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Giving dietary advice can cause controversy, as we all have unique bodies and lifestyles. Our modern abundance has allowed us to create philosophies surrounding food, rather than just eating what is available. In this article, we will explore some general principles that a tea lifestyle teaches us about diet, without mentioning any specifics. Hopefully, this will mean that all of you will find something useful in this article. Of course, we aren't doctors and our dietary experience should be understood as our own life wisdom, shared in the hopes of helping you with your health. There is more to the old saying that we are we what we eat than just the obvious fact that what we consume determines our physical constitution. Especially in the modern age, diet is as much a philosophy, a way of life, as it is sustenance. Throughout history, our ancestors ate what was available to them, without as much selection as we have. In an age of abundance, we spend a lot of time and energy deciding on a diet, which affects our orientation to life. We can focus on the flavors, the health benefits or even a spiritual philosophy, which we use to navigate our food choices. Along with the copiousness of food choices, there is also a wealth of information on what is and is not healthy - an overwhelming barrage of often-contradictory data, such as studies endorsed by food producers and other agendas. This can be frustrating and affect our health. But there is a compass that can help steer us into our optimal physical well-being. Because diet has become such an important aspect of our personal identities and philosophies, rather than the simplicity of eating whatever is local to us, the topic of diet itself is rather controversial. People nowadays have strong views about what to eat and when. And we all have different needs based on our lifestyle and makeup. This means that one can only share one's experience in the hopes that some of one's wisdom will be valuable to others. Perhaps some portion of my experience in developing a healthy diet for myself will also be useful to you, though probably not all of what I have to say. I will try to keep this discussing focused on very general principles in the hopes that sharing will be helpful to more of you, my beloved tea community. Of course, all of what I am sharing here is my own experience and should therefore be taken as such. I am not a physician of any kind. We all must take responsibility for our own bodies, health and happiness. As this is a tea magazine, I will also focus on the areas of diet that I feel have been directly impacted by my tea practice. I think the problems with the world of food are very analogous to tea: both worlds are full of misinformation and tea and food also require further research. Tea and diet are furthermore often studied with a commercial agenda, and one finds that studies are published to promote a certain agenda, like "green tea is anti-cancerous" or "dairy is good for you," and the published research is paid for by businessmen who approach scientists with a conclusion they want proven. Perhaps green tea is anti-cancerous, but true science always starts with a hypothesis, not a conclusion. Such studies are always suspect. But Tea has taught me some things about diet, and many of the methods I cultivated in learning to evaluate tea also apply to food. For example, I find that the Ten Qualities of a Fine Tea, which we often discuss in this magazine, can be very helpful for evaluating the quality of food as well. Here are some of the things Tea has taught me about life and diet. Since so much of the tea world is marketing, we need to have a method for evaluating tea independent of the story that surrounds any given tea. Stories about a tea - where it came from, how old the trees were or who processed it - these stories are wonderful when shared amongst friends, but not so great when they are used to market a tea. I guarantee that your favorite tea has a story. Maybe you found it in a special shop or got it from a friendly source. And sharing such a story with friends over tea enhances the experience. Telling tea stories, old and new, over a cup of fine tea is something every Chajin enjoys. However, we can all grow jaded by vendors using such stories to sell tea. For that reason, we have to learn to use our own experience to evaluate a tea for purchase. "The truth is in the cup," as my teacher always says. And a sensitivity to one's own body through a tea and meditation practice has also helped me more than anything else to cultivate a healthy diet. Our bodies are marvelous instruments of experience and wisdom. One of the most important aspects of a tea practice is that it opens the dialogue of nonverbal communication again. And opening that book is an opportunity to read the greatest and deepest book ever written, for no matter how wise the teachings of humankind (even the Buddha), they do not compare to the teachings of the mountains - millions of years in the making. No matter how powerful the chant (even the almighty Heart Sutra), it pales in comparison to the chants of the stars, whose lightsongs have rung uninterrupted for billions of years. All that we know about this universe, from science to spirituality, we learned from Nature. Observing and exploring Nature is the only truth there is. And this applies as much to what is inside, and the workings of our bodies, as it does to our exploration of the world around us. As you read these words, your body is performing millions of functions from the subatomic to the chemical level: your heart and liver function on their own, as your brain releases hormones, and so on, and so forth. Depending on how we mark our beginnings, these bodies were either formed billions or millions of years ago, for these very atoms that make up my body were born in a star many billions of years ago; or, if we want to look through the lens of organic evolution, then millions of years of growth and change, adaptation and change have gone into the creation of this very body that is my only life. And it is wise, indeed. One of my favorite Zen proverbs is, "The life force that breathes this body a certain amount of times when I am in deep sleep is the same life force that turns the autumn leaves red," which speaks to this philosophy - that the evolutionary adaption and, in a manner of speaking, the wisdom that created this body is the same wisdom that created all life on Earth. My body is very wise, in other words. Our bodies are the doorway to noverbal communication, and nothing inspires the connection between these bodies, our instruments for exploring the world, more than when something of Nature (like tea) meets our senses in such perfect harmony, bringing sensual joy. When a creation of Nature is so perfectly fitted to our bodies, these ideas become quite profound - experientially so. Learning to listen to our bodies is paramount in cultivating our ability to truly understand tea, and to find a healthy diet as well. This doesn't mean that one shouldn't explore dietary research, or learn about tea for that matter. The mind is a part of the body, after all, and listening to one's reason is as important as any other part of the body. But in this age of information, conceptual information has taken over a disproportionate amount of our life, controlling everything. We study and create diets based on data, breaking the world down into amino acids, proteins and calories without enough connection to the actual, physical sensations of our bodies, which is to say the nonverbal communication. My teacher always said that it's not that eating junk food makes one insensitive, but rather that one must be insensitive to eat junk food. In other words, eating such food means we are not listening to our bodies, which will send messages that such food is not in our interest. In order to find a healthy diet, one must develop a sensitivity to the body itself, listening to its wisdom. Then, we can combine this with information, data and research. This means using our reason and our intuition in harmony, which is a deep life lesson and can be applied to all areas of life. In order to access these subtle messages of the body, we will need to cultivate an ability to quiet the mind, for these noisy thoughts are often so loud that the softer, quieter messages of Nature and our bodies cannot be heard above the din. For this, we should practice tea ceremony, meditation or other quiet, Yin techniques that still the mind. When the mind softens to a whisper, or becomes silent altogether, the teachings of our bodies and of Nature become clear. Many of you know that I have gone through a great physical transformation this year, losing a lot of weight and getting fit. A large part of this was in applying these messages to the research I had done. Sometimes it can be hard to distinguish the body's messages from our cravings. There are times where my cravings are signals of my body's needs, but other times a craving is just a craving. I try to find a way around the craving for rich foods that aren't healthy for me by eating healthy foods first and telling myself that if I still want some peanut butter, I can have some after lunch. Even if I do then decide to eat some, it is always just a little and part of a balanced diet. The most important factor in finding my own healthy diet was learning to balance research and dietary education with an intuitive ability to listen to my body. I developed this ability through my tea practice, which really does require the same skills. As I learned to listen to Tea speaking to my body through my senses - of taste, smell and touch mostly - my sensitivity to food and its relationship to my body's needs has also developed. As I meditate, focusing on my breathe and body sensations, I also hone and sharpen the clarity of my body's voice. And then, I try to cultivate the strength and heart to heed my body's wisdom and make appropriate choices. Sometimes that's even harder than becoming sensitive to the body's wisdom in the first place! But the more I experience, the easier it becomes, since I more fully feel the effects of making unskillful decisions and choosing food with my mouth instead of my body. One of the tea lessons I value above all the many, many ways that Tea has impacted my life is my growing esteem for the ordinary. The more tea I drink, the simpler life becomes. When I don't have an issue, I drink tea, and when there is a challenge, I drink tea. If we spend our lives waiting for the special times when things go our way and all is fine, we miss out on all the average, ordinary moments that are the real pith of our time on Earth. We will spend much more of our time walking, brushing teeth and making lunch than we will on special trips to exotic locales or other exciting and fortuitous times. Tea has taught me that the ordinary is never, ever really ordinary. Every moment is special. There is always magic afoot. We are right now whizzing through space at thousands of kilometers per hour on a giant blue ball filled with fire! And, as we already discussed, these gorgeous bodies have been billions (or at least millions) of years in the making, with precious eyes and breaths, heart and hands to live. The more tea I drink, the more I understand how precious each moment is, including this very one - these very words shared between us. With an appreciation for the simple things in life, I can cultivate a joyful approach to all of life. Most of the time, we mistakenly wait for the world to make us happy, finding joy in the times when our desires are fulfilled and things go our way. But joy can also be cultivated. We can develop our joy, learning to find gratitude and richness in each and every moment. As Tea has helped me simplify my life, teaching me that less is indeed more, She has also helped me to simplify my diet. As I said at the outset of this article, most of the confusion in our diet stems from too much complexity - too many choices. We now have access to food from all over the world and are constantly barraged with data from all fronts that is far too often contradictory. For me, the best approach to a healthy diet has been to radically simplify all this. I eat whole foods. Since we are discussing simplicity, I'll put it simply: If the ingredients look like the kinds of things in my great-grandma's kitchen, that is healthy food and if it reads like a science textbook, I avoid it. Diet really can be that easy! The complexity, confusion and complication that we face when researching dietary advice also applies to the modern methods of food production. For thousands of years, people produced food on farms and brought it to market, where city-dwellers would buy the produce and take it home to cook. When my father was young, he had relatives in Florida that would bring oranges to them in Ohio for Christmas. Some of his friends had never had an orange, and my father would be king for a day, bringing one to show-and-tell. Nowadays, everything is so confused. The food is still made at farms, but then, instead of going to a market where it is sold, it is taken to a factory and mixed with artificial ingredients. We then build other factories to produce the machinery used in those factories, more factories to make the packaging materials and even more factories to build trucks to carry all this stuff around between factories... This senseless complication of what should be simple also deteriorates the nutritional value of our food. If we saw what goes on in factories, we wouldn't want such processed food. They don't take simple, whole ingredients and cook with them as you do in your kitchen. They actually don't cook much at all. Food factories aren't filled with chefs, though they may have some on their staff; they are filled with scientists and laboratories. And our health and happiness plays no part in their research, development and production of food products. They are profit-driven to use artificial flavors/ ingredients that are cheaper than natural ones, to preserve food longer and to add sugar, fat and oil to make the food more desirable to us. They care about their profits, not our health. And all too often, this whole process damages the environment as well, which further deteriorates our health and quality of life. Diet doesn't have to be complicated. Eat whole foods. Cook with ingredients straight from a farm, and one that didn't harm the environment and pollute our ability to create more food and pass on a green, healthy Earth to our descendants. Just like tea, the best food is sustainable, organic and grown in balance with Nature. Also like tea, we could speak of "living food," grown in biodiversity rather than monoculture, grown without agrochemicals and with a healthy relationship between humans and the environment. Simple foods are always the best choice for me. In fact, sometimes the best food is no food. Sometimes I feel like the best question for me is not what to eat, but whether to eat at all. Our ancestors didn't live in such abundance, with food around at all times. Much of our obesity issues stem from our evolutionary makeup: we developed a psychological preference for the rarest foods in Nature, which are fats and sugars, as well as an inherent ability to store these substances for longer since they are so rare - or at least were. When sugar and fat become abundant, and life grew more sedentary, so many of us (myself included) have come to face problems with being overweight, which affects our health, longevity and, worse yet, our quality of life. Without as much food available, there were always periods of fasting during the millions of years that our bodies were evolved. All indigenous people fast. Eating three times a day at particular times is an invention. It is convenient for social reasons, as you can meet others and eat together, but it has very little health benefits. Also, I have found that eating at a particular time, rather than when my body tells me to eat, further deafens the voice of my body. The messages and wisdom of what I should eat get lost in the schedule of feeling obligated to eat at certain times. When I dropped the idea that I had to eat a certain amount of times a day, or at particular times, my sensitivity to my body and its needs increased. Most of my problems when it came to being overweight stemmed from not getting enough exercise and overeating. My diet has always been rather simple and based on whole foods, but I had a bad habit of eating too much for my body's needs in any given day. Eating just to eat was a way of ignoring my body and of growing more insensitive to its wisdom. As I began to listen more, I learned to eat less, at the appropriate times and in an amount suited to my lifestyle. For me, fasting is of incredible value to my health and well-being. I find it important for my physical health and for my spiritual cultivation. Every spiritual tradition on Earth includes fasting as a useful technique for dealing with our attachments to food, for growing lighter and more energetic, and for expanding consciousness. If the body is constantly digesting food, it is more difficult for it to rest and heal itself. For me, I try to never eat in the evening or night, so that my digestive system can rest during the night while I sleep, healing my body and relaxing my mind. On the rare occasions that I do eat dinner, I always notice that my sleep is less deep and my dreams more fitful. This is one of the nonverbal teachings of my body. I practice fasting the way I do meditation: regular small fasts and annual deep fasts. Similarly, I meditate for shorter periods of an hour or two every day and then sit for longer, deeper retreats once or twice a year. I try to fast every evening, and then for a longer period once a week. Then, I try to schedule a week-long fast at least once a year, sometimes twice. I always feel the effect of this practice as a cleansing of my system. Amazingly, I find that after a couple days, the desire to eat completely leaves me and the fast is no longer a struggle at all. I usually spend a couple days coming off of food and then a couple days at the end of the week of just water to slowly return to eating with smoothies and soups. There is a lot of research about the benefits of fasting, and even some marvelous results coming from centers that are using fasting to treat incurable diseases. If you are interested in practicing intermittent fasting or fasting for longer periods, you should do some more research and find a way to go about fasting that is conducive to your health and happiness. There may be people with constitutions that make fasting dangerous. I can only speak for myself when I say that fasting is an essential aspect of a healthy diet for me. The Buddha taught the "Middle Way," which advises us to avoid extremes. The path of Tea has also taught me this, helping me to actualize these teachings in my life. This is something I aim for in my relationship to my diet as well. Since my transformation has come about this year, and is therefore still so fresh, I must admit that I haven't yet found my balance. I still feel the need for enforced discipline surrounding my exercise and eating habits. I still feel the need for an inner drill sergeant that can bully the rest of me into exercising even when I don't want to and to shout above the cravings for unhealthy food. But I don't want to live with this bully forever. I aim to harmonize with my nature. As I have started exercising every day, I have indeed found myself getting closer to a balanced state where I can enjoy exercising some days, loving the act for its own sake, and then be compassionate and let myself take it easy on other days, finding my limitations and respecting them. Similarly, I want to be able to feast with friends and enjoy food for its own sake when the occasion calls for it. Human beings celebrate with food, after all. There is more to eating than just our physical health. Sometimes we need "soul food," as well. Besides a lack of exercise, one of the biggest causes for my being overweight was the fact that I travel so much - often six or seven months a year. And we all know that when we are away, in a new or exciting city, we give ourselves permission to "cheat." Also, everyone wants to take you out to eat and share local, often rich and delicious, dishes with you. Though I was feasting far too often, I don't think it is healthy to be so hyper-focused on health all the time. Devoting too much energy to our physical well-being is a bit like having a gorgeous antique violin and spending all your time polishing and tuning it without ever playing. We must live. The purpose of having a healthy body is to increase our quality of life and our longevity so we can live more and cultivate ourselves further (in service of others). We must live fully and happily, and being healthy in body is a means to that. In the end, all our bodies will break down and we will die. Finding a balance between eating skillfully, in a way that is conducive to our physical well-being, and also celebrating life and the people we love through delicious meals is my personal ideal. I hope to achieve this by learning to cook special meals with simpler, healthy ingredients, while maintaining a certain extra something that makes such dishes stand apart from our ordinary, daily fare. I also hope to find balance in my food discipline, not letting myself become too loose as to gain weight again, but also not being too tight to enjoy life. As I said, I haven't yet found this balance, though I know it is possible. Beyond balancing our eating for health and eating for the joy of eating, I think that finding a harmony with Nature is the key to a healthy diet for us as individuals and as a species. The more we develop agriculture based on a philosophy of balance and sustainability, the healthier our world will be. And it is only in a healthy world that we can truly be healthy. You cannot find a healthy organism in an unhealthy environment. If a single cell in our body stops caring about cooperation with the other cells and starts reproducing itself ad hoc, we have the beginnings of cancer. It is no wonder that this is the disease of our age, and one that so many of us will face, since we behave in the same way on the macro level, ignoring the health of the Earth and Nature for our own personal well-being, which, like the crazy cell, is not possible. How can a being whose body is composed of fifty to seventy percent water ever be healthy in an environment where the drinking water is polluted? How can an organism that requires the inhalation of oxygen several times a minute ever be healthy in an environment in which the air is toxic? To truly be healthy and happy, we have to create a healthy, happy environment, where we can design our cities around sustainable agriculture, green energy and zero pollution. Doing so is a personal matter directly related to my own health, happiness and longevity - perhaps even more so than my dietary choices! Nature is wiser than us, and like our bodies, we must learn to listen to Her, working in cooperation rather than in opposition to Her. If we learn to eat seasonally and harmonize our efforts with the forces of Nature, we can create environments that are conducive to human health and happiness. To achieve this, we will also have to learn to cooperate with one another, understanding that our health and quality of life is dependent upon others. We cannot all be farmers. We need our fellows to make our clothes and food, tea and computers. Together, we can create such a healthy world. It is our selfishness, on the other hand, which has polluted the air and water, Earth and Sky. When we love and serve one another, and our future descendants, realizing that our health is bound to one another, we may indeed have a chance at a clean and healthy Earth. These are all lessons that I have seen in the bowl. What can I say, other than that tea is the most important part of my diet, as it has not only helped me to be healthier, but has taught me the life wisdom I need to cultivate a healthy relationship with my food, my Mother, the Earth and with you, whom I love.

2019-04-20T15:02:12Z

http://archive.globalteahut.org/article/1008

Donald Lawrence Keene (born June 6, 1922 in New York City) is a noted Japanologist, scholar, teacher, writer, translator and interpreter of Japanese literature and culture. Keene is currently University Professor Emeritus and Shincho Professor Emeritus of Japanese Literature at Columbia University, where he has taught for over fifty years. Keene has published about 25 books in English on Japanese topics, including both studies of Japanese literature and culture and translations of Japanese classical and modern literature, including a four-volume history of Japanese literature. Keene has also published about 30 books in Japanese (some translated from English). Keene is the president of the Donald Keene Foundation for Japanese Culture. Perhaps no one is more qualified to write about Japanese culture than Donald Keene, considered the leading interpreter of that nation's literature to the Western world. The author, editor, or translator of nearly three dozen books of criticism and works of literature, Keene now offers an enjoyable and beautifully written introduction to traditional Japanese culture for the general reader. The book acquaints the reader with Japanese aesthetics, poetry, fiction, and theater, and offers Keene's appreciations of these topics. Based on lectures given at the New York Public Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the University of California, Los Angeles, the essays - though written by a renowned scholar- presuppose no knowledge of Japanese culture. Keene's deep learning, in fact, enables him to construct an overview as delightful to read as it is informative. His insights often illuminate aspects of traditional Japanese culture that endure today. One of these is the appreciation of "perishability." this appreciation os seen in countless little bits of Japanese life: in temples made of wood instead of durable materials; in the preference for objects -such as pottery- that are worn, broken, or used rather than new; and in the national love of the delicate cherry blossom, which normally falls after a brief three days of flowering. Keene quotes the fourteenth-century Buddhist monk Kenko, who wrote that "the most precious thing about life is its uncertainty." Throughout the volume, Keene demonstrates that the rich artistic and social traditions of Japan can indeed be understood by readers from our culture. This book will enlighten anyone interested in Japanese literature and culture. Wednesday evening, January 30, 2008 I attended a presentation at the Japan Society in New York City, given by Donald Keene, University Professor Emeritus and Shincho Professor Emeritus at Columbia University. Among his accomplishments are the publishing of approximately 25 books in English, including a four-volume history of Japanese literature; and approximately 30 books in Japanese, some original and some translated from English. "Professor Keene's 'Meiji Tenno' (Shinchosha, 2001; translated by Yukio Kakuchi) a biography of the Meiji Emperor, recently won the 56th Mainichi Shuppan Culture Prize." "In the autumn of 2002, Professor Keene was awarded one of Japan's highest honors, the title 'Person of Cultural Merit' (Bunka Koro-sha), for his distinguished service in the promotion of Japanese literature and culture. Keene is only the third non-Japanese to be designated this honor. He is also the recipient of the Kikuchi Kan Prize of the Soceity for the Advancement of Japanese Culture (1962); the Order of the Rising Sun, Second Class (1993) and Third Class (1975); the Japan Foundation Prize (1983); the Yomiuri Shimbun Prize (1985); the Shincho Grand Literary Prize (1985); the Tokyo Metropolitan Prize (1998); the Radio and Television Culture Prize (1993); and the Asahi Prize (1998)." Professor Keene began his talk by stating that he is 85 years old. [He maintains a head of dark, thinning hair with gray around the edges.] He related several anecdotes from his life to illustrate his contention that the path his life has taken has been more of an accident, at least near the beginning, than a purposeful plan. In 1939, as a freshman at Columbia University, he sat next to a fellow student who was Chinese in a class taught by Mark Van Doren [Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and critic]. After a while of sitting next to each other four days a week, they became friends. Eventually Professor Keened asked his friend if the friend would teach him Chinese. So they ate a $0.25 lunch every day at an Asian restaurant on Broadway near the university; a restuarant that finally closed only about ten years ago. The Chinese friend began teaching him Chinese characters out of a contemporary Chinese novel, which Prof. Keene said later gave him a headstart in learning Japanese. However, the friend didn't teach him Chinese pronunciation. Prof. Keene said this was because his friend didn't speak Mandarin, but rather Cantonese, and was embarrassed about that. Prof. Keene said that 1940, his sophomore year, was the worst year of his life, mostly because of the war news from Europe. But it also was the year that began to shape his interest in Japan. He found, in a bookstore in the Astor Hotel in Times Square, the remaindered two-volume Tale of Genji translated by Arthur Waley, and bought it for $0.49. In 1941 he took a class called "Readings in Japanese Thought," taught by Professor Tsunota Yusaku. Prof. Keene was the only student in the class. He asked Prof. Tsunota if he was going to cancel the class, but Prof. Tsunota said, "One is enough." But the class abruptly ended shortly after December 7 of that year. Professor Tsunota was accused of being a spy because, according to Prof. Keene, he was known to take long walks without a dog. Therefore he was thought to be a spy. He was interred in an internment camp for the duration of the war. Prof. Keene then volunteered for the Navy Japanese language school, and after 11 months of immersion in the Japanese language, he was stationed in Hawaii, where he translated documents and served as a translator in the interrogation of Japanese prisoners, among other things. and Persian. When he got there, the teachers of Arabic and Persian asked him how long he was planning on staying. When he said a year, they said, goodbye. He ended up staying for five years anyway, teaching Japanese. The text that was being used to teach beginning Japanese at that time was the preface to the Kokinshu, because it was written in mostly simple characters and had easy grammar. Prof. Keene then went on to discuss his lifelong interest in Japanese literature and culture. He said that as a scholar, he doesn't "plunge deeply" into one particular area, but "goes from flower to flower." He feels that this character trait of his has served him well, although he acknowledges it does open him to the charge of being superficial. Prof. Keene said that one change from his first visit to Japan in the late 1950s to now, is that there seems to be a break with tradition among the young Japanese people. On his first visit, he said that Japanese literature was being extensively taught at the university level; today, there is hardly any teaching of it. He said that Japanese young people today have more in common with young people around the world than with their own cultural heritage. In order to feel an active part of Japanese culture, he first thought to study a Japanese musical instrument, but his lack of musical aptitude quickly dissuaded him from doing that. So on what sounds like a whim, he studied Kyoogen acting, which is farcical in nature. It tried his patience, since his teacher would make him repeat a single phrase over and over until the teacher was satisfied with how he said it, and the teacher would tell him, when he was supposed to pick something up, he was only to use TWO fingers, etc. But Prof. Keene said he enjoyed the experience. In answer to a question, Prof. Keene said that the translation of his that he is most satisfied with is his translation of Kenko's Essays in Idleness. Unlike other translations, where he feels that he could have made improvments, he feels he achieved "the right voice" with Essays in Idleness. He translated it while living in Japan during the rainy season, and he said that as a result, there wasn't much else to do. In answer to another question, he said he feels that literal translations, have, on the whole, failed. He says that he most enjoys reading translations in English that sound beautiful in English, and stand as independent works in English. He went on to say that even though Arthur Waley, in his translation of The Tale of Genji, left things out and even added things in that aren't in the original, he finds it to be a beautifully written work in English, and hopes it doesn't disappear as a work of English literature. One questioner who is Japanese (speaking English with an accent) said that she is disturbed by how poorly students in Japan speak and write Japanese these days. She mentioned she was involved in translating tanka and haiku written by Japanese prisoners of war during WWII, and although many of them were common foot soldiers, with farming backgrounds, etc., and often had no more than a fourth or sixth grade education, they nevertheless wrote beautiful tanka and haiku. She said the Japanese they wrote back then, with limited education, was better than many, more educated, students write today. Prof. Keene replied that he understood her point, but he said you can't stop a language from changing, and that there will probably end up being a compromise between traditional Japanese language and the Japanese currently being used by young Japanese people, resulting in a new version of Japanese. He implied this prospect didn't trouble him. At one point, in answering a question about the Japanese author Kobo Abe, Prof. Keene said that although Abe's reputation is in decline at the moment, he expects that it will rise again. Prof. Keene said he developed a genuine friendship with Kobo Abe, and he thinks Abe was an extraordinary human being. Prof. Keene's current project is a book about the changes in Japanese society that took place during WWII and afterward. He is consulting diaries, some written by people he met and knew after the war. Thus ended an enjoyable talk. "I sometimes think that if, as the result of an accident, I were to lose my knowledge of Japanese, there would not be much left for me. Japanese, which at first had no connection with my ancestors, my literary tastes, or my awareness of myself as a person, has become the central element of my life." "While a translation can always be disputed, it is the illustrations that make this book worth the having." Then came the great earthquake on March 2011. . Mr. Keene's noble decision . Keene told reporters in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, on Wednesday that he shuddered when watching the March 11th tsunami on TV. He said that during his stay in the region, he wants to see what escaped destruction and how survivors are living rather than what the tsunami has swept away. . A Miracle will happen . Prominent Japanese literature scholar Donald Keene has been granted Japanese nationality. The 89-year-old professor emeritus of New York's Columbia University was welcomed by applauding officials on Thursday at an office of Tokyo's Kita Ward, where he lives. Keene decided to reside in Japan permanently after the March 11th disaster. He said at a news conference that he was very excited when he was told the news by Japanese authorities earlier in the day. He said he wants to take part in activities in Japan not as a foreign guest but as a citizen, and that his writing may have a different tone from now on. Keene also showed the Japanese version of his name, written using characters also used for the Kinugawa River in Tochigi Prefecture and the Naruto Strait in the Seto Inland Sea. Japanese characters used for his name evokes the images of Japan's natural beauty. Donald Keene, one of the world's most renowned scholars of Japanese literature, said during an event held in Tokyo on March 20 that he believes that Japan's northeast will recover from the Great East Japan Earthquake and be reborn as a beautiful region. At the opening of the lecture held at Nihonbashi Muromachi Nomura Building in Tokyo, Kaoru Matsushita, MC of the event, introduced Keene to the audience of 250, who had been selected by lottery from some 1,000 applicants. "As you may all know, Professor Keene has recently become a Japanese citizen," Matsushita said. "The Justice Ministry approved the request and Professor Keene obtained Japanese nationality on March 8." To a huge round of applause, Keene, Professor Emeritus of Columbia University, then appeared and gave a lecture titled "Scenery of Tohoku — 'Oku no Hosomichi' ('The Narrow Road to Oku')." During the lecture Keene talked about Tohoku and "Oku no Hosomichi," the famous journal of travel in the region by Matsu Basho (1644-1694), one of Japan's greatest haiku poets. "I am sure that the beauty of Tohoku will be revived. Absolutely," Keene said in fluent Japanese. "But I think it will not be possible for everyone to construct whatever buildings they want. I hope Tohoku residents will consult experts in order to create the most beautiful, the most Japanese and the most Tohoku-like towns in the region." The 90-year-old scholar said he had read "Oku no Hosomichi," which consists of essays and haiku on various scenic sites in Tohoku, for the first time in 1946. Around that time, Keene had begun to study at the graduate school of Columbia University after serving in the U.S. Navy as a translator and interpreter of English and Japanese during World War II. "Since then, I read 'Oku no Hosomichi' a number of times, and used the book as a textbook at university," Keene said. "By reading the book, I learned how difficult Basho's writing was, while at the same time discovering its attraction. Whenever I found difficult sentences, their meanings had depth and the expressions were beautiful." To follow Basho's journey through Tohoku, Keene traveled to the region in 1955 while he was studying by scholarship at Kyoto University. "I wished to go to Japan and make the same journey as Basho. I hoped I could visit the same places Basho had visited. Maybe, I thought, I wanted to make haiku, too." Keene recalled his visit to Sendai, maintaining that he had heard Sendai City had been completely destroyed by U.S. bombings during WWII. However, Keene found the city still standing and was able to visit the sites to which Basho had been, including Hachimangu Shrine and Yakushido (the Hall of the Healing Buddha). "At that time, I was fascinated by the town of Sendai. Several years later, I taught at Tohoku University for half a year, and I enjoyed a lot of Sendai's attractions. The university is located on the top of a hill, and I loved walking the avenue from the university to (Sendai) station. I loved the town, which has a lot of trees." When the massive earthquake and tsunami hit Tohoku on March 11 last year, Keene said he was at his home in New York and was shocked by news of the disaster. To express his grief then, Keene referred to a famous verse by Chinese poet Du Fu (712-770), who had been revered by Basho. The theme of the verse is the defeat of the Tang Dynasty by the Yan Dynasty in China. "After the great earthquake last year, I could no longer believe the meaning of the words in the verse by Du Fu: 'The country lies in ruin after the war, but mountains and rivers remain.' Today we can say the opposite: 'The country remains, but mountains and rivers do not." However, Keene said in a delighted tone that he has heard a lot of details about the reconstruction efforts taking place in Tohoku. As an example, Keene noted the city of Higashi Matsushima, one of the most severely hit towns in Miyagi Prefecture. "The schools in the city were also damaged. But the residents of the town began to rebuild their community, according to my friend, C.W. Nicol, who called me yesterday and talked about the effort," Keene said. He explained that Nicol, a naturalist based in Kurohime, Nagano Prefecture and a Japan Times columnist, had told him that residents in Higashi Matsushima had recently started constructing a wooden school building. "It will be a part of a community where residents can enjoy life among the trees. I believe the region of Matsushima will be reconstructed and be a beautiful place," said Keene. At the ending of the lecture, Keene talked about Chusonji Temple in Iwate Prefecture, which he feels is the most beautiful place in Japan and which fortunately did not suffer any major damage in the disaster. Keene visited the temple in September, and gave a speech complementing the temple to an audience that included people whose homes were damaged in the earthquake and tsunami. After the talk, a member of the audience, an old lady whom Keene had never seen before, stood and approached him, Keene said. "She shook hands with me and I was moved," Keene said. "I felt our handshake symbolized my lifelong bond with Japan. I felt deep gratitude for Japan and I hope Chusonji Temple never changes." After the lecture in Tokyo, Yuki Suzuki, a member of the audience, said he was impressed by Keene's deep understanding of Japanese culture, adding that when he heard news of Keene's intention to change his nationality to Japanese, he was touched. "Right after the earthquake and the nuclear disaster at Fukushima, many foreign residents in Japan left the country," said the 35-year-old care worker for the disabled. "But at that time, Keene decided to live in Japan permanently. I was so moved." Shortly after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the prominent scholar in Japanese literary and intellectual circles, Dr. Donald Keene retired from Columbia University and moved to the wounded nation permanently. Later, he gave up his American citizenship and became a citizen of Japan this year. Dr. Keene is one of few scholars awarded by the emperor one of Japan’s highest honors for his contributions to Japanese literature and befriended by Japan’s most celebrated novelists. My first encounter with Dr. Keene is through reading his influential book on Japanese literature, World Within Walls: Japanese Literature of the Pre-Modern Era, 1600-1867, which helped me to write an essay on Yosa Buson and the Basho Revival. but so lively and full of energy and enthusiasm. Full of ideas for new projects. Keene is working on a translation of Takuboku's Rōmaji nikki. They talked about their meetings with famous literati and then about our present time. He was able to bring a white stone offering to the new Ise Shrine this year during the renewal ceremonies in Ise. This is the fourth time he could attend the ceremony in his long life. Every 20 years, new ideas sprout in Japan and then fade away . . . Matsuo Basho had also been able to attend this ceremony after coming back from his trip to "Oku no Hosomichi". The Olympics should not be held now, since they only take away monen and menpower from Tohoku (both have strong ties to Tohoku). The new laws about secrecy and freedom of the press will bring Japan back to the pre-war conditions . . . and they are both worried. . Setouchi Jakuchoo　瀬戸内寂聴 Setouchi Jakucho . . fueki ryuukoo 不易流行 Fueki Ryuko - and Matsuo Basho . Nihon o shinjiru 日本を、信じる Let us believe in Japan! So few teaching opportunities existed for a young Japan scholar in late 1940s America that a professor suggested he teach Greek instead. Donald Keene persevered, arriving in the ancient Imperial capital of Kyoto in 1953 to do research. Lucky too, he says, because it was a time when few foreigners spoke Japanese, so he easily gained introductions to well-known people. Writer Yukio Mishima was a friend. From those beginnings he counts about 25 books in English and 30 in Japanese and more than six decades of teaching. He’s considered a giant in the field he helped build, translation and Japanese literature. His life has become so intertwined with Japan that he has decided to spend his remaining years here, becoming a Japanese citizen in 2012. Though his memory isn’t what it once was, the longtime Columbia University professor remains active. He becomes animated when talking, his eyes gleaming in a way that conveys an earnest interest in the subject. His latest book — about the early 20th-century poet Takuboku Ishikawa — will be published in Japanese in February, and he hopes an English edition will follow later in 2016. His decision to settle in Japan in 2011, at a time when many foreigners were fleeing because of the meltdowns at the Fukushima nuclear plant, made him something of a hero in Japan, where he had already been widely honored by the government and others for his scholarly work. As a university student in 1940, Keene came across a copy of “The Tale of Genji,” an 11th-century Japanese classic, in a New York bookshop. It changed his life. The two-volume translation by Englishman Arthur Waley seemed a bargain at 49 cents, Keene wrote in a 2008 memoir. It has since been translated three more times, but never by Keene. He learned Japanese in U.S. Navy language school and interrogated Japanese prisoners in Okinawa during World War II. Keene sees a declining interest today in traditional Japanese arts. He senses that Japan’s best minds gravitate toward science in a modern, more materialistic world. . Japanese Literature, Books about Japan . - - - Join the discussion on facebook ! much richness within its compact frame. Although she is ill and infirm, that didn't stop 93-year-old Jakucho Setouchi from rushing from Kyoto to Tokyo at the last minute to join protests against the Abe administration's new national security legislation. The Buddhist-monk novelist is one of the decreasing number of people left in Japan who lived through World War II. She joined the protests near the Diet building on June 18, rising from her wheelchair to deliver a passionate rebuke to the government's plans and insisting they will lead the country into another war. Setouchi is a member of one of the many civic groups protesting the controversial legislation, which would allow the Japanese Self-Defense Forces to use force overseas to support an ally--a sweeping shift in the nation’s defense policy. Setouchi talked about her own experiences of war during her five-minute speech slamming the new legislation. Protesters at the demonstration responded by applauding her commitment to peace. “People of my generation have shown varying degrees of interest (in the new security legislation). I would like them to take this fight to heart and take action like Jakucho,” said a 32-year-old company employee from Kawasaki. Kan Kamei, a third-year high-school student from Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, said a speech made by a person who experienced the war resonated with him. “It was really convincing because she is a person who went through a war and made an appeal in a society where most people have no experience of war,” he said. The author came to Tokyo on the spur of the moment, deciding to join the demonstrators just two days before. She was hospitalized in May last year for a compressed spinal fracture. She also underwent surgery for gallbladder cancer in September. Her commitment to peace is well known due to her being an author and a monk and for having experienced World War II. She lost her grandfather and mother in U.S. air raids on Japan. She went on a hunger strike in protesting the 1991 Gulf War. Later, she traveled to Iraq to offer relief aid such as milk and medicine to war victims. Setouchi also went without food to protest the war in Afghanistan following the 2001 terror attacks on the United States, and also put her name to a petition in a newspaper ad condemning the 2003 Iraq War.

2019-04-22T04:18:41Z

https://darumamuseumgallery.blogspot.com/2008/01/donald-keene.html

As most of the visible Universe is Hydrogen, the emission line for Hydrogen-Alpha is particularly prominent. Astrophotographers producing monochrome narrowband images always choose Hydrogen-Alpha as a result. In the most part however, those pursuing narrowband imaging tend to capture images through multiple narrowband filters. These include Hydrogen-Alpha, Hydrogen-Beta, Nitrogen-II, Sulphur-II and Oxygen-III. The most popular of these are Hydrogen-Alpha, Sulphur-II and Oxygen-III, as these can be used to produce colour images of the likes produced by the Hubble Space Telescope, using the popular Hubble Palette. This tutorial is dedicated precisely to this palette and the variety in colour that one can really achieve using this palette. As with all colour narrowband images, astrophotographers exercise an artistic license when it comes to the final colour representation in their images. This tutorial explores various popular choices within the Hubble Palette​. Please note that due to strong similarities to the other narrowband tutorial, this one has some text in the first section that has been copied over. The above three autostretched images correspond to Hydrogen-Alpha (left), Oxygen-III (middle) and Sulphur-II ​(right). They have been fully pre-processed, have been registered with each other, have had background gradients removed with DynamicBackgroundExtraction and have been noise reduced with MultiscaleLinearTransform​. As aforementioned, in order to get the most out of colour combining these images, it is best they are stretched to non-linear. Since this is the subject of another tutorial, the procedure covering stretching the images to non-linear will not be covered in detail. I generally use either HistogramTransformation or MaskedStretch, or a combination of both (first MaskedStretch and then HistogramTransformation to tweak). ​​​Having used the same settings in MaskedStretch (besides the Background reference image referring to each image's own background preview box), the background has been raised to the same brightness in both images. The trouble is that naturally, the Oxygen-III and Sulphur-II images' nebulosity is also less bright than Hydrogen-Alpha's and this means it will contribute less to the colour combination. Though the final colour image can be tweaked significantly, if you are unhappy with the overall contribution from Oxygen-III and Sulphur-II, you can stretch them further using HistogramTransformation until you are happy. The Mean and Median pixel values for each image can be seen quickly using the Statistics process, selecting each image one by one. This can give you an idea of just how much brighter one image is over another. As is naturally the case for the vast majority of nebulae, the overall brightness is highest in Hydrogen-Alpha and lowest in Sulphur-II, with Oxygen-III being a bit in the middle. ​Nevertheless, in this particular case, all three images have comparable brightness and can contribute fairly toward a colour image. However, should you want to brighten one or more images, there are several options at hand. For manual tweaking, one can use HistogramTransformation or CurvesTransformation. Before starting to use either process, click to select the image you wish to tweak. For HistogramTransformation, one only needs to select the image in the process window, click the Real-Time Preview button and start moving the mid-tones slider to the left and the black-point slider to the right, until you achieve the desired level of contrast in the image. Small tweaks are generally good at this stage (since the images are already non-linear) and fairly comparable. ​Either method is good for manually tweaking the image's overall brightness and contrast. You can use the Statistics process to check how they compare against each other after some tweaking, and perhaps use this measure to control how much you tweak each image. PixInsight has a process that can be used to equalise the images. This process is LinearFit. Despite its name, it works for both linear and non-linear images. Ironically it works slightly more effectively with non-linear images if what you want to achieve is essentially the same Mean and Median pixel values on your images. The LinearFit process is very simple. Simply select one of your images as the reference to match the others to and then apply the process to the other images. ​The one thing to be careful about when using LinearFit is that if your less bright images are significantly less bright than the brightest image that you happen to use as reference, it will produce a very noticeable brightness increase to the images you apply the process to. This may sound great but if your images are not very bright, it likely means you have low Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) and therefore it will increase the level of noise as well. This will also brighten the background, giving your colour image a non-neutral background likely full of noise. One way around this, which is not necessarily ideal, is to use a lower brightness image as reference. This may not be ideal because it will essentially dampen the contrast on your higher brightness image(s) (e.g. Hydrogen-Alpha), which tend to provide much of the detail. ​As my images already have fairly comparable Mean and Median pixel values to start with, I simply applied LinearFit to Oxygen-III and Sulphur-II using Hydrogen-Alpha as my reference image. With the background and noise levels still under control, I opt to not tweak the brightness any further on any of the three images and proceed to colour-combine. ​Once selected, we click the circle Apply Global​ button to produce the new, colour image. With the colour image produced, we can close the three monochrome narrowband images and the ChannelCombination process. Though the background in the image is fairly neutral, it is always a good idea to neutralise it manually. ​For this, we will use the BackgroundNeutralization process but we first need to create a small preview box encompassing an area that is essentially background (not nebulosity, not even faint). You can zoom in and pan around your image to identify such an area (it need not be very big). Once identified, click the New Preview Mode button on the PixInsight toolbar and drag to create said preview box in the background region identified. ​With the preview box created, because the image is non-linear, we will need to measure the maximum level found in the background. This is most accurately done using the Statistics process. In it, we can specifically select the preview box itself. It is best to then select Normalized Real [0,1] mode so that the values displayed are from 0 to 1 rather than pixel values. We simply need the value under maximum​. Looking at the values shown on maximum, it seems mine are 0.194 for Red, 0.175 for Green and 0.196 for Blue. We need not be exact as it is best to round up a bit so we will use 0.2. ​We now close the Statistics process and open the BackgroundNeutralization process. Here, we select the preview box as the Reference image, increase Upper limit to our maximum of 0.2 and then apply the process to the image. The BackgroundNeutralization process can now be closed and the preview box can be deleted by going through the PixInsight menus Preview -> Delete All. At this point we have a traditional Hubble Palette image. It is predominantly green because the Hydrogen-Alpha signal tends to be so much stronger than Oxygen-III and Sulphur-II. Most of the stars are also magenta. If you are a purist and the Hubble Palette is truly what you want to achieve, you can now continue post-processing the image as normal as the colour-combination is done. A lot of astrophotographers however, make changes to the palette after colour-combining. Some changes made are subtle and some are very pronounced. A common palette change is to make the blues deeper and change the greens to reds/oranges. It is also common to alter the star colours to remove their magenta tone. The following sections deal with these common changes. To reduce the stars' magenta tone, we first need to select the problematic areas of our image. Thankfully, we have the ColorMask script we can use to quickly target these areas. This script is found under the menus Script -> Utilities -> ColorMask. Once the script is opened with your colour image selected, click the Magenta button and set Mask blur: layers to remove to 2 (this will smooth the mask a little bit), then click OK​. The mask image produced is one that specifically targets areas of the image with a magenta tone. Sometimes however, there is a small halo around stars left out of the mask image, so it is generally a good idea to dilate the mask a little bit in order to include these areas. For this, we will use the MorphologicalTransformation​ process. ​Once open, select Morphological Selection under Operator, set Selection to 0.90, select 5 (25 elements) under Size and then click the black squares under Structuring Element to give it a kind of star shape (as shown below). If you make a mistake, hold the CTRL key and click a white square to turn it black. Worthy of note at this point is that Morphological Selection is a combination of dilation and erosion, producing a smooth result than using just one of those. Increasing Selection above 0.50 will dilate more than erode and decreasing Selection below 0.50 will erode more than dilate. We wish to dilate so 0.90 works well. Once set as above, apply the process to the mask image and close the process window. The mask image can now be applied to our image. To do this, click to select the colour image and then go to the menus Mask -> Select Mask (or press CTRL M on your keyboard). Select the mask image from the list and click OK. Once applied, your colour image will likely turn almost completely red. This shows the mask is protecting everything except the magenta areas. We can hide the mask through the menus Mask -> Show Mask (or press CTRL K on your keyboard). This will keep the mask active but hidden so we can actually see our image. To reduce the colour saturation on magenta, we simply click the flat line to create a point in the middle of the purples and drag this point down. You will notice adjacent areas on the flat line curve downwards as well, but we need these colours to stay unaltered. To prevent these colours on the spectrum being altered as well, we click to create more points in order to flatten the curve everywhere except around the purples. The procedure is to first create a point on either side of the purples (the start and end, so to speak) and then if the rest of the line is still not flat, click to create points there (above/below the peaks) as well to flatten it. Flattening the line completely is difficult using a mouse or trackpad, so you can simply use the left and right arrow buttons on the ColorSaturation window to select each point individually and set Saturation to 0.00000 on all those points that are meant to flatten the line. Above, I have selected the point to reduce the purples' colour saturation and manually set its value to -1.00000. Once set up as above, we can apply the process to the colour image. I tend to apply this three times or so. Below we can see the before (top image) and after (bottom image) for an area with lots of magenta stars. The difference in the strength of the magenta tone of the stars is very noticeable. Of course, it can be reduced further by being more aggressive on ​ColorSaturation with the value on Saturation on the purples, or by applying the process a few more times, or by ensuring the mask image is a bit more dilated to encompass larger areas around your stars. What I normally do not recommend doing is using the CurvesTransformation process in Saturation mode to strongly reduce all colour saturation in selected magenta areas. The reason for this is that the mask image tends to select areas of your image that do not look magenta but have some magenta in them (in my case, the core of the nebula). As you can imagine, removing all colour saturation in these areas is not going to produce a very pleasing result. Because of this, I always use the ColorSaturation process as described above instead. Once happy with the result, we can close the ColorSaturation process and remove the mask image using the menus Mask -> Remove Mask and then close the mask image without saving as we no longer need it. Again, if you are a purist with the Hubble Palette and would like to keep the colour palette as it is, with the reduced magenta tone on the stars, then ​​​you are done at this point. However, it is common for astrophotographers to take their own artistic license with the Hubble Palette and make changes to the colour palette. This is covered in detail in the next section. ​Arguably, Photoshop's Selective Color tool ​is actually faster at performing the colour palette changes, but because this is a PixInsight tutorial, we will concentrate on how to do it there. I must admit however that at times, I have saved the colour-combined image as a 16-bit TIFF, opened it in Photoshop, made the colour palette changes, saved and then re-opened in PixInsight​ to continue post-processing. The tools we will use in PixInsight are the CurvesTransformation and SCNR processes. A typical Hubble Palette version is one that is orange and blue, sometimes with hints of green. The SCNR process can be used to reach this point immediately, though not with as good results as we can reach with some more effort. ​To quickly reach an orange-blue palette, we can simply use default settings on SCNR. That is, with Green selected as Colour to remove, with Average Neutral as Protection method, with 1.00 as Amount and Preserve lightness enabled. Amount set to 1.00 ensures that the end result is the completely the processed image (e.g. if we set 0.50, the end result would be a combination of half the original image and half the processed image). Preserve lightness is important to leave enabled as otherwise the green areas will become extremely washed out. Though your end result from this may be pleasing and you may be happy to proceed with further post-processing, we can actually achieve a brighter and more detailed end result from using CurvesTransformation. SCNR, in its Average Neutral mode, will calculate an average of the Red and Blue values of pixels and replace Green pixels with this average if the average of Red and Blue is lower than the Green. This is mostly visible in predominantly green areas of your image, and therefore these green areas are replaced with an average of the red and blue present in those areas, which because green is the dominant (brighter) colour, ends up making the image look a little washed out in previously green areas. We will use CurvesTransformation in Hue mode to shift colours closer to what we would like to achieve, thus altering the pixel values to a point that the green areas are more red and blue than before application. This means that when we apply SCNR later, the effect of washing out the image in predominantly green areas is less destructive. Enabling the Real-Time Preview window is a good idea while tweaking. ​​To get closer to the orange-blue palette we want, we simply click to create two points on the Hue curve. The precise location of these two points varies from image to image but I find that roughly where they are shown below is a good compromise for most images. The hue shift generated by creating these two points on the Hue curve has the effect of making the reds and blues more intense, while de-emphasising ​the greens a little. It ends up giving the image more of a tri-colour palette, which you may indeed prefer to end with as-is. Once happy, apply changes and close the Real-Time Preview​ window. ​If you are happy with your image, you may stop here and continue with other post-processing. We can however tweak the amount of green in the image using SCNR as we did before. If you are happy with removing all traces of green from the image, you can simply apply SCNR precisely as we did before - in its default settings with Amount set to 1.00​. Indeed this is significantly better than by just using SCNR without using CurvesTransformation​ prior. ​Below is a comparison of the original attempt at using SCNR and the new attempt above (CurvesTransformation followed by SCNR​). The left image is the original attempt and the right image is the new attempt. There is a very noticeable increase in brightness, detail and depth, making the use of a CurvesTransformation hue shift prior to application of SCNR a definite choice. ​Of course, if you choose to leave some green in the image, you may lower Amount in SCNR for its application. For example, a value of Amount of 0.50​ leads to the following result. ​For fans of a tri-colour Hubble Palette that prioritises orange-blue, this is a good choice. Experimentation with different values of Amount is key to achieving the desired result at this point. The higher the value of Amount​, the less green there will be in your image. One may also choose to then play with a smaller hue shift to tweak the modified colour palette to perfection​. For example, to deepen the blues a little bit, one can perform a small hue shift as follows. ​This involves creating points along the hue curve that ensures the line is straight except a little bump is produced half-way up that curves the line upwards, only a little. This pushes the light blue to a darker tone. The same hue shift can be applied to an image without any green. When you have reached a point that you are happy with your Hubble Palette image, you can then proceed to perform all other post-processing you may want, such as feature and contrast enhancements. These techniques are all subjects of other tutorials.

2019-04-24T10:05:12Z

https://www.lightvortexastronomy.com/tutorial-narrowband-hubble-palette.html

Perhaps most of your experience with the creative arts stems from when you were younger, whether that was learning to play the piano after school, constructing a vibrant collage during art period, or studying British literature in college. Unfortunately, for many of us, that might be our only experience with the artistic world. As we grow older, some of us put aside the easel and metronome and stop participating — both as active creators and observers — in the creative arts. Erwin Raphael McManus, artist, author, and pastor at Mosaic, a church in Los Angeles, recently wrote a book titled, The Artisan Soul, in which he explores our universal call to be creative. The book is appropriate, since many today view the creative arts as something to which only a limited few have claim — professional musicians and writers, critics, scholars, and so on. Whether we have busy schedules, or a deep belief that we are not artistically inclined, many factors can hold us back from spending time devoted solely to the creative arts. Yet, McManus explains that all of us harbor an innate desire to both behold and bring about order and beauty in the world, a desire which he attributes to being made in the image and likeness of God. “Creativity should be as common as breathing,” McManus wrote, emphasizing that to be fully alive in the way God desires us to be, we must be creative. Dr. John Calhoun, director of PLNU’s Center for Pastoral Leadership, agrees. God, whose Spirit hovered over chaos to bring about order, form, and life, calls us to participate in the continued sustaining of creation. In fact, Scripture uses metaphorical language related to the arts — “we are the clay, you are the potter” — to emphasize God’s role as the supreme artist of all creation. “This call to take part in God’s work of creation signifies our dignity as children of God,” Calhoun said. When we create, we heed the call within us from God, and when we take the time to actively observe our neighbor’s creative work — such as a painting or song — we are, according to Calhoun, able to uncover the “hidden mysteries” of creation. But what are the “hidden mysteries” that spring forth when we engage the creative arts? If we spend time participating in or pursuing artistic endeavors, despite our demanding schedules, what real impact can they have on us individually, in our communities, and in our relationship with God? It’s only been in recent years that science has started to reveal how beneficial the creative arts are to our physical, emotional, and psychological well-being. For example, hospital art has begun rapidly emerging across the U.S. in recent years. An article in The Wall Street Journal, titled, “More Hospitals Use the Healing Powers of Public Art,” explains how current research suggests patients are positively affected by scenes of nature and figurative art with “unambiguous, positive faces that convey a sense of security and safety.” In response to similar studies, hospitals all over the country have adorned their pallid walls with works of art, including the new Jacobs Medical Center at University of California, San Diego, which offers a robust collection of paintings, photographs, and sculptures on every floor and patient room. By offering patients sight of a bucolic vista or quaint prairie, hospitals are able to provide small but meaningful ways to ameliorate suffering. Dr. Daniel Jenkins, professor of psychology and director of PLNU’s Master of Arts in Clinical Counseling program, views the broadening of traditional therapeutic treatments to include these types of art therapy as encouraging. The NCBI article highlights four primary art therapies that yield positive results: music engagement, visual arts therapy, movement-based creative expression, and expressive writing. Music therapy involves the passive listening of soothing music as well as the active involvement in music improvisation. It has been shown to decrease anxiety, restore emotional balance, diminish pain, and even restore effective functioning in the immune system. Recently, Nuvi Mehta, San Diego Symphony special project director, spoke on the cognitive effects of music at one of San Diego’s Creative Mornings, a monthly lecture series for people interested in joining a creative community. Mehta explained that music, unlike language or information, is processed in “an older and deeper section of the brain,” which is why people suffering cognitive damage, such as Alzheimer’s patients who have lost all memory of language and understanding, can nevertheless still recite the words and recognize the tune of a song played for them. Since music is processed at such a deep level of the brain, it can be used in rehabilitation centers to speed up the healing process, lessen the amount of anesthetics needed, and facilitate greater and more rapid overall recovery for patients. Visual art therapy has also been effective by helping patients express certain ideas or realities that are otherwise hard to put into words. For example, a patient recently diagnosed with cancer could be asked to draw or sculpt his or her felt experiences: fear, pain, a sense of isolation, and so on. Often, the creation of the visual art piece — no matter how simple or crude — offers an outlet for pain. This type of therapy has been shown to be especially effective with sculpting, since molding clay provides tactile involvement at a somatic level that can offer greater catharsis and release. Movement-based creative expression, such as dance, focuses on nonverbal and physical forms of expression to help with psychotherapeutic healing. Instances of this type of therapy have been shown to lower stress and anxiety, and provide other health benefits. By offering patients sight of a bucolic vista or quaint prairie, hospitals are able to provide small but meaningful ways to ameliorate suffering. Rachel Pomeroy (09), a speech language pathologist in San Diego, incorporates aspects related to movement-based creative expression to help bring healing and transformation to her students. She teaches at Innovations Academy charter school, where she works with students from kindergarten through eighth grade who have language and speech disorders, helping them develop the communication and social skills needed to be successful in life. Many of these students have been diagnosed with autism or other similar conditions that make communication and proper social behavior difficult. Pomeroy is also part of the cast at the National Comedy Theatre, where she performs improv comedy shows with other comedians. This form of live theatre is created and developed on the spot during the performance. While earning a Master of Science in Speech-Language Pathology from California State University, San Marcos, Pomeroy realized that many of the skills needed to be successful at improv theatre — flexible thinking, the ability to read subtle mannerisms, the capacity to put one’s self in another’s pair of shoes — could help her students develop skills in communication, empathy, and social connection. The ability to perceive and understand others’ intentions, beliefs, desires, and mental states, and realize that they may be different than one’s own, is known as Theory of Mind. Pomeroy cited an example: a male student is assigned to the role of a mother of six children charged with getting ready for Christmas Eve. In such a scenario, the student is required to imagine what it would be like to be a solicitous mother of six unruly children. The attempt to access a vastly different perspective stretches the student’s mind, developing the part of the brain needed to foster healthy relationships and social interactions. Though her curriculum is in the early stages of implementation, she has observed and documented encouraging findings; improv seems to help those struggling with language and social conditions develop necessary skills and have more socially integrated lives. Expressive writing has been another effective tool used to help patients cope with illness, depression, and other maladies. This creative art form is successful when it incorporates meaning-making techniques, in which patients are invited to construct a narrative regarding a tragic or unpleasant experience to accept and come to terms with it. Expressive writing has been proven to aid immune-system functioning; limit the frequency of physician visits; and positively influence stress hormones, blood pressure, and other cognitive and emotional issues. Dr. Katie Manning, associate professor of writing and acclaimed published poet, views the creation of her art as something that grants healing, deepens her faith, and better connects her to others. Her desire to tinker with words and craft beauty through language extends back to her childhood. One of her earliest memories of finding solace in poetry was when, at 12-years-old, she learned about the “Trail of Tears,” the Cherokee nation’s journey from its native lands east of the Mississippi to Oklahoma, as a result of the Indian Removal Act in 1838. Being of Cherokee descent, Manning expressed her lament and sorrow for these displaced and suffering people through the form of a poem. Participation in the creative arts also allows us to express our humanity, and therefore, our likeness to our neighbor — which can heal broken communities and foster solidarity with others. David Adey, PLNU professor of art and well-known artist and sculptor, understands that, especially today, art is vital to our communities because of our society’s constant access to frothy entertainment and distraction. Adey explains that experiencing a work of art is an active process that requires focused time and attention. Unlike flipping on Netflix or scrolling through a newsfeed, viewing a work of visual art requires deep thought and honed observation to understand what the work is communicating. Dr. G. Jim Daichendt, PLNU dean of the College of Arts and Humanities and renowned writer, curator, and lecturer, devotes much of his life to the study and scholarship of visual art. Like Adey, he emphasized the crucial importance of observing the creative arts in an active and reflective posture. “Rather than being a passive observer, or a passive consumer, as can be the case when we watch television, art requires us to be active and reflective observers by engaging with various types of stimuli,” Daichendt said. By such engagement, he explained, we become more intelligent participants in society. Art requires us to question it to receive something from it, and what we receive — a deeper grasp of a human or societal reality — allows us then to engage our world in a more meaningful, thoughtful, and connected way. Therefore, art, if we take the effort to engage it seriously, is vital to our communities because it allows us to better understand both ourselves and others, and serves as the connective tissue that highlights how we are more alike than different. The physical, psychological, and communal benefits of the creative arts compose aspects of the overall spiritual healing they offer. Calhoun marvels at the transformational effect a single work of art can have on one’s spiritual life and relationship with God. He recalled Henri Nouwen’s book, The Return of the Prodigal Son, in which the author meditated on Rembrandt’s historic painting of the same name, pondering its spiritual significance and what it revealed about himself, God, and his call to the priesthood. Nouwen was profoundly touched by the painting, spending days doing nothing but gazing at each careful stroke, delicate shade, and intentional hue. Nourished profoundly by Rembrandt’s sacrifice of time and talent, Nouwen has, in turn, nourished many others, including Calhoun. Calhoun mentioned that when we strive to create something beautiful for God and for others, we are getting outside of ourselves and curtailing a strong tendency to be inward focused. Heather Ross, PLNU professor of philosophy, makes a distinction between the creation of art for the sake of one’s own glory — the “inflation of the genius self” — and the creation of art as an act of Christian love. If our creative work is merely a form of self-expression, no matter how beautiful or masterful, it doesn’t accomplish what it could — its noble and transformative purpose. When art is properly ordered, it is granted agency to draw its observers closer to God as well as edify them. The work of art then exists as an act of love created for the sake of the other. In addition to the tremendous spiritual benefits, Manning sees art, and specifically her poetry, as a vehicle of grace that casts new light on who God is through its reinvention of human language. The poem employs visceral imagery and diction — words like “aorta,” “ventricle,” and “blood” — to emphasize a literal invitation of God into the human heart. The rawness of the language forces readers to consider what it really means to invite God into our hearts: it’s messy, risky, and incredibly intimate. According to Manning, the notion of using poetry to better understand the nature of God is known as theopoetics, which strives to speak about God through poetic articulations and metaphors of lived experiences as opposed to a systematic understanding of God. In other words, to understand God we need to perpetually reinvent the language we use to talk about Him. As within all creative arts, the acts of both creating and observing can lead to a better understanding of God — His beauty, harmony, and so on — through a vehicle that speaks directly to the heart. An article in Newsweek titled, “The Creativity Crisis,” details that “since , creativity scores have consistently inched downward” for children. The reason for this overall decline in creativity is not fully understood, but some believe it’s our attenuating the importance of creativity in schools coupled with the increase in hours spent watching television, playing video games, and browsing the Internet. Daichendt has seen this decline in creativity manifest through an increased attention to activities or hobbies that, though perhaps beneficial in other ways, only serve to emulate active participation in the creative arts at the expense of real artistic engagement. “Culturally speaking, this decline of both creative thinking and output is expressed in the popularity of certain things for both children and adults, like adult coloring books and art-related games,” he explained. But real participation in the creative arts cannot be done through simulated surrogates, since “creativity is about creating something unique, pursuing something that wasn’t there before through real and meaningful work,” he said. We can reverse this alarming trend by simply placing greater emphasis on the creative arts, no matter our age. Makenzie Plumb (12) teaches drama full time at Hillsdale Middle School in San Diego and is someone well aware of the importance of the creative arts. She recounted a specific instance when she required all her students to audition for a prominent role with an acting piece and a song. The girl who was chosen for the part — Plumb found out later from the girl’s mother — would never have auditioned if it hadn’t been required, because of her fear and lack of confidence. The girl’s mother was delighted because her daughter had been selected for the part, and because of the all encompassing effect it had on her daughter. Similar to Plumb, Dr. Barb Taylor, dean of PLNU’s School of Nursing, recognizes the creative arts can have positive effects on her students that bubble over to other areas of their lives. The skills required to complete these projects help her students become better at nursing, a profession in which they need to apply similar skills — divergent thinking, focused concentration, and vulnerability — to best meet the needs of their patients. Manning follows suit. She requires students of all majors in her introductory literature course to craft a poem. If we are not already participating as active observers or creators in some form of the creative arts, by picking up the guitar or setting aside time to read a book of poetry, we might experience much more than the enjoyment of a hobby. In doing so, we open ourselves up to the physical fruits of healing, self-expression, and affirmation, and ultimately, to a deeper connection with others and God. By participating in the creative arts, we are able to better live in community as children of God. According to Calhoun, we are granted the privilege of discovering the hidden beauties of God’s creation, whether that is through a human truth derived from a piece of literature, orchestral composition, or pointillist painting. Chris is a contributing freelance writer for Viewpoint Online.

2019-04-19T11:00:33Z

https://viewpoint.pointloma.edu/the-mystery-and-power-of-the-creative-arts/

Camping with your truck is a fun activity because you have the flexibility your vehicle provides you with. If you don’t like your camping area, having your truck with you allows you to change it almost instantly. And since you won’t be sleeping on the hard ground, your body won’t hurt in its entirety when you wake up. Although, the latter is somewhat part of the whole experience because it makes you feel like you’re truly living a lifestyle that is connected to nature. However, if you want to have a fuss-free trip and to avoid any accidents, there are some things that you need to buy before you start this journey. The first thing you need is a high-quality truck bed tent. Don’t overlook this, as it will be the item you’re going to use the most when traveling. You want it to be waterproof, windproof and to be comfortable at the same time. Truck tents have a different design compared to traditional models. They are adapted to fit the bed of your pickup truck, and to be safe and effortless to install. You could use a traditional tent, but it will be tough to fit it into your car. Moreover, I don’t recommend sleeping on the bare soil, as nature is filled with animals that could be a threat to your health. If you like to eat healthy while traveling, then a camping stove is a must. There’s nothing more rewarding than preparing a delicious meal while the only thing that guides you is the blue light of the burner and the moon. Go for a compact model that has plenty of power and that can be quickly refilled. I would suggest going for a dual burner cooker, especially if you like to prepare your breakfast and your coffee at the same time. Refilling the product is simple, and make sure you buy a can of gas from your local gas store before going to a remote location, so you won’t have to make a trip back when you run out of it. Speaking of coffee, maybe it’s a good idea to invest in a premium camping espresso maker. It is essential that you make the arrangements for a good start to your day, and a fresh cup of coffee will ensure you have the energy for an entire day. These machines are designed to work without electricity, without making any compromise when it comes to taste. There are other small things that could make your life easier. Invest in a portable light, in a camping radio to stay in touch with the outside world and also in a good cooler for your beer and a mosquito repellant if you plan to travel in a swampy area. The preciousness of family moments is immeasurable. And in today’s busy world, we hardly come across such free time to spend with our loved ones. Therefore we tend to capture these moments as pictures and videos, to recall them later. That’s what we do with camcorders. But why should we spend on a camcorder at all, when we already have so many alternatives to it? I mean Smartphones and tablets, can record and capture (along with their fundamental functions), then where is the need to buy a CAMCORDER? Well, this is something that even I kept contemplating about before my friend gifted me one camcorder. Since it was gifted, I had to use it AND when I used it, I actually realized how useful a camcorder could be even in this age of multiple recording alternatives. Here are a few of the reasons why a camcorder still stands to be the best device out of all the others for capturing those special family moments. It is obvious that a dedicated recording device like camcorder will produce better quality videos than a Smartphone( which do recording as an additional function). But this is not it. Most camcorders are found to be more precise in capturing videos than a video capable DSLR. DSLR definitely capture best quality pictures and record high-quality videos but when compared to camcorders, they do perform a little wishy-washy. Since camcorders are entirely dedicated to video recording, they tend to have all the mechanisms required for a good visual delight as well as superior audio with the built-in mikes. Most camcorders come with built-in standard quality stereo recorders to produce quality audio with videos unlike digital camera and Smartphone (that record videos as a secondary function). Yes they aren’t as handy as a Smartphone or a tablet but when it comes to selecting a good quality recorder which is also very handy, camcorders will always be placed first (and not DSLRs). They are easy to shoot anywhere by anyone (including young movie makers of your home) and also allow easy, fast and smooth sharing. And the last reason but I don’t call it least that family moments are very valuable and therefore you surely need a dedicated moment capturing gadget for them. You need a camcorder. Get one today and relish togetherness forever! Okay so after all the hard work that you do all day long, you finally get to rest at night and having a ‘not-so-comfortable’ resting place can ruin your sleep which will directly affect your mood and another day. We spend around one third of a complete day on the bed. This fact itself signifies the need and importance of having a comfortable mattress. Hence if you are about to buy a new mattress then do read these tips, in order to be able to make a sensible choice. Know what you need. Do not simply spend on an excessively firm sheet or on a too fluffy one. First determine which mattress is needed and then select the type. Different people have different sleeping behaviors and therefore there is no ‘one mattress for all’. If you suffer from lower back pain or joint pains, then you should not think of a firm mattress. Choose the one you find most comfortable. When selecting the mattress, do consider your sleeping partner’s taste (if you have one). If you both have the same taste, well and good, else discuss and then choose something that goes in between. Check everywhere, on different online stores as well as several local stores, and compare well before you invest. Ask questions about differences between the different types they offer. Query the manufacturers if required. When you are finally satisfied with the decision, ONLY THEN purchase it. As you go on to check mattresses, take at least 10-15 minutes to check each and every mattress. Do not hesitate to lie down and test it. Lie down on your sides for some minutes and then on your back and stomach. Check every possibility. Ask for test periods if they offer. It will be smart to buy a mattress that offers test periods. This will help you make an even better decision. Ask about warranty details. Buy mattresses that come with a warranty. Due to a warranty you’ll not only have a secure investment but it will also indicate a sense of reliability on your selection. This implies that the manufacturer is himself confident of his product and hence you can also rely on the quality. You don’t buy a mattress every month. It is a ‘once in a decade’ kind of shopping. Therefore it is very important that you make a smart choice and the above tips will help you achieve it. They are way too expensive. They are difficult to carry. They are good for professional photography, but for a casual use they seem to sound too much. These takes us to another option for photography, i.e. point and shoot cameras. Digital point and shoot cameras are perfect for casual photography and can definitely produce precise quality images if shot carefully. Wanna know how? Read the following tips for taking DSLR-quality pictures without a DSLR (i.e. with your point and shoot cameras). Before you start shooting, determine the scene and set up the white balance which best suits. Choose the setting that gives accurate colors. If you have time, design your custom white balance. When shooting out in sun, shoot with the sun behind you. This will make sunlight fall on the object/person increasing the lighting and also prevent formation of rainbow in the image. In order to get the best results you still need to get a decent point and shoot camera with a good zoom. Use the flash wisely. See what amount of it is required and then set the suitable amount. Most people often use either full flash or no flash at all. This usually goes with most of the scenarios, but spoils photos that require moderate amount flash. Flash influences the picture a lot. Hence always determine the proper amount needed. When taking a portrait, avoid taking wide angles. They make the face and features look wider than they actually are. Stand to the position from where you need to zoom. This will influence the picture a lot. Trust me; most of the pictures get spoiled due to the improper position of the photographer. Suppose you want to capture something below your height (like a pet’s portrait) then don’t simply stand and try to shoot. Bend down to their level and shoot from a proper distance. If your camera offers, use this to improve the quality of the photo. Also try to avoid background distractions by zooming in when required. These are very basic tips and keeping them in mind one can easily picture moments perfectly because you don’t need an expensive DSLR always. For smart people, point and shoot cameras can do enough work. Baby cribs are necessary furniture for newborns and infants. They keep them safe and avoid falling while they are asleep. But buying a baby crib is an expensive affair. You will hardly find any low-end cribs. And it is fair enough as well because nobody would like to compromise on quality of the furniture and their kid’s safety and comfort. However before investing in an expensive crib, it is prudent to determine whether it is worth your hard-earned money or not. Here are a few questions to ask and essential factors to determine before spending on cribs. Is the quality worth the price? Don’t be hesitant to pose this question to the shopkeeper or the manufacturer. And don’t believe them blindly. Nobody will call their product an average. Therefore do your part of research properly. Go online to check the details of the product as online descriptions are very up to the point. Read customer reviews and ask your acquaintances who have bought that specific baby crib. Don’t hesitate to choose a cheaper one if you find it better in quality and features. Cribs are priced based on not only the quality but depending on the brand, features and several other miscellaneous factors. A costlier crib doesn’t automatically become better than the one with lesser price. However, in most of the cases this happens but it may not be necessary for every case. Hence check and compare all and choose the one that best fits your choice, be it costlier or cheaper than others. Plan for a long term use. A fancy crib may appear awesome, but then you may use it only for a year or two. But if you buy a multipurpose crib or convertible crib, it will extend the age of usage of the furniture. There are certain convertible cribs that can be turned into baby beds for the time when your kid grows up a little. Don’t go for an ultra designer one. The basic design is the best investment. Your kid may not like her clothes getting caught in the design or getting scratched if the design is edgy. Crib is a one-time purchase so be wise and buy the one that you can utilize effectively for as long as possible. It’s nothing to show-off, it must be comfortable and easy to maintain. Flat irons have become a must have styling accessory in every girl’s styling kit. The elegance of straight hairs is unmatchable and so obvious. But a slight experiment with looks every now and then, indeed adds glamour to the appearance and confidence in you personality. Did you know that there are more than one innovative ways to use your hair straightener? Yes, a flat iron or straightener not only straightens the hairs, but also allows you to style your hair in a number of creative ways. Check out the list of experiments you can do with your flat iron below. Bend ends: Straight hair look sleek and elegant. You can add a little more to it by bending the ends of your hair. This looks chic and goes really great with formal looks. This is a great office or presentation hairstyle and adds a professional touch to your personality. Crispy crimps: Yes, these are back in fashion. The best thing about crimps is that they go with every outfit. Whether you use them with a chic evening gown or a sassy disco mini. They go with them all. To get those perfectly crisp crimps with your straightener, simply motion your hands in zigzag fashion, from side to side, as you slide the iron to the end. Take a thin bunch at a time for crispier look. Beach babe waves: Another in-style hairstyle, beach-waves, can also be attained using a flat iron. All you do is pull outside your locks with the iron and it will create a wavy appearance. This hairstyle adds volume to your hair, a good way to tackle limp hair. Pumming : This is an evening gown hairstyle and is quite popular among the divas of these days. This is the hairstyle where your upper hairs remain straight and the bottom end of them is curled to bounce. To achieve this hairstyle, first straighten your hair. Don’t straighten them at the ends, just focus on straightening the upper part properly. After you have completely straightened them, take a thin bunch and roll it around one hand of the iron and slide the device down to the end. The result will be curled ends. Do this on different section of hair and you are set for a perfect dinner evening. These are basic ones, you can mix and match and use these techniques to convey you remarkable sense of style to the world. It is fun to experiment with looks and a flat iron is a perfect partner for it. This feature replaces the vacuum bag by directly depositing the dirt in a holding tray via a whirlwind cleansing. Many vacuum cleaners today offer this feature and it’s very a useful addition to look for. With this feature you’ll be able to adjust the height of the cleaner for handling different kind of messy surfaces. Further advancement in this will let you choose between automatic adjustment and manual adjustments. The automatic one will adjust itself automatically (of course) and the manual one will come with knob and lever. You can choose the one most comfortable to you. The brush, on one hand is very handy for cleaning up carpets because it brushes off the dirt nicely from the fine fibers, on the other hand it can be harmful and uncomfortable for rough floors and hard rugs. This is where the brush-roll switch helps you. With this you can turn the brush roll on or off as per your cleaning needs. Another good feature for all those who hate rolling it up after cleaning. An auto-retractable vacuum cleaner rolls up the cord automatically after they are switched off. Though, generally the vacuum cleaners offering this feature do not offer long cords. So be careful if you have big rooms. However for people with big rooms, a cordless vacuum cleaner becomes a better option. This feature allows you to give an additional length to your cleaner’s handle which can extend it to reach and clean far, unreachable surfaces such as ceilings. This is an additional tool for those who love their pets but hate their hairs all around. This will help you remove the loose hair on your pet before they fall off here and there. Radar detectors have become a must have accessory for all the fast and furious drivers, around the world. Since their introduction in 1960, they have come a long way from being a radar signal detector to GPS radar detectors and Lidar detectors at present. The pain that a speeding ticket causes to the pocket can only be understood by those who have experienced it. It is no less than a tiny heart stroke. For these weak hearted fast motorists, a radar detector indeed becomes a savior. To understand how a radar detector helps you avoid speeding tickets, you must first know how those tickets are imposed on innocent speed-lovers. Traffic police use a radar gun to detect the speed of vehicles. This gun is simply a radio transmitter and a radio receiver in one unit. The radio transmitter transmits a radio signal (an electromagnetic wave) of a specific frequency. This wave travels through air and bounces back (to the receiver). The receiver then detects this echoed signal and calculates the distance of the object with the receiver. If the object is moving then the pattern of the signal changes which is detected by the receiver. The receiver then is able to calculate how fast the object is moving towards or away from the radar gun. The cops with this information charge a speeding vehicle violating the speed limit. A radar detector is a radio receiver that is designed to detect the waves transmitted by radar guns. The detector detects the waves and alerts you before the cops could catch you. A driver can easily slow down the vehicle whenever the detector announces a radio wave coming from the radar gun. There are several kinds of electromagnetic waves propagating in the space. A radar detector is, however, an upgraded receiver designed to receive only a certain frequency waves (similar to the frequency of the police radar guns). The major difference between a low-quality radar detector and a high-quality detector is their speed and accuracy of catching radar gun’s signals. A high-end, reliable detector will detect only the radar gun’s signal and alert you immediately. On the other hand, a detector of low quality may be, way too sensitive or way too less sensitive to alert you before the cops catch you. A low-quality radar detector may also confuse you by announcing the signals from other appliances like garage closers. If you are looking to purchase a good radar detector for highways because of the speed you will have, I really recommend spending some money on a high-end product. Insist on getting a good quality radar detector. It is indeed the best way to avoid speeding tickets. Hair says so much about your looks. Hair is an important aspect of grooming. You can style them in so many ways. A little variation to your hairstyle will make you look dramatically different and appealing. In fact, most of the makeovers start with a new hairdo and are usually only about hair. Hence it is important that you choose the right gadgets to groom your crowning glory. I wanted to buy a hair dryer a few days back but was stuck when choosing the right one. Finally, I got this Conair Ionic Turbo Styler and I am so happy with my decision and the smooth and healthy look of my hair. While you buy from Conair, it offers a vast variety of blow dryers from those with high power to the ones with a medium wattage. From heavy duty high-enders to the affordable ones, you’ll find them all under the trustable product range of this brand. This is the reason that makes Conair your desired brand. Thick locks or fine hairs choose the right one for you from the huge selection range that Conair offers. The heating is smooth and fast. It won’t burn your hair and yet dry them evenly, gently and thoroughly. Conair chooses only those heating components and materials that possess even and proportionate heating abilities and therefore the heat that comes is always precise. With Conair, you can customize your heating preferences, as all its’ blow dryers come with multiple speed settings to allow users get what they want. You can set the speed at low for your fine and delicate hair and your friends and siblings can use it for their thick hair afterwards, simply by adjusting the speed and intensity. The best thing about Conair blow dryers is that they will keep your hairs shiny and smooth even after heavy use. This is because they use ionic heating which doesn’t affect the hair cuticles. So unlike other blow dryers, Conair blow dryers do not damage hairs as you dry them. It keeps your hair healthy and beautiful. Conair hair dryers have definitely changed the way I dry and style my hair and that is the reason why I prefer and advice Conair blow dryers to all of you!!

