROTESTER: (unintelligable)
LUSINE: I was here drinking coffee yesterday, and a year before that.
PROTESTER: Why have you not joined the holy struggle?
LUSINE: Լավ եկեք թարգեք, շատ զզվելի ա, էնքան զզվելի ա․ //
ԳԼՈՒԽ 7
Pro-Kremlin propagandist Alexander Dugin praised the pro-Russian forces' protests in Armenia and criticized the pro-EU protests in Georgia.
Pro-Kremlin Russian politician Semyon Baghdasarov praised Archbishop Bagrat and the ongoing "uprising" in Armenia against the "traitor" [Nikol] who "rigged" the elections with the help of "Turkey, UK, and US". Nikol is a Turkish MI6 agent. video,
ԳԼՈՒԽ 8
Video of a protest recorded from above: video
source, video, video, video, video, source, source, source, source, source, source, source, video,

Armenian government has upgraded other diplomatic channels to reduce reliance on ARF's diaspora structures in the US, says pro-West NGO chief

KHURSHUDYAN: The status of the Armenian Ambassador to the U.S. [Lilith Makunts] has been significantly upgraded. I won't go into specifics because it's tied to our neighbors, but she plays an interesting role there. We have great conditions for the U.S. Congress to pressure Azerbaijan. This is outside of ARF's lobbyist groups in the U.S.
REPORTER: ARF Hay Dat's recent conduct has been shameful.
KHURSHUDYAN: And its influence on the Lemkin Institute was obvious. //
Yesterday Kurshudyan accused the Lemkin Institute of caving to ARF's pressure and meddling into Armenia's internal affairs to assist the protests by the pro-Russian former regime.
KHURSHUDYAN: Lemkin Institute accused Pashinyan's April 24 genocide remembrance day statement of containing "victim blaming". Lemkin did not comment on Pashinyan's statement for several weeks, waited 15 days, and as soon as these pro-Russian protests began in Armenia, they gave them a պաս:
source,

Armenia's four most prominent pro-West opposition parties announce the formation of a unified platform

Republic Party, led by ex-PM Aram Sargsyan.
Hanun Republic Party, led by Arman Babajanyan.
European Party of Armenia, led by Tigran Khzmalyan.
Christian-Democratic Party, led by Levon Shirinyan.
Have the following agenda...
(1) Promotion of Western values in Armenia and Armenia's membership in EU and NATO.
(2) United front against threats and risks of destabilization coming from Russia.
(3) Vetting judges to clean up the courts, and resolution of issues left unaddressed by the Pashinyan administration.
(4) Continuation of border demarcation based on 1991 Almaty.
(5) The use of international law to achieve a fair resolution for Nagorno-Karabakh residents.
The platform is open for like-minded forces to join.
source,

Armenian army chief denies being a Russian citizen

A statement released by the defense ministry denies media reports that CoGS LtGen Edward Asryan is a dual citizen of Russia. His wife is an ethnic Russian with Armenian citizenship and his kids are dual citizens, but Asryan only has citizenship in Armenia. The whole family has resided in Armenia since 2006, said the statement.
source,

Georgia passes controversial ‘foreign agents’ bill despite widespread opposition

The law will require organizations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as “agents of foreign influence” or face crippling fines.
The bill will be sent to the President who is expected to veto it, but her veto is expected to be overruled by the parliamentary majority later.
Georgian PM Kobakhidze had an "honest conversation" with U.S. deputy foreign minister James O'Brien, telling him that the Georgian government is interested in deepening the partnership with the U.S., "which requires mutual efforts and relations based on fairness."
James O'Brien demanded to speak with the manager - Bidza Ivanishvili. The latter refused to meet O'Brien, saying he won't hold any meetings under "blackmail".
The White House said the U.S. will review its relations with Georgia if the bill becomes law.
source, source, source,

how many of the 101,000 Nagorno-Karabakh refugees have left Armenia and haven't returned yet?

As of...
Dec: 6.6K
Jan: 6.9K
Mar: 8.0K
Apr: 9.1K
May: 9.9K
The former Ombudsman of Nagorno-Karabakh said many of them have family members and friends in Russia who invite them to move.
source,

temperatures are rising rapidly in Armenia

REPORTER: The rainy May is not going to be enough to alleviate the negative consequences of the rapidly rising temperatures in Armenia. With a ~3 Celsius anomaly, Armenia had the second-highest increase in temperature over the last 6 months among a group of monitored countries.
WEATHER CENTER: High temperatures increase the evaporation of water and reduce the amount of snow in the winter. In December and January, we recorded rain instead of snow in certain mountainous regions, which is bad for water resources.
REPORTER: A conference was recently held in Yerevan within the framework of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification.
UN official: Around 40% of global soils are degraded. Millions of people will be forced to migrate from their communities by 2050 as a result of climate problems. Emergency action is needed to reduce the rate of rising temperatures. //
Armenia joined the Convention three decades ago and has assumed the responsibility to restore degraded soil by 2030. The government is promoting drip irrigation systems for farming and wants to plant more trees.
video,

is the decline of Lake Sevan levels finally slowing down?

see the YoY chart

Yerevan Municipality to receive a €25 million loan from European Investment Bank to raise energy efficiency

It's part of the implementation of Eastern Partnership programs. The Armenian government and the EU are co-financing it.
The goal is to raise energy efficiency and carry out seismic retrofitting in 6 medical clinics and 32 kindergartens run by the municipality. The length of the program is 4 years.
video, video,

Gagik Tsarukyan is inside you

there is a bit of Tsarukyan inside all of you
see it to believe it

Gagik Tsarukyan says the new Jesus statue is ready and will be installed by the end of 2025

It will be a tourist attraction site. There will be a ropeway. Also, Tsarukyan needs you to know that he is a man of God and an avid believer.
video,

Armenia and Slovakia discussed AM-EU visa liberalization

source,

Lithuania will help retrain Armenian law enforcement agents to combat cybercrime, analyze crimes, etc.

source,

Armenia's Economy Minister Papoyan met the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt

In a Washington meeting participated by the Armenian Ministry delegation and Armenia's Ambassador, they spoke about the Crossroads of Peace logistics project proposed by Armenia, several topics relating to Armenia's energy and economic security, and the Armenian government's ongoing efforts to classify Armenia as a "market economy".
source,

Armenia and Iran discussed the construction of a second bridge over the River Araks

The first bridge began operating in 1996. It came to replace the floating bridges on the river.
Iran says the AM-IR traffic through the Meghri checkpoint significantly increased last year. Coupled with the fact that Armenia is building a modern North-South highway, they believe it's necessary to have a second AM-IR bridge to handle the rising traffic.
The parties are currently discussing the formation of a working group consisting of experts to discuss the topic.
source,

a new study on mice indicates that more exercise might be better than more sleep for clearing brain of toxins

They injected a dye into a brain and tracked the speed of its movement during sleep and exercise.
The findings show that the clearance of the dye was reduced by 30% in sleeping mice compared with mice that were kept awake. This has not been confirmed on humans yet.
Previous research has suggested that sleep is important for preventing dementia as it is during this time that toxic proteins are cleared from the brain.
source, source,

I’ve noticed more people starting to refer to software as “codes”.
I think this is an Indian-English thing, but I’m not sure.
I am sure that I find it annoying.
From HN:

Supercomputer admins would love to have a single code that used the whole machine, both the compute elements and network elements, at close to 100%. In fact they spend a significant fraction on network elements to unblock the compute elements, but few codes are really so light on networking that the program scales to the full core count of the machine.

They even used both terms. Grrr. Pick a side, dammit.