2019-04-23T10:39:41Z

http://thetexasmercury.com/

Only American Institute of Aeronautics. Operated 28 years, experiments conducted. Instructions and professional advice given. sizes from smallest models to largest Captives or long voyage vessels with or without motors. 150 gas balloons for U. S. Government. Patent, portable, hydrogen generators, lightest gas and gas works made. Machine-varnished balloon fabrics, hydrogen-proof, acid-proof, weather and spontaneous combustion proof, manufactured exclusively under basic patents for process, fabric, and machine. Bargains :—4-man captive balloon outfit, complete with power windlass and gas plant for $1200 cash. New, tested, 7-I1. p., 2-cyl., 1-man airship complete with gas works, $1300, cash. Second-hand airship frame, shaft, 10 ft. propeller and rudder, with or without gas bag and motor. 4-h. p., 1-cyl. stationary kerosene motor; 2-cyl., 12-h. p. and 2-cyl., 10-h. p. Gas balloons and airships, bought, sold or exchanged. New i-man gas balloon outfit complete. Address with stamp. Dear Sir:-- Last year you furnished me with an instrument which I used on the "Mudlark" in ray tour from New York to Florida, and it gave us such good satisfaction that I would like to have one of your clock and light instruments for a model "M" Olds in which I will make a similar run this coming week from New York to New Orleans by way of Syracuse, Buffalo, Cleveland, Louisville and Birmingham. Trusting that you will give this order your personal attention, and that I may receive the instrument in time, as other speed Indicator companies have offered to furnish me free of charge an_instrument for this occasion. However! I would rather buy a Warner than accent their offers as the Auto-Keter has always given me complete satisfaction^ " 136 Wheeler Ave., Beloit, Wis. AMERICAN MAGAZINE OF AERONAUTICS CO. Ernest L-aRue Jones, Editor and Owner Thoroughfare Building, 1777 Broadway, New York, U. S. A. Aeronautics is issued on the tenth of each month. It furnishes the latest and most authoritative information on all matters relating to Aeronautics. Contributions are solicited. AN AVIATION PRIZE IN AMERICA? With the announcement abroad almost daily of a new prize for the encouragement of the study of aeronautical science it does seem as though some one in America should at least be "willing," if not anxious, to contribute a sum suitably large in comparison with those offered abroad. Not a money prize im America for dynamic flight! We have an Aero Club whose members are worth $50,000,000—or more and an attempt to raise a thousandth part of that sum, $50,000, failed of accomplishment. In this land of big projects, it would seem almost likely that a goodly prize would be offered merely for the honor of the country, not to mention an interest in the subject. But up to date there has been no apparent "run" on honor's bank. We have either no wish to fly through the air, no money, or no desire to aid. The first is not the case; the second cannot be true, for we daily hear reports of the well filled pocketbook of the public; it must be, then, though most preposterous, that we do not want to aid. On reflection, however, this latter cannot be correct, for have we not an Aero Club "to advance the development of the science of aeronautics, * * * * * to encourage ***** aerial navigation" and to "do everything necessary, suitable and proper for the accomplishment of any of the purposes hereinbefore set forth?" In what way can the science be furthered more than by offering prizes? Judging from the results accomplished by offering prizes in France, this seems to be the best way to "advance the development." In France, at the end of his resources, Farman wins $io,ooo(. Result—the first machine improved, the distance capable of being flown tripled, and a new machine under construction! In America, no prizes and no flights. If the offering of prizes is the quickest way to success, are not Aero Club members bound by their constitution to offer prizes? Messrs. Michelin, the well known tire manufacturers, have offered $52,000. Thiè amount is divided into two sections. It was first announced that a $2000 cup and a cash sum of $3000 would be given annually for ten years to the aviator who, between January 31 and December 31 in each year, would cover the greatest distance, either in France or in one of the countries whose aero club is affiliated with the Aero Club of France. The distance was to have been at least double that of the previous year. That is, the winner for 1908 must cover twice the distance made by Farman on January 13 last. The cup to be handed by one club to another as won, the cash going to the aviator. This has now been changed. $4000 is offered annually for eight years, beginning in 1908. This sum will reward the aviator who makes the greatest distance during the year, the minimum to be 20 kilometers. Of course, the apparatus will not be allowed to touch the ground while flying and the aviator will have to be officially controlled. The prize is open for competition, beginning April 10. For 1909 to 1915 the official regulations may be modified yearly by the Aero Club of France to conform to the progress of aviation, without, however, making too difficult conditions. If during one year the prize is not won the sum will be added to the one of the following year. The flight must be from any place in the Departments of the Seine or Seine-et-Oisc, a turn being made around the Arch de Triomphe, at Paris, another turn around the cathedral of Clermont-Ferrand and then a landing on top of the Puy-de-Dome, which has an altitude of 1456 meters (4777 feet), in the total time from the Arch of Triumph to Puy-de-Dome of 6 hours. The distance from Paris to Puy-de-Dome in a straight line is about 350 kilometers (217 miles). The speed would have to be, therefore, a little over 36 miles an hour. M. Archdeacon calls attention to the possible difficulty on account of the drop in pressure from 760 to 620 mm. at the altitude to which Puy-de-Dome rises. Theoretically the motor would give slightly less efficiency. The sum of $20,000 has been offered by Prince Roland Bonaparte as the nucleus of a fund for scholars and inventors, some of which money will be devoted to the progress of aviation and dirigible balloons. Karl Lanz, a merchant of Mannheim, has offered $10,000 to found an aviation prize. $2500 will also be devoted to the aid of indigent German inventors. A prize of $1000 is offered by the A. C. F. for a flight of s kilometers. A prize (no sum yet mentioned) has been offered by Georges Dubois and Omet-Decugis and others, for a flight of 50 meters at a height of 25 meters. On February 28 M. Charron paid Ernest Archdeacon $200 toward a prize for the encouragement of aviation. Following this came a contribution from Mme. Heriot, owner of the Louvre. * $50,000, London, Daily Mail, to the flying machine, preferably aeroplane, starting within five miles of Daily Mail Office, London, and landing within five miles of Daily Mail Office at Manchester. Distance, 160 miles. $10,000, Adams Mfg. Co., if the motor and apparatus winning the Daily Mail prize be entirely constructed in Great Britain. $2,500, Autocar, to the maker of the motor, if English, above competition. * Also a gold medal offered by Santos-Dumont in connection with the above competition. * $2,500, Lord Montagu, to the machine which makes the longest flight in any one year. Contest must be in England. $25.00 a mile in addition for every mile flown up to 25 miles. * $12,500, Brooklands Racing Club, to the first machine which makes a flight of three miles above the (egg-shaped) Brooklands course, at a height of three to fifty feet. Speed must be at least ten miles per hour. * $2,500, Ruinart Pere et Fils, to the first aviator to fly from France to England or vice versa before 1910. This contest is international. The shortest distance is from Cape Gris Nez to Dover, 30 kilometers. * $2,000, M. Armengaud, Jr., to the first aviator who remains in the air fifteen minutes. * $1,000, Aero Club of France, for a flight of five kilometers. * $200, M. Pepin, to the first aviator to fly across the Garonne. * $4,000 in cash to be won by aeroplanes at Vichy in the Fall of 1908, conditions to be announced later. * $52,000, MM. Michclin, consisting of $4,000 to be won each year for 8 years, the last holder to become owner; also $20,000 for a flight from Paris to Clermont, 217 miles, in 6 hours. *$I20 in three prizes of $40 each and three silver plaques offered by Aviation Commission of Aero Club of France for flights of 200 meters. One of these has just been won by Farman. Various prizes for aeroplane contests at Bordeaux in July. * $11,100 in cash in aeroplane races at Spa, in July, 1908. The largest prize is for a flight of 23 kilometers. * $2,500, Dr. Ganz, at Munich Exposition. Aviator must stay in air 10 minutes over a specified course. $10,000, Karl Lanz, of Mannheim. Machines must be constructed in Germany of German material. Also $2,500 to aid poor German inventors. *$ioo, A. C. Triaca, for the longest flight during 1908. Open to members of Aero Club of France and Aero Club of America. * $5,000 for an international aeroplane contest at Venice in October. The only prize for dirigibles is that of M. Archdeacon. $4,000 cash and a $2,000 trophy, both annually during 1908-9, open from March 1 to October 31, for a flight of 200 kilometers, passing above St. Germain, Senlis, Meaux, Melun and St. Germain. This is international, open to any affiliated F. A. 1. club. Landings for gasolene, etc.. permitted. THE ADVANTAGES OF THE HELICOPTER OVER THE AEROPLANE. The helicopter type of flying machine has been comparatively neglected. Although suggested several centuries ago, supposedly by Leonardo da Vinci in 1500, much less work has been done on it than on other types of flying machines. Not even one man-carrying helicopter has ever been flown in free flight. This neglect of the helicopter-type appears to have been due to a general impression that it does not offer :a likelihood of success equal to that of the aeroplane or even of the ornithopter! It "has, in fact, frequently been contended that even if one of large size could actually be constructed, and- should be found convenient in operation,, it would still be found very low in efficiency. 4. Hovering 10. Lift per square foot. 1. The starting of a helicoper is comparatively simple, especially if it be of the vertically ascending type. It is merely a matter of starting up the propellers without requiring a special launching device or a long run on a smooth ground, as required by the aeroplane. This is important because such launching devices will not always be available and because large smooth open spaces are uncommon. 2. A helicopter can ascend nearly vertically. It can therefore arise from small starting places such as a small field surrounded by large trees. In actual use flying machines will encounter many obstacles such as high houses or steep hillsides. Such obstacles a helicopter will be able to surmount by simply rising at a steep angle whereas an aeroplane will be compelled to turn completely around and ascend in a large spiral. It is evident that the ability to fly at any angle with the horizontal will be of great advantage to the helicopter. 3. The balance of a helicopter may be made practically automatic. It is evident that the simplest way to secure equilibrium is by using a very low centre of gravity. The known objection to this construction is that it causes excessive pitching and rolling. Now in an aeroplane, violent pitching absolutely destroys its power to fly as it spoils the all-important angle of incidence of the supporting planes. But in a helicopter the essential angle of incidence is the angle of the blades with the shaft, which remains practically constant whether the machine as a whole pitches or not. Therefore a helicopter can be arranged to have a more pronounced pendular stability than is possible with an aeroplane. The helicopter, furthermore may readily be designed to have gyroscopic stability, without requiring as much special apparatus for this purpose as would be required by an aeroplane. 4. A practical helicopter will be able to hover over a selected point, whereas an aeroplane must continually move horizontally in order to retain its elevation. The ability to hover should prove a great advantage, for instance in taking observations and in selecting a suitable landing place. 5. A helicopter under good control could descend at any desired speed and at any angle, or vertically if preferred. It could, in an emergency, descend in a contracted space much too small for the flight of an aeroplane. 6. Landing will always be difficult. It is particularly dangerous in an aeroplane owing to the high horizontal velocity. At present aeroplanes can only land safely on smooth ground in large open spaces. It may be found possible in later models, to suddenly check the horizontal velocity at the exact moment of landing, but the general nature of the difficulty will still remain the same. A practical helicopter would be able to descend slowly in any open space of moderate size and land safely whether the ground be smooth or not. If under perfect control it could land without any horizontal velocity either in a calm or in any moderate wind. The above described favorable characteristics of a practical helicopter have been pointed out by other writers and are here repeated only for convenience. With one or two possible exceptions they have been described by Penaud, Chanute and Hastings. The mechanical efficiency of the helicopter, however, has apparently not been so carefully studied nor so correctly judged, so that it merits further examination and discussion. 7. The helicopter can be constructed more simply than the aeroplane. In the former, the power is applied directly to the inclined surfaces, whereas in the latter the power is transmitted to a propelling device, and the resultant thrust applied to the planes. It will be clear, without elaborate explanation, that simplicity is especially desirable in flying machines, as weight and power are both limited, and as simplicity in these fragile structures favors reliability and safety. As this article is intended to deal only with general principles, details of structure will not be here discussed. 8. The achievement of reasonable safety is essential to practical flight. Special provision must be made against the occurrence of an unretarded fall and consequent complete destruction. Of course all hcavier-than-air flying devices must fall in case of serious accident to their means of sustentation. In this contingency, however, they should not drop too rapidly nor upset in falling. upon the continuance of its motive force. Stoppage of the motor means a sudden drop and a sudden backward shift of the centre of pressure. This is liable to cause a complete somersault particularly as the centre of gravity in an aeroplane is necessarily high and as curved surfaces such as are usually employed are in themselves unstable with the concave side downwards. An expert operator may occasionally, if the motor stops, be able to glide to the ground in an aeroplane as if with a gliding machine, but the actual landing is then likely to occur at a dangerous horizontal velocity. Of course a helicopter will also drop if its motor stops but its stability need not be seriously affected. The drop may be made vertical if preferred, or given a slight horizontal component. The speed of falling will depend largely upon the weight per square foot, so that the advantage of large areas in this contingency is apparent. The low centre of gravity will tend to keep the machine right side up. In addition to this, the supporting surfaces may be arranged to have a slow reverse rotation about their shafts, thus forming an efficient and stable rotatory parachute. The rate of fall probably need not exceed 20 to 30 miles per hour with weights of one or two pounds per square foot, or about the landing speed of a man jumping from a height of 15 to 25 feet. An emergency descent at this rate would not generally seriously endanger the life of the operator. 9. The helicopter has a considerable advantage over the aeroplane in the matter of head resistance. Considering only the forward progress of the machine as a whole it will be clear without explanation that a helicopter Hying with about three quarters of the horizontal velocity of an aeroplane will have approximately half its head resistance if the bulks are about equal. In order to analyze the matter, however, we may divide the total head resistance into two parts, namely the back pressure of the supporting surfaces, sometimes called the drift, and the head resistance of the car and body of the machine. The back pressure of the supporting planes may be divided into three parts, the head resistance of the front edges, the skin friction, and the horizontal component of the normal pressure. Now as far as the head resistance of the car and body is concerned, the helicopter has the advantage of a slower horizontal speed. At the time of starting this advantage is most pronounced as the aeroplane has to overcome its full head resistance when first leaving the ground, whereas the car and body of the helicopter offer no horizontal head resistance at all during the difficult period of starting. The head resistance of the supporting surfaces has heretofore generally been higher on models of helicopters than on aeroplanes. This is, however, entirely unnecessary as it is only a question of using proper areas, speeds, and angles to get the same ratio of lift to drift in a helicopter blade as in an aeroplane surface, provided that proper allowance be made for the helicopter blades working in disturbed air. We may reasonably conclude that the head resistance of the supporting surfaces of a properly designed helicopter will be about the same as that of an aeroplane, and that the head resistance' of the car and body will generally be less, principally owing to the slower horizontal velocity. to. In the matter of lift per square foot the helicopter has this advantage over the aeroplane, that it may be designed with any desired lift per square foot within wide limits without materially affecting the horizontal velocity of the whole machine or the head resistance of the car and body. It has been urged in favor of the helicopter that this fact will permit of the use of very small areas thereby reducing the weight of the supporting surfaces. The writer does not recommend this construction, particularly not for use during the present early stage of the art, as it is dangerous in case of a sudden fall, and as it' requires very light construction and inordinately powerful motors. It should also be observed that the use of high speed and very small areas reduces the lift per horsepower and consequently the efficiency of the helicopter as a lifting device. Nevertheless, the fact that the lift is practically independent of the horizontal velocity of the machine as a whole is a great advantage of the helicopter over the aeroplane and itself accounts for the majority of the advantages in operation referred to earlier in this article. 11. In the matter of lift per horsepower the helicopter has heretofore been stated to compare unfavorably with the aeroplane. A number of authorities including Chanute * give the lift per horsepower of a helicopter as about half that of an aeroplane. As this question is of considerable importance and as the author believes his deductions to be original the matter will be discussed in some detail. helicopter provides a simple and efficient method of direct drive for the supporting surfaces. The lifting force of a helicopter will be the full thrust of the shaft or in other words, the full lift of the supporting surfaces directly driven by the motor. The error lies in the assumption that this same propeller would actually be used in this way, whereas propellers intended for use as helicopters can actually be constructed to give a thrust of over 50 pounds per horsepower. The reader may wonder why, if this be correct, propellers giving such a large thrust are not used on aeroplanes thus obtaining a still larger lift and preserving the supposed advantage of the aeroplane. It should be remembered that the screw propeller is simply a mechanical device for exerting thrust or pressure. As soon as this pressure is exerted over a giA'en distance the work done can be expres>cd in foot pounds or horsepower. For any given efficiency, therefore, the thrust that can be obtained per horsepower will vary inversely as the distance through which it is exerted. A propeller of perfect efficiency for instance could give a thrust of 8 pounds per horsepower at a velocity of 69 feet a second or about 46 miles an hour. Another propeller also of perfect efficiency might give a thrust of 50 pounds through a distance of 11 feet per second or about 7}4 miles per hour. These are the theoretical maxima for the given speeds, the distances per second through which these thrusts could actually be exerted being much less, owing to the yielding of the air, skin friction, etc. Now it is well known that the yielding of the air is relatively larger for propellers progressing slowly along their axes, but even so, the largest thrusts can be exerted at the slowest speeds if the propellers are properly designed for their work. If the slip in the cases suggested above be assumed as 8 miles per hour in one instance, and 5 miles in the other, being about 17 per cent, in one case and 67 per cent, in the other, the first propeller will give a thrust per horsepower of 8 pounds at 38 miles an hour, the second a thrust per horsepower of 50 pounds at 2^2 miles. These figures are fair examples that might occur in actual construction. As aeroplanes require a considerable horizontal velocity in order to fly at all, it is evident that they will always be limited to the use of propellers giving only moderate thrusts per horsepower. It is the contention of the author that this more than balances the advantage of the favorable ratio of lift to drift of the supporting surfaces. The aeroplane, considered as a supporting device, also has in its propelling mechanism a source of inefficiency not occuring in the helicopter. The helicopter is handicapped by having its blades work in disturbed air. This ֤isadvantage is a serious one but is not quite as great as generally supposed, because the drift is reduced at the same time as the lift and nearly in the same proportion. As soon as the helicopter moves horizontally its blades act on fresh air and the lift is slightly increased. The helicopter is sometimes stated to lose in efficiency owing to the action of ֣entrifugal force. It is assumed that air is thrown outwards requiring power without giving an adequate supporting reaction. Now as a matter of fact the centrifugal action must be very small if it occurs at all, because it is shown by experiment that there is an actual inrush of air around the circumference of a helicopter and even for a short distance below its blades. In any case, as centrifugal force depends largely upon the angular velocity it may be reduced by using large diameters and low speeds and by adopting an efficient form of blade. Considering both types of machines in a general way the incidental head resis tance will also reduce the lifting efficiency, but as the helicopter at its usual slower speeds will have a smaller head resistance of car and body than the aeroplane, it will lose power from this source. The writer is inclined to believe that the advantage of reduced head resistance will balance the disadvantage of working in disturbed air, but this can be definitely determined only by actual experiment on a large scale. As far as theory is concerned the author holds that the direct drive of the helicopter is more effective than the indirect drive of the aeroplane, and that with suitable construction the helicopter will actually give a larger lift per horsepower. cosine of the angle of inclination of the main shaft with the horizontal. This would make the maximum attainable horizontal speed equal to the maximum theoretical pitch velocity times the cosine of the angle. The actual horizontal speed would naturally be estimated at less than this owing to the head resistance of the car and body. But the author contends that the horizontal speed will exceed this supposed theoretical maximum and may even exceed the full theoretical pitch velocity. This is a striking paradox, but if correct is important and therefore worthy of careful analysis. Let us consider the thrust along the inclined shaft to be divided into two components, the one vertical, the other horizontal. Let us assume the vertical component to be balanced bv the weight. Let us further assume the effective pitch angl* of the blades to be for example 12 degrees and the angle of the main shaft with the horizontal 78 degrees. The currently accepted computation would then give a maximum horizontal speed of about one-fifth of the pitch velocity. Let us now analyze the action of the blades. In the assumed case they will make no angle with the horizontal on the forward stroke and double the pitch angle with the horizontal on the back stroke. Then the forward stroke will have a lifting effect but practically no horizontal component. This is because the pressure on an inclined plane is always perpendicular to the surface.* Of course there may be a slight backward horizontal pressure due to skin friction, or a slight forward horizontal component, if the surface be slightly curved, due to the tangential force described by Lilienthal,** but for practical purposes the pressure on the forward stroke may be considered vertical. The back stroke will give a strong forward thrust on account of the pronounced angle of the blades with the horizontal. This will continue as long as the blades move backwards faster than the whole machine moves forwards. This forward thrust, at least during the central part of the back stroke, will not disappear entirely until the horizontal velocity of the whole machine equals the linear rotational velocity of the blades. But the linear velocity exceeds the pitch velocity if the pitch be less than unity. Therefore the attainable horizontal velocity exceeds the pitch velocity times the cosine of the angle and may even exceed the full theoretical pitch velocity. It is thus a fact that a slightly inclined helicopter may travel horizontally faster than it would if used directly as a horizontal propeller. It immediately follows from the above that the horsepower required for horizontal motion will not be as high as might otherwise be the case, the power for vertical support being separately considered. The efficiency of a helicopter as a vehicle for horizontal transit will also be fairly good if driven by a special horizontal propeller intended to increase the horizontal velocity, provided that the main shaft be inclined forward at a suitable angle in order to take advantage of the above described peculiar feathering action of the main blades. It thus appears that the maximum horizontal velocity and transit efficiency of the helicopter although lower than those of the aeroplane will be sufficiently high for practical use and very much higher than heretofore supposed. It will always be an advantage that the horizontal velocity can be regulated, and especially that it can be reduced to practically nothing whenever desired. In summarizing our conclusions we may say that the helicopter can be made superior to the aeroplane in the first nine points considered, namely: starting, ascending, balancing, hovering, descending, landing, simplicity, safety and head-resistance. The author also contends that the helicopter may be designed to have a very large lift per square foot, or a very large lift per horsepower, and that its horizontal velocity, although less than that of the aeroplane, will be considerable, variable and sufficient. As this article is limited to a theoretical discussion the desirability of testing the conclusion in practice is evident. The author is engaged in experiments along this line and expects soon to publish the results of some tests of a large helicopter. The important questions of lift per horsepower and of horizontal velocity appear to be especially worthy of discussion and experiment. The author hopes that this article may serve to arouse greater interest in the comparatively neglected helicopter-type of flying machine and that the merits here asserted and discussed may be fully confirmed in actual practice. Baltimore, Aid., March, 1908. *See "Aeronautics," Vol. I, No. 3; Page 11, Sept., 1907. **See Moedebeck's Handbook, English Edition, p. 289. In an aerial voyage the aeronaut and his assistants usually have certain special objects in view that demand their full attention—but still, it is easily possible for an earnest man to make every voyage tell along the special lines in avhich students of the atmosphere are interested. No generous minded navigator of the ocean omits to keep a full record of wind and weather, barometer and thermometer, ocean currents and temperatures, and whatever can be considered as appertaining to navigation. He does this partly for his own information, partly as the habit of a cautious man— principally because he knows that the pilot chart of the ocean that he uses daily is compiled from thousands of such records gratuitously contributed for many years to the. central national hydrographic offices at London, Paris, Hamburg and Washington where the charts are published. Those who contribute this observational data receive the "pilot charts" in return, or a thousandfold more than they give. Precisely analogous arrangements should be made by the aeronauts with their central meteorological offices. They can hardly expect the meteorologist to tell them beforehand what upper winds and temperatures to expect on a given day unless they furnish from past voyages the material that is needed for such predictions. The students of the atmosphere who are employed in Government weather bureaus get daily reports as to conditions at the earth's surface and as to the clouds, if any are visible, and they have these many years asked for regular reports from balloons and kites as to upper air conditions—but asked in vain, because this branch of meteorological work has been expensive and has only lately been developed. An aeronaut is but helping himself when he sends us copies of his records, since he is sure to receive in return items of valuable knowledge generalized from numerous other corresponding reports. For instance, in December, 1871, the veteran aeronaut, Prof. Samuel A. King, who is still living and active in Philadelphia, communicated to me the records that he had saved up relative to his early voyages. From these I compiled a table and deduced a law that was at once published by the Philosophical Society of Washington, showing that in general, with scarcely a single exception, the higher he ascended so much the more did the direction of the movement of the balloon and the air deviate from that near the ground, the deviation being always toward the right, and frequently amounting to a semi-circle by the time that he reached the highest current flowing eastward. Of course, such a law as this when once well established would become most important for all long voyages in North America and equally important when one has to calculate for his descent and choose a landing spot on the shore of lake or ocean. I was at that time wholly absorbed in the study of the daily weather maps and the practical forecasting of the winds and weather (telegrams and forecasts were made daily at 10 a. m., 5 p. m. and midnight). The same law had just been revealed by the comparison of these telegraphic reports of the motions of the winds, lower clouds and upper clouds, but the continuous records of balloon voyages, when the sky was cloudless, now extended this local rule into a generalization of the broadest character. Subsequently I found that Clement Ley, from cloud observations in England, had arrived at the same result and eventually I found that Henry Allan Broun had announced it at Edinburgh in 1845. The international cloud work of i8q6-'97 has served to reveal the universality of the law that the upper winds deviate from the lower winds toward the right in the northern but toward the left in the southern hemisphere. It will be a fine contribution to our knowledge if some aeronaut following Professor King's habit of keeping careful records of his voyages shall show us when and why exceptions to this rule occur—as their probably do occasionally. The records of the recent long distance competition of 1907 in which the balloon "Pommern" exceeded by a few miles the long voyage of 791 miles by John Wise on 1st and 2nd, 1859, show that some of the aeronauts took advantage of this law. In order to get a good record of the varying directions of travel the aeronaut has only to keep his map at hand and mark thereon by numbers within circles (1), (2), etc., the position immediately below him as often as he can possibly identify it. But he doubles the value of his record if he also adds the minute and second (or minute and tenth of a minute if his watch has no second hand), for thus he gives the meteorologist the one datum that we can only get from free balloons, namely, the true velocity of the movement of the free air. The heat that we get from the sun starts the atmosphere in motion. From these movements when actually known we may reason back to the heat that caused them or forward to the results that must follow. The movement of each part of the atmosphere is the fundamental need of meteorology. The chart and watch, the barograph and thermograph of the aeronaut can alone give us what we so sorely need. for data of value to the Bureau. These will be distributed gratis to balloonists. The forms will be reproduced, with the instructions, in the May number of Aeronautics. On the first Thursday of each month at a number of institutions of learning, aeronautical experiments are carried on^to^ determine various questions regarding the atmospheric conditions, to a certain extent; they include free ballooning, captive ballooning, and balloon ascensions with registering instruments, etc. As before, the free balloon continues to be the one to help these experiments more than any other, gives results that can be depended upon, and is independent of the weather which gives the scientists so many opportunities to carry on important experiments. The following described trip, which was made from the Observatory at Linden-berg, should have begun without fail on the evening of Wednesday, April 4th, 1906, so as to enable the companion, my brother, Dr. Alfred Wegener, who had made many observations by day, to likewise make observations by night. We desired on the following day to ascertain the meteorological conditions at a high altitude. At the inflation, which, as usual, was made by the balloon battalion at Reinickendorf, the net of our balloon "Brandenburg" became damaged, and w7e were able to only make our ascension at 9 o'clock in the morning of April 5th in another balloon hurriedly made ready. night, and then the following day be able to take the balloon to a higher altitude. As the balloon started to rise in a thick fog, although above the sky was quite clear, it acted very restless, and directly after we had begun to ascend it settled again on the ground and again rose and settled before we could do anything to remedy the evil. The mid-day heat made a considerable change in the atmosphere, and we noticed that the partly warmed air rose while the colder air sank away from it. This vertical downward current is the principal enemy of long balloon trips, for it always means a sacrifice of ballast when a balloon is suddenly caught by one of these downward currents. The balloon flew rapidly over the Tegeler Sea, Neu-Ruppin and Wittstock, and toward noon sailed east from Wismar toward the ocean (Baltic Sea). Soon the ocean became visible in all its greatness below us, and the smoke we could see in the distance showed that we had the same wind as we had before. Cities, forests and water flew past under us. It was by much hard work that we succeeded in putting the basket in order, and in doing this work we discovered many defects in our equipment which we did not notice in our hurried departure. For provisions we had only for each man one pound of chocolate, two cutlets, one orange and one flask of seltzer. We also discovered we had forgotten something even of more importance. In our hurry to get away we had forgotten to take our heavier coats, and we only wore light Summer jackets. Soon Fehmarn lay under us; we just cut across its west corner, and we flew further toward Langeland and Funen (a peninsula of Denmark). At this time the sun began to sink. The lessening of the sun's rays cooled the balloon, the gas contracted, and we began to sink. After the sun began to sink we had to sacrifice four bags of ballast. When over the north coast of Funen it became dark; and when shortly afterward we approached the east coast of Jutland (Denmark) by Fridericia, the earth could only be seen by dim moonlight. We had lived fairly well the first day; almost three-quarters of a pound of chocolate and one cutlet were used. In spite of this, as a result of our heavy work with the ballast bags and because of the extreme smallness of our basket (i m. x 1.20), we had many pains, which were very noticeable at each movement of the basket. During the night we had another queer experience. The aeronaut knows that the basket begins to shake slightly when the drag rope drags on the earth. We had decided to remain at 2-300 m. altitude because the current below us travelled too much toward the west, directly toward the North Sea. The basket began to shake slightly while I lay rolled up in the bottom of the basket vainly trying to sleep. I imagined that my brother, who had assumed command of the balloon, had fallen asleep, and that the balloon had sunk so that it was resting on the guide rope. I called to him: "The guide rope is dragging." But he answered, "No, I am only shivering from the cold." It was he, shaking from the frost, which did not leave him until after we had landed. The course changed slowly to the north while our speed slackened. We were a little puzzled as to our whereabouts, but determined our position after investigating our charts. Slowly the balloon, continually turning toward the right, approached a long Fjord (we believed this at first to be the Limfjord, but later it proved to be the Manager Fjord). We then changed our course entirely to the east and approached the Kattegat. Soon the rising sun began to warm us and the balloon continually rose until twelve o'clock noon without using any ballast. When at an altitude of 2500 m. we saw the country we had passed over without knowing our whereabouts stretched out below us like a chart. During the time the balloon was rising, we stood practically still. Only after noon time, when the balloon again began to fall, we found more wind, and drove with increasing speed toward the south, over Funen and Aero, where we crossed our path of the day before toward Kiel, which we passed over at six o'clock in the evening. Our rations on the second day were cut down some. Six chocolate bonbons, one cutlet and a half orange per person. The sun when it set on this day also cost us four bags of ballast, so we had left, only 12 bags out of 38 we started with. The first part of the night we passed very restless. After passing Kiel our course began to turn sharply toward the right, so that we feared we would be driven over the North Sea, and we prepared to land. While we were considering the question of landing, our balloon rose to an altitude of 2400 m., where we suffered considerably from the cold and exposure. It must have been 10 dcg. C. up there, and we could hardly endure it. Soon, however, the course again changed toward the south, and we again got control of our balloon. During the night the balloon drifted over the Elbe and Hamburg; and over the Luneburger Heide. altitude, and we gained an altitude of 3700 m'. and continued to fly over cities and towns. The cold at this altitude—16 deg. C.—combined with our cramped quarters and insufficient nourishment, made it unbearable. After we had been at this altitude about two hours, at 11:30 o'clock we again began to descend, although we still had six bags of ballast. When we came nearer to the earth we drifted under a heavy cloud and into a strong downward current, and we had to use four bags of ballast in two hours, and were compelled to land near Laufach in Spessart after a trip of 52l/> hours' duration. We had in fact broken the record for duration. We gained many important points for science on this trip. De La Vaulx in his record trip of 3s hours to Kiew, in southern Russia, was exhausted when he landed. He had a balloon of 2000 m. capacity, well equipped, and with plenty of clothing, etc. We, however, had a balloon of only 1200 cu. m. capacity, with a miserable equipment and insufficient food and clothing. We account for this now that De La Vaulx remained at too high altitudes. During his second night he was at an altitude of 5000 m. According to our records on the third day we did not once reach an altitude of 3700 m. The lesson learned by our long trip was: "Keep your balloon as near the earth as possible all the time." We probably had an advantage over many others, as I did not spend 2V2 years at the Royal Aeronautical Observatory for nothing, testing the atmospheric conditions day after day. During our trip, understanding these conditions as well as we did, we did not once think about any danger. THE FIRST SUCCESSFUL TRIAL OF THE NEW AEROPLANE "RED WING" OF THE AERIAL EXPERIMENT ASSOCIATION, AT HAMMONDSPORT, N. Y. By First Lieut. T. Selfridge, First Field Artillery, Secretary. The motor driven aeroplane "Red Wing" was completed and ready for trial March 9, 1908, in slightly less than seven weeks after she was started. This was the virgin attempt of the Aerial Experiment Association to construct a motor driven aeroplane of this type, and hence we were not over-sanguine of success at the first trials. Completed, the dimensions of the apparatus are as follows: two superposed aero-curves of a mean depth of 5' 3" (6.3' front to rear at the center and 4' at the extremities) and the same mean distance apart. The front edge of the upper plane extends out 4' beyond the last vertical connecting posts at each end and the silk surface tapers back from this point to the last verticals at each end of the rear edge. The total spread of the upper plane is 43 feet. The total spread of lower plane is 36' 8". The total area of surfaces of the cell is 385.7 sq. ft. down to those at the end., which are 1.5" front to rear, with a thickness of .5". The surfaces are of silk with transverse pockets in which are inclosed the bent laminated wood strips extending from the front to the rear edges of the surfaces to give the surfaces their curved form. Above each strut a T-shaped wood strip extends from front to rear and helps to strengthen the structure. The spacing of the vertical struts decreases from the center toward the lateral extremities. The two center struts at the front and rear edges are about 22" apart; the first strut on either side of these two is 6.5' distant, the next 5.5' and then 5' to the outer struts. The framework is still further strengthened by steel cable gu3rs 1-32" diameter. The tail consists of a single surface 14' 10" by 3', whose front edge is 10' in the rear of the rear edge of the main surfaces. In the center of the tail, and above, is placed a balanced vertical rudder 4' by 4'. The tail is set at a fixed angle of 7.5 degrees with the front surfaces. A horizontal rudder 8' by 2' is supported at the end of a pointed bow of rectangular cross-section (22" by 22"), which projects from the front of the middle panel. The rear edge of the rudder is 5' in Iront of the front edge of the main planes, making the maximum longitudinal dimensions of the machine 26' 3". 145 pounds. The ignition is by jump spark from a single coil and distributor. The intake valves are automatic. The crank shaft is of Vanadium steel i^",-in diameter, made hollow. The cylinders, pistons and rings are cast from a specially treated pattern and are ground carefully to fit. The crank case is cast from the new light aluminum alloy "McAdamite." The total weight of the engine, batteries and coil, gas and oil tank, fuel and propeller, is 200 pounds. The engine is mounted between the main surfaces and drives direct a 6' 2" propeller of two blades having approximately a 4' pitch. The operator sits inside the bow, which is covered with silk, about 6" in front of the front edge of the planes. The total weight of the apparatus, without engine or operator, is 185 pounds. The operator weighs 1S5 pounds. The total weight complete with motor and operator is 570 pounds, to an effective area of 385.7 square feet. On March 9 the machine, which was fitted with runners for the purpose, was put on the ice with a view to ascertaining the effect of the vertical rudder. The area of ice available was so restricted that it was out of the question to attempt a flight, and no runs of over 100 feet or so were made with the engine running. These trials were quite satisfactory and no alterations were made. win, M. E., of Toronto, Can., mounted it and G. II. Curtiss, of Hammondsport, N. Y.,. its maker, started the engine. It was hardly expected that the machine would rise at the first attempt. The motor was running with the spark retarded and no effort was made to have it develop its full power. The apparatus gathered momentum very quickly, and, much to the surprise of everyone, left the ice after travelling only 200 feet from the start. She arose to a height varying between 10' and 20', and had flown but a short distance when the right half of the tail buckled up, causing the right wing of the machine to lower and the apparatus to turn to the right, at the same time descending. The right auxiliary runner struck first, breaking the strut above it. while the machine pivoted about this runner and settled on the ice facing the starting point. The switch was then thrown out and the "Red Wing'" came to a stop not far from where she left the ice. her momentum carrying her some distance after the power had been shut oft. Measured in a direct line from the point where the runners left the ice to the point where they first touched on descending, the distance was exactly 318' 11". The actual distance travelled was somewhat greater than this, as the machine described a curve while in the air. Twenty-five onlookers witnessed the flight. As it was impossible to make the necessary repairs on the spot, the machine was brought back to her shed, thus terminating the trials for the da}7. The experiments will be resumed at the earliest opportunity, and upon the disappearance of the ice, the apparatus will be placed on wheels. The actual thrust of the propeller was probabl}- in the neighborhood of 130 pounds, but this was not definitely known, as it had not been measured, and the engine at the time of the flight was certain!}' not developing over 20 horse-power. MARCH AEROPLANE FLIGHTS AT ISSY. The first two weeks were miserable, wet and cold. The field at Issy was a veritable lake. Work has been pushed on the machines in the shops of Chauviere and Voisin, and several new ones will be out soon. Kapferer and others are merely waiting for good weather. ՠOn March 14th Delegrange was out and made 300 meters with an Antoinette 40 h. p. motor, his personal record up to this time. The average height was 6 meters. Farman on the remodeled No. 1 accomplished several flights of 500 to 600 meters, using a 40 h. p. Renault air-cooled motor. The speed made was superior to that heretofore accomplished, as he made a curved flight of 600 meters in 19 seconds, which is equivalent to a speed of 100 kilometers an hour. Several very fortunate improvements have been made in the machine, and he hoped with an automatic process for air cooling, doing away with water, to outdo the results he has already obtained. He has replaced the silk covering of the planes with Continental caoutchouc, which, among other advantages, otters less resistance to the air and has complete impermeability. The extra light Renault motor used gave "the best satisfaction and gives good hopes for the future." General Kovanko, of the Russian Army, who was present, has just given a very important order to Voisin Brothers. On the 16th Delegrange made five flights, covering in the first three distances between 200 and 500 meters. In the last flight of 700 meters at a height of 5-6 meters he was limited by the fence. The Antoinette 40 h. p. motor worked perfectly, and it is evident that the aviator is now thoroughly acquainted with his machine. Farman was also out, but did not fly, for which the motor might have blamed had it not been deprived of its "demultiplicateur." The monoplane Gastambide-Mengin did not quit its garage at Bagatelle. on October 26, 1907; and that Santos Dumont made 220 meters on November 12, 1906, winning two prizes, and 25 meters on October 23, 1906. officials of the club. Farman made two complete circuits of the course. The time was 3 minutes 31 seconds for a distance calculated to be 2004.8 meters. Taking into account the curve of the turnt ing, the real course must have been nearly 4 kilometers in that short space of time. Farman had thus beaten his own record by tripling it. superb loop, which measured 1500 meters, in 2^2 minutes. Delegrange had beaten his own record also, but was unfortunately too late to win the Deutsch-Archdeacon. Then Delegrange offered Farman a seat on the machine The two men stuck very close, one behind the other, and left at good speed. They covered 50 meters close to the ground. This was the first time that two men had ever flown in one machine; and the first that two machines had ever competed together and covered between them 5 kilometers in France. The two machines are exactly the same model. The sustaining surfaces are made of two superposed slightly curved planes, of oiled canvas for Delegrange and of caoutchouc for Farman. They measure 10 meters in width by 2 meters front to rear. In front is a horizontal rudder for steering vertically, with a movable cell in the rear for guidance to left or right. The total length is 10.5 meters. Behind the aviator is a 40 h. p. Antoinette 8-cylinder water-cooled motor, driving a single 2-bladed aluminum propellor. The whole is mounted on a 4-wheeled chassis. The aeroplane leaves the ground at a speed of 40 kilometers an hour, or at the end of about 50 meters of rolling The wheels are mounted with springs which diminish the shock of landing. The second annual banquet was held at the St. Regis on March 14th. The guests of honor were: Hudson Maxim; Gen. George Moore Smith; Major George O. Squier, Signal Corps; Colgate Hoyt, President Automobile Club of America; Dr. Alexander Graham Bell; Cortlandt Field Bishop, President Aero Club of America; Prof. Willis L. Moore, Chief U. S. Weather Bureau; McCready Sykes; Johnson Sherrick, President Aero Club of Ohio; Lieut. Frank P. Lahm, Signal Corps; J. W. Kearney, Secretary Aero Club of St. Louis. Dr. Bell and the Aerial Experiment Association. Dr. Bell in his speech told of standing with Prof. Langley and seeing the "flight of his prophetic aerodrome. He proved that navigating the air was a practical thing and within the control of man. The flying machine prophesied by Langley is no longer in the future—it is here. We have no longer to produce a heavier than air flying machine; we have only to perfect it as we have perfected the automobile. bit to me. The 'Red Wing' was constructed under the direction of Lieut. Selfridge and generally on plans laid down by him and carried out by the engineers, Messrs. F. W. Baldwin and J. A. D. McCurdy. "One great success has been worked by Mr. G. H. Curtiss, who has produced a 40 h.p. motor weighing 145 pounds. "The aeroplane took a circular course, but the distance was taken in a straight line, 318 feet, 11 inches. This was the first public exhibition of the flight of a heavier than air machine in America. "I think that we have a new agency of great importance in this Aerial Experiment Association, and it was suggested and has been carried out by a lady. It may be interesting, just for a moment, to speak of its origin, as I think it is destined to be productive of great things. In trying to construct my tetrahedral kite into an aerodrome I felt I had reached the limit of my own powers. I was afraid to put a man in the air without more knowledge of engineering. I wanted to be quite sure my structures were sound and so I associated with me two engineers, Messrs. Baldwin and McCurdy. Even with their assistance I didn't feel confidence, for I didn't know anything about motors, and so I associated with the moto'r expert of America, Mr. G. H. Curtiss. "Along came Lieut. Selfridge from the War Department to see what we were doing. In conversation with this gentleman I found he had made a special study of heavier than air machines and knew everything being done abroad. A powerful combination if we could get together: two engineers, one military expert, one motor expert! M3' wife made the suggestion, 'Why don't you organize yourselves into a scientific association?' Mrs. Bell made the proposition to us that she would supply the capital necessary to carry on the experiments—all go in together to carry on scientific experiments until we got a machine into the air. "This association started simply to help me to carry out my notion in regard to tetrahedral structures but the men composing it were of independent minds. The association came into existence so that we could help each other. It helped me to complete the tetrahedral structures and advance so far as to put a man into the air. The prediction that the structure had all the stability necessary was verified. "The Association has established headquarters at Ffammondsport. Here we follow in the footsteps of others. Selfridge, Baldwin, McCurdy and Curtiss have all made numerous gliding flights. They have gone to work to make this aerodrome "Red Wing," have applied a motor to it and have succeeded in putting it into the air." better than I can fly" was the reply, "and I disrobed. Donaldson was in tights— on a trapeze bar. But a breeze came along and we drifted over to land. That was my only experience in a balloon." "The Chinese have been flying kites for a thousand years but have never made an aeroplane. They make no advance. They do what they do because their ancestors did. There is no Alexander Graham Bell of the Chinese to send the human voice over the metallic circuit, no Caesar, no Nopoleon. There is contentment and stagnation of thought." He spoke of the high kite flights made at Mt. Weather ever}- day since last September; that on no day was there a variation of temperature; that the air at the six mile level is above the effect of the lower currents. "We know very well that the temperature that causes storms ceases at 6000 feet." "Now that the flying machine has become an actuality, and as all that now remains to be done is to perfect already existing means and apparatus in order to complete the conquest of the air, it is well for us to forecast some of the adjustments that will be necessary to meet the changed conditions when we shall have our aerial navies of commerce and of war. "That the flying machine will find very wide application in future warfare, there can be no doubt. Furthermore, it will be the demand as an engine of war that will give to the flying machine industry its greatest stimulus. "Inventors will have to delve in the depths of their genius in order to develop, perfect and bring the flying machine to the very high efficiency necessary to meet the requirements of government specifications. "There is no other incentive to invention so great as that which impels to the development and perfection of implements of war, for the very security of property. country, home and life itself often depends upon a little lead over an enemy in war inventions. "The result will be that in the not distant future we shall have our aerial battleships, cruisers, torpedo boats, and torpedo boat destroyers, although they will be far different," of course, than those that sail the seas. "Some terrible things have been predicted for the flying machine as a war engine. Many a sanguine inventor has claimed that with the advent of his flying machine, battleships, coast fortifications and cities coidd be utterly destroyed by dropping dynamite from the air. "It is comforting to know that no very great loss of life or property would result from dynamite dropped from flying machines for the reason that dynamite requires confinement to work very wide destruction. "Dynamite must penetrate and explode inside battleships, earthworks and buildings in order to do very great damage. Half a ton of dynamite dropped upon the four-inch deck of a battle ship might kill a few men, wreck some of the superstructure and dent the deck a bit, but the destruction would not be widespread and the crew below would be uninjured. Dropped on coast fortifications the damage would be negligible. Half-ton bombs dropped into the streets of a large city, or on top of the great buildings, would shake a few foundations, break a lot of glass and kill a few people, for the blast of the dynamite not being confined, would rebound up into the air in the form of an inverted cone and the effect in a horizontal plane would be small. "But the fb'ing machine will have very great use in war as a scouting craft for the purpose of locating an enemy and inspecting his position; but the enemy will have his aerial pickets out, and there will be many a tilt in the air between the warring craft. Then it will be that speed will count for much and there will be intense rivalry between the nations in the production of flying machines that will fly fast and fly high, for those able to fly the highest will have a tremendous advantage over their enemies. It will be the high flyers who will win. "Do not let the inventor think that the employment of the flying machine as a war engine is an ignoble one, for it is not. It is the most noble use of all." On Monday, March 4, Mr. Stanley Y. Beach gave a lecture on the machines abroad. The meeting was very well attended. The following addition to the By-Laws has been proposed: "No member shall take part in-any contest in the United States which is not organized by the club, without the consent of the committee in writing." The name of the "committee" is not given. Conditions of competition for the Scientific American cup will be made more strict on August 1st, and prospective contestants are urged to "get their machines incondition as soon as possible." AVIATION SECTION OF THE AERO CLUB OF AMERICA. The Aero Club of America, at a general meeting on April 6, formed an Aviation Section for the purpose of particularly encouraging experiments and providing opportunities for carrying 011 experiments with gliding machines and all types of gasless apparatus. A committee, consisting of A. C. Triaca, S. Y. Beach, Lee S. Burridge, Wilbur R. Kimball and D. L. Braine, has been appointed to locate suitable grounds for demonstrations, to provide motors for the use of experimenters, a repair shop for small repairs, etc. It is expected to enlarge this shop to such proportions that entire machines can be constructed at cost price for members of the Section. A meeting room will be provided as soon as possible for members of the Section at the experimental grounds. The members of the Aero Club of America will, of course, be entitled to visit the grounds, but will not participate in the active privileges of the members of the Section except by joining the Section. A large membership is earnestly solicited in order to enable the rather extensive program to be carried out. The membership has been decided at $10 annually, to include all privileges of the Section. Every endeavor will be made to secure offers of prizes to reward creditable flights and enable the successful aviators to further prosecute their researches. Monthly lectures, illustrated with slides and motion pictures of the new machines here and abroad as the}- are tried out. The privilege of competing for the following prizes: Scientific American Trophy; Michelin annual prize of $4000 for a flight of 12 miles; Triaca annual prize of $100 for the longest flight during the year: and others offered abroad which are international in character. Contests for cash prizes will be arranged from time to time. Write for circular and information to Aviation Section, Aero Club of America, 12 East 42(1 St., New York. The third contest for this cup will be held on October 11 at Berlin. Twenty-three entries have been received, as follows: America 3, Belgium 3, England 3, France 3, Italy 3, Spain 3, Switzerland 2, Germany 3. The Italian contestants will be Sr. Usuelli, with the balloon "Ruvensori," of 2250 c.b.m.; Prince Borghese, with the "Aetos," of 2250 c.b.m., and Sr. Frassinetti, with the "Basiliola," 2200 c.b.m. The English contestants will be John Dunville, Prof. A. K. Huntington and Hon. C. S. Rolls. Belgium will be represented by M. Demoor m the "Belgica," of 16S0 c.b.m., M. Leon de Brouckere, in the "Ville de Bruxelles," of 2200 c.b.m, and one other, which will probably be named by the Aero Club des Flandres, an affiliated club of the Aero Club de Belgique. The "Belgica" will be a new Mallet balloon. The Aero Club of St. Louis has made application to enter one balloon in behalf of America. The number of prizes won in contests. The number of kilometers traveled and hours consumed in these contests. The total number of all flights previously made, with total distance and duration. Record flights or especially long ones. The answers to these questions must have been received by the Committee by April 1st. If it is impossible to agree upon the selection of any two particular pilots from considering their past records, an elimination contest is to be held between the two applicants, the time and place for same to be decided by April 15. In referring to the race of 1907 at St. Louis, Major Moedebeck calls attention to the fact that "the French balloon 'Isle de France,' pilot Le Blanc, in the Gordon Bennett 1907, had a capacity of 2400 c.b.m., while the rules place the limit in size at 2200 c.b.m., with an allowance of 5% in excess, or 2310 c.b.m. total." Acting in strict compliance with the rules, the Aero Club of America should have refused the entry of such balloon, which, it will be remembered, made the second best duration record of the world, 44 hours 5 minutes. On Oct. 10 distance contests and contests for a specified objective point will be held. The city of Berlin offers free the gas for the Gordon Bennett race. This is the last year in which a cash prize of $2,500 is offered in addition to the cup, Mr. Gordon Bennett having agreed upon offering the cup to donate $2,500 yearly for three years. Dispatches state that an international aeroplane contest will take place at Venice during October. Prizes amounting to $5,000 will be available. President: Professor Willis L. Moore. Secretary: Dr. Albert Francis Zahm. Chairman Gen'l Committee: Wm. J. Hammer. Chairman Executive Com.: Augustus Post. Sec'y Committees: Ernest La Rue Jones. The eighth and ninth, papers are presented in this issue. EQUILIBRIUM AND CONTROL OF AEROPLANES. There is a certain problem in the theory and practice of aeronautics which has been rather neglected by the majority of recent dynamic experimenters, generally with disastrous results. I refer to the balance and steering of aeroplanes, a subject which must be absolutely mastered by the experimenter who hopes to develop a flying machine of any type. Unfortunately, previous investigators have failed to give any precepts or data concerning this problem, either because they had none to give or because they thought their secrets too valuable to make public. To me, this latter excuse seems unnecessary for it is highly improbable that any experimenter could get ahead by following up the ideas of a man who had the advantage of several years experience. Of course there are exceptions, such as the case of the French aviators who imitate in appearance but not in success, the machines of Professor Langley and the Wright brothers, but even the Frenchmen begin to see that they are on the wrong track. As one close observer has put it, "there are two ways to learn to ride a balky horse: by working out on paper-just what moves a man would have to make to get the best of him (data obtained by observing his antics from a safe distance), or by getting into the saddle and finding out by experience." . Substanially the same thing is true concerning aviation, and a very brief glance at the history of aeronautics reveals which method has given the best results. Laboratory data are valuable only when based on information gained in actual field experiments and mathematicians desiring to contribute their calculations concerning mechanical flight would do well to learn the practical side of the proposition so as to produce more useful material. An aeroplane moving" freely through the air is in a state of equilibrium when its center of pressure coincides with the center of gravity. Unfortunately this state of things exists only when the machine flies in perfectly still air, and even in a calm some defect in the construction or adjustment of the apparatus may cause a disturbance in the equilibrium. Projected forward in a wind, a machine must be cleverly designed and adjusted indeed to preserve inherent stability and beyond certain limits it will not fly at all unless the controlling agent is human intelligence. paper models the investigator becomes acquainted with the merits of variously shaped wings and the travel of the center of pressure under various conditions. GLIDER NO. 2 OF I.. J. I.ESH. the single support type having; the center (or centers) of pressure approximately on the same vertical straight line; and the type having two or more centers of support placed consecutively from front to rear. The Lilienthal. Pilchcr and Channte gliders are examples of the first class of machine and the Pangley, Wright and Dumont flyers will serve as illustrations of the second type. A careful study of the design of these six machines representing the various, types of successful flyer, leads one to some interesting conclusions. The Pilienthal and Pilcher machines possessed very little inherent stability, required remarkable agility on the part of the aviator, who steered and balanced the apparatus bv shifting his .weight, and were unsuited for dvnamic flight. The explanation of these difficulties is found in the arrangement of surfaces, which consisted of two large and wide supporting wings arched from front to rear and tilted laterally at a dihedral angle (forming an unstable craft in a gusty side wind) a tail tilted steeply upward, placed at the rear of the main surfaces, its object being to prevent the wings from tipping over frontwards, and a vertical fin which prevented the apparatus from swerving unduly to one side. This arrangement is about as unstable as one could wish and its management makes one think of that circus feat which consists in riding a one-wheel cycle. Indeed the two devices are quite similar in reference to the principles of equilibrium concerned—for in one the trick consists in keeping the center of gravity over the center of the pressures exerted on two large artificial wings, while in the other success depends on the rider keeping himself directly over the point of contact of his wheel. Chanute's machine, although it was also of the "single support" type, embodied some changes in construction and design which were a distinct improvement over former practice. He ingeniously applied the principles of bridge design to the construction of his gliding machines and overcame, in part, the difficulties of balancing, by the use of semi-flexible or pivoted wings and rudders. The second or "double support" type mentioned in my classification of flyers might be subdivided again into the Langiey type of machine, consisting of two consecutive supporting surfaces with the center of gravity placed between; and the Wright type consisting of a single main support practically coincident with the center of gravity, and a forward rudder which lifts slightly and therefore forms a second center of pressure. Bleriot's recent flights have demonstrated the inherent stability of the Langiey type of machine which, having two centers of support, is more stable than the single support type for the same reason that a conveyance having two wheels is steadier than a monocycle. The arrangement of supporting surfaces used in the Langiey type of machine puts it at a material disadvantage, however, for the front wing cutting the wind into eddies as it passes, interferes with the action of the next following surfaces. This has been termed "interference." Bleriot has effected a considerable improvement over the Langiey design by placing the rudder at the front of the aeroplane instead of at the rear, but the principal defect, "interference," has not been eliminated and the machine is still relatively inefficient. Apparently, experimenters have not yet arrived at the most efficient system of aeroplane surfaces: for in one case "interference" has been practically eliminated (with a resulting loss of stability), while in the other, excellent equilibrium is assured but the surfaces lose their efficiency. It is probable that the best arrangement would be a system of surfaces providing two centers of stipport with the weight of motor, operator, etc., located between them. In order to reduce the "interference" and improve the control of the machine it would be desirable to place the controlling surface in a position where it would support a part of the weight and assure a positive control. This could be made possible only by the use of a rudder placed in advance of the main wings. To obtain this arrangement with the rear supporting surfaces curved to the arc of a circle or with their curvature forward of their center of figure, would necessitate (unless the forward surface be prohibitively small), the weights being placed somewhat in advance of the rear center of pressure and this would introduce new and objectionable complications of construction. After arriving at these conclusions 1 proceeded to undertake a series of -experiments with models, in hopes that some satisfactory arrangement would be evolved. As the work proceeded T became convinced that in order to province a practical "two support" machine it would be necessary to design the main supporting surface in such a way that its center of pressure would be near the rear edge of the wing. The answer to these vexing problems came when it was found that a supporting surface curved slightly downwards at its rear edge possessed ■excellent stability when balanced by a forward rudder, and permitted the placing of the weight between the two centers of support thus formed. My recent experiments with this system applied to a full-sized man-carrying aeroplane have proved it to be practical and efficient. After the working efficiency and inherent stability of a flying machine are satisfactory, the problem of manipulating the surfaces to produce horizontal and vertical changes in the direction of flight may be taken up. Since steering is largely a matter of skill, and skill in managing an aeroplane can only be acquired by actual practice, the problem will require but little treatment here. The efficiency and versatility of the system of control will depend on the balancing of the rudders and arrangement of the controlling ropes or levers. The horizontal rudder should be so balanced that it will return to a horizontal position when not under the control of the operator and the vertical rudder should move freely in its sockets, assuring" positive action. The arrangement of devices for moving the rudders will obviously depend on the position of the aviator in the machine. If the operator assumes a horizontal position in flight, the surfaces may be manipulated to the best advantage by controlling cords passing within easy reach, while if he assumes a sitting posture or hangs suspended by his arms, levers will generally be found most convenient. I have found that an aeroplane ma}- be steered to good advantage by the use of a "Chanute type" rear rudder connected to the main wings by a single spar and universal j6int, the steering being done by controlling lines passing in front of the aviator. 1 found it necessary, however, to shift my weight when quartering into the wind Avith this arrangement, for side gusts caused a lateral oscillation of the surfaces which could not be overcome by the rudders without changing the direction of flight. It occurred to me that these troubles could be overcome by the use of two individual horizontal rudders, and the arrangement was accordingly installed in my experimental machine. The tests demonstrated that with the new device it was possible to quarter into the wind with the wings parallel to the ground, the control being effected by the use of the two horizontal rudders alone. I believe this system of control to be efficient and hope in the near future to install it in a motor aeroplane. Its most valuable feature will be its abilicy to overcome the torque of the propeller if a single screw is used for propulsion. CONSTRUCTION AND EQUIPMENT OF WIND-TUNNELS. By Dr. A. F. Zahm. (As Dr. Zahm 7vas unable to write out his paper, he made an impromptu address which is here published from the stenographic reports of the Congress). In determining the atmospheric resistance of bodies there are two general methods that may be followed. One is to propel the bodies against still air, the other is to drive the air in a uniform current against the bodies. By uniform I mean constant in velocity and direction. These two methods should give identical results. I take this as a self-evident proposition. The first method has been quite generally used for several generations. Originally the bodies were dropped from high places. Sir Isaac Newton determined the resistance of a sphere by dropping it from the dome of St. Paul's cathedral. Others later determined the resistance by placing the wind objects on the end of a long arm of a whirling table. And others again on a car running on a rectilinear track. in this building', place the bodies on the car, and have them moved at a regular speed. A method that .has come into use quite generally in recent years is to drive the air against the body. If it were possible to find a uniform current of air out of doors, we will say blowing" over an extended tract of water or a level surface of the earth, these experiments might be made in the natural wind. 1 would ask our meteorological friends what they think of that proposition. What kind of winds can we find in the most favorable localities? How much do they vary during the time necessary to take careful observations? That is to say, one minute. If the velocity be constant for one minute to within one or two or three per cent., such a wind would be very useful for measuring the resistance of many shapes important in engineering. But in the laboratories I speak of winds are generated artificially. A very small wind tunnel was built by Professor Marey in Paris. The tunnel was vertical, had a netting" for fine mesh closing" its top and a suction fan at its bottom. The suction fan drew the air through the screen-closed mouth of the tunnel, then passed it through the tunnel in uniform straight lines. By this simple device he was able both to measure the resistance of the bodies and to determine the action of the air as it flowed about the bodies. For instance, he would place a sphere in this current and observe the streamlines as they flowed around it. This could be done by allowing fine particles, or fine threads, to float in the current, but very much more satisfactorily by means of a great many fine streams of smoke. Across the tunnel he constructed a large comb with hollow teeth. Smoke was admitted into the body of the comb and came out of the ends of the teeth, and these smoke streams moved in parallel lines till they came to the object, and then passed gracefully around, if the shape was "easy," but broke into eddies if the body was blunt. Around the front of a sphere they would bend very smoothly, but towards its rear they would break into eddies and then there would be a long wake below the sphere. In the case of a wing surface, the inclination being comparatively small, the stream-lines would begin to bend a short distance in advance of the forward edge of the wing. Part of the stream-lines would bend gracefully over the top of the wing-surface and smoothly close at the rear of the surface and unite with those which passed underneath. Of those that passed underneath, some were bent smoothly and others were disturbed, broken into eddies. I have observed some of Professor Marev's photographs. I must mention that these stream-lines were photographed by an instantaneous process. The photographs show the stream-lines very clearly, where they bend smoothly, and where they are broken into eddies. In addition to that, the stream-lines will give the actual velocity, because he made the comb vibrate. An electric motor caused the comb to vibrate 10 times a second regularly. That caused all the stream-lines to have a wavy form. Looking at the photographs, you observe the stream-lines beginning at the comb with all the waves parallel. Then, as they approach the wind body, some move more rapidly than others. By counting the number of these waves along each inch of the photograph, you can tell the velocity of each part of the current. a picture to illustrate. Let us suppose that the wind is blowing directly into the mouth of a tube connected with an anemometer. Then the impact of the wind will generate a pressure in this tube. If we know the static pressure in the undisturbed stream, we can immediately compute the velocity of the wind. In order to determine that static pressure, it is necesary to have the air enter another tube undisturbed. The other tube may be co-axial with the first tube mentioned. If a hole is made on the convex surface at some distance from the end of this co-axial outer tube, air will flow into it undisturbed. The stream-lines of the air will be undisturbed as they pass that orifice, and the pressure of the air inside the outer co-axial tube will be the same as in the unchecked, undisturbed stream in the tunnel. Xow, if the pressure in the two tubes is observed in a manometer, and the difference between those two pressures taken, the velocity of the air may be read proportionally to the square root of this differential pressure. Alany engineers have used the Pitot tubes and have applied the impact at the mouth correctly, but have not used the proper precaution in getting the static pressure. For example, one method is to erect a tube at right angles to the wind current and take the pressure that exists at the mouth of such an orifice. The results are unreliable, because the stream of air bends around the mouth, and a partial vacuum is created. The stream-lines are disturbed; therefore, the static pressure inside the tube is not the same as the static pressure in the unchecked stream. Two Italians, Dr. G. Fin zi and Dr. X. Soldati, have investigated this subject, and find that the true static pressure in a current may be determined very accurately by using a thin disc. A thin metal sheet placed over the static orifice will prevent the disturbance of the stream-lines, so that the air will flow in a uniform stream, unbent, undisturbed. And, therefore, the pressure obtained at the static mouth is the true pressure in the unchecked stream. Of course, there are other methods of measuring the wind velocity which are familiar to every one here. Having obtained a wind of uniform velocity and direction, the wind objects are supported inside the wind tunnel on a balance, and the pressures of the air are measured just as one weighs off sugar in a balance. Mr. Herring: You said that the pressure is measured off directly in the tube; but aren't the effects of pressure of a moving stream on any body composed of pressure in the front and suction in the back? That would give a different value from the direct impact of the air itself. Dr. Zahm: .That is a very important consideration when you are determining the wind pressure at a particular point about a model. What I am attempting to do in this case is to measure the velocity of the unchecked wind current in the tunnel before it reaches the body. Mr. Herring: Measure its velocity instead of its wind pressure?" friction. The experiments of Finzi and Soldati bear out Langley's assumption. Lang'ley assumed that a fish-shaped body moving through the air has a resultant pressure, which is zero, the pressure on the rear balancing the pressure on the front. When such a body is placed on the balance in a wind current, it is found to have a finite.resistance. It may be a considerable resistance. I should judge, then, comparing the results of' Finzi and Soldati with the actual total resistance, that this resistance must be largely frictional. Of course, since I have measured the absolute skin-friction in my wind tunnel at Washington, I can state absolutely and positively that there is such a thing as skin-friction, and I can give its law, and the magnitude for any velocity; and so it is possible to explain the existance of a resultant force on a wind object, even if we assume the aggregated pressure all over the surface balanced and neutralized. To answer Mr. Herring's question more fully, I would say that, while the static and impulsive pressures at the nozzle of the Pitot tube are used to compute the wind speed at a point well away from the model, the resultant wind force on the model itself is measured, in my tunnel, by means of a bell-crank balance. The knife edges and horizontal graduated arm of the balance are above the ceiling of the tunnel, on the outside; the vertical arm runs through the ceiling into the tunnel (being protected from the wind by a surrounding tube fastened to the ceiling of the tunnel) and supports the wind model at its lower end. The resultant wind pressure on the model is determined by sliding weights on the horizontal graduated beam outside. Thus by means of the two instruments—the Pitot tube and the bell-crank balance,—the velocity of the undisturbed air, and the resultant wind thrust on the model are measured, but nothing is revealed as to the unit pressure at each point of the model's surface. To determine this latter, one may use the manometric method of Drs. Finzi and Soldati, just referred to. In other words, my balance gives the resultant wind thrust, including skin-friction ; their manometer gives the unit pressure at each part of the model, but ignores the skin-friction. A combination of the two devices would give the unit pressure at every part of the model, the resultant pressure and the resultant skin-friction, but not the unit skin-friction at each point. This latter quantity, so far as I am aware, has never been measured directlv. Gas Bag—Form, ogival; double-wall cemented silk with a breaking strain of 75 x 75 pounds per inch width. Length, 58 feet. Greatest diameter, 16 feet; smallest diameter, 14 feet. Capacity, about 8,000 cubic feet. Envelope with 3 layers of material fore and aft with reinforcements where required. Twelve-inch plunger valve at the top. Ten-inch pressure valve at bottom. Inflating neck, 6 inches. Ripping strip, 5 feet. at all times. The netting is so adjusted that in case of collapse it would form a parachute and permit a safe descent. Attachment of the gas bag and the frame is the "three-way suspension," which holds the gas bag and frame absolutely rigid. Frame—Square cross-section of spruce, x i^-inch, bolted together with ^ x J^-inch strips. Operator's section is 3 x 3 x 6 feet. Frame is built in convenient lengths for shipment. opposite directions on the same shaft at a speed of about 250 r. p. m. The shaft is of Shelby steel tubing mounted on ball and roller bearings. There will be four planes 3 x 3 feet for regulating the ascent and descent, and keeping the ship on an even keel, worked in unison from the operator's section. The rudder, propellers and planes will be of tubing, spruce, bamboo and silk. M>tor—The motor will be a specially-designed Cnrtiss of 20 horsepower, 4-cycle, 4-cylinder (vertical), air-cooled, magneto-ignition, cast-iron cylinders. The crank case will be of McAdamite. The shaft is a four-throw, hollow vanadium steel, with Parsons' "white brass" bearings. The weight is approximately 200 pounds. Enough fuel will be carried for a two hours' flight. HYDROGEN AT LOW COST TO ADVANCE BUILDING OF DIRIGIBLES. By Albert C. Triaca, General Director International School of Aeronautics-. Up to the present time the inflation of spherical balloons with hydrogen has not been practically realized on account of the high cost of this gas, which has never been less than 20 cents, in France, the cubic metre,'while the price of coal gas is 3 cents per cubic metre. If one could produce hydrogen at a moderate price, equal, if possible, to the cost of coal gas, he would render an immense service to aeronauts in giving them a gas lifting from 11 to 12 hundred grams per cubic metre. Using hydrogen we can have smaller balloons. This means the lessening of the expense for fabrics, the cost of the journey back home, and greater facility in handling. Of course, gas holders for hydrogen must be stronger and will be somewhat more expensive, but they will give greater service and by holding the gas for a longer time enable the aeronauts to make longer trips. Cheap hydrogen will aid greatly in the development of dirigibles for pleasure use instead of being used by Governments for war purposes only. Perhaps next Summer we can have a great number of small private dirigibles, with contests between them. It was to the realization of the production of hydrogen at low cost that Mr. Howard Lane applied himself, and these are the results of his researches. Hydrogen is prepared from the decomposition of water through iron in presence of sulphuric acid; from the decomposition of steam through iron or coal at high temperature; and chiefly by electrolysis, which furnishes a gas chemically pure, but at a cost price of nearly 2 francs per cubic metre. It is the industrial application of the decomposition of steam through red hot iron that is the basis of the Lane process, and it is that which has been able to accomplish the manufacture of hydrogen gas at a cost of 1 franc (19.3c.) per 10 cubic metres (353.14 cu. ft.). This apparatus has already proven its excellence, since it has been adopted by the Russian Government, which has successively ordered two plants capable of producing respectively 200 cubic metres (7062.80 cu. ft.) per hour. The English Government has also installed at one of its aerostatic parks, South Farnborough, an apparatus of the same capacity. The officers who have experimented with it there, and who were present at the long trials, are unanimous in declaring that the gas thus obtained is of as good quality as that from the electrolytic process, reaching a degree of purity of 97 per cent. The Royal Batallion of the Prussian aeronauts has asked the Minister of War for a plant of the size above mentioned. The installation realized by Mr. Lane is essentially composed of an oven in which are three series of retorts; of a special generator, high grade (AA); and of a generator of the Wilson type (BB). Besides the oven with retorts and generators, and a small steam boiler, there are also other accessories and mechanical parts of which it i* not necessary here to give a description. In order to well understand the work of this installation we will give some explanation about the two generators just mentioned. The high-grade generator is an apparatus capable of producing, with ordinary combustibles, and even with bituminous coals, a gas of a very high quality and of a high calorific power. This gas, accordiug_to the combustibles used for its production, has a richness in hydrogen varying from 40 to 48 per cent. The Wilson type generator recalls the old Siemens oven, which worked by natural draught without the use of steam and which rendered great service for the heating of ovens. With the Lane apparatus one can use not only ordinary coals and cokes, but also wood and inferior combustibles. The gas produced in this apparatus is sent directly, in a hot state, through special pipes to the parts which arc to be heated. The retorts in the oven mentioned above contain pieces of iron. These are the three principal organs of the installation. We will see now how it works and how one can obtain hydrogen of a good quality. The retorts are heated red hot with the gas produced by the Wilson type generator. Then a draught of steam is made to go through the iron contained in the retorts for each one of the series contained in the oven. The steam is decomposed and hydrogen is formed until the complete oxidation of the iron. When this oxidation is accounted for. the same operation is gone through for the other series of retorts. During this new operation a current of gas coming from the high-grade generator is introduced into the series of retorts where the oxidation is produced. This gas has the virtue of combining itself with the oxygen of the magnetic oxide of iron remaining in the retorts and to revivify the iron, at the same time obtaining some steam and carbonic acid. This iron can again be utilized for producing hydrogen as soon as the iron contained in the series of retorts will be completely exhausted. During the new production of hydrogen the revivification will be made. Finally, it is interesting to establish the cost price. First, 30 kilos of coal at 12 francs a ton (in England) produce 10 cubic meters of gas; second, an apparatus able to produce 200 cubic meters per hour is worked by four men earning each a maximum of 1 franc per hour; third, one can allow a loss of 30 centimes per 10 cubic meters. Coal (30 kilos at 12 fr. a ton).........................0 fr. 36c. Labor - ..................................o fr. 20c. Per 10 cubic meters...............................1 fr. 00c. Such in brief, are the advantages resulting from the use of the Lane system for manufacturing hydrogen at low cost. I believe that because of the geographical position of New York, it is not an easy matter to take balloon trips, by reason of the nearness of the water and the strong winds which frequently prevail. It would be very interesting to have a factory for producing hydrogen at low cost. The time is coming when you can build an airship at a less cost than a 24 horsepower automobile. This is a question of only a few months. In France there was organized two weeks ago a Company especially for the construction of airships. In this company are interested AI. Maurice Mallet, the well-known aeronaut. Count de la Vaulx and M. Schelcher of the Panhard-Lcvavasseur firm. Certainly hydrogen at a low price is the greatest aid to the development of dirigibles. On account of high winds you cannot return with your airship to the starting point. It will be an easy and not very expensive matter to use the ripping cord in your dirigible as in any ordinary spherical balloon. The Aero Club of France will have this Spring the Lane hydrogen system installed at its own park at St. Cloud, Paris. Note: The information about the Lane system is taken from Aerophile of July, 1907. BALLOON SPEED RECORDS. Carl E. Myers. Under this head a recent balloon voyage from Pittstield, Mass., to Hampton Falls, N. H., 130 miles in 3 hours time, or 43 1/3 miles per hour, is thought "possibly better than has been made anywhere," and better than made by the same party last fall from Pittsheld to Short Beach, Conn., a distance of 84 miles, in two and one-half hours, at a rate of 33 1/5 miles per hour. Prof. John Wise exceeded this nearly 49 years ago when in July, 1859, he made a balloon trip from St. Louis, Mo., with three companions, nearly 1200 miles in length of course, and over 8co miles in air line in about 18 hours, or at a rate of about 45 miles per hour. In Sept., 1886, Mrs. Carl Myers of Frankfort, N. Y., made a balloon journey from Franklin, Pa., to Kinzua Bridge, a distance of 90 miles in 90 minutes, at a speed of 60 miles per hour, which so far as known is the world's record. Her balloon arose to over 4 miles elevation, the highest record in America, and is notable also as being the first made with natural gas from the earth. Thus the work of a woman is the aeronautic record today. The natural gas on this occasion arose from the wells at a pressure of 700 pounds to the square inch, and was brought through pipes thirty miles to the place of ascension. Mar. 9.—A. Holland Forbes (A. C. A.) alone from North Adams in the "Stevens 22" (22,500 cu. ft.) at 11:25 <i- landing half-way between Wilbraham and Monson, Mass., at 1:02 p. m. Distance, 58 miles. The ascension was made with the idea of qualifying in this respect for a pilot's license. The start was made in a strong wind which continued throughout the trip. Taking the times noted by observers at various villages, the balloon was travelling 40 miles in 50 minutes during part of the journey. The clouds hung low and the balloon disappeared as it cleared Hoosac Mt. The landing was beautifully made at the exact spot picked out some distance ahead. A very heavy wind was blowing, which necessitated quick work with the rip cord. In checking up the distances on a large scale road map they are found to be as noted on the diagram. Using the time table given by Mr. Whitehouse most surprising speeds result. Even allowing for small inaccuracies in measuring and the indefinite exact spot of landing, which lias been ascertained within about half a mile, the mean speed by path, 49 m.p.h. (adding together the speeds between points and dividing), is indeed curious from a meteorological standpoint. m.p.h. until 8 p. m., and reaching a maximum velocity of 22 miles from the southwest at 5:17 p. m. Low currents were from a northeasterly direction in the forenoon and southwest to west in the afternoon." "C. R. Newcomb, 776 Main St." There can be no doubt of the approximate times as noted by Mr. Whitehouse and the only error is in the mileage. We do not know of any case in which the speed between Haverhill and the landing place has been exceeded. The total distance by path is 131 miles. Mr. Stevens stated that the drag rope at times hung almost horizontal with the car. Mar. 20.—A. Holland Forbes (A. C. A.) and N. H. Arnold (N. A. A. C.) in the "North Adams 1" (35,000 cu. ft.) from North Adams at 11:02 a. m., landing in Wilbra-ham, Mass., at 1:30 p. m., a distance of 55 miles. The highest altitude was 7,800 feet. This makes five trips for Mr. Forbes and two for Mr. Arnold. It was also the initial trip of the "North Adams 1," formerly the "Stevens 21." It is interesting to note that out of the five ascensions made by Mr. Forbes from North Adams, three landings were made within a few miles of the same spot, Palmer, Mass. Mar. 25.—Second ascension under the auspices of the N. A. A. C. A. Holland Forbes (A. C. A.). A. W. Chippendale and N. H. Arnold (N. A. A. C.) in the "North Adams 1" from North Adams at 10:20 a. m., landing in Chesterfield, Mass., about 12 miles northwest of Northampton, at 11:45 a. m. Distance. 27 miles. This was Mr. Chippendale's initial flight. Highest elevation, 6,500 feet. Mar. 31.—A. Holland Forbes (A. C. A.), N. H. Arnold and Roswell Gardner (N. A. A. C.) in the "North Adams 1" from North Adams at 9:25 a. m., landing at Chester, Vt., at 11:50, a distance of 46 miles. ON THE USE OF LIQUID HYDROGEN AND HYDROGEN-CONTAINING-COMPOUNDS IN LONG DISTANCE BALLOON FLIGHTS. The first instalment, published in the March issue, dealt with the various hydrogen compounds and considered the adaptations of such compounds to an aeronautic use. For the benefit of those who are unacquainted with the difficulties met with when we attempt to preserve in the liquid state a fluid with a boiling point of minus 253 deg. Centigrade,* considerable must be said: we will also touch upon the various kinds of flasks and receptacles used for holding such a fluid. Incidentally, a few things will be said concerning its nature, properties and production. Liquid hydrogen is simply hydrogen so cold that it has assumed the liquid state. Matter is usually considered as existing in three forms: the solid, the liquid and the gaseous. Many authorities state that there is a fourth state—the ultra-gaseous or radiant state—and some physicists say that matter in the crystalline form should be considered as a separate "state" of matter. This is rather off the topic in hand, and I state it merely because so many people entertain an erroneous conception as regards the true nature of a gas in the liquid condition. They either think it a certain "preparation" of the gas or a "solution" of the gas in water. It is because of a want of a correct understanding of such things as these that there so often results an obscurity of ideas bordering upon complete bewilderment. * Authorities differ greatly on the boiling point of hydrogen: some stating it to be as high as minus 238 deg. C. (—396 deg. F.), while others state it as low as minus 253 deg. C. (—423 deg. F.). The latter is now considered to be correct, although it is one degree lower than that observed by Dewar in 1899, using a hydrogen thermometer under reduced pressure and held as accurate. The reduction of a gas to the liquid state is, with few exceptions, accompanied by a reduction of volume. A cubic foot of steam condenses to a cubic inch of water—or, in other words—a cubic inch of water will give a cubic foot of steam. A cubic inch of liquid air will give 800 cubic inches of air at ordinary temperatures. At the sea-level with a temperature of 27 deg. C. (80 deg. F.) a cubic inch of liquid hydrogen will give nearly 900 cubic inches of hydrogen gas. The volume of a gas also varies according to the pressure. When the pressure is doubled the. volume is decreased to one-half; and when the pressure is decreased to one-half the volume is doubled. Increase the pressure two, three or four times and the volume becomes one-half, one-third or one-fourth, and vice versa. In other words, the volume of a gas varies inversely as the pressure. By reading the barometer and thermometer, and using the two formulae given above, the aeronaut can always tell the exact volume of hydrogen gas that will be given off by, say, a cubic inch of liquid hydrogen. The ratio of liquid hydrogen and gaseous hydrogen under standard conditions of temperature and pressure is about 1:820. Suppose we wish to measure the volume of gas that will be given off by a cubic inch of liquid hydrogen at the sea level at a temperature of 20 deg. C. (68 deg. F.). At the sea-level the atmosphere exerts a pressure equal to that of a column of mercury 30 inches high; or, in other words, equal to 14.7 pounds per square inch. At a temperature of 20 deg. C. and with the barometer reading 30 inches, we have figured that a cubic inch of liquid hydrogen would yield 880 cubic inches of gas. We have already seen that the volume of a gas varies inversely as the pressure. Thus, at a height of 19,500 feet, the aeronaut would get 1,760 cubic inches of gas from each cubic inch of hydrogen, for at this height the pressure of the atmosphere is just one-half of what it is at the sea-level, the barometer reading only 15 inches. Taking both temperature and pressure into consideration, the most convenient ratio for the aeronaut to use in computing the amount of gas he is going to obtain from his liquid hydrogen, would be 1:1000. * The departure from the law is wider the more nearly the point of liquefaction is approached, the diminution of volume then being more than proportionate to the increase in pressure. hour to hour, and with latitude and longitude, but for our purposes it is near enough. If the atmosphere were everywhere of the same density we would have no difficulty in calculating its height. We would only have to divide the pressure upon one square inch of the earth's surface by the weight of a cubic inch of air, and the quotient would be the height of the atmosphere in inches. Thus a cubic inch of air at o deg. C. at a pressure of 14.7 pounds (235.8 ounces) to the square inch, weighs 0.000749 of an ounce. Dividing 235.8 by 0.000749 we get 314,000, which (were our atmosphere homogenous and of uniform density) would be the height of the atmosphere in inches— 314,000 inches or 4.97 miles. If we turn from this problem to the more important and difficult one of finding the height to which the atmosphere really does extend, we find that no such definite and satisfactory results can be given. We know that at a height of 5 miles, the atmosphere is so attenuated that it barely supports human life; and that at 6 miles it will not support life. We know from the phenomena of twilight that at a height greater than 45 miles it is too attenuated to reflect the light of the sun; but from the combustion of shooting stars we know that an appreciable atmosphere exists as high as 200 miles. As we ascend the strata become rarer and rarer, for the reason that the lower layers are weighed down and compressed by those above, and at increasing heights there is less and less air above to exert this compression. Thus the further we go the more and more attenuated the atmosphere becomes, until at last, by insensible gradations, we reach a perfect vacuum. In the famous balloon ascension of Glaisher and Coxwell, on Sept. 5, 1862, these gentlemen attained a height of almost 5^ miles—a point at which the barometer reads only gj/2 inches. We computed above that at 20 deg. C. and at a height of 3?4 miles, a cubic inch of liquid hydrogen would yield 1760 cubic inches of gas. At the height attained by Glaisher and Coxwell this would have increased to 2589 cubic inches. With the exception of helium, hydrogen is the most difficult of all the gases to liquefy, and was the last to withstand the efforts of James Dewar. Its liquefaction in bulk was unknown ten years ago, and hence our rather incomplete data concerning it. In 189T Professor Ramsay wrote as follows: "It [hydrogen] has never been condensed to the solid or liquid state. Cailletet, and also Pictet, who claim to have condensed it by cooling it to a very low temperature and at the same time strongly compressing it, had in their hands impure gas. Its critical temperature, above which it cannot appear as a liquid, is probably not above minus 230 deg." One of the advantages in the use of liquid hydrogen to the aeronaut is that the gas given off is pure hydrogen—an article almost unknown to balloonists, though many appreciate its value. For it should be borne in mind that air is 14^ times as heavy as hydrogen, and therefore at this rate 7 per cent, of air by volume in hydrogen, means 51.4 per cent, by weight of the mixed gases—over 50 per cent.! If a few drops of water are put in a clean, smooth spoon that has been heated in the fire, they will gather into a globule which will dart around over the spoon's surface. The water has assumed what is known as the "spheroidal state*' and is at a temperature below its boiling point. The globule rests upon a cushion of steam, which prevents it from coming into direct contact with the metal. A liquid so situated that it could touch no other liquid or solid would assume the "spheroidal" state. The importance of the spheroidal state with reference to the liquefaction of gases can hardly be overestimated. But for the spheroidal state not only would it be next to impossible to manipulate liquid gases as we now do, but the dangers in such manipulation would be increased a hundred fold. However, owing to the fact that liquid gases do assume the spheroidal state, we are able to handle them in much the same fashion as we do water, although theoretically it is the same as though we kept the water in red hot vessels. This, as can be proven by experiment, can easily be done, but it is still easier to keep liquid air or hydrogen in vessels at room temperature, for the reason that such a temperature is, as compared with liquid air, "more than red hot," and they are maintained at this "red hot" temperature without having to depend on artificial heat. Thanks to the "spheroidal state," if liquid hydrogen is accidentally spilled on the hand no injury results. In fact, the hand may be immersed in it with safety, for the heat of the hand causes an extremely thin layer of gas to be formed between the surface of the skin and the liquid hydrogen. Thus this layer of gas keeps the liquid gas from coming in direct contact with the skin and protects it for a short time. Should good contact take place, as may happen if the hand is very dry and chapped, the result is a severe sore similar in nature to a burn. The reason liquid air does not immediately "flash into air" when poured into a tin cup is again because of this protecting cushion. If left in the open air in ordinary vessels, liquid gases evaporate rapidly—for our purpose altogether too rapidly. The reason liquefied gases volatilise and disappear is that they receive heat from surrounding matter—from the containing vessel, and from the atmosphere. Early in his scientific work Dewar recognized that it might be possible to make this loss considerably less by utilizing a vacuum as a non-conductor of heat, and that in handling liquid gases the greatest desideratum would be some kind of a vessel that would hold them without the rapid absorption of heat experienced under ordinary conditions. After much labor and many failures he devised the vessel bearing his name. The Dewar vacuum flask, or "Dewar-bulb," as it is more commonly known, consists, in its simplest form, of an inner flask sealed into the neck of a larger one. The space between the two flasks is made as perfect a vacuum as possible. A triple walled flask is still better, as this gives two vacuum spaces. The only ways by which the liquid hydrogen contained in the inner flask can gain heat are, by conduction through the glass where the vessels are joined, and by direct radiation. The first is small; for the walls of the vessels are thin and glass is a poor conductor of heat. The liquid receives practically no heat by conduction from the air above it, for it is protected by a layer or "pad" or gas almost as cold as the liquid itself. The greater part of the heat that is received is imparted by the ether waves as radiant heat. This is further reduced by the device of placing in the vacuum space a small amount of mercury: in the vacuum, this mercury evaporates, and when the flask is filled, the mercury vapor condenses and freezes upon the outer wall of the inner flask. There is thus formed a very perfect mirror which reflects the greater part of the radiant heat striking it. By all these devices the liquid hydrogen is so protected from its heated environment that its boiling is scarcely perceptible: in fact, but for the loss by evaporation, we would not know that it was boiling. As before said, it is only of late that we have been able to manufacture liquid hydrogen in bulk. To calculate its rate of evaporation by comparison with liquid air (though theoretically possible) is difficult, for many things have to be taken into consideration, and at present it is impossible to make any definite statement except as a result of observation on the particular container in question.t Even then a great difference is found depending upon the method used to reduce the convection currents in the gas above the liquid. With the Dewar bulb something depends (for hydrogen we cannot yet say exactly how much) on the degree of exhaustion of the bulb and the perfection of the silvering. A great deal more depends on the shape and size of the flask, since, as before said, with a good vacuum and small convection, the chief source of heat is by conduction through the inner glass wall. This will obviously be smaller when the flask is not agitated and when the neck is kept as cold as possible by the gas that escapes. * This question with a more detailed description of the tin buckets used by Tripler for transporting liquid air, the various kinds of wrappings used, and a comparison of the Tripler buckets with the Dewar bulbs will be treated by Air. Lyon in the May number.—Ed. t This will be more fully discussed in the May number. A Park of Sports at Brussels. There has just been formed a company having a capitalization of 125,000 francs for the purpose of conducting a sporting park in that city. It is expected that aerial contests will be among those held. At a meeting held on March 9th, the North Adams Aero Club was duly organized with Colonel Frank S. Richardson, President; John H. Waterhouse, Vice President; Arthur W. Chippendale, Treasurer and N. FI. Arnold, Secretary. The Executive Committee is composed of Messrs. George A. Macdonald, Roswell A. Gardner and W. H. Pritchard. The other charter members are: Arthur D Potter of Greenfield; E. C. Peebles, R. J. Stratton, Dr. R. D. Randall, I. D. Curtiss, J. D. Hunter, Archer H. Barber, Harry Hewat, Hugh P. Drysdale, all of North Adams; A. Holland Forbes and Aeronaut Leo Stevens, of New York. The new club has purchased the "Stevens 21," which will be known hereafter as the "North Adams No. 1," and will rent the balloon to its members and supply a qualified pilot at a nominal rate. With the two old balloons of the Aero Club of America out of commission, this will be the only club in this country maintaining a balloon for the use of its members—a great credit to the enterprise of North Adams, but rather the opposite for America in general. The Berkshire Club gave a "balloon smoker" in the club rooms Thursday evening, March 19, to members of the North Adams Aero Club and invited guests, who included 20 members of the Massachusetts Legislature, who were in the city, having come a day earlier in order to attend the smoker and ascension, than was their intention. About 200 in all were present, and President A. H. Barber of the Berkshire Club, and also a charter member of the North Adams Aero Club, presided. The speakers included President Frank S. Richardson of the Aero Club; Mr. A. Holland Forbes of the Aero Club of America and the North Adams Aero Club, who piloted the first trip of the "North Adams No. 1" the following morning; President Luke J. Minahan of the Aero Club of Piltsfield; Superintendent E. C. Peebles of the North Adams Gas Light Company, and who is responsible for the excellent quality of gas provided for ballooning purposes at North Adams and is a charter member of the Aero Club; Senator C. Q. Richmond of North Adams; Senator Grimes of Reading and N. H. Arnold, Secretary of the North Adams Aero Club, who was Mr. Forbes' companion on the first trip of the balloon. The aneroid barometer and statoscope were explained and exhibited by Mr. Forbes in the course of his talk to the audience. During the evening-substantial refreshments were served. On Friday morning, March 20, after the balloon had been inflated and was ready for flight, it was christened by Miss Elizabeth B. Chippendale, daughter of Treasurer A. W. Chippendale of the Aero Club, who broke a bottle of champagne on the anchor. A crowd estimated at over 3,000 and including many from other towns and cities, was present. The start was made at 11.02 to the accompaniment of the shrieking of mill and factory whistles and the cheers of the crowd. The balloon traveled slowly first to the south and then to the southeast, attaining a height of 5500 feet in 15 minutes. The winds were light and variable, and the sun and clouds bothered a good deal, so that finally after having crossed the Connecticut River at a height of 6400 feet and ascended soon after to 7800, the highest mark, it was decided to descend. The landing was perfect, on property of Mr. Seymour Holland in Wilbraham at 1.30, about two and one-half hours after the start. Distance traveled, about 60 miles. Owing to the stiff ground breeze it was necessary to use the rip cord to prevent damage to the balloon after effecting the landing. Mr. Arnold proposes to qualify at once as a balloon pilot. He has already made two ascensions. on the steam and electric roads to witness it. In that way the merchants would be benefited and the city would be in the public eye all season. We must not give up the sport under any consideration, as it means too much for the city." At a meeting of the charter members of the Milwaukee Aero Club, held March 16th, at the offices of the Merchants & Manufacturers" Association, the following officers were elected: Directors—Win. Woods Plankinton, John H. Moss, J. H. Kop-meier, Wm. Geo. Bruce, R. B. Watrous, A. O. Smith, Major Henr}r B. Hersey, Sheldon J. Glass, 11. P. Vilas. The following named gentlemen were elected officers to serve one }'ear as follows: President, John H. Moss; First Vice-President, J. PI. Kopmeier; Second Vice-President, Commodore Vilas; Secretary, R. B. Watrous; Treasurer, Oliver Clyde Fuller; Consulting Engineer and Assistant Secretary, Dr. A. Rudolph Silverston. The following named gentlemen comprise the charter members: W. H. Whiteside, President Allis-Chalmers Co.; John 1. Beggs, President The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Co. and President of the St. Louis Street Car Co.; Col. Gustave Pabst, President Pabst Brewing Co.; Oliver Clyde Fuller, President Wisconsin Trust Co.; E. P. Vilas, Commodore Milwaukee Yacht Club; Sheldon J. Glass, President and Manager Milwaukee Gas Light Co.; Wm. Woods Plankinton, Capitalist; John H. Kopmeier, President Wisconsin Lakes lee Co. and President Citizens' Business League; John H. Moss, President Rockwell Manufacturing Co. and President Merchants & Manufacturers' Association; A. O. Smith, President A. O. Smith Manufacturing Co.; Major Henry B. Hersey, Inspector United States Weather Bureau; Dr. Louis Fuldner, President Milwaukee Automobile Club; Wm. Geo. Bruce, Secretary Merchants & Manufacturers' Association; R. B. Watrous, Secretary Citizens' Business League; Chas. F. Pfister, Capitalist; Dr. A. Rudolph Silverston; the best men of the State, all enthusiastic sportsmen, and willing to give their time and energetic attention to the affairs of the club. Aero Club of the United Kingdom. The English club has made an arrangement with the Hurlingham Club by which a 12-inch pipe will deliver to the grounds 100,000 cubic feet per hour of pure coal gas. Aero Club of St. Louis. An aeronautic "carnival" is planned fur October. A. B. Lambert, a member of the committee on arrangements, is now abroad, and while no report has been rendered the directors, a national or an international balloon race will be one of the features. There will be also, it is expected, a contest for dirigibles. Perhaps we can have aeroplane races by that time! It is reported that the Philadelphia Aeronautical Recreation Society is being formed, and that Samuel A. King is making a 50,000-cubie foot balloon for the society. "The new society will be composed entirely of amateurs and its sole object will be aerial recreation. It is not meant to be a society for the study of the subject of aeronautics or advancement of science, but a social organization entirely. Its organizers are Dr. Thomas E. Eldridge and Dr. George H. Simmerman, both members of the Ben Franklin Aeronautical Society of the United States and the Balloon Association. Women will be admitted to membership, and before long it is expected that a club house will be purchased." The Aero Club of Frankfort has been formed and has ordered a 2200 c. b. m. balloon. It already owns the "Ziegler" for the scientific ascensions of the Physikalischer Verein. The Aero Club de l'Ouest has been formed at Angers. The club already possesses a balloon, l'Ouest, of 800 cubic metres' capacity, built by M. Emile Carton, which recently made its first trip, starting from the enclosure of the present association of the Aero Club de France at Saint-Cloud. The club has leased an enclosure near the Angers gas works, and arrangements will be made for the prompt inflation of balloons. M. Rene Gasnier, who was one of the French competitors at St. Louis, who resides close to Angers, has also promised to give the new club his support and help. An Aeronautic Section of the Automobile Club of Milan has been formed. Among the members are Engineer Forlalili. Captain Frassinetti. Messrs. Usuelli and Crespi, the renowned Italian aeronauts. Prof. Carl E. Myers, of the "Balloon Farm," Frankfort, N. Y., announces "that he is constructing for western parties the largest airship yet built by himself or any one else in this country. It is of his well-known spindle shape, and has a circumference and length of 84 feet, and a buoyancy of 1700 pounds. This will be finished in two weeks, when he will begin the construction of a still larger airship on the lines of the Government specifications, but twice the dimensions of the late accepted bid. Within the past five days he has wholly constructed two captive hydrogen gas balloons and nets for the United States Government. This speed is only made possible by use of ready machine-varnished hydrogen proof fabrics originated by him and in use exclusively during thirty years, and from which he has already built 150 hydrogen balloons for the War and Weather Departments of the United States. Ordinarily by the usual systems it requires from thirty to sixty days to completely varnish a hydrogen tight balloon." France and Her Experimental Field. The Minister of War has given the Aero Club of France the use of a large field adjoining Issy les Moulineaux. Space will be provided for those aviators who will build garages for their apparatus. The field will be surrounded by a fence and properly policed, so that experimentors can make flights at any time whenever the soldiers are not using the held. Bleriot, Farman and Voisin have already applied for their spaces. The prizes have been announced for the aviation contests of the Aero Club de Belgique at Spa, July 12, 19 and 26. $11,100 will be distributed in prizes during the three days: $2400 as first prize the first day, $3000 the second day, and $4000 the third clay. Second prizes of $300 each will be distributed on the three days. On the 12th and 19th there will be duration contests, with two prizes of $600 and $200 respectively. In addition to these, an indemnity of $100 will be granted to all competitors not winning prizes, providing that they compete on all three days and make in one of these three at least 100 metres from the point of departure or that their home club, if affiliated, will certify that flights of that length have been made by them. The competitions are open to any type of aeronefs. The entrance fee is 80 cents for each horsepower. In the contest for duration the one who stays in the air the longest time wins, and an indemnity of $40 will be allowed to any competitor who stays in the air 5 minutes or whose club will certify that he has done so at some other place. The aeroplane of the Danish experimentor, Herr Ellehammer, has made two hundred flights, of which the best was that on February 13th, 1908, when he achieved a flight of 300 meters. The machine has gone through three forms; monoplane, biplane and triplane. As noted in the July, 1907,1 issue of AERONAUTICS, with a biplane machine of the "Wright type" he made a flight in January, 1906, of 162 feet against the wind. The motor was then stopped and an easy descent made. On January 14th, 1908, he progressed to 175 meters at a height of 5 meters from the ground, with remarkable steadiness. The confined space did not admit of a longer flight. He has been practicing curves and has succeeded in executing an "S" at a speed of 11 meters a second. Cost of British Military Airships. According to figures taken from the English Army statistics for 1906-7 the expenditures on "Nulli Secundus" up to March 31, 1907, were, roughly, $33,395. $45,000 represents the "value of articles manufactured and services performed at the balloon factory;" and the United States Government is spending what? The International School of Aeronautics has removed to 2 East 29th Street, directly opposite the "Little Church Around the Corner." Two entire floors are devoted to the school. Models of the "Ville de Paris" and the "Farman I," besides other valuable additions, are expected within the week. Weekly bulletins from abroad will be posted on the bulletin board. The students thus receive the latest detailed news items two weeks or more before it can be printed in the foreign journals and read here. A TABLE FOR FINDING THE ASCENSIONAL FORCE OF GASES. By Charles DeF. Chandler, Captain, Signal Corps, U. S. Army. All persons interested in aerial navigation frequently have occasion to use in computations, figures showing the ascensional force of gases, and, in calculations for dynamic flying machines, it is necessary to know the weight of a certain volume of air. No accurate answer can be given to inquiries concerning the weight of air or the ascensional force of gases, without knowing the temperature and pressure of the atmosphere. A casual inspection of the table shown herewith illustrates the great difference in weight of equal volumes of air when there is a change, either in barometric pressure or temperature. The weight of one thousand cubic feet of air can be found by an inspection of this table, without any computation, when the temperature in degrees Fahrenheit and barometer in inches of mercury are known, by simply following the horizontal line representing degrees Fahrenheit until it intersects the vertical line corresponding to the barometric reading. At the point of intersection of these two lines, note the figures indicated on the nearest diagonal line. This table is sufficient^accurate, for prvcUcal ballooning. Fa extreme ocuirocy. correcUons~inast be^opplied for force. 61 gr.jvltyot lob'tude andetevouori^-thermal expansion at bans scale and glass tut* of thermometer and barometer ond difference in coefficient of expansion of air and hydrogen. The above is a practical example of finding the ascensional force of a gas having a specific gravity of .40, the barometer reading 30 inches and the thermometer 70 degrees Fahrenheit. By inspection of the table, the lines for 70 degrees Fahrenheit and 30 inches barometer intersect near the diagonal line marked 75. The figure 75 is the weight of 1,000 cubic feet of air. Multiply 75 by .4, which result is 30, the weight of 1,000 cubic feet of the gas. Subtracting 30 from 75 gives 45 pounds as the ascensional force per thousand cubic feet of the gas. U. S. AERONAUTIC PATENTS, JULY TO DECEMBER, 1907. airship, A. C. Ellsworth, 871,164; airship, G. W. Lane, 871,710; airship, Fadda & Di Lorenzo, 872,334; airship attachment, A. Mathews, 870,448; air motor, P. Kiefer, 868,868; air wheel, H. A. Lockwood. 864,317; balloon inflator, F. J. Creque, 874,166; balloon, car suspension for, A. von Parseval, 872,539; balloon captive, II. A. Herve, 870,430; flying machine, J. H. Wilson, 859,274; flying machine, W. Ft. Cook, 860,447; flying machine, F. M. La Penotiere, 861,740; flying machine, A. O'Brate, 867,525; flying machine, mechanism for, J. U. de Uherkocz. 868,038; flying machine, steering gear for, J. U. de Uherkocz, 868,039; flying machine, J. D. Pursell, 869,019; flying machine propeller, L. Gathmann, 871,926; kite, H. Lurz, 859,395. McADAMITE: A NEW ALLOY HAVING NEARLY THE STRENGTH OF STEEL AND THE LIGHTNESS OF ALUMINUM. A new aluminum alloy called McAdamite, which is now being manufactured by the United States McAdamite Metal Company, of Brooklyn, is a metal that should have a very wide application and be most useful in the flying machine industry. Most of the best alloys heretofore produced had only some 16,000 pounds compression strength, while McAdamite has 126,000 pounds per square inch. Where the elastic limit was extremely low, the new metal has more than most others, or 84,000 pounds before the yielding point is reached when under compression. Where the very best of the bronzes could barely claim 38,000 pounds per square inch torsional strength, this alloy has 60,000 pounds, or nearly as much as steel, which has 66,000 pounds. The specific gravity of cast McAdamite is 3.20, as against 2.56 for aluminum and 2.89 for partinium. There is a shrinkage in casting it of 12 to 14 per cent. Its melting point is 977 deg. Fahr. as against 1,830 deg. Fahr. for brass; but, roughly speaking, it has nearly three times the strength in any direction, and three times the volume or one-third the weight of brass. Various degrees of strength and hardness are obtained by the mode of casting. So homogeneous is this metal and so free from gas that extremely intricate and delicate castings can be made. Very thin strips of the metal, when cast, are much stronger in proportion to their cross-sectional area than are pieces of larger size, as the rapid cooling and consequent hardening takes place from the surface inward, and are more complete with a thin piece than with a thick one. When a piece of this new metal is broken, it shows a fine grain similar to steel; and if a bar of it be struck by a hammer, it will ring with a clear and resonant tone. While heretofore it would have been out of the question to make long slender screws, for example, out of any of the aluminum alloys, with this new alloy it is quite possible and almost all of the moving parts of machinery, such as gears, levers, screws, cams, frames, etc., can be made from it. It can be machined with the greatest ease; the chips peel off in long curls, and fine screw threads are cut in it without the aid of oil, turpentine, etc. Although comparatively soft, it is an exceedingly tough metal, retaining all the beautiful qualities of aluminum and removing the weak ones. It gives to aluminum color, strength, tooling, density, fluidity; removes its dryness; and protects it from the attack of salt. It is the first commercially practical metal of great strength and little weight for common every-day use—a metal that may even partially displace cast iron as it grows cheaper, which it will do in time. Among its many qualities is its freedom from occluded gases and viscousness, which gives it fluidity; and to-day gears and many things are being cast finished. The machine shop is no longer needed to cut the teeth in gears; they are cast cut, so to speak. One of the heavy costs of work executed with the common metals is the finishing of the castings after they have been, obtained. The surface must be removed by filing, grinding, turning, buffing, etc. With McAdamite only a slight buffing is needed at the most, for the pieces are cast with a bright, silver-white surface. bears a very favorable comparison with the usual grades of mild steel even when equal volumes are compared. Thus it will be seen to have a great superiority in weight. Its toughness and elasticity arc quite unusual for a cast metal, and it far outranks all metals classed as alloys in this respect. The fact that the elastic limit when under compression runs so high, gives it a wide application in the arts, and with its other qualities, puts it in a class by itself when compared with any other known alloy, its principal field being largely wherever brass and bronze are used and where extreme strength with minimum weight is required. McAdamite has already been employed for aeronautical purposes and has been found most satisfactory. March.—Balloon race organized by the Aero Club of Nice. Distance race at Verona, Italy, on the 19th. April.—Balloon race of the Aero Club of France on the 15th. May.—Aero Club of France balloon race on the 16th. International balloon race of the Aero Club of the United Kingdom. International Aeronautic Congress of the F.A.I, at London, on the 30th. Distance balloon race at Barcelona, Spain, on the 17th; $2900 in prizes and gas free. Grand Prix of the Aero Club of France on the 24th. Aeronef contests at Munich. June.—Aero Club of France balloon race on the nth. Balloon race at Tours on the 21st. July.—Balloon race at Brussels on the 19th. Flying machine contests at Spa, on the 12th, 19th and 26th. September.—Grand Prix of the A. C. F. Aeroplane contests at Vichy. October.—Distance contests and contests for prearranged objective point at Berlin on the 10th. Gordon Bennett International Race on the nth. International aeroplane contests at Venice for $5000 in prizes. 1911.—International assembly of dirigibles in Italy under the auspices of the Societa Aeronautica Italiana. I notice a mention of the National Airship Company of San Francisco, in February AERONAUTICS under the head of "Notes." Although I am not connected with the Company other than a small stockholder, I am anxious with other stockholders to see our Company a success. And such misleading articles tend to militate against the best interests of the Company. Your correspondent states that all the officials connected with the concern have disappeared, and with them what is left of the stock sales, amounting to more than a quarter of a million dollars. After I heard of the trouble I went over to San Francisco and found Mr. Morrell in the office working at a typewriter. He said he had been in the office every day, notwithstanding the report that he had absconded with the funds. He says he has paid out twenty-seven thousand dollars more than received for the sale of stock; never sold a share of personal stock and never accepted a dollar for personal services, and has worked more than fourteen hours per day during three years since the Company was organized. He says the Ariel, will be built, if he is let alone, and do all that he has ever claimed for it. Where the malicious articles claim that the federal officers were asked to investigate on the complaint of hundreds of stockholders, Mr. Morrell says that only two stockholders have made any complaint, and these two are connected with other airship companies, and have an interest to down him. I do not pretend to say how this trouble will come out. But there are certainly misstatements abroad concerning the Airship Company that should be corrected. Berkeley, Cal., Feb. 28, 1908. W. S. HASKELL. The Engineers' Corps have finished the project for constructing a dirigible like Patrie, capable of carrying five passengers. It will be built with Russian workmen and with Russian material. The motor is already completed. It will be ready in September. This magazine will publish each month a list of such rare and contemporaneous books relating to aeronautics as it is able to secure. If you desire any of those listed, kindly send check with your order for the amount stated. Should the book ordered be sold previous to the receipt of your order, the money will be promptly returned. Flying and No Failure, or Aerial Transit Accomplished More than a Century Ago. Travels in Space (Valentine and Tomlinson). Introduction by Sir Hiram Maxim. The Dominion of the Air (J. M. Bacon). Story of aerial navigation. Illustrated. History & Practice of Aeronautics (John Wise). Illustrated, 8vo., cloth, 310 pp.. Airships Past and Present, by Captain A. Hildebrandt; translated by W. H. Story (D. ESPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR AERONAUTICAL PURPOSES. GREATEST POWER, LEAST WEIGHT CONSISTENT WITH RELIABILITY. 20 H. P. 4-cylinder vertical air cooled, " 110 " H. P. 8-cylinder air cooled V. " 160 " H. P. 4-cylinder water cooled, " 200 " H. P. 8-cylinder water cooled, " 300 " g. H. CURTISS MANUFACTURING CO., ... - Hammondsport, N. Y. 44 H. P. (brake test) motor, water cooled, weight 130 lbs., including magneto, oil cups and water. Especially bnilt for aeronautic work. Aeroplanes bnilt complete or materials furnished Steel or aluminum tubing, bamboo, etc. Castings for joining corners Advice on construction given. Also information relating to past machines or experiments. J. W. ROSHON, Harrisburg, Pa. ILLUSTRIERTE AERONAUTISCHE MITTEILUNGEN German illustrated Aeronautical Record. THE SOCIETY OF AVIATION OF VIENNA. Contains Articles in German, English and French. G. E. STECKERT & Co., 129 W. 20th St., New York, or to B. Westermann & Co., 11 E. 17th St., New York, or direct to the Publisher, Karl J. Trübner, Strassburg (Els.), Germany. AVIATOR AERONAUT EXPERT IN THE U. S. MALLET, Paris; Spherical Balloons, Dirigibles. L. CHAUVIERE, Paris; Maker of new V. Tatin Aeroplanes—Helicopters. HUE, Paris ; Aeronautic Registering Instruments specially made for the Aero Club of France. The ANTOINETTE extra light aviation motors. TORRILHON special Rubber Fabrics for balloons and airships. Messrs A. C. Triaca and Leo Stevens are ready to deliver Aeroplanes of the Farman No. I and Delagrange types after trials of I mile circle. Subscriptions received for "Aerophile" Paris.

2019-04-19T10:22:07Z

http://www.volaticum.com/american-magazine-of-aeronautics-volume-02-04-april-1908.htm

Photo from http://www.mrwallpaper.com. Image created by me using Adobe Creative Suite software. Since the moment that 9-year-old me first caught a glimpse of the breathtaking skyline while riding in the middle row of my family’s silver van, I knew I loved New York City. I had an immediate instinct about the city and I held on fiercely to that notion. Then, as time passed, that gut feeling only strengthened. As I got older, I realized my love for writing, and it even started to seem like I was meant to live there. I wanted to become one of the little glowing stars in the skyline I saw behind my eyelids each time I went to sleep. I didn’t just want to move there, I had to. But then I took off my rose-colored glasses, life events got in the way, and I pushed my ‘destiny’ back. I went to college in my hometown, not in the city. When I graduated I got a job in St. Louis, MO and moved there — not to the city. I applied for other jobs over and over again in NYC and sometimes didn’t even get so much as a courtesy rejection email. I could no longer see those glowing towers and smell the sweat on the asphalt when I closed my eyes. The NYC in my dreams had vanished. Now, almost 13 years to the day since I first saw the skyscrapers twinkling in the distance, I’ve decided it’s time to stop looking at the city on the back of my eyelids and see it in person. It’s time to stop dreaming and make that picture a reality. So in the past month, I’ve lined up an apartment to move into on August 1. I’ve been working overtime to save up money to have a safety net when I get there, and dedicated my spare time to applying for jobs and downsizing as much as I can to fit into my new, much smaller and much more expensive space. In a way, I felt a sense of relief the moment I finally decided it was official. I realized I just needed to make the plunge and stop waiting for some sign or a job that I may or may not ever get. Then, only a few moments later, I felt terrified. All of my fears were at the forefront of my mind, each one more stress-inducing than the last. What if I don’t meet any new people that actually become friends? How long will my ‘safety net’ last? What if I’m not able to get a part-time job to make ends meet until I find a full-time position? What if I go there and realize it’s nothing like I thought it would be? What if I fail? Fighting the overwhelming inclination I felt to give in to the panic attack, I focused on remembering the memory of how undauntingly convinced I was that I would live there someday. It helped remind me that it’s not going to do me any good to worry before I get there. All I can do is focus on saving as much money as I can and apply for as many jobs as possible and save the other worries for when I can actually do something about them. The time for dreaming is over. I’ve finally woken up. It’s a weird feeling. The moment when you’re looking around and you simultaneously want to describe everything you’re seeing and feeling to everyone you know, but yet somehow can’t seem to find the right words. It happens when you least expect it. One second you’re trudging uphill, out of breath and unable to concentrate on anything except how much your feet hurt, the next second you’re rounding a corner and your breathing stops and your feet stop moving — only it’s not because of the pain. It’s because you just came around a corner and saw something so beautiful you remember why you bothered to walk on through the pain in the first place. These moments happen at different times and different places to different people for different reasons, but they do happen. And once they do, after the initial shock wears off and you gain the ability to articulate some piece of what you’re thinking and feeling again, you’re left with an overwhelming feeling to share it. All of it. The pain, the parts where you thought you might quit, the second guessing, the parts where you realized you weren’t going to quit, the home stretch that seemed to last a lifetime; and the part where, after all these other things had passed, that you finally made it. Maybe you made it to the top of the 14er. Maybe you made it to the city you’d been waiting your entire life to see. Or maybe you were walking down your street for the thousandth time and for some reason it all looked different. Whatever it was, it changed you. And whether you traveled a mile or a hundred miles or a thousand miles to get to there doesn’t matter. What matters is, what are you going to do now that you’re there? Quote by Ibn Battuta. Image created by me using Adobe Illustrator. Quote by Cesare Pavese. Image created by me using Adobe Illustrator. Consider this post a friendly reminder to let go of the things that don’t matter. But this is a task that’s undoubtedly easier said than done. I know I sometimes get so wrapped up in the emotions surrounding a trip that I can lose sight of why I’m going in the first place. I forget the excitement and the wonder and instead focus on the stress: the stress of packing right without overpacking, the stress of making it to the planes or trains I need to catch, the stress of balancing expenses to last me through the trip, the stress of seeing all the people I promised I’d make the time to see; in addition to the places I wanted to venture off to alone. Which is why this quote hit me so hard last week when I first read it. It still hasn’t left me quite yet. And I hope you consider what traveling light really means to you, too. For me, it feels like this quote by Italian poet Cesare Pavese was originally intended to apply to day-to-day emotions we need to let go of in order to move forward in life. Jealous of that coworker who seems to truly have it all? Holding a grudge against the guy who didn’t call you back? More concerned about getting your afternoon nap in than helping your friend with that favor they asked? Or maybe on some level, just all-around deeply terrified you’re going to fail pursuing your goals if you were to ever actually try? Now think about what (or who) is weighing on your mind. If it’s keeping you down or holding you back, it’s probably time to let go. Step 1: Let go of envies and jealousies. Can you objectively look at why that coworker seems to have it all? Do they have a talent or way of approaching their work that you can learn from? Or can you take them out to coffee, get to know them better and realize they’re — (just banking on the odds, here) human — and that they, too, have problems that might not have been so obvious? Can you make a new friend and turn that jealousy and envy into support and productivity? Step 2: Stop holding on to unforgiveness. If that guy didn’t call you back, do you really want him to now? If he’s so easily willing to cast you aside why shouldn’t you be willing to do the same in your mind? There are actually simple solutions sometimes, and this is one of those instances. Move on. Spend time with new people. Holding a grudge against him won’t make him suddenly realize what he lost — but it will make you lose out on other things in the process. Step 3: Get rid of selfishness. If you’d rather nap than do your friend a favor, you need to ask yourself two questions. Is this person really my friend? And if they are, Why am I being selfish? And even if they aren’t your friend, Should I help them anyway? We’ve all heard the age-old adage “What goes around comes around.” And though I wish this were always true, the reality is that it’s not. Life is not a children’s fiction novel where all of the heroes come to good ends and the villains come to bad ends. Some people who are selfish and greedy and self-involved might not ever have to deal with the repercussions of their actions. So here is where you make a decision about the person you want to be. Do you want to be selfish? No? Great! Now grab a cup of coffee and go help your friend. Step 4: Overcome your fears. Perhaps the hardest step of them all; fear can cripple you, removing any hope of ever moving forward in life. Thus, the question you have to ask yourself is: How bad do you want it? You have to decide for yourself how much work you’re willing to put into it. You have to decide you want to save that extra $50 for your dream trip than go out with your friends this weekend. You have to decide to devote the time to improving your photography and editing skills, decide to work out regularly in order to lose that extra weight, decide to put all efforts into getting that next promotion at your job. Whatever it is, you have to decide you want it. And then you have to decide you want it again and again and again, every day you wake up, until you have it. It’s not just going to fall in your lap because you’re willing it to — you have to decide that you want it more than you are afraid of it. It won’t be easy, and it won’t happen overnight, but if you can do these things, you will move forward. It might not be exactly what you envisioned, but you will find yourself in a better place. Whether that’s literally somewhere else in the world or just confined to the spaces within your sanity is up to you. Just remember to travel light when you go. I try each day to find beauty, to learn something new, or discover new ways to keep going, to keep being inspired. In doing this, I’ve realized that sharing my inspiration is just as important as going out to seek it. So whether anyone is actually paying attention or not, I’m going to start sharing my findings with you. My goal, my hope, is to share a little daily inspiration – I hope to both inspire and be inspired, as I mention in my brief bio on the About page. So here we go. Day 1. Quote by Mary Anne Radmacher. Image created by me using Adobe Illustrator. It’s something I won’t ever be able to forget. The moment I was changed permanently, the moment my view of the world and the people in it shifted. Everything was the same, but somehow different. I realized that everyone and everything around me was worth seeing, worth documenting. Traveling literally takes you to another place, but what people don’t talk about is how it takes you to new places figuratively, too. Seeing a new style of architecture, experiencing a foreign culture, communicating with people who don’t speak the same language – it’s all doing more to you than just giving you more stories to tell and beautiful photos to share. It’s connecting you to new ways of thought and living, providing you with a new perspective on life or love or even something as simple as what good coffee is to you. It allows everyone the opportunity to peer out to the world with fresh eyes, taking in more than just what you literally see in front of you. It will change you. It will grow you. It will force you to look at yourself and the world and come to terms with what you think about both. And you will be better for it. But it can’t happen if you don’t go. Created by me using Adobe Illustrator. It’s the tagline for this blog and quickly becoming the tagline for my life: Getting lost is not a waste of time. It’s a simple thought, really. But it goes against what most people operate by. A lot of us are in a hurry. Or even if we’re not in a hurry per se, we’re on a set timeline. We have a list of things we need to see or do and an idea of when they need to be done by. We do this without really thinking about it. Maybe we’re concerned about making a deadline or not missing the train and subconsciously checking everything off our list. And this isn’t always a bad thing — this can promote productivity, keep us focused on a goal, or help us find order in all the chaos of a busy schedule. But sometimes we’re trying so hard to get everything finished that we forget to pay attention to what we’re actually doing. Case in point: in the summer of 2013, I was backpacking through Europe with two relatively new friends. Prior to the trip, I wasn’t really sure how it was all going to work out. Would we compliment each other in our habits and desires on what to do? Or would we all have different preferences of an ideal trip and bicker most of the time? Luckily, our instincts seemed to be right about each other and we all got along just fine the majority of the time. We wanted to see the major sights but at the same time wanted an authentic, off-the-beaten-path type of experience in each city if we could manage it. But there was one day of our travels in particular which didn’t run so smoothly. We were in Rome at the time and were set to leave the next morning for Florence. We had been there for a day and a half already but, let’s be honest, it’s actually really difficult to see all the things there are to see in Rome in two and half days. We had seen the big attractions — the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, Capitoline Hill, the Sistine Chapel and Vatican museums — along with other, less-common spots thanks to research and the experience Drew (one of our party) had from living abroad there in college. But the only thing on my list, perhaps cheesy and a little predictable I know, was the Trevi Fountain. I fault Hilary Duff in the Lizzie McGuire Movie for an unrealistic expectation of what would happen after I cast my wish (Just kidding, but there is probably some truth there. I blame my ingrained ’90s kid’ tendencies). But regardless of my reasons, that’s all I wanted to see. As long as that was checked off, everything else would be icing on the cake. Unfortunately, it felt like fate just did not want me to go there. We had planned on going there the first day, but because of our tour time of the Sistine Chapel, we didn’t have time to stop there. Then, for one reason or another, it kept getting bumped by something else on our list. It was too far of a walk, or we needed to eat first, or this, or that. But finally, finally, it was the nearing the end of our full second day there and it was finally decided that that’s where we were headed. It was going to be easy, too — we had been walking almost everywhere, but due to the time and being 5mi away, we were going to take a bus. So we waited. And waited… and waited. Four buses came and went, but not ours. We waited until it had been half an hour before deciding something wasn’t right. Eventually, from talking broken Italian to a woman at the stop, we deduced that a few of the buses, including ours, weren’t running due to engine problems. She wasn’t surprised; apparently it happens a lot. But I was determined. I resolved to walk. I didn’t care how far we had already walked that day or how hungry I already was. I was going to make it there, plain and simple. Drew didn’t feel so inclined, so it was just Jessica and I. Our hostel was close, so he was going to go clean up and take a nap before dinner. We were going to walk there, have our moment, and try to catch a different bus back to the hostel. But once again, fate intervened. There was a marathon or parade or something big happening on one of the major roads we had to cross in order to get there (I didn’t pay attention to what it was in my utter frustration). This added an extra mile to go around to where the Polizia said we could cross. We walked faster — and keep in mind we were close-to-broke college students, so spending money on a cab was avoided at all costs except emergencies — until we were almost there. We had made decent time despite the setback and had just under a mile to go. Jessica, however, needed to sit. This was the absolute last thing I was inclined to do, but I was grateful she hadn’t left me to my lonesome and tagged along, so I begrudgingly agreed. We needed to find a spot though, because we didn’t want to pay to sit at a café. On a whim, we veered off course and onto a smaller side street in the hopes there’d be some sort of wall we could hop up and rest on. And then I saw it. A rather small and somewhat dingy sign bearing the name of a saint in front of large but modest double doors. I glanced overhead to check for a steeple (and that’s when I learned that looking up is just as important as looking around). And that told me all I needed to know. It was a church. Jessica didn’t hesitate, scrambling in to her sanctuary to rest her aching feet. I followed more slowly behind, having just noticed something for the first time. We were completely alone. Which, if you’ve been there, you know doesn’t happen. Especially in the middle of the summer in primetime tourist season. But yet here we were, on a little side street about to walk into what looked like a forgotten church with no one else in sight. It hit me so forcefully that I felt nervous for a moment. Were we supposed to be here? Was this allowed? I decided to walk in. It wasn’t the most beautiful church I had seen in Europe, or even in Rome, but it had a modest beauty that I hadn’t seen in any church in my lifetime, and haven’t encountered since. The ceiling was covered in slightly chipped murals, there were three columns lining the far sides of the pews, the altar and tabernacle in front were unassuming but well-kept and recently polished. It was relatively small for a catholic church, about the square footage of a three bedroom apartment in total, and we were the only two people in there that I could see, apart from one elderly Italian woman sitting in one of the pews. I took a breath. I had been so preoccupied over the last hour about getting to the Trevi Fountain that the entire time we had been walking I hadn’t been appreciating the beauty of the ancient city. And here I was, not exactly lost but not precisely sure where I was either, standing in the middle of what felt like an existential scene crossed between Roman Holiday and The Bicycle Thieves. I sat down and for as long as I needed to collect my thoughts, we sat there. It didn’t matter so much anymore whether I saw the Trevi Fountain or not, because what was the point if I was just going to be miserable or in a hurry the entire time anyway? It’s a lesson that still resonates with me today. Getting lost is not a waste of time when you take a step back and get some perspective. You might not see everything you intended to see, but some of the best experiences in life are the ones we don’t expect. Like that little church, forever stuck in that moment. Its name and location shall remain anonymous — for one, this way it still feels precious and all mine in some capacity — but mostly because two, it leaves the mystery open for you and others out there. I wish for you to stumble into your own little sanctuary and have an unexpectedly profound experience. And for what it’s worth, Jessica and I did make it to the Trevi Fountain afterwards. Although it was by accident, after taking a narrow alley shortcut that wasn’t marked on our map. It’s funny how you find things when you stop looking for them. Why you should travel to a town in Croatia you’ve never heard of. Opatija is a Croatian coastal town resting on the northeastern shore of the Adriatic Sea, and as pointed out in my last post, most people traveling to Croatia have never heard of it. They’ve heard of Zagreb, Split, Dubrovnik… but usually not Opatija. However, this wasn’t always the case. The story behind Opatija is a checkered one, dating all the way back to pre-Roman times. But to avoid turning this post into a full-on history lesson, I’ll try to briefly cover the highlights of the town’s modern history, beginning in 1844. Out front of Villa Angiolina circa 1900. Source: http://www.landscapenotes.com. At this time, Iginio Scarpa, a rich merchant from Rijeka (another town in Croatia not far east of Opatija), founded Villa Angiolina. Villa Angiolina is the building that really marked the beginning of tourism in Opatija. This building still stands in Opatija today, converted into a museum devoted to telling you the story I’m telling you now. The main entrance of Villa Angiolina. Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk. Over time, the town became a fashionable spot for the Austrian imperial family and Austrian nobility. The first luxury hotel was built in 1884 and named Hotel Quarnero, but today stands as Grand Hotel Kvarner. Many more hotels and villas were soon built, and Opatija hit the height of tourism in 1889 when the Austrian government declared “Abbazia” (Opatija) the first climatic seaside resort on the Adriatic. However, Opatija would change hands many times over the next century. It was assigned to Italy in 1920 with the advent of fascism, given over to Yugoslavia in 1947, and finally would fall into Croatia’s hands in 1991 with the breakup of Yugoslavia. Since then, Opatija has been fairly quiet, operating to provide a peaceful getaway to tourists and Croatians on holiday alike. The outside garden of Villa Angiolina. Source: http://www.tours.adriaday.com. So then what makes Opatija special? I traveled to a multiple towns and cities throughout Croatia during my stay there, and while each was unique and beautiful in its own right – and I’ll go into each of those in later posts – there was a certain air in Opatija that didn’t seem to be anywhere else. It was that certain air, a feeling, essentially, that made you feel like nothing bad could ever happen there. It’s not an imitation of anything – like a Disney resort trying to lure you into feeling like you’re standing in Germany when you’re really in Florida – it’s authentic. It’s an arresting, tranquil place to forget about the worries on your mind. And it’s not flashy, like a five-star resort in Shanghai, but it will have everything you want and plenty more than you need. A small collection of moments from my time in Opatija. As mentioned earlier, it’s one of the most recognizable landmarks in the town, and the museum inside will be able to give a much more in-depth account than my brief post about the history of the town. ADDED BONUS: the park surrounding Villa Angiolina is a green thumb’s dream, boasting over 150 different plant species both native to the region and other parts of the world. Maiden with the Seagull. Source: http://www.endourology-today.com. This statue has become one of the symbols of the town, and is recognizable across Croatia. It is, however, a new sculpture in comparison to others in Opatija. Maiden with the Seagull was erected in 1956 by the sculptor Zvonko Car. In its place once stood the Madonna del Mare, which was demolished by communists after the end of World War II. This 14th-century Benedictine abbey, Opatija Sv. Jakova, or Abbey of Saint James, from which the town gets its name (“opatija“ means “abbey” in Croatian) can be found in Park Svetog Jakova or Saint James’s Park. Saint James’s Church, originally built in 1506, now stands in the same spot. A less common destination in the town, but fun if you’re looking for a little luck, is the Villa Rosalia, which today is known as Casino Rosalia. Originally constructed in 1896 as a luxurious villa for Austrian aristocracy, it was later credited as being the first casino in eastern Europe. Last, and my personal favorite, part of Opatija you won’t want to miss is simply walking along the stone path that winds through the majority of the water’s edge of the town. There’ll be places to lay out in the sun as you pass, to climb rocks, to take the perfect snapshot, and to look at various street vendors’ art. Left: Me snapping a photo while being snapped in Opatija near Hotel Kvarner. Right: The garden in front of Villa Angiolina facing the Adriatic Sea.

2019-04-23T10:18:14Z

https://quillandquest.com/category/life/

Despite covering nearly three quarters of the surface of the earth, the world’s oceans are signalling a severe deterioration in health due to a number of human related impacts. An independent set of report published by the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO) has indicated that various significant factors are mounting a cause for concern that is overreaching what scientists had initially predicted. Over time, the ocean has lessoned the affects of global warming by absorbing excess CO2 from the atmosphere. Whilst this has reduced greenhouse gas levels, this uptake of carbon dioxide has caused the water to become increasingly acidic. Along with overfishing, other sources of pollution and the increasingly more common ‘dead zones’ formed by fertiliser run-off, the oceans are showing the strains and may suffer from potential mass extinction. An example of where these negative impacts are being noticeably felt are along coral reefs. Not only are the corals incredibly sensitive to ocean warming but pollution, coral mining and destructive fishing practices also limit the growth of these vital organisms negatively impacting their vital role in biological ecosystems and geochemical processes within the sea. A recent report revealed that coral coverage on the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s largest coral system, has declined by a staggering 50% over the past 30 years. The reports indicate the requirement for immediate responses on both a global, national and local scale. Chiefly, urgent action must be taken to cut CO2 emissions, promote and manage sustainable fishing practices and governments must tackle key groups of chemicals that are being released into the ocean. Please watch the following three sort films and answer the questions below. Your answers need to be posted at the bottom of this blog. What is the main ocean threat discussed in each video? —What actions are people taking to address these threats? Film 3: Arabian ‘Sea Cows’ Going Hungry? In video 1, the main threats are pollution, global warming and over-fishing. People are trying to help by making coral reefs out of man-made, artificial objects. In the second video, the problem was that they were using dynamite to fish and it was damaging the coral reefs. And same as before, they were over-fishing. They introduced a few new rules including putting 10% of the land as no fishing zones. In the final video, the threats to the dugongs were motor boats and fishing nets. The government banned some types of fishing nets and produced new laws on the speed limit of a speed boat. The main ocean threats in video one is the impact that global warming and pollution is making on the coral reefs/animals. Humans are polluting the ocean by throwing wastes in it and some marine animals had mistaken it for food which causes them to choke and die but others have been trying to restore the corals by creating artificial ones from shipwrecks and man made things although this can only be temporarily. In video 2, the main threats is the destruction on the coral reefs and the rapid decrease of fish from using dynamites,cyanides and over fishing. To fix this problem, the government created a law banning destructive fishing but since that didnt work, a man called Angel Alcala introduced the villagers to a new strategy of creating a ‘no fishing’ zone which restored the fishes within three years. The villagers then created two new rules: Fishing only allowed for Abo villager & no destructive fishing methods. In video three, they are talking about the threats to the dugongs and the sea grass beds. Pollution from the construction of houses goes into the ocean killing the sea grasses which then affects the food chain since most marine life that live there depend on it especially the dugongs. Other than that, dugongs are found washed ashore, stuck in fishing nets while others aree killed by speedboats. So the government decided to create a marine/dugong protected sanctuary and banned certain types of fishing nets. In video 1, the main threats were global warming, pollutions and overfishing. Global warming and pollutions are destroying the coral reefs and animals under the sea. Humans are also making pollution and destroying the ocean by throwing rubbish into the ocean. The fishes in the ocean doesn’t know so they eat it and they are going to die faster. In the future we might not be able to see beautiful fishes in the oceans anymore. In video 2, the main threats were destruction on the coral reefs and using dynamites, cyanides and also overfishing. The government decided to make a law to ban destructive fishing. But it did not help the villagers. So a man called Angel Alcala showed the villagers and told them to make a no fishing zone. The villagers created 2 new rules that they made up which was fishing allowed for Abo villagers and no destructive fishing methods. The villagers said that it had change their life from doing this. In video 3, they were talking about the dugongs and sea beds. Pollutions affect the sea beds and then the dugongs because the dugongs eat sea beds as their main food. When the Dugongs die they will normally found on the shore. The scientist were investigating about it. That said that some were stuck in fishing nets while others are killed because of speedboats these days. The government decided to protect the dugongs and banned some types of fishing nets. The main threat in video 1 is global warming, pollution and overfishing. Nowadays many people throw waste into the sea and marine animals mistaken it for food, this would make the animals eat the waste and choke. Pollution and global warming is destroying a huge number of coral reef under the sea which makes feeding grounds less for a variety of aquatic life. Nowadays people have been trying to make artificial reefs that are made by man-made objects and sunken ships to increase the number of feeding ground for the aquatic life. The main threat in video 2 is destructive fishing method by using dynamite and cyanide as well as over fishing to catch fishes and does also destroy the coral reefs. The government created a law banning destructive fishing, but the law was not enforceable. Then a man called Angel Alcala help the villagers about this case by introducing a ‘Non Fishing Zone’ which unbelievably restored back the amount of fish in three years time. Then the Apo Islanders came up with two new rules but still continued the rule of ‘Non Fishing Zone’ in the sanctuary. Rule number one is that fishing there is only for Apo Islanders. Rule number two is that no destructive fishing method were allowed. The main threat in video 3 is pollution from construction which destroy and dugongs and the seagrass bed. Dugongs is a large marine mammal which eats grass from the seagrass bed. Dugongs need seagrass to survive as well as green turtles which the seagrass bed provides food and shelter for it. Dugongs are also found washed up ashore because of speedboats or had been captured into the fishing nets and drown when they become tangled with nets. Government decided make up a law reducing the boat speed in some areas and also banned some certain types of fishing nets. In video 1 the main reasons are that people are fishing too much, pollution and global warming. Some people are trying too help the oceans by making coral reefs with man made objects. In the second video they also fished too much but they were using explosives to fish which damaged the coral reefs which leads to less fish in the oceans. In the final video the boats where threatening the seas with the speed of the boat also the mortar boat and fishing boats where damaging the seas so that less and less fish where in the reefs and oceans. The threat discussed in this video are pollution (plastic bags), global warming and over fishing which destroyed the reefs. An action people is taking to address these threats are that they make artificial (fake) coral reefs. The threat discussed in this video is that the number of fish decreased very quickly because of destructive fishing (using dynamites and cyanide). The coral reefs were destroyed. The actions people are taking to address this threat are they set up no fishing zone (fishing sanctuary). They also made rules that fishing is for only Apo Islanders and no destructive fishing methods. The threat discussed in this video is that the pollution and silt covered and killed the sea grass. Sea cows and other marine animals have less food. The actions people are taking to address this threat is they count how many sea cows they have. And when they find a dead sea cow on the beach, they measure its size and took photos and try to find out how it died. They set up a sanctuary for sea cows. They reduce boat speeds and ban fishing nets that harm the sea cows. They also teach the children how important the sea cows are. Today, Global warming,over-fishing and pollution are the main cause of ocean health deterioration. All videos explain in detail the impacts of these human-related factors in ocean reef. Eventhough in some area they have tried to reverse the deterioration of reef life,unfortunately most part is irreversible. Some marine scientists had come up with idea of “fishing zone’ to restore to some extend the life of fish in some villages, but it damage from industries, human and chemical waste and other are so extensive that require immediate responses in national and global scale. Our response should focus on area of conservation, public awareness and education. In the first video the main threat in pollution and global warming, people start to throw rubbish into the sea, which it’s starting to destroy the coral reefs under the sea. Small and big fishes in the sea eats the rubbish that is been thrown into the sea which will eventually lead them to die faster. In the second video it shows how quick fish decreased in the sea because of destructive fishing using dynamites and cynides. Which made the govourments decide to ban destructive fishing. But it didn’t help the villagers. So one day a man called Angel Alcala told the villagers to set up a zone called no fishing zone. So they made up two new rules which allows the villagers to fish without using the method destructive fishing. And so it changes their life forever. In the third video it shows sea beds and gugongs. Pollution will eventually destroy the sea bed that the dugongs eat as their food everyday. Most of the dugongs die because they have no food and some fishing nets most of them will be found on the beach shore. The scientists said some dugongs are being killed by nets while some other are being killed some speedboats. So the govourments tries to protect the dugongs by banning some of the fishing nets. the main threats are overfishing, global warming and pollution. People are trying to stop this by creating artificial(fake) coral reefs as fishes are dying a lot. Video 2: In this video they showed how quickly fish are decreasing by the way of using dynamites and cynides. The government tried to ban destructive fishing but it didn’t work. so some guy set up a no fishing zone. In this video the threats were speed boats going too fast and some fishing nets were causing too much damage. So a speed limit was set and some nets banned. In video 1 the main threats were overfishing, pollution and global warming people are trying to solve the problem using man made artificial coral reefs the other problems are rubbish and fish eating plastic. In video 2 they showed how quickly the population on fish decreased by using harmful fishing methods including dynamite and cynides which destroyed coral reefs, the government tried to ban this type of fishing but it didn’t work so a guy called Angel Alcala talked them into a non fishing zones and setting up a marine life sancuary, the villagers were enthusiastic and 10 percent of the island were non fishing zones or marine life sanctuarys. They banned destructive fishing and everything was normal. The third video the threat is pollution destroying the seagrass bed which affects a lot of marine life especially the sea cow. They were also affected by speed boats and getting tangled in nets, so to save the species the government reduced the speed limits of boats and banned harmful types of nets. The main threats are global warming,pollution and over fishing. People are helping by using artificial reefs created by sunken ships or other man made objects. The main threats in this video were fishermen using destructive fishing method which decreases the population of fish and damaged the coral habitats. Because of that they used 10% of the land and made it a no fishing zone. The main threat in this video are constructions polluting the ocean, choking the corals and smothering the sea grass. Also the speed boats were too fast and the fishing nets caused too much damage which affects the marine lives especially the dugongs(sea cow). Because of this they had to reduce the speed of boats and banned harmful types of nets. In the first film, the main threats are pollution, overfishing and global warming. So the people make artificial reefs. The second film’s threat is that people use explosives to kill fish. The people then made a no fishing zone. This last film’s threat was construction polluting the sea bed. The people then had boat speed limits and banned some nets. Film 1: The great threats in the video is global warming (sometimes caused by pollution) and overfishing. What people do to help is make artificial coral reefs out of man made objects like a sunken ship to replace the reefs destroyed. Film 2 : The huge threats to the ocean in this video is fishermen that use effective methods in fishing for example throwing explosives into the water. Then one guy suggested a way of reducing it by banning throwing explosives to kill the fishes and made a non fishing zone. Film 3: The big threat in this video is that pollution will soon destroy the sea grass and the dugongs (sea cows) only feed on sea grass. They were affected by the speed of boats on the water surface and fishing nets. The people banned the use of some kinds of nets and had a speed limit for the boats. In the first video, the main threat was pollution in the ocean. Some groups of people are trying to protect and make artificial coral reefs. In the second video, the main threat was explosions being used to catch fishes. The method works but it would also destroy the coral reefs. Then, people started to build a sanctuary for fishes. In the third video, the main threat was fishing boats going too fast and some fishing nets were causing too much damage. A speed limit was set to prevent more damages. The main threats in the video is global warming and pollution. Humans are finding a way to help by using man made objects and artificial reefs. The main threats in this video is humans are using explosions to catch fishes, and it shows how fast the fish are decreasing. Which damages the corals habitats. The main threats in this video is pollution and destroying the sea grass beds which affects the sea cows. The speed boats are going too fast, so they set a speed limit. Coral reefs in the first video provide a habitat for many different kinds of fish. They had lived and reproduced for 50 million years, but in these days people throw rubbish, such as plastic bags and cans into the ocean. This causes pollution, which is one of the main threats. Two other threats in the first video are global warming, andover fishing. People are creating artificial reefs by using sunken ships and man-made objects to replace the real reefs, but these artificial reefs can only stay for a while. Fish in the Apo Island in Philippines are decreasing rapidly. Fishermen are trying as hard as they could to find fish, but sometimes they only get a few small fish……. The main threats in the second video are using dynamites and cyanide to fish (these can also destroy coral reefs). Another main problem on the Apo Island is over fishing. The government had considered and decided to ban destructive fishing, but the law did not help. In 1980, a doctor called Angel Alcala suggested that they could make a ‘no fishing zone’ where they were not allowed to find fish, and the outcome was quite impressive. Sea grass, in the third video, are food for dugongs. In order to survive, dugongs need to eat huge amount of sea grass, but they are dying because of pollution from construction of buildings and houses. Not only dugongs that suffer, but sea grass also provide food for green tortoise. There may not be any dugong left if they suffer longer. The government protected dugongs by banning some types of fishing and reduced speed boats. In video one the main threat is that there is global warming, pollution and over fishing. People are now making artificial reefs from sunken ships and other man-made objects but the ocean is still in threat from this problem. In video two the main threat is that people are using dynamites and cyanides to fish and it was very good for fishing but it was bad for the coral habitat. A man called Angel Alcala told the villagers to ban fishing in some areas. They made 2 rules that only Apo island villagers are allowed to fish and they are not allowed to use destructive fishing methods. In video three the main threat is that the constructions is polluting the ocean which is choking the corals and sea grass that the dugongs eat so they are dying. They are also killed by the boats and they drown from getting tangled in the fishing nets. To fix this problem the government banned certain types of fishing nets and reduced the boat speed. In the first clip, the main threat in coral reefs is pollution, global warming and over fishing. To help the coral reefs, people nowadays try to help by making coral reefs out of man-made objects. The main threat in the second clip is destructive fishing method by using dynamite and cyanide. To help preventing from this happening, the law is now banning destructive fishing, but it didn’t work out, so someone named Mr. Angel Alcala was introduced with the idea of the “No Fishing Zone”, which stunningly gained back more fishes in three years’ time. The first video gives us a general idea of humans polluting in various ways and at the same time, not realizing the destruction we made to the marine life. Although scientists invented artificial reefs, I think that the main factor is us. The second video focuses on Apo Islands in the Philippines where decades ago, the fishing village faced marine life problems hence their use of destructive fishing. Many years later, they became more aware of a healthy marine life so they made no-fishing areas. They went through the obstacles and now finds themselves successful. The third video explains to us that another cause of decreasing marine life is because of fishing boats traveling too fast, whereas the net happens to be the problem. The resolution to that problem is a speed limit in seas. And it’s strange. In conclusion, all of the videos are about humans threat to the sea but most of us are unaware of what we are doing. In my opinion, I think that the best resolution is to discuss them in communities to make people more aware because lots×small changes=BIG change. First video: The main threats of this video are global warming, pollutions and overfishing which destroys coral reefs and many species of fishes. People also throw rubbish into the sea that fishes think that they are food and eat them. This makes fishes die. Pollution and rubbish are destroying coral reefs more and more everyday. Humans are making artificial reefs from sunken ships and other objects to try to replace the real reefs. decreasing because of fisher men using destructive fishing methods. The government tried to ban destructive fishing but it didn’t work so Angel Alcala banned some area to not do fishing and made some no fishing zone. Also he made a rule to have no more destructive fishing and this made fishes increase although it took them a long time it still worked. and he had banned some type of fishing nets. In film one, the main ocean threats are people over fishing, global warming and pollution which was caused by people throwing rubbish into the sea. Some marine animals also mistook it for food and ate it which made them die faster. Groups of people who are trying to help made artificial coral reefs out of man-made objects. In film two, the main threats are people over fishing and also using destructive fishing methods such as using dynamites and cyanide. This decreased the population of fishes and also destroyed coral reefs. A man named Mr. Angel Alcala banned some places from fishing and had more no fishing zones. After that, people came up of two rules for fishing, only Apo islanders are able to do fishing and no destructive fishing methods were allowed. In film three, the main threats are constructions polluting the ocean, choking the choral reefs and destroying the sea grass which would be eaten by the dugongs (sea cows). Many things were effecting the dugongs such as fishing boats were also going too fast and they were tangled in fishing nets. People fixed the problems by banning some types of fishing nets that would make more injuries to the dugongs and there were speed limits for fishing boats. The main problems are pollution, global warming and overfishing in some areas. This causes destruction of the coral reef and therefore causes coral species to be endangered. Also fish confuses trash for food and eat them killing them. Their solution for the problems are making artificial reefs. The problem discussed in this video is destructive fishing, for example using Cyanide or dynamite to fish. The negative effect from destructive fishing caused the coral reef to die therefore decreasing the chance of a fisherman catching fishes. The problem was solved by making part of the reef a ‘marine sanctuary’ or a place where no fishing is allowed. The island’s fishery was restored within 10 years. The problem was declining dugong (sea cow) population. This is caused by pollution and debris falling on the sea grass which is the dugong’s food supply. Also fishing nets and boats are killing dugongs. The government decided to ban certain types of fishing nets and limit boat speeds. In the first video clip, there’s 3 main threats; global warming, pollution and over-fishing. People are now making coral reefs with man-made, artificial objects such as from sunken ships. In the second video, the main threats are harmful ways to catch fish, and once again, over fishing. A man by the name of Angel Alcala tells the villagers to make no fishing zone, which within 3 years, the fishes were once again restored. Two new rules were also created: Fishing is only allowed for the villagers in Abo Island and no destructive fishing methods. The third video is now about dugongs and sea beds. Pollution affects the sea beds which is the dugongs main source of food. Some then end up in the shore and are trapped with fishing nets, or killed by motorboats. The government then decided to ban certain types of fishing nets and set a speed limit for the boats. The main threats in this video are pollution, global warming and over-fishing. This harms coral reefs and causes many species of fish to become endangered or extinct. Fish also eat the trash we throw into the sea when they mistake them for food. People now use man-made objects to make artificial reefs. This video explores destructive fishing methods in an island called Apo island. These fishing methods include using dynamite and cyanide. The methods made the coral reefs die. The solution to this problem was to make a “marine sanctuary” which is a zone where fishing was banned. Later they changed the rules so that only Apo fishermen were allowed to fish there and so no one used destructive fishing methods there anymore. The coral reef was then restored 10 years later. The problem in this video is the diminishing dugong population.Dugongs are nicknamed as the “sea cow”. This is because all they do all day is eat sea grass. Q 1. the problem they talked about is about pollution, global worming and over fishing all of which destroys the coral reefs which are the home to many fishes. Q 2. They made new reefs from man-made materials for the fishes to live in. Q 2. They stop using violent methods to fish and recede to using their original tribal methods. They also arrange an area which they called the “fish Sanctuary” in which they stop all fishing activity and allows the corals and fish to grow. Finally the fish will spread out of that area and their will be more fishes. Q 1. The main threat is the pollution from boats which then drops down to the ocean floor and stop the grass on the sea bed from flourishing and therefore, there is less food for the dugongs and the green turtles. They also talk about fishing nets which kills the dugongs. Q 2. They banned some types of fishing nets and they decrease the speed limit for the boats. They also set up some education for the kids to study about the dugongs. Video 1: The three main threats are over fishing, pollution and global warming. To stop these threats the people are making artificial coral reefs usually made from sunken old ships and old metal things. Video 3: The Main threats of this video is pollution destroying the sea bed witch is the dugongs foods. The government bands some typed of fishing nets and setting a speed limit for boats. Video 1: the main threat is pollution, over fishing and global warming which is destroying the coral reefs. They tried to solve this by building artificial reefs from sunken ships and other man made things. Video 2: the main threat is caused by the explosive method fishermens are using to fish. The villagers fixed this problem by turning one section of the island to a no fishing zone for three years which made the area recover massively. Video 3: the main threat is the decreasing amount of sea grass beds which is serving as the main food for dugongs or sea cows. The government is trying to solve this problem by banning some types kf fishing nets and speedboats which are killing the dugongs. In the first video, the main threats are pollution, over fishing and global warming which harm the coral reefs and fish. People are trying to stop this by using man-made materials to make coral. The main threats in the second video are people using dynamite and cyanide to fish fish which also destroys the coral. People have made a ‘fish sanctuary’ where the fish and coral can grow peacefully because you are not allowed to fish there and eventually the fish will spread out and people have stopped using dynamite and cyanide to to fish. In video 3, the main threat is from the pollution of the boats which go down to the sea bed and kills it which means that the dugongs and turtles will have very little to eat. People have decreesed the speed limit for the boats so there will be more food for the dugongs and the turtles. In the first video, the main threaths are pollution, global warming and over fishing which is destroying the coral reefs and fish. They are trying to stop this by using man made materials to make corals. In the second video, the main threaths are caused by fishermen using dynamite and cyanide to catch fish which also is destroying the corals. They solved this problem by not letting fishermen fish in one section of the island for three years. Now, fishermen had stop using dynamite and cyanide to fish. In the third video, the main threath is pollution from the boats that travel down the sea bed and kills the seagrass which means that the dugongs and the turtles won’t have much to eat. The solution is to decrease the speed limit of boats so the dugongs and the turtles will have enough food to eat. In the second video,The main threats . people using dynamite and cyanide to fish, which also destroys the coral. People have made a ‘fish sanctuary’ where the fish and coral can grow peacefully because you are not allowed to fish there and eventually the fish will spread out and people have stopped using dynamite and cyanide to to fish. In the third vedio, the main threat is from the pollution of the boats which go down to the sea bed and kills it which means that the dugongs and turtles will have very little to eat.They are also killed by the boats and they drown from getting tangled in the fishing nets. The main ocean threats are global warming, pollution and over fishing. Sea animals have mistaken it for food which causes them to choke and die. People are trying to make coral reefs out of man made, artificial objects to help them. The problem was people were using dynamites to fish but they are also damaging the coral reefs. They also banned places not fish. The final video are talking about the dugongs and sea beds. The pollution affect the sea beds and the dugongs next. This is because dugongs eat them as their main food. In video 1 the main threats are pollution global warming and overfishing. People are trying to create artificial coral reefs. In video 2 the people were using dynamites to fish. So some places were banned for fishing. In video 1 the threats are pollution and global warming . People are trying to manufacture artificial coral reefs. In video 1 the main ocean threats are global warming, pollution and over fishing, over fishing and global warming which harm the coral reefs and fish. People are trying to stop this by using man made materials to make coral. The final video are talking about the dugongs and sea beds. The pollution affect the sea beds and the dugongs next. The boats were causing damage so a speed limit was set. In the first video the main threats are global warming ,pollution and over fishing which harm the coral reefs and fishes. People are trying to stop this by using man made materials to make coral. In the second video the problem were people are using dynamites to fish but they are also destroying the coral reefs.So some places were banned for fishing. In the last video is about the pollution are damaging the sea bed so the government banned fishing using net and setting a speed limit for boat. In the 1st video the main threats are global warming, pollution and fishing. In the 2nd video the main threats are using dynamites to fish but also destroying the coral reef. In the 3rd video the main threats are about pollution damaging the sea. In the first section of video one, it talks about fishes and coral reefs. The second part of the video talks about how global warming, pollution and over fishing is a threat to fishes and coral reefs. Although some try to stop this by using man-made and artificial objects, the longness of this isn’t certain. People are using explosive equipment like dynamites to catch fish, but not only is that a problem causing over fishing but it also ruins corals. So they decided to make a ‘fish sanctuary’ (a no fishing zone) so that the fish from there will eventually spread to other places too. Not only that, the corals will be able to grow without anything to harm them, now, there are people going snorkeling there because of the beautiful coral reefs and exotic sea creatures. This video talks about damaged sea beds which causes sea animals to starve, especially sea cows. The sea beds are being destroyed by speed boat going too fast. Some of the sea cows are found dead on the beach so people take photos of it and get samples to try and find out how they died and why the population has gone down. Soon they found out that some of them died because they don’t have enough sea grass from the sea beds to eat and others died because they got caught in harmful nets. They try to prevent all these from happening by setting a speed limit to speed boats and banning fishing nets that is able to harm the sea cows. In the first video, the main threats are pollution, global warming and over fishing which harm the coral reefs. They are trying to stop this by making artificial coral reefs. In the 2nd video, the main threat is about using things like dynamite to fish, which also damage coral reefs. They tried to ban destructive fishing but it didn’t work so they decided to make NO FISHING ZONE and allows fish and coral reefs to grow. In the final video, the main threat is pollution from boat falling down to the sea beds, which are dugongs’s and green turtles’s food. Dugong also killed by fishing nets and and boats. The government banned some type of fishing nets and limit the speed.

2019-04-24T08:05:10Z

https://blogs.shrewsbury.ac.th/geography/2013/10/14/declining-ocean-health/

Living overseas as an American has it’s great points but sometimes it has a lot of challenges that you don’t think about. For instance, most of the rest of the world uses the Metric system. Which makes a lot of sense as the Metric system is much simpler and easier to remember. That said, if you grew up in America, you likely don’t have the foggiest idea how hot or cold it is when someone gives you a temperature in Celsius. Stay with me here and we’re going to have a quick math lesson so that you can do a basic conversion in your head. Then you won’t look silly having to ask if it is hot or cold the next time someone gives you a forecast. Double the temperature in Celsius and add 30. If someone says it was 30 degrees Celsius then you simply double it (to 60) and add another 30 to get 90. 30 degrees Celsius is pretty hot. If it’s only 10 degrees Celsius then double it (to 20) and add another 30 to get 50. A bit chilly. If you’re like us and live in the frigid North and someone tells you it’s going to be -30 degrees this weekend, double it (-60) and add 30 to find out it’s…really stinkin’ cold outside. Incidentally the further you get from freezing the less accurate this is so don’t use this rule for cooking unless you want some unpleasant surprises. Asking questions of those who have “been there” is a great way to prepare yourself for the crazy adventure that is moving to China. Even though you can never be completely prepared for such a drastic change, knowing what to expect goes a long way to making the transition much smoother. I was so thankful to have a fellow expat friend who generously fielded numerous questions before our move. It was such a huge help to us, and one of the main reasons I decided to start this blog. I recently received a question from a reader, and I thought I’d share the questions and response in case it helps someone else in a similar situation. My family has LOVED all the information we have learned from reading all of your posts. I’m sure we haven’t gotten through everything yet, but we are learning from it. If all goes according to plan we (my husband and I, as well as our 3 kids) will be moving to Shenyang the beginning of 2012. I was hoping that ya’ll could help me with a few questions. For one, I wondered what host site you use for your blog? The one you guys have set up is exactly what we would like to have in place. Second, how hard has it been to stay connected technology wise? Like I said, we have 3 kids. I have read that there are ways around the government blocks online, but I have read so many positive and negative things now that I’m just confused. It is very important to us to try to keep our technology connections so that our kids don’t feel completely cut off. At this point we don’t even know whether to purchase computers from the US before we leave or China once we get there. We really want to be able to contact family and share all the adventures they are having. Again, we have really enjoyed reading about all of your experiences (although I gotta say I literally gagged last night reading about the taxi driver chewing on his hack!!! I already know that the first time I hear that sound and realize what it is….I will most likely puke! Oh well, that will just be another story to share, lol) We look forward to any future posts and any information you guys can share with us. I recently received a question from a reader asking for advice and insight on their upcoming move to Shenyang. I thought the question and response might be helpful for someone else as well, so with permission I’ve posted our correspondence. If you’re currently on expat assignment and have something else to add, I’d love for you to chime in on the subject in the comments. If you’re not yet an expat but also have questions, feel free to ask away and I or my fellow expats will try to fill in with what we’ve learned so far. The more information we can share, the better off we’ll all be. Hi. My husband and I just returned from a job interview in Shenyang. The company flew both of us over for a look-see and interview. We were there for 3 days. (I know, who goes all the way to China and stays for just 3 days?) The work would likely be in both Shenyang and Yingkou, or perhaps mainly in Yingkou. It would be a 2-3 year contract. I’d appreciate any advice you’d like to share. My husband is supposed to let the company know what he wants for compensation and benefits. Are there benefits you’d recommend asking for? What about Chinese taxes? Are there employers who pay taxes for their employees? We saw that the marginal rate goes up to 45%, and then we would owe US taxes as well. I read in China Daily while we were there that foreign workers will now be covered by the Chinese social security, medical and unemployment insurance, to the tune of an additional 11% payroll deduction. That wouldn’t leave much for us! We recognize the challenges we’d face living in China, and think that we can not just manage, but truly come to enjoy the adventure. I’ve enjoyed reading about your experiences, and look forward to having our own China stories to share. LB and I finally got the chance to go through some of your questions (I have no idea about a lot of the details like taxes and stuff.) We had a few thoughts on the subject between us. Not sure how it works out with you, but we were pretty fortunate to be sent by an international company who has quite a few expats here already. It was NOT a perfect process by any means (get ready to be flabbergasted over and over… and make sure you throw any expectations you have out the window. You’ll be much better off for it.) but they do take care of us pretty well. Will you be working for a Chinese company as a foreign expert? Not sure how that will change the process, but it surely will. It is a different culture for sure. Make sure you get it all in writing, but realize even then, that doesn’t always mean a whole lot when you’re dealing with this culture. You’ll still have to ask for things even if they’re in the contract. You’ll want to keep these things in mind at the very least. 1. Housing: Make sure they are providing you with housing. Most companies do. A budget of 15,000 – 20,000 RMB per month should be sufficient for a furnished apartment or, in some cases a townhouse, in a nice complex/neighborhood although that will likely vary a lot depending on what city you’re in. That will get you a very nice apartment in Shenyang. Another option would be to negotiate a smaller monthly allowance for an unfurnished apartment plus a stipend for purchasing furniture or shipping your own furniture from the States. This was actually the option we chose, and I was really glad we did. It was great to be able to choose my own furniture and design my own home rather than feeling like I was living in someone else’s house. I will say that if it hadn’t been for the new Ikea in Shenyang though, I doubt this option would have worked out as well. Also, I don’t think this is very common in China. Most apartments come furnished, I believe, but it worked out really well for us. Our company goes through a realty company who specializes in placing expats (We used KELT. There is alsoCentury 21 in Shenyang). It was a big help dealing with people who speak English and who’s job it is to take care of the lease, dealing with the landlord, getting your proper permits, etc. We also don’t deal with paying the rent at all. That is paid directly by the company. We do pay for utilities though. We’ve been here almost a year and still occasionally contact them with any issues we have with our apartment (like yesterday, when we woke up to no electricity). Our realtor has become a great friend who I call on for all kinds of questions and translating. She was indispensable in the beginning when we were just learning to function here. If they do agree to pay for your housing, make sure you are able to pick your apartment, or at least see where it is they want to put you. The exact apartment. Most apartments are privately owned and one building can have several levels of quality. I would suggest negotiating a “housing allowance” and then shopping for your own place. To me, it is the most important part about making this place feel like home. Especially for you as the wife since you’ll be spending a lot of time there. 2. Car and driver: I’m not sure how you’ll work out working both in Yingkou and Shenyang but google maps says it is about 2.5 hours drive. If you’ll have to do a lot of commuting back and forth I would definitely make sure you are provided with a car and driver. Inside Shenyang, it is no problem getting around with the buses and plenty of taxis. We don’t have a car and do fine without it, but I think if you’ll be outside the city then you’ll need one. 3. Language lessons: You need to learn Chinese to really have a good experience here. It’s a difficult language and some people don’t bother learning it but I think you have a much less frustrating experience when you can break down the communication barrier even just a little. I would suggest asking for a set language budget or set number of hours of tutoring for both you and your husband. I think the companies I’ve heard of usually offer 100 hours. 4. Moving costs: Negotiate your shipping and moving costs. You’ll probably need at least an air freight container. They come in several sizes. Another option is a sea freight container. They are much larger and are typically used if you want to bring your furniture from home. They take much longer to arrive however. 5. Vacation time: This one has been a big issue for us. If you’re going to want to travel a lot (and there is so much to see in Asia!) make sure you have enough time to take off to do it. I think you need at least 20 days, probably 25 would be better. 6. Home flights: Will they pay for you to take a trip home once a year or twice a year? For both of you? If so, do you get extra days to compensate for the travel time or will you have to take vacation days? Something to think about considering it takes 3 days of traveling to get to the States and back. 7. Taxes: This is the one I’m not so sure about. You are responsible for taxes in both China and the US. You’ll definitely need to hire a professional to take care of all the taxes. I would make sure that is also paid for by the company. Most companies here take responsibility for paying the Chinese taxes. (I’m not sure about the China Social Security thing, haven’t heard anything about that.) Our company takes care of all the taxes here and our pay stays the same. They also offset the taxes in the US so that we pay the same as we would if we were still employed in the US. One other thing to remember is that all of the benefits they pay for such as your car and driver, your housing, etc. is considered taxable income by the US government even though it isn’t showing up in your bank account. Add it all up and that first tax bill will make your eyes pop out of your head. 8. Getting paid: You want to get paid in the US if possible. There are two ways it is done here. One company that I know of pays 75% of your income in the US and 25% in Chinese RMB. Even at 25% most people don’t spend that much and end up with lots of RMB left to change at the end. It is a real pain and quite difficult to change money back from RMB to US dollars. Our company pays 100% of our paycheck in to our US account and we then make a wire transfer (reimbursable at 1 per month) to our Chinese bank account in the amount we need. Either way works fine I think. Getting paid 100% in China is usually a huge hassle so I’ve heard. Salary: Obviously it depends on the company, but generally, if you work as an expat for a foreign company you can expect your previous salary + 30-50% increase (b/c you have to live without Dunkin Donuts whole bean coffee and JIF peanut butter.) + cost of living adjustment + additional compensations listed above. I would say that most expats come to China for the money. But it is a GREAT experience even without the padding of the bank account! I really enjoyed hearing your guesses for the pop quiz. Thanks for playing along! We had a few guesses on the original post, and a few more posted on Facebook. Pop quiz… What is this? Found this taped to my door. What is it? What am I supposed to do with it? Just a little taste of what it’s like living in a foreign country where you can’t read or speak the language. Every day is an adventure. And the littlest simplest tasks become difficult. Hint: You get something similar in the US and if I don’t deal with it soon I’m in trouble. 1. Find the largest pot you have. If you have 2 or 3 large pots it works even better. 2. Fill the pots with water and place them on the stove. 4. Heat the water until you start to see bubbles. 5. Using potholders (or folded up dishrags if like me you still don’t have potholders), carry the pots of water one by one into the bathroom. 6. Dump the hot water into the tub. 7. Repeat steps 1-6 until you have enough water in the tub to bathe with. Turn on the faucet to add cool water if the water is too hot. Hi. Just wanted to let you know we are having a problem with the hot water in the showers. Neither get hotter than luke warm. Definitely not hot enough to take a comfortable shower. The water in the kitchen sink gets quite hot, just not the bathrooms. Can we get this fixed soon? I just contacted with the management company and the staff told me the problem has existed about year. After the management company transformed the pipe system in Wulihe Plaza. And the problem extensively exist in the Wulihe Plaza. Before the management company transform the pipe system again the problem can’t be solved completely. But there is a temporary solution is before you do the shower please call the management company 2388****, they will send a worker to make the water warmer. Really? You just want me to call you before I want to take a shower? Every day? And wait? This is the solution for the WHOLE building? 24 floors of apartments. Is there a guy whose sole job is to come heat up the water every time anyone wants to take a hot shower? There has to be. And how does he do it? And when that doesn’t work: Refer to steps 1-7 above. So… I’ve been trying to get out of posting this little story. I mean, you don’t really care to know EVERYTHING that happens to us on this little adventure, do you? Actually, I’m not really sure you care to know any of it, but I’m writing it down just the same. I was going to skim over this tidbit, but I realized… I just need to keep it real. Most of you already know what a dingbat I am anyway, and it’s probably unlikely you’ll even be surprised I’d do something like this. On Thursday morning, we met the realtor, Echo, at the apartment. She is Chinese, but speaks English ok and was appointed to answer questions and translate for us. When we arrived, a friend of the landlord was also there getting things ready, setting up the phone and internet, etc. I went to the kitchen first to check out the appliances and make sure everything was in working order. I was pleasantly surprised to see that this apartment, like the first, had a little TV in the kitchen. Both times, the realtor seemed really excited to show us this. To be honest, the first time I was unimpressed. Who has time to watch TV in the middle of cooking anyway? Besides that, most of the channels are in Chinese and the screen is only 6 inches across. Tiny. However, I knew from the first apartment that the TV wasn’t just a TV. It was also a security camera! So cool! I know it may not be that exciting to you. But I was impressed. When I asked Echo about it, she mentioned that this one also had that capability, but she wasn’t quite sure how to work it. She pushed a few buttons and we never could quite figure it out. I got bored for the moment and moved on. When I got back out to the living/ dining area, I noticed another screen mounted on the wall next to the door. I was sure this was a camera too. And I was determined to figure out how to use this thing. Not that I ever think we’ll need it. I don’t. But still, I must know how it works. It’s just the way I am. No gadget can be left untouched. There are 6 buttons on the panel. One of them has to work the camera, right? They are all labeled with Chinese characters, which I can’t read of course, so without rhyme or reason I just decided to push them all until the camera came on. Easy enough. The very first button on the right has red writing, looks the most to me like it would be a power or “On” button. Wrong! As soon as I pushed it, it starts blinking red and a deafening alarm starts going off. I’m in total “Oh Crap” mode and start going down the line pushing every button on there to try and get it to stop. Well, Echo walks up beside me at that point and as I’m going back down the line of buttons, frantically trying to find a combination that would shut the thing up. I start to push the same red button again, and Echo stops me. Ummm, WHAT?!? Did you say police?? So, I really didn’t know much about China before we moved here (still don’t, as a matter of fact), but the one thing I do know, is you want to steer clear of the police. (That really goes in just about every country, I think.) And I’m pretty sure, you definitely don’t want to call them to you, with a flashing red light and a blaring siren loud enough to wake the dead, for NO REASON! At this point, I’m pretty much mortified. All the while trying to play it off like the siren just started going off by itself or the guy messing with the wiring set it off, and I was just “helping” by pushing buttons to try and shut it off. As it turns out, I had very little to worry about. The alarm continued to go off for over an hour with no sign of the police. The landlord’s friend did manage to reduce it to an intermittent blaring somehow. But it would only stay quiet for about 2 minutes before it would start again. I have to admit, about 45 minutes in, I’m over the panic and getting a little annoyed. What if there really was an emergency? What good is that stupid little thing, except to trick button-happy foreigners into bursting their ear drums? Well, someone did eventually come and turn off the alarm. I was conveniently in another room at the time so I didn’t get to see them fix it. I’m not sure exactly how Echo explained the situation but it probably went something like: “That crazy white woman in there got all geeked out over the security camera. Apparently they don’t have those in Iva.” Yeah well, maybe not. But we have tractors. And cows. Where are your cows? On a side note, none of the buttons actually turned on the security camera. We found out later, it comes on automatically when someone pushes the doorbell. So how do you translate… ummm, oops?

2019-04-22T07:05:43Z

http://www.countryfriedeggroll.com/category/life-in-china/expat-advice/

IBM® Business Process Manager is a middleware suite that enables managed execution of the processes that keep your business running. It includes a graphical authoring environment that is used for modeling processes and a sophisticated runtime engine that is capable of integrating workflow for the people and automated systems that comprise your organization. Every day IBM Business Process Manager customers use their IT infrastructure to deliver business value at a fast pace. However, as with any complex system, care must be taken to define performance objectives appropriate to the solution and to ensure that those objectives are met. The IBM Redbooks® publication IBM Business Process Manager V8.5 Performance Tuning and Best Practices, SG24-8216, provides the details necessary to ensure a high performance business process management project. This IBM Redbooks Solution Guide provides an overview of the most critical topics from that book. This IBM® Redbooks® Solution Guide provides valuable information for IBM Business Process Manager application development architects and technical leaders. It describes a holistic approach to performance issues that range from establishing initial goals and application design through the implementation phase and finally to long-term application maintenance and planning for future capacity. These tasks require a coordinated effort for all of the teams involved in a complex project to ensure that performance objectives can be met. These teams include business owners, infrastructure architects, database administrators, and test leaders. This solution guide serves as a reference to establish these conversations early and to make sure that all critical topics are covered. The typical application development lifecycle for IBM Business Process Manager follows a model described in Figure 1. The performance architect is ultimately responsible for the performance of the solution from end to end and drives performance objectives throughout the application development lifecycle. The business analyst is responsible for providing accurate non-functional requirements for the project. Application development architects are responsible for designing solutions that are capable of meeting the non-functional requirements. Application developers are responsible for following preferred practices and for avoiding anti-patterns. The test team lead or manager, together with the performance architect, is responsible for test case design and for translating the non-functional service level agreements (SLAs) that are received from the business analyst into concrete performance objectives. Testers and script developers are responsible for building and debugging the measurement harness that simulates the user activity as required for driving the tests. Test team members are responsible for executing the measurements and for collecting the resource consumption data that explains the results. The infrastructure team, including the system administrator, is responsible for IT monitoring. The database administrator is responsible for database tuning and monitoring. Of course, these roles can vary from one organization to another, and, in some cases, the same person or team of people might fulfill multiple roles. As a business process development and execution platform, IBM Business Process Manager manages business transactions across a wide variety of industries and functional domains. Even within a single organization, some business processes can constitute straightforward orchestration of a set of web service calls, and other processes coordinate the activities of complex teams of knowledge workers. Clearly, the lifecycle of a process instance can vary dramatically from one business process to another. Similarly, the performance characteristics of one process application can be quite different from those of another. The key to a successful production deployment is to match the actual behavior of the application to the requirements of the business. With every new IBM Business Process Manager release, performance engineers optimize the code to ensure it can support the most strenuous throughput and response time objectives. However, success is measured in the experience of business users when a new application is deployed into production. To achieve success, the Business Process Manager code must work together with the process application, the services it integrates, and the infrastructure on which it runs. This work begins as soon as the new application is conceived and continues through the performance verification cycle. One set of challenges common to all system-wide concerns, such as performance, is communication and collaboration across the organizational lines within a business. Separation of responsibility among business leaders, application development teams, infrastructure teams, and database management teams is a common practice and does lead to crisp definition of ownership. However, achieving success on system metrics requires a degree of nimbleness in working across these boundaries. Occasionally, we see progress delayed because of formal structures that result in a period of waiting, for example if an application development team needs to request a configuration change within a database server or if a database administrator needs additional physical resources (processor, memory, or storage) allocated to a database server. The most common costs of poor application performance are easy to imagine. Business users might experience slow response times from their user interface. The slow response time leads to dissatisfaction, which can threaten the overall adoption of new applications. Similarly, miscalculation of the performance metrics of a fully-automated application can lead to resource exhaustion (processor or memory), which might threaten the stability of the entire system. When a process application spans multiple business units, the consequences of a resource failure can be substantial. Although establishing and verifying non-functional requirements early in the development cycle can add to the cost of application development, failing to do so can be even more expensive. Redesigning an application to meet performance objectives after the fact often requires removal or replacement of substantial amounts of code, exposing the project to wasted effort. Building performance objectives into every phase of application development pays off in the long run through reduced risk of system failure and reduced maintenance cost. Also, applications that are well tuned and well measured are less likely to require over provisioning of hardware, which might reduce software licensing costs. Now, let us describe IBM Business Process Manager performance measurement and analysis activities by breaking them down among the application development lifecycle from initial requirements gathering through long-term maintenance and capacity planning. Just as the functional requirements for a business process management solution originate with the business community who will be using the application and are refined and validated through early discussion and playback, so are performance requirements for the application. Make sure to use the opportunity presented through the regular cadence of playback meetings to gather information about the performance expectations that the business community brings to requirements gathering process. Starting early has the advantage that it forces the Performance Architect to think about the objectives in terms of the end to end business experience from the outset. Often times, it is tempting to think of performance objectives one component at a time. However, it is much easier to build a comprehensive performance plan and gather consensus across all of the teams that will contribute to its execution when the objectives can be described based on end to end scenarios that the Business Analyst and, ultimately, Business Sponsor of the project, understands well and can discuss easily. As a performance architect and engineer, you can help business users articulate their expectations using metrics that are easy to validate within the performance lab. These expectations allow an initial performance plan for the project to be generated at the same time that the functional test plan is generated. Experience shows that some metrics, such as page load response time for a user interface element, are easy for business users to visualize and discuss. Alternatively, some metrics of extremely high value to the performance analyst, such as total system throughput, are more difficult to discuss. Try to conduct these conversations in a context that is natural to the business. Try to avoid talking about the average number of times a particular API invocation occurs per second. Instead, start with the number of mortgage applications (or whatever business process you are modeling) processed per month, the total number of teams that need to contribute to the processing, and the relative sizes of those teams. After these numbers are established, it is easier to guide the conversation to a discussion of the load that they system might expect during a peak hour. Focus on establishing performance objectives that accurately reflect the needs of the business. Although it is usually easy to understand the risks that are associated with under estimating the performance objectives, over estimating the objectives can be just as detrimental to the overall success of the project. For example, a response time objective of 1 or 2 seconds for a particular user interface element might be perfectly reasonable. Increasing the objective to 500 milliseconds might seem like an innocuous change and allow for some headroom "just in case." However, in many cases, it is unlikely that this decrease in responsiveness would be of value to the application users, and the engineering costs of achieving this tighter tolerance might be high. Sometimes, through poor communication, additional headroom accumulates when establishing an objective (with each team building in its own buffer) to the point that the engineering ultimately does not match the business need. Over time, you should expect to notice patterns that will simplify the process of gathering requirements. For example, perhaps your organization will standardize on 2 second response times (measured at the 90th percentile) for all simple user interface elements, 5 seconds for complex elements, and custom response times only for exceptional operations. At this point, the response time conversation becomes the simpler activity of identifying the complex and exceptional interactions with the system. Similar patterns might emerge for the throughput metrics. Look for them, and use them to your advantage. Perhaps the business users will not have a good idea of the throughput requirements for a totally new application, but they suspect that it might be similar to rates that they are already observing in another application (perhaps that you collaborated on in the past). Beginning the performance requirements conversations early allows those requirements (and the likelihood that they will be met) to be tracked as application developments and playbacks proceed. If performance requirements will force changes in application design or implementation, surfacing those early in the development cycle benefits everybody. Ultimately, the performance requirements gathering process will result in a performance plan that describes the metrics of importance, the goals or objectives that the application should achieve for each metric and a description of the simulation infrastructure required to evaluate the application. Simulation for some metrics is straightforward. Single user response time measures can be evaluated using a common user interface (like a web browser) by a person with a stopwatch executing the test manually. More extensive load tests required to evaluate throughput objectives for IBM Business Process Manager applications require a large scale simulation capable of generating http traffic. Tools, such as JMeter, IBM Rational® Performance Tester, and LoadRunner, are usually used to fulfill this role. Also, because most IBM Business Process Manager user interface applications communicate with the server via a series of REST interactions, it is possible to construct a stand-alone Java application that simulates server load. In every case, it is important to execute the performance measurements against server hardware that matches that to be used in production environment as closely as possible. Planning early can ensure that hardware is available when needed. Because most business process management solutions are complex systems made up of many parts that must work well together to meet functional and non-functional requirements, an architectural approach to performance measurement and analysis is important. Decomposing the system into its components makes analysis easier simply because small things are easier to understand than large ones. End-to-end measurement is critical to ensure that the system works well as a whole when all of the components are working together. In this section, we look at a few architectural techniques that help. Start small and scale up. The requirements determination phase might have revealed that your application needs to support thousands of concurrent users starting and completing tens of thousands of business process instances per hour. This does not mean that your performance measurements (or stress and load tests) need to begin with this degree of load. You can learn a lot about your application through repeated measurement, tracing, and analysis of single user scenarios. When these are working as expected, measurements with a small concurrent population will help to verify your load simulation infrastructure and also the scaling capabilities of your new application. Data gathered from measurements with small populations and load will help to predict the results you will see under heavier load and help with verification of the actual measurements. Furthermore, small scale measurements are cheaper and easier to implement, allowing them to be executed earlier and more frequently in the development cycle and giving more time to react in the case that the application needs to be adapted. Similar scale-up techniques apply to other parts of the infrastructure. When the performance plan calls for measurements against a large, complex IBM WebSphere® ND topology, it is a good idea to start with a smaller system, perhaps a single cluster member with a minimum hardware configuration. As analysis progresses, the system can grow to ensure that assumptions regarding vertical scalability (increasing the number of processing cores per cluster member) and horizontal scalability (increasing the number of cluster members) are met. Pay attention to the interfaces, especially where the business process management application interacts with external services, such as a web services endpoint. Concurrency or throughput limitations in a service provider frequently limit the performance characteristics of the entire solution. Because web service traffic is relatively easy to simulate (compared with human generated traffic), it is natural to decompose an application at the service implementation boundaries to verify their capacity before re-composing the application for end to end measurements. Of course, when re-composing the application, don’t forget to consider the glue that holds it all together--the network connections among the components themselves. A lean user interface that pulls data from a well-tuned backend server might still show poor responsiveness if the network connection between the two has high latency or limited capacity. It is especially important to design the physical topology of the solution to ensure good connection between the process designer and its process center and between a process server and its database server. Business process modeling plays an important role in the performance characteristics of a business process management application. Throughout the design and implementation phases of application development, options will arise that can have a significant impact on overall system performance. Chapter 3 of the IBM Redbooks publication, IBM Business Process Manager v8.5 Performance Tuning and Best Practices, SG24-8216, describes many common pitfalls and suggests alternatives. This section addresses the topic in a more philosophical manner, looking at some high level design choices and a generalized, data-driven methodology that we find useful during the implementation phase. IBM Business Process Manager is a flexible business process modeling and execution environment that offers a variety of structures to meet a variety of business needs. At its core, however, all business process management applications manage and persist the state of some business activity. Matching the execution and persistence model to the needs of the business provides an excellent opportunity to optimize for performance. For example, when constructing processes for the BPEL engine, application designers have a choice between short-running processes (microflows), with simple and efficient transactional characteristics, and long-running processes (macroflows), which are capable of coordinating the most complex transactional workloads. Data shows that the simpler state management model used for short-running processes allows execution at much higher throughput. Many processes allow for short-running execution in the common case, but need more complex handling for exceptional cases. So a compound implementation model fits these applications well. All process instances begin with microflow execution and many complete within that microflow. For exception processing, the microflow invokes a macroflow that models the more extensive processing that these instances require. Similar considerations apply to designing for straight through processing. Computers execute work at a much faster rate than humans. However, business process management usually (and appropriately) begins with an analysis of human workflow. As the process is optimized over time, opportunities arise to automate activities that are carried out by human workers that can be more efficiently handled automatically. This analysis might lead to a shift from a human-centric application that is authored with Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN) to a more automated application that is authored with Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) or a hybrid of the two that uses an Advanced Integration service to link the two. Because the engine that executes BPMN processes was optimized for handling human centric applications, it is not nearly as fast at executing fully automated workloads as the BPEL engine is. For this reason, it is best to build Straight Through Processing applications using BPEL to get the maximum resource utilization efficiency. Applying an iterative, data-driven performance measurement and analysis methodology is a great help in maximizing the efficiency of the performance optimization exercise. Many application development engineers have ideas that can improve the overall efficiency of an application. You can channel these enhancement ideas through a scientifically sound evaluation process. Establish a performance simulation environment early, and extend it as the capabilities of the application expand. This method allows early collection of performance baseline data, which is valuable in tracking application performance as new function is added. Measure the effect of one potential performance enhancement at a time in order to build confidence that the enhancement delivers the expected gain. If it does not, it might be abandoned. Sometimes, application development teams retain performance "best practices" that incur some development cost but that actually deliver minimal or no performance gain. Use resource monitoring data (such as CPU, memory, and network consumption statistics as well as tracing and thread dumps) to inform your search for new performance enhancements. It might not be worthwhile to pursue an improvement to an area of the application that consumes only 10% of the total resource consumed by the system. Finally, remember Alexander’s Law: it is faster not to do something than to do it fast. Sometimes, there is just no need to include the expensive activity in the application at all. Actual execution of performance measurement and analysis takes time, attention, and physical resources. Sometimes, due to lack of planning ahead of time, a dedicated hardware environment is not available for performance measurement and data collection activities. In these cases, performance activities might be executed on a physical environment that is shared with system integration test or on the production environment as it is being prepared for use. Each case presents challenges to successful execution of the Performance Plan. By its nature, performance measurement and analysis are disruptive activities, making them unsuitable for sharing a system integration test environment with other activities. One goal of performance measurement is to drive the system under test to complete saturation of physical resources in order to measure maximum sustainable load. Similarly, sensitive response time measurements can be polluted by other test activities running on the machines at the same time. For this reason, it is common to see time-sharing policies used for sharing performance measurement hardware among multiple activities. Time sharing is better than simultaneous use but limits the rate at which progress can be made. Performance analysis is an iterative process, requiring painstaking attention to detail and changing only one parameter at a time. Time sharing reduces the total number of iterations that can be completed within a day. In some cases, it appears better to execute pre-production performance measurement and analysis activities on the actual production hardware as it is being prepared for use. This might seem like a good idea because it is desirable that the performance test environment match the production environment as closely as possible. Using the same physical machines certainly delivers a good match in this regard. However, after the production environment is deployed to the business, it is no longer available for continued performance measurement activities. Continued measurement as new versions of the application are developed is critical for avoiding release to release regression. Continued measurement is also critical for long term capacity planning activities. For these reasons, plan early for allocation of a dedicated performance measurement and analysis environment for use during initial application development and longer-term use. As a business process state management system, IBM Business Process Manager applications make heavy use of their database, writing state to ensure it is preserved. Furthermore, IBM Business Process Manager allows a flexible infrastructure for describing business data to be stored with the business process and then retrieving those process instances from storage. From a database perspective, this means that IBM Business Process Manager applications are both read-intensive and write-intensive. Close collaboration between the business process management administrator and the database administrator is recommended, as performance analysis must be approached as an end-to-end activity, considering the entire system. Traditional database analysis using operating system and database tools to identify memory needs, I/O behavior, slow executing SQL statements and similar issues apply to business process management applications and work well. It is critical to ensure that the database server has sufficient physical memory available and that it is backed by a fast disk subsystem (RAID or SAN are common enterprise solutions). Optimization of database indexes is another important activity for the database administrator (DBA) and the business process management administrator to address. IBM Business Process Manager does create a comprehensive set of indexes at install time. However, because there is performance overhead associated with index maintenance, it only creates indexes that are beneficial to the majority of IBM Business Process Manager applications. Every application will benefit from additional index analysis and this analysis is often critical to get the best performance from a system. Again, an iterative approach works best – use your performance simulation and load test to identify long running SQL statements, use the database query plan advisor to identify indexes that might be beneficial and conduct measurements with and without these new indexes to evaluate their effectiveness, only accepting those that deliver the expected benefit. In addition to the ongoing performance analysis and optimization that occurs during the application development cycle, most enterprises require formal performance verification, including a successful load test as one of the requirements before releasing the application to production. Executing this part of the plan requires simulating full production load (or perhaps greater than full production load) against a fully functional system that is running the application. However, this type of simulation does not mean that the first measurements must be executed at full load, even at the final verification stage. Returning to a small load and monitoring resource consumption as the load increases continues to be good practice and aids in discovery of performance tuning requirements or potential bottlenecks. Final verification should be executed on hardware that matches the production servers as closely as possible. This final verification applies to the servers that host external services and to the servers that host IBM Business Process Manager. In some cases, the final performance verification can call out to the actual production servers hosting web services endpoints, but this is often possible. In either case, the concurrency and throughput characteristics of the endpoints should match those of the production servers. In addition to validation of the performance characteristics of the business process application, it is worth spending a moment to think about validation of the performance objectives themselves. One common issue observed in performance plans associated with IBM Business Process Manager applications is that the objectives are actually too high. How does this come about? Typically, performance engineers look at the user interface elements that make up a solution and design think times based on a reasonable person completing the form. Perhaps this form can be completed in 30 seconds. So the performance engineer builds a simulation with a think time of 30 seconds per human task completion. Next, the total user population is analyzed, and it is determined that the system needs to support a few thousands of concurrent users. Putting these two pieces together creates a performance plan that requires the system to support the completion of thousands of tasks and many hundreds of business process instances per minute. It is a good idea to validate the throughput implied by the performance objectives against actual business requirements in addition to the number of concurrent users. In some cases, performance verification exercises actually simulate several months’ worth of business activity in a period of a few hours. When this is intended, it is a fantastic result; when unintentional, it can lead to some confusion. Good performance practice does not end when the application is released to production. The same resource monitoring tools and skills built up for performance evaluation during application development are extremely useful long term and should be a part of the IT monitoring practice for any enterprise application. Observation of patterns in CPU or memory utilization on IBM Business Process Manager and database servers can help identify approaching capacity issues before they become apparent to the business. In particular, collecting verbose garbage collection statistics (-verbose:gc on the Java command line) and using a graphical visualization tool (such as PMAT: https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/groups/service/html/communityview?communityUuid=22d56091-3a7b-4497-b36e-634b51838e11) to inspect them is an inexpensive way to monitor the pulse of the application. Many IT departments depend on automated systems of monitoring key resources and sending alerts when thresholds are exceeded. Long-term performance health of a business process management solution requires a maintenance plan. The databases that contain operational data for IBM Business Process Manager are optimized for rapid execution of business process activities, not for long term retention and access of that data. So, it is recommended that a retention period be established for the data associated with business process instances that have completed. The actual amount of time that these completed instances need to be retained will vary from one business to another, but after that period expires, those instances should be removed from the server using the appropriate tools. Business monitoring tools, such as the Performance Data Warehouse and IBM Business Monitor, are optimized for processing this data for long-term storage and retrieval. After an application has been available in production for a while, a time will come when capacity planning is needed. Perhaps an application is popular and business users interact with it more frequently or the application is rolled out to a larger community. The experience gained from performance verification exercises and IT monitoring of the application in the production environment is the best input to planning future capacity. Resource consumption models usually follow predictable patterns, so it is often possible to project tomorrow’s needs based on a thorough understanding of today’s behavior. Also, many enterprises use their load test to ensure enough head room is available to provide a buffer against capital expenditures. Load testing at 150% of projected peak load gives some confidence that the system will be able to handle a growing business and might provide lead time in case additional capacity is required. A wholesale company provides an online parts sales operation where it handles direct orders that are placed by their business partners. Consider a business process application, MyAuditApp, whose goal is to review order data submitted by a business partner for correctness. After the review is complete, the order is sent to another application (perhaps an existing system, not implemented in IBM Business Process Manager) for processing. In this case, the audit process contains two stages. The first stage in the audit is relatively simple, is fully automated, and is required for all orders. The second stage is more complex and requires human oversight, but it is needed only if the first stage of the audit reveals a potential issue. Performance objectives for the two stages of the application are distinct but are linked. This company knows that it needs to be able to process 30,000 orders per day, distributed throughout a 12-hour period, but with peaks of 4,000 orders in any given hour. These requirements establish a throughput objective for the overall application of about 1.1 process instances per second. To allow some head room, a formal performance objective of 1.5 process instances per second is established for the stage of the application that handles the automated processing. Because the business knows that 90% of all orders are handled successfully by the automated stage of processing, a formal objective of 0.15 process instances per second is established for the manual stage of the application. In addition, the corporate standard of a 2-second response time for all UI elements (measured at the 90th percentile) is accepted for all stages of the processing, except for initial login and final submission of the audit completion form. These operations are expected to complete in 5 seconds (again, measured at the 90th percentile). Even though MyAuditApp is a single business process application implemented in IBM Business Process Manager, it clearly has two separate facets. So the performance analysis engineer decides to model the performance simulation as though it were two separate applications. The first half of the simulation is easy to construct. Because all the interactions are automated, perhaps with communication occurring via Java Message Service (JMS) and WebService interactions, software components can be written to drive the application using exactly the same interfaces that will be used in production. Furthermore, because this phase of processing is the most straightforward, the application development team decides to implement it first while requirements determination and initial playbacks of the human interface elements of the application take place. In this way, early performance analysis of the first stage of the application begins before the entire application is fully developed. Performance simulation for the manual stage of MyAuditApp proceeds differently, because it must account for human interactions, which occur through a web browser and communicate with the IBM Business Process Manager server via REST interactions. Response time evaluation will be executed using the same corporate standard web browser that the business users will use. Evaluation of actual response times when interacting with the application will begin early in application development and will continue as new functionality is added. Any new function that regresses response times beyond acceptable limits will be re-engineered during the next development iteration to ensure that this type of work does not accumulate. In parallel, work begins to construct the load test simulation that will be used to evaluate throughput metrics for the human-centric stage of the application. An HTTP simulator tool (such as JMeter, LoadRunner, or Rational Performance Tester) is used to record the browser interactions that are required to start and complete a process instance. Then, the tool can simulate many users interacting with the system in the same way. Data pools are used to allow each simulated user to log in to the IBM Business Process Manager server under distinct credentials. The HTTP simulation tool also allows retention of user tokens so that correlation of HTTP session data can be handled by the IBM Business Process Manager server, just as though the load were supplied by a collection of distinct web browsers. After the application has been certified functionally complete, and concurrent with system integration test of the application, load tests begin. The IBM Business Process Manager server is "pre-loaded" with a number of process instances available to work on and the database is backed up so that future measurements can begin from a controlled state. Measurements begin with a single user, ensuring that response times observed within the simulator are consistent with actual browser interactions and that resource consumption on the IBM Business Process Manager server, Database server, LDAP server and all external service provider machines appear reasonable. After this, load is gradually increased until the system successfully processes 0.15 business process instances per second, while maintaining 90th percentile response times faster than 2 seconds. Any issues observed as load increases are resolved before increasing load. In this case, the sizes of thread pools and database connection pools need to be increased from the default in order to allow the desired concurrency. Also, two new database indexes are identified based on the data access patterns of the application. Performance measurement and analysis continues in this way, systematically increasing the capability of the system under test and of the applied load, until the performance architect is satisfied that the application and the infrastructure upon which it will be executed are capable of achieving the goals. Generation and execution of a successful performance plan requires integration across many different types of boundaries, both physical and social. Business Process Integration itself is also a key objective for many IBM Business Process Manager solutions, automating and orchestrating activities across a wide array of software systems connected via REST, JDBC, LDAP, and web service protocols. The software solution’s end-to-end performance will be limited by the slowest element within the execution chain. Similarly, effective communication across all of the teams that contribute to the application-–from the business community through the application development team to the infrastructure and administration teams-–can play a significant role in the success of the project. Blog post, "5 Things to Know About Systematically Deploying IBM Business Process Manager" On this page, enter Business Process Manager, select the information type, and then click Search. On the next page, you can narrow your search results by geography and language.

2019-04-20T19:02:18Z

http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/tips1171.html?Open

Q: Let me ask you a question, MARTH? I hear you are working as a producer for a resort. I know you are a resort specialist, but what made you name this resort “Lastra Mu”? “Lastra“ of “Lastra Mu” means a stone tablet in the Italian language. Maybe it has the same root as the stone tablet of Moses‘ Ten Commandments. I also think it comes from “Las Torah”. I added “Mu” after that. Then, it becomes “the stone tablet of Mu”, which means “the spiritual book of Mu” and the stone tablet of Nacaal. They say that what is written on the tablets is everything is unknown, mystical, not this world, that everything is a manifestation of love as it is One Being with the quality of oneness as written in the Heart Sutra. It is the same as “Return to One Source” which Japanese samurais often mentioned. Therefore, it is connected with the path of the samurai. “Return to One Source” means that everything returns to the space of oneness, in other words, conflicts and separations are nothing but a dream, and the real truth is the love of oneness… I profoundly feel that it is most important to return to the true reality, to the unknown and mystical, to the love of oneness. The New Age people often call it “reality”, but the true reality strongly expresses that it is unknown, mystical, not this world, and everything is within the love of oneness. The one being means that we return to the one being, to the oneness, which is the absolute reality, when we meditate and return to Shinga and enter into death. If you experience being in Shinga itself, you will profoundly feel you are the one being, in other words, you will have a sense that you are Shinga itself… That may be the reason why some people say something strange and egoistical such as “I am God”. This may be the reason why some New Age people misunderstand their experience as they feel “I am the whole universe. I am God himself ” in deep meditation. I think, when all lives, all people return to the true and deep essence and regain the higher self (the true self), they will return to Itself. You will find that you are Shinga, and Shinga itself is you at that time. However, everybody will return there. That means that the self who you think the self will be the self for all people. I feel the whole universe is made in such way. I talked about this topic with Nezu-san (Mr. Zenko Onagi), who is a specialist of Kojiki and other Japan’s historical records. I have never read Kojiki before. He told me the same thing was written in it. Nezu-san told me everything in this world is embraced within Amenominakanushi according to Kojiki. I was happy to hear that because Kojiki reminded me of Isaiahnagid, Isaiah. And everybody is this very thing, which is connected as one, unknown and mystical in reality. All people who are purified and returned to the true self are beautiful gods, and they will be embraced by Shinga forever. I cannot but feel it is incredibly beautiful and magnificent. I think it will be inevitable for humanity to realize it. It may be the origin of the ancient Veda and all religions of the world. I feel it is loving wisdom of humanity which existed in ancient times. The ancient science may come from Shinga… That means it is different from the present science based on a value of separation of the left brain. It was the science based on a belief that everything is not a reality. It is entirely different from science based on an idea that everything is a reality. It may often be quite the opposite. The ancient science, the science of a civilization presently called Mu, and the ancient incredibly excellent science is born out of the right brain based on the truth of un-reality. It is based on that everything is unknown and mystical, that this world is not a reality. For this reason, it is natural that it deals with plasma and like a Siddha, which seems psychic when it is seen from a belief that this world is a reality. It cannot be helped that there is a difference between the New Age or spiritual scientists who have learned the science, which is rooted that the world is not a reality, psychic, ethereal, Siddhi-like, and those who have learned the science, which is the left-brain-like, based on an idea that this world is a reality. It is quite natural that the science based on a belief of reality and the one created by Socrates, Platon and other scientists who realized that the unreality is the reality, is not compatible. I sometimes see the people with such different ideas fighting each other on the television. It is certain that they end up in fighting without such awareness. However, we will enter into the time based on the true reality. It will be the time when all people realize the truth that this world is unknown and mystical, and it is not this world. Scientists being aware of it, science will be the quality of plasma, which goes way beyond the existing science. It will be a wonderful, dream-like quantum science based on phenomenons in the mystical, unknown and unrealistic world. Otherwise, humanity may be ruined because of a sense of separation. Q: I have a question for you, MARTH. I saw a poster about so-called power spot of love at the station the other day. It said that we will be overwhelmed by natural power; we will receive love vibrations and so on. I felt something egoistically wrong with is, but I was not sure what the problem is. What do you think of it, MARTH? Q: I feel you are a leader of the New Age and the healing industry, MARTH. So, I dare to ask you this question. I often hear some New Age people say that they are a reincarnation of such and such or they are chosen by God. Why do they say so? I feel religious problems come from the same source. What do you say about it? MARTH: You’re right. Unfortunately, every problem comes from our value of separation. Everybody wants to win, become better, excel others, become somebody, and he doesn’t want to lose… Not only leaders but the ordinary people have such fear coming from desires, wants and a value of separation, which makes us have such tendency. They meant no harm, but because of a belief in the self and the other, we want to improve the self and to win, never want to be looked down within the separated society of the ego. That is one of the big problems. And another important thing is, everybody returns to Shinga (the true self) when we enter into a deep meditative state. As I mentioned before, you will experience such values like “return to the Source” “Return to the one being” “this world is nothing but a dream”. Then, there will be neither separation between God and the self, nor separation between the self and some other, nor a sense of reality. You will be gone and return to the ocean of oneness. You will have no value of separation at that time. We often hear someone says “I am a reincarnation of Cleopatra or Princess Yang Kwei-Fei “. If you look closely at her, she looks very much alike her counterpart. She may feel that she is a reincarnation of a certain person with similar consciousness. However, all human beings, including those who believe in a devil, are connected as one. We are one being. If we lose the ego through a deep meditation and return to love, we will return to the one being. In such an experience, we will feel, “Alas! All things in this world are being manifested as One Being.“ Everything is the self, or there is no self, we could say. We will feel we are included in One Being. Therefore, rather than you are a reincarnation of someone in the ancient times, this ancient person reached such consciousness. This is nothing but my personal feeling. I feel this way through my past experiences of repeatedly coming back to Shinga or the space of oneness. It is neither that someone is superior or inferior to others, nor he is better or worse. All human beings, insects, birds, flowers and everything will return there. Everything is connected as one. In spite of a difference of the time, we are connected as one with the people in the Jomon era and have the same consciousness. The true meaning of a consciousness level in the New Age is shown within a range of the higher level of selflessness and the lower level of the ego. If there is someone who has reached the same conscious level as you, he can be a reincarnation of you. As everything is connected as one, there is only a difference of a consciousness level. What is most important for us to create the millennium more than anything is to return to Shinga, to the higher self, to God consciousness and to love which a child of God has… Just like the divine people in the ancient time were called a certain name of God, and like I.naghid was called God… I wonder if it is our task to return to a beautiful person. I wonder if we need to return to a beautiful person like Ra Mu, Buddha, Socrates, OSHO Rajnessh, J. Krishnamurti, Ramana Maharish. I think all of us have to return to Shinga, which is the true quality of humanity, to love, to oneness, to the one source. Isn’t it a mission for all human beings? I feel that way. If I answer your question with a personal viewpoint, I think something uncertain that you are concerned about will be gone when we return to Shinga or the oneness, and we are able to regain loving consciousness. And no people will try to win over others, excel them, not to lose, become somebody because of fear. I personally feel that human beings will experience the world of oneness, of love for the first time. subsequently to “MINOR LINE – The Road to the East” recorded in Prague on Nov. 11, 2018 (11.11.11). “The Road to the East – to make a land of love, to be a model world” is born now. The following lyrics are based on a legend of I.naghit. It is born after MARTH deeply accessed to the beautiful and sincere heart of I.naghit. and keep a peaceful relation with neighboring countries. My ancestors from my father’s side lived in Jindai on Awajishima Island for generations. My father raised me, giving me intent guidance according to legendary teachings of I.naghit. He was a man of sincerity and justice. He looked like a samurai who dared to risk his life for happiness of the people. My father was an officer at Ministry of Justice. In the later years, he was transferred to Tokyo Prosecutor’s Office. After he resigned his position, he said he would be a fisherman in Izu. Instead he immediately retired from the world. He had been a man of justice and beauty all through his life. He told me every day not to win over others, not to become better or great, not to boost the ego, not to think ill of others even if hurt by them, hope for friends, love them, contribute to our country and live a life, pursuing justice. who was a good friend of MARTH. He passed away due to scirrhous carcinoma (cancer). His children support MARTH as his staff now. I’m not good looking. Are you? “To The Memory of Your Beloved Father (Single)”MARTH New Single is on sale on Bandcamp! Q:Dear MARTH, isn’t it good that we strengthen the ego, get enlightened, and become great? When we boost the ego or strengthen it, do we really get better? And or, how about that we reflect on us or feel sorry for others, saying, “I hurt my mom and dad’s feeling. I’m sorry I didn’t take much care of them.” “I feel sorry I didn’t love my children enough. ““I am sorry I had been defiant to my friends, to my boss, to my teacher, to everyone”? In other words, this is when we have a small ego (sense of separation). Which is happier and comforting for us, that is, when our ego is destroyed, or when we boost the ego and strengthen it? Let us call it a way to live life. Which way to live life will bring us a beautiful future? Is it when we praise ourselves, saying, “I am strong. I am great. I will not lose. I will win.” Or, is it when we reflect on us, “I ruined everything. I am very sorry. I want to apologize to my father and mother. I am sorry for my friends and comrades. “Which way to live a life is consciousness of God, of love, of the whole universe and of purity? Which is able to bring us a beautiful future? In a self-help seminar where we witness the self, we say, “What it is in the state of beginning will be there in the future.” If we keep the primary consciousness, we will realize such being exist in future. In other words, if we act out of fear or of bad intention, we will see a bad result in future. In this sense, is a state of our consciousness better when we boost the ego, feel uplifted, become self-conceited, and get irritated? Or, is our energy better when we end the ego (a sense of separation), return to the original small self or to the one source, get grounded, reflect on ourselves, ask ourselves, “I am sorry. I should have helped them. I should have supported them. I should have done this or that”, reflect inwardly and feel sorry for our mistakes and so on? And I dare to tell you that we are love, consciousness of a child of God, and the whole universe, which is the true quality of humanity only when we reflect on ourselves without boosting the ego, or uplifting it. And when we live with such awareness, we will see the present world beautiful. We return to love, the true essence, when we end the ego. We can see the world as darkness. At that time, we boost the ego; feel excited, thus we are fearful. As the ego is strengthened, fear will be bigger. A sense of separation is a sense of fear. When we reflect on ourselves, feel sorry, and our ego is diminished, we will see everyone is loving in fact whether we ride on a train or walking on the street. It is what comfort really means. hen we see our sadness with such standpoint of view, when we are pure enough to reflect on ourselves, “I haven’t been able to live in love, I fought with my friends again, I tried not to lose pretending to be tough again, I felt defiant to my rival as always today”, we will be able to return to bliss in fact. That is love and consciousness of a child of God. That is in reality the true essence of humanity. When we are there, we are happy. We will see the world beautiful. Therefore, uplifting the ego, boosting it and protecting it will not be good for the beautiful world, for the world of love and comfort. I mean to say the true essence of this world is oneness. It is connected as one, love, selflessness. It is also that we are not part but the whole. We are incredibly unknown and mystical. This is the true quality of the world. If you boost the ego, assert yourself and protect yourself in the world of oneness, your happiness, as part of the existence, will be damaged. Humanity doesn’t know it very well. If you say; “No, I won’t be a loser. I, I, I will win! I’ll be good! I’ll be great!”, you will put yourself into darkness, to an obstacle race. It is because that is against your quality of love. If you boost the ego, you will lose the quality of oneness. Love means being connected as one. And you will find peace, happiness, success, prosperity and everything in love. If you lose love, and if you boost the ego, assert yourself, protect the ego and do everything to strengthen the ego, you, as a cell, are not it, but strangely and drastically stand out. It means you have become a cancer cell or a tumor. Humanity must sincerely realize it and learn about it. It is not important to boost the ego or to make a cell bigger. It will eventually become a cancer or a bad cell. Therefore, the reason why you don’t see the world loving and beautiful is because you have identified yourself with the ego. It is not because of outer factors. It is nothing but that you have been able to see sadness not to live in love. What is truly profitable for us? Q: Let me ask you a question, MARTH. I think the world is in a great turmoil… It seems we human beings have reached limits in the existing way of life. How can we make the world better? How can we realize peace in the world? First of all, we need to change our values by knowing what is profitable and what is not for ourselves (part of the existence) in reality. Certainly, the best way is that we will live together with love and joy by diminishing our value of separation of the ego, increasing peacefulness in a sense of oneness and gradually losing a sense of interests of the ego, which is an illusion. However, we human beings are made to believe in a value of separation seriously. Simply speaking, separation means the ego (boosting the ego). Human beings and animals have come to understand a limited range as the self because of five senses given by God for our conveniences. And giving everything a name has brought us a sense of separation. In fact, everything in the entire universe is us. We, part of the existence, are given five senses to bear different part. Eventually we feel a certain range is the self. We manage to live in the universe, considering we bear a certain range, role, and responsibility of the self. It is not bad in itself. It is also true, however, that we will strengthen a sense of separation because of this understanding. It’s amazing how things work out in the universe. It will not work as we think. The universe created our five senses with which we are likely to separate and even let us separate. However, as soon as we (part of the universe) act or move separately, it will give us a hard time to awaken us. Such built-in mechanism of the universe will not give us a verbal message. It is quite troublesome. We need to be always aware of Atman, being one and connected, unknown and mystical to protect us, which is part of the existence. If we seriously believe in the ego and act according to it, have a value of competition, comparison and conflict, we will fall into a hard time because of an awakening message from the universe. It has been happening to us since the ancient times… We have engaged ourselves in believing in the ego, protecting it, preserving it and boosting it without knowing such mechanism of the universe. However, the universe doesn’t care at all. It doesn’t mind whether we humans believe in the ego and become worse. It doesn’t mind whether someone tries to boost the ego, protect it, has various ambitions, desires and aspirations. The universe will just give us a hard time when it happens. Then, we, part of the whole universe, will be stunned, say, “Wow! No, this doesn’t work! I was wrong. It’s painful. I’m not happy at all. Oh, no! This is not a good idea. Please forgive me” and return to the selflessness. This is a mechanism to make the ego to diminish, and dejected. Therefore, we will have a hard time if we don’t realize the mechanism of the universe. “Why doesn’t everything work out? I should have succeeded. I should have won.” However, everything will not work out as expected as ambitions of the ego don’t fit the whole universe. The ego is a separation. It doesn’t fit the principle of oneness of the universe. The universe will give us a hard time. And, we are the universe ourselves. “If God doesn’t find me, if the universe doesn’t find me, it will be no problem. I can deceive them…” However, we are the universe (love). We are part of God. We are part of the whole universe. That is, we as God will find us deceive them. Everybody is the same without partiality. In other words, people who realize oneness of the universe, its unknown and mystical quality, love themselves who seem others, neither fight with themselves who seem others, nor boost the ego, nor protect the ego, nor deceive people, nor trap them, nor attack them, will be quickly happy. And people of the pure heart who work for the whole universe will be beautiful and feel true prosperity and happiness… This is how the cosmic law works. However, most of human beings haven’t realized it yet. They don’t know it deeply. This is the reason why they will have a hard time. What if humanity will know the law itself? At present, humanity doesn’t know it very well. They believe in the ego, become highly ambitious, try to get a fame, honor, boost the ego, protect it, deceive others, attack them, and take from them. Believing it works in the egoistical society, people praise themselves, “I have become so great… I am so awesome!!” At that time, however, the universe will start working. He is the universe himself… He is part of God… If he says, “Nobody is watching me!” You are watching yourself, however. You are God himself. And the universe is meant only to work that way. It is satisfied with it. We are given five senses to fix us (part of the existence) by ourselves (part of the existence), to bear us by ourselves. However, if we believe in the separation seriously and consider the part as the self, we will have a hard time. They (five senses) are given to us for our mere convenience. They are only functions. It is only that each part bears each different part. nd we have each different characteristic as children of the universe. Everybody has magnificent abilities given from gods, the universe and love. However, if we use it not for the universe, nor the whole, but for the ego, and if we try to excel others, deceive them, attack them with a sense of separation, we will end our days in unhappiness. Even if you say, “I’ve got a position and honor! I am great!”, you may ruin yourself in pain. Or if you live for the ego, saying, “I will rebel those in power! I will abandon my job, seclude myself in the riverbed or home, and live freely!”, your wonderful ability given from the universe will be wasted and definitely destroyed as its retaliation.

2019-04-23T07:02:29Z

http://www.marth-healing.com/category/blog/

One of the best things about the aftermath of the second task was that everybody was very keen to hear details of what had happened down in the lake, which meant that Ron was getting to share Harry's limelight for once. Harry noticed that Ron's version of events changed subtly with every retelling. At first, he gave what seemed to be the truth; it tallied with Hermione's story, anyway - Dumbledore had put all the hostages into a bewitched sleep in Professor McGonagall's office, first assuring them that they would be quite safe, and would awake when they were back above the water. One week later, however, Ron was telling a thrilling tale of kidnap in which he struggled single-handedly against fifty heavily armed merpeople who had to beat him into submission before tying him up. "But I had my wand hidden up my sleeve," he assured Padma Patil, who seemed to be a lot keener on Ron now that he was getting so much attention and was making a point of talking to him every time they passed in the corridors. "I could've taken those mer-idiots any time I wanted. " "What were you going to do, snore at them?" said Hermione waspishly. People had been teasing her so much about being the thing that Viktor Krum would most miss that she was in a rather tetchy mood. Ron's ears went red, and thereafter, he reverted to the bewitched sleep version of events. As they entered March the weather became drier, but cruel winds skinned their hands and faces every time they went out onto the grounds. There were delays in the post because the owls kept being blown off course. The brown owl that Harry had sent to Sirius with the dates of the Hogsmeade weekend turned up at breakfast on Friday morning with half its feathers sticking up the wrong way; Harry had no sooner torn off Sirius's reply than it took flight, clearly afraid it was going to be sent outside again. Sirius's letter was almost as short as the previous one. "He hasn't come back to Hogsmeade?" said Ron incredulously. "It looks like it, doesn't it?" said Hermione. "I can't believe him," said Harry tensely, "if he's caught. . . " "Made it so far, though, hasn't he?" said Ron. "And it's not like the place is swarming with dementors anymore. " Harry folded up the letter, thinking. If he was honest with himself, he really wanted to see Sirius again. He therefore approached the final lesson of the afternoon - double Potions - feeling considerably more cheerful than he usually did when descending the steps to the dungeons. Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were standing in a huddle outside the classroom door with Pansy Parkinson's gang of Slytherin girls. All of them were looking at something Harry couldn't see and sniggering heartily. Pansys pug-like face peered excitedly around Goyle's broad back as Harry, Ron, and Hermione approached. "There they are, there they are!" she giggled, and the knot of Slytherins broke apart. Harry saw that Pansy had a magazine in her hands - Witch Weekly. The moving picture on the front showed a curly-haired witch who was smiling toothily and pointing at a large sponge cake with her wand. "You might find something to interest you in there, Granger!" Pansy said loudly, and she threw the magazine at Hermione, who caught it, looking startled. At that moment, the dungeon door opened, and Snape beckoned them all inside. Miss Granger, a plain but ambitious girl, seems to have a taste for famous wizards that Harry alone cannot satisfy. Since the arrival at Hogwarts of Viktor Krum, Bulgarian Seeker and hero of the last World Quidditch Cup, Miss Granger has been toying with both boys' affections. Krum, who is openly smitten with the devious Miss Granger, has already invited her to visit him in Bulgaria over the summer holidays, and insists that he has "never felt this way about any other girl. " However, it might not be Miss Granger's doubtful natural charms that have captured these unfortunate boys' interest. "She's really ugly," says Pansy Parkinson, a pretty and vivacious fourth-year student, "but she'd be well up to making a Love Potion, she's quite brainy. I think that's how she's doing it. " "I told you!" Ron hissed at Hermione as she stared down at the article. "I told you not to annoy Rita Skeeter! She's made you out to be some sort of- of scarlet woman!" Hermione stopped looking astonished and snorted with laughter. "Scarlet woman?" she repeated, shaking with suppressed giggles as she looked around at Ron. "If that's the best Rita can do, she's losing her touch," said Hermione, still giggling, as she threw Witch Weekly onto the empty chair beside her. "What a pile of old rubbish. " "There's something funny, though," said Hermione ten minutes later, holding her pestle suspended over a bowl of scarab beetles. "How could Rita Skeeter have known. . . ?" "Don't be stupid," Hermione snapped, starting to pound up her beetles again. "No, it's just. . . how did she know Viktor asked me to visit him over the summer?" "What?" said Ron, dropping his pestle with a loud clunk. "He asked me right after he'd pulled me out of the lake. " Hermione muttered. "After he'd got rid of his shark's head. Madam Pomfrey gave us both blankets and then he sort of pulled me away from the judges so they wouldn't hear, and he said, if I wasn't doing anything over the summer, would I like to -" "And he did say he'd never felt the same way about anyone else," Hermione went on, going so red now that Harry could almost feel the heat coming from her, "but how could Rita Skeeter have heard him? She wasn't there. . . or was she? Maybe she has got an Invisibility Cloak; maybe she sneaked onto the grounds to watch the second task. . . . " "Well, I was too busy seeing whether you and Harry were okay to -" "Fascinating though your social life undoubtedly is. Miss Granger," said an icy voice right behind them, and all three of them jumped, "I must ask you not to discuss it in my class. Ten points from Gryffindor. " "Ah. . . reading magazines under the table as well?" Snape added, snatching up the copy of Witch Weekly. "A further ten points from Gryffindor. . . oh but of course. . . " Snape's black eyes glittered as they fell on Rita Skeeter's article. "Potter has to keep up with his press cuttings. . . . " The dungeon rang with the Slytherins' laughter, and an unpleasant smile curled Snape's thin mouth. To Harry's fury, he began to read the article aloud. "'Harry Potter's Secret Heartache. . . dear, dear. Potter, what's ailing you now? 'A boy like no other, perhaps. . . '" "'. . . Harry Potter's well-wishers must hope that, next time, he bestows his heart upon a worthier candidate. ' How very touching," sneered Snape, rolling up the magazine to continued gales of laughter from the Slytherins. "Well, I think I had better separate the three of you, so you can keep your minds on your potions rather than on your tangled love lives. Weasley, you stay here. Miss Granger, over there, beside Miss Parkinson. Potter - that table in front of my desk. Move. Now. " "All this press attention seems to have inflated your already over-large head. Potter," said Snape quietly, once the rest of the class had settled down again. "You might be laboring under the delusion that the entire wizarding world is impressed with you," Snape went on, so quietly that no one else could hear him (Harry continued to pound his scarab beetles, even though he had already reduced them to a very fine powder), "but I don't care how many times your picture appears in the papers. To me. Potter, you are nothing but a nasty little boy who considers rules to be beneath him. " "So I give you fair warning, Potter," Snape continued in a sorter and more dangerous voice, "pint-sized celebrity or not - if I catch you breaking into my office one more time -" "Don't lie to me," Snape hissed, his fathomless black eyes boring into Harry's. "Boomslang skin. Gillyweed. Both come from my private stores, and I know who stole them. " "You were out of bed on the night my office was broken into!" Snape hissed. "I know it. Potter! Now, Mad-Eye Moody might have joined your fan club, but I will not tolerate your behavior! One more nighttime stroll into my office, Potter, and you will pay!" "Right," said Harry coolly, turning back to his ginger roots. "I'll bear that in mind if I ever get the urge to go in there. " "Do you know what this is. Potter?" Snape said, his eyes glittering dangerously again. "No," said Harry, with complete honesty this time. "It is Veritaserum - a Truth Potion so powerful that three drops would have you spilling your innermost secrets for this entire class to hear," said Snape viciously. "Now, the use of this potion is controlled by very strict Ministry guidelines. But unless you watch your step, you might just find that my hand slips" - he shook the crystal bottle slightly - "right over your evening pumpkin juice. And then. Potter. . . then we'll find out whether you've been in my office or not. " Harry said nothing. He turned back to his ginger roots once more, picked up his knife, and started slicing them again. He didn't like the sound of that Truth Potion at all, nor would he put it past Snape to slip him some. He repressed a shudder at the thought of what might come spilling out of his mouth if Snape did it. . . quite apart from landing a whole lot of people in trouble - Hermione and Dobby for a start - there were all the other things he was concealing. . . like the fact that he was in contact with Sirius. . . and - his insides squirmed at the thought - how he felt about Cho. . . . He tipped his ginger roots into the cauldron too, and wondered whether he ought to take a leaf out of Moody's book and start drinking only from a private hip flask. "Enter," said Snape in his usual voice. "We need to talk," said Karkaroff abruptly when he had reached Snape. He seemed so determined that nobody should hear what he was saying that he was barely opening his lips; it was as though he were a rather poor ventriloquist. Harry kept his eyes on his ginger roots, listening hard. "I'll talk to you after my lesson, Karkaroff," Snape muttered, but Karkaroff interrupted him. "I want to talk now, while you can't slip off, Severus. You've been avoiding me. " "After the lesson," Snape snapped. "What's so urgent?" he heard Snape hiss at Karkaroff. "This," said Karkaroff, and Harry, peering around the edge of his cauldron, saw Karkaroff pull up the left-hand sleeve of his robe and show Snape something on his inner forearm. "Well?" said Karkaroff, still making every effort not to move his lips. "Do you see? It's never been this clear, never since -" "Put it away!" snarled Snape, his black eyes sweeping the classroom. "But you must have noticed -" Karkaroff began in an agitated voice. "We can talk later, Karkaroff!" spat Snape. "Potter! What are you doing?" "Clearing up my armadillo bile, Professor," said Harry innocently, straightening up and showing Snape the sodden rag he was holding. Harry had never been in this direction before. The winding lane was leading them out into the wild countryside around Hogsmeade. The cottages were fewer here, and their gardens larger; they were walking toward the foot of the mountain in whose shadow Hogsmeade lay. Then they turned a corner and saw a stile at the end of the lane. Waiting for them, its front paws on the topmost bar, was a very large, shaggy black dog, which was carrying some newspapers in its mouth and looking very familiar. . . . "Hello, Sirius," said Harry when they had reached him. "Chicken!" he said hoarsely after removing the old Daily Prophets from his mouth and throwing them down onto the cave floor. "Thanks," said Sirius, opening it, grabbing a drumstick, sitting down on the cave floor, and tearing off a large chunk with his teeth. "I've been living off rats mostly. Can't steal too much food from Hogsmeade; I'd draw attention to myself. " "What're you doing here, Sirius?" he said. "Fulfilling my duty as godfather," said Sirius, gnawing on the chicken bone in a very doglike way. "Don't worry about it, I'm pretending to be a lovable stray. " He was still grinning, but seeing the anxiety in Harry's face, said more seriously, "I want to be on the spot. Your last letter. . . well, let's just say things are getting fishier. I've been stealing the paper every time someone throws one out, and by the looks of things, I'm not the only one who's getting worried. " "What if they catch you? What if you're seen?" "You three and Dumbledore are the only ones around here who know I'm an Animagus," said Sirius, shrugging, and continuing to devour the chicken leg. Harry scanned the story about Crouch. Phrases jumped out at him: hasn't been seen in public since November. . . house appears deserted. . . St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries decline comment. . . Ministry refuses to confirm rumors of critical illness. . . . "They're making it sound like he's dying," said Harry slowly. "But he can't be that ill if he managed to get up here. . . . " "My brothers Crouch's personal assistant," Ron informed Sirius. "He says Crouch is suffering from overwork. " "Mind you, he did look ill, last time I saw him up close," said Harry slowly, still reading the story. "The night my name came out of the goblet. . . . " "Getting his comeuppance for sacking Winky, isn't he?" said Hermione, an edge to her voice. She was stroking Buckbeak, who was crunching up Sirius's chicken bones. "I bet he wishes he hadn't done it now - bet he feels the difference now she's not there to look after him. " "Hermione's obsessed with house-elfs," Ron muttered to Sirius, casting Hermione a dark look. Sirius, however, looked interested. "Yeah, at the Quidditch World Cup," said Harry, and he launched into the story of the Dark Mark's appearance, and Winky being found with Harry's wand clutched in her hand, and Mr. Crouch's fury. When Harry had finished, Sirius was on his feet again and had started pacing up and down the cave. "Let me get this straight," he said after a while, brandishing a fresh chicken leg. "You first saw the elfin the Top Box. She was saving Crouch a seat, right?" "Right," said Harry, Ron, and Hermione together. "But Crouch didn't turn up for the match?" "No," said Harry. "I think he said he'd been too busy. " Sirius paced all around the cave in silence. Then he said, "Harry, did you check your pockets for your wand after you'd left the Top Box?" "Erm. . . " Harry thought hard. "No," he said finally. "I didn't need to use it before we got in the forest. And then I put my hand in my pocket, and all that was in there were my Omnioculars. " He stared at Sirius. "Are you saying whoever conjured the Mark stole my wand in the Top Box?" "Winky didn't steal that wand!" Hermione insisted. "The elf wasn't the only one in that box," said Sirius, his brow furrowed as he continued to pace. "Who else was sitting behind you?" "Loads of people," said Harry. "Some Bulgarian ministers. . . Cornelius Fudge. . . the Malfoys. . . " "The Malfoys!" said Ron suddenly, so loudly that his voice echoed all around the cave, and Buckbeak tossed his head nervously. "I bet it was Lucius Malfoy!" "Yes, there was, there was Ludo Bagman," Hermione reminded him. "I don't know anything about Bagman except that he used to be Beater for the Wimbourne Wasps," said Sirius, still pacing. "What's he like?" "He's okay," said Harry. "He keeps offering to help me with the Triwizard Tournament. " "Does he, now?" said Sirius, frowning more deeply. "I wonder why he'd do that?" "Says he's taken a liking to me," said Harry. "Hmm," said Sirius, looking thoughtful. "We saw him in the forest just before the Dark Mark appeared," Hermione told Sirius. "Remember?" she said to Harry and Ron. "Yeah, but he didn't stay in the forest, did he?" said Ron. "The moment we told him about the riot, he went off to the campsite. " "How d'you know?" Hermione shot back. "How d'you know where he Disapparated to?" "Come off it," said Ron incredulously. "Are you saying you reckon Ludo Bagman conjured the Dark Mark?" "It's more likely he did it than Winky," said Hermione stubbornly. "Told you," said Ron, looking meaningfully at Sirius, "told you she's obsessed with house -" "When the Dark Mark had been conjured, and the elf had been discovered holding Harry's wand, what did Crouch do?" "Went to look in the bushes," said Harry, "but there wasn't anyone else there. " "Of course," Sirius muttered, pacing up and down, "of course, he'd want to pin it on anyone but his own elf. . . and then he sacked her?" "Yes," said Hermione in a heated voice, "he sacked her, just because she hadn't stayed in her tent and let herself get trampled -" "Hermione, will you give it a rest with the elf!" said Ron. Sirius shook his head and said, "She's got the measure of Crouch better than you have, Ron. If you want to know what a mans like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals. " "All these absences of Barty Crouch's. . . he goes to the trouble of making sure his house-elf saves him a seat at the Quidditch World Cup, but doesn't bother to turn up and watch. He works very hard to reinstate the Triwizard Tournament, and then stops coming to that too. . . . It's not like Crouch. If he's ever taken a day off work because of illness before this, I'll eat Buckbeak. " "D'you know Crouch, then?" said Harry. "Oh I know Crouch all right," he said quietly. "He was the one who gave the order for me to be sent to Azkaban - without a trial. " "No, I'm not," said Sirius, taking another great bite of chicken. "Crouch used to be Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, didn't you know?" "He was tipped for the next Minister of Magic," said Sirius. "He's a great wizard, Barty Crouch, powerfully magical - and power-hungry. Oh never a Voldemort supporter," he said, reading the look on Harry's face. "No, Barty Crouch was always very outspoken against the Dark Side. But then a lot of people who were against the Dark Side. . . well, you wouldn't understand. . . you're too young. . . . " "That's what my dad said at the World Cup," said Ron, with a trace of irritation in his voice. "Try us, why don't you?" "All right, I'll try you. . . . " He walked once up the cave, back again, and then said, "Imagine that Voldemort's powerful now. You don't know who his supporters are, you don't know who's working for him and who isn't; you know he can control people so that they do terrible things without being able to stop themselves. You're scared for yourself, and your family, and your friends. Every week, news comes of more deaths, more disappearances, more torturing. . . the Ministry of Magic's in disarray, they don't know what to do, they're trying to keep everything hidden from the Muggles, but meanwhile, Muggles are dying too. Terror everywhere. . . panic. . . confusion. . . that's how it used to be. "Well, times like that bring out the best in some people and the worst in others. Crouch's principles might've been good in the beginning - I wouldn't know. He rose quickly through the Ministry, and he started ordering very harsh measures against Voldemort's supporters. The Aurors were given new powers - powers to kill rather than capture, for instance. And I wasn't the only one who was handed straight to the dementors without trial. Crouch fought violence with violence, and authorized the use of the Unforgivable Curses against suspects. I would say he became as ruthless and cruel as many on the Dark Side. He had his supporters, mind you - plenty of people thought he was going about things the right way, and there were a lot of witches and wizards clamoring for him to take over as Minister of Magic. When Voldemort disappeared, it looked like only a matter of time until Crouch got the top job. But then something rather unfortunate happened. . . . " Sirius smiled grimly. "Crouch's own son was caught with a group of Death Eaters who'd managed to talk their way out of Azkaban. Apparently they were trying to find Voldemort and return him to power. " "Crouch's son was caught?" gasped Hermione. "Yep," said Sirius, throwing his chicken bone to Buckbeak, flinging himself back down on the ground beside the loaf of bread, and tearing it in half. "Nasty little shock for old Barty, I'd I magine. Should have spent a bit more time at home with his family, shouldn't he? Ought to have left the office early once in a while. . . gotten to know his own son. " "Was his son a Death Eater?" said Harry. "No idea," said Sirius, still stuffing down bread. "I was in Azkaban myself when he was brought in. This is mostly stuff I've found out since I got out. The boy was definitely caught in the company of people I'd bet my life were Death Eaters - but he might have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, just like the house-elf. " "Did Crouch try and get his son off?" Hermione whispered. "Crouch let his son off? I thought you had the measure of him, Hermione! Anything that threatened to tarnish his reputation had to go; he had dedicated his whole life to becoming Minister of Magic. You saw him dismiss a devoted house-elf because she associated him with the Dark Mark again - doesn't that tell you what he's like? Crouch's fatherly affection stretched just far enough to give his son a trial, and by all accounts, it wasn't much more than an excuse for Crouch to show how much he hated the boy. . . then he sent him straight to Azkaban. " "He gave his own son to the dementors?" asked Harry quietly. "That's right," said Sirius, and he didn't look remotely amused now. "I saw the dementors bringing him in, watched them through the bars in my cell door. He can't have been more than nineteen. They took him into a cell near mine. He was screaming for his mother by nightfall. He went quiet after a few days, though. . . they all went quiet in the end. . . except when they shrieked in their sleep. . . . " "So he's still in Azkaban?" Harry said. "No," said Sirius dully. "No, he's not in there anymore. He died about a year after they brought him in. " "He wasn't the only one," said Sirius bitterly. "Most go mad in there, and plenty stop eating in the end. They lose the will to live. You could always tell when a death was coming, because the dementors could sense it, they got excited. That boy looked pretty sickly when he arrived. Crouch being an important Ministry member, he and his wife were allowed a deathbed visit. That was the last time I saw Barty Crouch, half carrying his wife past my cell. She died herself, apparently, shortly afterward. Grief. Wasted away just like the boy. Crouch never came for his son's body. The dementors buried him outside the fortress; I watched them do it. " "So old Crouch lost it all, just when he thought he had it made," he continued, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "One moment, a hero, poised to become Minister of Magic. . . next, his son dead, his wife dead, the family name dishonored, and, so I've heard since I escaped, a big drop in popularity. Once the boy had died, people started feeling a bit more sympathetic toward the son and started asking how a nice young lad from a good family had gone so badly astray. The conclusion was that his father never cared much for him. So Cornelius Fudge got the top job, and Crouch was shunted sideways into the Department of International Magical Cooperation. " "Moody says Crouch is obsessed with catching Dark wizards," Harry told Sirius. "Yeah, I've heard it's become a bit of a mania with him," said Sirius, nodding. "If you ask me, he still thinks he can bring back the old popularity by catching one more Death Eater. " "And he sneaked up here to search Snape's office!" said Ron triumphantly, looking at Hermione. "Yes, and that doesn't make sense at all," said Sirius. "Yeah, it does!" said Ron excitedly, but Sirius shook his head. "Listen, if Crouch wants to investigate Snape, why hasn't he been coming to judge the tournament? It would be an ideal excuse to make regular visits to Hogwarts and keep an eye on him. " "So you think Snape could be up to something, then?" asked Harry, but Hermione broke in. "Look, I don't care what you say, Dumbledore trusts Snape -" "Oh give it a rest, Hermione," said Ron impatiently. "I know Dumbledores brilliant and everything, but that doesn't mean a really clever Dark wizard couldn't fool him -" "Why did Snape save Harry's life in the first year, then? Why didn't he just let him die?" "I dunno - maybe he thought Dumbledore would kick him out-" "What d'you think, Sirius?" Harry said loudly, and Ron and Hermione stopped bickering to listen. "I think they've both got a point," said Sirius, looking thoughtfully at Ron and Hermione. "Ever since I found out Snape was teaching here, I've wondered why Dumbledore hired him. Snape's always been fascinated by the Dark Arts, he was famous for it at school. Slimy, oily, greasy-haired kid, he was," Sirius added, and Harry and Ron grinned at each other. "Snape knew more curses when he arrived at school than half the kids in seventh year, and he was part of a gang of Slytherins who nearly all turned out to be Death Eaters. " "Rosier and Wilkes - they were both killed by Aurors the year before Voldemort fell. The Lestranges - they're a married couple - they're in Azkaban. Avery - from what I've heard he wormed his way out of trouble by saying he'd been acting under the Imperius Curse - he's still at large. But as far as I know, Snape was never even accused of being a Death Eater - not that that means much. Plenty of them were never caught. And Snape's certainly clever and cunning enough to keep himself out of trouble. " "Snape knows Karkaroff pretty well, but he wants to keep that quiet," said Ron. "Yeah, you should've seen Snape's face when Karkaroff turned up in Potions yesterday!" said Harry quickly. "Karkaroff wanted to talk to Snape, he says Snape's been avoiding him. Karkaroff looked really worried. He showed Snape something on his arm, but I couldn't see what it was. " He showed Snape something on his arm?" said Sirius, looking frankly bewildered. He ran his fingers distractedly through his filthy hair, then shrugged again. "Well, I've no idea what that's about. . . but if Karkaroff's genuinely worried, and he's going to Snape for answers. . . " "There's still the fact that Dumbledore trusts Snape, and I know Dumbledore trusts where a lot of other people wouldn't, but I just can't see him letting Snape teach at Hogwarts if he'd ever worked for Voldemort. " "Why are Moody and Crouch so keen to get into Snape's office then?" said Ron stubbornly. "Well," said Sirius slowly, "I wouldn't put it past Mad-Eye to have searched every single teacher's office when he got to Hogwarts. He takes his Defense Against the Dark Arts seriously, Moody. I'm not sure he trusts anyone at all, and after the things he's seen, it's not surprising. I'll say this for Moody, though, he never killed if he could help it. Always brought people in alive where possible. He was tough, but he never descended to the level of the Death Eaters. Crouch, though. . . he's a different matter. . . is he really ill? If he is, why did he make the effort to drag himself up to Snape's office? And if he's not. . . what's he up to? What was he doing at the World Cup that was so important he didn't turn up in the Top Box? What's he been doing while he should have been judging the tournament?" "You say your brother's Crouch's personal assistant? Any chance you could ask him if he's seen Crouch lately?" "I can try," said Ron doubtfully. "Better not make it sound like I reckon Crouch is up to anything dodgy, though. Percy loves Crouch. " "And you might try and find out whether they've got any leads on Bertha Jorkins while you're at it," said Sirius, gesturing to the second copy of the Daily Prophet. "Bagman told me they hadn't," said Harry. "Yes, he's quoted in the article in there," said Sirius, nodding at the paper. "Blustering on about how bad Bertha's memory is. Well, maybe she's changed since I knew her, but the Bertha I knew wasn't forgetful at all - quite the reverse. She was a bit dim, but she had an excellent memory for gossip. It used to get her into a lot of trouble; she never knew when to keep her mouth shut. I can see her being a bit of a liability at the Ministry of Magic. . . maybe that's why Bagman didn't bother to look for her for so long. . . . " "It's half past three," said Hermione. "You'd better get back to school," Sirius said, getting to his feet. "Now listen. . . " He looked particularly hard at Harry. "I don't want you lot sneaking out of school to see me, all right? Just send notes to me here. I still want to hear about anything odd. But you're not to go leaving Hogwarts without permission; it would be an ideal opportunity for someone to attack you. " "No one's tried to attack me so far, except a dragon and a couple of grindylows," Harry said, but Sirius scowled at him. "I don't care. . . I'll breathe freely again when this tournament's over, and that's not until June. And don't forget, if you're talking about me among yourselves, call me Snuffles, okay?" He handed Harry the empty napkin and flask and went to pat Buckbeak good-bye. "I'll walk to the edge of the village with you," said Sirius, "see if I can scrounge another paper. " "Wonder if Percy knows all that stuff about Crouch?" Ron said as they walked up the drive to the castle. "But maybe he doesn't care. . . It'd probably just make him admire Crouch even more. Yeah, Percy loves rules. He'd just say Crouch was refusing to break them for his own son. " "Percy would never throw any of his family to the dementors," said Hermione severely. "I don't know," said Ron. "If he thought we were standing in the way of his career. . . Percy's really ambitious, you know. . . . " "Poor old Snuffles," said Ron, breathing deeply. "He must really like you. Harry. . . . Imagine having to live off rats. "

2019-04-26T01:50:21Z

https://www.harrypotterfrenzy.com/Harry-Potter-and-the-Goblet-of-Fire/27

Report for 1870--The old "gym"--Continued financial stringency--College journalism--President Twombly elected--Report for 1871--Ladies' Hall opened--A plea for the land-grant--First tax levy--Raising the standard--Report for 1873--Resignation of Dr. Twombly. In their report for the year ending September 30, 1870, the regents express regret for their non-success, thus far, in filling the vacant presidential chair; but "it is extremely gratifying to be able to say, that the place has been most ably filled temporarily, by the honored Vice President," Professor Sterling. There has been a slight diminution in the aggregate attendance of students, which "finds abundant explanation in the stringency of the times, and the low price of farm productions. Many sons and daughters of farmers have been compelled, from this cause, to omit for a time their course of studies. Another cause may be found in the higher requirements for admission to the preparatory department and the more thorough examinations for admission, from which have come many rejections of applicants. The inability of the University to furnish rooms is still a drawback--for the price of board and rooms in the city is beyond the reach of many excellent students." They further state that a frame building for "drill and gymnastic exercises," containing as well an armory, and an office for the military instructor, has just been completed on the brow of the hill, northwestward of the main hall, at a cost of about $4,000; 1 which leaves at our disposal much room in University Hall, before occupied for military drill." It seems that this separate provision for the military department was "made on the urgent recommendation" of Col. Walter S. Franklin, the army officer detailed to fill the chair of military science and engineering; but Colonel Franklin had, after that, been withdrawn, and the board, feeling that the exigencies of the army service threaten to keep the military school in a state of uncertainty, are considering the advisability of paying "the expenses of this professorship from the funds of the University, in order to secure permanency in instruction." As fast as these lands are called for, they are sold at the minimum price of $1.25 per acre and the working of this system has no other effect than to realize for the University the lowest possible price for its endowment lands. We wish authority to withhold a portion of the best of these lands from market until the development of the regions where they are located will enable us to dispose of them at a far greater price. Had such a course been adopted on the organization of the University, we should now have had an ample endowment, and been saved the necessity of begging at the doors of the State Councils for the meagre sums necessary to make the institution one of even reasonable usefulness. An important event of the year 1870 was the issue, in June, of the first number of The University Press, of which George W. Raymer and James W. Bashford were editors and publishers; its columns were to be "always open to scientific, literary, and general news articles, written by the students, the professors, and the friends of the University." The Press was a monthly throughout 1870, and then appeared semi-monthly until September, 1882, when it became a weekly, continuing as such to the close of its very useful career. Its first rival was the weekly Campus appearing in October, 1881; after two months of existence, the Campus became the Badger, which was merged in the Press in September, 1885; that in turn was merged in the Aegis, October of the following year. The Aegis, at first a weekly, became a bi-weekly in September, 1892; and the literary monthly of the University, in October, 1895. The Daily Cardinal first appeared in April, 1892, and enjoys the reputation of being one of the best college dailies in the country. At the opening of the University, in September, 1839, two new college publications made their first appearance. The Sphynx, an illustrated humorous bi-weekly, upon the plan of the Harvard Lampoon and papers of that character; and The Wisconsin Alumni Magazine, an illustrated monthly edited by Charles E. Allen, '99, Florence E. Baker, '91, and others--it is to be sent free to members of the Alumni association, and "will be devoted to the dissemination of knowledge in regard to life at the University." At the annual meeting of the regents in June, 1871, Rev. Dr. John H. Twombly,3 lately superintendent of the public schools of Charlestown, Mass., an educator and a Methodist divine of some note, was called to the presidency of the University, and to fill the chair of mental and moral philosophy. He entered upon his duties here at the beginning of the new college year, in September. In their annual report, the regents say that "His high character, and long experience in collegiate and educational management, with his energy and practical knowledge, lead the Board to congratulate themselves and the University upon the good fortune which enabled them to place him at the head of the University." The annual report of the regents for 1871 announces the election to the professorship of military science and civil engineering, of Maj. William J. L. Nicodemus,4 U. S. A., retired, at a salary of $1,200, paid by the board. This election, together with that of the new president, enables them to "announce every department of the University in complete working order." The attendance of students in September of this year is greater than ever before, thus fully taxing the labors of the corps of instructors. "The Regents have great satisfaction in reporting the utmost harmony in the Faculty, from highest to lowest, and a cordiality between teachers and students which has called forth a marked energy and progress in studies, and a general good conduct on the part of the students. * * * The college classes are above the average of former years, both in numbers and scholarship, while an unusually large number of the preparatory students are fitting for the regular courses. Every feature of the present points to a steady growth in numbers and widening usefulness." Ladies' Hall was opened at the beginning of the school year 1871-72. "The growing conviction in the public mind for many years back, that very many avocations might be fairly opened to women, who had thus far in the history of the race been debarred from them, has borne fruit," say the regents, "in a liberal acquiescence to woman taking her place in the acquisition and practice of some of the scientific professions. Instructions have been given to carry out a system of education for the Female College, which, while it opens every department of the University to both sexes alike, yet leaves to the choice of the lady students as ambition or taste may dictate--to pursue in their own college under lady teachers--or with the regular college classes, the studies in which they desire full accomplishment * * * a conservative course, midway between the theories of those who would ride a hobby to personal popularity, and that of fogyism which yields nothing to the demands of a growing public opinion." A plea for the land-grant. These lands amount to something over 200,000 acres, and are located almost entirely in the northern portion of the State. The present and prospective development of the northern counties, by the building of a network of railroads, will tend greatly to enhance the value of these lands. Must these lands all be sold at the minimum price of $1.25 per acre, when a few years will so immensely increase their original value? If from the original endowment grants by Congress, there had been reserved until now, ten per cent of the lands, we should have had an endowment second to no college in the country. If we can now reserve twenty-five percent of the lands that remain of the grants, for a period of twenty years or so, a future generation of students will be able to reach all of the prosperity which the most sanguine friends of the University have ever hoped for it. Let not our posterity have to say of us that we ignored for them all the powers this generation holds in its hands, to lay broad and deep foundations for our University. Whereas, The university fund has suffered serious loss and impairment by such sales of its lands, so that its income is not at present sufficient to supply its wants, and cannot be made so by any present change of policy, inasmuch as the most valuable lands have already been sold; therefore, etc. This was the first State tax levied for the benefit of the University. We shall see that in 1876 it was increased to a tenth of a mill on each dollar of the assessed valuation of the state; and still farther increased, in 1883, to an eighth. In their report for 1872, the regents naturally express gratification at this promise of continuous state aid; they declare that the grant has "met with such cordial approbation by the people * * * that no doubt now remains that a hearty and generous support by the State, in future, will meet with the earnest approval of all friends of education." There were, indeed, evidences on every hand that the people of Wisconsin had at last risen to an adequate appreciation of their state University. Nowhere in the newspaper press of the time do we find any note of dissatisfaction at the initial tax levy of 1872. The attendance had now grown to 600, including the preparatory department, and naturally the expenses of administration and instruction were growing. The timely appropriation had enabled the regents to purchase long-needed apparatus, books, laboratory conveniences, "and what was of no less importance, the salaries of the hard-working professors and teachers were increased, placing them upon an equal footing with those of other colleges. This increase of salaries was necessary in order to retain some of our ablest professors, whose services were sought by higher salaries offered elsewhere." The board report that they "have had in view a gradual raising of the standard of admission and of scholarship, to such extent as eventually to do away entirely with the preparatory department. This result is steadily in progress of attainment, but must be done so gradually, without too greatly diminishing the number of students, as to give full employment to all professors and teachers." The regents have therefore secured the passage by the legislature of a law providing, conditionally, free tuition in the University to all graduates of high schools. "The examination for admission to such students is such as must tend largely toward raising the standard of scholarship in these schools, and thus in great measure answer the purpose of preparatory schools. It also makes University education a prize within the reach of all high school students, and brings the University more completely before the people." During this year (1872), ten students have availed themselves of the privilege, and been admitted to the college classes. The following year, forty-eight students came from this source, with a corresponding diminution in the attendance on the preparatory department; in 1877 came the system of accredited high schools, now in vogue, and three years later (1880) the time had arrived for the abolition of the preparatory department. In 1873, the board finds little of special moment upon which to report. The University is making good progress. "The pressing demand for increased accommodations will soon compel the Regents to ask for increased income, or to rest content with an institution of limited facilities, following behind others in character and usefulness in sister States, whose patrons look with deeper interest upon the advantages which are offered for the education of their youth." The past year has been one of substantial progress. The resignation of J. H. Twombly, as president, was accepted by the Regents on the 21st of January last. President John Bascom was invited to occupy the place, and entered on the discharge of his duties with the beginning of the spring term. The Regents are more than satisfied with the change, and do not hesitate to predict from it an effectual increase of good in the management of the University, and a far higher position for it among the colleges of the country. The passing of President Twombly signalized the close of the childhood of the University. With the entrance of President Bascom, 6 the University may be considered as having come into possession of the full vigor of early manhood. No longer was it "open to the charge of being little more than a respectable high school for Madison." 7 Henceforth it was not to be seriously affected by such vicissitudes as it had experienced in the past; it was at last felt to be a power in the State, the true head of the educational forces of the commonwealth, and with a splendid future before it. 1 The old "gym," an illy-constructed and poorly-equipped building, was destroyed by fire on the night of June 12, 1881. 2 Professor Irving, a grandnephew of Washington Irving, was born in New York City, April 27, 1847. He graduated from Columbia College in 1866, and spent three years in post-graduate work in the school of Mines connected with that institution. For a time he was assistant geologist on the State survey of Ohio, and then metallurgist in smelting works at Greenville, N. J. He was holding this latter position when called to the University of Wisconsin. In 1873 he was appointed assistant geologist on the Wisconsin State survey, holding the position for six years in connection with his University chair. He was special agent for the 10th federal census, as expert on Lake Superior explorations; and in 1882 was placed in charge of the United States geological survey in the Northwestern States,--a position he held, also in connection with his University work, at the time of his death, May 30, 1888. He had won great distinction in his profession, being the first of the faculty of the Wisconsin University to attain a position among leading men of science. See an appreciative sketch of his character and career, by President Bascom, in Badger, 1890, pp. 187-190. 3 Dr. Twombly was born in Rochester, N. H. He obtained his early education with difficulty, having to intersperse his studies with labor of various sorts-- carpentering, farming, and teaching. Finally, he graduated from the Wesleyan University at Middletown, Conn., in 1843. Being ordained a Methodist preacher, he at first taught in seminaries of his denomination; but from 1846 to 1866 was in charge of large congregations in different parts of Massachusetts. In 1855, he was chaplain of the Massachusetts senate; 1855-67, one of the overseers of Harvard College; 1857-71, secretary of the New England Education Society; 1868-69, director of the American Institute, and engaged in founding Boston University, of which he was a trustee. He had been upon the school boards of Worcester, Lynn, and Chelsea; and in 1866-70 was superintendent of the Charlestown public schools. Called to Wisconsin in June, 1851, he resigned January 21, 1874, and resumed his work in the ministry, going to Westfield, Mass.; later, he was at Springfield, and closed his career in charge of the Broadway Methodist church in Boston. His alma mater gave him the degree of M. A. in 1846, and D. D. in 1871. 4 Born at Cold Springs, Va., August 1, 1834, graduating from West Point in 1858. As lieutenant in the Fifth Infantry, he took part in the Utah expedition, and again (1861) in the Navajo expedition. Commissioned captain in the Twelfth, in October, 1861, he was engaged until the following June as acting assistant adjutant-general of the Department of New Mexico. At the battle of Valverde (February 21, 1862), he was brevetted major. In October, 1862, he was commissioned colonel of the Fourth Maryland Volunteers, and guarded recruits at Baltimore. In February, 1863, he was assigned to the signal service, having charge of the communications between Harper's Ferry and Washington. Promoted major in that service for gallant conduct in pursuing the enemy through Maryland, he later became lieutenant-colonel. He was in charge of the signal bureau at Washington from October, 1863, to December, 1864, and in 1865 was made inspector in the corps, being finally restored to the Twelfth Infantry. During 1865-68, he was in garrison at New York, Richmond, and Washington; then for two years gave military instruction at Western University Pittsburg). Being honorably discharged in December, 1870, he afterward came to Wisconsin University, where he was soon appointed on the State geological survey, in addition to his duties as teacher. He died in Madison, while still a member of the faculty, January 6, 1879. 5 The regents (Report 1872, p. 9) say that the legislature, "through its committees on Education," made a thorough examination of the conditions and wants of the University; investigated the manner in which its grant of lands had been located and sold, and said committee arriving at the same conclusion [as ourselves] as to the cause of the waste of its productive fund ['that it was more important that these lands should be sold, and the country settled as rapidly as possible'], prepared and introduced a bill * * * [which], after due deliberation, was passed by both houses of the Legislature." 6 President Bascom was born in Genoa, N. Y., May 1, 1827. He graduated from Williams College in 1849, and in 1855 from Andover Theological Seminary. In the same year he was chosen professor of rhetoric at Williams, and was holding that chair when called to the presidency of U. W. Resigning this post in 1887, he returned to Williams, of whose faculty he is still a member. Dr. Bascom has published numerous books, magazine articles, and addresses, and contributes largely to the leading critical reviews, his special fields being political economy and mental and moral philosophy. Amherst gave him the degree of LL. D. in 1873, and Grinnell (Iowa) that of D. D. in 1875. 7 "Board of Visitors' Report," 1874, in Report of Board of Regents for that year, p. 13.

2019-04-20T07:02:01Z

http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/WIReader/Thwaites/Chapter07.html

It hardly falls within the scope of the present work to detail or discuss the various points concerning the history or statutes of the different British Orders of Knighthood, and still less so of the Foreign Orders. The history of the English Orders alone would make a bulky volume. But it is necessary to treat of the matter to some limited extent, inasmuch as in modern heraldry in every country in Europe additions are made to the armorial achievement whenever it is desired to signify rank in any of the Orders of Knighthood. Though a large number of the early Plantagenet Garter Stall plates date as far back as the year 1420, it is evident that nothing in the armorial bearings with which they are emblazoned bears any relation to the order of knighthood to which they belonged until the year 1469 or thereabouts, when Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, was elected a Knight of the Garter. His Stall plate, which is of a very exceptional style and character, is the first to bear the garter encircling the shield. It is curious to notice, by the way, that upon the privy seal of the Duke of Burgundy, which shows the same arms depicted upon his Garter plate, the shield is surrounded by the collar, from which depends the badge of the Order of the Golden Fleece, so that it is highly probable that the custom of adding marks of knighthood to a shield came to us from the Continent. The next Garter plate, which shows the garter around the shield, is that of Viscount Lovel, who was elected in 1483; and the shield of the Earl of Derby, who was elected in the same year, also is encircled by the Garter. The Garter itself encircling the shields of knights of that order remained the only mark of knighthood used armorially in this country for a considerable period, though we find that the example was copied in Scotland soon afterwards with regard to the Order of the Thistle. At the commencement of the present Lyon Register, which dates from the year 1672, the arms of the King of Scotland, which are given as such and not as the King of England and Scotland, are described as encircled by the collar of the Order of the Thistle. This probably was used as the equivalent of the garter in England, for we do not find the collar of the Garter, together with the garter itself, or the ribbon circle of the Thistle, together with the collar of that order, until a much later period. The use of collars of knighthood upon the Continent to encircle coats of arms has been from the fifteenth century very general and extensive; examples are to be found at an earlier date; but the encircling of arms with the garter carrying the motto of the order, or with the ribbon (which is termed the circle) and motto of any other order is an entirely English practice, which does not appear to have been copied in any other country. It, of course, arose from the fact that the actual garter as worn by the knight of the order carried the motto of the order, and that by representing the garter round the shield, the motto of the order was of necessity also added. The Lyon Register, however, in the entry of record (dated 1672), states that the shield is "encircled with the Order of Scotland, the same being composed of rue and thistles having the image of St. Andrew with his crosse on his brest yrunto pendent," and it is by no means improbable that occasional instances of the heraldic use of the collar of the garter might be discovered at the same period. But it is not until the later part of the eighteenth century that it obtained anything like a regular use. During the Hanoverian period it became customary to encircle the shield first with the garter, and that in its turn with the collar of the order whenever it was desired to display the achievement in its most complete style; and though even then, as at the present day, for less elaborate representations the garter only was used without the collar, it still remains correct to display both in a full emblazonment of the arms. An impetus to the practice was doubtless given by the subdivision of the Order of the Bath, which will be presently referred to. In speaking of the garter, the opportunity should be taken to protest strongly against the objectionable practice which has arisen of using a garter to encircle a crest or shield and to carry the family motto. No matter what motto is placed upon the garter, it is both bad form and absolutely incorrect for any one who is not a Knight of the Garter to use a garter in any heraldic display. A Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter encircles his escutcheon by a representation of the garter he wears. This is a belt of dark blue velvet edged with gold and ornamented with a heavy gold buckle and ornament at the end. It carries the motto of the Order, "Honi soit qui mal y pense," in gold letters of plain Roman character. Anciently the motto was spelled "Hony soit qy mal y pense," as may be noticed from some of the early Garter plates, and the style of the letter was what is now known as "Old English." The garter is worn buckled, with the end tucked under and looped in a specified manner, which is the method also adopted in heraldic representations. It is quite permissible to use the garter alone, but a Knight of the Order is allowed to add outside the garter the representation of the collar of the order. This is of gold, consisting of twenty-six buckled garters enamelled in the correct colour, each surrounding a rose, the garter alternated with gold knots all joined up by chain links of gold. From the collar depends the "George," or figure of St. George on horseback encountering the dragon, enamelled in colours. In heraldic representations it is usual to ignore the specified number of links in the collar. A Knight of the Garter as such is entitled to claim the privilege of a grant of supporters, but as nowadays the order is reserved for those of the rank of earl and upwards, supporters will always have a prior existence in connection with the peerage. Knights of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle are entitled to surround their arms with a plain circle of green edged with gold and bearing the motto in gold letters, "Nemo me impune lacessit." They are also entitled to surround their arms with the collar of the order, which is of gold, and composed of sprigs of thistle and rue (Andrew) enamelled in their proper colours. From the collar the badge (the figure of St. Andrew) depends. Knights of the Most Illustrious Order of St. Patrick are entitled to surround their arms by a plain circle of sky-blue edged with gold, bearing the motto, "Quis Separabit. MDCCLXXXIII," as enamelled on the star of the order. This is encircled by the collar of the order, which is of "gold, composed of roses and harps alternately, tied together with knots of gold, the said roses enamelled alternately, white leaves within red and red leaves within white; and in the centre of the said collar shall be an Imperial crown surmounting a harp of gold, from which shall hang the badge." Knights of the Thistle and St. Patrick are entitled as such to claim a grant of supporters on payment of the fees, but these orders are nowadays confined to peers. The Most Honourable Order of the Bath.—Knights of the Bath, who have existed from a remote period, do not appear as such to have made any additions to their arms prior to the revival of the order in 1725. At that time, similarly to the Orders of the Garter and the Thistle, the order was of one class only and composed of a limited number of knights. Knights of that order were then distinguished by the letters K.B., which, it should be noted, mean Knight of the Bath, and not Knight Bachelor, as so many people now imagine. There is nobody at the present time who is entitled to use these letters. Upon those of the Bath plates which now remain in the chapel of Henry VII. in Westminster Abbey, no instance will be found in which the collar is represented outside the circle, which is pretty good evidence that although isolated examples may possibly be found at an earlier date, it was not the usual custom up to the end of the eighteenth century to encircle a shield with a collar of knighthood. These Knights of the Bath (K.B.), as they were termed, surrounded their escutcheons with circlets of crimson edged with gold, and bearing thereupon the motto of the order, "Tria juncta in uno," in gold letters. Although at that time it does not appear that the collar of the order was ever employed for armorial purposes, instances are to be found in which the laurel wreath surrounded the circlet with the motto of the order. In the year 1815, owing to the large number of officers who had merited reward in the Peninsular Campaign, it was considered necessary to largely increase the extent and scope of the order. For this purpose it was divided into two divisions—the Military Division and the Civil Division—and each of these were divided into three classes, namely, Knights Grand Cross (G.C.B.), Knights Commanders (K.C.B.), and Companions (C.B.). The then existing Knights of the Bath became Knights Grand Cross. The existing collar served for all Knights Grand Cross, but the old badge and star were assigned for the civil division of the order, a new pattern being designed for the military division. The number of stalls in Henry VII.'s Chapel being limited, the erection of Stall plates and the display of banners ceased; those then in position were allowed to remain, and still remain at the present moment. Consequently there are no Stall plates to refer to in the matter as precedents since that period, and the rules need to be obtained from other sources. They are now as follows: A Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath surrounds his arms with the circlet as was theretofore the case, and in addition he surrounds the circlet by his collar, from which depends the badge (either military or civil) of the division to which he belongs. The collar is really for practical purposes the distinguishing mark of a Knight Grand Cross, because although as such he is entitled upon payment of the fees to claim a grant of supporters, he is under no compulsion to do so, and comparatively but few avail themselves of the privilege. All Knights of the Bath, before the enlargement of the order, had supporters. A Knight Grand Cross of the military division encircles his arms with the laurel wreath in addition, this being placed outside the circlet and within the collar of the order. The collar is composed of gold having nine Imperial crowns and eight devices of the rose, the thistle, and shamrock issuing from a sceptre placed alternately and enamelled in their proper colours, the links being connected with seventeen knots enamelled white. The badges of the military and civil divisions differ considerably. Knights Commanders of the Bath have no collar and cannot claim a grant of supporters, but they encircle their shields with the circlet of the order, suspending their badge below the shield by the ribbon from which it is worn. Knights Commanders of the military division use the laurel wreath as do Knights Grand Cross, but no members of any class of the civil division are entitled to display it. Companions of the order (C.B.) do not use the helmet of a knight as does a G.C.B. or a K.C.B.; in fact, the only difference which is permissible in their arms from those of an undistinguished commoner is that they are allowed to suspend the badge of a C.B. from a ribbon below their shields. They do not use the circlet of the order. Certain cases have come under my notice in which a military C.B. has added a laurel wreath to his armorial bearings, but whether such a practice is correct I am unaware, but I think it is not officially recognised. The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India (like the Order of the Bath as at present constituted) is divided into three classes, Knights Grand Commanders, Knights Commanders, and Companions. Knights Grand Commanders place the circlet of the order around their shields. This is of light blue inscribed with the motto, "Heaven's light our guide." This in its turn is surrounded by the collar of the order, which is composed of alternate links of the Indian lotus flower, crossed palm-branches, and the united red and white rose of England. In the centre of the collar is an Imperial crown from which depends the badge of the order, this being an onyx cameo of the effigy of her late Majesty Queen Victoria within the motto of the order, and surmounted by a star, the whole being richly jewelled. The surrounding of the shield by the circlet of the order doubtless is a consequence and follows upon the original custom of the armorial use of the garter, but this being admitted, it is yet permissible to state that that practice came from the Continent, and there is little reason to doubt that the real meaning and origin of the custom of using the circlet is derived from the Continental practice which has for long been usual of displaying the shield of arms upon the star of an order of knighthood. The star of every British order—the Garter included—contains the circlet and motto of the order, and it is easy to see how, after depicting the shield of arms upon the star of the order, the result will be that the circlet of the order surrounds the shield. No armorial warrant upon the point is ever issued at the creation of an order; the thing follows as a matter of course, the circlet being taken from the star to surround the shield without further authorisation. Upon this point there can be no doubt, inasmuch as the garter which surrounds the shield of a K.G. is in all authoritative heraldic paintings buckled in the peculiar manner in which it is worn and in which it is depicted upon the star. The Star of the Thistle shows the plain circlet, the Star of St. Patrick the same, and the arms of a Knight of St. Patrick afford a curious confirmation of my contention, because whilst the motto of the order is specified to be, "Quis separabit," the circlet used for armorial purposes includes the date (MDCCLXXXIII.) as shown upon the star. The Order of the Bath, again, has a plain circlet upon the star, and the badges and stars of the military knights have the laurel wreath represented in heraldic drawings, the laurel wreath being absent from the stars and the shields of those who are members of the civil division. Now with regard to the Order of the Star of India the motto on the star is carried upon a representation of a ribbon which is tied in a curious manner, and my own opinion is that the circlet used to surround the shield of a G.C.S.I. or K.C.S.I. should (as in the case of the garter) be represented not as a simple circlet like the Bath or Thistle, but as a ribbon tied in the curious manner represented upon the star. This tying is not, however, duplicated upon the badge, and possibly I may be told that the circlet and its use are taken from the badge and not from the star. The reply to such a statement is, first, that there is no garter upon the badge of that order, there is no circlet on the badge of the Thistle, and the circlet on the badge of St. Patrick is surrounded by a wreath of trefoils which in that case ought to appear round the shield of a K.P. This wreath of trefoils is absent from the K.P. star. Further, no Companion of an Order is permitted to use the Circlet of the Order, whilst every Companion has his badge. No Companion has a star. Though I hold strongly that the circlet of the Star of India should be a ribbon tied as represented on the star of the order, I must admit I have never yet come across an official instance of it being so represented. This, however, is a point upon which there is no definite warrant of instruction, and is not the conclusion justifiable that on this matter the officers of arms have been led into a mistake in their general practice by an oversight and possible unfamiliarity with the actual star? A Knight Grand Commander is entitled to claim a grant of supporters on payment of the fees. A Knight Commander encircles his shield with the circlet of the order and hangs his badge from a ribbon below, a Companion of the Order simply hangs the badge he wears below his shield. The Most Distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. George.—This order again is divided into three classes—Knights Grand Cross, Knights Commanders, and Companions. Knights Grand Cross place the circlet of the order and the collar with the badge around their shields, and, like other Knights Grand Cross, they are entitled to claim a grant of supporters. The circlet of the order is of blue edged with gold, and bearing in gold letters the motto of the order, "Auspicium melioris ævi." The collar is composed alternately of lions of England, of Maltese crosses, and of the ciphers S.M. and S.G., and having in the centre an Imperial crown over two lions passant guardant, each holding a bunch of seven arrows. At the opposite point of the collar are two similar lions. The whole is of gold except the crosses, which are of white enamel, and the various devices are linked together by small gold chains. Knights Commanders of the Order encircle their shields with a similar circlet of the order, and hang their badges below. A Companion simply suspends his badge from a ribbon below his shield. The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire.—This order is divided into three classes—Knights Grand Commanders, Knights Commanders, and Companions. Knights Grand Commanders and Knights Commanders encircle their shields with the circlet of the order, which is of purple inscribed in letters of gold, with the motto of the order, "Imperatricis auspiciis." The collar of the order, which is used by the Knights Grand Commanders, in addition to the circle, is composed of elephants, lotus flowers, peacocks in their pride, and Indian roses, and in the centre is an Imperial crown, the whole being linked together by chains of gold. Knights Commanders suspend their badges from their shields. Companions are only permitted to suspend their badges from a ribbon, and, as in the cases of the other orders, are not allowed to make use of the circlet of the order. The Royal Victorian Order is divided into five classes, and is the only British order of which this can be said. There is no collar belonging to the order, so a G.C.V.O. cannot put one round his shield. Knights Grand Cross surround their shields with the circlet of the order, which is of dark blue carrying in letters of gold the motto, "Victoria." Knights Commanders and Commanders also use the circlet, with the badge suspended from the ribbon. Members of the fourth and fifth classes of the Order suspend the badge which they are entitled to wear below their shields. The "Victorian Chain" is quite apart from the Victorian Order, and up to the present time has only been conferred upon a very limited number. It apparently exists by the pleasure of His Majesty, no statutes having been ordained. The Distinguished Service Order, the Imperial Service Order, and the Order of Merit are each of but one class only, none of them conferring the dignity of knighthood. They rank heraldically with the Companions of the other Orders, and for heraldic purposes merely confer upon those people entitled to the decorations the right to suspend the badges they wear below their shields or lozenges as the case may be, following the rules observed by other Companions. The Victoria Cross, the Albert Medal, the Edward Medal, the Conspicuous Service Cross, the Kaisar-i-Hind Medal, the Royal Red Cross, the Volunteer Officers' Decoration, the Territorial Decoration, and the Decoration of the League of Mercy all rank as decorations. Though none confer any style or precedence of knighthood, those entitled to them are permitted to suspend representations of such decorations as are enjoyed below their shields. The members of the Orders of Victoria and Albert and of the Crown of India are permitted to display the badges they wear below their lozenges. Some people, notably in the early part of the nineteenth century, adopted the practice of placing war medals below the escutcheons amongst other decorations. It is doubtful, however, how far this practice is correct, inasmuch as a medal does not technically rank as a decoration or as a matter of honour. That medals are "decorations" is not officially recognised, with the exception, perhaps, of the Jubilee medal, the Diamond Jubilee medal, and the Coronation medal, which have been given a status more of the character of a decoration than of simple medals. The Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in England does not rank with other orders or decorations, inasmuch as it was initiated without Royal intervention, and carries no precedence or titular rank. In 1888, however, a Royal charter of incorporation was obtained, and the distribution of the highest offices of the order in the persons of the Sovereign, the Prince of Wales, and other members of the Royal Family has of late years very much increased its social status. The Order is, however, now recognised to a certain extent, and its insignia is worn at Court by duly appointed authority. The Crown is gradually acquiring a right of veto, which will probably eventually result in the order becoming a recognised honour, of which the gift lies with the Crown. In the charter of incorporation, Knights of Justice and Ladies of Justice were permitted to place as a chief over their arms the augmentation anciently used by knights of the English language of the original Roman Catholic Celibate Order. The chief used is: "Gules, charged with a cross throughout argent, the cross embellished in its angles with lions passant guardant and unicorns passant alternately both or," as in the cross of the order. The omission, which is all the more inexplicable owing to the fact that Garter King of Arms is the officer for the order, that the heraldic provisions of this charter have never been conveyed, as should have been the case, in a Royal Warrant to the Earl Marshal, has caused some confusion, for the officers of the College of Arms, when speaking officially, decline to admit the insignia of the order in any official emblazonment of arms. Lyon King of Arms has been less punctilious. Knights of Justice, Knights of Grace, and Esquires of the Orders all suspend the badges they wear from a black watered-silk ribbon below their shields (Fig. 334), and Ladies of Justice and Ladies of Grace do the same below their lozenges. The arms of members of the Order are frequently depicted superimposed upon the Cross. By the Statutes of the Order Knights of Justice were required to show that all their four grandparents were legally entitled to bear arms, but so many provisions for the exercise of discretion in dispensing with this requirement were at the same time created that to all intents and purposes such a regulation might never have been included. Some of the Knights of Justice even yet have no arms at all, others are themselves grantees, and still others would be unable to show what is required of them if the claims of their grandparents were properly investigated. It should perhaps be stated that supporters, when granted to Knights Grand Cross as such, are personal to themselves, and in the patents by which they are granted the grant is made for life only, no hereditary limitation being added. Any person in this country holding a Royal Licence to wear the insignia of any foreign order is permitted to adopt any heraldic form, decoration, or display which that order confers in the country of origin. Official recognition exists for this, and many precedents can be quoted. Fig. 772.—"Bailli-profès" of the Catholic Order of the Knights Hospitallers or the Order of Malta. The rules which exist in foreign countries concerning heraldic privileges of the knights of different orders are very varied, and it is impossible to briefly summarise them. It may, however, be stated that the most usual practice is to display the shield alone in the centre of the star (Fig. 772). As with us, the collars of the orders are placed around the shields, and the badges depend below, but the use of the circlet carrying the motto of the order is exclusively a British practice. In the case of some of the Orders, however, the official coat of arms of the order is quartered, impaled, or borne in pretence with the personal arms, and the cross patée of the Order of the Dannebrog is to be met with placed in front of a shield of quarterings, the charges thereupon appearing in the angles of the cross. I am not sure, however, that the cases which have come under my notice should not be rather considered definite and hereditary grants of augmentation, this being perhaps a more probable explanation than that such a method of display followed as a matter of course on promotion to the order. The Grand Masters of the Teutonic Order quarter the arms of that order with those of their families. The Knights of the Order of St. Stephen of Tuscany bear the arms of that order in chief over their personal arms. Fig. 772 represents the manner in which a "Bailli-profès" (Grand Cross) of the real Catholic and Celibate Order of St. John of Malta places the chief of the order on his shield, the latter being imposed upon a Maltese star (this being white) and the badge of the order depending below. The "Knight-profès" does not use the chief of the order. In the German Protestant Order of Malta (formerly Bailiwick of Brandenburg) the Commendatores place the shield of their arms upon the Cross of Malta. The Knights of Justice ("Richtsritter") on the contrary assume the cross upon the shield itself, whilst the Knights of Grace suspend it from the bottom of the shield. The members of the ancient Order of La Cordelière formerly encircled their lozenges with a representation of the Cordelière, which formed a part of their habit; and the officers of the Ecclesiastical Orders frequently surround their escutcheons with rosaries from which depend crucifixes. Whether this latter practice, however, should be considered merely a piece of artistic decoration, or whether it should be regarded as an ecclesiastical matter or should be included within the purview of armory, I leave others to decide. By a curious fiction, for the origin of which it is not easy to definitely account, unless it is a survival of the celibacy required in certain orders, a knight is not supposed to share the insignia of any order of knighthood with his wife. There is not the slightest doubt that his own knighthood does confer upon her both precedence and titular rank, and why there should be any necessity for the statement to be made as to the theoretical position has long been a puzzle to me. Such a theory, however, is considered to be correct, and as a consequence in modern times it has become a rigid rule that the arms of the wife of a knight must not be impaled upon a shield when it is displayed within the circlet of an order. No such rule existed in ancient times, and many instances can be found in which impaled shields, or the shield of the wife only, are met with inside a representation of the Garter. In the warrant recently issued for Queen Alexandra the arms of England and Denmark are impaled within a Garter. This may be quite exceptional and consequent upon the fact that Her Majesty is herself a member of the Order. Nevertheless, the modern idea is that when a Knight of any Order impales the arms of his wife, he must use two shields placed accollé, the dexter surmounting the sinister (Fig. 745). Upon the dexter shield is represented the arms of the knight within the circlet, or the circlet and collar, as the case may be, of his order; on the sinister shield the arms of the knight are impaled with those of his wife, and this shield, for the purpose of artistic balance, is usually surrounded with a meaningless and inartistic floral or laurel wreath to make its size similar to the dimensions of the dexter shield. The widow of a knight of any Order is required at present to immediately discontinue the use of the ensigns of that Order, and to revert to the plain impaled lozenge which she would be entitled to as the widow of an undecorated gentleman. As she retains her titular rank, such a regulation seems absurd, but it undoubtedly exists, and until it is altered must be conformed to. Knights Grand Cross and Knights Commanders, as also Knights Bachelors, use the open affronté helmet of a knight. Companions of any order, and members of those orders which do not confer any precedence or title of knighthood, use only the close profile helmet of a gentleman. A Knight Bachelor, of course, is at liberty to impale the arms of his wife upon his escutcheon without employing the double form. It only makes the use of the double escutcheon for Knights of Orders the more incomprehensible. Reference should also be made to the subject of impalement, which will be found in the chapter upon Marshalling. This page was last edited on 4 February 2017, at 08:46.

2019-04-23T02:40:13Z

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_Complete_Guide_to_Heraldry/Chapter_34

Vienna the capital of Austria was our first stop on the Epic trip to Central Europe. Vienna City has some of the magnificent palaces, churches and plenty of museums. While this post covers the top places to visit in 48 hours you definitely need a couple of days more if you are going to visit each and every major Vienna points of interest. The S7 train on S Bahn which covers the route from the airport to the city center is a cheaper option but time-consuming for the more stops it makes. There are trains every 30 minutes. The other option pricey but the fastest way to travel to the city center is CAT (City Airport Train). The CATs also run every 30 minutes. There are also regional buses connecting Vienna Airport with the main bus stations of the Vienna City. We had booked the hotel “Novum Hotel Congress Wien am Hauptbahnhof” which is right across the street from the Vienna main railway station which made the commutating from airport to hotel and to the city center much easier and convenient. The room though small had a spacious bathroom equipped with basic toiletries and 24 hours hot water. The hotel also has 24 services at the reception. Check Availability and the Latest Prices on Booking.com for Novum Hotel Congress. The major Vienna attractions are spread across the city and cannot be covered on foot. That said the city has a very good public transport system which cmakes exploring every part of the city very convenient and easy. We wish we were aware of this before visiting Vienna. In a haste, we booked hop on Hop off bus tour which wasn’t a good idea. The city center attractions (around the Hofburg Palace) had to be explored on foot as the bus does not go everywhere. We needed transport only a couple times for which the public transport could have sufficed very well. And then the time constraint, the hop on hop off buses ended by 5.30 when we had to end our sightseeing and even couldn’t take the bus to return to our hotel. Tip: If you had enjoyed riding the old trams in Lisbon then you should not miss a ride on the old trams of the Vienna City equipped with wooden seats and old ticket machines for one of its kind of experience. The Belvedere Palace complex built as a summer residence for Prince Eugene of Savoy comprises of two Baroque buildings the Upper and Lower Belvedere set in a Baroque landscape garden. The Upper Belvedere houses the permanent display of Austrian art masterpieces from the Middle Ages to the present including work of international artists such as Claude Monet of Giverny, Vincent van Gogh, and Max Beckmann. The Lower Belvedere and the former Orangery is a venue for temporary exhibitions. You can book your tickets online here. Karlskirche is baroque church located near the prominent town square ‘Karlsplatz’. The church is dedicated to the 16th-century counter-reformer St Charles Borromeo. The church has an impressive baroque edifice topped by a copper cupola with the most interesting feature being the two columns modeled after the Trajan Column of Roman Forum in Rome. A spiral relief on the life of St. Charles Borromeo adorn the columns. The interior is decorated with rich frescoes and paintings inside the dome and the side chapels. The church is also a popular venue for regular concerts. There is an entrance fee to access the church. You can check the entrance fee and open times here. The Naschmarkt is a bustling 16th-century market in Vienna just 5 minutes walk from Karlskirche. The market popular with locals as well as tourists sell everything from fresh vegetables and fruits to spices, herbs, cheese, bread, meat, and clothes from over 100 stands. The market also has numerous small restaurants serving traditional Viennese food. Every Saturday a flea market takes place alongside the usual market. We, unfortunately, missed this wonderful market for we visited on Austrian National Day which falls on 26th October every year when most of the places including the Naschmarkt is closed. The market is also closed on Sundays. We walked through the Karlplatz Station to the other side which opened up to the Vienna Opera. The Ring Road is a boulevard circling the historic Vienna Old Town and stands on the location of the former medieval city walls. Several prominent buildings featuring different architectural styles of Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque stand along this road including the Vienna State Opera, Vienna City Hall, Burgtheater, and Parliament building. One can wander along the road or choose to ride the Ringstrasse tram that covers this route. The Renaissance style Vienna State Opera opened in 1869 is one of the first buildings to stand on the Vienna Ringstrasse and one of the busiest opera houses in the world with 350 performances of operas and ballets every season. The Vienna State Opera is also open to children with regular children performances organized in a special theatre on the roof. The visitors can take a guided tour of the building offered in German, English, and Spanish languages and walk through the history and facts of the Opera building. Tip: When you are here you may want to taste the famous Vienna Sachertorte at the Hotel Sacher which is 5 mins walk from Opera and is said to serve the original delicacy. Walking further from here towards the old town the streets are lined with cafes and restaurants with most of them having outdoor seatings. You can take a break and try some delicious patisseries and desserts. We came across this beautiful Baroque fountain in the old town called Donnerbrunnen located in the Neuer Markt Square. Providentia, the allegory of foresight or good government stands in the middle of the fountain surrounded by four allegorical figures representing rivers while the base is decorated with four putti with water-spewing fish. The St Stephens Church dominating the Stephansplatz is an imposing church featuring Romanesque and Gothic architectural styles. The facade is flanked by two towers which can be reached via 343 steps for a wonderful view of the city. The striking feature of the church is its roof decorated with colorful glazed tiles which depict the double-headed eagle symbolic of the Habsburg dynasty and the coat of arms of the city of Vienna. The church interior is home to resting place of several important people like Prince Eugene of Savoy, Emperor Friedrich III in a glorious sarcophagus and Habsburg Duke Rudolph IV. One can also tour the catacombs in the basement of the cathedral which is said to hold the remains of 11000 people. The church is also one of the top concert venues in Vienna. The Baroque Roman Catholic parish church of Peterskirche or the St. Peter’s Church looks like its squeezed between the surrounding buildings. The Peterskirche is the oldest church building dating back to early middle ages. The church has a large copper dome flanked by two bell towers and is said to be inspired by the St. Peter’s Basilica of the Vatican City. The church with austere looking exterior has a rich interior with beautifully sculpted pews, frescoes, and the Baroque pulpit. The church shares its Neoclassical style facade with the surrounding building is not noticed immediately if not for its towering spire dominating the skyline. The Romanesque Church of St. Michael’s is one of the oldest churches and is dedicated to the Archangel Michael. The church is located in Michaelerplatz opposite the Hofburg Palace. The interior is decorated with rich 15th-century frescoes and one of the major Baroque work the impressive stucco work with alabaster Rococo sculpture ‘Fall of the Angels’. The large crypt located underneath the church holds 4000 corpses including mummified corpses in a well-preserved state in coffins decorated with fineries, flowers, and paintings. In between the church and the gate of the Hofburg Palace is a small excavation site where archeologists uncovered the remains of a Roman settlement which can be viewed from glass covering. Cafe Demel located close to the Hofburg Palace is a popular pastry shop established in 1786. Before you start touring the imperial palace of Hofburg you can take a break and spend some time relishing some delicious pastries and cakes. As we had visited on the Austrian National Day the Heldenplatz, the square opposite the Hofburg Palace was jam packed with locals, tourists and the soldiers with several activities going on. It was even difficult to walk through the crowd. We decided to have a look here later and first visit the Hofburg Palace museum which was luckily open. The Hofburg Palace built in the 13th century is the former imperial palace of the Habsburg dynasty rulers and today serves as the seat of the President of Austria. The Hofburg Palace houses several outstanding museums which offer insight into the history and culture of the Habsburgs. Explore the mysterious life of Empress Elisabeth through her personal possessions at display in Sisi Museum, the Imperial Apartments walks you through the lavish way of life of the Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth and the Silver Collection has a huge collection of silverware, centerpieces including valuable porcelain and crystal glasses offering insight into the dining culture of the Habsburgs. The Sisi Museum, Imperial Apartments, and Imperial Silver Collection can be visited with a single ticket which includes an audio guide. Opening times for Sisi Museum, the Imperial Apartments and the Silver Collection. Also must visit are the Spanish Riding School, the tour offers its visitors with a unique experience of watching the Lipizzan horses performing their daily exercises every morning in the beautiful Baroque riding hall and the Imperial Treasury displays an awe-inspiring collection of crown jewels and precious stones in the ‘Secular Collection’ and religious treasures in the ‘Ecclesiastical Collection’. You can end your Day 1 with a classical concert at the Vienna State Opera. Note that covering both Belvedere Palace and Hofburg Palace on a single day with this itinerary may not be possible, in that case, you may need to choose one of them. We were very much intrigued by the life of Sisi and hence Hofburg Palace had to be on our list of places to visit in Vienna. Cafe Central is a traditional Viennese cafe opened in 1876 serving Viennese specialties, traditional coffee, and patisseries in a grandiose interior. Start your day with a hot cup of coffee or some scrumptious cakes in Cafe Central. The Burgtheater is the Austrian National Theatre and one of the most important German language theatres in the world. The guided tour of the Burgtheatre lets you experience the splendor of the grand staircases, grandiose interior decorated with rich ceiling paintings, fine sculptures of notable poets and the portraits of famous ensemble members in the ‘Gallery of Honor’. Guided tours of the interior that last for about 50 minutes takes place at 3 pm every day. The tours are offered in German and English languages daily in July and August. From September to June the tours are offered in German and English only from Friday, Saturday, Sunday and holidays. From Monday-Thursday tours are in German with summary in English. Vienna City Hall is a Neo-Gothic style building completed in 1883 and serves as the seat of local government and office of the mayor. The richly decorated facade reminds us of the magnificent town hall of Brussels. The building was designed by Friedrich von Schmidt, who has also been the architecture of Vaduz Cathedral in Liechtenstein. The Vienna City Hall is a popular venue for numerous events are held throughout the year including Advent Market selling traditional handicrafts and the skating rink from January to March. Guided tours of the City Hall are available on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 1.00 pm. The Votivkirche is a Gothic cathedral located on the Ringstraße some 10 minutes walk from the City Hall. The magnificent church with three gabled portals and two spires flanking the facade dominates the Vienna City skyline. The Austrian Parliament Building located on the Ringstraße boulevard is the seat of the two houses of the Austrian Parliament. Guided tours of the Austrian Parliament are offered in both English and German language.The grandiose Greek Revival style building is decorated with numerous statues of Greek Gods, paintings, Doric, Ionic and Corinthian pillars, and Pompei-style stucco is designed in the style of ancient Greece. The main entrance at the portico at the least is modeled after the gate of the Erechtheion on the Acropolis of Athens. One of the famous features of the parliament building is the imposing Pallas Athena Fountain located in front of the parliament main entrance. The fountain is decorated with allegorical representations of the four most important rivers Danube, Inn, Elbe, and Vltava of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the foot of Athena and little cupids riding dolphins. The Museumsquartier is located across the street from the Heldenplatz and comprises of numerous important museums housed in Baroque as well as Modern buildings. Apart from museums the Museumsquartier also has several restaurants and cafes which makes it a great meeting place. Museumsquartier also hosts several events and festivals. The Hundertwasserhaus is an apartment house in Vienna designed by prominent painter Friedensreich Hundertwasser and draws visitors for its colorfully decorated facade and unusual architecture. Though one cannot visit the inside of Hundertwasser Haus you can definitely visit the Hundertwasser Village close by which has numerous bars and shops and designed on the same lines of Hundertwasserhaus. You can also visit KunstHausWien Museum which has a permanent exhibition for the works of Friedensreich Hundertwasser. The Schonbrunn Palace was the summer residence of the Habsburg as the Hofsburg was the winter residence. The Baroque palace has 1441 rooms most of which can be explored on two different tours. Experience the splendor of Habsburg on the Imperial Tour that walks you through the 22 rooms where you can visit the apartments of Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Elisabeth and other Rococo staterooms in less than an hour. The Grand tour is an extension of the Imperial tours which walks through 40 rooms which along with the apartments of Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Elisabeth and other Rococo staterooms also includes a visit to the Feketin Room, Gobelin Salon which houses some exquisite Brussels tapestries, and the Vieux-Laque Room. You can prices and tickets here. The Schonbrunn Palace garden is opened to the public since 1779 and is a UNESCO list of World Heritage Site along with the Schonbrunn Palace. The garden is decorated with several fountains, monuments, and statues with the most beautiful feature being the Great Parterre which comprises of 32 sculptures representing deities and virtues. The park is open from 6.30 am in the morning. Though the garden is free to access, the garden attractions like Zoo, the Palm House, Desert House, Orangery Garden all have a separate entrance fee. The Prater is a large public park in Vienna which offers over 250 attractions for kids as well as adults. The popular Vienna landmark the Giant Ferris Wheel is also located in Prater. A ride on the Giant Ferris offers a breathtaking vista of the Danube and the Vienna City. Other attractions include Madame Tussauds, Prater Museum, the Planetarium, adventure activities like indoor skydiving, bungee jumping and much more. Next to the amusement park is the “Green Prater” – an extensive green space with lush trees which makes for a pleasant place for walkers, joggers, and bicyclists. The miniature train Liliputbahn covering more than three miles is a great way to explore this beautiful neighborhood. The church dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi is known by several names like St. Francis of Assisi Church or the Emperor’s Jubilee Church or the Mexico Church and is located in Leopoldstadt close to the Danube. The church with an imposing fairytale architecture is a Basilica-style Catholic church completed in 1910 on occasion of 50th anniversary of the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I. The most beautiful part of the church is the Elisabethkapelle (Elizabeth Chapel) in Art Nouveau-style which has its interior decorated with gold mosaics and marble. Originally built as the part of flood protection system for the city of Vienna the 21 kilometers long Danube island is a popular recreational area for leisurely and sports activities with beach, Water Playground and several restaurants, cafes and clubs. Note: We recommend you head to the Schonbrunn Palace after lunch and later to Prater in the evening. So the tour of Burgtheater, City Hall, and the parliament or the museums in Museum Quarter may not be practical to fit in the first half of the day. So you will have to decide and plan which one of these you would want to include in the itinerary and fits best in the first half of the day. The Sisi Ticket offers a packaged entry to the three imperial Vienna attractions – Vienna Hofburg (includes Imperial Apartments, Sisi Museum, and the Imperial Silver Collection), The Grand Tour of Schonbrunn Palace (includes fast-track admission to Schonbrunn Palace) and the Imperial Furniture Collection of Hofmobiliendepot. The tickets are valid for one year from the date of issue. The Vienna Pass is a city sightseeing card which offers visitors free entry to over 60 top attractions including imperial palaces, art galleries, museums and monuments in Vienna with skip-the-line benefits. The Pass also includes a free guidebook and free Hop On Hop Off bus for the duration of your pass. The Vienna City Card includes free use of public transport, free 24 hours Hop On Hop Off bus, city guided tour and discounted entry to several prominent Vienna attractions. Have you visited Vienna? What is your favorite Vienna point of interest? Is there something we missed and should be on top of the list of places to visit in Vienna? I am lucky to have a friend in Vienna so I have traveled there many times. I love the city best in winter, when it’s all dressed up with the Christmas markets, and in summer, when it’s a pleasure to walk around as the temperature is quite high. I actually love Demel, I have had some really good Sacher Torte there. The Museum’s Quarter is such a nice place to relax and observe the locals. I have spent a considerable part of my life around Vienna, but for one reason or another haven’t had a chance to visit it. Vienna has long been a destination of choice for many and it’s charm, although European, has a certain uniqueness to it. Thanks for such a detailed itinerary and highlighting all the special spots of the city. Some day soon i hope to use it all. Good to know that it is not easy to explore Vienna completely by foot. I am definitely one who loves to just walk around and get lost in a new city. But I am glad to know that Vienna has a great public transportation system so it’s easy to get around. The Naschmarkt totally sounds like me! I absolutely love markets and love seeing all the local products and produce available. Vienna just seem like a delight to visit. I’ve never been but have wanted to visit for years. Like many European cities – such a shame they are so far away from me in New Zealand! I want to see all those beautiful churches and cathedrals, especially St Stephens Church. I absolutely love the architecture! The Naschmarkt sounds amazing too.

2019-04-22T20:59:58Z

https://gobeyondbounds.com/top-things-to-do-in-vienna-in-2-days/

A collage of images from Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. Hello again, fellow BP Contest Enthusiasts! The 15th has rolled around once again, so we can huddle together to await the verdict of The Judges! Dust off the hambone chant, the cocktail shakers, and of course, the variety of chocolate that we rely upon... whatever it takes to get through the waiting, wondering and wishing, until the September Finalists & Winners are published later this month! All are welcome here! One gentle reminder: Please refrain from posting half a dozen of your past entries; ideally, this thread is about sharing that one, really special, excellent, meaningful, or otherwise favorite hopeful image of yours! Best of luck, to all Contestants! 2) If you have NOT YET entered an image into the Contest today, you can use the "Photo ID" to pull a pre-existing image from your Member Center into this thread (avoiding a duplicate image upload.) Obtain the particular Photo ID# from your Member Center. Come to this thread, click Respond, enter the text of your reply, then choose "1" from the images-to-attach drop-down. Click Submit, and on the next screen populate the "Photo ID" box at the far right. No need to fill in any of the other fields on that screen. 3) If you HAVE ALREADY made a Contest entry today, before joining this thread, you can't use the Photo ID method, today. You can either wait until tomorrow to reply here (before your new Contest entry!) or, upload a new copy of the particular image (from your PC) to include in this thread now. This produces a duplicate image in your Member Center; however, you don't have to make that duplicate visible in your Gallery. 4) If you're uploading a duplicate in Step 3, you may wish to title it as "Sept Fav for Forum" so that it stands out in your Member Center, for easier housecleaning later on... Adding "Original displayed in my Gallery" to the text description of the duplicate can help direct viewers who want to comment on your image, to seek the original image in your gallery instead. 5) Likewise, if you see a photo in this thread and want to comment on it, try to tell if it is a duplicate upload first. (Are there any older-dated comments already on it? Does it say "Original displayed in my Gallery"?) As a courtesy, try to find the original image in that person's gallery, and leave your comment there instead of on the duplicate here---that way, if they delete the duplicate a month from now, they don't wipe out any comment history that should really belong with the original entry. 6) Finally, make a record of all your current-month Contest Entries, at each month-end! On the last night of the month, BP resets the "Current Entries" page in your Member Center, to make way for your entries in the new month. Keeping a record of monthly entries makes it easier to determine your favorite image later, when we start this thread next month! Glad it's mid month and back to being able to eat chocolate and drink alchol with an excuse! I had almost an entire month of resubmits, and due to the fact that I was at the BP Summit at the end of the month, I wasn't able to capture which shots I had uploaded last month, so no post for me in this thread. It's that time again....I'll be stopping in to see all the great entries that I missed. Here is my favoirte from the N&L category. F5.6, 1/15, ISO 200, 55mm, tripod, RAW, taken from the boardwalk at Indian Rocks Beach, FL. It rained all day, but the sun finally made a quick appearance. I had a couple favs but will post the one that I am most hoping will win a finalist. This was taken after a day of rain. I figured there wouldn't be a sunset because of the cloud cover, but the sun did make a quick appearance. Great Blue Heron doing what he does best. Chris, Kara, & Les, those are beautiful images! Cant wait to see everyones photos this month. With a little help from Chris, I re-worked this image & submitted for the second time. Thanks Chris! this is a beautiful Sunset!! Be careful of the mushrooms you find in the woods, lol! If you move to and from the photo, it appears to move. This effect was all done in camera using a 20-40 zoom lens with a shutter speed of 1/8 sec, f22 at ISO 100 and too much time on my hands as I was waiting to shoot a mountain bike race. No cropping was done, this is the whole enchilada. Here's mine for the month, entered in the Monthly Theme category. The effect was all done in camera and no cropping was done. Where is this thread listed under the forum? I can't find it in its usual place. How did that happen? How did it become the 15th already? I am so looking forward to seeing everyone's entries. This is such an exciting time, full of promise and hope! Some of my favorites from September didn't make EFP, so I won't even post any of them here. One that DID make an EFP is another resub. The third time was the charm for this photo. Times one and two it was passed over, but this time it received an EFP. I have some high hopes for it! Anyway, my Martini is getting warm, so I'll go ahead and post, then I'll go ahead and toast! Best of luck to everyone, and congrats on making so many fantastic photographs each and every month. I already posted a contest entry today, so I can't use the photo ID number. Furthermore, I don't have an electronic version of that particular photo with me today, so I'll have to just wait and post tomorrow. It certainly is Martini time now! Hey everyone, I can't believe the 15th is already here. I had my birthday on the 12th, but to be honest I was more excited for the 15th then I was for the 12th!! haha, obsessed much? anyway heres my monthly favourite, it didn't get a EFP but I quite like it! Here's my favorite from last month. Good luck everyone! This is a very lovely dreamy photo. I checked out your gallery. Of course Jasy is a doll. Where do you take your beach pictures? I live in SW Florida, some of your beach shots remind me of my area. Very lovely. I'm glad this thread was entered into the wrong section ... I've never seen it before. Here is one of my favorites. Of course I'm a little partial since this is my little guy. A wild sunflower wraps itself around a chain link fence. Thanks Mary :-) All were taken at Sullivan's Island in South Carolina. Chris I still have my fingers crossed for "30 seconds luck". 1/80 @ F4.5, 70mm, ISO 100. Shot outside the Uffizi in Florence on the way to see The Mind of Leonardo. chrisbudny.com Susan, I kinda forgot about 30 Seconds! Perhaps I didn't want to "jinx" it by risking it here in the thread! hehehe... but yes, my fingers are certainly crossed for that one, too. Great images showing up here, folks! I always love seeing what I missed, during the past month! My fav. entry for Sept. Good luck everyone. I've got my hopes on two of them. Here they are! Everyone else is looking great too!! Just kidding the HTML didn't work. You'll have to check my gallery for Bee and Moth. Hello all and thanks for showing me all those wonderful pictures! Some of which I have already seen, admired and commented on, and some of which are new amazing experiences. Good luck with them! My personal favorite is from a Saturday morning when I was having a lot of fun in my kitchen...I hope you enjoy it! Starting with a cup of coffee...wine and chocolate will be saved for later today! I shot these cone flowers with a relatively shallow depth of field and then used various filters (radial blur, liquify, Gaussian blur) to increase and change the quality of the background blur. Originally uploaded the first week in September, I decided the photo needed a boost so I pulled it, increased the saturation and intensity of the color, and am resubmitting it in the Monthly Theme. Good luck to everyone and thanks for sharing your photos and your thoughts. I was on a drive through the woods on a wonderfully rainy day when this leaf tumbled onto my car's hood. I had to pull over and make a photo before it blew away. Having the trees reflected was a happy bonus. Hello again! Like I said before, there are so many fantastic photos in this thread every month, and this month is certainly no exception! As promised, here's my re-sub entry for the thread. I was so surprised when Chris emailed me yesterday to tell me it was the 15th. I can not believe how fast time flies! One of my favorites is of a wind blown leaf stuck in a chain link fence. It is a resubmit. I originally entered it back on January 16, 2006. I sometimes like to wait a while for the judges to forget a pic before resubmitting ;). Anyway, maybe this time it will get a silver or a gold...oh wait a minute, it has a gold button :o)! Chris, just discovered this cool thread! September was a dismal month for me. If I even get a finalist, my guess would be for this one! Good luck everyone! But I'm glad my mistake brought you first-timers into the fold! Best of luck, to everyone! Les--you're on to me, LOL! And Chris, there is ALWAYS something to be said for happy accidents! Some of the best photos have been the result of a "mistake!" Hi Gang! I think September was a tough month for us all where EFP's were concerned. As usual the competition is tough but I still have so much fun shooting no matter what the outcome here. Here are two of my fav's for September. Guess what?!?! I remembered a shot that I entered last month. My mind still works...sometimes. Here it is. Susan's Gallery Here, here Tamera! I'm enjoying BP more than I ever did because of participating in the discussions :) I really am thinking this thread is the coolest, seeing what everyone's favorite is! Gabrielle, my daughter. One of the loves of my life. ISO 1600, 1/13, 5.6, 55.0 mm, taken on 8-16-07 in early afternoon. Original in color but converted to black and white in photoshop. This is my first time particpiating in this thread or even forum. I have been enjoying seeing everyone's wonderful pictures that they are hoping to see go on. They are all beautiful and great, and hope to one day be able to take photos like all of yours. This is my favorite picture for September and hope to see it go on. I have another one too, called Flower Blur that I hope to see go on as well. Good luck everyone!!! This is actually one of my favorites that I have taken. I was just out playing around with my camera with some black and white settings on my farm and came up with this. I'm a huge fan of this thread and love seeing everyone's favorite images each month. This is my first time to try participating. I'd hate to jinx my image, but I'm really pulling for this shot of my son. It's one of my all-time favorite shots of him. Good luck to everyone! And, thanks to Chris for hosting this fabulous thread each month! Hi everyone! There are some fantastic photos posted here, as usual. I have ever gotten a finalist in the people category, but this is one of my favorites for this month. Revisiting one of my favorite images of Evan - this time in BW. Thank you to Jennifer Alder for the idea -and for believing in this image like I do! Okay, going to try this one more time. I haven't entered the contest yet today, so hopefully this will work. Here's my favorite from September! Good luck to everyone with their favorites as well!! FABULOUS photos, everybody! Seeing all your Sept faves has put a smile on my face tonight. I have to take a moment to choose my favorite from last month, but I just wanted to pop in and say good luck to all! Friday night action from "the biggest little football town in the world", aka Maiden, NC. Too many wonderful images in September to count. I especially like the sunset by Carol. Beautiful image, makes me wish I was there. Anyway, here's one of mine for September. I have a thing for sports photography. poorly lit high school football fields offer challenges, but it's fun trying to get that perfect shot. Resubmitted into the correct caregory! Winner of the Photogroup 101 Celine Dion song theme. While my husband was holding our baby daughter I was struck by the contrast of her new skin on his rough, scarred hand. I was wondering what happened to you Chris...haven't seen you on 101 for a while and I couldn't find this thread! I didn't get much done in September, so my favorite is a resub from the 101 song title theme day. Better hopes for October! Hi everybody, LOTS of great photos here. I wish everybody the BEST of luck!!! Here is one of my favorites, had a very hard time deciding which, so will just post this this one. These are my neighbors son's female puppies. They are a boxer and lab mix, 12 weeks old. They were actually playing not dancing lol! Comment's welcome and have a GREAT DAY! Thanks Frank for help with the title! A BIG congrat's to all the finalist and winner's and to everyone else, you ARE ALL WINNER'S to me! 9/13/07 7:33:18pm, 1/60sec, 12.80 aperture, 33.00mm, ISO 140, flash fired, sports mode. Changed background to black, dreamy filter zoom no color, no blur, around 35% blend, applied image darken to origianl a tad. My other favorite is my Charrrrrrge. Colors enhanced and slight use of the underpainting filter. I stopped by to wish all of you the BEST OF LUCK!!! Your work is both beautiful and inspirational!!! Here is one of my favorites for September, entered into the Digital Darkroom category. I wanted to wish everyone good luck in catching the judge's eye. This was one among a series I took one special morning on the Santa Barbara breakwater. Just wanted to wish the other members good luck in catching the judge's eye with their submissions. chrisbudny.com hi folks! I had to write tonite cuz my sis has a new iPhone and I am actually composing this at a great bar in NYC ... I am such a geek!! Good luck to all of you !!!!! Best of luck to all of you for September contest results! Here is my favourite photo. This was my first photo on this site! Nikki's Gallery It's lovely, Anil--the pink tones are so fresh and the light is very nice. Congrats on your Editor's Picks button. Good luck to you and to everyone else who has shared their wonderful entries--there's so much variety and I love seeing everyone's work. Shouldn't be too many days now. This was my entry into the Sept M.T. Panned on a high school receiver running for touchdown but thought it looked better with some PS artistic filters. For the PG101 Meatloaf Song Title Theme. Swiss chocolate photographed with Canon 100 mm macro lense, ISO-100, f/9, 0.6 s, natural light, diffusor, reflector, tripod. Curves, saturation, clone, burn, crop and sharpen in PS7. 1st Place D&M Feb 2008. Well - it is getting closer...and the nerves need something to calm down. How about some Swiss chocolate for that purpose? Have a bite, try to relax, enjoy - good luck everyone! I'm unable to upload at this time, so I'll have to jump in next month! In the meantime, I'll have one (or maybe two...) of those yummy chocolates!! Swiss is my all time favorite! Great horned owl in front of redwood tree, California. Getting anxious here ... drinking some nice California Sauvignon Blanc to pass the time (from the winery where my husband works, so we get it cheap, lol). I'm not very confident about my September entries--it's so hard to know what the judges will like anymore--so I'm just uploading one that's a little different for me. Well, I didn't enter too many for September, due to a new camera (and still learning how to work it), but here are 2 of my favorites. Effect done with camera. Nothing done in post processing asides from resizing. and here's the 2nd one. I sure wish it had been today! I know they have put them out lots on the 24th, but they just don't seem to like Wed as a day for announcing them. Now because I am on the East Coast, it will probably be around 5:00-6:00pm before I know! I never mind the wait until it gets to the last of the month...then I am like ready to know. Once it gets around the 23rd, I start checking my email frequently! Now Cheri, for that drink, mix me a double of something good! Something with rum sounds good. :) I just had my chocolate for the evening, a chocolate brownie. Popping into the party a bit late this time around. Lots of great shots here once again. Good luck everyone. Here is my choice for the month. I've already downed a great dirty martini, and a wonderful glass of red (my aunt & uncle are quite hospitable hosts; remind me to visit frequently!) so I'm more than prepped to handle another day's wait, as it seems will be the case...! chrisbudny.com Colleen; make a normal vodka martini, and pour into the shaker a sufficient amount of the brine ("olive juice" liquid) from the jar of green olives. The more brine, the dirtier the martini, but it can get overpowering, so go lightly at first, until you know your taste. Shake, shake, shake. Then garnish with 3 (or more) olives. I love olives. :) I prefer the Musco Family brand Spanish Queen olives (stuffed with pimento) not the wimpy little manzanillas. Tonite's dirty martini was further compounded by using anchovy-stuffed olives... :) Homemade bleu cheese-stuffed olives are also excellent. There they are! I got one, but not on the one I expected, my first finalist I'm so excited! Congrats to finalists and non-finalists alike there were some great photos this time out as always! I can't believe it but the finalists just came out at 10:52 Eastern time! I have never seen them come out so late! None for my fav...I think I jinx it when I post my fav. However, I did get one on my 2nd favorite An Evening Walk and one on my white egret. What a surprise! This thread must be my lucky charm! My favorite made the finalists - whoo hooo!!! Congrats to all the finalists!!! I'm a happy girl tonight!! I forgot to say congrats to everyone, those with finalists and those who didn't get one this time, just keep shooting and resubmitting! My streak has finally broke. I hadn't had a finalist since December of last year. I'm very happy to say...I got one. I'm thrilled! I knew something was up when I saw so many responses to the thread. Congrats to all you finalists! Two here...and one was my fav, so that's pretty cool. Congrats everyone! Good luck in the next round! One here! divinelovephotography.com How funny, with all the talk of alcohol and chocolate I ran to the store. As soon as I left the finalist were announced!!! It seems that's what happened last month too. Anyway, a big congratulations to all of you!!! Best of luck in the next round. I am thrilled to have 3 finalists!!! It has been rough here in Southern California with all the fires, smoke and ashes! I hope you are all safe!!! Chris, I can't wait to try your dirty martini recipe. I'll be lifting my glass to all the contest entrants--way to go, everybody, and keep on shooting! sherry-adkins-photography.com Congrats to everyone. The fav that I posted here got a finalist. I'm sure glad the finalists were announced today.....with Halloween just around the corner, there is way too much chocolate in my house! Congratulations to all finalists! And Best Of Luck for final results. Congratulations to all finalists and good luck next! I got two, and those were my favorites, so I am very happy! Still happy, as I received 4 finalist this month. Congratulations to all who received a finalist and the best of luck to you in the next round! Nikki's Gallery I am very pleased that my favorite was noticed. Congratulations to everyone else who managed one or more finalists--way fewer percentage wise this time than usual! As Colleen says, just keep on keepin' on--love seeing ALL the images every day. Congratulations, to the Finalists here! Nikki's right---only 1.7% of the entries made it to Finalist. I have all my monthly BP history stats at home, but I believe that is the lowest percentage I've seen, in 2 years! So to garner a Finalist this month really is something special! I got off the computer last night thinking that the Finalists would be released sometime Thursday. Was happily surprised to find out this morning that "Dear John" got a finalist medal! My two favorites didn't make it... but I really like the one that did! Susan's Gallery I was right on about my Sept, no finalists :( But I am so pleased at the ones I saw that did. Congratulations everyone! Big Congratulations to all the finalists!!!! WTG!! I received 2 -- yayy!!! Now how about a round of chocolate martinis to cheer on the next round?!! Kerby's Gallery Congratulations to all the finalists. I been on vacation and just got home but I got a finalist which was a nice treat. It is Keshia in a swing. Place finnish and to Susan for her 2 Second Place finishes and to anyone else I missed who participated in this thread who made it through the finalist stage. Congratulations go out to Christopher for his First Place finnish and to Susan for her 2 Second Place finnishes and to anyone else on this thread who made it through the finalist round that I mistakenly missed. Everyone, good luck on next month's contest. Way to go, Susan and Chris! Oops, I see I missed Les Rhoades..... Congratualtions on your 2nd Place. Yes, congrats to all you gold winners, particularly our host, Chris! Again, I missed Donna Pagaskis who had 2 2nd Place finnishes this month. Kudos Donna. Nikki's Gallery Special congratulations to everyone who picked up a winner's button for September--just browsed all of them quickly and there are amazing photos among them. And I think I saw two gold buttons for you, David O? One on the image you posted here and another on a wave with a surfer. Great job!! Thanks Nikki. Nope, the one I posted here didn't even make it to the finalist stage even though I do like it better than the one that went further. Go Figure. But I am quite thrilled about getting a 1st place this month. I didn't expect it. I'm going to try to get to everybody's gallery, but if I don't, congratulations to all the winners!! See you all next month! Congratulations David, Les and Donna for your two wins. Congrats to everyone else for their finalists and wins!!! I was VERY lucky and received 3 wins. chrisbudny.com Let me add my Congratulations to everyone's great imagery! This is my first-ever First Place, and I was surprised at how strongly I reacted---I thought I'd "mellowed" in two years on BP, to not getting flustered over a win---WRONG! I'm still beaming, and had to make 4 phone calls tonite to tell people! And, it was a resubmitted image (no rework, just a plain resubmit from inside my gallery)---so don't give up on the images you believe in! Don't forget, we'll do this thread again, around 11/15, for the October results... (I promise to try and put the thread in the right place, next time!) Also, be sure to make some kind of record of your OCT. entries by 10/31, before BP clears your "Contest Entries" page---so you'll remember what your favorite was, for the 11/15 thread! divinelovephotography.com Congratulations to all of you!! Thanks for the well wishes. My winning images were also resubmits, just entered into a different category. It's the first time I have ever won twice in one month, so that is very special for me. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!! You are all such an inspiration!! Keep up the great work!!! sherry-adkins-photography.com Congrats to all winners! I will try to make it to all the winner's galleries, but if I don't or miss someone, a big congrats to you. And as far as resubmits, I resubmitted one this month that was completely overlooked before and this month got an EFP. SO if you believe in an image, resubmit it! MARYIACOFANO.COM Congratulations to all the winners !! Beautiful images! When I get home next week I will be able to view all of them. Susan's Gallery Congrats to everyone on their wins! Glad to see so many from this thread! Sorry Susan. 3 wins..... Great job. Kerby's Gallery A Big Congratulations to all the Sept. winners.

2019-04-26T10:28:49Z

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We’ve been to Bar La Grassa a handful of times. It is one of my favorite places to go out to share a special meal. Why? I am universally pleased by fresh pasta and that, combined with Bar La Grassa’s bustling atmosphere makes for an enjoyable dining experience. When it is just the two of us, we usually choose to sit side-by-side at the long counter that separates the kitchen’s front line from the central dining room. An open-kitchen in a nice restaurant is no longer uncommon, but spending the meal perched directly at eye-level with the kitchen staff in the midst of busy preparation makes for a fascinating, voyeuristic experience for a diner who is interested in the process behind the product. To me, the front-row vantage point is a marvel. There is constant, well-choreographed motion. Each person moves though the rhythms of their kitchen duties with the calm agility that comes from practice and repetition. This kitchen’s output is impressively efficient and quite tasty. Bjorn has occasionally ventured into somewhat adventurous territory, ordering the braised rabbit and sweetbreads that make their way on to the menu. Tonight, we decided to share a few small plates, so he stuck to the meat-free options. Everyone and their brother crows from the rooftops over the Lobster and Soft Egg Bruschetta at Bar La Grassa. I have no doubt that its is amazing. I’ve found that the other somewhat uniquely topped bruschettas are also fun to try. We sampled the Gorgonzola Picante Bruschetta with Peperonata. The thick slices of bread, grilled before our very eyes are rustic and ample, and the slight char is lovely. For once, a bruschetta that has enough bread to hold its toppings! It’s the little things in life, isn’t’ it? Our second pasta selection, from the “filled pastas” category on the menu was the Mushroom and Tallegio Agnolotti. We both liked this dish though by the end, I thought the mushrooms were over-salted. The wrapped-candy-shaped Agnolotti were tender and filled with a perfectly lovely Tallegio. This was Bjorn’s favorite dish of the meal. One of the feats Bar La Grassa has somehow managed to accomplish is to be at once swanky and unpretentious. To me, this is the perfect combination of characteristics for a restaurant in the Minnie Apple, the hip-n-homey heart of the Midwest. The the restaurant has the typical “see and be seen” vibe of an upscale restaurant yet the hosts are welcoming and always find us a place even when the median fashion sense of the restaurant’s clientele eclipses ours. I have, in fact, seen and said a quick “hello” to Minneapolis food personality, Andrew Zimmern during a previous visit with Bjorn and my mother. In contrast to the overall swankiness, I’ve dined next to a couple decked out in Minnesota Golden Gopher gear from head to toe. The highfalutin to homespun contrast also comes through in the restaurants serving ware. If you are looking at your plate, you might think you are dining in the humble kitchen of an Italian Grandmother rather than the spacious dining room of Isaac Becker, a James Beard Award-winning chef. All the food comes out on heavy, standard-issue restaurantware plates with all varieties of patterns. There is also the pleasant contrast between the kitchen’s credentials to price. The head chef and the restaurant have received plenty of accolades, however, it is possible to have an appetizer, a few small plates and a few glasses of wine or beer and dessert, and still spend under one hundred bucks. And to leave totally satisfied. We don’t often order dessert, but because of sharing small plates, we still had room. We selected the luscious, Dark Chocolate Pot de Crème with a Hazelnut Nougatine which was a magnificent finish to our meal. I love the fact that it was served in a little canning jar. I stole this idea from Wise Acre Eatery and used it all summer to serve individual portions of salad and condiments. I loved the Pot de Crème. What a treat. We have found that Bar La Grassa consistently offers a solid Italian dining experience. Bar La Grassa’s execution and noble parentage thoughtfully contrasts with its “room at the counter” welcome and good value. Given the opportunity to gawk into a high-end kitchen while dining from a menu curated by a James Beard award-winning chef, will we go back? You betcha. *For the record, I used my phone without flash to capture these quick shots, so they are a little lower in quality, but I’m not going to be that person who totally irritates her dinner date and other guest by noticeably photographing her meal. But really, who isn’t documenting absolutely everything these days? If Adam Roberts from Amateur Gourmet does it, why can’t I? I’m crazy about growing-my-own-everything in my backyard and making bread, pasta, cheese and beer from scratch. I follow approximately 40 food blogs [and counting…], I’ve spoken to Anthony Bordain* and I’ve introduced myself to Andrew Zimmern. Cookbooks by Brenda Langton, Sophie Dahl and Ina Garden frequently show up on my cookbook stand. Even so, this post could do away with any possibility of earning recipe-developer cred or gaining respect as a highfalutin foodie. I’m sharing a recipe that is based on my favorite dish at Noodles and Company. Noodles and Co.?! Yes. So what? I did my best rendition of Noodles and Company Pesto Cavatappi and it was totally delish. To make this dish, I started by roasting tomatoes and making a batch of basil pesto. These are two steps that you can complete in advance since you can store both pesto and roasted tomatoes covered in olive oil in the fridge for a few days for use in multiple dishes. If you roasted a bunch of tomatoes based on the recipe I posted last week, this dish is an excellent way to use the leftovers. Please refer to my method for making wonderful Basil Pesto and Roasted Tomatoes recipes in the linked posts. It takes an hour to roast tomatoes, so if you haven’t done that in advance, start there first. FYI, Noodles and Co. doesn’t use roasted tomatoes, so roasting the tomatoes is optional for this recipe. I think roasting the tomatoes is worth the effort. Shriveled, roasted tomatoes make their presence known in the dish with a sweet, concentrated tomato flavor. They also contain less liquid to dilute the basil-y, Parmesan cheese-y, garlic-y goodness of the pesto. If you’d rather, you can simply add grape tomatoes to the sauté pan (more on that in a minute), and sauté the ripe red beauties until they are softened and bursting, and adjust the amount of pasta water you use to thin the pesto to avoid having a runny sauce. Pesto Cavatappi in the style of Noodles and Company — 1 hour total time, 30 minutes active time, serves 4 — easily doubled. Once you have made basil pesto and roasted tomatoes, the recipe is very simple and comes together quickly. Cook half a box of curly cavatappi noodles in salted water according to the package directions to a little less than done. At the same time, mince and sauté two cloves of garlic and 8 ounces of sliced, clean, button or cremini mushrooms in a little olive oil. If you are not using roasted tomatoes, you can add a few handfuls of grape tomatoes during this step. I think a minced, sautéed shallot would also fit the flavor profile. Once the veggies are mostly cooked, you can add a splash of white wine to the hot pan to develop flavor and get all of the good cooked bits off the pan–I didn’t bother with this, even though the official Noodles and Co. Cavatappi claims to contain white wine. Its presence or absence is not noteworthy. When the noodles are nearly cooked, drain them, reserving some pasta water. Next, toss the noodles, pesto and sautéed veggies together in the sauté pan, and stir gently. If you are using roasted tomatoes, they should be added at this point. I also added two big handfuls of baby spinach, which is not in the Noodles version of this dish, but is a tasty, healthful addition to this meal. I added a little of the pasta water to thin the pesto and to allow the Parmesan cheese in the pesto to melt. When everything is covered in a light coating of green and the spinach has begun to wilt, add a touch of milk, half and half or cream and stir until incorporated. I served my pesto cavatappi topped with a little grated Parmesan cheese. To really bring the Noodles and Company flavor home, you can also sprinkle on a little chopped Italian flat leafed parsley. I did not. There is so much flavor in the verdant pesto, and the sweet tomatoes which are roasted with garlic and thyme and layers of garlic flavour from each component of this dish I didn’t think more herbs were needed. To truly capture the Noodles and Company Pesto Cavatappi, add a little parsley, finely chopped. While making this meal I realized that having luscious pasta available as fast food can be bad for your health. As much as I enjoy Noodles and Co. now and then, I know what makes it taste so good: olive oil, cheese and cream, [or half & half or milk if you use my recipe]. That stuff should be reserved for extra special meals. I think it is wonderful pasta to enjoy occasionally. Just don’t start going to Noodles and Company, ordering Pesto Cavatappi and thinking that’s everyday food unless you are an Olympic swimmer, marathoner, or someone else with extreme calorie needs. This recipe is fit for a special meal, or if it is just an average Tuesday, served in a smaller portion alongside a salad. Our Pesto Cavatappi was really tasty, and even with my tweaks to the ingredient list it was a lot like Noodles and Company, but better, because it was lovingly made at home. *Alright, I’ll be straight. I asked Anthony Bordain a question in a Q&A session when he was in Minneapolis on a speaking tour. My question was about the John Spencer Blues Explosion song which is the theme song to his show on the Travel Channel. He kind of blew off the question and failed to answer which I’ve interpreted in several ways that all cast doubt on his self-proclaimed interest in awesome music. We’re celebrating our 3rd anniversary today. It is fun to look back on our wedding day which was such a perfect, awesome and fun-filled kick-off to our married life. We worked hard to fill the day with thought and meaning. We were surrounded by awesome family and friends who traveled far and wide. It turned out to be one of the greatest days–special from start to finish. It was pretty much perfect–except for my bangs in the above picture… not sure what happened there. What has followed has been wonderful. Married life is a fun adventure! Thank you Bjorn for 3 great years! I am grateful for every day I share with you. A few weeks ago, we found ourselves in Walker, Minnesota for a friend’s wedding. Walker happens to be the town where our wedding reception took place at a historic resort and hotel, Chase on the Lake. With our anniversary approaching Bjorn suggested that we have dinner at Chase to start the celebration early. Good call Bjorn! Our meal was fabulous. We dined on the patio overlooking Walker Bay on beautiful Leech Lake, and had one of the best restaurant meals we’ve had in while. We started with a 2009 Pinot Noir, which has proven to be a good vintage. Bjorn had Surf n’ Turf– a New York Strip steak bathed in herbed butter and served with garlic mashed potatoes, roasted root vegetables and an impressive pile of crab legs. Bjorn cracked into the crab legs with gusto. We learned in Croatia, the only way to approach the shelling of shellfish is with gusto. I had a brightly flavored pesto fettuccine with veggies and a caesar salad. The meal was tasty! We enjoyed being in the place where the celebration began and raising a toast to all the fun we have ahead. Cheers! This is the second in a short series of posts about a few restaurant experiences we’ve had around the Twin Cities in recent months. I read about Cat Man Do a few months ago on a local food blog that I like to visit and knew it was a place we should try. Cat Man Do is a cozy restaurant in our neighborhood that offers authentically prepared Nepali food. Its menu is filled with interesting choices for vegetarians and omnivores alike. We have now eaten there twice, and we enjoyed both meals. After our first visit, I woke up the next day craving another Samosa, a savory pouch stuffed with potatoes and peas, served with a spicy-sweet sauce (not pictured) and considered going to the lunch buffet solely for the purpose of having another one. On our first visit, I tried the Chow Chow noodles with vegetables with medium spice. The noodles were pleasantly spicy, but I wouldn’t be shy about ordering them hot in the future. Bjorn tried Mo Mo, a steamed dumpling, shaped into a little coin purse stuffed with seasoned meat. On our second visit, Bjorn ordered Chow Chow with chicken, and I ordered M.A.P.P. curry with mushroom, asparagus, potato and peas which had a wonderful balance of warming seasonings. On both occasions the dining room was nearly full, about half of the diners were college age and half were couples in their twenties through middle age. This is both a fair representation of the neighbourhood’s residential composition and a testament to the tasty, enjoyable and interesting menu choices, and the reasonable price point at Cat Man Do. Cat Man Do has earned a regular spot on our Saint Paul dining rotation. We enjoy the satisfying, well-seasoned dishes at Cat Man Do. Cat Man Do offers different flavors and preparations than the food we make at home, with results that are no less homey, craveable, and comforting. One rainy Sunday we went out for a drive in North East Minneapolis. We had no particular destination in mind, but we knew dinner would be involved. There are many solid options that we’ve enjoyed in visits to this neighbourhood, Psycho Suzi’s, The Modern Cafe, Northeast Social, Mill City Cafe, The Red Stag, and The Bulldog Northeast are all reliably good. On this particular evening, we ended up at the Sample Room. We’ve driven by many times on our way to listen to music at 331 Club, and finally managed to stop in for a meal. I started by ordering a flight of wine. When it arrived I stopped taking pictures. Oops. The aptly named Sample Room offers small plates of cheese, charcuterie, pasta, salads, meat, seafood and vegetables and a variety of interesting condiments, made in-house. We started by sharing a house salad of mixed greens, aged ricotta, red onion, radish and pepitas with a red wine vinaigrette and a “Pickled Plate” which included pickled egg, an assortment of pickled veggies and mustard. For my “main” I had the fresh fettuccine with wild mushrooms and kale in a sauce of chive crème fraîche, butter and white wine garnished with shaved parmesan and cracked black pepper. I liked the fettuccine, but I didn’t love it. I am pretty spoiled these days when it comes to fresh pasta. Between living down the street from Scusi where you can get a killer fresh pappardelle any night of the week, the wonderful bowl of egg fettuccine with green garlic and grape tomatoes I recently enjoyed at Broder’s Cucina Italiana, and the pretty darned good pastas I’ve been rolling out at home, I have a high bar for fresh pasta. Maybe I’m being too hard on the noodles, the real issue I had with the pasta was the kale. I’m afraid to admit this for fear of losing all of my vegetarian cred, but I’m not sure that I’m sold on kale. Admittedly, I haven’t made much of an effort to fall for this frilly, dark, cabbage-like green. The kale on my fettuccine makes a good example of why I have a hard time jumping on the kale bandwagon — it had a mineraly-metallic taste that almost reminds me of meat. The difficult flavor and texture of kale overpowers whatever feel-good vibes eating this super-nutritious green gives me. In further damage to my vegetarian rep, I feel the same about collards. I’ll stick to spinach, thank you very much. I can’t blame the Sample Room for my personal views on the vegetable in a dish I opted to order, unless they sautéed the kale in a cast iron or aluminum pan which would be the cause of the pervading iron / B Vitamin flavor in the dish. Bjorn had crab cakes and the Bison-Pork-Beef Three Meatloaf with smoked tomato ketchup, which was recently named the “Best Meatloaf in the Twin Cities 2012” by the Citypages. Bjorn liked the meatloaf and as wonderful as it probably is, I cannot believe the Best Meatloaf in the Twin Cities isn’t made by somebody’s mother! My mother’s meatloaf would surely be a contender if she made it in the Twin Cities and I hereby give it an unofficial nomination for Best of the Twin Cities 2013. What is more, I cannot believe “Best of” rankings include meatloaf! It seems like we’re going a little far with that, but I wouldn’t have been shocked if “best bike rack” made the list, so I guess meatloaf deserves its place. The Sample Room gives you the opportunity to sample a variety of their local charcuterie, house-made pickled things, unique condiments and interestingly prepared meats and seafood offerings without committing to a massive portion or price. It is another solid spot to add to the list of reasons that that Northeast Minneapolis is one of our best ‘hoods. Next on our Twin Cities tour is a lunch I had last week by myself at Basil’s, a slick restaurant circa yesteryear in the Marquette Hotel in Minneapolis, overlooking the Crystal Court in the IDS Center. For out-of-towners, the IDS Center is the tallest building in Minnesota, and provides office space to scores of law firms, stockbrokers, venture capital firms and consultants of every ilk. I chose Basil’s blindly, wanting to eat a salad in a calm place where I could write at noon on a Wednesday. I found my way to Basil’s on the third floor taking the elevator in the hotel lobby and requested a table for one. The host honestly seemed a little freaked about my request and spent several minutes nervously scrolling through his computer screen, uttering “uhhhh.” I didn’t know how long this would continue so I interrupted to ask if the restaurant was booked with reservations. He finally took the cue and showed me one of many open two-seater booths, which was in fact, kind of perfect for one person. I chose to sit with my back to the kitchen door, instead of facing it where he had directed me. There were a few more “uuuhs” and he told me to sit on whichever side I felt comfortable sitting. I got the feeling he was maybe a bit uncomfortable with me having lunch by myself. I waited quite a while before my presence was noted by a server. By now, my discomfort was mounting. I looked around the room and realized that the only escape was the elevator bank past the host stand, so there was no turning back on lunch without even more awkwardness. When my waitress arrived, she was warm, experienced and didn’t seem at all bothered to serve a table of one. I quickly ordered and enjoyed a few stolen moments of quiet to do my own thing. Soon my Grilled Caesar salad arrived. It was no more or less exciting than I expected, but it was totally good, and I immediately felt better about lunch. I have noticed that nicer Italian restaurants are now grilling a head of romaine lettuce, and serving it whole in a deconstructed Caesar salad, rather than chopped or torn, with all elements combined. Nowadays, said Caesar salad is probably going to arrive with either a whole anchovy, perhaps some chopped kalamata olives or some crunchy, lacy, toasted Parmesan cheese and an artistic crouton somewhere on the plate. Maybe grilled romaine is standard everywhere else, but, it is my position that it is a newer offering in Minnesota. I surmise that serving the lettuce grilled and the salad deconstructed challenges diners and adds enough interesting possibilities for presentation and accoutrements to allow the chef to keep the ubiquitous Caesar salad on the menu without feeling like they’ve given up on their dreams. Basil’s and the grilled Caesar are both trying to be fresh. The grilled salad did so more convincingly than the aging power-lunch spot — an out-of-step microcosm in the surreal universe of the IDS Center — where silver-haired suits hesitantly broker the passage of a torch forged of intensely-burned midnight-oil during long absences from home in the western ‘burbs to smartly be-spectacled nouveau-yuppies in short trousers and argyle socks poised to board a bicycle bound for South Minne at 5:01 p.m. Me? I just wandered here looking for a salad and to seize a minute to write in the middle of a downtown workday. I have been eating and making stir fries all of my life. Stir-frying vegetables and a protein of choice served with rice or noodles is a weeknight staple in so many homes. It is easy and flexible in that you can use whatever vegetables you have. It is also satisfying and can be quite healthy if you aren’t heavy-handed with oil in the preparation. I consider myself to be fairly adept at stir-frying vegetables to tender-crisp, but my challenge has been developing a tasty and full flavored sauce. I don’t buy stir-fry sauces, and in experimenting with the ingredients and seasonings used to develop flavor, I have served some meals in which the flavor was weak. After many trials and much error I took some guidance from others [here and here]. Now, I am finally cracking the code of making tasty stir-fry sauces from scratch that are simple and flavorful. Tonight’s Stir-fried Vegetables and Tofu with Udon Noodles in a Spicy Peanut sauce was declared a winner. 1 block of Extra Firm Tofu, with excess water removed then cut into cubes. Meat eaters might enjoy chicken, beef or pork instead of tofu, either pre-cooked, or sautéed with onions and other seasonings before vegetables are stir-fried. There are no limits on the vegetables that would be great in this Stir Fry. Other vegetables that come to mind include cauliflower, shitake or cremini mushrooms, green peas, green onions, water chestnuts, baby corn, bamboo shoots, carrots, celery, bok choy, cabbage, asparagus, snow peas, broccolini and green beans… It will be great with just about any vegetable you like. You simply assemble an assortment of vegetables, wash them, and then chop them into nice, bite-size pieces. This is a meal that comes together quickly once you start cooking it, so I like to get all of the vegetables ready and make the sauce before I even start stir-frying the vegetables. I whisked together the following ingredients into a spicy-peanutty sauce. You can adjust the heat up or down according to your preference by adding additional Red Chili Flakes or Garlic-Chili paste. My sauce was fairly spicy to begin with, so I decided simply to stick to my original recipe. I placed a bottle of Rooster Sauce on the table in case either of us found the spice level to be lacking. Once the Spicy Peanut Sauce was ready and all of the veggies were chopped, I selected Japanese udon noodles from the pantry to serve with the stir-fried vegetables. I like udon noodles quite a bit. Even though udon have a light colour, they are a whole wheat noodle. They have a smooth texture and a similar size to linguine. Instead of udon noodles we often have nutty buckwheat soba noodles, rice noodles, regular whole grain spaghetti or occasionally rice. I have noticed that udon noodles are salty enough without additional salt added to the water as you would add to most pastas. I like the way udon noodles come wrapped in individual portions. I typically make way too much pasta, and we have leftovers for days. The guidance helps. Let me let you in on a nifty trick for preparing tofu to be cooked. When you purchase tofu packaged in water, you need to squeeze out some of the liquid so that the tofu can absorb the sauce and flavor of the vegetables. Rather than pressing tofu between plates and setting it precariously under a heavy object, which always wants to tip off and fall on my foot, someone once told me to wrap the tofu in a paper towel or a clean kitchen towel and microwave it for 2 minutes.* This process works wonderfully to remove the excess liquid from the tofu and makes it ready to absorb a flavorful sauce after being nuked on high for two minutes for 2 or three rounds. This is far easier and less dangerous for my feet. After microwaving the tofu and slicing it into bite sized cubes I started my veggies. Other than a great sauce, the key to a good stir-fry is not to overcook the vegetables. I always start with onion, giving it a 2-3 minute head start in the pan with a small glug of oil before adding anything else. I use a large, deep nonstick pan, because I don’t have a wok. A wok or a well-seasoned cast-iron pan are very helpful to making a healthy stir-fry because the vegetables don’t stick, even if you only use a little oil. Next, I add the remaining vegetables in the order that allows everything to finish cooking at the same time without overcooking any single ingredient. If I was using carrots and celery, for example, I’d add them first, and cauliflower soon after, followed by frozen vegetables, and finishing with mushrooms, bell peppers and anything that takes only a few minutes to cook. You can probably look up estimated cooking times for vegetables in a cookbook or on the internet. I have learned through trial and error. Tonight, I was able to add most of the vegetables at the same time, reserving the broccoli, tofu and spinach to add later, since they need a shorter cooking time. When the veggies had cooked about 2 minutes and were looking bright and well on their way to tender-crisp, I added the peanut sauce, turned the heat to low and let the whole thing cook for 4 minutes. A few minutes with heat allows the salty-spicy-sweet-citrusy-nutty elements of the sauce to meld. When I figured the vegetables and sauce needed another 4 minutes more to cook, I added the broccoli and tofu. Even though broccoli is a dense, cruciferous vegetable, it cooks quickly, and after no more than about 4 minutes, it is done. When the vegetables are done they are bright and softened, and still retain a firm bite. Tofu is great sautéed or broiled, but tonight I wanted to eat it fresh, so I cooked it just enough time to absorb the sauce and to be heated through. When the noodles were cooked, I drained them and served them on a small platter with a few sprigs of curly parsley. Cilantro would be a suitable garnish for the pasta, if you like cilantro, but we aren’t big fans. Before serving the stir-fry, I scattered the fresh spinach leaves in a pile on the platter. I could have stirred the spinach into the veggies and sauce and allowed it to wilt, but I find that spinach is great, even if it only half-wilts under a mound of steamy vegetables. We both enjoyed this stir-fry. It was full of spicy, peanutty flavor and a bright variety of vegetables that retained their bite. The tofu also soaked up plenty of flavor and was as easy as could be to prepare. And the pasta? Everything tastes good on a serving of steamy, al dente pasta. When you are in the mood for an easy and delicious vegetable stir-fry, consider trying this tasty recipe. The sauce and veggies are full of texture and flavor. This dish is flexible, quick and easy enough to make any night of the week. *Thank you to the person who told me the tofu-nuking tip, whoever you are. I am so pleased that I don’t have to press tofu ever again. My recipe takes most cues from the Pioneer Woman version. I started assembling my “cast of characters” to make sure I had enough of the main ingredients to make the recipe. If you are up for using 2 Tablespoons of Butter and a Cup of Heavy Cream in your spicy Mac and Cheese, you can follow this link back to Pioneer Woman to follow the original recipe. I’m sure it would be over-the-top delicious. I reduced the butter, used fat-free half and half, had to substitute jalapenos from a jar for fresh, and sharp cheddar for pepper jack cheese because that was all there was in the fridge. I added orange bell pepper to the ingredient list because I had one. I love making my meals into a colorful, antioxidant-rich rainbow. I am not going to pull any punches, my Spicy Mac wasn’t exactly “light,” but the slight adjustments brought the calorie-count down into a normal range for a serving of a satisfying size. I didn’t leave anything out that added flavor. 1 cup fat free half and half – I use fat free half and half because it was the only dairy we had in the fridge. Milk with a fat content of your preference, half & half or the real deal heavy cream will all work wonderfully. The entire dish took about 30 minutes, start to finish. I began by filling a sauce pan of water with a dash of salt to boil for the pasta, and heating a skillet with a small glug of olive oil over medium heat. While those warmed up, I chopped the red onion, red and orange peppers into small chunks of a similar size. I chopped a few forkfuls of jalapenos from the jar. The next time I make this, I will of course try to have a fresh jalapeno, but if I don’t, I will probably use more of the jarred jalapenos. The jalapeno adds most of the heat, and quantities can be adjusted up or down depending on your spice tolerance. I sautéed the onion and garlic a few minutes before adding the bell pepper. At the same time, I started boiling the noodles to a little less than “done” so they could cook a little more in the sauce to become al dente. When the onions, bell peppers, garlic and jalapenos were bright and heading toward tender-crisp, I added a heaped cup of frozen corn. When the veggies were cooking, but still had crunch, I added a can of diced green chilis. Diced green chilies have become a pantry staple in our house. They are mild and they add a smoky complexity to Southwest and Mexican soups and stews without too much heat. When the veggies were nearly done, I turned off the heat in the skillet, and drained the pasta. The sauce is extremely simple, which is a plus. This is the perfect macaroni and cheese to make when you don’t have the time, or the desire to monkey around making a roux. I simply added the fat free half and half and cheese to the skillet and stirred it gently into the vegetables. A skillet retains heat for a long time, so it was warm enough to warm the “cream” and melt the cheese. Finally, I added the pasta to the skillet. I stirred gently to combine the pasta, veggies and sauce in the skillet. Per Ree’s advice, I added a little extra cheese to thicken the sauce a bit. Instead of the two pats of butter from the original recipe, I stirred in just the tiniest bit of butter. You could totally leave the butter out and you probably wouldn’t miss it, even though the silkiness it adds to the sauce is quite nice. Channeling Pioneer Woman, I served the Spicy Mac right from the skillet, frontier style. We enjoyed the rainbow of veggies, the warming spiciness and of course, the cheesy, comforting macaroni noodles. Ah, we’re home. When I make this again, I would probably up the spice a notch or two… something red, a little Smoked Paprika, Cayenne Pepper, Chili Powder or Chili Flakes, perhaps? The Spicy Mac also passed the lunch test. We both enjoyed a second serving with a small salad for lunch the next day. Ree Drummond suggests this as a dish to be served alongside a juicy steak. I might just do that the next time I need a meatless dish when my pardner is grilling steak. We both thought this Mac & Cheese stood well all alone. I recommend serving it alone with salt and pepper on the table and a cold beer, or a tall glass of milk. *I like to welcome myself home with Mac & Cheese, I also like to eat Mac & Cheese when I’m dining alone, when we have something to celebrate, on a rainy day, and for no reason at all. If you’ve been here before you will note that Mac & Cheese in all forms is my favorite. A bunch of veggies roasted, steamed or sautéed and served with some type of pasta is a meal we eat every week. Sometimes we eat it on multiple days. It is easy, and it can be absolutely yummy and healthy, if its made it right. There are infinite variations, and every time we make this we both think it is pretty great. We keep vegetables on hand, both fresh and frozen. We almost universally have mushrooms of some type, fresh spinach and broccoli in the fridge. We keep them on hand because they are wholesome and extremely versatile, but even more importantly, because I really love these veggies. I can’t imagine what I’d eat during a week that I do not eat mushrooms and broccoli. Frozen peas make a frequent appearance on our plates too. There are a few short months in the year where we might have fresh, home grown and farmer’s market peas, but the rest of the year, frozen peas are quick to make and taste great. I am partial to fresh spinach. A huge bag of washed spinach is cheaper than lettuce. You can add a few handfuls to soup, pasta, quinoa, or even a packaged frozen entrée, if you eat them. Spinach adds calcium, antioxidants, flavor and if the food is warm, it cooks in a few minutes after you add it. I am not a big fan of frozen bricks of pre-cooked spinach. I think they might be the reason spinach got such a bad rap. It works fine for spinach dip, but it is otherwise, too dark and mushy for me. The first key to a pasta meal being a healthy, lovely meal is veggies. Veggies! Vegetables are the absolute most powerful tool to healthful eating. They fill you up and they are full of good things like calcium, potassium, antioxidants and fiber with a very low-calorie count. The key is to try every veggie you can, get them fresh from a good source, or preserved in a wholesome manner, make sure they are prepared in a way that doesn’t ruin them and pile them on 3/4 of your plate. I love vegetables, which makes this easy. If you don’t, just try them, one at a time. Make a lot of the ones you like, and give the rest a chance. They are an acquired taste, but they are satisfying when they are the center of your meal. Tonight I sautéed garlic and a diced shallot in a little olive oil, then added mushrooms. When the mushrooms began to brown, I added a splash of pasta water, and then covered to pan to allow the broccoli and peas to steam. I didn’t cook the spinach at all. I placed two large handfuls into the bottom of the bowl I used to serve the veggies. When I added the veggies, the spinach wilted, but didn’t totally lose its shape or get soggy. I frequently roast veggies, and recently, I’ve also been steaming them in my Mom’s Bamboo steamer that she has had since the 1970’s. The entire key to veggies is not to overcook them to use a light touch with oil, salt or other seasonings. They don’t need it. The next step to making this meal, of course, is the pasta. I make homemade pasta, and I have yet to post about it. It is delicious, but I’ll admit, I like to eat pasta a little more often than I have time to mix it and roll it out. I consider it to be a process to go through for a special occasion. Tonight, we had organic, whole grain angel hair pasta, cooked al dente, according to package directions. If you ate whole wheat pastas a few years ago and found it dry, grainy and generally too serious, you should try them again. There are whole grain pastas that have a delicious nutty texture, there are even some whole grain pastas that have no noticeable difference from traditional “white” pasta. Using whole grain adds a little stomach-filling fiber, lowers the glycemic index of your meal and helps nudge a week-night pasta meal in the direction of health. Also worth noting are fresh herbs. In the middle of winter, a big bunch of flat leaf parsley costs less than $2 at our grocery store. In the summer, we grow herbs, and buy them at the Farmer’s Market for pocket change. The addition of chopped herbs to pasta is unbelievable. Your eyes will thank you. Your tastebuds will thank you. Fresh herbs elevate a dish and only add good. One out of two of us eats meat. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: it is a good thing for Bjorn that he is a flexible meat eater. It makes it easier for me that he doesn’t expect meat to be a central part of every meal. I enjoy preparing meat for a special occasion and Bjorn makes it whenever he wants it, and he swears he gets enough. There are many meat eaters who don’t feel like they’ve had a meal if meat isn’t center stage. I think we’ve all gotten the memo advising us that people aren’t supposed to eat as much meat as we did before we knew where our next meal was coming from, or we needed to fuel ourselves through 12 hours of hard physical labor. Reframing meat as a dish that you have for a special occasion opens up a world of opportunity for meat to be a meaningful garnish. Here enters Soppressata. It is a flavorful hard salami. Just a few slices, casing removed, cut into little chunks and heated briefly puts a tasty bit of meat on the omnivore’s plate and rounds out their meal. Finally, there is sauce. We don’t always have sauce with our pasta and veggies. I like to use spaghetti sauce, or a can of San Marzano tomatoes, torn into chunks when we feel like tomatoes. If we aren’t feeling tomato-y, I would use a touch of olive oil or butter and a sprinkling of grated cheese or nothing. Tonight I made a simple creamy sauce. This isn’t an “every night” sort of thing though. We had a little heavy cream left over from the Soufflés Bjorn made for Valentine’s day and I couldn’t let it go to waste. I melted the tiniest bit of butter and added a sprinkling of flour. Once it cooked a bit, I added the cream and let it thicken before adding a bit of pepper and grated Asiago. Just like the meat, if you are going to use butter, oil or creamy sauce, if you use a light touch, you can enjoy the richness without consuming excessive calories. I want to live in a world where I can have my pasta and eat it too. I am finding that if I keep an eye on portions and make thoughtful choices about ingredients and preparation, I can enjoy my plate of pasta without feeling gluttonous or guilty. If it hasn’t already become extremely obvious, pasta is one of my all-time favorite foods. There are so many variations, from basic buttered noodles to whatever-you-have-in-the-fridge, to traditional recipes: stroganoff, Bolognese, or pasta all’Amatriciana. I’m usually a “concept cook” who has something in mind [e.g. pasta with veggies] and the actual ingredients I use depend on what I’m in the mood for or what needs to be used up. I haven’t been one to follow many recipes. I enjoy the freedom of my slapdash approach to cookery, but I have tasted enough really good food in my years to know that recipes, carefully chosen ingredients, timeless techniques and even a little precision are equally as necessary in the kitchen as passion and creativity. It also pays to take a few tips from the experts. I have long loved food blogs, food magazines, food television, cookbooks and hanging out in other people’s kitchens. Reading about cooking, talking about it and observing other cooks in action are my source of inspiration. These are as much my hobbies as cooking and writing about food. I became aware of the noticeable difference that good technique and ingredients yield in restaurant meals, but the breakthrough did not occur at home until I learned about the perfect pesto. It was just another Wednesday night. I found myself watching short programs on the Chow network on our Roku on cooking and food. There was an episode on soup dumplings,* and on the perfect beer,** and then a segment on the perfect pesto aired and changed my approach to pesto forever. Previously, I have only had a modest appreciation of pesto. The first pesto pasta I ate was a lunch back in my teenage years at the now-shuttered Grandma’s Restaurant in Fargo, North Dakota. It was so heavily garlic-y that I was afraid of both pesto and garlic for almost a decade. I still shudder to think about how much raw garlic I consumed before realizing it would be with me for days. More recently, I have tasted a pretty good silk handkerchief in a mild, dark green pesto at Bar La Grassa. Having grown basil in our garden, I’ve also made basil and parsley pestos at home that have been fine on toasted sandwiches and roasted vegetables. None of these looked anything like the marvelous green pesto I saw that evening on the Chow network. Back to a winter day in Minnesota… I may never duplicate Chef Laboa’s pesto, but in listening to him, I learned a few things about how to make a better pesto. First, for a pesto worthy of freshly rolled pasta, you have to ditch the food processor and use a mortar and pestle. Fortunately for me, I just received one for Christmas from Bjorn. The one he selected for me is a nice small size that I can comfortably manage to hold. It is made of non-porous porcelain and a smooth wooden handle and a red exterior that I am happy to store on the open shelves in our kitchen. I learned from Chef Paolo that the origin of ingredients matters a lot. Basil pesto universally contains basil, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, parmesan cheese and salt. Sure, you can make pesto out of these ingredients produced anywhere, but to begin to approximate Paolo Laboa’s pesto, you need basil that is similar to that grown in Genoa, Olive Oil from Liguria, Pine Nuts from Pisa, and carefully-selected Parmesan. And you need time. Lots of time. After watching the segment and trying to make it myself a few times I realized the making of Paolo’s pesto takes longer than it appears to take on TV. I did the best I could gathering ingredients. It is winter, and the basil I found at the store wasn’t the best. I do believe that the Genovese basil from our garden will be an improvement on the basil available at the supermarket in a clamshell package in January. I didn’t spring for $18 Italian Pine Nuts but got some from Spain instead. I tried a few of Chef Laboa’s tips. Since Ligurian olive oil is not available to me I used light olive oil instead of extra virgin which is too strong and kills the taste of the basil. I soaked the basil leaves in water because, I learned if you don’t soak the basil there is too much chlorophyll in the leaves. I crushed the pine nuts with garlic and coarse salt and added 15 basil leaves. I put my heart into the process of grinding all of the ingredients together and then mixing in the oil. When the pesto was ready, I added a little pasta water to the pesto to melt the cheese before tossing hand-rolled handkerchiefs of pasta in the pesto. The end result of my effort did not yield the solid bright-green cream produced by Chef Laboa. Not even close. Even so, we thought the result was delicious and immeasurably better than the oily, basil-heavy, oxidized, chunky sludge that I’ve made in the food processor. If pesto is worth making, it is worth making well. Will I spend 45 minutes with the mortar and pestle to make pesto every week? Certainly not. It is a time-consuming process and a rich dish you can’t eat every week. Come summer though, when the basil is bursting forth I will make pesto again. I might not achieve “perfect” pesto, but delicious will be good enough. *The segment about soup dumplings made me want soup dumplings which are little pouches made of dough that are stuffed with meat and fatty broth that liquefy upon cooking. Are there vegetarian soup dumplings out there? I want to try them! **The writer of the beer segment claimed Supplication Ale by Russian River Brewing Company to be the best beer in the world. I’m sure I’d like it, but that I’d disagree about it being the best. At some point this year, we turned a corner. Without any warning or fanfare, we found ourselves rested enough, organized enough, with enough time, and with our home and our finances in enough order to allow us to commit more than the most minimal effort to trying to do something good. It comes naturally to some at a younger age, and I truly admire those people. I have found that I am a one-thing-at a-time type who needs to have their own ducks in a row before signing on for an ongoing commitment. Better late than never, I hope. We found the first volunteer experience that suited our combined abilities in an email circulated around Bjorn’s office. The option that jumped out at us was the opportunity to prepare a dinner for 8 in our own kitchen at home and deliver it to an emergency safe house for homeless youth, ages 16-21 in our neighbourhood operated by Lutheran Social Services. The guidelines are minimal. Arrive at 7. Bring a main dish (no pork) and a few sides; no mysterious looking casseroles, please. Including a gallon of 2% milk and a bottle of juice is suggested. Dessert is appreciated but not required. We signed up for a few dates to give it a try. I had to ask right away about accommodating special diets: vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, kosher, etc. We were told they didn’t currently have anyone with those needs. We still tried to come up with enough variety and flexibility in the menu so that a person who doesn’t eat meat, or a person who doesn’t tolerate gluten could still eat a decent plate of food. 1. This is the array of groceries and supplies we used for the first meal we prepared. We spent about $40 on groceries at Target. At my request, Lunds Grocery Store donated 3 disposable aluminum containers with lids for delivering the food. We didn’t shop for this meal at Lunds, but we do almost all of our grocery shopping there. 2. We packed a salad of iceberg and romaine lettuce with sliced cucumbers and julienned carrots. We bought a package of parmesan croutons and a bottle of Ranch Dressing for the salad. 3. This fall, Bjorn’s parents stocked our freezer with a generous supply of ground beef, steaks and a few roasts from cows raised on the family farm by Bjorn’s Uncle Stan. I cannot begin to emphasize how wonderful it is to have a supply of beef raised by a farmer we know and trust. We absolutely love to cook with this beef. 4. I taped the typed-out dinner menu on paper grocery bags we used to deliver the food. Our first meal consisted of Beef Meatballs in Spaghetti Sauce to be served on Hoagie Buns with Provolone Cheese, Roasted Potatoes seasoned with Hidden Valley Ranch Southwest Seasoning and ketchup, A Salad of Iceberg and Romaine Lettuce, Carrots and Cukes, Juice, Milk and Chocolate Chip Cookies. 5. I tried to think like a caterer when I packed up the meal. Disposable containers aren’t ideal for food presentation visually, but I think when food is packed neatly, containers are spatter-free and the contents and serving suggestions thoughtfully labeled, it helps a lot. If this is the best meal or the only meal some of these kids are eating today, I want it to be a great meal. 6. Bjorn’s meatballs, ready to bake. 7. Bjorn’s meatballs out of the oven. They smelled good. We prepared and delivered our second meal on November 29. This time when we arrived, we were offered a tour of the house. It was fun and rewarding to see the safe house and some of the people who will eat our meal. The house is large and very clean. We enter through the backyard and after being cleared as “friendly visitors” on the security camera, we enter into the kitchen. After setting up the meal on the large counter, we were led through the dining room which has a large dining table and shelves stacked with board games. The next room is a is a livingroom with a huge, flat screen TV. Upstairs was warm. There were brightly lit bedrooms that were already full of people having a boisterous conversation. The safe house has the atmosphere you would hope: positive, clean, safe and welcoming. We were told that the house is filled to capacity every night. The staff also told us that they appreciate having a meal delivered because they don’t have to cook or go out and buy anything. It saves the program money too, obviously. Judging by our ease in finding workable dates, they are not at capacity for volunteers. They report having a meal provided 4-5 nights a week. They expressed relief that we did not prepare a Thanksgiving meal. Apparently, they had quite a few of those in the past month and were getting a little tired of Turkey and Stuffing. 1. We shopped for most of the ingredients for meal number 2 at Trader Joe’s. Again, we spent around $40. This wasn’t planned, apparently, it is the price-point of the hearty meals we conceive of for 8. The cost would be higher if we had to purchase meat. 2. These are the ingredients to prepare tonight’s meal of Baked Potatoes, Sour Cream, Chili, Mac & Cheese, Roasted Broccoli, Baguette and Butter. 3. I thought the well-labeled meal looked good the first time we delivered it, so I printed a menu and labels with serving suggestions for the second meal as well. This time when we walked in the door with our labeled bags and containers we got a “wow!” from one of the staff. I’m taking that as feedback to indicate that we’re doing okay. 4. We thought Baked Potatoes would be a hearty side, so we scrubbed some russets to bake in the oven. I love russets for baking because their peels gets meaty,chewy and crunchy, and their interior stays fluffy and light. I like to oil the peels and salt them lightly with Kosher salt. 5. When we have Macaroni and Cheese ourselves, which we do often, it is usually Kraft Dinner. We decided to bump the Mac & Cheese up a few notches and followed Martha Stewart’s recipe for Perfect Macaroni and Cheese. Here, Bjorn is stirring a roux that will become the cheese sauce. 6. We baked the potatoes wrapped in foil which worked well for keeping them warm for delivery in a small paper bag. 7. We stirred the cheese sauce into Al Dente pasta, it looked like it was creamy and delicious. 9. Disposable food containers were easy to come by for this meal on the cheap at Walgreens because it was just after Thanksgiving. We had to fashion a make-shift divider out of aluminum foil to separate the Macaroni and Cheese from the Roasted Broccoli. 10. My parents gave us a container of frozen Oatmeal Raisin cookie dough, so we made cookies again this week. My parents also purchase the milk and juice that we bring for each meal. 11. Tonight’s meal is packed, labeled and ready to go. 12. This week, we had the sense to save ourselves a serving a macaroni and cheese. We had it with a salad topped with hard-boiled eggs. Home made macaroni & cheese is so yummy. We have set “we’d prepare it for guests in our home” as the standard for the meals we prepare for the safe house, and so far, I think we’ve been consistently able to pull it off. Meal Number 3, December 21, 2011. 1. For our third meal we had most of the ingredients and supplies on hand. What we didn’t have, we bought at Target. 2. Bjorn made beef meatballs again. It helps make a substantial meal and keep our costs at a reasonable level when we use our beef. Bjorn has perfected his meatball recipe. He seasons the meat with Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salut and mixes in Egg, Breadcrumbs and grated parmesan, and as I said, they smell great when he bakes them. 3. Meatballs are also convenient because they can be baked a day ahead. After baking the meatballs, Bjorn put them into the crock pot with spaghetti sauce. I take the crock of meatballs out of the fridge and turn it on when I got home from work the night that we deliver the food. 4. We cut up and steamed carrots, broccoli and cauliflower and made a creamy-cheesy sauce with grated cheese, sour cream and mushroom soup, a little pepper and a crunchy panko bread crumb topping. It is creamy and delicious, but really, quite light. After my Mom made the same dish at Christmas with frozen vegetables, I think I would go that route in the future. It was just as tasty, it was probably cheaper and was definitely less work. 5. For dessert I made chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and Christmas M&M’s. They were yummy. 6. Again, we made a make-shift divider in the aluminum container between the cheesy vegetables and slices of ciabatta bread. 7. We boiled farfalle pasta to go along with the meatballs this week. I made a last-minute call to Kowalski’s on Grand Avenue in Saint Paul to see if they would be willing to donate some disposable containers for us to deliver the meal in this week. I barely had to finish my sentence explaining what we were doing and what we needed before the manager agreed to set out several nice, durable aluminum containers for me to pick up. Those really aren’t cheap, so it helps us a lot. It has been amazing to discover how generous store managers in our neighbourhood are when we just ask. Not pictured with this meal are the Christmas cards that we brought along with our meal this week for the kids and the staff, each containing a $5 Subway gift card that we bought and a free 6 inch sub donated by the owners of Subway on Grand and Fairview Avenues and Selby Avenue and Victoria Street in Saint Paul. This was another example of how people are ready to help and be generous when all we do is ask. We thought our first 3 meals were a success, so we signed up to prepare and deliver 2 more in January. We are enjoying the new experience of giving a little time, and at the same time getting to be creative and engaged in a favorite hobby: cooking!

2019-04-23T21:01:59Z

http://ourwaytoeat.com/category/pasta/

One of the by-products of cleaning out our basement is now I have about a dozen huge boxes of unlabeled and unsorted photographs. Luckily they are in clumps or groups that were taken about the same time. Now, what am I going to do with them? I don’t have the heart to throw them away. But wait! Yes I can. I can scan them, put them in a digital image state and then throw them away. So, for posterity purposes I am hiding them in digital maze that will probably never be looked at again but might be around longer than the human race. .. but they could be looked at again – but why? This will be these pictures last hurrah for a long long time. I took these pictures in the late 1970s at Sandra’s house. Just by Mr. Harley handing Joe some kind of plaque with his name on it I suspect it is an unsanctioned retirement ceremony. All of them were my co-workers in the Time Keeper Data Collection Site. The lady above on the right pinning something on the other lady is my old buddy and co-worker Alice. Alice was one week older than me. She lived a fast life. She was always late. If she was so fast how come she was always late? That is because she also lived a disorganized life. I will always think of her with her red wig tilted on her head and one closed because the smoke coming up from the cigarette in her mouth. Alice also had a drinking problem. Alice had a heart of gold. She died of a liver disease. We knew her as Alice. Her husband, 3 kids, and 19 siblings knew her as Barbara Jean. I think the other lady, the pinee, is Joe’s wife. Harry is dead too. Harry used to like to tell me what kind of mess his son got into, or as he used to say, “that boy of mine…” His son was about 25 and lived at home. I met his son once – that boy of his just didn’t seem to have the enthusiasm or gumption to find a job or move out or ask a girl for a date. Mr. Harley was very scholarly and very courtly. He seemed always very gentlemanly to make every feel comfortable. Numeric-wise, I think his time on earth has come too. Who is not pictured because he wasn’t there was Mr. Jonas. Mr. Jonas was Wayne Williams Sunday School teacher. He felt strongly Wayne Williams was innocent but got railroaded because of a screaming public. Popcorn did not like me very much to start off with. It took him years go adjust to me. His wife was murdered and I sincerely felt his grief. I got emotional when I told him how sorry I was. We spoke on friendly terms after that. Santes is the guy in the middle. He was a supervisor by default. Santes was easy going and was constantly getting chewed out by the person over him. But he kept on smiling. Santes wife was a postal clerk who looked mean enough to eat nails and spit out the pieces in your face. The guy on the right is Chuck. Chuck was a ladies man. He thought he was a ladies man and he was. He had several female friends at the Atlanta Post Office . He thought therefore he was? Is that the way it was. He was also a smooth talker, who seemed to talk more than he worked. About ten or so years after I transferred to Marietta one of our ex-coworkers called me and said Chuck was very ill and it was doubtful if he would live much longer. I called him and he was so much out of it I am not sure he knew who I was or not. He died less than a week later. Sandra was the hostess of this get-together. Sandra was very outspoken and once got fired for fighting a supervisor. Later, she got her job back because it was proven she could not have slugged him, based on the facts he said, thanks to my photographs. I always admired William. He was a hard honest worker with scruples you wouldn’t believe, yet he didn’t make a big deal of his high morals. One time at the Parcel Post Annex which was miles away from the Atlanta Post Office it was discovered that the timekeepers were doing every thing wrong, and abusing their position. They all were fired and William and I were sent in to run the time keepers office until a new crew could be trained. For several months William and I each worked 12 hours a day, relieving each other, 7 days a week, everyday of the month, for a couple of months with no time off what so ever. Life pretty much sucked then. His initials were WAP, which is what I called him. Sully was very outspoken in a loud manner. You might say he was usually negative in a positive manner. One time Sully and several of his friends pooled their money and bought a bus. They had plans on using it to carry clubs or organizations to special events. Everyday we got to hear of new problems their bus and their clientele were causing. I think they finally sold it to recoup some of their investment. One time during a storm a tree fell on Sully’s house. He climbed on top of the house with a chainsaw to cut the limbs in smaller more manageable pieces. He almost did the same for him leg and arm. He had a chain-saw accident which almost killed him. When I transferred to Marietta he was still out. Now, these pictures, like some of their subjects are put to rest. In Marietta, downtown right in the middle of the town is Glover Park. In the warm months there is a concert every Friday night. Anna and I have been going since they started. We don’t make every concert but we make most of them. Ever since the first one we both notice a man who is always dressed the same: plaid Bermuda shorts and black socks. He is middle age. He is always alone. He always takes a strong through the park just over the half-way point. He looks very much like Stephen King. There was too much music and noise for him to hear us. He stopped. Across the walk from us was an empty park bench. He sat down and seemed to be looking right at us for five or six minutes. He didn’t seem any hurry to get up and get back on the move or maybe prowl. He looked like he was studying us. His facial expression was puzzlement, like trying to reach out to us, mind-wave wise. Fortunately, I think his mind ran into a cement wall. Then he got up and walked away. The Good Old Boys and Girls Tuesday night get together minutes for September 29, 2009. Paul Roper had people that knew and remember Geri Bundesman to autograph a glossy black and white picture of her and her husband. But seriously, I think we can say attendance was between 35 and 37. The food was plentiful and juicy, spicy, and all else that goes with a good meal. And we had peach ice cream too. Rupert served. One person ordered his food to go. This is Paul Roper’s car. Notice the spattered bug on the hood. Noticed how well polished and shiny it is. Notice the handsome photographer’s reflection? Or it might look sort of like a giant splattered bug. I haven't tossed any genealogy information onto this blog for over a week. It is long overdue. We are still looking at my PETTY surname. 290. MAUD LEICHER9 CAMPBELL (LEROY MALCOLM8, LEROY MALCOLM7, NANCY6 PETTY, ABNER5, ZACHARIAH4, JOHN3, THOMAS2, HUBERT1 PATEY) was born Aft. 1890, and died Unknown. She married MR KLEINE. 348. i. HARRY W.10 KLEINE, b. Aft. 1910. 291. HARRY W.9 KLEINE (MAUD LETCHER8 CAMPBELL, LEROY MALCOLM7, NANCY6 PETTY, ABNER5, ZACHARIAH4, JOHN3, THOMAS2, HUBERT1 PATEY) was born 04 Aug 1915 in Las Animas, Bent, Co, and died 1980 in Grand Junction, , Co. He married MARGARET WADHAMS 21 Oct 1932. i. MARILYN10 KLEINE, b. Aft. 1932. 292. EDNA JOSEPHINE9 HAYHURST (ALSEY JOSEPHINE8 PETTY, JOHN A.7, JOEL6, JOSEPH5, FRANCIS MOORE4, THOMAS3, THOMAS2, HUBERT1 PATEY) was born 11 Mar 1846 in , Carroll, Ar, and died 28 Jan 1887 in Waelder, Gonzales Co, Tx. She married JOHN C. PEACOCK 10 Jan 1881. 349. i. DELLA NEVADA10 PEACOCK, b. Sep 1868, Elm Grove, Caldwell Co, Tx; d. 16 Jun 1947, Clarksville, Red River Co, Tx. 293. NANCY JANE9 PETTY (ALEXANDER ANDERSON8, JOHN A.7, JOEL6, JOSEPH5, FRANCIS MOORE4, THOMAS3, THOMAS2, HUBERT1 PATEY) was born 24 May 1852 in Pettytown, Bastrop Co., Tx, and died 11 Aug 1867 in , , Tx. She married JIM BLACK. i. UNKNOWN10 BLACK, b. 11 Aug 1867; d. 11 Aug 1867. 294. JAMES LANDA9 PETTY (JAMES MARION8, JOHN A.7, JOEL6, JOSEPH5, FRANCIS MOORE4, THOMAS3, THOMAS2, HUBERT1 PATEY) was born 1860 in Pettytown, Bastrop Co., Tx, and died 1891. He married ALCENA RIDDLE118 14 Sep 1880 in , Caldwell Co, Tx, daughter of HARVEY RIDDLE and MARY. She was born 1862 in Pettytown, Bastrop Co., Tx, and died 1947. i. EDGAR10 PETTY, b. 1886, Pettytown, Bastrop Co., Tx; d. Unknown. ii. CHLOE ESTER PETTY, b. 1888, Pettytown, Bastrop Co., Tx; d. Unknown; m. EDDIE BAIZE. 295. JASPER NEWTON9 PETTY (JAMES MARION8, JOHN A.7, JOEL6, JOSEPH5, FRANCIS MOORE4, THOMAS3, THOMAS2, HUBERT1 PATEY) was born 24 Aug 1864 in Pettytown, Bastrop Co., Tx, and died 12 Jul 1932 in Red Rock, Bastrop, Tx. He married DORA BEATRICE POGUE 01 Nov 1886. She was born 07 Oct 1867 in Red Rock, Bastrop, Tx, and died 26 May 1938. i. ANNIE MYRTLE10 PETTY, b. 22 Aug 1886, Red Rock, Bastrop, Tx; d. 14 Jun 1969; m. PERRY PRESTON WILLIAMS, 20 Nov 1904; b. 15 Apr 1882, Red Rock, Bastrop, Tx; d. 28 Jul 1914. ii. LORA DEANE PETTY, b. 16 Sep 1889, Red Rock, Bastrop, Tx; d. Unknown. 350. iii. THOMAS EARL PETTY, b. 25 Nov 1891, Voca, McColloch, Tx; d. 01 Jun 1950, , , Tx. iv. GRANDVILLE LEWIS PETTY, b. 30 Nov 1893, Voca, McColloch, Tx; d. 18 Sep 1962; m. (1) ETHEL BARNARD119, 25 May 1921; m. (2) MAGGIE VOIGHT120, 12 Oct 1927. 351. v. NOLAN EDGAR PETTY, b. 18 Feb 1900, Red Rock, Bastrop, Tx; d. 08 Dec 1955. vi. BEULAH ARRENA PETTY, b. 22 Jul 1905, Red Rock, Bastrop, Tx; d. 13 Jan 1987, , Bastrop, Tx. vii. FOY WALLACE PETTY, b. 31 Dec 1907, Red Rock, Bastrop, Tx; d. 03 Sep 1961. 296. THOMAS LEVI9 PETTY (JAMES MARION8, JOHN A.7, JOEL6, JOSEPH5, FRANCIS MOORE4, THOMAS3, THOMAS2, HUBERT1 PATEY) was born 17 Nov 1866 in Pettytown, Bastrop Co., Tx, and died 1945 in Childress, Childress Co, Tx. He married MARY ANN "MOLLY" DESHEA 03 Nov 1895. She was born 19 Feb 1867, and died Bef. 1944 in O'DONNEL, Lynn Co, Tx. Died in the home of his daughter, Mrs. Arthur Johnson. Molly was a small dark skinned woman -- part French. i. CHARLEY IVAN10 PETTY, b. 02 Sep 1886; d. 30 Jun 1888. ii. ETTA PEARL PETTY, b. 16 Nov 1887; d. 30 Jan 1889. iii. TEMPLE LEE PETTY, b. 13 Feb 1891; d. Bef. 1990, Carlsbad, Eddy Co, NM. iv. THOMAS MARVIN PETTY, b. Aft. 1892; d. Unknown. v. STELLA RUTH PETTY, b. 23 Mar 1895; d. Unknown, Childress, Childress Co, Tx. vi. MARY AMOLINE PETTY, b. 05 Apr 1897, Santa Anna, Coleman Co, Tx; d. 1961, Carlsbad, Eddy Co, NM. vii. RAYMOND HUBERT PETTY, b. 03 Jul 1904; d. 30 Apr 1977. viii. BERTIE LOVEL PETTY, b. Aft. 1905. ix. LEON BRIN PETTY, b. Aft. 1906. 297. ANNIE L.9 PETTY (JAMES MARION8, JOHN A.7, JOEL6, JOSEPH5, FRANCIS MOORE4, THOMAS3, THOMAS2, HUBERT1 PATEY) was born 12 Mar 1868 in Red Rock, Bastrop, Tx, and died 21 Sep 1957 in Waelder, Gonzales, Tx. She married JAMES ELBERT PETTY 27 Aug 1889 in , Bastrop, Tx, son of JOHNSON PETTY and CYNTHIA PEACOCK. He was born 02 Sep 1863 in Red Rock, Bastrop, Tx, and died 08 Aug 1946 in Waelder, Gonzales, Tx. i. LULA MAE10 PETTY, b. Aft. 1889; d. Unknown. ii. NOVELLA PETTY, b. Aft. 1889; d. Unknown. iii. BARTON PETTY, b. Aft. 1889; d. Unknown; m. EMMA MANEBY. iv. CHARLIE PETTY, b. Aft. 1889; d. Unknown. v. DESSIE PETTY, b. Aft. 1889; d. Unknown. vi. GLADYS PETTY, b. Aft. 1889; d. Unknown. vii. ELBERT PETTY121, b. 22 Dec 1890, , Bastrop, Tx; d. Unknown. viii. JAMES ELLE PETTY, b. 18 Aug 1895, , Bastrop, Tx; d. 1940. ix. MAYNARD PETTY, b. 26 Jan 1901, , Bastrop, Tx; d. 15 Sep 1946. 298. ALFRED MANNON9 PETTY (JOHNSON MANNON8, JOHN A.7, JOEL6, JOSEPH5, FRANCIS MOORE4, THOMAS3, THOMAS2, HUBERT1 PATEY) was born 14 Jan 1861 in Red Rock, Bastrop, Tx, and died 13 Feb 1937 in Brady, McColloch Co, Tx. He married SARAH RIDDLES 17 Feb 1886 in , Bastrop, Tx, daughter of HARVEY RIDDLES and MARY SMITH. She was born 28 Oct 1869 in , Bastrop, Tx, and died 14 Nov 1959 in Brady, McColloch Co, Tx. i. EFFIE MAE10 PETTY, b. Aft. 1886; d. Unknown. ii. RUDELLA PETTY, b. Aft. 1886; d. Unknown. iii. JESSE JAMES PETTY, b. Abt. 1888; d. Unknown. iv. SAMMIE DEE PETTY, b. Abt. 1890; d. Unknown. v. TEMPLE RAE PETTY, b. 23 May 1906, Brady, McColloch, Tx; d. 27 Dec 1930, Brady, McColloch, Tx. 299. JAMES ELBERT9 PETTY (JOHNSON MANNON8, JOHN A.7, JOEL6, JOSEPH5, FRANCIS MOORE4, THOMAS3, THOMAS2, HUBERT1 PATEY) was born 02 Sep 1863 in Red Rock, Bastrop, Tx, and died 08 Aug 1946 in Waelder, Gonzales, Tx. He married ANNIE L. PETTY 27 Aug 1889 in , Bastrop, Tx, daughter of JAMES PETTY and ARRENA FOWLER. She was born 12 Mar 1868 in Red Rock, Bastrop, Tx, and died 21 Sep 1957 in Waelder, Gonzales, Tx. Children are listed above under (297) Annie L. PETTY. An old high school classmate and I have been emailing. I won’t say “an old high school friend” because back then we were not exactly friends. We ran with different crowds. He ran with the goody-two-shoes crowd and they were mostly running from us. That was a joke. We lived in a détente teenage society. Back then we more or less ignored different bunches…and in turn they ignored us. We were polite. But lately, I feel Brad and I have kindled a friendship. With rumbles of the Bell Reunion on my blog reminded Brad of his days at Larry Bell Park. Actually poor Brad lived on the other side of the tracks. True. The side he lived in did not have the luxury of hours old fresh eggs, or the pleasure of picking out your own live chicken and wringing its neck, or the joyful act of using a Sears Roebuck catalog in the outhouse. And on the Brad’s side of the tracks they had boring Thanksgiving dinners – but on our side Thanksgiving day, if cold enough was a designated hog killing day and that was always fun watching the blood spurt and the guts spill out of the stomach. Brad, had to cross the tracks to his Wednesday night job as an usher at the Larry Bell Auditorium for the wrestling matches events. I had several good reads of him describing the wrestling bouts and challengers and the show of bloated egos. I used to go to the wrestling matches too. My daddy sometime would go and hangout talking local politics while I got into the crowd and made fool of myself. I broke my arm one time there falling off the bleachers. All this wrestling talk remind me of a MAD magazine article that came out written by Harvey Kurtzman and illustrated by fellow Georgian Jack Davis. It was the first issue of MAD as in magazine form. Up until that point MAD was a comic book. The publishing date is July 1955, the month I turned 14, which was during my Wrestling bout craze. What is Vickory Cab's telephone number? Where was the Apple Cab company? What about Howard's Taxi? Where was his office? PANIC comicbook was a publication by EC Comics. Interesting, one of its competitors was its sibling. Both PANIC and MAD were published by William M. Gaines, who owned EC Comic books. PANIC had an upper hand on the non-EC comics because PANIC employed the very same artists as MAD, and MAD sat the standards – all the lampoon comics wanted to look like MAD, it was the best seller. Artists Jack Davis, Wally Wood, and Will Elder did MAD and PANIC. This was during a time that comics were getting a lot of criticism for their gruesome stories and pictures. EC also led the parade on that, publishing such comics as TALES FROM THE CRYPT, SHOCK, etc. So, I think Gaines was doing a reshuffle of his publications. He knew now, with the new pressures, MAD was doing the best – so why not have another lampoon-type of comic? This story is drawn by Will Elder, which was the most popular trend setter at MAD. In this story, LI’L MELVIN, frankly, it was like Elder was a loose cannon. I don't think he had the Kurtzman guidance because Kurtzman was not the editor. Elder put more little tiny side jokes than he put in MAD. I think he also wrote it. I read that he had written some of his own stories for PANIC. In comic books many times there are more going on than meet the eye. And sometimes even a double story that only the fellow artist or writers can appreciate or get the full-jest of. For instance, once Harvey Kurtzman carried a sample of his art work to a newspaper in New York City, and the man over things like that was Walt Kelly. Of course, Walt also did the comic strip POGO. Walt Kelly, according to Kurtzman, gave Kurtzman “the bum rush” out of the offices. Harvey Kurtzman was hurt and offended. Elder and Kurtzman were friends, notice how he treats the POGO characters in the story. Another thing, you might not realize is the story behind the story of JOE POLOOKA’s characters popping up in the story. Al Cap, the creator of LI’L ABNER, and Ham Fisher, creator of JOE PALOOKA, were bitter enemies. Early in Al Capp’s career he worked for Ham Fisher doing a running story about hillbillies in Kentucky or maybe Arkansas. When Al Capp went out oh his own he did a strip similar as the strip he did for Fisher. Thus, a bitter court fight over copyright infringements. Ham Fisher lost and it wasn’t long until he took his own life… so, bare that in mind when you see the below story. Another interesting thing is the last page where Elder gives an almost raspberry salute to all those "concerned" parents and investigating committees and others critical of the newly innovation of comics. Today was the Bell Center’s 20th Reunion here in Marietta. Many of us who used Larry Bell Park for sports, recreation, and entertainment back in the 40s, 50s, and 60s have a reunion to come and celebrate living another year. And some of us can’t wait to start pigging out on the delicious barbecue chicken breasts and barbecue pork and all the sides. We all have Georgian accents. ZZ Top or a Smith Brother?* Nope! Neal Lawrence is the organizer. Neal did a great job putting all this together. And the whole time he seemed very relaxed and on top of everything. He knew all and saw all. I think credit should be given to the Mrs also. Rock/Eddie Hunter roamed around and took pictures. They are not anything special. They are just pictures people at a common watering hole enjoying company with each other – like they did in their formative years 50 or so years back – only this time they can drink their beers legally. But, they still have to watch to not get caught smoking. So, on with the pictures - Let them roll Rock! Or maybe Rock & Roll? *However, Neal plays Santa Clause during the Christmas season.

2019-04-25T04:47:34Z

http://ethunter1.blogspot.com/2009/09/

Apr. 16 5:48 PM PT6:48 PM MT7:48 PM CT8:48 PM ET0:48 GMT8:48 5:48 PM MST6:48 PM CST7:48 PM EST4:48 UAE (+1)20:48 ET21:48 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 30 of 33 shots in the Blue Jackets' 7-3 win over the Lightning on Tuesday. The victory pushed him to 4-0-0 on the season with a 2.01 GAA and .932 save percentage. Apr. 14 5:53 PM PT6:53 PM MT7:53 PM CT8:53 PM ET0:53 GMT8:53 5:53 PM MST6:53 PM CST7:53 PM EST4:53 UAE (+1)20:53 ET21:53 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 30 of 31 shots in the Blue Jackets' 3-1 win over the Lightning on Sunday. The victory pushed him to 3-0-0 on the season with a 1.67 GAA and .940 save percentage. Apr. 12 6:02 PM PT7:02 PM MT8:02 PM CT9:02 PM ET1:02 GMT9:02 6:02 PM MST7:02 PM CST8:02 PM EST5:02 UAE (+1)21:02 ET22:02 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 of 24 shots in the Blue Jackets' 5-1 win over the Lightning on Friday. The victory pushed him to 2-0-0 on the season with a 2.00 GAA and .925 save percentage. Apr. 10 6:02 PM PT7:02 PM MT8:02 PM CT9:02 PM ET1:02 GMT9:02 6:02 PM MST7:02 PM CST8:02 PM EST5:02 UAE (+1)21:02 ET22:02 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 of 29 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-3 win over the Lightning on Wednesday. The victory pushed him to 1-0-0 on the season with a 3.00 GAA and .897 save percentage. Apr. 5 6:20 PM PT7:20 PM MT8:20 PM CT9:20 PM ET1:20 GMT9:20 6:20 PM MST7:20 PM CST8:20 PM EST5:20 UAE (+1)21:20 ET22:20 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 of 27 shots in the Blue Jackets' 3-2 shootout win over the Rangers on Friday. The victory pushed him to 37-24-1 on the season with a 2.58 GAA and .913 save percentage. Apr. 2 5:52 PM PT6:52 PM MT7:52 PM CT8:52 PM ET0:52 GMT8:52 5:52 PM MST6:52 PM CST7:52 PM EST4:52 UAE (+1)20:52 ET21:52 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 19 of 23 shots in the Blue Jackets' 6-2 loss to the Bruins on Tuesday. The defeat dropped him to 36-24-1 on the season with a 2.59 GAA and .913 save percentage. Mar. 31 4:34 PM PT5:34 PM MT6:34 PM CT7:34 PM ET23:34 GMT7:34 4:34 PM MST5:34 PM CST6:34 PM EST3:34 UAE (+1)19:34 ET20:34 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 38 shots he faced in the Blue Jackets' 4-0 win over the Sabres on Sunday for his ninth shutout of the year. The victory pushed him to 36-23-1 on the season with a 2.55 GAA and .914 save percentage. Mar. 30 6:45 PM PT7:45 PM MT8:45 PM CT9:45 PM ET1:45 GMT9:45 6:45 PM MST7:45 PM CST8:45 PM EST5:45 UAE (+1)21:45 ET22:45 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 of 25 shots in the Blue Jackets' 5-2 win over the Predators on Saturday. The victory pushed him to 35-23-1 on the season with a 2.60 GAA and .912 save percentage. Mar. 28 5:43 PM PT6:43 PM MT7:43 PM CT8:43 PM ET0:43 GMT8:43 5:43 PM MST6:43 PM CST7:43 PM EST4:43 UAE (+1)20:43 ET21:43 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 of 28 shots in the Blue Jackets' 6-2 win over the Canadiens on Thursday. The victory pushed him to 34-23-1 on the season with a 2.61 GAA and .912 save percentage. Mar. 26 5:40 PM PT6:40 PM MT7:40 PM CT8:40 PM ET0:40 GMT8:40 5:40 PM MST6:40 PM CST7:40 PM EST4:40 UAE (+1)20:40 ET21:40 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 26 shots he faced in the Blue Jackets' 4-0 win over the Islanders on Tuesday for his eighth shutout of the year. The victory pushed him to 33-23-1 on the season with a 2.62 GAA and .911 save percentage. Mar. 24 8:36 PM PT9:36 PM MT10:36 PM CT11:36 PM ET3:36 GMT11:36 8:36 PM MST9:36 PM CST10:36 PM EST7:36 UAE (+1)23:36 ET0:36 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 21 shots he faced in the Blue Jackets' 5-0 win over the Canucks on Sunday for his seventh shutout of the year. The victory pushed him to 32-23-1 on the season with a 2.67 GAA and .910 save percentage. Mar. 21 11:40 AM PT12:40 PM MT1:40 PM CT2:40 PM ET18:40 GMT2:40 11:40 AM MST12:40 PM CST1:40 PM EST22:40 UAE14:40 ET15:40 BRT - Bobrovsky (undisclosed) will play Sunday in Vancouver after he did not dress for Thursday's game at Edmonton. Analysis: The two-time Vezina Trophy winner is 4-2-0 with a 1.66 GAA and .946 save percentage in his last six starts. Mar. 19 7:49 PM PT8:49 PM MT9:49 PM CT10:49 PM ET2:49 GMT10:49 7:49 PM MST8:49 PM CST9:49 PM EST6:49 UAE (+1)22:49 ET23:49 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 27 of 30 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-2 loss to the Flames on Tuesday. The defeat dropped him to 31-23-1 on the season with a 2.72 GAA and .909 save percentage. Mar. 15 5:53 PM PT6:53 PM MT7:53 PM CT8:53 PM ET0:53 GMT8:53 5:53 PM MST6:53 PM CST7:53 PM EST4:53 UAE (+1)20:53 ET21:53 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 46 shots he faced in the Blue Jackets' 3-0 win over the Hurricanes on Friday for his sixth shutout of the year. The victory pushed him to 31-22-1 on the season with a 2.71 GAA and .909 save percentage. Mar. 12 5:51 PM PT6:51 PM MT7:51 PM CT8:51 PM ET0:51 GMT8:51 5:51 PM MST6:51 PM CST7:51 PM EST4:51 UAE (+1)20:51 ET21:51 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 27 of 31 shots in the Blue Jackets' 7-4 win over the Bruins on Tuesday. The victory pushed him to 30-22-1 on the season with a 2.76 GAA and .906 save percentage. Mar. 11 5:28 PM PT6:28 PM MT7:28 PM CT8:28 PM ET0:28 GMT8:28 5:28 PM MST6:28 PM CST7:28 PM EST4:28 UAE (+1)20:28 ET21:28 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 18 of 19 shots in the Blue Jackets' 2-0 loss to the Islanders on Monday. The defeat dropped him to 29-22-1 on the season with a 2.74 GAA and .907 save percentage. Mar. 9 5:41 PM PT6:41 PM MT7:41 PM CT8:41 PM ET1:41 GMT9:41 6:41 PM MST7:41 PM CST8:41 PM EST5:41 UAE (+1)20:41 ET22:41 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 of 29 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-1 win over the Penguins on Saturday. The victory pushed him to 29-21-1 on the season with a 2.77 GAA and .906 save percentage. Mar. 5 5:48 PM PT6:48 PM MT7:48 PM CT8:48 PM ET1:48 GMT9:48 6:48 PM MST7:48 PM CST8:48 PM EST5:48 UAE (+1)20:48 ET22:48 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 of 30 shots in the Blue Jackets' 2-1 shootout win over the Devils on Tuesday. The victory pushed him to 28-21-1 on the season with a 2.81 GAA and .905 save percentage. Mar. 3 5:39 PM PT6:39 PM MT7:39 PM CT8:39 PM ET1:39 GMT9:39 6:39 PM MST7:39 PM CST8:39 PM EST5:39 UAE (+1)20:39 ET22:39 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 21 of 25 shots in the Blue Jackets' 5-2 loss to the Jets on Sunday. The defeat dropped him to 27-21-1 on the season with a 2.85 GAA and .904 save percentage. Mar. 2 11:40 AM PT12:40 PM MT1:40 PM CT2:40 PM ET19:40 GMT3:40 12:40 PM MST1:40 PM CST2:40 PM EST23:40 UAE14:40 ET16:40 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 15 of 19 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-0 loss to the Oilers on Saturday. The defeat dropped him to 27-20-1 on the season with a 2.83 GAA and .905 save percentage. Feb. 28 6:00 PM PT7:00 PM MT8:00 PM CT9:00 PM ET2:00 GMT10:00 7:00 PM MST8:00 PM CST9:00 PM EST6:00 UAE (+1)21:00 ET23:00 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 28 of 31 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-3 overtime win over the Flyers on Thursday. The victory pushed him to 27-19-1 on the season with a 2.78 GAA and .907 save percentage. Feb. 26 5:37 PM PT6:37 PM MT7:37 PM CT8:37 PM ET1:37 GMT9:37 6:37 PM MST7:37 PM CST8:37 PM EST5:37 UAE (+1)20:37 ET22:37 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 of 26 shots in the Blue Jackets' 5-2 loss to the Penguins on Tuesday. The defeat dropped him to 26-19-1 on the season with a 2.78 GAA and .907 save percentage. Feb. 23 3:36 PM PT4:36 PM MT5:36 PM CT6:36 PM ET23:36 GMT7:36 4:36 PM MST5:36 PM CST6:36 PM EST3:36 UAE (+1)18:36 ET20:36 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 26 shots he faced in the Blue Jackets' 4-0 win over the Sharks on Saturday for his fifth shutout of the year. The victory pushed him to 26-18-1 on the season with a 2.75 GAA and .908 save percentage. Feb. 22 5:38 PM PT6:38 PM MT7:38 PM CT8:38 PM ET1:38 GMT9:38 6:38 PM MST7:38 PM CST8:38 PM EST5:38 UAE (+1)20:38 ET22:38 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 22 shots he faced in the Blue Jackets' 3-0 win over the Senators on Friday for his fourth shutout of the year. The victory pushed him to 25-18-1 on the season with a 2.82 GAA and .906 save percentage. Feb. 19 6:10 PM PT7:10 PM MT8:10 PM CT9:10 PM ET2:10 GMT10:10 7:10 PM MST8:10 PM CST9:10 PM EST6:10 UAE (+1)21:10 ET23:10 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 of 32 shots in the Blue Jackets' 3-2 loss to the Canadiens on Tuesday. The defeat dropped him to 24-18-1 on the season with a 2.89 GAA and .904 save percentage. Feb. 16 7:10 PM PT8:10 PM MT9:10 PM CT10:10 PM ET3:10 GMT11:10 8:10 PM MST9:10 PM CST10:10 PM EST7:10 UAE (+1)22:10 ET1:10 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 39 of 41 shots in the Blue Jackets' 5-2 win over the Blackhawks on Saturday. The victory pushed him to 24-17-1 on the season with a 2.88 GAA and .904 save percentage. Feb. 14 5:35 PM PT6:35 PM MT7:35 PM CT8:35 PM ET1:35 GMT9:35 6:35 PM MST7:35 PM CST8:35 PM EST5:35 UAE (+1)20:35 ET23:35 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 24 of 27 shots in the Blue Jackets' 3-0 loss to the Islanders on Thursday. The defeat dropped him to 23-17-1 on the season with a 2.90 GAA and .903 save percentage. Feb. 12 5:40 PM PT6:40 PM MT7:40 PM CT8:40 PM ET1:40 GMT9:40 6:40 PM MST7:40 PM CST8:40 PM EST5:40 UAE (+1)20:40 ET23:40 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 20 shots he faced in the Blue Jackets' 3-0 win over the Capitals on Tuesday for his third shutout of the year. The victory pushed him to 23-16-1 on the season with a 2.90 GAA and .903 save percentage. Feb. 9 8:42 PM PT9:42 PM MT10:42 PM CT11:42 PM ET4:42 GMT12:42 9:42 PM MST10:42 PM CST11:42 PM EST8:42 UAE23:42 ET2:42 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 20 of 23 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-3 win over the Golden Knights on Saturday. The victory pushed him to 22-16-1 on the season with a 2.98 GAA and .901 save percentage. Feb. 7 7:45 PM PT8:45 PM MT9:45 PM CT10:45 PM ET3:45 GMT11:45 8:45 PM MST9:45 PM CST10:45 PM EST7:45 UAE (+1)22:45 ET1:45 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 of 31 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-2 win over the Coyotes on Thursday. The victory pushed him to 21-16-1 on the season with a 2.98 GAA and .902 save percentage. Feb. 5 7:52 PM PT8:52 PM MT9:52 PM CT10:52 PM ET3:52 GMT11:52 8:52 PM MST9:52 PM CST10:52 PM EST7:52 UAE (+1)22:52 ET1:52 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 27 of 30 shots in the Blue Jackets' 6-3 win over the Avalanche on Tuesday. The victory pushed him to 20-16-1 on the season with a 3.01 GAA and .901 save percentage. Jan. 31 6:41 PM PT7:41 PM MT8:41 PM CT9:41 PM ET2:41 GMT10:41 7:41 PM MST8:41 PM CST9:41 PM EST6:41 UAE (+1)21:41 ET0:41 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 of 26 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-3 loss to the Jets on Thursday. The defeat dropped him to 19-16-1 on the season with a 3.01 GAA and .901 save percentage. Jan. 29 5:42 PM PT6:42 PM MT7:42 PM CT8:42 PM ET1:42 GMT9:42 6:42 PM MST7:42 PM CST8:42 PM EST5:42 UAE (+1)20:42 ET23:42 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 of 34 shots in the Blue Jackets' 5-4 loss to the Sabres on Tuesday. The defeat dropped him to 19-15-1 on the season with a 2.97 GAA and .902 save percentage. Jan. 19 7:39 PM PT8:39 PM MT9:39 PM CT10:39 PM ET3:39 GMT11:39 8:39 PM MST9:39 PM CST10:39 PM EST7:39 UAE (+1)22:39 ET1:39 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 of 31 shots in the Blue Jackets' 2-1 loss to the Wild on Saturday. The defeat dropped him to 19-14-1 on the season with a 2.91 GAA and .904 save percentage. Jan. 13 4:51 PM PT5:51 PM MT6:51 PM CT7:51 PM ET0:51 GMT8:51 5:51 PM MST6:51 PM CST7:51 PM EST4:51 UAE (+1)19:51 ET22:51 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 of 27 shots in the Blue Jackets' 7-5 win over the Rangers on Sunday. The victory pushed him to 19-13-1 on the season with a 2.93 GAA and .903 save percentage. Jan. 11 11:30 AM PT12:30 PM MT1:30 PM CT2:30 PM ET19:30 GMT3:30 12:30 PM MST1:30 PM CST2:30 PM EST23:30 UAE14:30 ET17:30 BRT - Bobrovsky was suspended one game by the Blue Jackets organization for conduct detrimental to the team after an emotional outburst in Tuesday's 4-0 loss to Tampa Bay. Analysis: The former Vezina winner served his time Thursday and will reportedly travel with the team Saturday when Columbus plays the Capitals, although a starter has yet to be announced. Both sides are saying the right things regarding the incident and sound ready to put it in the rear-view mirror. Analysis: The two-time Vezina Trophy winner is 18-13-1 with a 2.87 GAA in the final year of his contract and so far has declined to sign a long-term extension. Backup Joonas Korpisalo (6-2-2, 3.29 GAA) is in line to start Thursday. Jan. 8 6:07 PM PT7:07 PM MT8:07 PM CT9:07 PM ET2:07 GMT10:07 7:07 PM MST8:07 PM CST9:07 PM EST6:07 UAE (+1)21:07 ET0:07 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 15 of 19 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-0 loss to the Lightning on Tuesday. The defeat dropped him to 18-13-1 on the season with a 2.87 GAA and .906 save percentage. Jan. 5 5:45 PM PT6:45 PM MT7:45 PM CT8:45 PM ET1:45 GMT9:45 6:45 PM MST7:45 PM CST8:45 PM EST5:45 UAE (+1)20:45 ET23:45 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 27 of 30 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-3 overtime win over the Panthers on Saturday. The victory pushed him to 18-12-1 on the season with a 2.81 GAA and .908 save percentage. Jan. 4 6:13 PM PT7:13 PM MT8:13 PM CT9:13 PM ET2:13 GMT10:13 7:13 PM MST8:13 PM CST9:13 PM EST6:13 UAE (+1)21:13 ET0:13 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 13 of 16 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-2 loss to the Hurricanes on Friday. The defeat dropped him to 17-12-1 on the season with a 2.80 GAA and .908 save percentage. Dec. 31 5:54 PM PT6:54 PM MT7:54 PM CT8:54 PM ET1:54 GMT9:54 6:54 PM MST7:54 PM CST8:54 PM EST5:54 UAE (+1)20:54 ET23:54 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 of 25 shots in the Blue Jackets' 6-3 win over the Senators on Monday. The victory pushed him to 17-11-1 on the season with a 2.74 GAA and .910 save percentage. Dec. 28 5:41 PM PT6:41 PM MT7:41 PM CT8:41 PM ET1:41 GMT9:41 6:41 PM MST7:41 PM CST8:41 PM EST5:41 UAE (+1)20:41 ET23:41 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 of 29 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-2 loss to the Maple Leafs on Friday. The defeat dropped him to 16-11-1 on the season with a 2.73 GAA and .911 save percentage. Dec. 23 11:08 AM PT12:08 PM MT1:08 PM CT2:08 PM ET19:08 GMT3:08 12:08 PM MST1:08 PM CST2:08 PM EST23:08 UAE14:08 ET17:08 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 39 shots he faced in the Blue Jackets' 3-0 win over the Devils on Sunday for his second shutout of the year. The victory pushed him to 16-10-1 on the season with a 2.68 GAA and .913 save percentage. Dec. 22 11:43 AM PT12:43 PM MT1:43 PM CT2:43 PM ET19:43 GMT3:43 12:43 PM MST1:43 PM CST2:43 PM EST23:43 UAE14:43 ET17:43 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 34 of 37 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-3 win over the Flyers on Saturday. The victory pushed him to 15-10-1 on the season with a 2.79 GAA and .908 save percentage. Dec. 20 5:53 PM PT6:53 PM MT7:53 PM CT8:53 PM ET1:53 GMT9:53 6:53 PM MST7:53 PM CST8:53 PM EST5:53 UAE (+1)20:53 ET23:53 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 of 30 shots in the Blue Jackets' 2-1 win over the Devils on Thursday. The victory pushed him to 14-10-1 on the season with a 2.78 GAA and .908 save percentage. Dec. 17 5:33 PM PT6:33 PM MT7:33 PM CT8:33 PM ET1:33 GMT9:33 6:33 PM MST7:33 PM CST8:33 PM EST5:33 UAE (+1)20:33 ET23:33 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped all 28 shots he faced in the Blue Jackets' 1-0 win over the Golden Knights on Monday for his first shutout of the year. The victory pushed him to 13-10-1 on the season with a 2.86 GAA and .905 save percentage. Dec. 15 5:50 PM PT6:50 PM MT7:50 PM CT8:50 PM ET1:50 GMT9:50 6:50 PM MST7:50 PM CST8:50 PM EST5:50 UAE (+1)20:50 ET23:50 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 20 of 22 shots in the Blue Jackets' 2-1 overtime loss to the Ducks on Saturday. The defeat dropped him to 12-10-1 on the season with a 2.99 GAA and .901 save percentage. Dec. 13 5:43 PM PT6:43 PM MT7:43 PM CT8:43 PM ET1:43 GMT9:43 6:43 PM MST7:43 PM CST8:43 PM EST5:43 UAE (+1)20:43 ET23:43 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 29 of 30 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-1 win over the Kings on Thursday. The victory pushed him to 12-10-0 on the season with a 3.04 GAA and .901 save percentage. Dec. 8 5:47 PM PT6:47 PM MT7:47 PM CT8:47 PM ET1:47 GMT9:47 6:47 PM MST7:47 PM CST8:47 PM EST5:47 UAE (+1)20:47 ET23:47 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 10 of 13 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-0 loss to the Capitals on Saturday. The defeat dropped him to 11-10-0 on the season with a 3.14 GAA and .898 save percentage. Dec. 6 5:44 PM PT6:44 PM MT7:44 PM CT8:44 PM ET1:44 GMT9:44 6:44 PM MST7:44 PM CST8:44 PM EST5:44 UAE (+1)20:44 ET23:44 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 of 26 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-3 overtime win over the Flyers on Thursday. The victory pushed him to 11-9-0 on the season with a 3.04 GAA and .901 save percentage. Dec. 4 5:45 PM PT6:45 PM MT7:45 PM CT8:45 PM ET1:45 GMT9:45 6:45 PM MST7:45 PM CST8:45 PM EST5:45 UAE (+1)20:45 ET23:45 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 18 of 26 shots in the Blue Jackets' 9-6 loss to the Flames on Tuesday. The defeat dropped him to 10-9-0 on the season with a 3.04 GAA and .901 save percentage. Dec. 1 5:47 PM PT6:47 PM MT7:47 PM CT8:47 PM ET1:47 GMT9:47 6:47 PM MST7:47 PM CST8:47 PM EST5:47 UAE (+1)20:47 ET23:47 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 of 29 shots in the Blue Jackets' 3-2 loss to the Islanders on Saturday. The defeat dropped him to 10-8-0 on the season with a 2.72 GAA and .911 save percentage. Nov. 29 5:41 PM PT6:41 PM MT7:41 PM CT8:41 PM ET1:41 GMT9:41 6:41 PM MST7:41 PM CST8:41 PM EST5:41 UAE (+1)20:41 ET23:41 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 of 25 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-2 win over the Wild on Thursday. The victory pushed him to 10-7-0 on the season with a 2.70 GAA and .912 save percentage. Nov. 26 6:17 PM PT7:17 PM MT8:17 PM CT9:17 PM ET2:17 GMT10:17 7:17 PM MST8:17 PM CST9:17 PM EST6:17 UAE (+1)21:17 ET0:17 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 27 of 32 shots in the Blue Jackets' 7-5 win over the Red Wings on Monday. The victory pushed him to 9-7-0 on the season with a 2.75 GAA and .912 save percentage. Nov. 23 5:37 PM PT6:37 PM MT7:37 PM CT8:37 PM ET1:37 GMT9:37 6:37 PM MST7:37 PM CST8:37 PM EST5:37 UAE (+1)20:37 ET23:37 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 32 of 34 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-2 win over the Maple Leafs on Friday. The victory pushed him to 8-7-0 on the season with a 2.59 GAA and .917 save percentage. Nov. 19 5:45 PM PT6:45 PM MT7:45 PM CT8:45 PM ET1:45 GMT9:45 6:45 PM MST7:45 PM CST8:45 PM EST5:45 UAE (+1)20:45 ET23:45 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 of 25 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-2 loss to the Maple Leafs on Monday. The defeat dropped him to 7-7-0 on the season with a 2.64 GAA and .915 save percentage. Nov. 17 5:40 PM PT6:40 PM MT7:40 PM CT8:40 PM ET1:40 GMT9:40 6:40 PM MST7:40 PM CST8:40 PM EST5:40 UAE (+1)20:40 ET23:40 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 30 of 31 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-1 win over the Hurricanes on Saturday. The victory pushed him to 7-6-0 on the season with a 2.60 GAA and .917 save percentage. Nov. 15 9:39 AM PT10:39 AM MT11:39 AM CT12:39 PM ET17:39 GMT1:39 10:39 AM MST11:39 AM CST12:39 PM EST21:39 UAE12:39 ET15:39 BRT - Bobrovsky (illness) will play Saturday at Carolina. Analysis: Bobrovsky got off to a slow start, but the two-time Vezina Trophy winner has won three straight outings while stopping 86 of 89 shots. Nov. 12 7:26 PM PT8:26 PM MT9:26 PM CT10:26 PM ET3:26 GMT11:26 8:26 PM MST9:26 PM CST10:26 PM EST7:26 UAE (+1)22:26 ET1:26 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 26 of 27 shots in the Blue Jackets' 2-1 win over the Stars on Monday. The victory pushed him to 6-6-0 on the season with a 2.74 GAA and .913 save percentage. Nov. 9 5:57 PM PT6:57 PM MT7:57 PM CT8:57 PM ET1:57 GMT9:57 6:57 PM MST7:57 PM CST8:57 PM EST5:57 UAE (+1)20:57 ET23:57 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 33 of 34 shots in the Blue Jackets' 2-1 win over the Capitals on Friday. The victory pushed him to 5-6-0 on the season with a 2.90 GAA and .909 save percentage. Nov. 6 5:39 PM PT6:39 PM MT7:39 PM CT8:39 PM ET1:39 GMT9:39 6:39 PM MST7:39 PM CST8:39 PM EST5:39 UAE (+1)20:39 ET23:39 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 27 of 28 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-1 win over the Stars on Tuesday. The victory pushed him to 4-6-0 on the season with a 3.09 GAA and .902 save percentage. Nov. 4 9:21 PM PT10:21 PM MT11:21 PM CT12:21 AM ET5:21 GMT13:21 10:21 PM MST11:21 PM CST12:21 AM EST9:21 UAE0:21 ET2:21 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 of 29 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-1 loss to the Kings on Saturday. The defeat dropped him to 3-6-0 on the season with a 3.33 GAA and .895 save percentage. Nov. 2 9:26 PM PT10:26 PM MT11:26 PM CT12:26 AM ET4:26 GMT12:26 9:26 PM MST10:26 PM CST11:26 PM EST8:26 UAE0:26 ET1:26 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 44 of 45 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-1 win over the Sharks on Thursday. The victory pushed him to 3-5-0 on the season with a 3.24 GAA and .899 save percentage. Oct. 30 5:45 PM PT6:45 PM MT7:45 PM CT8:45 PM ET0:45 GMT8:45 5:45 PM MST6:45 PM CST7:45 PM EST4:45 UAE (+1)20:45 ET21:45 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 of 24 shots in the Blue Jackets' 5-3 loss to the Red Wings on Tuesday. The defeat dropped him to 2-5-0 on the season with a 3.58 GAA and .882 save percentage. Oct. 23 5:41 PM PT6:41 PM MT7:41 PM CT8:41 PM ET0:41 GMT8:41 5:41 PM MST6:41 PM CST7:41 PM EST4:41 UAE (+1)20:41 ET21:41 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 of 26 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-1 loss to the Coyotes on Tuesday. The defeat dropped him to 2-4-0 on the season with a 3.87 GAA and .872 save percentage. Oct. 20 5:42 PM PT6:42 PM MT7:42 PM CT8:42 PM ET0:42 GMT8:42 5:42 PM MST6:42 PM CST7:42 PM EST4:42 UAE (+1)20:42 ET21:42 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 22 of 25 shots in the Blue Jackets' 4-1 loss to the Blackhawks on Saturday. The defeat dropped him to 2-3-0 on the season with a 3.84 GAA and .876 save percentage. Oct. 18 5:32 PM PT6:32 PM MT7:32 PM CT8:32 PM ET0:32 GMT8:32 5:32 PM MST6:32 PM CST7:32 PM EST4:32 UAE (+1)20:32 ET21:32 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 32 of 35 shots in the Blue Jackets' 6-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday. The victory pushed him to 2-2-0 on the season with a 4.04 GAA and .875 save percentage. Oct. 13 5:50 PM PT6:50 PM MT7:50 PM CT8:50 PM ET0:50 GMT8:50 5:50 PM MST6:50 PM CST7:50 PM EST4:50 UAE (+1)20:50 ET21:50 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 23 of 31 shots in the Blue Jackets' 8-2 loss to the Lightning on Saturday. The defeat dropped him to 1-2-0 on the season with a 4.39 GAA and .860 save percentage. Oct. 9 5:42 PM PT6:42 PM MT7:42 PM CT8:42 PM ET0:42 GMT8:42 5:42 PM MST6:42 PM CST7:42 PM EST4:42 UAE (+1)20:42 ET21:42 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 25 of 27 shots in the Blue Jackets' 5-2 win over the Avalanche on Tuesday. The victory pushed him to 1-1-0 on the season with a 2.53 GAA and .919 save percentage. Oct. 5 5:55 PM PT6:55 PM MT7:55 PM CT8:55 PM ET0:55 GMT8:55 5:55 PM MST6:55 PM CST7:55 PM EST4:55 UAE (+1)20:55 ET21:55 BRT - Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 32 of 35 shots in the Blue Jackets' 3-1 loss to the Hurricanes on Friday. The defeat dropped him to 0-1-0 on the season with a 3.07 GAA and .914 save percentage.

2019-04-21T20:50:37Z

http://scores.torontosun.com/nhl/playerstats.asp?id=4901&amp;team=29

Note [April 2007]: I stopped updating this page in 2005 as VoiceXML made huge gains and news of SALT began to dry up. Microsoft has since added VoiceXML 2.0/2.1 support to Microsoft Speech Server, joined the VoiceXML Forum, and has successfully completed the Forum's VoiceXML 2.0 platform certification process. And now with its acquisition of TellMe Networks about to be completed, Microsoft stands poised to become the largest VoiceXML company in the world! We used to hear a great deal from the press about a standards battle between SALT and VoiceXML. It made for good copy, but the marketplace reality is that W3C's VoiceXML 2.0 standard predominates. This is most evident when you look at how SALT Forum member companies are behaving -- most are making huge commercial bets on VoiceXML 2.0. The average SALT Forum company is more fervently behind VoiceXML 2.0 than the average VoiceXML Forum member company! Here is a sampling of recent pro-VoiceXML press releases and public statements from SALT Forum companies (www.saltforum.org/members/members.asp). An "n/a" entry means I haven't yet found any publically-available information on the company's usage of VoiceXML or SALT. If you have any corrections or additions, please drop me a line at ferrans at yahoo.com. While I don't explicitly track SALT-only news here, SALT Forum companies make three times as many announcements relating to VoiceXML as they do regarding SALT. "Sharing the risks and rewards of outsourcing" An article on the CRM outsourcing deal (6/2002). "ATR is a leader in the development and adoption of new technology that advances business capability. VxML based speech recognition systems that integrate call centers and other data. With over five years of company history and a proven track record of customer satisfaction, ATR is leading the way to usable, implemented internet and telephony based business solutions." (12/2004). Also have expertise in SALT. n/a: www.aliant.ca web site has no references to SALT or VoiceXML. Are they just monitoring? n/a: No information available for VoiceXML or SALT. Just monitoring? See www.alliance-infotech.com. "BeVocal views VoiceXML 2.0 as the standard that provides a complete solution for developing sophisticated voice applications. The W3C Candidate Release of VoiceXML 2.0 is a significant milestone which is the culmination of actual implementations from W3C member companies and public input. VoiceXML 2.0 is ready for prime-time and widespread adoption. Our developers on BeVocal Café and our hosted customers have seen the benefits of the rapid web-based development and deployment of their voice applications. The simultaneous release of the W3C test suite gives consumers the confidence that VoiceXML 2.0 solutions will have compatibility into the future." -- Ralf I. Pfeiffer, Manager, VoiceXML Technology Group, BeVocal, Inc. (3/2004). VoiceXML Forum Supporter, renewed in 2/2004. Brooktrout buys [VoiceXML media server company] Snowshore (3/2004). Collaborating with VoiceGenie and Bludis to develop a VoiceXML-based voice server (8/2004). Deployment options based on "VoiceXML dial tone" (2003). Have VoiceXML Studio development tool. Note: web site no longer available. (4/2004). OpenVXI open source VoiceXML 2.0 browser (10/2003). Now named GetVocal. They have a "high-density VoiceXML 2.0 platform", the "first VoiceXML 2.0 implementation from a computer telephony provider". "GetVocal is an award winning VoiceXML solution provider - known world-wide for it's proven and pioneering solutions." Edify Received 2003 "Product of the Year" Award from Customer Interaction Solutions. This was for the Edify 8.5 VoiceXML 2.0 browser (12/2003). Edify joins VoiceXML Forum (2/2004). "Edify banks on natural-language apps." "[The] Edify Voice Banking [application] is scalable from 4 to 9,000 ports. Conforming to Voice XML 2.0, it is deployable to a native Edify environment, Edify's VoiceXML, or Voice XML products by Avaya and other vendors. Wahn said that a future release will support Microsoft's speech server." (10/2004). The formerly SALT only enCue Voice.NET Server now describes as supporting VoiceXML, and has a VoiceXML interpreter (9/2004). Envox backing ScanSoft's xHMI tooling initiative, "an XML-based dialog configuration language for advanced speech applications", "leveraging existing industry standards such as VoiceXML and CCXML" (11/2004). Genesys Awarded 2002 "Product of the Year" by Customer Interaction Solutions Magazine. Genesys [VoiceXML] Voice Portal Selected for its Technological Excellence and Vision (1/2003). Product Profile: Genesys Voice Platform. "GVP is based on solid, leading technology." "Genesys has years of experience with VoiceXML, the new de facto standard." (3/2004). "Genesys and IBM to Deliver Enterprise-Wide Speech-Enabled Self-Service Solutions" on IBM WebSphere [VoiceXML] Voice Server (4/2004). Versera Intelligent Communications Environment is architected with Java, Linux, and VoiceXML technologies [no mention of SALT] (8/2004). "Glenayre Announces First Commercial Deployment of New Versera Intelligent Communications Environment." Architected with Java and VoiceXML technologies, Versera ICE enables carriers to consistently live up to their subscribers' expectations -- and even set them -- now and in the future." (9/2004). "We develop open, platform-neutral applications using Vonetix - which allows for application data integration across heterogeneous computing environments. To ensure your competitive advantage, Gold Systems helps you harness the power of Java, XML, VoiceXML, SALT, WAP and others." "Open standards such as VoiceXML are critical to the widespread adoption of interactive media solutions, especially speech technology. The VoiceXML Forum effectively promotes awareness of VoiceXML both as a technology and as a business enabler, is an authoritative source for VoiceXML information and is now driving innovative education and certification programs for both application developers and platform vendors. HP fully supports VoiceXML in its telecom products: our OpenCall Media Platform product is the most complete and mature VoiceXML platform for service provider." -- Dr. Scott McGlashan, Chief Technologist, Interactive Media Products, Hewlett-Packard (9/2003). "HP has invested heavily in VoiceXML technology and the development of a best-of-class platform to support new VoiceXML offerings." "VoiceXML is broadly supported by a majority of vendors. Approximately 80 percent of voice services developers have provided or are currently developing VoiceXML applications, giving service providers a large choice of applications." "VoiceXML 2.0 provides an open standard for writing speech gateways and applications in a truly ubiquitous manner. It also promotes speech as the viable access mechanism for web-based content. HeyAnita’s FreeSpeech Platform Version 4.0 allows companies to develop voice applications in the programming language of their choice while taking advantage of the VoiceXML 2.0 standard to achieve interoperability with leading gateway servers." -- Sanjeev Kuwadekar, CEO, HeyAnita Inc (3/2004). "Hitachi welcomes the collaborative relationships between W3C and VoiceXML Forum. This makes VoiceXML a global standard and we believe it strongly encourages the access to the Internet via voice. We plan to develop voice portal systems for drivers with VoiceXML technologies and also plan to contribute to internationalization issues of VoiceXML as a Japanese company." Note: In July 2002, iBasis sold its IVR hosting business to Convergys, a VoiceXML proponent. VoiceXML Forum Supporter, renewed 2/2004. InfoTalk - Vbrowser Platform: "InfoTalk-vBrowser is a VoiceXML interpreter that is fully integrated with other InfoTalk products to form the InfoTalk-Vbrowser Platform. (9/2004). Intervoice Awarded 2003 "Product of the Year" Award By Technology marketing ZCorporation's Customer Inter@ction Solutions Magazine. InVision(r) Studio for VoiceXML 2.0 Singled Out for its Technological Excellence and Vision (12/2003). Intervoice 'Opens' Legacy Constraints of Voice Messaging [in VoiceXML] (2/2004). "ScanSoft introduces SpeechPAK 1.0 for utilities". "SpeechPAKs accelerate R.O.I. gains by delivering a fast, high-quality deployment on a variety of VoiceXML 2.0 platforms from industry leaders such as [...] Intervoice [...]" (4/2004). "Intervoice Teams with Apptera to Offer Applications to Financial Services". Intervoice is reselling Apptera's VoiceXML financial application suite. (5/2004). "30-Month Managed Services Order Valued at Approximately $5M; Continuing Partnership With Firm Exemplifies Both Technology and Solutions Reliability and Value" A global financial services firm and existing partner of Intervoice is deploying an Intervoice solution centered on Omvia Voice Framework and a VoiceXML-based Electronic Benefits Transfer system written by Intervoice. This VoiceXML-based system will be used by welfare recipients in 35 states! (10/2004). "Award-Winning Intervoice Customer to Discuss Deployment Success in Joint Presentation at Speech Technology Conference". " Intervoice will showcase its [...] InVision(R) Studio for VoiceXML standards-based development environment" (2/2005). "Intervoice Secures $6M Expansion Order from a European Network Provider for a Voice Portal Solution" The order is an additional Voice Extensible Mark-up Language (VoiceXML)-based extension to the network provider's existing portal as a core element of the Company's Omvia(R) portal offering. The expansion order, totaling nearly 3,000 ports, includes two years of maintenance from Intervoice. (2/2005). "Intervoice Launches New Multimedia Enhanced Services Solution for Network Operators that Delivers Compelling, Innovative Applications to Drive Subscriber Demand" " Built around a powerful core known as Home Zone, Omvia Media Exchange offers an attractive new universe of Voice Extensible Mark-up Language (VoiceXML)-based multimedia applications -- such as voice-navigated messaging, custom ringback tones, email, images and video -- all from a single subscriber mailbox." (2/2005). Kirusa congratulates the W3C and applauds the effort of the Voice Browser Working Group in developing VoiceXML 2.0. Kirusa strongly supports the evolution of the Speech Interface Framework by the W3C and welcomes further standardization efforts to support enriched voice interfaces. This will also have strong implications for multimodal platforms which allow voice and visual interfaces to be integrated to create a very compelling experience for the end user. Kirusa looks forward to supporting the W3C in activities that further this vision. Voxpilot and Kirusa showcase Kirusa's VoiceXML-based SMS multimodal application. The Kirusa application is deployed on VoxPilot's carrier-grade Open Media VoiceXML platform. See ScanSoft (below) for VoiceXML testimonials, products. "As a leading player in speech technologies and voice platforms, Loquendo believes that VoiceXML 2.0 and SRGS 1.0 Recommendations are an essential step forward in promoting the speech application market. Indeed, it will boost the speech market, by enabling service providers, content creators, operators and voice portals to deliver a much richer user experience.Loquendo high-quality, high-performance technologies and platforms power over 2,000,000 calls every day in the telecommunications and enterprise markets throughout the world and guarantee solutions in 15 languages. Loquendo is very pleased to contribute to the development of this specification, and will continue to give a strong support to W3C and VoiceXML Forum activities." -- Daniele Sereno, Vice President Product Engineering, Loquendo (3/2004). Loquendo and MET France realize the CRM voice portal for Marionnaud perfumeries chain [in VoiceXML 2.0] (4/2004). Loquendo Releases VoxNauta Lite 6.0 Software Speech Platform. "VoxNauta Lite 6.0 supports the [...] W3C VoiceXML 2.0 Recommendation" (9/2004). Website proclaims: "Mediaford, VoiceXML and IT Solution Company" on start page. In the About Us section, their business field is "VXML based IVR solutions". They are also "Providing VoiceXML to Korea Telecom". No mention of SALT. (9/2004). AnyModal 4.0 Telephony supports VoiceXML as well as SALT. "The technology is entirely VoiceXML and SALT compliant and can be easily integrated into existing platforms and browsers." "Followap chose NMS as its partner for Voice Conferencing because of [its] easy-to-integrate, scalable and highly flexible Open Access platform with VoiceXML support" n/a: A speech technology company. "Recently launced VoiceNotify outbound hosted notification service." PipeBeach congratulates W3C and the VoiceXML Forum on their co-operation and the rapid release of the working draft of VoiceXML 2.0. Through our CTO, Dr. Scott McGlashan, PipeBeach leads the world-class W3C team producing the VoiceXML standard. We see this standard as a powerful business enabler for the rapid development of interactive speech services, especially innovative voice portals for the mobile user. The PipeBeach speechWeb platform provides multi-lingual support and we are proud to be the world's first to release a carrier-grade VoiceXML 2.0 platform with support for a number of European languages. SandCherry introduces Voice4 VoiceXML solutions. "Voice4 platform solutions combine SandCherry's advanced VoiceXML (VXML) browser and SoftServer™ platform with speech technology components from leading vendors." These VoiceXML solutions are for touch-tone, IVR, two-way radio, and multimodal platforms, and for finance, healthcare, transport, retail, and utilities. (9/2004). n/a: Some activity on mail groups giving advice on VoiceXML. No mentions of VoiceXML or of SALT. Purchased Phillips Speech, Lobby7, SpeechWorks: See Founder's section for VoiceXML testimonials and products. Openscape voice platform. Supports both VoiceXML 2.0 and SALT, comes with Siemens applications, all written in VoiceXML (4/2003). Have VoiceXML-based high-density media server for telecoms customers (2/2004). Bought by Brooktrout (3/2004). See Brooktrout for more entries. Microsoft Speech Server PIN reset application (3/2004). "TuVox and Softel Partner to Provide VXML and SALT Enabled Packaged Speech Applications" Softel backing ScanSoft's xHMI tooling initiative, "an XML-based dialog configuration language for advanced speech applications", "leveraging existing industry standards such as VoiceXML and CCXML" (11/2004). An analysis of their skills matrix shows that their applications run on a wide variety of VoiceXML platforms, such as those from Avaya, Cisco, Edify, Genesys, IBM, and Nortel. (12/2004). "As a member of the Voice Browser Working Group, Telera has been instrumental in the evolution of the standard. Telera is excited to see the general release of the VoiceXML 2.0 Working Draft, enabling the proliferation of the standard and accelerating the adoption of VoiceXML. Telera continues to support the efforts of the Working Group by influencing further innovation of the standard." "Telera is a VoiceXML middleware maker and host. Its carrier-class Web Application Platform is a collection of software components targeted for generic servers and telephony cards (read Intel/Dialogic). The Voice Web CO module controls media translation and speech processing (both Speechworks and Nuance grammars). It is also the home of its version 2.0 VoiceXML interpreter." (2/2002). Partners with VoiceGenie to add VoiceXML 2.0 to TEN Voice Services Platform (7/2002). "Through the efforts of W3C and the VoiceXML Forum, Unisys believes that VoiceXML will spearhead voice-enabling the Web. The exciting opportunities afforded by VoiceXML complement the Unisys strategy to provide open speech-enabled solutions to customers worldwide. Unisys is engaged in VoiceXML projects across the globe, including voice portal solutions, supported by a strong team of professional services experts and enabling technologies." Unisys backing ScanSoft's xHMI tooling initiative, "an XML-based dialog configuration language for advanced speech applications", "leveraging existing industry standards such as VoiceXML and CCXML" (11/2004). "Five years ago, we launched the VoiceXML Forum with the goals of making voice applications easier to develop and less expensive to deploy by leveraging existing internet standards and infrastructure. Today, as VoiceXML 2.0 becomes a W3C Recommendation, we see widespread adoption of the new standard, sparking a level of innovation in applications never before seen in telephony. At Vocalocity, we have designed and deployed a highly customizable and extensible software platform that would not have been possible without standards like VoiceXML 2.0. As a result, our OEM and System Integrator customers enjoy lower costs and more efficient use of their resources." -- Ken Rehor, Chief Architect, Vocalocity; Co-Editor, VoiceXML 2.0; and Member of Founding Team, VoiceXML Forum (3/2004). Voice Gateway 2.0 supports VoiceXML 2.0. "Excel and Vocalocity Redefine Performance and Price Expectations for Large-Scale VoiceXML Deployments" (6/2004). Vocalocity's Ken Rehor elected to Vice Chair of the VoiceXML Forum (8/2004). "ScanSoft Selects Vocalocity to Advance Adoption of Open Source VoiceXML Interpreter - OpenVXI" (8/2004). Vocalocity's John Hibel talks about OpenVXI and VoiceXML: "In just a few short years we’ve seen an astounding adoption rate for VoiceXML". (8/2004). Using our innovative developer tools, our customers leverage their existing wireless, multimodal and telephony hosting (IVR/VRU) platforms to create and deploy VoiceXML and SALT content" www.voicewebsolutions.net (4/2004). "Voice Genie Technologies congratulates those who worked so hard to put together this important MoU between the W3C and the VoiceXML Forum regarding a unified VoiceXML standard. The involvement of the W3C and the continued involvement of the VoiceXML forum will ensure that the standard continues to strengthen and avoids fragmentation which could lead to confusion in the minds of our customers. A strong VoiceXML standard will ensure the blossoming of the voice content market and energize this emerging industry. VoiceGenie, with its industry leading VoiceXML gateway, is fully committed to the success of the VoiceXML standard and the benefits it will bring to consumers." "VoiceGenie Technologies is delighted that the VoiceXML 2.0 Specification has achieved full W3C Recommendation status, and applauds the diligence of the contributors to this effort. As a participant in the W3C Voice Browser and Multimodal Interaction Working Groups, and as a board member of the VoiceXML Forum, VoiceGenie remains strongly commited to the support of open standards such as VoiceXML 2.0, SRGS and SSML. The VoiceGenie framework provides complete support for VoiceXML 2.0 and integrates a selection of industry-leading ASR and TTS resources. World-class customers including AT&T, Verizon, Oracle, Scotiabank and hundreds of others have selected the VoiceGenie framework for critical applications including customer care, directory assistance automation, retail services, voice activated dialing and more. VoiceGenie fully supports the work of the W3C and the VoiceXML Forum, and looks forward to continued rapid growth in the deployment of applications based on the open standards delivered to industry by the W3C." -- Stuart Berkowitz, President and CEO, VoiceGenie Technologies. (3/2004). "ScanSoft introduces SpeechPAK 1.0 for utilities". "SpeechPAKs accelerate R.O.I. gains by delivering a fast, high-quality deployment on a variety of VoiceXML 2.0 platforms from industry leaders such as [...] VoiceGenie [...]" (4/2004). VoiceGenie backing ScanSoft's xHMI tooling initiative, "an XML-based dialog configuration language for advanced speech applications", "leveraging existing industry standards such as VoiceXML and CCXML" (11/2004). Focuses on both VoiceXML and SALT solutions (9/2004). VoiceObjects and VoicInt Sign Agreement [regarding VoiceObjects' VoiceXML application framework]. (12/2004). "The release of the W3C VoiceXML 2.0 specification is another significant milestone in the explosive growth of VoiceXML. Prior to VoiceXML, Interactive Voice Response (IVR) platforms were proprietary IT islands - disconnected from mainstream IT infrastructure. VoiceXML and the W3C CCXML standard efforts bring IVR into the world of modern, integrated IT solutions. As a result of this progress, over 200 enterprise customers have already replaced proprietary IVR platforms with Voxeo VoiceCenter VoiceXML and CCXML platforms and hosting services." -- Jonathan Taylor, President and CEO, Voxeo Corporation (3/2004). "VoxSurf strongly supports the standardisation of voice technologies by the W3C and in particular W3C's work on the VoiceXML 2.0 standard. We see this as key to the development of the next generation of telephone based web applications which are independent of proprietary hardware and software configurations. VoxSurf is committed to the use of VoiceXML, having recently released a fully VoiceXML compliant Unified Messaging application which combines voicemail with the ability to access multiple email accounts from any phone using voice" commands, as well as providing access via WAP and iMode devices. "VoxSurf was the first company to realize the importance of the VoiceXML standard in the mobile messaging marketplace and in particular its role in Next Generation Voicemail and in general the future success of IP based messaging services - we are a market leader in the implementation of open speech technology in the field of messaging." "ScanSoft introduces SpeechPAK 1.0 for utilities". "SpeechPAKs accelerate R.O.I. gains by delivering a fast, high-quality deployment on a variety of VoiceXML 2.0 platforms from industry leaders such as [...] West Interactive [...]" (4/2004). West's Bruce Pollock elected to Chair of the VoiceXML Forum (8/2004). West backing ScanSoft's xHMI tooling initiative, "an XML-based dialog configuration language for advanced speech applications", "leveraging existing industry standards such as VoiceXML and CCXML" (11/2004). "The ability to develop interactive voice applications using the W3C Voice Browser Working Group's recommendations [VoiceXML 2.0, SRGS, SSML] will contribute to further growth in the rapidly expanding VoIP market and will enable the delivery of innovative value-added communication services over a single packet network." Cisco Expands Customer Contact Portfolio. The Internet Service Node is a voice portal that drives apps written in VoiceXML (3/2004). "ScanSoft introduces SpeechPAK 1.0 for utilities". "SpeechPAKs accelerate R.O.I. gains by delivering a fast, high-quality deployment on a variety of VoiceXML 2.0 platforms from industry leaders such as [...] Cisco [...]" (4/2004). Cisco Targets CRM Integration. "The company plans to release Customer Voice Portal Version 3.0 at the end of the year. [...] The CVP supports speech-enabled and touch-tone applications that can be integrated with back-end data and business rules accessible through the Web, using Java 2 Enterprise Edition and VoiceXML standards. [...] The CVP provides a VoiceXML based IVR and the ability to create a unified virtual contact center using an IP-based network to integrate the technologies." No mentions of SALT. (10/2004). Cisco backing ScanSoft's xHMI tooling initiative, "an XML-based dialog configuration language for advanced speech applications", "leveraging existing industry standards such as VoiceXML and CCXML" (11/2004). Cisco and IBM Target Speech-Enabled Contact Centers. "IBM and Cisco plan to launch a joint speech-enabled solution set later this year [...] The two companies plan to provide a joint service using IBM's WebSphere Voice Server for Multiplatforms middleware and Cisco's Customer Voice Portal (CVP), which converts PSTN and IP-based telephone calls into VoiceXML events and documents." "The voice portal--with its natural voice user interface--provides subscribers quick and easy access to content and services through their mobile phone. The VoiceXML standard is key to accelerating the growth of this worldwide market. As such, Comverse is strongly committed to VoiceXML as a key element of our strategy to deliver complete voice portal solutions to network operators." Comverse and Angel.com form partnership for business productivity services suite to run on Comverse Media Server. (9/2003). "VoiceXML and related tools for developing VoiceXML applications will enable web developers to easily voice enable their e-business websites without the use of cumbersome, proprietary IVR equipment. Intel supports VoiceXML 2.0 and its related speech synthesis and speech grammar markup language standards as defined by W3C to foster continued development of innovative voice web applications." "VoiceXML Solution from VoiceGenie and Intel Delivers Open, Standards-Based Voice Services Platform" (6/2004). Microsoft Speech Server 2004 supports SALT only. "VXML is just not technically good enough and it doesn't matter what you do. You can beat a dead horse for a long time but no matter how you beat it is still dead," Huang said. "Philips Speech Processing is pleased with the progress on developing the VoiceXML standard. As a leader in speech recognition technology, Philips appreciates all advances that enable people to use their voices as an interface." "SPWX is extremely pleased with the publication of the VoiceXML 2.0 spec and congratulates W3C on a landmark achievement. As a key contributor to the 2.0 specification, SPWX is committed to evolving the standard and delivering products, like the VoiceXML-optimized OpenSpeech line, as well as services and programs that bring the powerful benefits of VoiceXML to a global customer base. This much-anticipated standard heralds unprecedented portability of speech applications and creates new opportunities and growth for all who embrace it." "ScanSoft congratulates the W3C Voice Browser Working Group on reaching the Recommendation milestone for VoiceXML 2.0. It is clear that these developing standards are integral to the development of advanced technologies that change the way we communicate, from interactive voice response solutions to in-vehicle automotive applications. Businesses and consumers alike will benefit from the VoiceXML-based speech-enabled applications. ScanSoft is committed to VoiceXML and the W3C processes for standardization. Our SpeechWorks Family of ASR, TTS, and dialog solutions are uniquely optimized to support VoiceXML 2.0 and enable our partners to deliver industry-leading platforms, solutions,and services that are revolutionizing the business of speech." -- Steve Chambers, Senior Vice President and General Manager Network, Speech Solutions, ScanSoft (3/2004). "ScanSoft wins prestigious speech industry award for `Best Packaged Application' from AVIOS". "With SpeechPAKs, healthcare organizations can rapidly deploy speech applications on a variety of VoiceXML 2.0 platforms." (4/2004). "ScanSoft introduces SpeechPAK 1.0 for utilities". "SpeechPAKs accelerate R.O.I. gains by delivering a fast, high-quality deployment on a variety of VoiceXML 2.0 platforms from industry leaders such as Aspect, Avaya, Cisco, Edify, Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Intervoice, Nortel Networks, VoiceGenie Technologies and West Interactive." (4/2004). "ScanSoft Releases OpenSpeech DialogModules 2.0 to Accelerate Deployment of Powerful Speech Applications". "The first standards-based VoiceXML building blocks available on the market, OpenSpeech DialogModules free software developers from programming frequently occurring speech recognition tasks in new speech applications. When used in conjunction with OpenSpeech(TM) Recognizer 3.0, OpenSpeech DialogModules provide leading recognition accuracy, efficiency, and caller satisfaction on the industry's broadest selection of telephony platforms." (6/2004). "ScanSoft Introduces OpenSpeech Attendant, a Field-Proven Auto-Attendant Application for VoiceXML-Based Telephony Platform Providers." (6/2004). "Frost & Sullivan Names ScanSoft Leader in Asia Pacific Speech Recognition Market for Second Year." ScanSoft announces xHMI tooling initiative, "an XML-based dialog configuration language for advanced speech applications", "leveraging existing industry standards such as VoiceXML and CCXML" (11/2004).

2019-04-22T10:04:03Z

http://ferrans.com/voicexml/salt-and-voicexml/saltforum_companies.html

In recent years the Sudan government has been responsible for pouring weapons into Darfur at a time when territorial and environmental tensions were already high. Rather than encourage and supervise resolutions to these issues the government has chosen to inflame ethnic and racial divisions in the region. The well-known devastation created by this policy has a precedent in British activities in the region in 1915-16 as part of the buildup to the Anglo-Egyptian invasion that brought the independent Sultanate of Darfur under the control of the Khartoum government. Darfur's independence was first shattered by an invasion led by the powerful slave-trader and freebooter Zubayr Pasha in 1874. Zubayr's conquest was quickly taken from him by the Turko-Egyptian government, which controlled the rest of the Sudan at the time. The Egyptians in turn were expelled by the forces of the Mahdi, whose Islamic movement took control of most of the country except for a small strip of the Red Sea coast. After the Mahdist government of Sudan was crushed at Omdurman by the British-led Egyptian Army in 1898 a so-called British-Egyptian Condominium government was created to administer the Sudan. Though a partnership in theory, government decisions were made exclusively by the senior partner, the British. Units of Sudanese and Egyptian troops were available to enforce the government's writ, but the senior officers were all British soldiers on loan to the Egyptian Army. The Governor General of the Sudan was also exclusively British, creating friction with Egyptian nationalists who justifiably questioned the balance of this 'partnership'. Added to this were civilians of the Sudan Political Service, powerful and independent men who often worked in isolation from other Europeans for long stretches of time. Almost exclusively drawn from Oxford and Cambridge universities, they were fluent in Arabic and expected to make most decisions in the field without having to refer everything to the Governor General in Khartoum. For over five decades this low-cost and, indeed, low-interest, form of administration worked surprisingly well, in large part because of British willingness to apply overwhelming force to any sign of defiance, especially in the early days of the Condominium. Darfur remained outside the Condominium. It had been intended that it would form part of the Sudan in 1898, but a member of the Fur royal family, 'Ali Dinar, beat the British back to the capital of al-Fashir after the battle of Omdurman, deposing a British-supported pretender while re-establishing the Fur Kingdom. The British recognized 'Ali Dinar as sovereign of distant Darfur in exchange for an annual tribute and a nominal acceptance of the Sudan Government as the suzerain power. Most of the British inspectors were trained in Arab language and culture, and had little sympathy for what they saw as backwards and ignorant Black Africans, regardless of their skills or achievements. For the Fur these achievements were considerable. For three centuries they had ruled a prosperous trading nation with a rich culture, building political unity from a nearly impossible ethnic and linguistic diversity. The Arabs were never enthusiastic about Fur rule, but the centralized authority of the region created a tense but workable relationship between the tribes and the Sultan, who had recourse to a large professional army. Tribute was usually paid, and a degree of order prevailed between African and Arab tribes who might otherwise raid each other to their mutual impoverishment. What had changed by the late 19th century was the encroachment of European imperialists, the French to the West, and the British to the East. The Arab leaders realized that they now had a new card to play by manipulating this presence to their advantage. A similar phenomenon occurred in the Sultanate of Dar Sila on Darfur's western border, where the nomadic Arab tribes besieged the French with complaints about the 'African' Sultan Bakhit. The Sudan government's relationship with Darfur began to change in 1914, when the British became interested in using the Arabs against the African tribes who dominated Darfur. The security of the Darfur border region was placed in the hands of one of the Sultan's most trusted lieutenants, Khalil 'Abd ar-Rahman. Determined to put an end to the insolence of the Arabs, Khalil pursued an active policy of force against the tribes, creating an incident in 1913 when he attacked a large party of Zaiyadia Arabs fleeing the Sultan's troops. The attack took place on the Kordofan (Sudanese) side of the border, causing a great deal of anxiety amongst the handful of British administrators who regarded this as a direct challenge to government authority in the region. The problem was that there was no uniform policy in dealing with the Arab tribes, especially those that routinely crossed the border to seek refuge from the Sultan or the Khartoum government, depending on the circumstances. The generally pro-Arab inspectors were divided on the timing and degree of support to be offered to the Arabs, while the Inspector-General, Rudolf von Slatin Pasha (who knew 'Ali Dinar from their mutual captivity in Omdurman during the days of the Mahdist government) favoured a conciliatory relationship with the Sultan. Before the Mahdist revolution Slatin had been governor of Darfur in the old Turko-Egyptian regime. Under the Condominium government Slatin was given nearly total control over the nomadic tribes and the appointment of their leaders, mostly men known personally by Slatin and regarded by him as loyal to the government. With the outbreak of a European war in August 1914, the Austrian-born Slatin was expelled from the Sudan as a security risk despite having been a member of the Egyptian Army since 1879. No European had such intimate knowledge of the peoples of Darfur as Slatin. Tribal policy in the western Sudan now passed into the hands of less-experienced British officials. In November 1914 the Ottoman government declared war on the Allied Powers, followed soon after by a declaration of jihad for all Muslims by Ottoman Sultan Muhammad Rashad V in his role as Caliph of Islam. From this point on a religious dimension emerged in the deteriorating relations between 'Ali Dinar and the Khartoum government. Governor-General Wingate (an experienced intelligence hand in the Egyptian Army) began to make funds available to the Kordofan inspectors to mount espionage and other secret operations against Darfur. The Ottoman Sultan's proclamation of jihad had no impact on the Arabs of Darfur. The bitter legacy of the Turko-Egyptian 19th century occupation of the region meant that the Arabs had no interest in supporting the Ottomans. The survival and growth of the tribe remained paramount, and the key to this was seen to be cooperation with the British. With the Kababish Arabs raiding the eastern frontier of Darfur in 1915 the Sultan appealed to the Government for arms and ammunition to defend his territory, a natural request to make of the suzerain power. The Kordofan-based Kababish were the largest nomadic tribe in the Sudan. In 1911 they had been bold enough to strike into western Darfur to raid one of the Sultan's own caravans carrying a large shipment of arms. The tribe's loyalty was more important to the Khartoum government than 'Ali Dinar's satisfaction, so the Sultan's request for arms was denied. In the end the British relented to sending 1,000 rounds, a ridiculously small amount. Larger considerations were at play here; 'Ali Dinar had for years battled French encroachment on his western border and had repeatedly requested arms from the government, only to be denied in every case. The British did not wish to create an incident with their wartime French allies by giving a Fur army the means of defeating a French expedition. The British and the French had already been negotiating the limits of the western border of Darfur before the war, but put off a decision until the war was over. By May 1915 'Ali Dinar was sending threatening letters to the leader of the Kababish Arabs. He accused them of joining the infidels but suggested they follow the path of jihad instead. The Kababish chief, 'Ali al-Tum, immediately dumped the letters on the closest British inspector with a warning that the government should take care of this 'fanatic'. The British inspectors in Kordofan now began to realize the thinness of their rule, and broached the idea of a preemptory invasion of Darfur. Governor-General Wingate and most of his fellow officers in the Sudan were refused in their applications to transfer to the fighting on the Western Front on the grounds of their experience and irreplaceability in the Sudan. These were all professional soldiers who began to realize that their own efficiency in keeping Sudan quiet during the war was cutting them out of the opportunities for promotion and decorations they could get in Europe. Once planted, the idea of creating a new battleground for the Great War began to take on steam. Rumours of German officers in al-Fashir and diabolical cruelties committed by the Sultan began to circulate. Eventually these rumours and other fantasies were all packed off to London labeled 'Intelligence'. Normally Arab complaints of the Sultan's hostility were grounded in the Arab tribes' own prevarication in paying the annual tribute. Therefore the Government usually responded with a few words of sympathy and a suggestion to pay the tribute more promptly. In July 1915 the Governor-General instructed his agents to advise Musa Madibbu, chief of the Rizayqat tribe, to avoid paying the tribute, advice sure to result in fighting. It was thought that any government invasion of Darfur would benefit greatly from having the Sultan's army 'embroiled with the Rizayqat'. Wingate, whose experience in intelligence work included what may be called 'dirty tricks', suggested that in his correspondence with the Sultan, Madibbu should name any supporters of 'Ali Dinar in his own tribe as the individuals preventing him from collecting the tribute. Musa Madibbu was interested in enlisting the aid of the Sudan Government in a growing struggle between his tribe and the Fur Sultan. In 1913 the Rizayqat had narrowly beaten a Fur punitive expedition, but losses were heavy and Madibbu did not believe the Rizayqat could duplicate their win. In September 1915 British Inspector John Bassett offered to loan the Rizayqat arms and ammunition to defend themselves from the Sultan. The total amount came to 300 rifles and 30,000 rounds, enough to turn the Rizayqat into potent challengers to Fur rule. In December a similar loan of 200 rifles and ammunition was made to 'Ali al-Tum and the Kababish. Musa Madibbu had no intention of taking on the Sultan himself, however, and wrote to the Government that 'we are poor Arabs and have no power to resist this man'. By this point both the Arabs and the Government were trying to manipulate each other. The dispute grew as the Sultan sent Musa Madibbu a pair of sandals to run away with, while Musa replied that he would soon be watering his horses at the Sultan's capital of al-Fashir. The new Government policy was a reversal of its long-standing efforts to disarm the Arab tribes of Kordofan. The region was still awash with 35-year old rifles seized by Mahdist fighters from the ill-fated Hicks Pasha expedition of 1883, but many of these had lost their sights or seen their barrels sawed off to make them easier to carry. Even those still intact commonly used pebbles for ammunition in lead-poor Sudan. The supply of modern weapons and ample ammunition was a dramatic change to the strategic situation in Darfur. By April 1916 460 Arabs of the Kababish, Kawahla, and other Arab tribes had been deployed in a string of eight posts along the Darfur frontier. All were armed and paid by the Government. The Arabs were ordered to carry out scouting forays into Darfur, but, as one inspector wryly put it, 'their vigorous interpretation of the term reconnaissance' took them some 300 miles right across Darfur. The new British-supplied weapons were used by the Arabs to attack their old rivals in French territory, the Bidayat and the Gura'an. There were suggestions that a Government man be sent to the Arabs to reign in their excesses, but eventually it was decided it was better to look the other way, as a government representative would simply be a witness to 'enormities' that he could do nothing to prevent. We beg to inform Your Majesty that the Moslems who have abandoned Islam and embraced Christianity have been punished in a miraculous way never heard of on this earth – except during the time of the Prophets… It fell on a tribe called Rizeigat, subjects of ours who had abandoned the light of Islam and followed the advice of the Christians, the dogs – The heaven rained fire on them and they ran to the river and diving therein, turned into black coal – In another place Heaven rained red blood. 'Ali Dinar failed to meet the British at the border with his army, fearing that if he moved his troops up, Musa Madibbu would sweep in behind him and loot al-Fashir (presumably with those Rizayqat who had not been turned into coal). The Sultan now took on a more friendly tone in his communications with the Rizayqat chieftain. The Sultan announced that he was satisfied with Musa, and in a mix of threat and encouragement informed the Arab chief that the Fur army had already met the Anglo-Egyptian invasion force, and that though each of his men was hit at least ten times by the infidels' bullets, there were no injuries. In May 1916 the Sultan's army was defeated at the battle of Birinjia, followed several months later by the Sultan's own death at the hands of an Anglo-Egyptian mounted infantry task force. While this put an end to Fur resistance the nomads of Darfur were just getting started. By the middle of 1916 the nomadic African Bidayat, Gura'an and Zaghawa tribes were all raiding from French territory into northwest Darfur. 'Ali al-Tum led the Kababish against the Berti in northern Darfur, defeating them and seizing their herds on the pretext that they were 'enemies of the government'. From there they turned to raiding Dar Zaghawa (a territory straddling the Chad/Darfur border). At the same time the Bani Halba of southern Darfur were looting herds without any concern for whether their owners were pro or anti government. In October a raiding party of 200 Kababish was in the Ennedi region (modern north Chad) seizing women and children. In retaliation the Bidayat and Gura'an raided the Arabs of northern Darfur in November, then turned south to take 3,500 head of cattle and 50 women and children from the Fur. In December, 1916, a column of the Egyptian Army Camel Corps was sent to northwest Darfur to cooperate with French units against the Bidayat and the Gura'an. The provision of arms had unleashed a storm of retaliatory violence that the government had great difficulty reigning in over the next several years. The Darfur campaign never achieved recognition as part of the Great War. This was a great disappointment to the expedition's British officers, but designation as a part of the World War meant that London would be responsible for the costs of the conquest. Although the invasion was justified as a strike against German and Ottoman forces in Africa, the conflict received the official designation 'Patrol 16 of the Egyptian Army' making it a purely local affair. This revisionist slight of hand allowed the entire bill to be sent to Cairo instead. In the end, the Arab tribes contributed almost nothing to the conquest of Darfur. The violence of raid and counter-raid swept across northern Darfur long after the campaign of 1916. Even the Great War had come to an end by the time French and British colonial officials cooperated to bring an end to the destruction of life and property. Like the current situation in Darfur the Sudan government had introduced modern arms into the region while aggravating ethnic and territorial conflicts that were usually resolved by traditional methods of conciliation. As the chaos spiraled out of control the colonial government (like today's regime in Khartoum) chose to disclaim any responsibility. Unfortunately the lessons of history have little attraction for today's policy-makers. . So-called since the entire ruling class of Egypt at the time was composed of Turks, Circassians, and other races of the Ottoman Empire. Turkish rather than Arabic was the language of both the elite and the military. . I have used the term 'Fur army' in this paper in reference to the Sultans's forces, but the army was in fact composed of many different tribes and ethnic groups. The two senior commanders were both slaves from the southern hinterland, named Sulayman and Ramadan. McGregor, Andrew: A Military History of Modern Egypt: From the Ottoman Conquest to the Ramadan War , Praeger Security International (Greenwood Press), Westport Conn, 2006. Prunier, Gérard: Darfur: The Ambiguous Genocide , Hurst & Co., London, 2005. Theobald, AB: 'Ali Dinar: Last Sultan of Darfur, 1896-1916 , London, 1965 (out of print). Von Slatin, Rudolph: Fire and Sword in the Sudan , London, 1896-97 (out of print). Copyright © 2006 Andrew McGregor. Andrew McGregor is director of Toronto-based Aberfoyle International Security (AIS) and former senior editor of the Global Terrorism Analysis Program of the Washington DC based Jamestown Foundation. He received a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto’s Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations in 2000 and is a former Research Associate of the Canadian Institute of International Affairs. He is the author of an archaeological history of Darfur published by Cambridge University in 2001. His latest book is A Military History of Modern Egypt, published by Praeger Security International. Dr. McGregor has written over 700 articles on international military and security issues for organizations including Jane’s Intelligence, the Royal Institute of International Affairs and the Canadian Institute of Strategic Studies. He also provides frequent commentary on military and security issues for international newspapers, radio and television, including the New York Times, Financial Times, CNN, Fox News, al-Jazeera, the CBC and the BBC. He can be reached at [email protected], or visit the AIS website at www.aberfoylesecurity.com.

2019-04-24T12:26:46Z

https://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwi/articles/subvertingthesultan.aspx

(a) Effective June 1, 2010, Washington changed its method of apportioning certain gross income from engaging in business as a financial institution. This rule addresses how such gross income must be apportioned when the financial institution engages in business both within and outside the state. (b) RCW 82.04.460(2) requires the department, to the extent feasible, to adopt the multistate tax commission's recommended formula for apportionment and allocation of net income for financial institutions, with the exceptions that the definition of financial institution in the appendix to the recommended formula is advisory only and only the receipts factor will be used to apportion income. (c) On July 29, 2015, the multistate tax commission approved amendments to its recommended formula for the apportionment and allocation of net income of financial institutions including amendments to how the receipts factor is calculated. The amendments are effective for tax years starting on or after January 1, 2016. (d) This rule applies to the apportionment of income taxable under RCW 82.04.290 for periods beginning January 1, 2016. (i) WAC 458-20-19401 Minimum nexus thresholds for apportionable activities. This rule describes minimum nexus standards that are effective after May 31, 2010. (ii) WAC 458-20-19402 Single factor receipts apportionment—Generally. This rule describes the general application of single factor receipts apportionment that is effective after May 31, 2010. (iii) WAC 458-20-19403 Single factor receipts apportionment—Royalties. This rule describes the application of single factor receipts apportionment to gross income from royalties and applies only to tax liability incurred after May 31, 2010. (iv) WAC 458-20-194 Doing business inside and outside the state. This rule describes separate accounting and cost apportionment. It applies only to the periods January 1, 2006, through May 31, 2010. (v) WAC 458-20-19404A Financial institutions—Income apportionment. This rule describes the application of single factor receipts apportionment to gross income for financial institutions during the period June 1, 2010, through December 31, 2015. (vi) WAC 458-20-14601 Financial institutions—Income apportionment. This rule describes the apportionment of income for financial institutions for periods prior to June 1, 2010. (f) Financial institutions engaged in making interstate sales of tangible personal property should also refer to WAC 458-20-193, Inbound and outbound interstate sales of tangible personal property. (a) Except as otherwise specifically provided, a financial institution taxable under RCW 82.04.290 and taxable in another state must attribute and apportion its service and other activities income as provided in this rule. Apportionable income that is not taxable under RCW 82.04.290 must be apportioned pursuant to WAC 458-20-19402 Single factor receipts apportionment—Generally or WAC 458-20-19403 Single factor receipts apportionment—Royalties. "Apportionable income" means gross income of the business generated from engaging in apportionable activities as defined in WAC 458-20-19401 Minimum nexus thresholds for apportionable activities, including income received from apportionable activities performed outside this state if the income would be taxable under chapter 82.04 RCW if received from activities in this state, less any deductions allowable under chapter 82.04 RCW. All gross income that is not from apportionable activities must be allocated pursuant to chapter 82.04 RCW. A financial institution organized under the laws of a foreign country, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or a territory or possession of the United States, except such institutions that are exempt under RCW 82.04.315, whose effectively connected income (as defined under the federal Internal Revenue Code) is taxable both in this state and another state, other than the state in which it is organized, must allocate and apportion its gross income as provided in this rule. (b) All service and other activities income, regardless of where that income is attributed, shall be apportioned to this state by multiplying such income, less any deductions or exemptions authorized under chapter 82.04 RCW, by the apportionment percentage. The apportionment percentage is determined by the taxpayer's receipts factor (as described in subsection (4) of this rule). (c) The receipts factor must be computed according to the method of accounting (cash or accrual basis) used by the taxpayer for Washington state tax purposes for the taxable period. For further guidance on the requirements of each accounting method refer to WAC 458-20-197 When tax liability arises and WAC 458-20-199 Accounting methods. (d) Generally, financial institutions are required to file returns on a monthly basis. To enable financial institutions to more easily comply with this rule, financial institutions may file returns using the receipts factor calculated based on the most recent calendar year for which information is available. If a financial institution does not calculate its receipts factor based on the previous calendar year for which information is available, it must use the current year information to make that calculation. In either event, a reconciliation must be filed for each year not later than October 31st of the following year. The reconciliation must be filed on a form approved by the department. In the case of consolidations, mergers, or divestitures, a taxpayer must make the appropriate adjustments to the factors to reflect its changed operations. (i) In either event (refund or additional taxes due), interest will apply in a manner consistent with tax assessments. (ii) Penalties as provided in RCW 82.32.090 will apply to any such additional tax due only if the reconciliation for a tax year is not completed and additional tax is not paid by October 31st of the following year. (iii) The employment of any other method to effectuate an equitable allocation and apportionment of the taxpayer's receipts. (a) "Billing address" means the location indicated in the books and records of the taxpayer on the first day of the taxable period (or on such later date in the taxable period when the customer relationship began) as the address where any notice, statement or bill relating to a customer's account is mailed. (ii) A borrower that is not engaged in a trade or business or a credit card holder, whose billing address is in this state. (c) "Card issuer's reimbursement fee" means the fee a taxpayer receives from a merchant's bank because one of the persons to whom the taxpayer has issued a credit, debit, or similar type of card has charged merchandise or services to the card. (ii) If a taxpayer is organized under the laws of a foreign country, or of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or any territory or possession of the United States, such taxpayer's commercial domicile is deemed for the purposes of this rule to be the state of the United States or the District of Columbia from which such taxpayer's trade or business in the United States is principally managed and directed. It is presumed, subject to rebuttal by a preponderance of the evidence, that the location from which the taxpayer's trade or business is principally managed and directed is the state of the United States or the District of Columbia to which the greatest number of employees are regularly connected or out of which they are working, irrespective of where the services of such employees are performed, as of the last day of the taxable period. (e) "Credit card" means a card, or other means of providing information, that entitles the holder to charge the cost of purchases, or a cash advance, against a line of credit. (f) "Debit card" means a card, or other means of providing information, that enables the holder to charge the cost of purchases, or a cash withdrawal, against the holder's bank account or a remaining balance on the card. (h) "Employee" means, with respect to a particular taxpayer, any individual who, under the usual common-law rules applicable in determining the employer-employee relationship, has the status of an employee of that taxpayer. (viii) A production credit association organized under the Federal Farm Credit Act of 1933, all of whose stock held by the Federal Production Credit Corporation has been retired. (ii) Does not include amounts received from an affiliated person if those amounts are required to be determined at arm's length per sections 23A or 23B of the Federal Reserve Act. For the purpose of this subsection, affiliated means the affiliated person and the financial institution are under common control. Control means the possession (directly or indirectly), of more than fifty percent of power to direct or cause the direction of the management and policies of each entity. Control may be through voting shares, contract, or otherwise. (iii) Financial institutions must determine their gross income of the business from gains realized from trading in stocks, bonds, and other evidences of indebtedness on a net annualized basis. (k) "Interest, fees, and penalties" means any fees related to a loan, credit card, or other extension of credit and includes any fees charged a prospective borrower prior to funding of a loan regardless of whether the loan is eventually funded. (l) "Loan" means any extension of credit resulting from direct negotiations between the taxpayer and its customer, and/or the purchase, in whole or in part, of such extension of credit from another. Loan includes participations, syndications, and leases treated as loans for federal income tax purposes. Loan does not include: Futures or forward contracts; options; notional principal contracts such as swaps; credit card receivables, including purchased credit card relationships; noninterest bearing balances due from depository institutions; cash items in the process of collection; federal funds sold; securities purchased under agreements to resell; assets held in a trading account; securities; interests in a real estate mortgage investment conduit (REMIC), or other mortgage-backed or asset-backed security; and other similar items. (m) "Loan secured by real property" means that more than fifty percent of the aggregate value of the collateral used to secure a loan or other obligation was real property, when valued at fair market value as of the time the original loan or obligation was incurred. (n) "Merchant discount" means the fee (or negotiated discount) charged to a merchant by the taxpayer for the privilege of participating in a program whereby a credit, debit, or similar type of card is accepted in payment for merchandise or services sold to the card holder, net of any card holder charge-back and unreduced by any interchange transaction or issuer reimbursement fee paid to another for charges or purchases made by its card holder. (o) "Participation" means an extension of credit in which an undivided ownership interest is held on a pro rata basis in a single loan or pool of loans and related collateral. In a loan participation, the credit originator initially makes the loan and then subsequently resells all or a portion of it to other lenders. The participation may or may not be known to the borrower. (p) "Person" has the meaning given in RCW 82.04.030. (q) "Regular place of business" means an office at which the taxpayer carries on its business in a regular and systematic manner and which is continuously maintained, occupied and used by employees of the taxpayer. (r) "Service and other activities income" means the gross income of the business taxable under RCW 82.04.290, including income received from activities outside this state if the income would be taxable under RCW 82.04.290 if received from activities in this state. (s) "State" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, any territory or possession of the United States, or any foreign country or political subdivision of a foreign country. (t) "Syndication" means an extension of credit in which two or more persons fund and each person is at risk only up to a specified percentage of the total extension of credit or up to a specified dollar amount. (ii) The taxpayer is not subject to a business activities tax by another state on its service and other activities income, but that state would have jurisdiction to subject the taxpayer to a business activities tax on such income under the substantial nexus standards explained in WAC 458-20-19401. (iii) For purposes of this subsection (3)(u), "business activities tax" means a tax measured by the amount of, or economic results of, business activity conducted in a state. The term includes taxes measured in whole or in part on net income or gross income or receipts. Business activities tax does not include a sales tax, use tax, or a similar transaction tax, imposed on the sale or acquisition of goods or services, whether or not denominated a gross receipts tax or a tax imposed on the privilege of doing business. (v) "Taxable period" means the calendar year during which tax liability is incurred. (a) General. The receipts factor is a fraction, the numerator of which is the service and other activities income of the taxpayer in this state during the taxable period and the denominator of which is the service and other activities income of the taxpayer inside and outside this state during the taxable period. The method of calculating receipts for purposes of the denominator is the same as the method used in determining receipts for purposes of the numerator. (b) Interest, fees, and penalties imposed in connection with loans secured by real property. (i) The numerator of the receipts factor includes interest, fees and penalties imposed in connection with loans secured by real property if the property is located within this state. If the property is located both within this state and one or more other states, the income described in this subsection (4)(b)(i) is included in the numerator of the receipts factor if more than fifty percent of the fair market value of the real property is located within this state. If more than fifty percent of the fair market value of the real property is not located within any one state, then the income described in this subsection (4)(b)(i) must be included in the numerator of the receipts factor if the borrower is located in this state. (ii) The determination of whether the real property securing a loan is located within this state must be made as of the time the original agreement was made and any and all subsequent substitutions of collateral must be disregarded. (c) Interest, fees, and penalties imposed in connection with loans not secured by real property. The numerator of the receipts factor includes interest, fees, and penalties imposed in connection with loans not secured by real property if the borrower is located in this state. (d) Net gains from the sale of loans. The numerator of the receipts factor includes net gains from the sale of loans. Net gains from the sale of loans includes income recorded under the coupon stripping rules of Section 1286 of the federal Internal Revenue Code. (i) The amount of net gains (but not less than zero) from the sale of loans secured by real property included in the numerator is determined by multiplying such net gains by a fraction, the numerator of which is the amount included in the numerator of the receipts factor pursuant to (b) of this subsection and the denominator of which is the total amount of interest and fees or penalties imposed in connection with loans secured by real property. (ii) The amount of net gains (but not less than zero) from the sale of loans not secured by real property included in the numerator is determined by multiplying such net gains by a fraction, the numerator of which is the amount included in the numerator of the receipts factor pursuant to (c) of this subsection and the denominator of which is the total amount of interest and fees or penalties imposed in connection with loans not secured by real property. (e) Receipts from fees, interest, and penalties charged to card holders. The numerator of the receipts factor includes fees, interest, and penalties charged to card holders including, but not limited to, annual fees and overdraft fees, if the billing address of the card holder is in this state. (f) Net gains from the sale of credit card receivables. The numerator of the receipts factor includes net gains (but not less than zero) from the sale of credit card receivables multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the amount included in the numerator of the receipts factor pursuant to (e) of this subsection and the denominator of which is the taxpayer's total amount of interest, fees, and penalties charged to credit card holders. (i) All credit card issuer's reimbursement fees multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the amount of fees, interest, and penalties charged to credit card holders included in the numerator of the receipts factor pursuant to (e) of this subsection and the denominator of which is the taxpayer's total amount of fees, interest, and penalties charged to credit card holders. (ii) All debit card issuer's reimbursement fees multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the amount of fees, interest, and penalties charged to debit card holders included in the numerator of the receipts factor pursuant to (e) of this subsection and the denominator of which is the taxpayer's total amount of fees, interest, and penalties charged to debit card holders. (iii) All other card issuer's reimbursement fees multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the amount of fees, interest, and penalties charged to all other card holders included in the numerator of the receipts factor pursuant to (e) of this subsection and the denominator of which is the taxpayer's total amount of fees, interest, and penalties charged to all other card holders. (h) Receipts from merchant discount. (i) If the taxpayer can readily determine the location of the merchant and if the merchant is in this state, the numerator of the receipts factor includes receipts from merchant discount. (C) In the case of a merchant discount related to the use of all other types of cards, the numerator of which is the amount of fees, interest, and penalties charged to all other card holders that is included in the numerator of the receipts factor pursuant to (e) of this subsection and the denominator of which is the taxpayer's total amount of fees, interest, and penalties charged to all other card holders. (iii) The taxpayer's method for sourcing each receipt from a merchant discount must be consistently applied to such receipt in all states that have adopted sourcing methods substantially similar to (h)(i) and (ii) of this subsection and must be used on all subsequent returns for sourcing receipts from such merchant unless the department permits or requires application of the alternative method. (i) Receipts from ATM fees. The receipts factor includes all ATM fees that are not forwarded directly to another bank. (i) The numerator of the receipts factor includes fees charged to a card holder for the use at an ATM of a card issued by the taxpayer if the card holder's billing address is in this state. (ii) The numerator of the receipts factor includes fees charged to a card holder, other than the taxpayer's card holder, for the use of such card at an ATM owned or rented by the taxpayer, if the ATM is in this state. (i)(A) The numerator of the receipts factor includes loan servicing fees derived from loans secured by real property multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the amount included in the numerator of the receipts factor under (b) of this subsection and the denominator of which is the total amount of interest, fees, and penalties imposed in connection with loans secured by real property. (B) The numerator of the receipts factor includes loan servicing fees derived from loans not secured by real property multiplied by a fraction, the numerator of which is the amount included in the numerator of the receipts factor under (c) of this subsection and the denominator of which is the total amount of interest and fees or penalties imposed in connection with loans not secured by real property. (ii) If the taxpayer receives loan servicing fees for servicing either the secured or the unsecured loans of another, the numerator of the receipts factor includes such fees if the borrower is located in this state. (k) Receipts from the financial institution's investment assets and activities and trading assets and activities. (A) The receipts factor includes the amount by which interest from federal funds sold and securities purchased under resale agreements exceeds interest expense on federal funds purchased and securities sold under repurchase agreements. (B) The receipts factor includes the amount by which interest, dividends, gains and other receipts from trading assets and activities including, but not limited to, assets and activities in the matched book, in the arbitrage book, and foreign currency transactions, exceed amounts paid in lieu of interest, amounts paid in lieu of dividends, and losses from such assets and activities. (ii) The numerator of the receipts factor includes interest, dividends, net gains (but not less than zero) and other receipts from both investment assets and activities and from trading assets and activities described in (k)(i) of this subsection that are attributable to this state. (A) The amount of interest, dividends, net gains (but not less than zero) and other income from investment assets and activities in each investment account to be attributed to this state and included in the numerator is determined by multiplying all such income from such assets and activities by a fraction, the numerator of which is the average value of such assets which are properly assigned to a regular place of business of the taxpayer within this state and the denominator of which is the average value of all such assets. (B) The amount of interest from federal funds sold and purchased and from securities purchased under resale agreements and securities sold under repurchase agreements attributable to this state and included in the numerator is determined by multiplying the amount described in (k)(i)(A) of this subsection from such funds and such securities by a fraction, the numerator of which is the average value of federal funds sold and securities purchased under agreements to resell which are properly assigned to a regular place of business of the taxpayer within this state and the denominator of which is the average value of all such funds and such securities. (C) The amount of interest, dividends, gains and other income from trading assets and activities including, but not limited to, assets and activities in the matched book, in the arbitrage book and foreign currency transactions (but excluding amounts described in (k)(i)(A) and (B) of this subsection), attributable to this state and included in the numerator is determined by multiplying the amount described in (k)(i)(B) of this subsection by a fraction, the numerator of which is the average value of such trading assets which are properly assigned to a regular place of business of the taxpayer within this state and the denominator of which is the average value of all such assets. (D) For purposes of (k)(ii) of this subsection, the average value of trading assets owned by the taxpayer is the original cost or other basis of such property for federal income tax purposes without regard to depletion, depreciation, or amortization. (iii) In lieu of using the method set forth in (k)(ii) of this subsection, the taxpayer may elect, or the department may require in order to fairly represent the business activity of the taxpayer in this state, the use of the method set forth in this paragraph. (A) The amount of interest, dividends, net gains (but not less than zero) and other income from investment assets and activities in the investment account to be attributed to this state and included in the numerator is determined by multiplying all such income from such assets and activities by a fraction, the numerator of which is the gross receipts from such assets and activities which are properly assigned to a regular place of business of the taxpayer within this state and the denominator of which is the gross income from all such assets and activities. (B) The amount of interest from federal funds sold and purchased and from securities purchased under resale agreements and securities sold under repurchase agreements attributable to this state and included in the numerator is determined by multiplying the amount described in (k)(i)(A) of this subsection from such funds and such securities by a fraction, the numerator of which is the gross income from such funds and such securities which are properly assigned to a regular place of business of the taxpayer within this state and the denominator of which is the gross income from all such funds and such securities. (C) The amount of interest, dividends, gains and other receipts from trading assets and activities including, but not limited to, assets and activities in the matched book, in the arbitrage book and foreign currency transactions (but excluding amounts described in (k)(ii)(A) or (B) of this subsection), attributable to this state and included in the numerator is determined by multiplying the amount described in (k)(i)(B) of this subsection by a fraction, the numerator of which is the gross income from such trading assets and activities which are properly assigned to a regular place of business of the taxpayer within this state and the denominator of which is the gross income from all such assets and activities. (iv) If the taxpayer elects or is required by the department to use the method set forth in (k)(iii) of this subsection, it must use this method on all subsequent returns unless the taxpayer receives prior permission from the department to use, or the department requires a different method. (v) The taxpayer has the burden of proving that an asset or activity was properly assigned to a regular place of business outside of this state by demonstrating that the day-to-day decisions regarding the asset or activity occurred at a regular place of business outside this state. If the day-to-day decisions regarding an asset or activity occur at more than one regular place of business and one such regular place of business is in this state and one such regular place of business is outside this state, such asset or activity is considered to be located at the regular place of business of the taxpayer where the investment or trading policies or guidelines with respect to the asset or activity are established. Such policies and guidelines are presumed, subject to rebuttal by preponderance of the evidence, to be established at the commercial domicile of the taxpayer. (l) All other receipts. The numerator of the receipts factor includes all other receipts from engaging in activities subject to tax under RCW 82.04.290 pursuant to the rules set forth in WAC 458-20-19402 Single factor receipts apportionment—Generally. (m) Attribution of certain receipts to commercial domicile. All receipts which would be assigned under this rule to a state in which the taxpayer is not taxable are included in the numerator of the receipts factor, if the taxpayer's commercial domicile is in this state. (5) Effective date. This rule applies to gross income that is reportable with respect to tax liability beginning on and after January 1, 2016.

2019-04-23T06:09:35Z

https://apps.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=458-20-19404

This chapter provides guidance and procedures used for characterization of biotechnology-derived articles by amino acid analysis. This chapter is harmonized with the corresponding chapter in JP and EP. Other characterization tests, also harmonized, are shown in Biotechnology-Derived Articles—Capillary Electrophoresis 1053 , Biotechnology-Derived Articles—Isoelectric Focusing 1054 , Biotechnology-Derived Articles—Peptide Mapping 1055 , Biotechnology-Derived Articles—Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis 1056 , and Biotechnology-Derived Articles—Total Protein Assay 1057 . Amino acid analysis refers to the methodology used to determine the amino acid composition or content of proteins, peptides, and other pharmaceutical preparations. Proteins and peptides are macromolecules consisting of covalently bonded amino acid residues organized as a linear polymer. The sequence of the amino acids in a protein or peptide determines the properties of the molecule. Proteins are considered large molecules that commonly exist as folded structures with a specific conformation, while peptides are smaller and may consist of only a few amino acids. Amino acid analysis can be used to quantify protein and peptides, to determine the identity of proteins or peptides based on their amino acid composition, to support protein and peptide structure analysis, to evaluate fragmentation strategies for peptide mapping, and to detect atypical amino acids that might be present in a protein or peptide. It is necessary to hydrolyze a protein/peptide to its individual amino acid constituents before amino acid analysis. Following protein/peptide hydrolysis, the amino acid analysis procedure can be the same as that practiced for free amino acids in other pharmaceutical preparations. The amino acid constituents of the test sample are typically derivatized for analysis. Methods used for amino acid analysis are usually based on a chromatographic separation of the amino acids present in the test sample. Current techniques take advantage of the automated chromatographic instrumentation designed for analytical methodologies. An amino acid analysis instrument will typically be a low-pressure or high-pressure liquid chromatograph capable of generating mobile phase gradients that separate the amino acid analytes on a chromatographic column. The instrument must have postcolumn derivatization capability, unless the sample is analyzed using precolumn derivatization. The detector is usually a UV-visible or fluorescence detector depending on the derivatization method used. A recording device (e.g., integrator) is used for transforming the analog signal from the detector and for quantitation. It is preferred that instrumentation be dedicated particularly for amino acid analysis. Background contamination is always a concern for the analyst in performing amino acid analysis. High-purity reagents are necessary (e.g., low-purity hydrochloric acid can contribute to glycine contamination). Analytical reagents are changed routinely every few weeks using only high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) grade solvents. Potential microbial contamination and foreign material that might be present in the solvents are reduced by filtering solvents before use, keeping solvent reservoirs covered, and not placing amino acid analysis instrumentation in direct sunlight. Laboratory practices can determine the quality of the amino acid analysis. Place the instrumentation in a low traffic area of the laboratory. Keep the laboratory clean. Clean and calibrate pipets according to a maintenance schedule. Keep pipet tips in a covered box; the analysts may not handle pipet tips with their hands. The analysts may wear powder-free latex or equivalent gloves. Limit the number of times a test sample vial is opened and closed because dust can contribute to elevated levels of glycine, serine, and alanine. A well-maintained instrument is necessary for acceptable amino acid analysis results. If the instrument is used on a routine basis, it is to be checked daily for leaks, detector and lamp stability, and the ability of the column to maintain resolution of the individual amino acids. Clean or replace all instrument filters and other maintenance items on a routine schedule. Acceptable amino acid standards are commercially available* for amino acid analysis and typically consist of an aqueous mixture of amino acids. When determining amino acid composition, protein or peptide standards are analyzed with the test material as a control to demonstrate the integrity of the entire procedure. Highly purified bovine serum albumin has been used as a protein standard for this purpose. Calibration of amino acid analysis instrumentation typically involves analyzing the amino acid standard, which consists of a mixture of amino acids at a number of concentrations, to determine the response factor and range of analysis for each amino acid. The concentration of each amino acid in the standard is known. In the calibration procedure, the analyst dilutes the amino acid standard to several different analyte levels within the expected linear range of the amino acid analysis technique. Then, replicates at each of the different analyte levels can be analyzed. Peak areas obtained for each amino acid are plotted versus the known concentration for each of the amino acids in the standard dilution. These results will allow the analyst to determine the range of amino acid concentrations where the peak area of a given amino acid is an approximately linear function of the amino acid concentration. It is important that the analyst prepare the samples for amino acid analysis so that they are within the analytical limits (e.g., linear working range) of the technique employed in order to obtain accurate and repeatable results. Four to six amino acid standard levels are analyzed to determine a response factor for each amino acid. The response factor is calculated as the average peak area or peak height per nmol of amino acid present in the standard. A calibration file consisting of the response factor for each amino acid is prepared and is used to calculate the concentration of each amino acid present in the test sample. This calculation involves dividing the peak area corresponding to a given amino acid by the response factor for that amino acid to give the nmol of the amino acid. For routine analysis, a single-point calibration may be sufficient; however, the calibration file is updated frequently and tested by the analysis of analytical controls to ensure its integrity. Consistent high quality amino acid analysis results from an analytical laboratory require attention to the repeatability of the assay. During analysis of the chromatographic separation of the amino acids or their derivatives, numerous peaks can be observed on the chromatogram that corresponds to the amino acids. The large number of peaks makes it necessary to have an amino acid analysis system that can repeatedly identify the peaks based on retention time and integrate the peak areas for quantitation. A typical repeatability evaluation involves preparing a standard amino acid solution and analyzing many replicates (i.e., six analyses or more) of the same standard solution. The relative standard deviation (RSD) is determined for the retention time and integrated peak area of each amino acid. An evaluation of the repeatability is expanded to include multiple assays conducted over several days by different analysts. Multiple assays include the preparation of standard dilutions from starting materials to determine the variation due to sample handling. Often, the amino acid composition of a standard protein (e.g., bovine serum albumin) is analyzed as part of the repeatability evaluation. By evaluating the replicate variation (i.e., RSD), the laboratory can establish analytical limits to ensure that the analyses from the laboratory are under control. It is desirable to establish the lowest practical variation limits to ensure the best results. Areas to focus on to lower the variability of the amino acid analysis include sample preparation, high background spectral interference due to the quality of reagents and/or to laboratory practices, instrument performance and maintenance, data analysis and interpretation, and analyst performance and habits. All parameters involved are fully investigated in the scope of the validation work. Accurate results from amino acid analysis require purified protein and peptide samples. Buffer components (e.g., salts, urea, detergents) can interfere with the amino acid analysis and are removed from the sample before analysis. Methods that utilize postcolumn derivatization of the amino acids are generally not affected by buffer components to the extent seen with precolumn derivatization methods. It is desirable to limit the number of sample manipulations to reduce potential background contamination, to improve analyte recovery, and to reduce labor. Common techniques used to remove buffer components from protein samples include the following methods: (1) injecting the protein sample onto a reverse-phase HPLC system, removing the protein with a volatile solvent containing a sufficient organic component, and drying the sample in a vacuum centrifuge; (2) dialysis against a volatile buffer or water; (3) centrifugal ultrafiltration for buffer replacement with a volatile buffer or water; (4) precipitating the protein from the buffer using an organic solvent (e.g., acetone); and (5) gel filtration. It is recommended that an internal standard be used to monitor physical and chemical losses and variations during amino acid analysis. An accurately known amount of internal standard can be added to a protein solution prior to hydrolysis. The recovery of the internal standard gives the general recovery of the amino acids from the protein solution. Free amino acids, however, do not behave in the same way as protein-bound amino acids during hydrolysis because their rates of release or destruction are variable. Therefore, the use of an internal standard to correct for losses during hydrolysis may give unreliable results. It will be necessary to take this particular point into consideration when interpreting the results. Internal standards can also be added to the mixture of amino acids after hydrolysis to correct for differences in sample application and changes in reagent stability and flow rates. Ideally, an internal standard is an unnaturally occurring primary amino acid that is commercially available and inexpensive. It should also be stable during hydrolysis, its response factor should be linear with concentration, and it needs to elute with a unique retention time without overlapping other amino acids. Commonly used amino acid standards include norleucine, nitrotyrosine, and -aminobutyric acid. Hydrolysis of protein and peptide samples is necessary for amino acid analysis of these molecules. The glassware used for hydrolysis must be very clean to avoid erroneous results. Glove powders and fingerprints on hydrolysis tubes may cause contamination. To clean glass hydrolysis tubes, boil tubes for 1 hour in 1 N hydrochloric acid or soak tubes in concentrated nitric acid or in a mixture of concentrated hydrochloric acid and concentrated nitric acid (1:1). Clean hydrolysis tubes are rinsed with high-purity water followed by a rinse with HPLC grade methanol, dried overnight in an oven, and stored covered until use. Alternatively, pyrolysis of clean glassware at 500 for 4 hours may be used to eliminate contamination from hydrolysis tubes. Adequate disposable laboratory material can also be used. Acid hydrolysis is the most common method for hydrolyzing a protein sample before amino acid analysis. The acid hydrolysis technique can contribute to the variation of the analysis due to complete or partial destruction of several amino acids. Tryptophan is destroyed; serine and threonine are partially destroyed; methionine might undergo oxidation; and cysteine is typically recovered as cystine (but cystine recovery is usually poor because of partial destruction or reduction to cysteine). Application of adequate vacuum (less than 200 µm of mercury or 26.7 Pa) or introduction of an inert gas (argon) in the headspace of the reaction vessel can reduce the level of oxidative destruction. In peptide bonds involving isoleucine and valine, the amido bonds of Ile-Ile, Val-Val, Ile-Val, and Val-Ile are partially cleaved; and asparagine and glutamine are deamidated, resulting in aspartic acid and glutamic acid, respectively. The loss of tryptophan, asparagine, and glutamine during an acid hydrolysis limits quantitation to 17 amino acids. Some of the hydrolysis techniques described are used to address these concerns. Some of the hydrolysis techniques described (i.e., Methods 4–11) may cause modifications to other amino acids. Therefore, the benefits of using a given hydrolysis technique are weighed against the concerns with the technique and are tested adequately before employing a method other than acid hydrolysis. A time-course study (i.e., amino acid analysis at acid hydrolysis times of 24, 48, and 72 hours) is often employed to analyze the starting concentration of amino acids that are partially destroyed or slow to cleave. By plotting the observed concentration of labile amino acids (i.e., serine and threonine) versus hydrolysis time, the line can be extrapolated to the origin to determine the starting concentration of these amino acids. Time-course hydrolysis studies are also used with amino acids that are slow to cleave (e.g., isoleucine and valine). During the hydrolysis time course, the analyst will observe a plateau in these residues. The level of this plateau is taken as the residue concentration. If the hydrolysis time is too long, the residue concentration of the sample will begin to decrease, indicating destruction by the hydrolysis conditions. Acid hydrolysis using hydrochloric acid containing phenol is the most common procedure used for protein/peptide hydrolysis preceding amino acid analysis. The addition of phenol to the reaction prevents the halogenation of tyrosine. Hydrolysis Solution: 6 N hydrochloric acid containing 0.1% to 1.0% of phenol. Liquid Phase Hydrolysis— Place the protein or peptide sample in a hydrolysis tube, and dry. [note—The sample is dried so that water in the sample will not dilute the acid used for the hydrolysis.] Add 200 µL of Hydrolysis Solution per 500 µg of lyophilized protein. Freeze the sample tube in a dry ice–acetone bath, and flame seal in vacuum. Samples are typically hydrolyzed at 110 for 24 hours in vacuum or inert atmosphere to prevent oxidation. Longer hydrolysis times (e.g., 48 and 72 hours) are investigated if there is a concern that the protein is not completely hydrolyzed. Vapor Phase Hydrolysis— This is one of the most common acid hydrolysis procedures, and it is preferred for microanalysis when only small amounts of the sample are available. Contamination of the sample from the acid reagent is also minimized by using vapor phase hydrolysis. Place vials containing the dried samples in a vessel that contains an appropriate amount of Hydrolysis Solution. The Hydrolysis Solution does not come in contact with the test sample. Apply an inert atmosphere or vacuum (less than 200 µm of mercury or 26.7 Pa) to the headspace of the vessel, and heat to about 110 for a 24-hour hydrolysis time. Acid vapor hydrolyzes the dried sample. Any condensation of the acid in the sample vials is minimized. After hydrolysis, dry the test sample in vacuum to remove any residual acid. Tryptophan oxidation during hydrolysis is decreased by using mercaptoethanesulfonic acid (MESA) as the reducing acid. Hydrolysis Solution: 2.5 M MESA solution. Vapor Phase Hydrolysis— About 1 to 100 µg of the protein/peptide under test is dried in a hydrolysis tube. The hydrolysis tube is placed in a larger tube with about 200 µL of the Hydrolysis Solution. The larger tube is sealed in vacuum (about 50 µm of mercury or 6.7 Pa) to vaporize the Hydrolysis Solution. The hydrolysis tube is heated to between 170 to 185 for about 12.5 minutes. After hydrolysis, the hydrolysis tube is dried in vacuum for 15 minutes to remove the residual acid. Tryptophan oxidation during hydrolysis is prevented by using thioglycolic acid (TGA) as the reducing acid. Hydrolysis Solution: a solution containing 7 M hydrochloric acid, 10% of trifluoroacetic acid, 20% of thioglycolic acid, and 1% of phenol. Vapor Phase Hydrolysis— About 10 to 50 µg of the protein/peptide under test is dried in a sample tube. The sample tube is placed in a larger tube with about 200 µL of the Hydrolysis Solution. The larger tube is sealed in vacuum (about 50 µm of mercury or 6.7 Pa) to vaporize the TGA. The sample tube is heated to 166 for about 15 to 30 minutes. After hydrolysis, the sample tube is dried in vacuum for 5 minutes to remove the residual acid. Recovery of tryptophan by this method may be dependent on the amount of sample present. Cysteine-cystine and methionine oxidation is performed with performic acid before the protein hydrolysis. Oxidation Solution— The performic acid is prepared fresh by mixing formic acid and 30 percent hydrogen peroxide (9:1), and incubating at room temperature for 1 hour. Procedure— The protein/peptide sample is dissolved in 20 µL of formic acid, and heated at 50 for 5 minutes; then 100 µL of the Oxidation Solution is added. In this reaction, cysteine is converted to cysteic acid and methionine is converted to methionine sulfone. The oxidation is allowed to proceed for 10 to 30 minutes. The excess reagent is removed from the sample in a vacuum centrifuge. This technique may cause modifications to tyrosine residues in the presence of halides. The oxidized protein can then be acid hydrolyzed using Method 1 or Method 2. Cysteine-cystine oxidation is accomplished during the liquid phase hydrolysis with sodium azide. Hydrolysis Solution: 6 N hydrochloric acid containing 0.2% of phenol, to which sodium azide is added to obtain a final concentration of 0.2% (w/v). The added phenol prevents halogenation of tyrosine. Liquid Phase Hydrolysis— The protein/peptide hydrolysis is conducted at about 110 for 24 hours. During the hydrolysis, the cysteine-cystine present in the sample is converted to cysteic acid by the sodium azide present in the Hydrolysis Solution. This technique allows better tyrosine recovery than Method 4, but it is not quantitative for methionine. Methionine is converted to a mixture of the parent methionine and its two oxidative products, methionine sulfoxide and methionine sulfone. Cysteine-cystine oxidation is accomplished with dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Hydrolysis Solution: 6 N hydrochloric acid containing 0.1% to 1.0% of phenol, to which DMSO is added to obtain a final concentration of 2% (v/v). Vapor Phase Hydrolysis— The protein/peptide hydrolysis is conducted at about 110 for 24 hours. During the hydrolysis, the cysteine-cystine present in the sample is converted to cysteic acid by the DMSO present in the Hydrolysis Solution. As an approach to limit variability and to compensate for partial destruction, it is recommended to evaluate the cysteic acid recovery from oxidative hydrolyses of standard proteins containing 1 to 8 mol of cysteine. The response factors from protein/peptide hydrolysates are typically about 30% lower than those for nonhydrolyzed cysteic acid standards. Because histidine, methionine, tyrosine, and tryptophan are also modified, a complete compositional analysis is not obtained with this technique. Cysteine-cystine reduction and alkylation is accomplished by a vapor phase pyridylethylation reaction. Reducing Solution— Transfer 83.3 µL of pyridine, 16.7 µL of 4-vinylpyridine, 16.7 µL of tributylphosphine, and 83.3 µL of water to a suitable container, and mix. Procedure— Add the protein/peptide (between 1 and 100 µg) to a hydrolysis tube, and place in a larger tube. Transfer the Reducing Solution to the large tube, seal in vacuum (about 50 µm of mercury or 6.7 Pa), and incubate at about 100 for 5 minutes. Then remove the inner hydrolysis tube, and dry it in a vacuum desiccator for 15 minutes to remove residual reagents. The pyridylethylated protein/peptide can then be acid hydrolyzed using previously described procedures. The pyridylethylation reaction is performed simultaneously with a protein standard sample containing 1 to 8 mol of cysteine to improve accuracy in the pyridylethyl-cysteine recovery. Longer incubation times for the pyridylethylation reaction can cause modifications to the -amino terminal group and the -amino group of lysine in the protein. Cysteine-cystine reduction and alkylation is accomplished by a liquid phase pyridylethylation reaction. Stock Solutions— Prepare and filter three solutions: 1 M Tris hydrochloride (pH 8.5) containing 4 mM edetate disodium (Stock Solution 1), 8 M guanidine hydrochloride (Stock Solution 2), and 10% of 2-mercaptoethanol in water (Stock Solution 3). Reducing Solution— Prepare a mixture of Stock Solution 2 and Stock Solution 1 (3:1) to obtain a buffered solution of 6 M guanidine hydrochloride in 0.25 M Tris hydrochloride. Procedure— Dissolve about 10 µg of the test sample in 50 µL of the Reducing Solution, and add about 2.5 µL of Stock Solution 3. Store under nitrogen or argon for 2 hours at room temperature in the dark. To achieve the pyridylethylation reaction, add about 2 µL of 4-vinylpyridine to the protein solution, and incubate for an additional 2 hours at room temperature in the dark. The protein/peptide is desalted by collecting the protein/peptide fraction from a reverse-phase HPLC separation. The collected sample can be dried in a vacuum centrifuge before acid hydrolysis. Cysteine-cystine reduction and alkylation is accomplished by a liquid phase carboxymethylation reaction. Stock Solutions— Prepare as directed for Method 8. Carboxymethylation Solution— Prepare a solution containing 100 mg of iodoacetamide per mL of alcohol. Buffer Solution— Use the Reducing Solution, prepared as directed for Method 8. Procedure— Dissolve the test sample in 50 µL of the Buffer Solution, and add about 2.5 µL of Stock Solution 3. Store under nitrogen or argon for 2 hours at room temperature in the dark. Add the Carboxymethylation Solution in a 1.5 fold ratio per total theoretical content of thiols, and incubate for an additional 30 minutes at room temperature in the dark. [note—If the thiol content of the protein is unknown, then add 5 µL of 100 mM iodoacetamide for every 20 nmol of protein present.] The reaction is stopped by adding excess of 2-mercaptoethanol. The protein/peptide is desalted by collecting the protein/peptide fraction from a reverse-phase HPLC separation. The collected sample can be dried in a vacuum centrifuge before acid hydrolysis. The S-carboxyamidomethylcysteine formed will be converted to S-carboxymethyl-cysteine during acid hydrolysis. Reducing Solution: a solution containing 10 mg of dithiodiglycolic acid (or dithiodipropionic acid) per mL of 0.2 M sodium hydroxide. Procedure— Transfer about 20 µg of the test sample to a hydrolysis tube, and add 5 µL of the Reducing Solution. Add 10 µL of isopropyl alcohol, and then remove all of the sample liquid by vacuum centrifugation. The sample is then hydrolyzed using Method 1. This method has the advantage that other amino acid residues are not derivatized by side reactions, and the sample does not need to be desalted prior to hydrolysis. Asparagine and glutamine are converted to aspartic acid and glutamic acid, respectively, during acid hydrolysis. Asparagine and aspartic acid residues are added and represented by Asx, while glutamine and glutamic acid residues are added and represented by Glx. Proteins/peptides can be reacted with bis(1,1-trifluoroacetoxy)iodobenzene (BTI) to convert the asparagine and glutamine residues to diaminopropionic acid and diaminobutyric acid residues, respectively, upon acid hydrolysis. These conversions allow the analyst to determine the asparagine and glutamine content of a protein/peptide in the presence of aspartic acid and glutamic acid residues. Reducing Solutions— Prepare and filter three solutions: a solution of 10 mM trifluoroacetic acid (Solution 1), a solution of 5 M guanidine hydrochloride and 10 mM trifluoroacetic acid (Solution 2), and a freshly prepared solution of dimethylformamide containing 36 mg of BTI per mL (Solution 3). Many amino acid analysis techniques exist, and the choice of any one technique often depends on the sensitivity required from the assay. In general, about one-half of the amino acid analysis techniques employed rely on the separation of the free amino acids by ion-exchange chromatography followed by postcolumn derivatization (e.g., with ninhydrin or o-phthalaldehyde). Postcolumn detection techniques can be used with samples that contain small amounts of buffer components, such as salts and urea, and generally require between 5 and 10 µg of protein sample per analysis. The remaining amino acid techniques typically involve precolumn derivatization of the free amino acids (e.g., phenyl isothiocyanate; 6-aminoquinolyl-N-hydroxysuccinimidyl carbonate; (dimethylamino)azobenzenesulfonyl chloride; 9-fluorenyl-methylchloroformate; and 7-fluoro-4-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole) followed by reverse-phase HPLC. Precolumn derivatization techniques are very sensitive and usually require between 0.5 and 1.0 µg of protein sample per analysis but may be influenced by buffer salts in the samples. Precolumn derivatization techniques may also result in multiple derivatives of a given amino acid, which complicates the result interpretation. Postcolumn derivatization techniques are generally influenced less by performance variation of the assay than precolumn derivatization techniques. The following Methods may be used for quantitative amino acid analysis. Instruments and reagents for these procedures are available commercially. Furthermore, many modifications of these methodologies exist with different reagent preparations, reaction procedures, and chromatographic systems. Specific parameters may vary according to the exact equipment and procedure used. Many laboratories will utilize more than one amino acid analysis technique to exploit the advantages offered by each. In each of these Methods, the analog signal is visualized by means of a data acquisition system, and the peak areas are integrated for quantification purposes. Ion-exchange chromatography with postcolumn ninhydrin detection is one of the most common methods employed for quantitative amino acid analysis. As a rule, a Li-based cation-exchange system is employed for the analysis of the more complex physiological samples, and the faster Na-based cation-exchange system is used for the more simplistic amino acid mixtures obtained with protein hydrolysates (typically containing 17 amino acid components). Separation of the amino acids on an ion-exchange column is accomplished through a combination of changes in pH and cation strength. A temperature gradient is often employed to enhance separation. When the amino acid reacts with ninhydrin, the reactant has characteristic purple or yellow color. Amino acids, except imino acids, give a purple color, and show maximum absorption at 570 nm. The imino acids, such as proline, give a yellow color, and show maximum absorption at 440 nm. The postcolumn reaction between ninhydrin and amino acid eluted from the column is monitored at 440 nm and 570 nm, and the chromatogram obtained is used for the determination of amino acid composition. The detection limit is considered to be 10 pmol for most of the amino acid derivatives, but 50 pmol for proline. Response linearity is obtained in the range of 20 to 500 pmol with correlation coefficients exceeding 0.999. To obtain good compositional data, samples larger than 1 µg before hydrolysis are best suited for this amino acid analysis of protein/peptide. One method for postcolumn ninhydrin detection is shown below. Many other methods are also available, with instruments and reagents available commercially. Solution A— Transfer about 1.7 g of anhydrous sodium citrate and 1.5 mL of hydrochloric acid to a 100-mL volumetric flask, dissolve in and dilute with water to volume, and mix. Adjust, if necessary, with hydrochloric acid to a pH of 3.0. Solution B— Transfer about 1.7 g of anhydrous sodium citrate and 0.7 mL of hydrochloric acid to a 100-mL volumetric flask, dissolve in and dilute with water to volume, and mix. Adjust, if necessary, with hydrochloric acid to a pH of 4.3. Solution C— Prepare a solution containing 5% of sodium chloride, 1.9% of anhydrous sodium citrate, and 0.1% of phenol in water, and adjust to a pH of 6. Column Regeneration Solution— Prepare a solution containing 0.8% of sodium hydroxide in water, and adjust to a pH of 13. Mobile Phase— Use variable mixtures of Solution A, Solution B, and Solution C as directed for Chromatographic System. Buffer Solution— Prepare a solution containing 2% of anhydrous sodium citrate, 1% of hydrochloric acid, 0.5% of thiodiglycol, and 0.1% of benzoic acid in water, and adjust to a pH of 2. Chromatographic System— The liquid chromatograph is equipped with a detector with appropriate interference filters at 440, 570, or 690 nm and a 4.0-mm × 120-mm column that contains 7.5-µm sulfonated styrene-divinylbenzene copolymer packing. The flow rate is about 14 mL per hour. The system is programmed as follows. Initially equilibrate the column with Solution A; at 25 minutes, the composition of the Mobile Phase is changed to 100% Solution B; and at 37 minutes, the composition is changed to 100% Solution C. At 75 minutes into the run, the last amino acid has been eluted from the column, and the column is regenerated with Column Regeneration Solution for 1 minute. The column is then equilibrated with Solution A for 11 minutes before the next injection. The column temperature is programmed as follows. The initial temperature is 48 ; after 11.5 minutes, the temperature is increased to 65 at a rate of 3 per minute; at about 35 minutes, the temperature is increased to 77 at a rate of 3 per minute; and finally at about 52 minutes, the temperature is decreased to 48 at a rate of 3 per minute. Procedure and Postcolumn Reaction— Reconstitute the lyophilized protein/peptide hydrolysate in the Buffer Solution, inject an appropriate amount into the chromatograph, and proceed as directed for Chromatographic System. As the amino acids are eluted from the column, they are mixed with the Postcolumn Reagent, which is delivered at a flow rate of 7 mL per hour, through a tee. After mixing, the column effluent and the Postcolumn Reagent pass through a tubular reactor at a temperature of 135 , where a characteristic purple or yellow color is developed. From the reactor, the liquid passes through a colorimeter with a 12-mm flow-through cuvette. The light emerging from the cuvette is split into three beams for analysis by the detector with interference filters at 440, 570, or 690 nm. The 690-nm signal may be electronically subtracted from the other signals for improved signal-to-noise ratios. The 440-nm (imino acids) and the 570-nm (amino acids) signals may be added in order to simplify data handling. Ion-exchange chromatography with postcolumn o-phthalaldehyde (OPA) fluorometric detection is used. The procedure employs an ion-exchange column for separation of free amino acids followed by postcolumn oxidation with sodium hypochlorite and derivatization using OPA and N-acetyl-l-cysteine. The sodium hypochlorite oxidation step allows secondary amines, such as proline, to react with the OPA reagent. OPA reacts with primary amines in the presence of thiol compound to form highly fluorescent isoindole products. This reaction is utilized for the postcolumn derivatization in analysis of amino acids by ion-exchange chromatography. The rule of the separation is the same as Method I. Instruments and reagents for this form of amino acid analysis are available commercially. Many modifications of this method exist. Although OPA does not react with secondary amines (imino acids, such as proline) to form fluorescent substances, the oxidation with sodium hypochlorite allows secondary amines to react with OPA. The procedure employs a strongly acidic cation-exchange column for separation of free amino acids followed by postcolumn oxidation with sodium hypochlorite and postcolumn derivatization using OPA and thiol compound, such as N-acetyl-l-cysteine and 2-mercaptoethanol. The derivatization of primary amino acids are not noticeably affected by the continuous supply of sodium hypochlorite. Separation of the amino acids on an ion-exchange column is accomplished through a combination of changes of pH and cation strength. After postcolumn derivatization of eluted amino acids with OPA, the reactant passes through the fluorometric detector. Fluorescence intensity of OPA-derivatized amino acids are monitored with an excitation wavelength of 348 nm and an emission wavelength of 450 nm. The detection limit is considered to be a few tens of pmol level for most of the amino acid derivatives. Response linearity is obtained in the range of a few pmol level to a few tens of nmol level. To obtain good compositional data, a sample greater than 500 ng before hydrolysis is best suited for the amino acid analysis of protein/peptide. One method of postcolumn OPA fluorometric detection is shown below. Solution A— Prepare a solution of sodium hydroxide, citric acid, and alcohol in HPLC grade water having a 0.2 N sodium concentration and containing 7% of alcohol (w/v), adjusted to a pH of 3.2. Solution B— Prepare a solution of sodium hydroxide and citric acid in HPLC grade water having a 0.6 N sodium concentration, adjusted to a pH of 10.0. Solution C: 0.2 N sodium hydroxide. Alkaline Buffer— Prepare a solution containing 384 mM sodium carbonate, 216 mM boric acid, and 108 mM potassium sulfate, and adjust to a pH of 10.0. OPA Reagent— Transfer 2 g of N-acetyl-l-cysteine and 1.6 g of OPA to a 15-mL volumetric flask, dissolve in and dilute with alcohol to volume, and mix. Transfer this solution and 4 mL of 10% aqueous polyethylene (23) lauryl ether to a 1-L volumetric flask, dilute with 980 mL of Alkaline Buffer, and mix. Chromatographic System— The liquid chromatograph is equipped with a fluorometric detector set to an excitation wavelength of 348 nm and an emission wavelength of 450 nm and a 4.0-mm × 150-mm column that contains 7.5-µm packing L17. The flow rate is about 0.3 mL per minute, and the column temperature is set at 50 . The system is programmed as follows. The column is equilibrated with Solution A; over the next 20 minutes, the composition of the Mobile Phase is changed linearly to 85% Solution A and 15% Solution B; then there is a step change to 40% Solution A and 60% Solution B; over the next 18 minutes, the composition is changed linearly to 100% Solution B and held for 7 minutes; then there is a step change to 100% Solution C, and this is held for 6 minutes; then there is a step change to Solution A, and this composition is maintained for the next 8 minutes. Procedure and Postcolumn Reaction— Inject about 1.0 nmol of each amino acid under test into the chromatograph, and proceed as directed for Chromatographic System. As the effluent leaves the column, it is mixed with the Hypochlorite Reagent. The mixture passes through the first postcolumn reactor which consists of stainless steel 0.5-mm × 2-m tubing. A second postcolumn reactor of similar design is placed immediately downstream from the first postcolumn reactor and is used for the OPA postcolumn reaction. The flow rates for both the Hypochlorite Reagent and the OPA Reagent are 0.2 mL per minute, resulting in a total flow rate (i.e., Hypochlorite Reagent, OPA Reagent, and column effluent) of 0.7 mL per minute exiting from the postcolumn reactors. Postcolumn reactions are conducted at 55 . This results in a residence time of about 33 seconds in the OPA postcolumn reactor. After postcolumn derivatization, the column effluent passes through the fluorometric detector. Precolumn derivatization of amino acids with phenylisothiocyanate (PITC) followed by reverse-phase HPLC separation with UV detection is used. PITC reacts with amino acids to form phenylthiocarbamyl (PTC) derivatives, which can be detected with high sensitivity at 254 nm. Therefore, precolumn derivatization of amino acids with PITC followed by a reverse-phase HPLC separation with UV detection is used to analyze the amino acid composition. After the reagent is removed under vacuum, the derivatized amino acids can be stored dry and frozen for several weeks with no significant degradation. If the solution for injection is kept cold, no noticeable loss in chromatographic response occurs after three days. Separation of the PTC-amino acids on a reverse-phase HPLC with ODS column is accomplished through a combination of changes in concentrations of acetonitrile and buffer ionic strength. PTC-amino acids eluted from the column are monitored at 254 nm. The detection limit is considered to be 1 pmol for most of the amino acid derivatives. Response linearity is obtained in the range of 20 to 500 pmol with correlation coefficients exceeding 0.999. To obtain good compositional data, a sample larger than 500 ng of protein/peptide before hydrolysis is best suited for this amino analysis of proteins/peptides. One method of precolumn PITC derivatization is described below. Solution A: 0.05 M ammonium acetate, adjusted with phosphoric acid to a pH of 6.8. Solution B— Prepare 0.1 M ammonium acetate, adjust with phosphoric acid to a pH of 6.8, and then prepare a mixture of this solution and acetonitrile (1:1). Solution C: a mixture of acetonitrile and water (70:30). Coupling Buffer: a mixture of acetonitrile, pyridine, triethylamine, and water (10:5:2:3). Sample Solvent: a mixture of water and acetonitrile (7:2). Sample Derivatization Procedure— Dissolve the lyophilized test sample in 100 µL of the Coupling Buffer, and then dry in a vacuum centrifuge to remove any hydrochloride if a protein hydrolysis step was used. Dissolve the test sample in 100 µL of Coupling Buffer, add 5 µL of PITC, and incubate at room temperature for 5 minutes. The test sample is again dried in a vacuum centrifuge, and is dissolved in 250 µL of Sample Solvent. Chromatographic System— The liquid chromatograph is equipped with a 254-nm detector and a 4.6-mm × 250-mm column that contains 5-µm packing L1. The flow rate is about 1 mL per minute, and the column temperature is maintained at 52 . The system is programmed as follows. The column is equilibrated with Solution A; over the next 15 minutes, the composition of the Mobile Phase is changed linearly to 85% Solution A and 15% Solution B; over the next 15 minutes, the composition is changed linearly to 50% Solution A and 50% Solution B; then there is a step change to 100% Solution C, and this is held for 10 minutes; then there is a step change to 100% Solution A, and the column is allowed to equilibrate before the next injection. Procedure— Inject about 1.0 nmol of each PITC-amino acid under test (10-µL sample in Sample Solvent) into the chromatograph, and proceed as directed for Chromatographic System. Precolumn derivatization of amino acids with 6-aminoquinolyl-N-hydroxysuccinimidyl carbamate (AQC) followed by reverse-phase HPLC separation with fluorometric detection is used. AQC reacts with amino acids to form stable, fluorescent unsymmetric urea derivatives (AQC-amino acids) which are readily amenable to analysis by reverse-phase HPLC. Therefore, precolumn derivatization of amino acids with AQC followed by reverse-phase HPLC separation is used to analyze the amino acid composition. Separation of the AQC-amino acids on an ODS column is accomplished through a combination of changes in the concentrations of acetonitrile and salt. Selective fluorescence detection of the derivatives with an excitation wavelength at 250 nm and an emission wavelength at 395 nm allows for the direct injection of the reaction mixture with no significant interference from the only major fluorescent reagent byproduct, 6-aminoquinoline. Excess reagent is rapidly hydrolyzed (t1/2< 15 seconds) to yield 6-aminoquinoline-N-hydroxysuccinimide and carbon dioxide, and after 1 minute no further derivatization can take place. Peak areas for AQC-amino acids are essentially unchanged for at least 1 week at room temperature, and the derivatives have more than sufficient stability to allow for overnight automated chromatographic analysis. The detection limit is considered to be ranging from about 40 fmol to 320 fmol for each amino acid, except for Cys. The detection limit for Cys is approximately 800 fmol. Response linearity is obtained in the range of 2.5 µM to 200 µM with correlation coefficients exceeding 0.999. Good compositional data can be obtained from the analysis of derivatized protein hydrolysates containing as little as 30 ng of protein/peptide. One method of precolumn AQC derivatization is shown below. Solution A— Prepare a solution having a composition of 140 mM sodium acetate and 17 mM triethylamine, and adjust with phosphoric acid to a pH of 5.02. Solution B: a mixture of acetonitrile and water (60:40). Sample Derivatization Procedure— Dissolve about 2 µg of the test sample in 20 µL of 15 mM hydrochloric acid, and dilute with 0.2 M borate buffer (pH 8.8) to 80 µL. The derivatization is initiated by the addition of 20 µL of 10 mM AQC in acetonitrile, and allowed to proceed for 10 minutes at room temperature. Chromatographic System— The liquid chromatograph is equipped with a fluorometric detector set at an excitation wavelength of 250 nm and an emission wavelength of 395 nm and a 3.9-mm × 150-mm column that contains 4-µm packing L1. The flow rate is about 1 mL per minute, and the column temperature is maintained at 37 . The system is programmed as follows. The column is equilibrated with Solution A; over the next 0.5 minute, the composition of the Mobile Phase is changed linearly to 98% Solution A and 2% Solution B; then over the next 14.5 minutes to 93% Solution A and 7% Solution B; then over the next 4 minutes to 87% Solution A and 13% Solution B; over the next 14 minutes to 68% Solution A and 32% Solution B; then there is a step change to 100% Solution B for a 5-minute wash; over the next 10 minutes, there is a step change to 100% Solution A; and the column is allowed to equilibrate before the next injection. Procedure— Inject about 0.05 nmol of each AQC-amino acid under test into the chromatograph, and proceed as directed for Chromatographic System. Precolumn derivatization of amino acids with OPA followed by reverse-phase HPLC separation with fluorometric detection is used. This technique does not detect amino acids that exist as secondary amines (e.g., proline). OPA in conjunction with a thiol reagent reacts with primary amine groups to form highly fluorescent isoindole products. 2-Mercaptoethanol and 3-mercaptopropionic acid can be used as thiol. OPA itself does not fluoresce and consequently produces no interfering peaks. In addition, its solubility and stability in aqueous solution, along with the rapid kinetics for the reactions, make it amenable to automated derivatization and analysis using an autosampler to mix the sample with the reagent. However, lack of reactivity with secondary amino acids has been a predominant drawback. This method does not detect amino acids that exist as secondary amines (e.g., proline). To compensate for this drawback, this technique may be combined with another technique described in Method 7 or Method 8. Precolumn derivatization of amino acids with OPA is followed by reverse-phase HPLC separation. Because of the instability of the OPA-amino acid derivative, HPLC separation and analysis are performed immediately following derivatization. The liquid chromatograph is equipped with a fluorometric detector for the detection of derivatized amino acids. Fluorescence intensity of the OPA-derivatized amino acids are monitored with an excitation wavelength of 348 nm and an emission wavelength of 450 nm. The detection limits as low as 50 fmol via fluorescence have been reported, although the practical limit of analysis remains at 1 pmol. One method of precolumn OPA derivatization is shown below. Solution A: a mixture of 100 mM sodium acetate (pH 7.2), methanol, and tetrahydrofuran (900:95:5). Chromatographic System— The liquid chromatograph is equipped with a fluorometric detector set at an excitation wavelength of 348 nm and an emission wavelength of 450 nm and a 4.6-mm × 75-mm column that contains 3-µm packing L3. The flow rate is about 1.7 mL per minute, and the column temperature is maintained at 37 . The system is programmed as follows. The column is equilibrated with 92% Solution A and 8% Solution B; over the next 2 minutes, the composition of the Mobile Phase is changed to 83% Solution A and 17% Solution B, and held for an additional 3 minutes; then changed to 54% Solution A and 46% Solution B over the next 5 minutes, and held for an additional 2 minutes; then changed to 34% Solution A and 66% Solution B over the next 2 minutes, and held for 1 minute; then over the next 0.3 minute changed to 20% Solution A and 80% Solution B, and held for an additional 2.6 minutes; and then finally over 0.6 minute changed to 92% Solution A and 8% Solution B, and held for an additional 0.6 minute. Procedure— Inject about 0.02 nmol of each OPA-amino acid under test into the chromatograph, and proceed as directed for Chromatographic System. Precolumn derivatization of amino acids with (dimethylamino)azobenzenesulfonyl chloride (DABS-Cl) followed by reverse-phase HPLC separation with visible light detection is used. DABS-Cl is a chromophoric reagent employed for the labeling of amino acids. Amino acids labeled with DABS-Cl (DABS-amino acids) are highly stable and show the maximum absorption at 436 nm. DABS-amino acids, all 19 naturally occurring amino acids derivatives, can be separated on an ODS column of a reverse-phase HPLC by employing gradient systems consisting of acetonitrile and aqueous buffer mixture. Separated DABS-amino acids eluted from the column are detected at 436 nm in the visible region. This method can analyze the imino acids, such as proline, together with the amino acids, at the same degree of sensitivity. DABS-Cl derivatization method permits the simultaneous quantification of tryptophan residues by previous hydrolysis of the protein/peptide with sulfonic acids, such as mercaptoethanesulfonic acid, p-toluenesulfonic acid, or methanesulfonic acid, described for Method 2 in Protein Hydrolysis under Amino Acid Analysis. The other acid-labile residues, asparagine and glutamine, can also be analyzed by previous conversion into diaminopropionic acid and diaminobutyric acid, respectively, by treatment of protein/peptide with BTI, described for Method 11 in Protein Hydrolysis under Amino Acid Analysis. The nonproteinogenic amino acid, norleucine, cannot be used as an internal standard in this method as this compound is eluted in a chromatographic region crowded with peaks of primary amino acids. Nitrotyrosine can be used as an internal standard because it is eluted in a clean region. The detection limit of DABS-amino acid is about 1 pmol. As little as 2 to 5 pmol of an individual DABS-amino acid can be quantitatively analyzed with reliability, and only 10 ng to 30 ng of the dabsylated protein hydrolysate is required for each analysis. One method for precolumn DABS-Cl derivatization is shown below. Solution A: 25 mM sodium acetate (pH 6.5) containing 4% of dimethylformamide. Sample Buffer: 50 mM sodium bicarbonate, adjusted to a pH of 8.1. Sample Dilution Buffer— Prepare a mixture of 50 mM sodium phosphate (pH 7.0) and alcohol (1:1). Sample Derivatization Procedure— Dissolve the test sample in 20 µL of Sample Buffer, add 40 µL of Derivatization Reagent, and mix. The sample container is sealed with a silicon-rubber stopper, and heated to 70 for 10 minutes. During the sample heating, the mixture will become completely soluble. After the derivatization, dilute the test sample with an appropriate quantity of the Sample Dilution Buffer. Chromatographic System— The liquid chromatograph is equipped with a 436-nm detector and a 4.6-mm × 250-mm column that contains packing L1. The flow rate is about 1 mL per minute, and the column temperature is maintained at 40 . The system is programmed as follows. The column is equilibrated with 85% Solution A and 15% Solution B; over the next 20 minutes, the composition of the Mobile Phase is changed to 60% Solution A and 40% Solution B; over the next 12 minutes, the composition is changed to 30% Solution A and 70% Solution B, and held for an additional 2 minutes. Procedure— Inject about 0.05 nmol of the DABS-amino acids into the chromatograph, and proceed as directed for Chromatographic System. Precolumn derivatization of amino acids with 9-fluorenylmethyl chloroformate (FMOC-Cl) followed by reverse-phase HPLC separation with fluorometric detection is used. FMOC-Cl reacts with both primary and secondary amino acids to form highly fluorescent products. The reaction of FMOC-Cl with amino acid proceeds under mild conditions, in aqueous solution, and is completed in 30 seconds. The derivatives are stable, with only the histidine derivative showing any breakdown. Although FMOC-Cl is fluorescent itself, the reagent excess and fluorescent side-products can be eliminated without loss of FMOC-amino acids. FMOC-amino acids are separated by reverse-phase HPLC using an ODS column. The separation is carried out by gradient elution varied linearly from a mixture of acetic acid buffer, methanol, and acetonitrile (50:40:10) to a mixture of acetonitrile and acetic acid buffer (50:50), and 20 amino acid derivatives that are separated in 20 minutes. Each derivative eluted from the column is monitored by a fluorometric detector set at an excitation wavelength of 260 nm and an emission wavelength of 313 nm. The detection limit is in the low fmol range. A linearity range of 0.1 µM to 50 µM is obtained for most amino acids. One method for precolumn FMOC-Cl derivatization is shown below. Acetic Acid Buffer— Transfer 3 mL of glacial acetic acid and 1 mL of triethylamine to a 1-L volumetric flask, and dilute with HPLC grade water to volume. Adjust with sodium hydroxide to a pH of 4.20. Solution A: a mixture of Acetic Acid Buffer, methanol, and acetonitrile (50:40:10). Solution B: a mixture of acetonitrile and Acetic Acid Buffer (50:50). Borate Buffer— Prepare a 1 M boric acid solution, and adjust with sodium hydroxide to a pH of 6.2. FMOC-Cl Reagent— Dissolve 155 mg of 9-fluorenylmethyl chloroformate in 40 mL of acetone, and mix. Sample Derivatization Procedure— To 0.4 mL of the test sample add 0.1 mL of Borate Buffer and 0.5 mL of FMOC-Cl Reagent. After about 40 seconds, extract the mixture with 2 mL of pentane, and then extract again with fresh pentane. The aqueous solution with amino acid derivatives is then ready for injection. Chromatographic System— The liquid chromatograph is equipped with a fluorometric detector set at an excitation wavelength of 260 nm and an emission wavelength of 313 nm and a 4.6-mm × 125-mm column that contains 3-µm packing L1. The flow rate is about 1.3 mL per minute. The system is programmed as follows. The column is equilibrated with Solution A, and this composition is maintained for 3 minutes; over the next 9 minutes, it is changed to 100% Solution B; then over the next 0.5 minute, the flow rate is increased to 2 mL per minute, and held until the final FMOC-amino acid is eluted from the column. The total run time is about 20 minutes. Procedure— Inject not less than 0.01 nmol of each FMOC-amino acid under test into the chromatograph, and proceed as directed for Chromatographic System. The FMOC-histidine derivative will generally give a lower response than the other derivatives. Precolumn derivatization of amino acids with 7-fluoro-4-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole (NBD-F) followed by reverse-phase HPLC separation with fluorometric detection is used. 7-Fluoro-4-nitrobenzo-2-oxa-1,3-diazole (NBD-F) reacts with both primary and secondary amino acids to form highly fluorescent products. Amino acids are derivatized with NBD-F by heating to 60 for 5 minutes. NBD-amino acid derivatives are separated on an ODS column of reverse-phase HPLC by employing a gradient elution system consisting of acetonitrile and aqueous buffer mixture, and 17 amino acid derivatives that are separated in 35 minutes. E-aminocaproic acid can be used as an internal standard because it is eluted in a clean chromatographic region. Each derivative eluted from the column is monitored by a fluorometric detector set at an excitation wavelength of 480 nm and an emission wavelength of 530 nm. The sensitivity of this method is almost the same as that for the precolumn OPA derivatization method (Method 5), excluding proline to which OPA is not reactive and might be advantageous for NBD-F against OPA. The detection limit for each amino acid is about 10 fmol. Profile analysis was achieved for about 1.5 mg of protein hydrolysates in the final precolumn labeling reaction mixture for HPLC. One method for precolumn NBD-F derivatization is shown below. Solution A: a solution of 10mM sodium citrate containing 75 mM sodium perchlorate, adjusted with hydrochloric acid to a pH of 6.2. Solution B: a mixture of acetonitrile and water (50:50). Sample Buffer: a 0.1 M boric acid solution, adjusted with sodium hydroxide to a pH of 9.2. Derivatization Reagent— Dissolve 5 mg of NBD-F in 1.0 mL of alcohol, and mix. Sample Derivatization Procedure— Dissolve the test sample in 20 µL of Sample buffer, add 10 µL of Derivatization Reagent, and mix. The sample container is heated at 60 for 5 minutes. After the derivatization, dilute the test sample with 300 µL of Solution A. Chromatographic System— The liquid chromatograph is equipped with a fluorometric detector set at an excitation wavelength of 480 nm and an emission wavelength of 530 nm and a 4.6-mm × 150-mm column that contains 5-µm particle size ODS silica packing. The flow rate is about 1.0 mL per minute, and the column temperature is maintained at 40 . The system is programmed as follows. The column is equilibrated with 94% Solution A and 6% Solution B; over the next 16 minutes, the composition is changed linearly to 63% Solution A and 37% Solution B; over the next 5 minutes, the composition is changed linearly to 62% Solution A and 38% Solution B; over the next 9 minutes, the composition is changed linearly to 100% Solution B, and held for an additional 5 minutes; then finally over 2 minutes, the composition is changed linearly to 94% Solution A and 6% Solution B; and then the column is allowed to equilibrate before the next injection. Procedure— Inject about 15 pmol of each NBD-amino acid under test into the chromatograph, and proceed as directed for Chromatographic System. When determining the amino acid content of a protein/peptide hydrolysate, it should be noted that the acid hydrolysis step destroys tryptophan and cysteine. Serine and threonine are partially destroyed by acid hydrolysis, while isoleucine and valine residues may be only partially cleaved. Methionine can undergo oxidation during acid hydrolysis, and some amino acids (e.g., glycine and serine) are common contaminants. Application of adequate vacuum (less than 200 µm of mercury or 26.7 Pa) or introduction of inert gas (argon) in the headspace of the reaction vessel during vapor phase hydrolysis can reduce the level of oxidative destruction. Therefore, the quantitative results obtained for cysteine, tryptophan, threonine, isoleucine, valine, methionine, glycine, and serine from a protein/peptide hydrolysate may be variable and may warrant further investigation and consideration. in which rU is the peak response, in nmol, of the amino acid under test; and r is the sum of peak responses, in nmol, for all amino acids present in the test sample. Comparison of the mole percent of the amino acids under test to data from known proteins can help establish or corroborate the identity of the sample protein. in which m is the recovered quantity, in nmol, of the amino acid under test; M is the total mass, in µg, of the protein; and MWT is the molecular weight, in mg, of the unknown protein. Known Protein Samples— This data analysis technique can be used to investigate the amino acid composition and protein concentration of a protein sample of known molecular weight and amino acid composition using the amino acid analysis data. When the composition of the protein being analyzed is known, one can exploit the fact that some amino acids are recovered well, while other amino acid recoveries may be compromised because of complete or partial destruction (e.g., tryptophan, cysteine, threonine, serine, methionine), incomplete bond cleavage (i.e., for isoleucine and valine), and free amino acid contamination (i.e., by glycine and serine). Because those amino acids that are recovered best represent the protein, these amino acids are chosen to quantify the amount of protein. Well-recovered amino acids are, typically, aspartate-asparagine, glutamate-glutamine, alanine, leucine, phenylalanine, lysine, and arginine. This list can be modified based on experience with one's own analysis system. Divide the quantity, in nmol, of each of the well-recovered amino acids by the expected number of residues for that amino acid to obtain the protein content based on each well-recovered amino acid. Average the protein content results calculated. The protein content determined for each of the well-recovered amino acids should be evenly distributed about the mean. Discard protein content values for those amino acids that have an unacceptable deviation from the mean. Typically, a greater than 5% variation from the mean is considered unacceptable, but this is arbitrary. Recalculate the mean protein content from the remaining values to obtain the protein content of the sample. Divide the content of each amino acid by the calculated mean protein content to determine the amino acid composition of the sample by analysis. in which m is the experimentally determined quantity, in nmol per amino acid residue, of the amino acid under test; and mS is the known residue value for that amino acid. The average relative compositional error is the average of the absolute values of the relative compositional errors of the individual amino acids, typically excluding tryptophan and cysteine from this calculation. The average relative compositional error can provide important information on the stability of analysis run over time. The agreement in the amino acid composition between the protein sample and the known composition can be used to corroborate the identity and purity of the protein in the sample. * Suitable standards may be obtained from NIST (Gaithersburg, MD), Beckman Instruments (Fullerton, CA), Sigma Chemical (St. Louis, MO), Pierce (Rockford, IL), or Agilent (Palo Alto, CA).

2019-04-24T08:13:15Z

https://www.drugfuture.com/Pharmacopoeia/USP32/pub/data/v32270/usp32nf27s0_c1052.html

The archives entries begin with a link to the earlier "Ruth's Neighborhood and then index the Facebook columns, beginning with the first one (March 28, 2019) and continuing through to the most recent entry. Well! I remembered the old Keene cuisine. During those years he worked washing pots and pans in the college kitchen, just like Tom. As I wrote in Snowy, when Tom and Joanne got married “Tom switched from his pots-and-pans job to a better-paying job at the newsstand downtown . . . He spent the Sunday selling newspapers, serving coffee and doughnuts.” When Don returned to Keene with me to live in the married students’ barracks, he worked weekends and some nights at Armstrong’s on that wide Main Street, a newsstand-luncheonette where he grilled burgers and made sandwiches in addition to serving coffee and doughnuts. The height of his cuisine was his chopped-ham sandwiches he brought home after work for us to have for an evening snack. Garafano’s, which looked like a long wooden houseboat moored on a stark field, where Mrs. Garafano, thin and freckled, stood behind the bar and talked across her baby set upon it, and students drank dimies and ate meatball sandwiches, and the people from the farms sat in booths whose tables were crowded with thick plates of steak rinds and scraps of French fries growing skins of grease. Now and then their children would clamber down from the seats and run the length of the room and back again; from the jukebox Connie Francis whined songs; and Mr. Garafano in person, a square dark man wearing a T-shirt, with a dish towel tucked into the waistband of his trousers, would come out of the kitchen to bring you your pizza. Not exactly duck confit sliders. Last week a Laconia High classmate arranged a mini-mini reunion and brought with her three other dear friends from the Gang to have lunch at the Village Kitchen. As I drove to meet them, I found myself remembering this paragraph in Henrietta Snow, when Snowy and Bev are at Dudley and Charl’s house for supper. Snowy leaned back and listened, keeping an eye on Ruhamah at the dock. The comfort of old friends, however changed; old comfort food on the grill, updated. The porch and lawn seemed in constant motion, alive with kids and dogs. Don’t, she cautioned herself, think ahead any further than this. Four of us five old friends, I thought, are now widows. In the parking lot, there were tears and hugging and laughter. In the restaurant, I ordered Don’s favorite, the fried shrimp boat (in this case “boat” meaning not a full dinner). Over lunch there was much talk on many subjects, reminiscences, updates about other friends, discussion of practical problems, including support systems, and uncertain thoughts about the uncertain future. And through it all, concern for each other. Love. As I drove home after our two-hour lunch of talking, I thought about women talking and about the section in Henrietta Snow in which Snowy and Bev stop at Moody’s for lunch and then meet Puddles at the Whitehall Inn in Camden. I remembered writing their “grand finale,” when they sat rocking on the porch and talking. Then the next day they said good-bye in the inn’s parking lot, hugging and crying and laughing, as we had just done in the restaurant’s parking lot. Homes: the problems of everyday maintenance of them is put in perspective by Hurricane Florence and the other disasters that could destroy them. One episode that I especially cherish occurred after a night a few years ago when a bear opened our porch door politely and entered the porch and then, upon our awakening indoors and noisily seeing him out there (eeks from me), made his hasty departure straight through the porch screen. Only a few weeks before, a friend of ours, a member of a local construction group, had replaced the old porch screen with new. When we joked to him about this, he insisted on coming over to our house and replacing the bear-ruined section of the new screens. Free of charge. He was coming to rescue us from blackflies . . . My support-system people have also been coming to the rescue. For example, here’s what was happening one recent busy day: the carpenter was retiling our shower; the plumber dashed in to fix the kitchen faucet; and the handyman arrived to investigate a smoke-alarm problem. My best wishes to everyone coping with the very serious problems of Hurricane Florence. In addition to these underpants (this scene inspired by my being similarly chased around Laconia’s Woolworth by my dear friend Gail), there were other items of interest to Puddles in Woolworth’s, such as malt balls (a favorite of Gail’s). And thus we remembered our browsing in Woolworth, our deciding what we could afford with our twenty-five-cents-a-week allowances. We had been, we realized, learning to shop. We remembered the goldfish we bought and walked home carrying in a little cardboard box that resembled Chinese-food takeout boxes. We remembered the tiny painted turtles who, when we got them home, sometimes made a break for freedom, only to be found much later dead and dusty, usually behind the refrigerator. Penny remembered nail polish and Tangee lipstick. I remembered pencil boxes, pencils, and one notebook in particular whose scenic drawing on the cover gave me an idea for the story I wrote in it. We remembered the lunch counter with its big glass container a-swirl with a green lemon-lime beverage. We couldn’t remember buying any food at that counter, just Cokes and the green drink. And Penny remembered how she’d bought our mother some plates and dishes one at a time, white with a maroon-stripe border interspersed with flowers. I remembered how some years ago I’d spotted one of these very dishes at a yard sale and bought it. When Penny and I got home from the Family Dollar, I rushed to a cupboard and found the dish. We guessed that when I bought it at the yard sale I’d paid more than a dime and probably more than a dollar. There are new little milestones now, such as returning to places Don and I used to go to for lunch. In his last months, we began to join friends in a Sandwich meeting room for the Sandwich senior lunches served on Wednesdays. One friend likes to call it the “old fogeys’ lunch.” This is part of the “Moultonborough, Sandwich, and Surrounding Communities” senior meals program that serves lunches in Moultonborough Mondays through Thursdays. They are more than lunches, they are dinners, which means you don’t have to make lunch and you can get away with making just a light supper that evening. This past Wednesday I went. Most of our friends there had already spoken or written to me about Don, so we proceeded with the usual casual chat, very comforting. This Wednesday’s menu was Stuffed Sole, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans, Beets, Coleslaw. And Tapioca Pudding. Friendship and food, good therapy. Everyone started laughing, including me. Out the window beside me, I saw “Honey” hurrying across the porch, his expression embarrassed, sheepish. But he must have been so glad he hadn’t reached home to discover he’d forgotten his reading glasses. And I was glad I’d returned to this restaurant. During this difficult summer, our library’s audiobooks have been more important than ever for bedtime listening, for comfort. Here are the ones I’ve liked best—starting with the first of two by Rosamunde Pilcher. Three of the four women in Frances Mayes’s Women in Sunlight impulsively leave their past lives in America to share a rented house in Italy; the fourth woman, Kit, has been living in Italy for years. Italian scenery; Italian food! Also, renewal, new possibilties, even joy. In Carole George’s memoir, The Lambs: My Father, a Farm, and the Gift of a Flock of Sheep, there are two impulsive decisions: (1) She buys a farm in Virginia. (2) She heeds her father’s suggestion that the scenery needs a flock of sheep and buys thirteen Karakul lambs to raise as pets. When I was writing The Flowers of the Forest I did a lot of reading about sheep, and the main thing I remember is a saying that goes something like “A cow is always looking for a place to lie down; a sheep is always looking for a place to die.” But before the inevitable occurs, there was learning, love, companionship on daily walks around the farm. And a piano in the barn. Back to Rosamunde Pilcher. Our library now has the audiobook of her Shell Seekers! I had read the book when it was published in 1987, and I later bought a copy at a book sale, intending to reread it. And now I finally have. I’ve never done this with an audiobook before: I listened at night, but in the afternoons or with supper I read the book. Dual enjoyments. CENTER SANDWICH, NH— Donald K. MacDougall, 82, died August 13 at the DHMC hospice center. Born in Laconia in 1936, Don spent his early boyhood in the Weirs. He graduated from Laconia High School in 1955. He married his high-school sweetheart, Ruth Doan, in 1957. After serving two years in the U.S. Coast Guard, he graduated from Keene State College with a B. Ed. in 1961. In 1970 he received his Master’s Degree in Library Science from UNH. Don taught English at the high schools in Sharon, MA, and Lisbon, NH, and then he and Ruth relocated to England where Don was a dormitory counselor at the U.S. Air Force high school in Lakenheath. When he and Ruth returned to the United States, Don became the librarian at Somersworth High School and Kingswood Regional High School. Don and Ruth lived in Farmington, NH, before settling in Center Sandwich in 1976. He did caretaking for properties in the Lakes Region, including Bald Peak Colony Club. Don is survived by Ruth, his wife of 60 years, his brother Richard Kirk Dougal of St. Augustine, FL, and his sister Deborah Kay Dougal of Franklin, NH. He loved the Sandwich library. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Samuel H. Wentworth Library, PO Box 146, Center Sandwich, NH 03227. Don and I talk on the phone every day, but I waited until my weekly visit to the hospital to tell him about your response to my post last Sunday. He understood and was overwhelmed, happy, grateful. As am I. Your words have enveloped me, bringing comfort and strength. Next week I’ll return to my usual tales of happenings in Sandwich and such. I have been waiting until things were more definite to tell you about Don’s health, hoping that it would improve. In a way, it has, but I’m afraid the news is devastating. About a year ago, Don’s memory problems seemed to become more than “senior moments.” Our wonderful primary-care doctor gave him a memory test and kept tabs on the situation. I braced myself for Alzheimer’s. Then an occasional delusion would appear in Don’s conversation. Thinking he was joking, I’d look into his blue eyes and see that he wasn’t. Did he really believe that his brother, who lives in Florida, was in our house? The delusions increased and then in the past three months they speeded up, rampaging. The delusions were the clue. A mental-health counselor made a tentative diagnosis of Lewy Body Dementia, an aggressive form of dementia that we’d never heard of before. A neurologist at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center confirmed the diagnosis, and Don was admitted into this hospital in Lebanon, NH, on July first. He is still there, while a nursing home is being found for him. Needless to say, this has been a terrible shock—a series of shocks. Life has been disrupted in so many ways, from his absence in our household to the ton of paperwork involved in medical care. The disruption will continue indefinitely; it includes my writing schedule. But my sister and niece have been here and are helping me tremendously. Our town is full of concern. At the hospital, the medications have helped Don. He’s calmer, humorous again, more my Don. And thus, as I said, his health has improved. But I miss our being together at home! And I know that you love him too. I may not be able to answer individual queries for a while, but please know that you are all dear to me and I value your friendship. Thank you. Whoa! Marijuana? Oh, oh yes, medical marijuana is now legal in New Hampshire. But at a farm stand? So this was a joke? And I saw this after that big motorcycle week in New Hampshire. The excitement continues. Friends from Pennsylvania who summer in New Hampshire say that in all their travels they’ve seen the most vanity plates in New Hampshire. They concluded that folks here while away the long winter thinking them up. I don’t know why I found this so funny, but I did. Maybe it’s because my father claimed that an osprey followed the Fish & Game truck to his and my stepmother’s backyard pond and promptly devoured the fish that were delivered. Last month, U.S. Poet Laureate Donald Hall died at his New Hampshire home. I first read him in the 1960s when he sent my father a copy of String Too Short To Be Saved: Memories of a Disappearing New England. In his accompanying letter, he wrote of his admiration for my father’s novel Amos Jackman. From reading this book we went on to reading his poems. I didn’t really know the part of central New Hampshire that Donald Hall was writing about, Danbury, where in his youth he visited his grandparents’ farm, which later became his own home. My father was acquainted with the area, but having grown up in the Connecticut River Valley part of New Hampshire and then lived the rest of his life in the Lakes Region, two beautiful parts of the state, he was somewhat immune to its charms, shall we say. However, Donald Hall’s writing made us aware of this landscape that we might not otherwise have appreciated fully. Eventually Donald Hall and I had a brief correspondence about the writing business, and eventually I became better acquainted with the area when I took over my father’s hiking books and climbed, several times, Mount Kearsarge, that region’s mountain. Also, the son and daughter-in-law of Gloria, my dear Bennington friend, moved to a town near Danbury, so when Gloria and her husband drove up from Connecticut to visit them, Don and I drove down from Sandwich for a mini Bennington reunion. At about this time, Newsday sent me Donald Hall’s memoir Seasons at Eagle Pond to review. As I opened the package and took out the book, I remembered that copy of String Too Short To Be Saved arriving in my parents’ mailbox. My sister remembers that we did watch fireworks over Laconia’s Lake Opechee in our childhood. Don and I once watched fireworks over Lake Winnipesaukee, in the Weirs. Don’s father, a boat salesman, had the use of a boat that day and took us on a ride before we returned to the Weirs to watch. But the main thing I remember is that I was thoughtlessly wearing new earrings, the largest I’d ever had, leather-thong types on wires, and during the ride, as we sped along in the speedboat, they swung wildly and I feared they’d tear off my earlobes. Being a good daughter-in-law, I didn’t spoil the fun by mentioning this little problem. Here in Sandwich, fireworks are always on the night of July third. The first time we went, we felt we had truly become part of the town. The tourist season is now upon us in the Lakes Region, and it’s reminding Don and me of how we used to travel off-season. During our caretaking years, we were working full tilt during the summer, so we couldn’t take a vacation until autumn or winter. Thus we found ourselves in cottages or cabins huddling around a fireplace or space heater or under blankets, all of which was fun, for this short spell. Summertime tourist sites were closed; the ocean was glorious anyway. Traveling on Thanksgiving and at Christmas, we did of course meet other travelers, but often places were closed on the day of the holiday. You could starve to death! One Thanksgiving we were extremely grateful to find an Asian restaurant open. At Christmas one year, the inn we stayed at had promised to include Christmas dinner, but since it turned out that we were the only guests, they sent us to a restaurant in another town. During the meal, a predicted snowstorm began, and the drive back to the inn on twisty seacoast roads was precarious. When Penny and I were planning a trip to the Cotswolds to visit gardens, the timing had to be autumn because of our work. Penny is a landscape designer; she said, “England being England, there’ll be flowers, and when there aren’t we’ll see the ‘bones’ of the gardens.” And so we did. Only one of the gardens she wanted to visit was closed. As I write this, I’m wearing the Warwick Castle T-shirt I bought and I’m remembering flowers and peacocks there. For contrast, here’s the off-season experience from Hell: A Maine B&B advertised that it would be open on Thanksgiving, and we delightedly reserved a room. What hadn’t been mentioned was that the owners’ extended family would be celebrating Thanksgiving there. We were the only guests, in a little upstairs room. Downstairs, revelry grew louder and louder through the evening, into the night, and the cigarette smoke rose thicker and thicker. We opened a window and leaned out, gasping. We considered packing up and leaving, but shouldn’t we wait to pay our bill? In the wee hours a baby began crying. Louder and louder. A car revved up and the wails receded; was the mother taking the baby for a ride to try to soothe it to sleep? In the morning, downstairs, the owner didn’t mention the situation as he made us coffee, and I chattered politely on about my Great-great-aunt Edith who’d lived in the town, but when it came time to pay for our holiday night, he shook his head.

2019-04-25T01:56:08Z

https://ruthdoanmacdougall.com/fb_archives2.html

Welcome dinner and a cool guest house. Isn't Lauren cute in her red dress? Hi all, we are at Shanghai Normal University now. We got here around 3:30 p.m., unpacked, discovered that they have to register us as staying with them to the government and dressed for dinner. I am like out of clean clothes, so I wore my new Chinese dress. Ashlin did my hair and make-up for me. Then we headed to dinner. Met up with our new Chinese buddies whose's names I don't think I was ever told, but I'll figure them out eventually. It was an interesting dinner conversation. We were told we were being too quiet when I didn't think we were being quiet. One lady said I looked pretty, then this dude said, "like a Halloween costume." Ashlin and I don't get if that was a compliment or him being rude. I doubt the later as when he left he said, "Hey!" instead of bye. So maybe his English isn't that great? Who knows, it was an odd night conversationally. Oh and one of our buddies sounds like she came from England. It was playing with our heads all night as she has such a clear brittish accent and is clearly not a Brit! Dinner was good though. Okay, dinner was awesome. It had no bones in the meat! As always, too much food. It was very nicely decorated though and looked super fancy. We were given wine. That was a nice change. It was a red wine and it seemed to be a pretty decent quality. After dinner, they brought us back to the guest house and I told one of the girls that I want to go the aquarium and explained why. She said that the schedule is really tight but they want to make us happy, I said, "Fish make me happy. I am willing to pay for me and one of you to go with me. That's how badly I want to go." It's true too. I'm desperate to go. I really want to go to the aquarium. I miss my fish! She said that she would talk to the lady in charge in for me. So hopefully, I can go. Then I headed back to my room, talked to my parents, talked to my Uncle Charlie, talked to Mr. Jeff (who I know is reading this, so Hi Mr. Jeff!) and finally worked on this blog. So this morning I woke up and checked my iPod. It said it was like 9 and we were supposed to meet at 8:20. So I jumped up and found out from Jessica that it was almost 8, I had still not changed the time on my iPod. So I finally got that fixed while she headed to breakfast. Then we went to University's History Museum. It was interesting to find out about the university's history and even cooler that they had a museum for it. Then we went to the welcome ceremony. Everything is so formal over here, I miss relaxed welcome parties. They gave us a really nice paper weight from the local opera house. Then we went to lunch. It was much smaller than normal and we had no complaints there! I really liked that pork though. It was awesome. Currently we are having a scheduled "rest" time. Which I find it strange that we have scheduled rest times, but okay. After our rest time, we headed into a couple of lectures. They were quite interesting. One was on the Chinese family system and the roles of the family members and the other was an overview of Chinese history. I enjoyed both and took far too many notes. We are currently having another break and I will be doing laundry tonight. Jessica gets the internet tonight, so I will update about the flute concert and dinner tomorrow. Okay, so the flute concert was awesome. Dinner was good. I'm loving this boneless meat! Though they have been giving us a lot of potatoes. These potatoes taste strange and they are purple. So I keep trying to avoid them. As for the flute concert. They were amazing! I have some videos but again, no youtube to upload them. :( Something else to upload when I get back to the states. Okay, so today we were told that we were going to be shopping all day. Well, I had previously been told by Claire that I should talk to our tour guide about getting to the aquarium. So after talking to Boyoung, Dr. Vartanian, our guide and our leader. They said that they would let me go to the aquarium instead of the tv tower. They gave me two hours to get in, get my pics and get out. Well, after two hours, I was still in line. Ivy had gone with me and she went back to meet the group while I stayed in line. Eventually, they decided to leave Rebecca with me and we would meet up with them later. I had no objections. It was a shopping day and I was literally standing in front of the aquarium. So Rebecca and I stayed in line to the ticket booth. Once there we found out it was half off day! Which explained the three hours in line. So finally, making it inside, we headed up to the fish. There, we discovered so many amazing things! I was super excited to see some of the more common fish species along side some of the more rare and they had such large numbers of things! It was an amazing experience! I'm SO happy I got to go! It was even more awesome because Rebecca hadn't been to that aquarium before, so neither of us knew exactly what to expect. Of course with it being half price, there was a mob of people. They were everywhere! I learned to push through the mob while exploring this aquarium. I was often tossed about like a sardine in a can though. There was no room and I was completely at the mercy of the crowd. There were actually a couple of times, I thought I was going to fall into the tank! Oh yeah, these were open top tanks with the water open to the people. It was so cool! And of course, I about died when I saw my catfish. That was my #1 thing to see while I was there and that crowd had to move out of my way. Those were related to my kitten-fish, so I wanted pictures and even the small children better just get out of the way. Thankfully, they were more interested in the cichlids, so I had plenty of time for my picture before the mob crammed into the Nile river system tank. Finally finishing the tour of the aquarium we went to lunch (now 3.5 hours after entering the aquarium). We decided to eat there and I bought Rebecca's lunch. I had wanted a burger, but somehow ordered some sort of meat and rice dish. I don't know how that happened, but it was still good! Then she led me off to the subway station and we finally met back up with the group. Or technically, met up with Boyoung at Starbucks. It was all good. I quite liked those rice cake things. Then we headed to dinner. Which, as always, was huge. After just eating, I have no idea how I managed to eat as much as I did. Oh well. It was an awesome day and there will be no more deviation from the schedule on my part. That was my one thing for the trip that I had to do and I got to go. SHNU literally made my trip that much more awesome today! Then we headed to Yuyuan Garden. This is a 400 year old Chinese garden built by the rich for the rich. Now, it is tourist zone for visitors of China. There was so much to see there. Again, they gave us two hours and our guide took us through it then stopped just before the exit gate and told us to meet her at 3:30 (15:30) to head to dinner, this equates to like 2 hours of shopping. Well, pretty much everyone else wanted to go shop in the tourist zone. I was much more interested in exploring the caves and whatever was behind the "Be Careful" sign we had passed. I asked Grace if she wanted to join me for another pass through of the garden. So back through we went. We found some really cool stuff, I was quite excited about it. This was more what I wanted to see of China. Yes, modern China is fascinating too, but they have over 5,000 years of history. I want to know more about that. Well, after our picture taking, we headed out shopping. Our guide had told us that bargaining was expected out here. Well, we're not used to bargaining, so we started out a bit rough. I got a custom stamp seal for 90 yuan (around $14). It's really cool. I did find out later that the other shopping group found them for 40 yuan (around $6). Oh well, live and learn. Regardless it was really cool and I got a box that I can keep mine in. Then I bought these two wooden dolls for my friend Ellen. They wanted two for 30 yuan (~ $4.75), but I got them 25 yuan (~ $4). I didn't want to haggle too much because they were reasonably priced anyway. Then we saw a T-shirt with a panda face that said China. Well, everything runs super small over here and Ellen had asked for a shirt, but there was no way this would fit her. If I'm an XL over here, I don't have much faith in sizing. Well the lady started out at 180 yuan (~ $29). Well, I shook my head and said expensive. Grace jumped in with 25 yuan and the lady dropped down to 100, then 50, then 40, then 35. Again, there was no way this thing would fit and we were walking off already, but it was an interesting experience. Finally, we headed into this shop that had some cool looking journals covered in silk. Well the two I wanted would have been 140 yuan, the guy immediately dropped to 110 yuan and I dropped him down to 100 yuan (~ $8/each). I really wanted them and that seemed fair to me. I'm not comfortable going with prices that basically steal them from the shop owners. This is probably due to my parents having owned a business, so I try to keep things fair. Although Grace and I were able to get her two pearl necklaces, a bracelet and earrings for 200 yuan (~ $30). That was definitely our best haggling job. Finally we headed back to the guest house. We had dinner here. It was good. They had everything here. They were showing all the different types of script (running, cursive, official, scroll, etc.) They also showed the evolution of the Chinese calligraphy and script. Of course it started with the oracle bones, then they started moving towards putting the script on pottery, scrolls, etc. I spent way too much time in there. The second section I visited was full of Chinese Seals. These were like the wax seals that the English used, only they did theirs with red ink. There were so many different designs of both the seals and the decorative finishes of the stamps. It was amazing! And I spent way too much time here. Next I went through the section on Chinese paintings. This was awesome! It was all really pretty and I was taking way too many pictures, then I realized that I only had an hour left for the rest of the museum since these three rooms at taken me an hour alone. I realized when I went to the next floor, that they had an entire room on currencies. I could have spent the entire two hours just in here. Sadly, I had no time, so I raced through it, took pictures of pretty much everything and ran to the next room. The next room was full of clothing of the ethnic minorities of China. This was really cool. They have 56 ethnic minorities and they all have unique designs. Of course you can't visit asia without seeing Jade. So I raced through the Jade exhibit. I didn't take as many pictures because Jade doesn't vary that much. Next, there was an exhibit on Ming and Qing Furniture. That was interesting, but not that interesting to me. And then there was a section on ceramics. Which again, doesn't vary much, so I didn't take many pictures here either. What I figured would be the last section I would see was on sculptures. Of course, it was mostly Buddhist, so not many pictures there, except of the headless dharma, because that was interesting to me. It was time to go and I had really wanted to see the section on the Chinese Bronzes. Thankfully, I wasn't the last one and none of us knew where exactly Lauren was in the museum, so I slid off into the room right next to where we were meeting that was on Chinese Bronzes and took a couple of pictures. I really wanted to spend some more time in there. Culture Days with students - Part 1. Today was fun. We were joined by Qing-qing (pronounced Ching-ching) and Fish (yes, I did type that correctly. I think it’s awesome.) It started out with a campus tour of the tourism school of Shanghai Normal. This was the school of all the skills used in the tourism industry (golf course management, cooking, hotel management, etc.) Then, we had lunch. I miss bulgogi. Lunch consisted of fish, shrimp, a meatball, soup and bread. The soup was good, the meatball was good, and the bread was good. I could have done without the rest. There were bones in it and it tasted bad. Then we did Chinese calligraphy. I apparently did well with the copying of the characters but not so much with the calligraphy. It was legible though. Next, we went to martial arts class. It was awesome! First, they showed off and it was really impressive. Then, they showed us some basics which we got to try. I had Shu-yu as my teacher. He was by far the most fun guy in the group and had gravity defying hair. He helped me a lot. Initially he said I was like leaf and needed to be like stone. I eventually got it figured out. It was cool finally meeting Chinese guys who weren’t so stand-offish. They were all awesome and of course there were girls there too. Their instructor was a girl and one look at her and I knew I didn’t want to get on her bad side. They taught us a game called five friends. It’s like tag, but more entertaining. We taught them red rover. So at the end, my team was losing and I was between Shu-yu and another guy. Josh had this “brilliant” idea that we should all storm his line at once. Well, Shu-yu yelled, “We fight for freedom!” and then we charged. Unsurprisingly, they were faster than me so they started dragging me (because they wanted to storm as a line) and I was on a collision course with Lauren. We both had one of those “I’m going to die” moments. The two guys let go and Josh stuck his arm out to grab me instead of having me run into Lauren. We were both thrilled by this, so THANK YOU JOSH! You saved us from a very unfortunate meeting with the floor or the wall, whichever we hit first. I honestly hope I get to see them all again because they were really cool. Before I left, Shu-yu said that he would always be my teacher and I would always be his student. Such a nice guy, it was an awesome day! Then we headed off to Karaoke. Karaoke was fun, but it was also interesting. We couldn’t get a full list of songs so we had to search for songs individually instead of scanning for a song and they started out by giving us some random songs that we didn’t know. So we finally figured out that we could skip songs and that helped us get to the songs we actually liked. We finally got it all figured out. But the room was awesome. It was the VIP room and it was super fancy. Well today was our last day in Shanghai, we leave for Xian bright and early tomorrow. We stayed on campus today and started out by visiting the University Museums. The first museum was of taxidermy. It was interesting, but kinda creepy too. They did have a Bearcat though so we took a picture of it. Then we went to the history museum. I enjoyed seeing all the artifacts from prior eras at the university. Next we headed off to listen to presentations about the student activities programs at SHNU. It was cool discussing the differences between our schools with the students. They don't have competitions between groups like we do at homecoming. Most of their events and organizations are separated by college. Then we headed to lunch at the guest house. It was good as usual. But they gave us the shrimp then decided that wasn't what was ordered for our group and took them back to replace them with this chicken dish which I had eaten most of before I realized I need a picture of it. It was awesome. Finally, we headed off to meet up with the seal cutting club. I really enjoyed that. We got to make our own seals and I made one for the A.C.S. I'm quite excited to use it next year. They also made us seals of our first names in seal script so those were really cool. Then we were joined by the puppet club and they gave us a production. They were trying to translate this Chinese play into English for us and did a very good job of it. I was quite impressed. Then, they had us do a couple shows for them and it was hilarious. We all had fun with everyone. Eventually, we headed back to the guest house for dinner. Dinner was Awesome! We had pork that tasted like country fried steak, rice, tofu and bean soup, chicken and a spring roll. I loved dinner. We enjoyed spending our last meal with the students. We will miss them terribly and hope they get to come to Lander sometime. The next morning would consist of us leaving far too early and eating breakfast on the bus. Knowing this, we eventually had to set our friends go and we went to bed.

2019-04-19T22:14:09Z

http://chemstudenttoursasia.weebly.com/shanghai---shanghai-normal.html

Q: What are the bank notes in Australia? A: Bank notes comprise of 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 Australian dollar notes; while coins come in 5, 10, 20 and 50 cent coins, and 1 and 2 dollar coins. Q: What are the most trusted banks or financial institutions in Australia? A: Top big banks are Westpac, Commonwealth, ANZ and Australia Bank. Q: What are the documents needed to open a bank account? A: In order to open a bank account, one needs to present an identification e.g. driver’s license or passport, proof of an address in Australia, and in some cases a reference from one's previous bank. Q: How do expats open a bank account in Melbourne? A: Opening a Melbourne bank account is quick and simple, even for expats. However, it must be done within the expat's first six weeks of arrival in Australia. Otherwise, bank authorities may require more time and evidence of identification. In any case, an expat has to present a passport, a valid visa and another valid ID when opening a bank account. Q: Are ATMs popularly used in Melbourne? A: Yes. Most Melbourne residents consider ATMs as the most convenient tools for cash dispensing. Note that ATMs in the city only give out 20 AUD and 50 AUD notes, though some of the smaller ones (usually in gas stations) dispense only 10 AUD, again, only in combinations of 20 and 50 AUDs. In rare places such as casinos, one may get 100 AUD notes. Q: What is the availability of banks in Melbourne? A: Banks in Melbourne usually open at 9am and close at 4pm on Mondays thru Thursdays. On Fridays, they open at 9 am and close at 5pm. Most of Australia's biggest banks like ANZ, NAB, and Commonwealth have branches in Melbourne. Q: What is the process of opening a bank account in Sydney? A: The most important requirement for opening a bank account in Sydney is a 100-point score on identity. There are three approved forms of identification. For migrants, these three IDs include a passport, a driver's license, and a medical card. Normally, an expat who is unable to provide the three will not be allowed to open a bank account in any bank in Sydney. Q: How much do Sydney banks charge in account maintenance fees? A: This depends from bank to bank, but usually, monthly maintenance fees of $5 will be charged to an account holder to keep the account active. When planning to open a bank account in Sydney, it is advisable that one spend time shopping around to know which bank charges the least fees. Q: What are the best banks in Sydney? A: The four major and most established banks in Sydney include the National Australia Bank (NAB), ANZ, Commonwealth, and Westpac. The Commonwealth Bank, once a government bank until its privatization in the 1990s, is the most distributed bank, both in the city and the entire Australia. Q: What is the process of registering a business name in Australia? A: One must ensure that business name doesn't have a trade mark registered against it. All business name registrations go to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) External Site. Once it's registered with ASIC , it's registered nationally as well. One just need to have an Australian Business Number (ABN) in order to register a business name online through the ABN application or through ASIC Connect External Site. Q: What is an Australian Business Number? A: The Australian business number (ABN) is a unique 11 digit number that identifies a business or organisation to the government and community. Not everybody is entitled to one; hence, it is not compulsory. Q: Where should foreign companies register in Australia? A: Foreign companies must be registered with ASIC, the governing body responsible for the ongoing regulation of foreign companies. Q: What taxes do I need to pay if I open a business in Melbourne? A: The Australian tax year covers the period from July 1 to June 30 of succeeding year. After securing an Australian Business Number or ABN, registration with the Australian Tax Office follows for the payment of four basic business taxes in Melbourne, namely, goods and services, fringe benefits, pay-as-you-go withholding, and payroll taxes. Q: What are the legal requirements for opening a business in Melbourne? A: Expats who want to open a business in Melbourne should consult with the Australian Business License and Information Service (ABLIS) for information regarding the necessary licenses, permits, approvals, registrations, codes of practice, standards, and guidelines for setting up business in the city. Which particular requirements are needed will ultimately depend on the business type and target location. Q: What are the most attractive industries for investors in Melbourne today? A: Melbourne has many thriving industries, but as far as potential investments are concerned, the food, medical research, agricultural, tourism, cultural, financial services and manufacturing sectors are the most promising today. Q: What are typical business hours for establishments in Sydney? A: Generally, stores, shops, offices and other business establishments open at 9am and close at 5pm Mondays thru Fridays. Banks specifically are open from Mondays thru Thursdays from 9:30am to 5pm, and are closed on Fridays and weekends. On Saturdays, shops open a bit earlier at around 8:30am, and close a little earlier too at around 4pm. Stores that operate on Sundays are open from 9am to 4pm. Q: What are some of Sydney's best conference venues? A: There's a lot, especially those with an overlooking view of the world-famous Sydney Harbour. Over the last decade, Sydney has been host to many big international conferences and other major world events such as the International AIDS Society Conference and the 26th Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology Congress. Q: Does Sydney have promising franchising opportunities for entrepreneurs? A: Yes, business franchising is a very promising industry in Sydney. In fact, there are many franchising expos held in the city every now and then, and one of the biggest has been scheduled for March 2015 at the Royal Hall of Industries on 1 Driver Avenue Moore Park. Q: Where can people find listings for children's events in Australia? Q: Which states have skiing resorts for families and children? A: There are only two states in Australia with ski resorts namely the New South Wales with Perisher and Thredbo and Victoria with Falls Creek, Mt Hotham and Mt Buller. Q: Where can families go with children in the Northern Territory? A: The Gold Coast is a goldmine for family activities family surrounded by theme parks and the vast stretch of the ocean. Families can also travel to Cairns and be awed by the Great Barrier Reef and engage in many activities such as snorkelling, scuba diving, etc. Q: Are public primary schools completely free in Melbourne? A: Public primary schools in Melbourne are free, but there is usually a voluntary school levy to be paid by each student per year. Government subsidy also excludes uniforms, extra-curricular activities and other miscellaneous expenses. Q: What types of child care facilities are available in Melbourne? A: There are basically four types of Melbourne childcare facilities, all of which accept kids up to the age of 6. These include private centers, community centers, family day care (up to a maximum of 4 preschool kids to be cared for in the carer's home), and home care (an au pair or nanny comes to the kids' home). Additionally, there are centers offering playgroups for parents who want to be around as their children socialize with other kids. Q: What are the usual requirements for enrolment in Melbourne schools? A: For expat children, requirements usually include a passport, birth certificate, contact details of parents or guardians, certificate of immunization, a description of the child's health and development history, and information regarding language or languages spoken by the child. Q: How are childcare services in Sydney? A: One thing most expats say about child care is Sydney is that it's expensive - around $70 – 125 per child per day. On top of that, waiting lists are also notorious for being really long, especially in highly populated areas. In eastern suburbs like Woolahra and Manly, it can be almost impossible to get a slot. Q: What sports activities are in store for expat kids in Sydney? A: Sydney offers a lot of opportunities for kids to develop their sports abilities. West of the city center is the famous Sydney Olympic Park where kids can enjoy facilities for swimming, walking, archery, trapeze and many others. At the Sydney Park and Centennial Park, kids can learn and master cycling. Of course, there are playgrounds everywhere for the younger kids. Q: Where do expats usually take their kids for tummy treats in Sydney? A: Sydney locals have a big thing for cafes, and the good thing is, even kids are well accommodated. In fact, a lot of restaurants offer children a separate menu that is more suited to their tastes. China Town at the city center is known for its yum cha or lunch meals which are usually served between 10am and 3pm. Kids love them and so does the rest of the family. Q: What is the average cost of medical insurance in Australia? need to pay for medical insurance? A: As most expats are not permanent residents; hence not qualified for Medicare, their option is to obtain a private medical life insurance, which can cost more than 500 AUD per month. Q: Which cities are considered to have a higher cost of living? A: Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane are considered cosmopolitan cities and have a higher cost of living compared to other Australian cities. Q: What is the average rental accommodation costs? A: Rental costs in a good location in a cosmopolitan area starts at AUD 1000 for an unfurnished two-bedroom apartment to AUD 1,300 and more for a furnished two-bedroom apartment. Q: What do people in Melbourne spend the biggest chunk of their budgets on? A: People pay the most for accommodation in Melbourne. In the city center, for instance, rentals can go as high as 450 AUD per week for a one-bedroom apartment. Q: How much do basic utilities cost in Melbourne? A: A lot of expats are still surprised to know that the city is prone to extremely cold winters and extremely hot summers. The average utility bill of an average Melbourne household is about AUD1800 a year, including gas and electricity costs, plus around 500 AUD yearly for water. Q: Is "eating out" expensive or cheap in Melbourne? A: Melbourne has many fine dining restaurants where bills can rack up to the hundreds, but there are also several places where people can enjoy great food for so much less. Both in the city center and in outlying areas, there are diners that offer superb food for a little more than the cost of a fast food meal. In Melbourne, 15 AUD for a sumptuous dinner is usual. Q: How much is an apartment rental in Sydney? A: Most of a Sydney resident's monthly cost of living goes to rent. A one-bedroom apartment in the city costs around $450 to $550 weekly, and a two-bedroom apartment will probably start at around $650 weekly. Q: How much do people pay for household utilities in Sydney? A: A usual electricity and gas bill in Sydney costs around $5 - 15 per week, and around $30 per week for a landline. For Internet, the range is from $40-70 monthly, depending on the period of the contract and gigabytes of data provided. Q: How does Sydney compare with other world-class cities in terms of cost of living? A: According to the 2011 Economist Intelligence Unit, Sydney is at least 28 % more expensive to live in than London, and around 45% costlier than New York. Q: What is Australia's Medicare and what does it cover? A: Medicare is a free service available to Australian and New Zealand citizens and permanent visa holders. Medical coverage include free treatment and accommodation as a patient in a public hospitals, and 75% of the Medicare Schedule fee for services and procedures if you are a private patient in a public or private hospital. Q: Where can one find children's hospitals in Australia? A: In Queensland, one can go to Mater Children's Hospital, Royal Children's Hospital, Herston. In New South Wales, there is the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children, Sydney Children's Hospital and John Hunter Children's Hospital. In Victoria, Royal Children's Hospital and Monash Children's Hospital cater to any children medical emergencies. Q: Is it recommended to get a private health insurance? A: Expats who do not have Medicare are encouraged to get a private health insurance. And even with Medicare, there are specific treatments that are not covered such as dental and optical services. Q: Can foreigners receive Medicare insurance cover while staying in Melbourne? Q: What are the medical emergency assistance numbers in Melbourne? A: For fire, police, or medical emergencies, 000 is the free hotline to call in Melbourne. However, ambulance transport is not free in the city or anywhere in Australia, but there are preneed companies that offer plans exempting holders from fees. For round-the-clock nurse-on-call services, Melbourne residents can call 1300 60 60 24. Q: What are the health insurance options available for foreigners in Melbourne? A: Non-Medicare-covered expats in Melbourne have three options to get medical coverage while in the city: an employer-provided company insurance plan, international medical insurance that meets requirements of the Australian medical insurance industry, and a private insurance plan purchased in Melbourne. When deciding which plan to buy, it is important to pay attention to policy provisions on pre-existing conditions, waiting periods and pharmaceutical benefits. Q: How accessible are Sydney hospitals? A: There are around 50 public hospitals and clinics right within the city center, and most of them provide specialist services or are connected with major research centers. Additionally, there are also many privately run hospitals both at the city center and around suburban areas. The Ministry of Health website provides a lot of helpful tips and information about health services in the city, and offers a search function for those who are looking for a medical facility near them. Q: What are common exclusions to a typical health insurance plan in Sydney? A: It depends on the policy and the insurer, but the most common exclusions are dental and physiotherapy care, along with ambulance transport, visual aids, and prescription drugs. Government subsidies, however, have made the prices of medicines generally cheaper in Sydney and in all other parts of the country, compared to the rest of the world. Q: How does public health insurance work in Sydney, and does it cover expats? A: As with any part of Australia, Sydney offers a public healthcare system to all residents through a program called Medicare. The plan, financed through taxes via the Medicare levy, covers all medical treatments received in public hospitals, and all other costs associated with treatment obtained from out-of-hospital GPs or specialists. Unfortunately, only expats who have become Australian citizens or permanent residents are covered by this system. Q: What are the documents needed when renting an apartment or a house? A: One must prepare proof of identity (passport/ birth certificate/ drivers license, proof of income e.i. bank statements for the last three months, previous rental agreements (if there's any) and references e.i. employer or previous landlord. Q: What are the useful online site for finding accommodations and property rentals? Q: How much is the typical deposit when renting a flat? A: There is no standard for how much rent has to be paid in advance to the landlord; tenant and landlord has to come in agreement with the payment terms. But tenant must pay the first fortnight/month's rent and a bond, equivalent to a one month's rent. Q: How much do houses in Melbourne cost? A: Houses in Melbourne can vary wildly in prices, but as of March 2014, the median price was $652,500 for detached homes and $499,000 for apartments. Q: What are houses like in Melbourne? A: Houses in Melbourne are either free-standing or attached buildings, can be anywhere from a few months to 150 years old, and are typically built from concrete, timber or brick. On average, a home in the city will have four bedrooms, a maximum of two bathrooms, a kitchen, living area, and laundry room. Bigger ones have more than one living area and come with a garage. Q: Are foreign nationals allowed to own real estate in Melbourne? A: Yes, as a non-citizen or permanent resident, permission from the Foreign Investment Review Board must first be obtained. It usually takes 40 days for the FIRB to send a reply, but in unusual circumstances, it could take longer depending on how much time is needed to resolve the issue or issues involved. Q: What is the most elite neighborhood in Sydney? A: Edgecliff, Double Bay, Darling Point and Vaucluse, all found in the eastern suburbs, are the most expensive neighborhoods in Sydney, where median luxury apartments cost around $ 1.35 million. Q: Which part of Sydney offers the cheapest housing? A: Houses in Sydney are generally expensive, but in Tregear (near Blacktown), some properties are becoming increasingly popular for their relatively lower prices. The median house price is around $240, making the area a perfect place for families who are just starting to establish themselves in the city. Q: What is the usual monthly interest rate for a mortgage in Sydney? A: This depends on various factors such as the property's market value, the loaner's capacity to pay, etc. In most cases, however, Sydney mortgage homes are paid with a monthly interest rate of about 4-5%, or 5-6% for more expensive homes. Q: What are Australia's best beaches? A: There's Bondi Beach in Sydney to start with; Victoira has Bells Beach while new South Wales boast of Byron Bay. Q: What are the top attractions in Australia? A: The Great Barrier Reef, Sydney Harbour, Uluru (Ayers Rock), Australia’s wineries, Tasmania's Port Arthur are among the many attractions that draw travellers and tourists across the world to visit Australia. Q: When is the best time to visit the Great Barrier Reef? A: It's during June to November when the weather is mild that makes it the best time to visit the Great Barrier Reef. Q: Any ideas for cheap but worthwhile entertainment in Melbourne? A: There are many cheap entertainment options in Melbourne. Halftix is an agency that sells discounted tickets for tours, concerts and other events in the city, and its office is located at the Melbourne Town Hall Administration (Swanston Street around the corner of Collins Street). However, tickets can only be bought personally and strictly for cash. Ticketmaster and Ticketek are two other popular ticket agencies in the city. Q: Do they have carting venues in Melbourne? A: Yes. There are many carting venues around Melbourne, and particularly popular among teenage boys is Auscarts. This is a modern indoor carting venue just five minutes away from the city centre. Drivers need to be at least thirteen to be able to race, and there's a 145- 200-cm height requirement. The carts can take a maximum load of 145kilos. Q: What types of entertainment are available for families in Melbourne? A: There's this game called room escape that's currently making waves in Melbourne today. People come in groups and are put together in one room to solve different challenges so they can escape within a certain number of minutes. The games are fun and challenging at the same time, combining intuition, teamwork, logic, and analytical skills. Room escape is also a growing trend for corporate team-building activities. One favorite venue is Exitus located at the Port of Melbourne. Q: What's in store for music and theater lovers in Sydney? A: The music and theater circuit in Sydney is rich and colorful. The internationally famous Sydney Opera House is actually the number one choice for the biggest classical and pop events held by international artists in Australia. Q: What outdoor activities are popular in Sydney? A: With Sydney's bright and sunny weather, outdoor activities are very popular in the city, especially among the youth. There are at least 400 public playgrounds, parks and other open, natural spaces which are commonly used for sports like running and cycling, as well as for outdoor recreation like barbecues and picnics. Q: Is Sydney a good place for garden hobbyists and those who like natural attractions? A: Absolutely! In fact, there are 15 community gardens which are very popular among tourists and expats. These places feature a wide variety of herbs, fruits and vegetables, and lovely flowers. Of course, sunbathers and surfers will love the city's sun and beaches, along with the beautiful and sprawling national parks that surround the metropolis. Q: What are the best means to find job openings in Australia? A: Dailies such as The Australian and the Sydney Morning Herald regularly publish job listings and advertisements in the employment sections. The local and community newspapers also have job listings, but not extensive. Online job portals are also a good source of job listings and one can opt to register with a recruitment agencies. Q: What information must be included in one's CV/Resume when applying for jobs in Australia? A: A CV/Resume must consist of 2-4 pages long, which must include the candidate's contact details, complete list of work experience from the most recent to the least recent, skill set, duties within your list of positions and character reference. Q: Which industries demand skilled workers and professionals? A: Engineering, ICT, Biotechnology and Healthcare are among the sectors that have several opportunities for skilled workers and professionals. Q: What jobs are most in demand in Melbourne today? A: Employment trends come and go in Melbourne. Currently, there is a high demand for chemists, veterinarians, electrical engineers, welders, plumbers, software engineers, pastry cooks, and midwives. Foreign nationals who want to apply for a skilled migrant visa must ensure that their overseas qualifications are officially evaluated. Q: How much do expats usually make in Melbourne? A: How much an expat makes in Melbourne depends on the type of job he has. So far, the highest paid expats in the city are those who work in the health and medical sector, where professionals make around 4,900 to 5,000 AUD annually. This is followed by electrical and electronics trade professionals who typically rake in up to 4,800 AUD at the end of the year. Architects make around 3,800 AUD, while cleaning and housekeeping staff receive some 3,600 AUD. These are all estimates, but they create a realistic picture of how much expats are making in Melbourne today. Q: How do people usually get to and from work in Melbourne? A: Workers in Melbourne do not go to work on a ferry like those in Sydney, but the daily commute in the city is considered far more convenient than in London, Tokyo, or New York. However, expats whose jobs involve long-distance traveling need to be patient as it can take a while to get to Melbourne, even coming from Sydney which is about an hour's flight away. Q: Which sectors offer the most job opportunities in Sydney today? A: Sydney is the reigning financial hub of the country where 25% of the national GDP is sourced. Jobs are most abundant in the property and business services, manufacturing, retail, health, and community services sectors, along with information, creative and performing arts and media and technology. The city's tourism industry has also been a steady provider of employment, especially for foreign nationals. Q: What common qualifications and skills are needed for one to work in Sydney? A: A basic requirement is English proficiency and passing an official skills assessment for those applying for Australian working visas. More specific requirements will depend on individual visa categories and subcategories, which have their own skills evaluation programs in place. Q: What do people usually wear to the office in Sydney? A: Business attire for corporate workers is essentially conservative in Sydney. A dark-colored, modestly designed suit is the norm for men, and a modestly designed suit or smart dress is expected to be worn by women. This is in contrast to Brisbane and other tropical parts of Australia where people can wear shirts and shorts even to corporate affairs. Q: What is the Australian Tax Office? A: The Australian Tax Office (ATO) handles all taxation and any other tax related issues an expat may have. Q: What is the GST Tax in the country? A: There is a 10% GST in Australia, which are already included in the price of goods at purchase. Q: Is the Tax File Number compulsory? A: No, obtaining a Tax File Number is not compulsory. However, it is encouraged to get a TFN to avoid paying tax withheld and to be eligible for government benefits. Q: What denominations does the Australian dollar come in, and how are they used? A: The local currency in Australia is issued in denominations of $5, $10, $20, $50 and 100 AUD, 50 AUD, 20 AUD, 10 AUD and 5 AUD. All of these are commonly used in day-to-day transactions. The 100 AUD note, however, is less frequently used, and it may be refused by the smaller shops if you're making a small purchase. It's often wise to have more supply of the lower value notes. Q: How much cash is a foreigner allowed to bring to Melbourne? A: A foreigner who arrives in Melbourne carrying at least 10,000 AUD or an equivalent amount in a foreign currency has to fill out and sign a Cross-Border Movement – Physical Currency (CBM-PC) form. If asked at the border, he should also inform the officer if he is carrying any bearer negotiable instruments or BNI's, such as travel cheques, money orders, promissory notes and the like. Though BNIs have no face value, they still have to be disclosed. Q: What credit cards are accepted in Melbourne? A: American Express and Travelex are the two most frequently accepted cards in Melbourne. In larger stores, JCB cards may also be accepted. All of these cards can be cashed at foreign exchange centers, banks, car rental agencies and the bigger hotels. A foreigner must present a passport when cashing traveler's cheques. Major cards like Visa, American Express, MasterCard, Diners Club, etc. usually charge varying fees. Q: What are the best options for foreign currency exchange in the city? A: Money exchange is done in most of the key banks in the city, at small money exchange kiosks dotting Kings Cross and Circular Bay, and in hotels and casinos. Q: Are ATMs well-distributed around Sydney? A: Yes, everywhere in Sydney, there will be ATMs, but most are found in touristy areas or business centers. Note that most ATMs only accept international cards, both credit and debit. Q: How often do people use cash in Sydney? A: Credit cards are often used in Sydney for bigger purchases such as electronic gadgets and sometimes even cars, while cash is usually the only mode of payment accepted for smaller transactions such as bus ticket purchases or buying in smaller stores. Q: What are the best online stores in the country for furniture, kitchen appliances and other household items? A: Online sites for furniture and household item include kmart.com.au, bigw.com.au, target.com.au and IKEA.com.au. Q: Is Australia a family-friendly country? A: Absolutely, the country proves to be an excellent place to raise a family especially when it comes to property houses, health services and education. Children can spend recreational time outdoors in large open space and in a nearby beach while parents can benefit from various government schemes for financial emergencies. Q: When does summer start in Australia and the subsequent seasons? A: Summer happens during December to February. Fall/Autumn is around March to May and winter arrives by June until August. It is best to travel or relocate to Australia during Spring from September to November. Q: Is Melbourne a good city for expat retirees? A: Yes. In fact, Melbourne is now a top destination for retirees, along with other key cities like Sydney. This trend has even led the federal government to make a number of retirement visa types available. The first requirement for obtaining a retiree visas is that the applicant is at least 55 years old. Q: How is the weather in Melbourne? A: Weather in Melbourne can switch from rainy and sunny several times a day. A phenomenon known as "cool change," characterized by a sudden shift in the wind direction that causes a dramatic drop in temperature, is known to occur. On a sunny morning, it can get as hot as 40 degrees Celsius, but in a few hours, this can drop to 18 degrees Celsius. Other days, temperatures can dip below freezing points. Q: Which parts of Melbourne are hay fever-safe? A: A study of Melbourne municipalities shows that asthma rates are the highest in Wyndham and the lowest in Marybirnong. There is no conclusive evidence relating this to hay fever, but it may be a good point to consider. Bayside suburbs are also said to be anti-hay fever. Q: What's the cost of hiring a removalist in Sydney? A: This depends on the moving company and the amount of load to be moved. However, the most common rates fall between $140-165 per hour, for a service package that normally includes two professional removalists and one truck. Q: What is one basic tip all people planning to move to Sydney should know? A: The most basic thing to remember when moving to Sydney is sun protection. A lot of tourists and expats take this for granted, but Sydney's sun can be quite harsh, especially to those who are not used to it. Temperatures can go up to over 40 degrees Celsius on an ordinary day, and this can be very hazardous. There even schools (most, if not all) that have a strict no-hat-no-play policy, which means children will not be allowed to go out and play unless they wear something on their heads for protection. Sunscreen is a definite must, and so are cool, cotton shirts which help to regulate body temperature. Q: Which is wiser - importing household goods to Sydney or buying new ones after relocation? A: At the outset, household goods shipment can be very expensive, but this proves to be more economical later on than having to buy all new stuff upon arriving in Sydney. What's important is that enough research is done before choosing a shipping company, as there are many potential risks involved in goods transport. Costs are often based on weight, cubic dimensions, or both. Q: What are the requirements for relocating a pet? A: When relocating to Australia with a pet, one must strictly adhere to the following: an ISO 11784/11785 compliant ISO microchip, a rabies vaccination within one year of entry, blood Titer Test (RNATT) no sooner than 180 days prior to entry. (Have your veterinarian scan your pet's microchip prior to the titer test) and import Permit, a USDA (or CFIA) accredited veterinarian must then complete the Australia Veterinary Certificate for endorsement by the USDA or CFIA if travelling from the United States or Canada. All pets must travel as manifest cargo will need a health certificate issued within 10 days of travel. Q: Do dogs and cats need to be quarantined when transported to Australia? A: Australia requires dogs and cats a minimum of 10 days quarantine except for pets travelling from New Zealand, Norfolk Island or Coco Island. Q: Which breeds are restricted in the country? A: Restricted dog breeds are Dog Argentino, Fila Brazileiro, Japanese Tosa, Pit Bull Terrier, American Pit Bull and Perro de Presa Canario or Presa Canario. Q: What are the requirements for admitting pets into Melbourne, Australia? A: Requirements generally include a rabies blood test performed within 150 days before entry to Australia. If this requirement is satisfied, the pet will only be quarantined for 30 days. Pets may travel to Australia 2 months following the blood test, but the quarantine period will be longer. Q: How much do dog boarding facilities in Melbourne cost? A: Melbourne dog boarding services cost around $45-50 each. For every pair of dogs, the fee is around $75-90, depending on various factors such as location and facilities. Q: Are there special rules for having dogs in Melbourne? A: Yes. The most important requirement is registering dogs with the Melbourne council, and this registration is to be renewed annually. After registration, the dog owner will receive a certificate, along with an identification tag that bears the pet's registration number as well as the council's name. This tag must be worn by the animal at all times. Failure to register dogs in Melbourne can mean a fine of up to $500, while abandoning a dog can cost the owner up to $ 1,000. Q: Are pets allowed in Sydney trains? A: Animals are generally not allowed inside trains in Sydney, but there are three exceptions: police/security dogs, animals trained to assist disabled passengers and animals undergoing assistance training. Q: How and where are pet-related complaints lodged in Sydney? A: For pet-related issues such as excessive barking, property damage, people-chasing, etc., complaints may be lodged by calling 02 9265 9333. Response from a city ranger can be expected within 24 hours, and if the problem continues, a nuisance order will be served to the pet owner. Depending on the case, fines can range from $275-880. Q: Why are vet fees very expensive in Sydney? A: It's because there is no government subsidy for pet care in Sydney, so that pet owners feel like they are paying too much for vet services. While humans are covered by Medicare, animals are not. This is why it's important to take the time to research on different vets in the city so that comparisons may be made. Q: At what age can children go to Primary School? A: As early as 5, children can go to Primary school in Australia. Q: Are state/public schools open to foreigners? A: In general, state schools are open and accessible to foreigners. Q: What are the high-ranking universities in Australia? A: Based on the QS World University Rankings 2013/14, the high-ranking universities are the Australian National University (ranked 27 in the world; 1st in Australia), the University of Melbourne (ranked 31 in the world; 2nd in Australia) and University of Sydney (ranked 38 in the world; 3rd in Australia). Q: What is the general calendar followed by schools in Melbourne? A: Schools in Melbourne have a total four terms per school year, beginning late January up to early December. Summer and Christmas holidays are combined in one stretch. Q: How much is the average in terms of Melbourne school fees? A: Fees vary significantly from one school to another, so parents are advised to consult schools directly when asking for information regarding tuition fees. On average, yearly fees per private school amount to around $ 20,000. In public schools, tuition is free for permanent residents and those who hold a 457 visa. However, other expenses such as uniforms, fees for school trips, etc. have to be paid out of pocket. An enrollee classified as an international student has to pay full fees, and this status must be indicated in his or her passport. Q: What are the best schools in Melbourne? A: Schools in the Eastern suburbs such as Donvale, Blackburn and Park Orchards are good to consider because they are cheaper than those in the inner city, yet competitive in terms of quality of education. Note that government-run primary schools follow very strict zoning requirements. For example, parents must be able show proof of residence within a particular school zone before they can enroll their kids in a school within that zone. Q: What is the reputation of public schools in Sydney? A: Sydney (and Australia in general) boasts of public schools that are ranked 9th in world education survey of the Programme for International Student Assessment or Pisa. Under the same programme, UK ranks 25th and the US 17th. Q: Do kids wear school uniforms in Sydney? A: Yes, all Sydney schools - public, private, Catholic, Anglican, or Jewish - require students to wear school uniforms. Aside from skirts for girls and trousers for boys, a hat, sports jacket, backpack, and shorts are also included. Black, lace up shoes are the usual footwear, but they tend to be expensive in Sydney. Parents are advised to buy at least two pairs for each child before the move. Q: Are there special requirements for 457 visa holders when enrolling in a Sydney school? A: Yes, there are special enrolment requirements for 457 visa holders, and not all schools in Sydney accept 457 visa holders. It is important to contact a school directly and inquire. Q: What are the most popular department stores in Australia? A: Across the country, one can find David Jones, Harris Scarfe, Myer, Barsby's, Hanna's and Stewart's. Q: What is the biggest grocery store in the country? A: Woolworths and Wesfarmers are the heavyweights when it comes supermarket sales. Q: Which online site does Aussies go to for product reviews? A: Sites such as productreview.com.au and myshopping.com.au are the go-to sites amongst the locals. Q: Where do I go to shop for clothes in Melbourne? A: Melbourne is actually known for being Australia's fashion capital so there are many malls and boutiques dotting the city. In the CBD, some of the world's best designers in the likes of Louis Vuitton have shops lining the entire Little Collins Street. Melbourne Central is a popular shopping mall, along with Bourke Street Mall. For famous Australian brands, people usually troop to Emporium. Q: Are there are any cheap shopping districts in Melbourne? A: Definitely! DFO Outlets Centre found at South Wharf (near Yarra River's southern bank) is perfect for discount shoppers. Elizabeth Street is also perfect for backpackers looking for high-quality yet cheap outdoor products. Q: At what times do stores in Melbourne usually open and close? A: Shopping in Melbourne usually starts at 9am and ends at 5:30pm on weekdays, and runs from 9am (sometimes later) to 5 pm on Saturdays and Sundays. Most shops in the suburbs like Chadstone close later - usually up to 9pm - on Thursdays and Fridays. At supermarkets, opening time is usually 7am and closing time could well go beyond midnight. Of course, there are those that are open round-the-clock. Q: What are the best places to shop in Sydney? A: The city practically crawls with shopping districts like Westfield Sydney, Pitt Street Mall, the Queen Victoria Building, The Strand and Sydney Central Plaza. These shopping centers are joined together by pedestrian malls and walkways, and that makes it a whole lot easier for shoppers to get around. Anything, from chocolates to antiques, can be found in these shopping havens. Q: Where are art pieces usually sold in Sydney? A: The city has a long line of art galleries, but a very popular favorite is Aboriginal Art Galleries which features the indigenous works of more than 140 artists, including Dorothy Napangardi, Minnie Pwerle, and a lot more. Sculptures, artifacts, and more aboriginal art pieces can be found and purchased in these galleries which have two locations within the city - Queen Victoria Building and Opera Quays. Q: What are the best places in Sydney to buy antiques? A: There are lots of antique shops in Sydney, mostly located in shopping areas such as Paddington Double Bay, and Woollahra, especially around Sotheby’s. For cheaper antiques, the Sydney Antique Center in Surry Hills along South Dowling Street houses more than 50 smaller shops that sell all types of items, from chinaware to ancient animal carvings. Q: What are the major telecoms in the country? A: The biggest among the telcos is Telstra, which also owns the majority of landline infrastructure. Coming second is Optus, which is a subsidiary of Singapore Telecommunications. A: In a month, Internet cost is around AUD 80-100, either uncapped ADSL or cable. Q: What are the requirements to sign up for a mobile or Internet plan? A: Requirements vary for each telcos. In general, one must have an identification with proof of address, complete contact details, a residential address, a delivery address (applicable for phones), proof of employment, study or pension benefits, and a direct debit from an Australian bank account or credit card. Q: What telecom companies are most trusted in Melbourne? A: Five of the most trusted telecom companies in Melbourne include AAPT Cellular One Ltd, Soul, Optus, Digiplus, and Telstra. These companies offer broadband technology, wireless broadband and 3G communications networks across the city. Q: How much do people in Melbourne spend for telecom services in the city? A: People in Melbourne typically pay more for telecom services than residents of other Australian cities. For example, for the average use of an ADSL broadband plan of 50 gigabytes per month, the bill may amount to around 100 AUD with a big telecom company. For a plan with a duration of less than two years, a subscriber may have to pay some 100 AUD in set up fees. For landlines, most households usually pay about 20 AUD monthly, while mobile phone plans normally cost around 70 AUD monthly. Q: What are the free local TV stations in Melbourne? A: Yes. In fact, there are six free TV stations, along with pay-to-view TV. The free TV stations available in the city are Channel 7, Channel 9, and Channel 10, along with ABC, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s national network, and Channel 31 and SBS which both feature foreign language programs. Q: What are the best Internet service providers in Sydney? A: Most people in Sydney use either iiNet, TPG or iPrimus which are considered the best Internet service providers in the city. Q: Are 4G phone services available in Sydney? A: Yes. In fact, over 75% of the city's metropolitan area has facilities that enable the use of 4G phones and other gadgets. It is projected that by April of 2015, at least 90% of the city will be able to use 4G technology. Q: How much does Internet service cost in Sydney? A: Different ISPs charge different rates, but usually for about the same quality of services. The monthly cost ranges from $40-70, depending on the period of the contract, with a choice of 12, 18 and 24 months, and data volume provided, usually from 20 - 500 GB. Some companies offer unlimited Internet for around $60 monthly. Q: What are the modes of public transportation in Australia? A: As one of the liveliest places to live, Australia has one of the extensive public transportation networks; most of its cities have trains, buses, monorail, trams and private taxis. Most expats working in the city use public transport on a daily basis, and it's the best way for travellers to get around the city. Q: Can you travel the whole country via train? Q: What is the process for personal vehicle registration in Australia? A: Vehicle need to be registered right away in the owner’s state of residence (and not where the vehicle was purchased). State agencies handle the whole process, but usually it's the Road Transport Authorities, which is responsible for motor vehicle inspection and registration, and driver licensing service. Q: How much does a cab cost in Melbourne? A: This depends on the passenger's current location and destination. The average cost of a taxi going to or from the city center is around 55 AUD. Two other factors that affect the final bill are traffic and the time of day. Taxis in Melbourne also charge higher at night. Q: How do people get around Melbourne? A: Most people in Melbourne prefer to get around using the public transport system. Aside from being cheaper (only 7 AUD a day for a public transport ticket), commuters are also able to avoid dealing with fluctuating fuel prices and high parking fees (over 10AUD), not to mention traffic jams. Expats who live in outlying areas naturally have to spend more for transportation. Q: What license does a non-local need to drive in Melbourne? A: An expat is allowed to drive in Melbourne using the driver's license issued to him in his home country. However, this is only good for up to three months after the issuance of his Australian visa. After such period, he has to pass a local driving test to be able to continue driving in the city. If his original license was issued in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK or USA, he may simply swap that license with a Victorian license, and there will be no driving tests required. Q: What is the traffic situation in Sydney? A: Traffic in Sydney is busy all the time, and traveling by car is often preferable outside of weekday peak hours. City roads are most congested from 6:30AM-9:30AM, and those leading to the suburbs are the busiest between 4:30PM and 6:30PM. Q: Do kids get discounts at public transport fares in Sydney? A: Yes. Any passenger aged 15 years below is usually given discounts on most public transport vehicles. The age limit for discounts on Matilda ferries, however, is 14. Kids 3 years old and below can travel completely free. For Matilda ferries, the age limit is 4 years and younger. Q: Where can people buy bus tickets in Sydney? A: Bus tickets are available at corner shops, post offices, 7/11's, transit stores and news bureaus. Note that between 7am and 7pm, people cannot buy tickets while on board buses within the city, or in any of the key transport corridors. Sometimes, especially on weekends, tickets may be purchased from the driver on non- Prepay Only bus routes. Q: What are the documents that foreigners need to present upon arrival in Australia? A: Foreigners travelling to Australia need to present upon entry a valid passport or other acceptable travel document, a valid visa, and a completed and signed Incoming Passenger Card. Q: Any recommended reference to travellers to Australia? A: A good reference is the Lonely Planet book on AU and Citysearch.com website for Sydney attractions. Q: When is the cheapest season to travel to Australia? A: Winter months from June to August would be the cheapest time to travel. Q: What are the health risks commonly associated with travel to Melbourne? A: In terms of common diseases, there are no major risks in Melbourne today. In the last few years, however, there were minor epidemics of pertussis or whooping cough that affected children in suburban areas. As a general precaution, expats moving to the city with kids are advised to ensure that immunizations are kept up to date. Q: What is Melbourne's weather like and what preparations are necessary for those traveling to the city? A: Expats should remember to take along the right clothing for the city's rather unpredictable weather. Generally, it's wise to bring along enough sunscreen, a sun visor and UV protective clothing when possible, as the Australian sun can be a bit piercing. Q: What vaccinations are advised for people traveling to Melbourne? A: There are no special vaccinations advised for people traveling to Melbourne, but booster shots for tetanus and polio are highly recommended. Elderly expats must have flu shots as well, and those who are coming to work in medical settings should get immunization for hepatitis. Q: When is the best time to travel to Sydney and enjoy its beaches? A: Summer, which runs from December to February, is the best time to enjoy the city's fabulous beaches. However, temperatures can go as high as over 40°C, so sunscreen is an absolute must. From March to May, which is autumn, it can still be good and warm but not all the time for those who are mainly planning to hit the beach. Q: Are their coach services in Sydney? A: Yes. There are coach companies in Sydney driving to all key Australian cities and many NSW regional centers. The terminal is located adjacent to the train station in the City South. Many tourists prefer to travel by coach because it is cheaper and runs faster. Q: What's the best way to see and marvel at Sydney's harbor and other attractions? A: Most travelers agree that the best way is to take a ferry east from Circular Quay all the way to Taronga Zoo, Manly or west down below the Harbor Bridge, and on towards Parramatta. All of these are affordably priced and are favorites of many tourists. For a shorter route, it's best to take the ferry between Darling Harbor and Circular Quay for a ride below the Harbor Bridge. Q: What are the types of Visitor's Visa in Australia? A: Visitor's Visa include Subclass 976 for tourists and travellers visiting for less than three months, and for passport holders from a designated list of nations while Subclass 651 is for European/UK passport holders visiting Australia for three months or less; on the other hand, Subclass 676 is for passport holders who do not qualify for a subclass 976 or subclass 651; and Subclass 679 is for those who wish to visit a family member in Australia for 12 months or less. Q: What is the Employer-Sponsored Work Visa? A: There are three categories which fall under the Employer-Sponsored Work Visa: 1) Standard Business Sponsorship for employers who want to bring a working from overseas provided that they can justify that no Australian employee is available 2) Educational visa sponsored by an institution for teachers and education workers from overseas 3) Medical practitioner visa sponsored either by a hospital or by a small rural community/ local council for trained doctors. Q: How does one apply for Australian citizenship? A: One can apply for Australian citizenship if you have been living in Australia on a valid visa for four years immediately before applying; this should also include the previous 12 months as a permanent resident in the country and has not left Australia for more than one year in total and no more than 90 days in the year before applying. Q: What is the population of permanent resident visa holders in Melbourne ? A: As of 2013, almost 25% of Melbourne's population is composed of migrants from over 180 countries, and the city actually has the second biggest Asian population in Australia. There are no specific figures, however, as to how many or what percent of this population holds permanent resident status. Nonetheless, as expected, there are many embassies and consulates spread all over the city, providing immigration-related assistance to their citizens from such countries as the US, UK, Denmark, Finland, China, Taiwan, Mauritius and about 35 others. Q: Where can a permanent resident visa holder apply for an Australian passport in Melbourne? A: Applications may be forwarded to the Australian Passport Office (APO) in Melbourne which has moved to a new location: Level 2, Collins Square, 747 Collins Street, Docklands. The APO in Melbourne also offers Australian Passport Information Service through the hotline, 131 232. Q: Where can fraudulent migrant visa agents be reported in Melbourne? A: Reports may be filed in person at the Melbourne Visa Office at Casselden Place, 2 Lonsdale Street, or phoned in at the national hotline, 1800 009 623. Q: Is it possible to enter Sydney on an ETA visa? A: Yes, but it is only good for a three-month stay, and it does not appear in the passport as it is electronically processed and saved. ETAs are often used by people who come to Sydney on a study program, or a short-term business or tourism-related event. Q: How long is the processing time for an ETA visa? A: ETA visas are usually given automatically as soon as all details have been submitted. A visa grant notification will usually be sent to the applicant in seconds. However, in some cases, processing can take longer due to three possible scenarios - incorrect information has been entered in the application, the applicant has a criminal conviction, or the application has been forwarded to the Australian High Commission. Q: What are the options for someone who wants to work in Sydney? A: Foreign nationals who want to work in Sydney can apply for a Working Holiday visa which is good for a maximum of two years. Those who would like to live permanently in the city can forward an application to Australia’s General Skilled Migration program. The applicant will then be assessed based on a points system which takes into consideration various factors such as age, qualifications, etc. If a person gets a job offer from a Sydney-based company while visiting the city, he or she may apply for a Temporary Residence visa. However, the prospective employer must be able to provide evidence that there are no local candidates qualified for the position. If sufficient proof has been presented, the company may sponsor the worker for up to four years.

2019-04-19T08:45:10Z

http://www.expatfinder.com/australia/expat-guides/faq

During the 2019 Easter Bank Holiday, we are running a promotion. For more information about our promotion's terms and conditions, please click here. We are the 'data controller' of your data which you may supply to us. We make decisions about how your personal data is used. We are entirely open about our information gathering practices and will respond to requests sent to us within a reasonable period of time. If you have any queries about our use of your personal data, we can be contacted by email here. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) impacts how organisations record, store and use personal data. This legislation is designed to give you, as 'data subjects', greater control and new rights over how organisations record, store and use your data. We gather data when you browse, purchase, make enquiries or sign up for a newsletter either on our website or directly through a sales person. We also gather data during the staff recruitment process. 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Our legitimate business interests are balanced with your interests, rights, freedoms and consent. We are the data controller of your personal data which we collect or you provide by making enquiries, requesting quotes or placing orders. There are certain types of event-specific emails that you will always receive from us, regardless of your contact permissions. These include confirmation of a purchase on our website, delivery notification of an order or if we require further information from you regarding delivery of an order. We may also contact you by phone regarding any of these. We also use personal data to fulfil contracts, to send goods you have bought, to prepare and send invoices and to collect payments. We will respect how you want to be contacted and about which areas of our brand. Equally, if we are asked to never contact you again, we will respect this decision although if it may impact our ability to perform a contract with you. On request we will remove your personal data from our database. You can check and update your contact preferences at any time by logging on to our website and visiting the ‘My account’ area. We suggest you do that now, so that we have your most up to date contact preferences and can continue to communicate with you in the way you would like. Our website and servers use RapidSSL SSLCertificates to offer secure communications by encrypting all data to and from the site and storage on our servers. RapidSSL has checked and verified the site's registered domain name. This website employs RapidSSL and industry-standard SSL to provide secure credit card transactions. SSL is a communications protocol for transmitting private information over the internet. It works by encrypting data that is transmitted over the SSL connection. When you place an order, your credit/debit card information is encrypted and then sent over the internet using an SSL connection. 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This helps us to improve our website and your shopping experience. Compatibility cookies These cookies determine whether your browser supports features on our website. Session Id Cookies This cookie allows us to respond to actions such as 'add to basket' - Necessary for the website to function. Cookies that recognize users These cookies help us to identify you and provides security when you are using our website. Google Ads for better advertising purposes, remarketing and similar audiences. Facebook for data collection, custom audiences, similar audiences, better targeting ads from Facebook and its partners. Some of the cookies used by our site are served by us, and some are served by third parties. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies but, if you prefer, you can change your browser to prevent that or to notify you each time a cookie is set. You can also learn more about cookies by visiting www.allaboutcookies.org which includes additional useful information on cookies and how to block cookies using different types of browser. Please note, however, that by blocking or deleting cookies used on our site you may not be able to take full advantage of our site if you do so. 1.2 Please read these terms carefully before you submit you order to us. These terms tell you who we are, how we will provide products to you, how you and we may change or end the contract, what to do if there is a problem and other important information. If you think that there is a mistake in these terms, please contact us to discuss. 1.3 These conditions shall apply to all contracts unless expressly varied in writing by us. Payment of deposit by you or writing confirmation is deemed to be acceptance of the contract as set out in these terms and conditions. 2.2 You can contact us by telephoning our customer service team at 0208 993 4415 or by writing to us at [email protected] or to 1 Western Avenue Business Park, Mansfield Road, London, W3 0BZ. 3.1 Our acceptance of your order will take place when we write to you to accept it at which point a contract will come into existence between you and us. 3.2 If we are unable to accept your order, we will inform you of this in writing and will not charge you for the product. This might be because the product is out of stock, because of unexpected limits on our resources which we could not reasonably plan for, because a credit reference we have obtained for you does not meet our minimum requirements, because we have identified an error in the price or description of the product or because we are unable to meet a delivery deadline you have specified. 3.4 Bespoke, standard bespoke and made to order agreements will be deemed accepted when you sign the purchase order and/or pay a deposit to confirm all details and specifications of your order. Also see clause 10. 4.1 The images of the products on our website and on our brochure are for illustrative purposes only. Although we have made every effort to display the colours accurately, we cannot guarantee that a display of the colours accurately reflects the colour of the products. Your product may vary slightly from those images. Although we have made every effort to be as accurate as possible, because our products are handmade, all sizes, weights, capacities, dimensions and measurements indicated on our website and brochure have a 3 % tolerance. 4.2 In relation to our products with hard edges, we reserve the right for up to 5mm variations. In relation to soft foam upholstery items, we reserve the right to variation of size up to 5% of the total size. 4.3 The packaging of the product may vary from that shown in images on our website and in our catalogue or brochure. 4.4 If we are making the product to measurements, you have given us you are responsible for ensuring that these measurements are correct. You can find information and tips on how to measure in our brochure or on our website, or by contacting us. 4.5 You are not able to buy ex-display / clearance products online. You may call our store and book a viewing subject to clause 8.10. 4.6 You are not able to place an order for bespoke products online. You may call our store and book a consultation. 5.1 If you wish to make a change to the product you have ordered online, over the phone or in store, please contact us. We will let you know if the change is possible. If it is possible, we will let you know about any changes to the price of the product, the timing of supply or anything else which would be necessary as a result of your requested change and ask you to confirm whether you wish to go ahead with the change. 6.2 More significant changes to the products and these terms. In addition, as we informed you in the description of the product in our brochure and/or our website, we may make changes to these terms or the product, but if we do so we will notify you. 6.3 All sizes of our products are nominal and may vary slightly. Sizes may be altered without notice in view of our policy of continuous improvement. If any size is critical to your project or requirements, please expressly state this on your order. Your failure to state size importance shall not give rise to any claims made by you. d. For fabric by the metre, before cutting, please check you have the required amount and there are no defects as we will not be liable for third party costs and other losses once cut and made up. e. All pattern repeats vary. They can be mirrored image, side matched or half-dropped across the width of the fabric. Please be aware at the time of selection the type of pattern repeats within the design you have selected. Pattern repeats have a tolerance of +/- 3 cm. 6.5 Any goods that require more than one width of fabric will have joins and seams. Any goods that have been altered by a third party or independently cannot be returned or refunded. Velvet, chains and cords on blinds fall in line with regulation and the length of the chain cannot be amended or specified. 6.6 For made to measure, whilst every effort is made to make your items to the exact measurements given; the make-up can vary by up to 3cm, which is the standard industry tolerance allowance. 6.7 Product colour and shade may vary from one manufacturing batch to another. This will be more apparent if orders are placed at different times. 6.8 Our fabrics are constructed with various natural yarns and synthetic fibres. Often there are slubs and natural weave irregularities, which enhance the final appearance of the fabric. It should be noted that this is not a defect and is an inherent characteristic of the cloth. Please note that an inherent characteristic of the Suede Collection is the 'bruised' appearance that may appear as slight creasing. 6.9 Please be aware that up to 3% shrinkage may occur due to variations in atmospheric conditions whilst in situ at the window, or during the first wash or dry clean. There is sufficient fabric available within the hems to enable any necessary adjustment in length. 6.10 Our curtains are carefully packed and despatched. Any folding of material will cause certain creases; in the case of velvet and man-made fibre material, these will drop out after hanging. Any folding of material for prolonged periods or any items left in the packaging for long period in times may result in long term creasing or may affect the fabric permanently. Cotton prints may need a cool iron. 6.11 The sale of our products to you does not confer any right of license upon you to use, exploit, or to otherwise utilise any intellectual property right subsisting in or relating to the goods of which we are otherwise entitled to. The unauthorised copying of any of our designs, which are protected by design copyright, may give rise to legal action. 7.1 The costs of delivery will be as told to you during the order process/ set out in our current price list and/or on our website. 7.2 During the order process, we will let you know when we will provide the products to you. If the products are ongoing services and subscriptions, we will also tell you during the order process when and how you can end the contract. We will deliver them to you as soon as reasonably possible and in any event, we will contact you with an estimated delivery date that will be within 8 weeks after the day on which we accept your order. If the products are one-off services. We will begin the services on the date agreed with you during the order process. The estimated completion date for the services is as told to you during the order process. If the products are ongoing services. We will supply the services, to you until either you end the contract as described in clause 8 or we end the contract by written notice to you as described in clause 9. 7.3 We are not responsible for delays outside our control. If our supply of the products is delayed by an event outside our control, then we will contact you as soon as possible to let you know and we will take steps to minimise the effect of the delay. Provided we do this, we will not be liable for delays caused by the event, but if there is a risk of substantial delay, you may contact us to end the contract and receive a refund for any products you have paid for but not received. 7.4 Any delivery or collection date quoted is a genuine estimate and shall not be legally binding on the us. Scheduled deliveries will be rescheduled if the buyer fails to meet the payment terms under clause 12. 7.5 Time of delivery or collection shall not be the essence of the contract. We will not in any circumstances whatsoever be liable for indirect or consequential loss such as (but not limited to) loss of profit, pure economic loss, loss of market, loss of business, depletion of goodwill and similar loss, costs, damages, charges or expenses caused or the consequences of delay of delivery or collection, however caused. 7.6 It is your responsibility to ensure items purchased can fit through internal and external access points including and passages, stairwells, landings and doorways on the way to the destination room. We hold no responsibility for items not fitting in the premises and any rework or restocking fees will be payable by you prior to final delivery. 7.7 For delivery purposes, we can manufacture furniture for assembly on site in case there is restricted access to your premises. It is vital however that you give us this information when placing an order as later changes to the design will be charged. 7.8 Every effort will be made to ensure that the goods ordered by you arrive undamaged and without defect. Upon delivery or collection, you must sign the delivery/collection note. It is your responsibility to check the items to ensure the goods delivered or collected are as ordered, the correct quantity and that they are of satisfactory quality. In the event of any discrepancy whatsoever, you must notify us immediately upon delivery or collection by writing the discrepancy on the delivery note. Unfortunately writing “unexamined” or “unchecked” will not be acceptable. If the item is damaged, please retain the packaging. All claims for loss or damage must be made before the end of the next working day. In all events, the limits of liability for any fault or defect shall not exceed the purchase price of the item. 7.9 Our delivery team will unpack your furniture, install it in the room of your choice and if you wish we will remove all packing materials from your home and recycle wherever possible. We are not able to take away your old furniture. 7.10 If we are unable, for whatever reason, to deliver the goods on the confirmed delivery date, we reserve the right to charge you further for any subsequent deliveries. 7.11 If you have asked to collect the products from our premises, you can collect them from us at any time during our working hours of 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM on weekdays (excluding public holidays). 7.12 If no one is available at your address to take delivery and the products cannot be posted through your letterbox, we will leave you a note informing you of how to rearrange delivery. 7.13 If you do not collect the products from us as arranged or if, after a failed delivery to you, you do not re-arrange delivery or collect them from a delivery depot we will contact you for further instructions and may charge you for storage costs and any further delivery costs. If, despite our reasonable efforts, we are unable to contact you or re-arrange delivery or collection we may end the contract and clause 9.2 will apply. 7.14 We will offer store the products for up to one (1) calendar month following completion of manufacture of your order, free of charge. Thereafter we reserve the right to apply a discretionary charge for on-going storage, which will be calculated at a rate of 2% of the total sold value of the products (including VAT) per calendar month, and pro-rata for any days or weeks within a monthly cycle, up to the date of delivery. 7.16 The product will be your responsibility from the time we deliver the product to the address you gave us or you collect it from us. 7.17 You own a product once we have received payment in full. Until you become the owner of the products, you shall not sell the products or part with possession of the products. We may, for purposes of recovery, enter any premises where the products are stored to recover them. 7.18 We may need certain information from you so that we can supply the products to you, for example, your name, address and contact number. If so, this will have been stated in the description of the products in our brochure. We may contact you in writing or on the phone to ask for this information. If you do not give us this information within a reasonable time of us asking for it, or if you give us incomplete or incorrect information, we may either end the contract (see clause 9.1) or make an additional charge of a reasonable sum to compensate us for any extra work that is required as a result. 7.20 If you do not pay us for the products when you are supposed to (see clause 11.3) and you still do not make payment within seven (7) days of us reminding you that payment is due, we may suspend supply of the products until you have paid us the outstanding amounts. We will contact you to tell you we are suspending supply of the products. 8.1 You can always end the contract for the supply of a product before it has been completed. You may contact us to end your contract for a product at any time before we have delivered it or completed supplying it and you have paid for it, but in some circumstances, we may charge you for doing so, as described below. Of course, you always have rights where a product is faulty or mis-described (see clause 10, “If there is a problem with the products”). 8.2 Unless you have a right to end the contract immediately, the contract will not end until payment is made in full for your order. 8.3 Subject to clause 8.5, you are able to return our products within fourteen (14) days beginning on the day after you receive the Products subject to the Products being properly packed and returned in the same unused condition supplied. Damaged goods cannot be accepted. 8.4 Exercising your right to change your mind (Consumer Contracts Regulations 2013). For most products bought online, you have a legal right to change your mind within 14 days and receive a refund. 8.6 If you end the contract after products have been dispatched to you and (because we cannot recall them) they are delivered to you, you must return them to us. Except when you are exercising your legal rights to end the contract because of something we have done wrong then we will pay the costs of return. In all other circumstances, you must pay the costs of return. 8.7 Returned items will be subject to restocking fees. A restocking fee is payable for any returned product. This may vary from 40% to 100% of the invoice value. Bespoke items are unique items made to your specification, for this reason carries a 100% charge, and is non-refundable. 8.8 Mattresses that have been removed from the original packaging cannot be returned. 8.9 Should you return a product and upon examination, we find that there is a discrepancy in the reason for the return of the product, then we shall reserve the right to refuse the credit. 8.10 Refunds, exchanges, or credit notes are not available for products sold on a promotional sale, special offer, bespoke products or products that are stated as “sold as seen” including ex-display products. Access and installation of such products is your sole responsibility. 8.11 If you cancel the Contract between us within 14 days, we will process the refund due to you as soon as possible and, in any case; within 30 days of the day, you gave notice of cancellation. In this case, we will refund the Product and any applicable delivery charges in full. However, you will be responsible for the cost of returning the item to us. 8.12 If a fault is discovered after you have exported the products outside United Kingdom, it is your responsibility to return the goods to the UK at your own cost for inspection. If a repair or replacement is produced by us, it will only be delivered to a United Kingdom destination. If you then wish for the products to be exported, it will be your responsibility to do so at your own cost and risk. For export orders, it is therefore recommended that inspection takes place in the United Kingdom prior to shipment. 8.13 We usually refund any money received from you using the same method as originally used by you to pay for your purchase. 9.2 You must compensate us if you break the contract. If we end the contract in the situations set out in clause 2.1 we will refund any money you have paid in advance for products we have not provided and processed i.e. you cancel after we have ordered stock and material from supplier, but we may deduct or charge you reasonable compensation for the net costs we will incur as a result of your breaking the contract. 9.3 We may write to you to let you know that we are going to stop providing the product. We will let you know in advance within reasonable time of our stopping the supply of the product and will refund any sums you have paid in advance for products which will not be provided subject to the restocking fee. 10.1 We guarantee the wooden frames of all manufactured furniture for fifteen (15) years from the date of delivery. The guarantee excludes normal wear and tear, any fillings, fabrics, legs and mechanisms. This guarantee is given in addition to and not in substitution of your statutory rights. 10.2 We will only replace like for like, therefore you cannot change any of the sizes, fillings or fabrics. Upon a return, if a change is requested, you will incur further costs. Please contact us on 020 8993 4415 or write to us at [email protected] to request a quotation. 10.1 The company reserves the right using its discretion to recreate the made to order product in the exact same specification, design, texture, colour and fabric and no variations are permitted. 10.2 How to tell us about problems. If you have any questions or complaints about the product, please contact us. You can telephone our customer service team at 020 8993 4415 or write to us at [email protected] Alternatively, please speak to one of our staff in-store. 10.3 Summary of your legal rights. We are under a legal duty to supply products that are in conformity with this contract. See the box below for a summary of your key legal rights in relation to the product. Nothing in these terms will affect your legal rights. 10.4 Your obligation to return rejected products. If you wish to exercise your legal rights to reject products you must either return them in person to where you bought them, post them back to us or (if they are not suitable for posting) allow us to collect them from you. We will pay the costs of postage or collection. Please call customer services on 020 8993 4415 or email us at [email protected] for a return label or to arrange collection. 11.1 The price of the product (which includes VAT) will be the price set out in our price list in force at the date of your order unless we have agreed another price in writing. We use our best efforts to ensure that the price of product advised to you is correct. 11.2 It is always possible that, despite our best efforts, some of the products we sell may be incorrectly priced. We will normally check prices before accepting your order so that, where the product’s correct price at your order date is less than our stated price at your order date, we may use our discretion to charge the higher amount. Orders for export outside the EU require proof of shipment, which is your responsibility to provide to the us. VAT will be refunded to you once proof of shipment is received. Credit Account Holders must abide by terms agreed on account opening, and in any case all invoices must be settled within 30 days of the invoice date. 11.4 If you do not make any payment to us by the due date, we may charge interest to you on the overdue amount at the rate of 2% per month above the base lending rate of Bank of England from time to time. This interest shall accrue on a daily basis from the due date until the date of actual payment of the overdue amount, whether before or after judgment. You must pay us interest together with any overdue amount. 12.1 We do not exclude or limit in any way our liability to you where it would be unlawful to do so. This includes liability for death or personal injury caused by our negligence or the negligence of our employees, agents or subcontractors; for fraud or fraudulent misrepresentation; for breach of your legal rights in relation to the products including the right to receive products which are: as described and match information we provided to you and any sample or model seen or examined by you; of satisfactory quality; fit for any particular purpose made known to us; supplied with reasonable skill and care and, where installed by us, correctly installed; and for defective products under the Consumer Protection Act 1987. 12.2 If we are providing services in your property, we will make good any damage to your property caused by us while doing so. However, we are not responsible for the cost of repairing any pre-existing faults or damage to your property that we discover while providing the services. 12.3 We will have no liability to you for any loss of profit, loss of business, business interruption, or loss of business opportunity. 12.4 We will have no liability to you for any loss or damage suffered due to products and its quality from third party companies. Any disputes, claims or complaints must be directed to the third party company directly. a. We do not guarantee an exact match for bespoke made to order products. b. If you are supplying us with an image, we cannot guarantee an exact match unless we are given complete technical drawings. Even so, we will guarantee a 99% match and 100% effort. Drawings produced by us for signing off will be chargeable and payable by you. c. Slight differences in dimensions may occur due to the materials within the build. If the furniture is intended for a specific place or location, you must inform us at the time of ordering. d. Once we have confirmed an order, any further changes you wish to bring will be subject to a charge payable by you. Any changes at this stage may affect both the cost of the product and/or the delivery schedule. 14.2 Nobody else has any rights under this contract (except someone you pass your guarantee on to). This contract is between you and us. No other person shall have any rights to enforce any of its terms, except as explained in clause Error! Reference source not found. in respect of our guarantee. Neither of us will need to get the agreement of any other person in order to end the contract or make any changes to these terms. 14.4 If we do not insist immediately that you do anything you are required to do under these terms, or if we delay in taking steps against you in respect of your breaking this contract, that will not mean that you do not have to do those things and it will not prevent us taking steps against you at a later date. For example, if you miss a payment and we do not chase you, we can still require you to make the payment at a later date. 14.5 These terms are governed by English law and you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the products in the English courts. If you live in Scotland, you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the products in either the Scottish or the English courts. If you live in Northern Ireland, you can bring legal proceedings in respect of the products in either the Northern Irish or the English courts. We reserve the right to reject any fabric supplied by you, if deemed to be unsuitable for production. It is your responsibility to provide the agreed quantity required. Any fabric supplied by you must meet British Fire regulations. You must provide a fire retardant certificate for any such fabric supplied before production can commence. If treatment is not possible, we can provide a barrier cloth inter-liner (depending on the location of use) if required. This service is chargeable. If we supply the fabric to be used in manufacture, it is your responsibility to look after it as per the manufacturers guidelines as normal wear or tear is not warrantied. It is your responsibility to ensure the fabric is suitable for the use for which it is intended. Some fabrics (such as silks and velvets) and leathers can be marked by the slightest touch also known as pressure marks. Pressure marking is considered a natural characteristic of any piled fabric. In addition, all our furniture is handmade, the handling of fabric is unavoidable and therefore the we cannot accept any responsibility or liability for the condition of these fabrics when used during manufacture. As leather is a natural product, some of the hides may show natural marks or scars. Depending on the supplier, variation on both texture and colour may occur different from the samples you look at. We cannot be held responsible for such markings that are visible on the final product. Sizes of hides may vary due to the nature of the product, this may result in additional costs, advisable on receipt of purchase from the supplier.

2019-04-21T16:41:12Z

https://www.thesofaandchair.co.uk/legal

When considering the 3D modeling side of AutoCAD it’s helpful to compare the program with other 3D modeling programs like Maya, 3ds Max, Cinema 4D, Blender, etc. It’s also useful to know the real-world applications for the software, and which industries are using what. Many similarities exist between the 3D programs but the essential difference lies in the purpose to which they are used. CAD programs like AutoCAD and the others are basically technical visualization tools used in industrial design, engineering, manufacturing and architecture. The term CAD means either computer-aided design or computer-aided drafting, and as such focuses on technical drafting and design. The logical outcome is specific tool sets pertaining to various industrial applications. On the whole 3D modeling and animation programs aim to create a whole world environment from the floor up – think Pixar. As such their tool range is aimed at artistic and aesthetic outcomes in modeling and animation, for example shapes and textures and atmospheric effects. They are also designed to render multiple objects, like characters, props, with hair, fur and foliage which interact with their environments. In our AutoCAD 3D course there are a few methods of creating sections of objects in Autocad 3D, one of which is the combination of the Shell and Slice functions. CAD programs like AutoCAD, on the other hand, concentrate on creating precise and accurate technical models that emulate the functionality of a real-world environment. As such their tools focus more on accuracy and precision as well as measurements and scale. Efficiency as well as creativity are integral parts of these programs. We have in AutoCAD basically a drafting or modeling tool which allows us to communicate design intent and concepts to clients or other professionals, and has a legacy of 30 years as the industry leader in 2D and 3D computer-aided design. Presently almost all structures or built environments, as well as machine tools and consumer products are created using CAD software, like AutoDesk’s AutoCAD, Revit or Inventor. From 2007 onward AutoCAD’s 3D modeling capabilities have been improved with each new version, which to date includes a full set of solid modeling tools, modification tools, including mesh modeling as well as the Mental Ray rendering engine. In addition to libraries of materials which ship with AutoCAD 3D it’s also possible for the user to create their own realistic materials and textures. Real world lighting for Sun and shadow studies is also possible. High-quality fly-through movies can also be outputted. Many industries use AutoCAD 3D including architectural, mechanical, electrical, engineering and construction, GIS, surveying, civil engineering and urban planning. Recent releases also include 4D BIM functions. Originally an MS-DOS program, AutoCAD runs on both Windows and Apple Macintosh platforms, remaining the industry leader in CAD programs despite many competitors arising over the last three decades. AutoCAD has grown more complex in keeping up with the increasing complexity of the design and drafting processes, especially when it comes to 3D functionality, but its basic drafting or modeling principles remain simple and logical. AutoCAD LT (or Lite) was released in 1993 and is a smaller, cheaper alternative to the full AutoCAD program. It does not include 3D and some other advanced features but is nevertheless very powerful and will perform all 2D drafting needs. First released in 2010 AutoCAD for Macintosh is identical to the Windows version in functionality, whilst retaining the pre-2009 PC layout. Hopefully AutoDesk intends to make the two versions more visually compatible in future releases. If you have an old iPhone that you don’t use any more or you just want to get top dollar for your old iPhone so you can upgrade to something better, you can get top dollar for your old phone when you get cash from SkyTree Gold Coast. They pay the best prices for used phones and it is easy to get started. Read on to learn how to get fast cash for your phone. The first step is to get a free offer for your phone. You can bring your phone in or you can get a quote over the phone or online. If you like the price that you get you can sell your phone on the spot or mail it in and get the cash. It makes sense to sell your old phone because when you do you can get money for a new one. 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You need to do as well on the deal that you can and you don’t want to end up getting taken advantage of or getting lowballed on the price of the phone. You should always make sure that you get the right price and when you get a good price from a company you like working with you are going to end up having a good experience. Selling your iPhone should be a fast and easy process and it should also leave you with the best price for your phone. Don’t take any chances by working with a company that isn’t going to give you the best results. You need to make sure that you get the top price for your phone. You never have to pay full price for your iPhone if you keep selling your old phone for the maximum amount of cash. Just make sure that you keep your phone in top shape and be careful not to damage it or scratch it. How To Choose An SEO Company For Your Business? Search engine optimisation is one of the best marketing strategies to improve the bottom line of your small business. In fact, it will help take your business to the next level in a short period time more than any other marketing strategy out there. On the other hand, SEO is inexpensive when compared to the other strategies on the market. That is why a majority of small businesses are turning to search engine optimisation to improve their sales and conversions. There are also a few disadvantages of SEO such as it’s time-consuming and changes with every major update rolled out by the search engines. That is why the average marketer finds it so complicated. A professional SEO agency in town comes in handy under such circumstances. Here are some tips to consider when you are searching for the best SEO agency in town. . More time to focus on the core issues of running your small business. . Your rankings will improve on search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo, and the other main ones. . Your website will become more user-friendly and attract more visitors to it. 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With useful data on your hands, the intelligence allows you to make informed business decisions. There are numerous niches that rely on business intelligence for many reasons. Eventually, when all the figures are calculated, the data plays a part in reducing the overall costs of your company. Learning every process of your company helps you reduce any unnecessary costs associated with the process. Business intelligence also plays a huge part in improving efficiency and productivity of any company. For instance, it can be used to identify the challenges in the system and make the necessary referrals. Understanding the inefficiencies improves productivity immensely for any employee involved. As an example, completing tasks, reducing the scheduling times and also reduces the overall cost of handling any tasks. Employees are happy to work with a fine-tuned system from start to finish. There are numerous decisions that need to be handled in every business process. 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Visit https://www.cloudmadesimple.com.au/ for more information on business intelligence. The enormous young men in the PC business need you to keep thinking the way you are. The real desktop PC makers flourish with buyers absence of information and old thoughts regarding desktop PCs and PC hardware to drive offers of new desktop PCs. It works to support them to keep these myths alive, on the grounds that their business relies upon it. So what are they? Perhaps a few years prior this may have been valid with more seasoned PC hardware, yet circumstances are different. At the point when PCs were much slower than they are currently, the most recent variant of any PC hardware expanded speeds recognizably and permitted new potential outcomes from your desktop PC. Those increments from PC hardware never again yield such a tremendous increment in execution. With the essential employments of the desktop PC set and been set up for some time now, speed builds never again result in certifiable advantages for most desktop PC clients. What was incredible PC hardware a year ago is still adequate at this point. At the point when individualized computing was making its mark, you truly needed to be a Geek to realize what was going on. For those mature enough to recall, envision existence without Windows and hacking ceaselessly at the charge line, as used to be the situation. Some still do, however I wouldn’t have any desire to do that once more. Desktop PCs are such typical that the essentials of PC hardware can be comprehended and investigated with the base of bother. The ball is on the shoppers side of the court. You never again should be a nerd, only a little learning that is presently promptly accessible. Perhaps. On the off chance that you are running 5-year-old PC hardware this may be the situation. Be that as it may, the genuine purpose behind the expansion in speed is generally not the PC. Web speed is identified with your association speed. On the off chance that you have a dial up association, it will be very moderate. When you overhaul your desktop PC and they toss in a satellite web, or DSL bundle the enhanced speed is from the speedier association, not the PC. Both link and DSL can offer more than 10 times the speed of a dial-up association. The PC has little to do with it. Myth 4: To Speed Your PC up, Redesign! New PC hardware is an exceptionally evident approach to speed things up. Indeed, even I have gone for new parts only consequently. In any case, it’s certainly not by any means the only way. Different elements play into general speed. On a simply physical level, redesigning memory is as yet a fabulous approach to motivate things to move along somewhat speedier. Be that as it may, aside from this the primary things that backs things off on the projects and other stuff you have on the PC. After some time, as more projects are put on and taken off and changed, things get left behind, and things get overlooked. At the point when your PC begins, numerous things get stacked into memory and every last one of those takes that smidgen a greater amount of the PCs assets. When you change to another program and don’t expel the old one, the more seasoned one will at present utilize assets. Huge brands basically sort out a PC. They pick and pick the pieces to influence a PC to bundle. They additionally pick some product, give a guarantee and after that pitch it to you. Dell PC organization has turned out to be outstanding for its client benefit. This is the best part about Dell PCs. The drawback is there are constrained decisions. They pick what goes into the PC, which are regularly very costly parts. They are inspired by the providers to put later parts into their PCs, keeping the costs at a similar level and keeping up the “to get more, pay more,” mindset. You don’t have the energy of these huge folks, however you have something more. Decision. Your pick of parts for your desktop PC will enable you to assemble something totally customized to your requirements. Put the cash where you require it most, into the PC hardware that has the greatest effect to you, and at last getting a desktop PC you will begin to look all starry eyed at, as opposed to disdain. You can find lots of different kinds of layouts that each architect will probably be coming up with. They’ve lots of things that are different they have to be sure of when they’re really coming up using a layout that is specific. AutoCAD training classes will help them learn the way to create the best drawings in their creations. These classes will cover many areas of the plans. The drawing will be the most crucial element of the occupation. Training is a thing that will be significant for anybody that uses the AutoCAD applications. That is something which helps them design every facet of construction or a building. Each construction will offer something different because of their customers. While another architect is going to be designing enormous office buildings, many of these are going to be designing houses. Buildings aren’t the single thing which can be designed with these. There are many different kinds of much more, like bridges and structures, which are definitely going to be designed using these. Making certain they are planning to be a construction that is certainly lasting to the states that it is going to confront is not unimportant. A strong layout is something which will probably shield lots of individuals. AutoCAD is something which can be used in lots of livelihoods, though. It’s not only utilized in architectural layouts. There are a number of other businesses which might be applying this kind of applications. The training classes will help individuals understand the way to utilize this software. That is something which is definitely going to be exceptionally essential for a lot of reasons. Every class is definitely going to be vital to ensure they have the needed advice on how best to make use of each facet of it. There are a number of different options that come with every piece of applications. They’re going to manage to take a class using this when they select which form of software which they must work with. You will find lots of various kinds of training choices for each system that’s planning to be accessible. Each firm has an alternate need for all these applications. There is going to be a distinct quantity of workers which will want this training. Every class will have something different to give. There are many different kinds of AutoCAD software which can be going to be utilized for each business. It is going to be contingent on the sector by which they may be working. This can be something which is certainly going to be extremely important to think about. There might be a few other choices for the training too, although training could be supplied by the firm supplying the application. The business will probably determine which workers are likely to be receiving the training. That is vital for all to contemplate. Designing each construction is a thing that is essential for all of the industries on the planet and the market. There are businesses that the need to expand their operations and are continuously growing. They have to truly have a whole lot of characteristics that are distinct from thinking of the layouts that they’re searching for. Not everybody is likely to be great at receiving down their layout on paper or in place which other folks can see the things they’ve designed. They have to have the ability to make scale models that are smaller additionally. You’ll find various several types of constructions for every architect. Every architect which uses the AutoCAD applications will need to comprehend it. This really is the reason why they are going to contemplate getting the AutoCAD training to make sure they have the fundamental knowledge of the software. Additionally, they have to know the way to utilize each attribute that is not unavailable too. Leading the sector is AutoCAD in 2D and 3D for CAD design. Fundamentally, this modeling and drafting tool allows you to convey your layout concepts efficiently and concisely. Virtually every construction, constructed surroundings, machine tool and consumer product is created via computer aided design (CAD). With each new release, the 3D modeling capabilities of AutoCAD have enhanced since 2007. This consists of the complete set of altering and modeling tools in addition to the Mental Ray rendering engine and also the net modeling. Create stuff and realistic textures, use real world light for Sun and Shadow effect studies. Add a high-quality walk in the kind of a film. AutoCAD is used by many businesses. Sectors including engineering and building in addition to architects, mechanical, electrical, electronic all party favor AutoCAD because of their design needs. From geographical information systems to multimedia and facilities management, AutoCAD is here to stay. Studying is easier using AutoCAD, Civil engineering, and town planning can be done much more efficiently with AutoCAD. Created by AutoDesk Inc. in 1982 AutoCAD was MS-DOS software. It runs both on Windows and Macintosh operating systems now. Inspire of the opponents which go and come, AutoCAD is here to stay. As technology improves so does AutoCAD. Straightforward and simple to use this system offers the best in our ever-changing technology world. Notice the LT variant is a cut-down and more economical variant of the application that is whole. This variation doesn’t contain many of other amazing features that are innovative and the 3D. However, it is still really strong software offering superb 2D drafting. Released for Mac in 2010 it is practically indistinguishable to the Windows version and in 2014 it is still going to overcome on the pre-2009 PC layout. The ability creates and to alter text and viewing too as geometry with truth, the inclusion of exact measurements the geometry on scales that are different all will help keep this in the vanguard of modern technology. Users will have the ability to choose from a number of layouts where drawing and printing can be done. Blocks and symbols all can be created in addition to adding multiple items. Share and reference other drawings them all on the net for more cooperation with AutoCAD users on the web. In summary, if one follows the three basic steps to create geometry, a 3D model, stuff and adding lighting, you can go anyplace. Measurements and text can make your work get noticed from your remainder and the outcome of elevation, pictures and drawings are exceptional. AutoCAD offers an outstanding F1 Help section. Simple to follow and stay with procedural and conceptual advice on the subject you will locate everything you could have to review here. You can even reference the search area at the very top right of the display for more online help when needed. If you are searching the web searching for AutoCAD courses, odds are, you’re trying to get something from the encounter. No one does these classes just for fun, you almost certainly desire to enhance your curriculum vitae? or improve your probability of a promotion on the job. No matter your reasoning is, it is important you take certain factors into account to ensure you get the training you have earned. The best method to locate the best AutoCAD courses which work for you personally would be to locate at least three firms offering this training in the local region. Select businesses that will give you excellent distance, should your home is in a distant place. Either way, you’re searching for a business which supplies a range of programs for you to select from, this lets you handpick those you desire to do and those which you feel are not going to profit. The more classes the better, the business provides. You’ll be able to go back to finish another class at a later period without needing to undergo the hunting side of things, for those who are in possession of a great experience learning together. Undergo the sites of the company’s, you’re trying to find the services they feature much advice as possible on the business, their focus as well as their purposes. You’ve got a set goal in mind which can be the reason why you happen to be planning to finish AutoCAD courses, but what are their objectives? Are they dedicated to giving you the best possible training to greatly help you further yourself in your selected business? The standing of each firm is not dispensable. You are still sitting with three businesses after you’ve read through their website and checked on the programs available and in case you aren’t confident, then it is time to rely on the web to help you narrow your search down. Do an internet search for the firms ‘ names. Go through internet newsgroups and the separate review sites. Begin your own thread on one of the newsgroups in the event you can not locate any info and see if anyone responds that’s taken an AutoCAD course that they can supply comments that are honest to you. This technique ought to assist you to stop at least among the businesses. Now it is time to make sure that the AutoCAD courses on offer certified. There’s absolutely no point finishing a class that really doesn’t supply an accredited certification to you when applying for jobs that need you have this knowledge and expertise that you can use in the future. In the event the firm does not offer classes that are accredited, cross them. Figure out should additionally they offer accredited distance or if they merely offer their AutoCAD courses on site. Frequently you might wish to study when you get home during the night and might find it too difficult to attend courses at set times because of work obligations. Ensure when picking distance learning that these are additionally accredited classes as you’ll get in the event you attended classes on site and you should possess exactly the same syllabus. Constantly learn which support while finishing any AutoCAD courses online, you get. When studying from home you might be on your own, so be sure to have access to their skilled team who is able to talk you you’re experiencing issues with those attending course have an expert they are able to question and get help from. The final bit of the puzzle before becoming a member of any classes is always to determine what contained in the lessons. An alternate syllabus will be offered by each firm also in the event the class you might be contemplating comprises all of the pertinent info which you need to learn how to assist you to advance in your profession, it is important that you figure out. The first action to take would be to have a look. The three fundamental models of 3D CAD are solid and wireframe, surface models. Wire coat hangers are made from by the models those cosmetics wireframes appear like they’re and have no faces. Items which are 2D are used to create a wireframe manner. These sorts of models that are early date back who recall those days might recall them. Wireframe models can be created in AutoCAD, but they’re not actually very helpful in any way. Another step in 3D development is the surface models. Essentially, they’re wireframe models with faces included which are not irregular. These are like items which can be built from cardboard such as spheres, blocky cones, and cartons. If you dissect the inside spacing you will discover it is not full, exactly like a cardboard box is empty. The actual breakthrough in 3D applications is the modeling technique that is solid. Remember these things are made of cones, spheres, and boxes, but they’re solid models as they have been in actuality, the things can be joined and dissected and their insides are solid. It should be noted that AutoCAD LT enables the navigation of present 3D models and the opening, but it really is unable create or to alter them. The procedure of 3D modeling is consistently precisely the same in the geometry is always created the substances are added to the item. From then on, the realistic light is on a basis that is still or on a nerve pathway added, after which the cameras, either. Subsequently, the result is represented as an AVI movie file, drawings for elevation, or still pictures. Some users will nevertheless be using this older interface, although an important overhaul was instituted by the 2009 release of the Windows interface for AutoCAD. Additionally, the newer Macintosh AutoCAD version that has been released in 2010 will still have the older pre-2009 Windows interface. The AutoCAD normally opens so to alter this you make the change and must visit the Workspace Shifter. The 3D tools get loaded towards the top of the display in Tabs and the Ribbon after you wait a couple of seconds. The other 2D tools continue to be there, as there be a perpendicular row of Tool Palettes on the right, which used and can be selected afterward if needed. The Dash of tools will appear on the right side of the display in the pre-2009 interface. For working in 3D space 6 control panels will be contained by it. Those are 3D make, Visual Fashion, 3D Browse, Stuff, Lights, and Leave. For the interface which arrives in after 2009, the ribbon tabs have more adaptable, although distinct tools such as for example Outcome, Net Modeling, Insert, See, Annotate, Express Tools, and Home. Even if the workspace will not look overly 3D yet, you are able to visit the top and reach the Program button on the far left and pick the New ” id=”st-1183″>> Drawing ” id=”st-1185″>> acadiso3Ddwt button. This really is the fundamental 3D metrical template for AutoCAD which comes with the application. Step one in creating models is implementing of realistic textures and the fundamental modeling. Then using some light adds to the scene a sense of naturalism. AutoCAD has three fundamental kinds of light. Point Lights are like globes that are light, throwing shadows and light outwards in all ways. The Spot Light propagates shadows outwards in the source, is the second kind and, like its real world counterpart. The third kind of light is the Distant Light like Sun in that its shadows are. When adding light to your scene to divide the Display into four viewports via the View tab it is recommended. Keep three of this in and orthogonal Wireframe mode. The bottom right you could keep within an isometric view with the Naturalistic screening style. In this way, we can see the items in the scene from various paths concurrently. This really is particularly useful if you’ve got a dual display set up or a big display. Visit the Lights tab choose Create Light, subsequently Place, and to create a Spotlight and Turn Default Lighting off. Create a location, for example, 500. Alternatively, transfer it into place and click anywhere on the display. Name it Chief Light and hit the Enter key twice to see the light “gizmo” appearing. If needed you may transfer the light. Ensure the viewport that is right is chosen and click the Render button to depict the picture. As of this point, we may see the shadows are too dim, by which case we can add a gentler “fill light”, as follows Light” id=”st-410″>> Point. In the conventional photographic studio, this fill light is generally set to the principal light source at about fifty percent strength. We leave the model to compare the effect and could name this Fill Light. The resultant render is washed out or has two sets of shadows if, we should alter the lights. We may do so by clicking the little arrow button to open the Lights. Notice the properties also appear on the top of the right-hand side panels. Various values are revealed for the light’s Strength Variable, Location, Color, Attenuation (otherwise referred to as falloff) and Shadows. The Strength of the light may also alter here and turn the Shadows away. The lighting color could also alter in this place. It is best to keep the Principal light Intensity Variable at 2 or 1. We’d shut the properties to represent the picture again. Note the last few leaves appear at the base of the Output File. We can toggle through the list before choosing the preferred picture to compare the effects. Then either right-click or head to the File menu to save the picture as TIFF or a JPEG. JPEGs are not large in file size, great for first drafts, or to send to a website or a customer. Whereas TIFFs are as such, and quality is not bad for magazine or pamphlet demos. As a footnote, bear in mind that Distant Lights emulate Sun with concurrent shadows, but it is best to not use them with Photometric (real world) light. Additionally, notice that you just do not get a gizmo for Sun or a Direction Light. There are several options available for learning AutoCAD. Items made by students utilizing the student version of AutoCAD cannot be used for commercial purpose. Lessons in AutoCAD can assist an individual about what they will be using to learn a little. AutoCAD training enables pupils to analyze the dynamics of the building. Revit Tutorials if you are a beginner then Revit Tutorials info may function as the initial free on-line platform where you are able to start learning Autodesk Revit through video tutorials. AutoCAD is really a misnomer because there is nothing automatic about AutoCAD. Any Revit user is currently able to be excellent renderings with a few minutes of training. Revit makes it easy to do this. AutoCAD 2D has many characteristics and abilities. There are quite a few industries using AutoCAD applications daily. AutoCAD is, in addition, used to design extraordinary characters. AutoCAD is reasonably user-friendly, as it features built-in design layouts. Computer assisted drafting or generally known as he’s used for the development of items actual and virtual. Auto CAD is made of several characteristics architectural and structural domain names, including MEP. For this reason, AutoCAD users will not have a problem to work in progeCAD. In addition, you will find tools here to be able to assist you to modify your photo. The difficulty was not astonishingly difficult, the drawings were not coordinated. There is also a distinguishing 3D zoom effect. Remember that 3D animation is it is time intensive and distinguishing, and a rather complex occupation. 3D models are used in numerous industries. Being successful in 3D is not uncomplicated. Drawing a wedge is exceptionally much like drawing a box (because it’s essentially a sliced box). 3dsMax is among the most well-known 3D modeling, rendering, and animation applications. The DMX lighting software that is free is quite user-friendly and simple to learn, and also it can be mastered by the beginners in just the course of few hours, utilize the guidance supplied within the user guide which comes in reinforcement to the applications. Much like other online courses, taking an internet course in AutoCAD delivers a smattering of edges as well as some disadvantages. The first place to start seeking the optimal / optimally AutoCAD classes is online. Is the course is offering the latest version of the program. Provided that there’s also satisfactory customer care from the program programmer, video training could be absolutely acceptable and an exceptionally desirable system to learn. As a way to get a great understanding of the way to use equipment or software, it’s usually needed.

2019-04-18T10:24:35Z

http://www.nascencyproject.com/

The global media economy is being transformed. With major changes in the way stories are produced, circulated and consumed, today’s visual journalists and storytellers need new skills to meet the challenges and take advantage of new opportunities. Students on the MA in International Multimedia Journalism learn how the new media economy works and develop high-level skills in audio, photography, video, writing, infographics, social media and editing. Based in Beijing, China, with the degree awarded by the University of Bolton in the UK, the MA in International Multimedia Journalism offers a unique, cosmopolitan approach to visual storytelling. The School of Journalism and Communication at Tsinghua University was founded in April 2002. Inheriting Tsinghua’s tradition of comprehensive and interdisciplinary education, TSJC aims to give students world-class journalism and communication education guided by advanced educational concepts and international standards. Every year, hundreds of graduates leave TSJC to take top-level journalism and communication jobs in and outside China. Students at TSJC are offered abundant opportunities to not only sharpen their professional skills, but also develop acute social responsibility crucial for their future success. In line with programs at Columbia University and the University of Missouri, the School of Journalism and Communication has developed a“fundamental but practical” curriculum, with international and practice-oriented features. It has adopted the “Platform Module” curricular system used worldwide and offers small-group classes, along with both English-immersion and bilingual courses. A four-year program of Journalistic English is currently being developed. Against the backdrop of globalization, the School is committed to training high-caliber professional journalists with an international outlook, strong communication skills, mastery of modern broadcasting technology, and an innovative spirit. The School of International Journalism at Shanghai International Studies University trains and educates students to become accomplished journalistic professionals, and prepares them with foreign language and journalistic skills as well as a global vision to achieve quality journalism practices in media organizations both in China and beyond. The School has cherished a global teaching and research tradition within the Chinese journalism system that was started in 1983 when the Program of International Journalism was set up as the first multi-disciplinary program at this language university and has since become one of the top-notch international journalism programs in China. The School offers two undergraduate degree programs and one MA degree programs. The undergraduate degree programs include International Journalism and Internet & New Media, which will start enrollment in September 2014. Its MA program has concentrated on global communication theories, English news writing and editing as well as global public opinion & media. During the past three decades the School has educated more than 1000 graduates and prided itself on their competence, devotion and reputation showcased in the media community in Shanghai, China and the world. Amid innovations spawned by digital technology, heightened restraints to press freedom, and the surge in news and issues with cross-border ramifications, the idea of reviving “pure” journalism education emerged in the agenda of the Ateneo de Manila University. Added impetus came from the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, which has an international reputation for development work in emerging democracies. Seeking to help raise the standards of Asian journalism, the foundation entrusted the Ateneo, a long-time partner in social development, with its regional journalism training program. In June 2000, the Konrad Adenauer Center for Journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University was inaugurated. It was envisioned as a hub of journalism education in the region, an oasis of learning for working journalists. In May 2006, “Asian” was added to the center’s name to accurately reflect the true geographical scope of its mandate. Today, the Konrad Adenauer Asian Center for Journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University (ACFJ) promotes good journalism by providing training to and educational opportunities for working journalists in Asia. The Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication (AIJC) is a Knowledge Management Center organized in 1980 as a graduate school of journalism, founded on the philosophy that communication is a vital development resource to be used to advance the common good. Today AIJC has a solid record of more than thirty years in the communication field – as a graduate school for communicators and journalists, a center for continuing education in journalism, communication, and knowledge management, and a research and consulting firm advocating policies and implementing programs and projects that address development issues and concerns both at the levels of national decision-making and community-based initiatives. The name Pathshala comes from the ancient education system that prevailed in South Asia. It brings to mind classes held underneath a large tree; conjuring up learning spaces without walls, in the cool shade of its leaves. The South Asian Media Institute not only allows students to explore the world of image making but provides them opportunities to question beyond the confines of the discipline. The conceptual absence of classroom walls enables 1st year students and 3rd year students to attend the same classes and work together on collaborative projects together with visiting faculty. This enhances and complements each student’s learning experience. The institute started in 1998 in conjunction with a three-year World Press Photo (WPP) educational initiative. It was launched to coincide with the Dhaka’s annual WPP exhibition. This exhibition was also replicated in other countries like Peru, Bosnia and Zimbabwe. The British Council, The Thomson Foundation and Panos South Asia supported this initiative of WPP and Drik Picture Library Ltd. The first group of six students is now among prominent photographers whose photographs have been published in some of the leading publications worldwide. From its modest beginnings Pathshala expanded attracting students from within Bangladesh as well as outside. Many of the graduated photographers have become internationally renowned photographers and the number of students that have joined the World Press Photo Masterclass is unusual for any photography education in the world. On 22 March 2010, Pathshala launched a new Department: Broadcast and Multimedia. This department currently offers basic training in filmmaking, cinematography, video editing, motion graphics, animation, news presentation and reporting. This media institute designs the courses and training programs for local and international clients: individuals, companies, and organizations. Part of the long-term plan is to disseminate our unique expertise across the region through master classes, special events, and conferences focused on the issues faced by journalists and media professionals in South Asia. The photography department of Counter Foto was born on November 23, 2012. But within such a short period of time, it has become the most sought after school as the good words about its world class teaching system is spreading around. Having many Master photographers of the world involved in the teaching faculty, the photography department has more than twenty local teachers all of whom are crème de la crème of Bangladeshi Photography. Journalism was the first course offered by the Department of Communication when it was founded in 1968, and remains the best-known course in the University. The course became a Department of its own within the new School of Communication in 1991. Today the Department of Journalism offers three concentrations in its three-year undergraduate programme: Chinese Journalism, International Journalism and Broadcast Journalism. The programme’s special characteristic is that it emphasises both theory and practice, covering professional journalistic knowledge, academic subjects, critical thinking, analytical skills and media ethics. Graduates of the Journalism programme fill many leadership roles in the Hong Kong media industry and the Department continues to be an important and valued source of recruits to the journalism profession. Creative Media is all about human creativity responding to the technological, social and environmental challenges of our time. It is a catalyst for new synergies across the sciences, arts, and humanities. By experiencing and thinking in new ways, creative media provides students with a dynamic and responsible context for innovation in a digital world. It creates promise and gives meaning to our lives. City University of Hong Kong’s School of Creative Media is recognized to be an international hub for discovery and innovation in Asia. Here creativity is nurtured as a cornerstone of Hong Kong’s social and economic advancement in the 21st Century. It is a place where students from across the globe can encounter the wealth of opportunity afforded by digital media, and where graduates attain those artistic, intellectual and technical skills that enable them to take positions of creative leadership in a global society. The Journalism and Media Studies Centre brings professional journalism education to Hong Kong’s premier university, creating an environment for vibrant interaction among students from Hong Kong, mainland China, Asia and the rest of the world. The curriculum, with instruction in English, is designed to produce graduates for all types of local, regional and international media, whether the graduates ultimately practice in English, Chinese, or some other language. From day one, students develop convergent skills enabling them operate comfortably in all aspects of the industry, ranging from print, audio, video, multi-media to online journalism. In 2006, we drew on the success of our Thai language program to enact an international English program, known as the Bachelor’s of Arts program in Journalism and Mass Media, or B.J.M. Even in this short time, our graduates and current students have won prestigious awards, they have been accepted at top graduate programs throughout the globe – in countries such as the US, UK, France, Korea, to name a few – and our graduates have also made profound impacts at top print and broadcast media companies, as well as advertising agencies, and PR and marketing firms. We are proud of our achievements thus far, but we will not rest on our laurels as we continue to work hard to provide our students the best education we can. We boast top-notch modern facilities and excellent professors to ensure that our graduates have the proper foundation to enjoy flourishing careers in whatever area they choose, along with a deep academic knowledge, a useful skill set, and a strong moral compass. And as the world of communication and media studies continues to develop through technological advances, we continue to stay ahead of the curve so our students are prepared to become thought and communication leaders in society. The Graduate School of Journalism seeks to cultivate professionals with a practical approach to ethics, knowledge and technology. It aims to produce outstanding journalists who distinguish themselves in terms of specialized knowledge, who are able to promote public communication and thereby create a bridge between specialized knowledge and civil society. At the same time, the Graduate School of Journalism cultivates those who will promote journalism-related research and those who will instruct future generations of researchers and journalists. Today, communication is getting increasingly digitalized and diversified while culture and knowledge based products are dominating the world’s market. By studying and teaching the theories and practice of communication, the Graduate School of Mass Communication strives to nurture journalists who will lead in setting up a desirable journalism culture in Korea. The school also gives re-education to professional journalists on the rapidly changing media environment. The ACJ Programme seeks to combine the “How To” aspect of journalism with a critical and reflective “Why” perspective which enables the young journalist to keep up with the demands made by a dynamic work environment and, as importantly, by a changing society. The Department of Media and Communication (DMC) was established in 2001, under the Royal University of Phnom Penh, primarily as an academic training ground for journalists and communication practitioners. Since its inception, DMC has received funding from Konrad Adenauer Foundation and technical support from German Development Service (DED), German Academic Exchange Program (DAAD), Ohio University, Mittweida University, University of Hamburg, Ateneo de Manila University, and DW. Throughout the years, DMC has evolved from merely a school for undergraduate course in media and communication into a more dynamic institute in terms of teaching and learning, social issues, and research. We have at the moment a balanced mix of international and local educators, are running Cambodia Communication Institute as a journalism training center, and have regularly been organizing workshops for working professionals in such topics as online blogging, community media, journalism for peace and development, and documentary production. DW Akademie is Germany’s leading organization for international media development. Our experts have been supporting and developing free and independent media since 1965. We support the development of free and transparent media systems, quality journalism and advanced media skills. We conduct long-term projects in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Central Asia and work closely with local partners. DW Akademie focuses on professionalizing media workers and managers, and training up-and-coming journalists. We offer intercultural and professional media training workshops in our centers in Bonn and Berlin, as well as traineeships for future DW journalists. DW Akademie also established the “International Media Studies” Master’s program in 2009 which combines the areas of media development, media management, journalism and communications. Mass Communication takes specialist areas which are normally studied in isolation and combines them in ways that offer an abundance of choice. You will develop your own program of study to meet your own specific interests and needs. This course will enable you to think and study across more than one area in the rapidly expanding world of media and corporate communication. It will provide you with the key technological skills and knowledge for work in corporate media and communication fields, with breadth across a number of disciplines. Your learning in your chosen streams will be underpinned by core studies in theory, ethics and critique of media, communication and information. At the Singapore crossroads, communication teachers and scholars from around the world have coverged to form an outstanding faculty. The school has a faculty that takes teaching seriously, pursues individual and collaborative research and creativity activity and builds ties with the media and Information industries in Singapore and beyond. It was on January 2001 that I founded College of Journalism and Mass Communication (CJMC) with mere $250 and started courses at the Master’s level in Mass Communication and Journalism (MA MCJ), Masters in Development communication and Bachelor’s in Mass Communication and Journalism (BA MCJ) – the first by a private college – and we take pride in the fact that it remains the only college focusing entirely on media education in the country. We are pleased to say that around 400 of our graduates and post-graduates are serving the nation as media communication professionals.

2019-04-18T15:10:48Z

http://asiajournalist.com/?page_id=95

Everyone wants to maintain a clean head and face that despite the shaving style, they will still look good. It is important for you to find one reliable stylist who will be handling your hair always. All they need is for you to visit their shops regularly, and maintain a particular style. It is important to find someone who you can spark random conversations with as you are being shaved. Therefore, there are quite a number of issues you should examine before seeking for that particular barber’s services. First, when you visit a barber shop, be keen and make observations on how things are done in that particular shop. It is advisable to look at the barber’s level of confidence while he’s handling people’s heads. Remember you are going to entrust this person with your head, hence he must be confident and able to handle their tasks with ease. Professional barbers know how to welcome clients with a smile and a firm hand shake. They will also look at your face and suggest a style that will fit your outlook. Newbies don’t give opinions or suggestions, but they will rather do what you say. It is important to observe and listen keenly on the barber’s voice and tone. You should not seek for the services of a barber who avoids meeting your eyes, or one whose voice is shaky. That is another sign of not being confident of themselves. The first impression created by the barber and the barber shop are critical for you to give consideration before committing to be shaved by them. If the barber is well shaved, clean and presentable, they definitely understand their job description. The barber shop must also be kept clean and tidy because its condition will speak volumes about the nature of services you are likely to receive. You should ensure that there is proper ventilation of the barber shop for better air circulation, floors should be clean, and towels must be clean and dry. You don’t want to go to a barber shop only to come out with infections or dirt that you were not anticipating in the first place. You should also try to provoke a conversation and listen to the way the barber talks. You should look for the right jargon from their conversations. You should also listen to and weigh the questions that particular barber is asking you about. Professional jargon will sieve professionals from amateurs because, amateurs will either use terminologies wrongly, or they are not aware of these terms. For example, a professional will ask questions like; “What number will I use in the sides?” Finally investigate if the barber asks their clients for feedback after the services. Experts will always give you an opportunity to either critic or commend them by allowing you to look at yourself in the mirror and commenting on what you see. Child adoption is not a simple undertaking as it might seem and if you intend to adopt a child, then it is essential to realize that you will need valuable legal advice and therefore, the services of an adoption attorney are vital. Now that you know that an adoption attorney can help you, the next hurdle is choosing the best adoption attorney from among the many options available in the market. Here are tips that will guide you to select the right adoption attorney. Search for information about the potential adoption lawyers. Do not believe in any adoption attorney before you find vital information about him and you are sure that he can fulfill what you need from the adoption. Your preferred adoption attorney must be licensed in their state. Besides license, inquire how the adoption attorney has assisted families in growing through adoption. Probe to know how many adoptions he has handled in the past and the rate of success. Prepare a list of relevant questions before meeting your potential adoption attorney so that you determine his suitability to your needs. Before your scheduled meeting with the prospective adoption attorney, have questions that will help reveal the attorney’s competency for the task at hand. Prioritize an experienced adoption attorney. When you have had a list of prospective adoption attorneys, you must move ahead to ascertain their experience level in work. Some adoption issues get sophisticated more so when you want to adopt a child from a different country, but with an experienced attorney, you can be confident of getting a solution and completing the process. Determine the number of adoption cases the lawyer has handled in the past and results. The services of inexperienced adoption lawyers are cheap compared to the experienced lawyers but since you want the best results, choose an experienced lawyer who is likely to deliver the best results. Find an adoption lawyer who charges reasonable rates. You must have a reasonable budget that will help you afford the best adoption services. Attorneys charge different fees, and thus, you should compare them to identify the one which suits your budget. Be wary of adoption lawyers who ask for payment before issuing their services. How well is your adoption attorney linked to other professionals? Successful adoption requires the participation of different experts apart from the adoption attorney. For example, you will need to engage counselors, physicians, and other lawyers. Instead of searching for all these experts, your attorney should have quick links to them to save you the hassle. He must collaborate with the experts to achieve the results you want. Importantly, choose an adoption attorney who understands your needs and acts in your best interest. The Amazing Benefits of Finding the Best Wedding Venue. Just like the birthday parties and other important events in life, a wedding is among the ones that are considered to be of uttermost importance. This is an event that takes a lot of time during preparation in order to ensure that things will be perfect on the big day. One of the things that actually troubles them is how they are going to find the best wedding location for their wedding. It is obvious that the couples would want great memories to be created on their special day, memories that they are going to remember for the rest of their lives. The rest of the arrangements entirely depend on the location of the wedding showing that the location is very important. choosing the right venue is therefore very important to each and every wedding. After the best location has been chosen, the rest of the things are automatically going to fall into place. The location of the wedding should be considered while choosing the venue. the location should be able to ensure that the guests have been provided with convenience. This means that you should choose a venue that is accessible since no one would want the guests to run late on the wedding. In order to have access to the best wedding venue, one of the things that you are actually required to consider is the amount of money required for renting the place. You should therefore ensure that it is an affordable place so that it may not interfere with the budget. The price should determine whether this is the right place for you or not. Different venues provide with different packages, and the packages are the ones that give more value for the cash. You are also required to establish whether the place provides with catering services or not and whether they are capable of ensuring that you have been provided with discounts. To ensure that you are also able to find the best venue for your guests, you are required to have the guest list in mind. The wedding venue should be able to accommodate all the people on your guest list together with a few wedding crashes. If you do not have a guest list, you are required to make an estimate of the number of people that are likely to come at the wedding. This will prevent you from choosing a small venue if the people who are likely to attend the wedding are many. You should not worry, however, since Cold Creek Farm is capable of ensuring that all your guests have been provided with enough space. The importance of these venues is that they are also capable of ensuring that you have been provided with space both inside and outside ensuring that your wedding has been provided with efficiency. From the time when the human race was in progress, people have stood in the awesomeness of the scenery. Still there is nothing like nature that is intended to give awe to the event, show and spirituality too. This is why you intend to participate the tendency of people that are choosing a wedding venue for themselves. Here are a few ideas of rustic barn wedding to take you back to nature. One of the difficulties of a barn wedding is capable of being the devastating space available. In a situation like this, curtains are required to cut a barn into smaller areas, thus creating more intimate spaces inside the big area. In case you already have curtains in play, drapes are the best way to carry that aesthetic through to the rest of your decor. The interior of the barns rustic can be emphasized by neutral colors without disturbing from the back-to-nature look. Decorative jars is also a perfect idea you can use to plan the best rustic barn wedding. Since decorative uses of jars are recognized widely, hence deliberate utilizing several ornate jars to give a homemade flair to your wedding beautification. There are numerous ways in which you can use jars, for example, you can use them lighting up to serving drinks. In addition to that, to plan the perfect rustic barn wedding, you can utilize the idea of candles. Being aware of any fire safety concern that can go along with your candle is vital. The reason for this is that you do not want to find your wedding becoming a literal barn-burner. The other thing that will be of great help for you to have a perfect rustic wedding is garlands as well as wreaths. The association between the barn as well as nature is unbreakable. Decorating it with garlands and wreaths should, therefore, be one of the ways of bending to it. They have an advantage of fitting anywhere for decoration without the processes being distractions. Additionally they are not used to be a burden when put in place. Additionally, they can play any purpose of the decorations since they are convenient. For you to have a thrilling rustic barn wedding, one idea you cannot overlook is fashion. It is not always that style has to do what you put on the wall. One primary determinant of the overall look of your wedding is fashion. Even though not all people need to come to your wedding with cowboy hats, it is crucial to have few rustic touches. For your wedding to be a successful use of outdoor is also another idea you can give a thought. Since you believe the outside a failed course, it is easy for you to dismiss them when having an urban wedding. Since stomach sleeping is one of the most common sleeping position for so many people; medical experts have warned people that the sleeping position is quite unhealthy. If you are someone who sleeps on your stomach it is important for you to know that eventually, you will start experiencing pain around your neck and shoulder due to the pressure. That is why people who sleep in this position are encouraged to get themselves a pillow that has been manufactured specifically for such sleepers. Finding the right pillow can be quite difficult for stomach sleepers because most of the pillows are generally designed for people who sleep on their sides and back. It is important for you to ensure that you buy a pillow that will not affect the alignment of your neck and back and that is why you should focus on the thickness and the thinness of the pillow. Stomach sleepers should ensure that they buy a pillow that is soft enough and that is why your focus should be on the fills and the cover because you mostly sleep face down. The good thing is that nowadays manufacturers are considering stomach sleepers when they make pillows therefor finding the perfect pillow will not be a hassle compared to long time ago. When choosing a pillow that has been manufactured for stomach sleepers it is important for you to focus on the quality of the pillow. it can be such a waste of your money if you end up buying a pillow that will not give you the type of service that you would want and eventually you will have to buy another one after a couple of months of use. If you want to buy from a specific brand it is usually important for you to ensure that its check the type of reviews that the brand has when it comes to the quality of the pillows that they manufacture. Make sure that you check the cost of the pills before you buy them. The good thing is that you can be able to find a brand that has a good name when it comes to manufacturing quality pillows, and they sell their pillows at an affordable price. Always remember that how much a brand sells its products does not determine the quality all their products, therefore, don’t focus on buying an expensive pillow what else you can be able to find an affordable one. It is important to consider getting the best email marketing solutions so that you can be able to increase your service to clients. In this regard, it is paramount that you identify the most appropriate email marketing software that will be significant for your organization so that you can benefit from its usage in your business. Therefore, you have to find the right company, and since they are so many it is important that you have means that you can incorporate to make your selection. So that you get to find the best email marketing system for your business it is important that you consider looking at the following tips for your selection. You will have to make sure that you are asking for recommendations from people. It is vital that you inquire from those friends that you trust to help you with the leads of the best email marketing system that you can choose for your business so that you can increase the services to your clients. You have to make sure that you are scrutinizing the list of the companies that offers email marketing solutions that you will get from friends you consult and make your final decision. There is a need for you to consider looking at the customer services. As you make your selection it is crucial that the company you consider choosing for email marketing solution you ensure it has outstanding customer services to the businesses they handle. Thus, for you to find the best email marketing system for your business consider using the above tips as they will help you in decision making. What is is a Vending Business? Today many people are starting their own vending business. If you want to start a vending job, then you do not have a lot to do because you will need no skills. Also, you do not need like to be around the machine for your business all the time. What you will require is to be visiting from time to time when you are going to pick money. You also need to keep checking whether the machines are well-functioning but that should be done like twice in a month. The vending machines need to be operated and maintained by the people you trust, and that is your family. With the machines with you, you will enjoy all the advantages that come along. However, you need to be familiar with the following guide. The first thing you need to know about is that you need to do a lot of assignment. Looking for the best machines and settling with the best is not enough. You also need to find the best location where you will place it. If you are not attentive with the locality, then you might end up giving up. For instance, if you are going to be selling coffee, place it near some gasoline stations or near high schools. Teenagers who are still schooling love buying coffee for their partners as a way of appreciating them. If you need to start your own business that earns cash immediately then deal with used machines. This is the type of business idea that will leave you with no stressing moments of finding your customers. You need to be smarter than the previous vending machines owner and get a good deal for your business. If you purchase a new gadget, then you need to be prepared to give it time to work for you. If you are not in a hurry to start earning, then you can be comfortable with that. Before you purchase any gadgets, you need to be aware of the business reputation it has had. Get Quality Medical Products Using Comparison Sites The emergence of price comparison sites has become more than just a trend. In America and Europe, It’s become popular for clients and it’s beginning to become popular in Asia particularly in Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia. since it merged in the e-commerce scene during the boom of the internet in the late 90s, its high popularity has really come a long way. With people living their lives at warp speed, it’s no surprise that even shopping for their fundamental requirements must keep up. Price comparison websites function by supplying the consumers alternatives to buy their favorite goods on a best buy basis implying that the clients may elect to look for the best shops when they can receive their merchandise for the lowest deals. Customers may easily navigate these sites as they have already filtered their search options to suit their needs. Consumers can search products by the kind, budget, and brand. Vitamins, particularly are among the most famous products that individuals search on the purchase price comparison websites on the web. A number of them narrow their search options more by adding classes for example weight loss, nutritional supplements, sports and drugs type like pills, capsules, powders, ointments amongst others. The matching of the prices from the highest to the lowest usually speeds up the selection process. With the countless brands available on the market, finding vitamins online is at best a challenging task. The benefit of purchasing them from price comparison sites is the fact that customers are directed to the retailers’ websites where they can get detailed information on the items including information on the manufacturer, delivery in frames and shipping costs. Some sites even have a FAG part on sports and nutrition supplements that are answered by nutrition and medical experts. Even though it is also a known truth that getting vitamins on the internet means getting them at a price which is lower than at your local drugstores, locating them on price comparison websites lets you get them at even lower prices without compromising their quality. Another distinct advantage of locating your vitamins from cost comparison sites is the simple fact that because the providers on such sites pay a particular fee for their goods to be submitted, they cannot cheat you if they would like to get value for their money. Still, this does not imply that you should not check out the privacy and security policies of these websites lest you become a victim of cyber-crimes. You should take the time to read about the privacy policies of different websites to ensure that your details, mainly, your credit card information is handled well and cannot be accessed without your authorization. What You Need To Know In Regards To Control Panels For any apparatus that electronically controlled, front panels are vital parts as they make the machine easy to use. In every industry and also firms that are undertaking projects, control panels are usually present. One of the features in the devices that usually help in improving their usability is the presence of the control panles. The control panel usually comes as a component of the front panel. These panels were originally used in computers to help display data and also allow you as the operator to change the memory of the device. Important for you to know is that the original control panel was a flat faced plate which contained push buttons, indicator lights and toggle switches which normally helped you to use the device safely. Nearly all of these analogue features have been replaced by touch screen displays and also other automated features. With the modern systems, the transformers have been omitted so as to facilitate increased supply at a power consumption that is way lower compared to that of the main delivering system. With these particular types of panels, the efficiency is improved particularly in those instances where special types of equipments that have different power requirements have been connected to just one circuit. Even though most of the control panels have varied features, typical panels usually have parts such as circuit breakers, main disconnect and housing. The main disconnect is the switch that controls the power supply whereas housing is the outer shield that covers all the available displays, lights and switches. Newer computing techniques have been adopted by the current manufacturers of the customized control panels. With this improved technology, such companies have gained the capacity to deliver front panels that are precisely cut, cost effective and also those that are fast. In addition, this is also enabled by the availability of the design programs. A number of such companies usually have their own design programs and they avail them to their clients via their site. At a time when a company is designing front panels, there is need to make sure that the design improves the usability of the device by the clients. At a time when a company is designing the enclosures of the devices, it is good for you to be aware that panels are essential as a lot of the technology firms are shifting from towards the housing of essential electronics in expensive boxes. For the monitoring of instruments, electrically powered control panels that are highly efficient are usually used. When choosing the particular control panels that you want to use for your firms, it is important that you get to choose those that are highly efficient and also those that do not consume a lot of power.

2019-04-21T12:50:18Z

https://okblogging.info/index.php/category/pets-animals/

TechCrunch is reporting that GraphQL, the Facebook-incubated data query language, is moving into its own open-source foundation. "Like so many other similar open-source foundations, the aptly named GraphQL Foundation will be hosted by the Linux Foundation." From the report: Facebook announced GraphQL back in 2012 and open sourced it in 2015. Today, it's being used by companies that range from Airbnb to Audi, GitHub, Netflix, Shopify, Twitter and The New York Times . At Facebook itself, the GraphQL API powers billions of API calls every day. At its core, GraphQL is basically a language for querying databases from client-side applications and a set of specifications for how the API on the backend should present this data to the client. It presents an alternative to REST-based APIs and promises to offer developers more flexibility and the ability to write faster and more secure applications. Virtually every major programming language now supports it through a variety of libraries. "GraphQL has redefined how developers work with APIs and client-server interactions. We look forward to working with the GraphQL community to become an independent foundation, draft their governance and continue to foster the growth and adoption of GraphQL," said Chris Aniszczyk, vice president of Developer Relations at the Linux Foundation. As Aniszczyk noted, the new foundation will have an open governance model, similar to that of other Linux Foundation projects. The exact details are still a work in progress, though. The list of founding members is also still in flux, but for now, it includes Airbnb, Apollo, Coursera, Elementl, Facebook, GitHub, Hasura, Prisma, Shopify and Twitter. Microsoft is using Minecraft to help employees get acquainted with a refresh of the company's campus in Redmond, Washington. CNBC reports: Earlier this year, Microsoft enlisted Blockworks, a company that uses Minecraft's digital building blocks for designing real-world projects, to create a miniature rendering of the campus facelift, which is scheduled for completion in 2022. They're using graphics that are far more immersive than two-dimensional photos and videos. While Minecraft was designed for gamers, its immersive nature and the ability to quickly move around and construct edifices makes it easy to see how new buildings will look when inserted into an existing landscape. [James Delaney, a managing director at Blockworks] said Minecraft forces designers to sacrifice some accuracy because structures in real life don't always have the game's squared-off look, but the speed and ease of use more than made up for those deficiencies. It might take just 10 minutes to wrap up a single building, he said. Microsoft employees -- and anyone else with the education edition of Minecraft -- can now take a digital tour of the new campus and see how plans are developing. Outside of Microsoft, that access requires a subscription to Office 365 Education. Corporate Vice President of Cortana Javier Soltero is leaving the company after being in charge of Cortana for less than a year. "Soltero joined Microsoft when it bought at the end of 2014 Acompli, a mobile mail startup in San Francisco which he co-founded and led," reports ZDNet. "After joining Microsoft four years ago, Soltero spearheaded Outlook Mobile, then all of Outlook." Before being appointed to run Cortana in March of this year, he was the head of strategy for Office. From the report: Last month, Microsoft officials confirmed that Cortana was one of the technologies that management was moving from AI + Research to the Experiences & Devices team, which is under Executive Vice President Rajesh Jha. Microsoft is in the midst of trying to reposition Cortana from a standalone digital assistant to more of an assistance aide. Given the strong focus on home and work productivity by the Microsoft 365 and Office teams, officials seemingly decided it made sense for Cortana to be situated in that group. I've heard Soltero is going to go back to doing entrepreneurial activities once he leaves by year-end. Perry Clarke is going to be working with Soltero on transition plans in the next couple of months, sources are telling me. Clarke has been with Microsoft engineering since 1996, when he led Exchange. He also has been a Microsoft Distinguished Engineer for the past several years. I've heard talk that Microsoft ultimately is looking to bring Cortana and Search together into a single engineering team. An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: If you talk to experts on election security (I studied with several of them in graduate school) they'll tell you that we're nowhere close to being ready for online voting. "Mobile voting is a horrific idea," said election security expert Joe Hall when I asked him about a West Virginia experiment with blockchain-based mobile voting back in August. But on Tuesday, The New York Times published an opinion piece claiming the opposite. "Building a workable, scalable, and inclusive online voting system is now possible, thanks to blockchain technologies," writes Alex Tapscott, whom the Times describes as co-founder of the Blockchain Research Institute. Tapscott is wrong -- and dangerously so. Online voting would be a huge threat to the integrity of our elections -- and to public faith in election outcomes. Tapscott focuses on the idea that blockchain technology would allow people to vote anonymously while still being able to verify that their vote was included in the final total. Even assuming this is mathematically possible -- and I think it probably is -- this idea ignores the many, many ways that foreign governments could compromise an online vote without breaking the core cryptographic algorithms. For example, foreign governments could hack into the computer systems that governments use to generate and distribute cryptographic credentials to voters. They could bribe election officials to supply them with copies of voters' credentials. They could hack into the PCs or smartphones voters use to cast their votes. They could send voters phishing emails to trick them into revealing their voting credentials -- or simply trick them into thinking they've cast a vote when they haven't. A Wall Street Journal article published this morning reported that Foxconn is looking to transfer some of its Chinese workers to Wisconsin in time for its new factory opening in Racine. The article says that these workers would likely be engineers and would fill a gap in prospective talent due to a tight labor market. Foxconn has since denied these claims. The Verge reports: In a comment to Gizmodo, Foxconn denied that it was recruiting Chinese workers. The company said: "We can categorically state that the assertion that we are recruiting Chinese personnel to staff our Wisconsin project is untrue. Our recruitment priority remains Wisconsin first and we continue to focus on hiring and training workers from throughout Wisconsin. We will supplement that recruitment from other U.S. locations as required." In November 2017, Wisconsin pledged $3 billion in subsidies for the Taiwan-based company if it opted to open the factory in Wisconsin. In return, Foxconn said it would create 13,000 jobs and invest $10 billion. (The state subsidy came out to $230,000 per job.) The Wall Street Journal report suggests that the company is struggling to find qualified engineers in the area, though, as the unemployment rate in the state reached a record low at 3 percent, along with a recent national low at 3.7 percent. The cybercrime wing of Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency has said data from "almost all" Pakistani banks was stolen in a recent security breach. FIA Cybercrimes Director retired Capt Mohammad Shoaib told Geo News that hackers based outside the country had breached the security systems of several local banks. "The hackers have stolen large amounts of money from people's accounts," he added. From a report: He said the FIA has written to all banks, and a meeting of the banks' heads and security managements is being called. The meeting will look into ways the security infrastructure of banks can be bolstered. "Banks are the custodians of the money people have stored in them," Shoaib said. "They are also responsible if their security features are so weak that they result in pilferage." It wasn't immediately clear when exactly the security breach took place. According to Shoaib, more than 100 cases are being investigated by the agency in connection with the breach. An anonymous reader quotes a report from Bloomberg: French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire's efforts to rally his European Union colleagues around a new tax on tech giants fell short, as countries skeptical of the plan doubled down on their opposition, and others, including Italy, said they'll push ahead with their own plans. Ministers from Denmark, Ireland and Sweden said they couldn't support the tax in its current form, casting doubt on the proposal's future, since unanimity is required to pass taxes in the EU. The plan on the table would impose a 3 percent levy on the European sales of the likes of Amazon and Facebook. A number of countries are already imposing taxes of their own, increasing the risk of fragmentation in the single market. Finance Minister Giovanni Tria said an Italian tax will kick in next year if there's no broader agreement by then. Spain and the U.K. have already announced their own levies. AT&T will alert a little more than a dozen customers within the next week or so that their service will be terminated due to copyright infringement, news outlet Axios reported, citing sources familiar with its plans. From the report: It's the first time AT&T has discontinued customer service over piracy allegations since having shaped its own piracy policies last year, which is significant given it just became one of America's major media companies. AT&T owns a content network after its purchase of Time Warner earlier this year, an entity now called WarnerMedia. Content networks are typically responsible for issuing these types of allegations to internet service providers (ISPs) for them to address with their customers. Oracle's Internet Intelligence division has confirmed today the findings of a recently published academic paper that accused China of "hijacking the vital internet backbone of western countries." From a report: The research paper was authored by researchers from the US Naval War College and Tel Aviv University and it made quite a few waves online after it was published. Researchers accused China Telecom, one of China's biggest state-owned internet service providers, of hijacking and detouring internet traffic through its normally-closed internet infrastructure. Some security experts contested the research paper's findings because it didn't come from an authoritative voice in the world of internet BGP hijacks, but also because the paper touched on many politically sensitive topics, such as China's cyber-espionage activities and how China used BGP hijacks as a way to circumvent the China-US cyber pact of 2015. But today, Doug Madory, Director of Oracle's Internet Analysis division (formerly Dyn), confirmed that China Telecom has, indeed, engaged in internet traffic "misdirection." "I don't intend to address the paper's claims around the motivations of these actions," said Madori. "However, there is truth to the assertion that China Telecom (whether intentionally or not) has misdirected internet traffic (including out of the United States) in recent years." A lump of metal in a building near Paris has long served as the global standard for the kilogram. That's about to change. From a report: Later this month, at the international General Conference on Weights and Measures, to be held in France, delegates are expected to vote to get rid of this single physical specimen and instead plump to use a fundamental measurement -- to be defined in terms of an electric current -- in order to define the mass of an object. The king of kilograms is about to be dethroned. And crucially much of the key work that has led to the toppling of the Paris kilogram has been carried out at the National Physical Laboratory where the late Bryan Kibble invented the basic concepts of the device that will replace that ingot in the Pavillon de Breteuil. The Kibble balance works by measuring the electric current that is required to produce an electromagnetic force equal to the gravitational force acting on a mass. A second stage allows the electromagnetic force to be determined in terms of a fundamental constant known as the Planck constant which will, in future, be used to define a kilogram. These machines will provide the standard for weighing objects -- and that means no more dusting of old lumps of alloy to ensure they stay pure and accurate. [...] "One key reason for doing this work is to provide international security," says Robinson. "If the Pavillon de Breteuil burned down tomorrow and the kilogram in its vaults melted, we would have no reference left for the world's metric weights system. There would be chaos. The current definition of the kilogram is the weight of that cylinder in Paris, after all." [...] Another major motivation for the replacement of le grand K is the need to be able to carry out increasingly more and more precise measurements. "Pharmaceutical companies will soon be wanting to use ingredients that will have to be measured in terms of a few millionths or even billionths of a gram," says Prior. "We need to be prepared to weigh substances with that kind of accuracy." Suggested reading: A thread on Twitter which discusses SI units and the redefinition of the kilogram. If extraterrestrial intelligence exists somewhere in our galaxy, a new MIT study proposes that laser technology on Earth could, in principle, be fashioned into something of a planetary porch light -- a beacon strong enough to attract attention from as far as 20,000 light years away. From a report: The research, which author James Clark calls a "feasibility study," appears today in The Astrophysical Journal. The findings suggest that if a high-powered 1- to 2-megawatt laser were focused through a massive 30- to 45-meter telescope and aimed out into space, the combination would produce a beam of infrared radiation strong enough to stand out from the sun's energy. Such a signal could be detectable by alien astronomers performing a cursory survey of our section of the Milky Way -- especially if those astronomers live in nearby systems, such as around Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to Earth, or TRAPPIST-1, a star about 40 light-years away that hosts seven exoplanets, three of which are potentially habitable. If the signal is spotted from either of these nearby systems, the study finds, the same megawatt laser could be used to send a brief message in the form of pulses similar to Morse code. AMD on Monday revealed the Zen 2 architecture for the family of processors that it will launch in the coming years, starting with 2019. The move is a follow-up to the competitive Zen designs that AMD launched in March 2017, and it promises two-times improvement in performance throughput. From a report: AMD hopes the Zen 2 processors will keep it ahead of or at parity with Intel, the world's biggest maker of PC processors. The earlier Zen designs enabled chips that could process 52 percent more instructions per clock cycle than the previous generation. Zen has spawned AMD's most competitive chips in a decade, including Ryzen for the desktop, Threadripper (with up to 32 cores) for gamers, Ryzen Mobile for laptops, and Epyc for servers. In the future, you can expect to see Zen 2 cores in future models of those families of chips. AMD's focus is on making central processing units (CPUs), graphics processing units (GPUs), and accelerated processing units (APUs) that put the two other units together on the same chip. Machine learning algorithms don't yet understand things the way humans do -- with sometimes disastrous consequences. Melanie Mitchell, a professor of Computer Science at Portland State University, writes: As someone who has worked in A.I. for decades, I've witnessed the failure of similar predictions of imminent human-level A.I., and I'm certain these latest forecasts will fall short as well. The challenge of creating humanlike intelligence in machines remains greatly underestimated. Today's A.I. systems sorely lack the essence of human intelligence: understanding the situations we experience, being able to grasp their meaning. The mathematician and philosopher Gian-Carlo Rota famously asked, "I wonder whether or when A.I. will ever crash the barrier of meaning." To me, this is still the most important question. The lack of humanlike understanding in machines is underscored by recent cracks that have appeared in the foundations of modern A.I. While today's programs are much more impressive than the systems we had 20 or 30 years ago, a series of research studies have shown that deep-learning systems can be unreliable in decidedly unhumanlike ways. I'll give a few examples. "The bareheaded man needed a hat" is transcribed by my phone's speech-recognition program as "The bear headed man needed a hat." Google Translate renders "I put the pig in the pen" into French as "Je mets le cochon dans le stylo" (mistranslating "pen" in the sense of a writing instrument). Programs that "read" documents and answer questions about them can easily be fooled into giving wrong answers when short, irrelevant snippets of text are appended to the document. Similarly, programs that recognize faces and objects, lauded as a major triumph of deep learning, can fail dramatically when their input is modified even in modest ways by certain types of lighting, image filtering and other alterations that do not affect humans' recognition abilities in the slightest. One recent study showed that adding small amounts of "noise" to a face image can seriously harm the performance of state-of-the-art face-recognition programs. Another study, humorously called "The Elephant in the Room," showed that inserting a small image of an out-of-place object, such as an elephant, in the corner of a living-room image strangely caused deep-learning vision programs to suddenly misclassify other objects in the image. A look at VoteWithMe and OutVote, two new political apps that are trying to use peer pressure to get people to vote. From a story: The apps are to elections what Zillow is to real estate -- services that pull public information from government records, repackage it for consumer viewing and make it available at the touch of a smartphone button. But instead of giving you a peek at house prices, VoteWithMe and OutVote let you snoop on which of your friends voted in past elections and their party affiliations -- and then prod them to go to the polls by sending them scripted messages like "You gonna vote?" "I don't want this to come off like we're shaming our friends into voting," said Naseem Makiya, the chief executive of OutVote, a start-up in Boston. But, he said, "I think a lot of people might vote just because they're frankly worried that their friends will find out if they didn't." Whom Americans vote for is private. But other information in their state voter files is public information; depending on the state, it can include details like their name, address, phone number and party affiliation and when they voted. The apps try to match the people in a smartphone's contacts to their voter files, then display some of those details. The data's increasing availability may surprise people receiving messages nudging them to vote -- or even trouble them, by exposing personal politics they might have preferred to keep to themselves. Political campaigns have for years purchased voter files from states or bought national voter databases from data brokers, but the information has otherwise had little public exposure outside of campaign use. Now any app user can easily harness such data to make inferences about, and try to influence, their contacts' voting behavior. An anonymous reader shares a report: In Idaho, Nebraska, and Utah, voters will directly decide whether their states should expand their Medicaid programs. In Wisconsin, they could elect a candidate for governor who has pledged to sharply curtail drug prices. And across the country, Democratic congressional candidates are running on platforms highlighting their support for protecting insurance coverage for those with pre-existing conditions and lowering drug prices. Health care is on the ballot across the country, with issues ranging from medical marijuana to abortion rights to insurance coverage dominating the conversation. Digitization promises to make medical care easier and more efficient. But are screens coming between doctors and patients? Here's an excerpt by Atul Gawande of The New Yorker, which talks about the deployment of Epic, a new medical software which cost Partners HealthCare a staggering $1.6 billion, panned out: On May 30, 2015, the Phase One Go-Live began. My hospital and clinics reduced the number of admissions and appointment slots for two weeks while the staff navigated the new system. For another two weeks, my department doubled the time allocated for appointments and procedures in order to accommodate our learning curve. This, I discovered, was the real reason the upgrade cost $1.6 billion. The software costs were under a hundred million dollars. The bulk of the expenses came from lost patient revenues and all the tech-support personnel and other people needed during the implementation phase. In the first five weeks, the I.T. folks logged twenty-seven thousand help-desk tickets -- three for every two users. Most were basic how-to questions; a few involved major technical glitches. Printing problems abounded. Many patient medications and instructions hadn't transferred accurately from our old system. My hospital had to hire hundreds of moonlighting residents and pharmacists to double-check the medication list for every patient while technicians worked to fix the data-transfer problem. Many of the angriest complaints, however, were due to problems rooted in what Sumit Rana, a senior vice-president at Epic, called "the Revenge of the Ancillaries." In building a given function -- say, an order form for a brain MRI -- the design choices were more political than technical: administrative staff and doctors had different views about what should be included. The doctors were used to having all the votes. But Epic had arranged meetings to try to adjudicate these differences. Now the staff had a say (and sometimes the doctors didn't even show), and they added questions that made their jobs easier but other jobs more time-consuming. Questions that doctors had routinely skipped now stopped them short, with "field required" alerts. A simple request might now involve filling out a detailed form that took away precious minutes of time with patients. Ask Slashdot: How To Fix an Outdated College Tech Curriculum? An anonymous reader writes: As a student, what's the best way to bring change to an outdated college tech curriculum? The background on this is that I have 15 years of experience in the field and a very healthy amount of industry-recognized training and certifications. I'm merely finishing up my degree to flesh out my resume -- I haven't learned much from the program that I don't already know. However, the program would have benefited me greatly 15 years ago. It's a great program, except for a biometrics class that is absolutely behind the curve. The newest publication on the syllabus is from 2009. This is simply teaching the students outdated and often wrong information. Additionally, a lot of the material seems like it was stretched to make a full semester class in biometrics in the first place -- most of the material, honestly, could be compressed to about two hours of lecture and still be delivered at a reasonable rate. What's the best way for a student in my situation to get this fixed so the school stops wasting student's time with outdated and wrong information? A new proof from the Australian science fiction writer Greg Egan and a 2011 proof anonymously posted online are now being hailed as significant advances on a puzzle mathematicians have been studying for at least 25 years. Erica Klarreich, writing for Quanta Magazine: On September 16, 2011, an anime fan posted a math question to the online bulletin board 4chan about the cult classic television series The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya . Season one of the show, which involves time travel, had originally aired in nonchronological order, and a re-broadcast and a DVD version had each further rearranged the episodes. Fans were arguing online about the best order to watch the episodes, and the 4chan poster wondered: If viewers wanted to see the series in every possible order, what is the shortest list of episodes they'd have to watch? In less than an hour, an anonymous person offered an answer -- not a complete solution, but a lower bound on the number of episodes required. The argument, which covered series with any number of episodes, showed that for the 14-episode first season of Haruhi, viewers would have to watch at least 93,884,313,611 episodes to see all possible orderings. "Please look over [the proof] for any loopholes I might have missed," the anonymous poster wrote. The proof slipped under the radar of the mathematics community for seven years -- apparently only one professional mathematician spotted it at the time, and he didn't check it carefully. But in a plot twist last month, the Australian science fiction novelist Greg Egan proved a new upper bound on the number of episodes required. Egan's discovery renewed interest in the problem and drew attention to the lower bound posted anonymously in 2011. Both proofs are now being hailed as significant advances on a puzzle mathematicians have been studying for at least 25 years. Mathematicians quickly verified Egan's upper bound, which, like the lower bound, applies to series of any length. Then Robin Houston, a mathematician at the data visualization firm Kiln, and Jay Pantone of Marquette University in Milwaukee independently verified the work of the anonymous 4chan poster. Now, Houston and Pantone, joined by Vince Vatter of the University of Florida in Gainesville, have written up the formal argument. In their paper, they list the first author as "Anonymous 4chan Poster." A strange interstellar object that invaded our solar system and passed close to Earth in the fall of 2017 could have been an artificial object, a piece of a spacecraft from an alien civilization, Harvard researchers are suggesting in a new paper [PDF]. From a report: "There is data on the orbit of this object for which there is no other explanation. So we wrote this paper suggesting this explanation," said Professor Avi Loeb, chairman of the Harvard astronomy department. "The approach I take to the subject is purely scientific and evidence-based. As far as I know, there is no other explanation. You can rule it out or in, based on additional data." He said the study had been accepted for publication in the The Astrophysical Journal Letters on Nov. 12. The paper, written by Loeb and postdoctoral researcher Shmuel Bialy, suggests the object might be a light sail, or solar sail -- a proposed method of powering spacecraft that uses a sail to catch radiation pressure and propel the spacecraft, just as a normal sail uses the wind to propel a boat. The object 'Oumuamua -- Hawaiian for "messenger from afar arriving first" -- is the first ever observed intruding in the orbits of our planets. It was picked up by telescopes in October 2017 at the University of Hawaii's Haleakala Observatory, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration said. It is on its way out of the solar system and expected to never return. Scientists say other "interstellar" objects may have sailed by in the past, undetected. The object raised eyebrows. It was monitored for signs of radio signals as weak as one-tenth of a cellphone-strength signal, but nothing was detected. Researchers said in December 2017 that it appeared to be a naturally formed, icy object covered with a dry crust. Further reading: Interstellar Visitor 'Oumuamua Is a Comet After All (June 2018), Scientists say mysterious 'Oumuamua' object could be an alien spacecraft, and Cigar-shaped interstellar object may have been an alien probe, Harvard paper claims. An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: The amount of energy required to "mine" one dollar's worth of bitcoin is more than twice that required to mine the same value of copper, gold or platinum, according to a new paper, suggesting that the virtual work that underpins bitcoin, ethereum and similar projects is more similar to real mining than anyone intended. One dollar's worth of bitcoin takes about 17 megajoules of energy to mine, according to researchers from the Oak Ridge Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio, compared with four, five and seven megajoules for copper, gold and platinum. Other cryptocurrencies also fair poorly in comparison, the researchers write in the journal Nature Sustainability, ascribing a cost-per-dollar of 7MJ for ethereum and 14MJ for the privacy focused cryptocurrency monero. But all the cryptocurrencies examined come off well compared with aluminium, which takes an astonishing 122MJ to mine one dollar's worth of ore. [...] To account for the wild fluctuations in cryptocurrency price, and therefore effort expended by miners, the researchers used a median of all the values between January 1, 2016 and June 30, 2018, and attempted to account for the geographic dispersal of bitcoin miners. "Any cryptocurrency mined in China would generate four times the amount of CO2 compared to the amount generated in Canada," they write, highlighting the importance of such country-dependent accounting.

2019-04-20T12:19:42Z

http://atzinc.org/index.php?view=search&page=167&SearchCategory=Slashdot

I figure before Labor Day, I should at least lay down some thoughts on this one, for me the one summer movie really worth caring about, and in fact my favorite film of the first eight months of the year. I'll start by acknowledging some areas that underwhelmed me, the first being that I simply wasn't as emotionally affected by it as many told me I would be. I was a total wreck during the opening moments of Up, and the conclusion of Toy Story 3, with Woody's final "So long, partner" just about destroying me. I think Inside Out is very poignant, but it never quite moved me to the core the way those earlier films did. I think part of this has to do with the fact that I wasn't all that crazy about the Bing Bong character -- in no way did I think he approached Jar-Jar Binks territory, but I also found him a little bit too zany Disney sidekick at times. And so, when we got to one of the film's big emotional moments -- "Take her to the moon for me" -- I can't say I was devastated that his character was making an exit from the narrative. But Mister Tee noted that story about Pauline Kael making objections to a movie while watching it, and then claiming "But I loved it" once it ended, and I have to say that I pretty much feel that way about Inside Out. I could nitpick about things that didn't wow me as much as they did others, but mostly, I was pretty excited to be watching a major Hollywood movie that felt like a work of real originality and ambition. I don't want to oversell the movie based on such a simple thing, but in today's environment, where it seems like every mainstream movie is part of a franchise, or at least based on pre-existing IP, it's become such a rarity to feel like you're actually discovering characters and a storyline, that I have to tip my hat to the folks at Pixar for keeping that alive in a way that connects to such a wide swath of moviegoers so successfully. And truly, I thought the movie went in some really interesting directions with its concept. One of the things Pixar has always been so skilled at is planting and payoff, and the way the film establishes certain elements (the rainbow wagon, Riley's imaginary boyfriend) which then become crucial aspects of the storyline is as deft as usual. And the way Riley's mind was imagined, from the train of thought, to the abstract sequence, showed a ton of invention, with lots of great throwaway details along the way -- I laughed at loud at the joke about facts and opinions getting mixed up. It also reaches a climax that I agree is pretty mature for a family film, arguing that you can't have moments in life that fill you with happiness unless you have others that make you sad. I'd also like to point out something that I don't think I read in any commentary on the movie. For all the talk Mad Max got about being some sort of feminist blockbuster, Inside Out is a movie primarily about the relationship between two women, whose entire journey takes place inside a young girl's mind, thus making the human mind the audience is asked to relate to a female one. This is a movie that passes the Bechdel Test with flying colors, and yet no one would ever characterize this movie as "girls-only" for a second. And it's a big hit. In the words of Cate Blanchett, "The world is round, people!" The voice cast, too, was pretty terrific -- I thought all five emotions were quite wonderfully realized by Poehler, Smith, Hader, Black, and Kaling, and think those actors comprise a pretty major contribution to the movie's zing. In the end, I don't think the movie is so sensational that I'd encourage anyone on the Italiano/Damien side of the animated tracks to venture over -- it's on par with (and similar to) a lot of movies you already know you don't like. But, as someone who has been enthusiastic about (most of) Pixar's output over the years, I agree this is the studio's best film since Toy Story 3, and pending the release of their fall effort, a strong competitor for this year's Animated Feature prizes. Inside Out is clearly the strongest Pixar work since Toy Story 3. It has a genuinely original concept, and displays great imagination within that concept: the train-of-thought, the dream-producing soundstage, and the abstract thought passage were all ingenious, and there are plenty other smaller-impact but still clever moments along the way. The film even reaches a surprisingly complex climax, making clear that sadness is as much part of a successful life as joy (a variation on the Mickey Rooney line in The Human Comedy, “Nearly all the things a fellow learns in life are sad”). This is estimable work. But despite seeing these virtues, I can’t say I loved Inside Out – not the way I loved Wall E, and much of The Incredibles. I admired the movie, but was never truly taken away by it. Part of this may come from being oversold – having been told more than once it was “Not just one of the best animated movies; one of the best MOVIES”, and also having been warned I’d be awash in tears by the end (I mildly misted up, at most – this after being reduced to a puddle by the finish of Toy Story 3). And part may simply be personal quirk: I was hoping for something more rapid-fire/comic. When the credits sequence scan of other people’s heads came along, I laughed so hard I wished (in retrospect) more of the movie had been along those lines. A bigger issue, however, was that I found Riley just too thinly sketched a character for all the focus she got. All I learned about her was that she played grade-school hockey and liked pizza; everything else about her was a blank (or generic). The filmmakers might argue that part of their point was the banality of things that bring sadness to our lives, and there’s truth to that; but, honestly: to see someone get that upset because their furniture didn’t arrive on time seemed the archetypal first-world problem, and way too small an event on which to center a film. I also thought the audacity of the subject matter was somewhat undercut by the fairly traditional structure/narrative. Once Joy and Sadness are whisked up through the tube, the film becomes a journey-back-home-through-obstacle-course movie – quite summer flick-ish, and a formula Pixar has used before, in Finding Nemo and the Toy Story’s. Yes, there was lots of invention along the way, but the rhythm of the trip was somewhat predictable. I also found that the various spots encountered on this trek, even when they were clever, reminded me a bit too much of Wreck-it Ralph in Candyland. At this point, I’ve probably slipped over too far and sound like I disliked the movie. No such thing; there were plenty of throwaway funny moments along the route (“You’ve ruined pizza!”; “Déjà vu”; “I saw someone with a lot of hair; maybe he was a bear”), and the film is engaging throughout, with a serious enough subject at its core. I like Inside Out fine. I just wish, as always, I had seen the transcendent effort so many appear to have found in it. Is there anyone who has seen the 3D version of Inside Out who would like to comment as to whether the 3D adds anything, or, if the 2D would be basically just as good? Pixar, apparently back in form. As choices go, the voice casting couldn’t be better for all five of the Emotions. Smith’s Eeyore-like Sadness serves as the perfect foil to Poehler’s ebullient Joy, while Anger’s surprisingly cute appearance and diminutive stature make Black’s scenery-chewing performance that much funnier. Hader plays Fear as a nervous jitterbug, while Kaling’s disaffected Valley-girl delivery keeps Disgust (who has the least to do) feeling like an integral part of the team. Together, these five characters are so intuitive to understand, viewers can’t help but imagine a similar dynamic operating in their own heads. To borrow a notion from Malcolm Gladwell, the pic’s “stickiness factor” is through the roof, making it one of those rare movies that transcends the medium, the way Melies visualized a moon landing or Romero invented zombies, even if relatively few go back to watch the films that spawned those ideas today. Concepts like this come around maybe once a decade, but linger for centuries, and even if others (like early-’90s TV show “Herman’s Head”) got there first, you’ve gotta hand it to Pixar for making it endure. At the risk of hyperbole, people will still be thinking in terms of these anthropomorphized Emotions long after movies as we know them are gone, in the distant future, when screens are obsolete and immersive stories are beamed directly into your frontal lobe. There’s a reason they call Pixar’s inner team the “Brain Trust”: They can be counted on not only to imagine, but to execute such original ideas as these. It’s all in your mind, Pixar-style. A ‘60s avant-garde head trip repackaged as a big slice of mainstream entertainment, Inside Out could easily have been titled Childhood’s End, as it ingeniously personifies the furiously erupting sensations associated with the onset of adolescence as a bunch of emotionally competitive cartoon characters. This latest conceptually out-there creation from Pete Docter (Monsters, Inc.; Up) serves up some abstractions and flights of deconstructive fancy that will most likely go over the heads of viewers with ages in the single digits. But this adventurous outing manages the great Pixar trick of operating on two levels — captivating fun for kids, disarming smarts for adults — that sets the studio apart. Reliably big summer grosses appear in store. Although the outward physical story of the script by Docter, Meg LeFauve and Josh Cooley traces the difficult adjustment suffered by tomboyish 11-year-old hockey player Riley when she’s uprooted by her parents from an idyllic Minnesota life to an unfriendly San Francisco, the real setting is inside the girl’s head. It’s a highly combustible place, a control room staffed by the buoyant, blue-haired Joy; red, top-blowing Anger; purplish, equivocating Fear; green, eye-rolling Disgust and squat, all-blue Sadness. The mind, as we know, is a hectic place with all sorts of things bouncing around in it, and Docter and his team have visualized it in very antiseptic, almost '60s TV Star Trek fashion, as a room centered around a control panel and lined with shelves and tubes where memories and thoughts are stored. Joy has always held sway in Riley’s heretofore happy life; but now, faced with a depressing new home, an unfamiliar school, no friends and the loss of her old hockey team, Sadness, with assists from the others, is definitely ascendant. It all flashes by very quickly, but at night control passes over to the long-term memory bank (which is hilariously seen at one point being divested of such content as piano lessons and the names of U.S. presidents), and there is a literal train of thought. If this were a different kind of film, you could easily imagine you were headed in the direction of William S. Burroughs and his friends (although if there is a sequel, it might have to deal with the effect of mind-altering substances on the brain). As it is, Joy and Sadness take a trip down the rabbit hole of Riley’s fraying psyche, which leads into very foreign and internalized territory as far as mainstream animation is concerned. Externally, Riley is slipping fast, withdrawing from her solicitous and caring parents, rebelling against her new surroundings, becoming sullen and, for the first time in her life, is genuinely depressed, all of which leads her to plot running away from home. What this looks like from the inside is a turbulent, decomposing landscape traversed by an increasingly desperate Joy and her ever-present companion Sadness, whose exile has seen Disgust, Fear and Anger completely assume control of Riley. The outcasts endure a perilous journey during which the physical representations of Riley’s idyllic childhood all come toppling down and the illusions of innocence, essentially represented by a kid-friendly elephant (with odd accoutrements from other critters), must be left behind. Although this journey through the psychic and emotional underworld could have been a lot more harrowing, hellish and Bosch-like than it is, it will still probably appear perilous enough to real kids younger than Riley, who have never suffered through a crisis before. What the film charts, then, in its highly original and disarmingly physicalized way, is the competition among the oppositional aspects of human nature. In this respect, Joy is the protagonist and heroine, but the script doesn’t pretend that any of the other emotions couldn’t take over and lead one to the wrong destination. It’s an audacious concept, and Docter’s imagination, along with those of his numerous collaborators, is adventurous and genially daft enough to put it over. And there are unexpected surges of emotion in the late-going, as Riley’s equilibrium is re-established and the primacy of the parent-child bond is reaffirmed. Amy Poehler’s energetic voicing of Joy dominates the dialogue, and quite agreeably so. All the other voice actors blend in nicely without being too eccentric — Bill Hader portrays Fear, Mindy Kaling is Disgust, Lewis Black is Anger and Phyllis Smith is the unassertive but undeniable Sadness. Among the “real” characters, Kaitlyn Dias plays Riley, Diane Lane is Mom and Kyle MacLachlan is Dad. In a cheeky move on the part of Bay Area-based Pixar, San Francisco is, for once, portrayed in a negative light (the family’s new home is located on a cramped, dingy downtown street). As usual with the company’s fare, there are plenty of blink-and-they’re-gone jokes, including the depiction of the part of the brain that creates dreams as a movie studio. In the end, Inside Out has to be one the most conceptually trippy films ever made as a PG-rated popcorn picture for the general public. Pixar Animation delivers yet another richly realised, candy-coloured universe in the reliably witty, emotionally deft Inside Out, premiering to deserved acclaim in a Cannes Out Of Competition slot. Likely to deliver commercial returns at the top end of the Pixar range, this benefits from a premise that’s relatable and ingenious in equal measure, seeking to answer that eternal question: just what is going on inside our heads? Director Pete Docter completes a winning hat-trick for his Disney-owned employer, following Monsters, Inc and Up, with co-direction this time around from storyboard artist Ronaldo Del Carmen. Pixar’s top creative team, which pitches in on the story beats of all the animation studio’s hits regardless of individual screen credits, has long been referred to by John Lasseter as his “brains trust”. The same tag might apply to the five principal characters of Inside Out: the individual emotions that govern the actions of Minnesota-born, 11-year-old Riley (voice of Kaitlyn Dias), who relocates with her parents (Diane Lane, Kyle MacLachlan) to the alien world of San Francisco, foggy home to upscale bohemia, hilly topography and broccoli pizza. The colour-coded quintet is led by Joy – a saucer-eyed, golden-skinned, light-bathed avatar voiced with infectious enthusiasm by Amy Poehler – who struggles to keep her hand on the girl’s emotional tiller by deflecting the interventions of Sadness (a tremulous Phyllis Smith), Disgust (Mindy Kaling), Anger (Lewis Black) and Fear (Bill Hader), which are rendered in the mood-appropriate tones of blue, green, purple and red. With most of the story of Inside Out playing out inside Riley’s mind – the child’s eyes providing the emotion-themed characters’ view of the outside world – the film offers ample scope for the creativity of the filmmaking team. And that opportunity is effectively exploited, as we gradually discover a highly evolved interior landscape, which includes various personality islands (initially defined by friendship, family, honesty, goofball play and Riley’s Midwest-earned enthusiasm for ice hockey), a literally depicted Train of Thought, as well as such destinations as Dream Production and Imagination Land. The story’s inciting incident is the family’s move to California: hitherto, most of Riley’s daily memories, which each take the form of a glass ball hued in the colour of its primary emotion, have been golden ones. But lately the child’s memory banks are becoming increasingly speckled with red, green, purple and blue, as Riley misses Minnesota, cries in front of her classmates, shouts at her father and flunks her hockey trial. To return her to equanimity, both Joy and Sadness, who Inside Out’s three-person writing team have ejected from Headquarters, must somehow find their way back through the diverse tangle of the brain. Pacing feels occasionally less than nimble as this mismatched-buddy road-trip comedy plays out, especially when the two exiled emotions stumble across Riley’s former imaginary friend Bing Bong (Richard Kind), a creature that’s part cat, part dolphin and mostly elephant. Very young children may find this world overly and increasingly complicated, although it’s not necessary to fully understand every pit-stop – the Subconcious zone, for example – in order to enjoy the journey.. After a run of sequels plus Scottish historical fable Brave, which unfolded in a world that seemed overly familiar from existing storytelling, Pixar fans will welcome the studio’s return to creating a wholly authored and highly original universe for the first time since 2009’s Up. Such a claim comes with one tiny caveat, however: parents of a certain age may remember a similar premise informing the Numskulls cartoon strip in British children’s comic The Beano.

2019-04-24T16:45:51Z

http://uaadb.com/viewtopic.php?f=104&t=9973

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IRG member David Ucko has a paper published in the October edition of the Conflict, Security & Development journal, entitled Militias, Tribes and Insurgents: The Challenge of Political Reintegration in Iraq. The paper provides a valuable case study of the central role played in post-conflict state-building and counterinsurgency by the reintegration of armed sub-state groups into the political process, and focuses on the evolution of the US approach in Iraq since 2003. Following its overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003, the United States was confronted with one of the most complex state-building enterprises of recent history. A central component of state building, emphasised in the literature yet given scant attention at the time of the invasion, is the process of political reintegration: the transformation of armed groups into political actors willing to participate peacefully in the political future of the country. In Iraq, political reintegration was a particularly important challenge, relating both to the armed forces of the disposed regime and to the Kurdish and Shia militias eager to play a role in the new political system. This article examines the different approaches employed by the United States toward the political reintegration of irregular armed groups, from the policy vacuum of 2003 to the informal reintegration seen during the course of the so-called “surge” in 2007 and 2008. The case study has significant implications for the importance of getting political reintegration right—and the longterm costs of getting it badly wrong. Access a free copy of the paper here. A round-up of today’s newspaper articles covering the UK’s involvement in counterterrorism and counterinsurgency operations at home and abroad. In a weekend interview with The Daily Telegraph, which was also picked up by The Times, Brigadier Ed Butler – the former head of the SAS, and former commander of British forces in Afghanistan – claimed that not only were some British Muslims fighting alongside the Taliban in Afghanistan, but that militant Islamic groups in south-east Asia were also supporting terrorist plots in the UK. Although doctrinally US and UK forces appear to have changed course, the core values of our security institutions remain the same, and at their most instinctive level they have not altered sufficiently to keep up with the changing world. In operational terms we are still facing backwards towards an era when counterinsurgency was a purely expeditionary activity, whereas in reality we need to be thinking more seriously about a 21st century adversary which does not require overseas territories, and which flourishes within our own population. Representing an overwhelming US presence, US counterinsurgency doctrine is likely to become the concept for every future coalition. So it is this doctrine, and not a yet to be written NATO or national version, which will influence our future modus operandi. FM3-24 has the appearance of novelty, it mentions the ‘global dimension’ and the possibility of ‘insurgent networks’, but in practical terms its prescriptions are only relevant to an expeditionary, territorial intervention focused on a particular state, with a clearly recognisable centre of gravity. The US doctrine is saying in effect that although the adversary which we seek to address is established globally and exerts itself in the virtual dimension, the military response will be a traditional unilateral expedition, whose capabilities will be tangible, territorial and limited to a space that is physical. As a result of our failure to fully appreciate the inter-relationship of the domestic and expeditionary elements of our counterinsurgency campaign – or, at least, our failure to operationalise this understanding – it is argued that in the UK we are dangerously neglecting the former in pursuit of the latter. In common with other European states the British government is engaged on two fronts, the overseas expeditions against the supposed sanctuaries in Afghanistan and Iraq, and a domestic campaign to stem disaffection and radicalisation in its own population. These campaigns are organisationally distinct. The overseas effort principally involves Defence, Foreign Affairs and Overseas Development, whereas the domestic plan of action principally involves the Home Affairs ministry. The problem is that in the UK the images and reverberations of the overseas campaign act against the domestic campaign. It is the continuous traffic of routine news and political debate concerning British troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, rather than old fashioned jihadi propaganda, which antagonises the vulnerable Muslim element of the British population, especially those who see their faith as the target of the war against terror. Despite the obfuscations of its government, the British de facto give primacy to the expeditionary campaign. This prioritisation is not explicit, but by deed and declaration the government pursues its expeditionary campaigns in denial and disregard of mounting evidence that the UK’s foreign policy and military profile in the war against terror contributes to the increasing radicalisation of its own Muslim population. The Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) has made available the latest in its series of Harmony Reports, entitled Bombers, Bank Accounts, and Bleedout: al-Qa`ida’s Road In and Out of Iraq. Based on analysis of primary source material in the form of captured Al-Qaeda documents (which are made available, translated, in the Harmony Project’s document database), previous reports in the series have provided an authoritative and invaluable insight into Al-Qaeda’s operations and organisation. This latest report builds upon the analysis of the Sinjar documents begun in the previous report. Saudi Arabia and Libya supplied the most fighters in the Sinjar Records. Saudi Arabia contributed the highest number of foreign fighters to al‐Qa`ida’s fight in Iraq between August 2006 and August 2007, followed by Libya. Of the 576 fighters in the Sinjar Records that listed their nationality, 41 percent (237) were of Saudi Arabian origin, and 19.2 percent (111) were Libyan. Syria, Yemen, and Algeria were the next most common countries of origin with 8 percent (46), 8.1 percent (44), and 7.1 percent (41), respectively. Moroccans accounted for 6.1 percent (36) of the fighters and Jordanians 1.9 percent (11). Nearly all of the home countries listed were in the Middle East or North Africa, although the sample also includes individuals from France (2), Great Britain (1), and Sweden (1). On a per capita basis, Libyan fighters (18.55/1 million) entered Iraq at a much higher rate than Saudi Arabia (8.84/1 million). Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Egypt were the source of most of the foreign fighters detained in Camp Bucca, Iraq. As of April 7, 2008, the United States was holding 251 foreign fighters at Camp Bucca, Iraq. Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Syria each contributed 19 percent of those fighters. Libyans comprise only 3 percent of foreign fighters held at Camp Bucca. Saudi Arabia and Libya contribute a relatively smaller percentage of the detainees held in Camp Bucca than were listed in the Sinjar Records. Foreign Fighters contributed approximately 75 Percent of suicide bombers between August 2006 and August 2007. Of the 376 fighters in the Sinjar Records that designated their “work” in Iraq, 212 (56.4 percent) were listed as suicide bombers. Assuming that this rate holds for all Jihadis listed in the Sinjar Records—and that the records are an accurate indicator of future behavior—foreign fighters accounted for approximately 75 percent of suicide bombings in Iraq between August 2006 and August 2007. Many of AQI’s foreign fighters sign suicide contracts before entering Iraq to guarantee they will commit a suicide attack, which suggests AQI must convince and compel many incoming fighters to commit suicide attacks. The contracts suggest that would‐be bombers who renege will not be allowed to fight in Iraq; some state that break the contract immediately divorce their wife. The plurality of suicide bombers entering Iraq between August 2006 and August 2007 were Saudi. However, the Sinjar Records challenge the notion that Saudi foreign fighters are more likely than fighters from other locations to become suicide bombers, as Libyan and Moroccan nationals registered as “suicide bombers” at a higher rate than their Saudi counterparts. AQI is a wounded organization. Tribal disaffection, the surge in Coalition and Iraqi Forces in 2007‐2008, and AQIs self‐destructive penchant for violence have all contributed to the organization’s decline. The number of foreign fighters entering Iraq every month has declined to between 40 and 50, and many foreign fighters are now trying to leave the country. AQI is largely concentrated in and around the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. AQI still desires and is capable of generating large‐scale asymmetric attacks, but is unable to control territory with impunity as it could two years ago. There Syrian foreign fighter network is effective, but not uniform. The amount of money fighters in the Sinjar Records paid to their Syrian Coordinators varied dramatically depending on the Syrian Coordinator. Likewise, some Syrian Coordinators worked almost exclusively with fighters from specific countries, and likely with specific Coordinators in fighters’ home countries. In other words, there is not one network in Syria for ushering fighters into Iraq, there are many. Despite the structural incongruities, AQI’s network provided a regular, predictable flow of fighters into Iraq. There is a strong risk of blowback from Iraq. Relatively small numbers of Jihadis will “bleedout” to fight elsewhere, but they will likely be very dangerous individuals. The Iraq war has increased Jihadi radicalization in the Muslim world and the number of al‐Qa`ida recruits. Foreign fighters in Iraq have also acquired a number of useful skills that can be used in future terrorist operations, including massive use of suicide tactics, organizational skills, propaganda, covert communication, and innovative improvised explosive device (IED) tactics. Some AQI fighters that have already trickled out of Iraq have bolstered violent movements in Saudi Arabia and Lebanon. This trend will likely continue. Although the threat to Europe and North America is real—French officials have tracked 24 fighters from France that have traveled to Iraq—fighters are most likely to join established Jihadi groups in areas of weak government control, such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, and Lebanon. Not all AQI fighters leaving Iraq will remain militant. AQI requires some exiting fighters to sign contracts demanding they not join other Jihadi groups. It is unclear whether the provision is designed to protect the Jihadi organizations in case the exiting fighters are under surveillance, ensure the fighters do not join AQ’s Jihadi competitors, or if these fighters have angered their AQI hosts. US withdrawal from Iraq may not end the flow of foreign fighters to Iraq. A withdrawal that leaves swaths of Iraq ungoverned may provoke a resurgence of foreign fighter travel to Iraq. If Jihadis believe Iraq remains a viable arena for Jihad, or they sense an opportunity to humiliate the US, they will travel to Iraq even after a withdrawal, much as an earlier generation of fighters arrived in Afghanistan long after the Soviet Union withdrew. Smuggling across the Syrian/Iraqi border has tribal roots. AQI capitalizes on the extensive tribal smuggling networks across the Syrian/Iraqi border, much of which has traditionally received explicit or tacit support from Syrian and Iraqi officials. The smuggling takes a number of forms, each of which requires unique expertise. Livestock smuggling is the most prevalent, and usually takes place on unmarked trails away from established border crossings. Cigarettes and other bulk items are often moved in trucks through border crossings, which requires bribing border guards. High‐value items such as electronics require larger bribes and better intelligence about border officials. Human smuggling often takes place on the same trails as livestock smuggling. There is ample evidence that AQI uses criminal smugglers, who they do not fully trust, to cross the border. AQIs effort to monopolize smuggling networks, which impeded Sunni tribal leaders from much of their traditional livelihood, was an important element convincing Iraqi tribes to cooperate with US forces. Foreign Fighters contribute large sums of money to AQI, including a majority of its Border Sector 1 funding. Financial reports show that AQI’s Border Sector 1 relied on three sources of funding: transfers from other leaders in AQI; fundraising from local Iraqis; and money brought by foreign suicide bombers. In AQI’s Border Sector 1, near Sinjar, incoming foreign fighters contributed more than 70 percent of the group’s operating budget. In that sector, 38 percent of AQI’s budget was used to purchase weapons and another 38 percent to import and sustain its personnel. Other AQI sectors likely had very different fundraising dynamics. Saudi Arabian Jihadis contribute far more money to AQI than fighters from other countries. Fighters from several nations contributed money to AQI, though Saudi Arabian nationals contributed a disproportionately large amount, totaling 46 percent of the overall funds received from foreign fighters. Furthermore, the mean contribution of Saudi fighters was $1,088, far higher than that of other nationalities. Of the 23 fighters that contributed more than $1,000, 22 were from Saudi Arabia. AQI is highly bureaucratized, which may be a sign of operational failure and internal mistrust within the organization. AQI is highly bureaucratized, forcing its agents to provide detailed accounting of inlays and expenditures, urging both incoming suicide bombers and fighters leaving Iraq to sign contracts, and auditing its various sub‐units. AQI, like al‐Qa`ida in general, is plagued by “agents” and intermediaries whose preferences diverge from those of the Jihadi “principals.” Despite the security costs of increasing its paper trail, AQI’s leaders were compelled required regular accounting reports from their underlings, likely because of graft and criminality. Jihadis headed to Iraq were recruited predominately through local networks, rather than through the Internet. As noted in the CTCs first Sinjar Report, foreign fighters who ended up in Iraq appear overwhelmingly to have joined the Jihad through local Jihadi sympathizers (33.5%) and personal social networks (29%). Only a few Jihadis appear to have met their local coordinators directly through the Internet. There is also a high likelihood that many foreign fighters traveled to Iraq in groups, and may have made the decision to travel there collectively. AQI has produced fewer, but far more skilled, fighters than the “Arab‐Afghans” did in the 1980s. The foreign fighters in Iraq share important similarities—such as country of origin and ideology—with the so‐called “Afghan Arabs” that traveled to Afghanistan to fight Soviet and Afghan‐communist forces in the 1980s. But there are important differences as well. Foreign fighters in Iraq have seen more combat than their predecessors in Afghanistan. In addition, they have shown greater ability to innovate critical tactical skills, such as IED development and suicide bombings. Although the overall military impact of the foreign fighters for the Jihad in Afghanistan was minimal, the presence of Afghan Arabs had important consequences. Most importantly, the Afghanistan experience helped radicalize thousands of Jihadist activists from all over the world. The recruitment networks attracted volunteers, while training camps radicalized foreign fighters. Similar problems may bedevil the United States and its allies who face a growing body of alumni of the Iraqi Jihad. The Afghan experience also had some negative implications for al‐Qa`ida that may apply to the current “Jihad” in Iraq. Foreign fighters in Afghanistan alienated local Afghans due to their extremist tactics and by preaching a puritanical ideology. At times, such disputes erupted into violence, especially when splinter groups of highly radicalized Afghan Arabs operated independently of their organizational leadership. AQI’s permanent Border Sector personnel are vulnerable to coercion. Family men with property dominate the Border Sector’s permanent establishment. Many are motivated by financial gain more than ideology. To the extent that they can be identified, such individuals are highly vulnerable to pressure, and may be susceptible to being turned and used as agents. AQI is increasingly linked to al‐Qa`ida’s senior leaders. AQI did not exist before the US invasion, but the organization has grown progressively more integrated with al‐Qa`ida Central, especially following Abu Mus’ab al‐Zarqawi’s death. Get the report here [PDF]. A couple of days ago I blogged in Failure of British COIN about a COIN Panel held at the CNA for the launch of Daniel Marston and Carter Malkasian’s new book Counterinsurgency in Modern Warfare. At the panel some rather critical things were said about the state of British COIN with central reference to Brig Aylwin-Foster’s 2005 critique of US COIN attitudes and capabilities Changing the Army for Counterinsurgency Operations. However, on reading the transcript of the panel it seems to me that neither Marston or Kilcullen intended wound. Personally, I agree that that there are good reasons for sober consideration of Britain’s own COIN capabilities and attitudes right now. We have not paid enough attention to keeping our own house in order and reading our own history (a point recognized by Gen Dannatt in his recent speech at the RUSI Land Warfare conference) as though COIN proficiency was something which happened by osmosis or was in the British ‘DNA’. To say that there are structural factors which have been eroding British COIN capacity for years and that the United States has overtaken us in many areas is simply to speak the truth. But I do not agree that the British Army needs to be ’embarrassed’. Aylwin-Foster’s essay was timely, accurate, and constructive–and generally received as such in the USA as a result. If the microscope is to be turned the other direction then it should be equally constructive and offer something which commanders, planners, and doctrine writers here can actually do something with. The bridge between the US and the UK should not be burnt by pique in Washington or by hubris which, it must be said, has been evinced by not a few Brits since 9/11. Christian Bleuer, over at Ghosts of Alexander, has made available the third edition of his extensive Afghanistan bibliography, which provides an invaluable resource for anyone with a research interest in Afghanistan. 3. Islam, Political Islam, Sharia, Jihad, Sects. 4. The International Community, Reconstruction, Security, Economy, Government, and Development. 5. Opium Cultivation, Drug Use and Trafficking. 6. Environment, Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources. 8. Women, Gender and Family. 9. Civil-Military Relations, Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs), Counterinsurgency and Military Issues. 10. Refugees, Internal Displacement, Migration and Diaspora Issues. 11. Macro and Micro Economics. 12. Opinion Polls, Interviews, Study Groups and Surveys. 13. Periodicals and Academic Journals.

2019-04-24T08:45:35Z

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So I had to ask myself, am I truly providing my students with Tony Wagner’s Seven Survival Skills for Teens Today? Forgetting that my prejudice is that technology must play an important part in helping students acquire these skills, I wonder whether we are not short changing our future citizens when we don’t pay attention to what is a recurrent message from the experts. Education should not be a matter of merely accumulating knowledge. We can find the answer to just about everything on a computer or, for that matter, on an iPhone. Higher order thinking skills are essential to success in our incredibly fast changing world. Whether we like or approve of this future is irrelevant. It is here and we and our students need to know how to survive and thrive in it. The other reoccurring theme that I hear is that we, as teachers, have to model these skills in order to be effective educators. Einstein would love google. Are we listening? There’s a place for tech in every classroom. “Technology is ubiquitous, touching almost every part of our lives, our communities, our homes. Yet most schools lag far behind when it comes to integrating technology into classroom learning. Many are just beginning to explore the true potential tech offers for teaching and learning. Properly used, technology will help students acquire the skills they need to survive in a complex, highly technological knowledge-based economy. Integrating technology into classroom instruction means more than teaching basic computer skills and software programs in a separate computer class. Effective tech integration must happen across the curriculum in ways that research shows deepen and enhance the learning process. In particular, it must support four key components of learning: active engagement, participation in groups, frequent interaction and feedback, and connection to real-world experts. Effective technology integration is achieved when the use of technology is routine and transparent and when technology supports curricular goals. Many people believe that technology-enabled project learning is the plus ultra of classroom instruction. Learning through projects while equipped with technology tools allows students to be intellectually challenged while providing them with a realistic snapshot of what the modern office looks like. Through projects, students acquire and refine their analysis and problem-solving skills as they work individually and in teams to find, process, and synthesize information they’ve found online. The myriad resources of the online world also provide each classroom with more interesting, diverse, and current learning materials. The Web connects students to experts in the real world and provides numerous opportunities for expressing understanding through images, sound, and text. New tech tools for visualizing and modeling, especially in the sciences, offer students ways to experiment and observe phenomenon and to view results in graphic ways that aid in understanding. And, as an added benefit, with technology tools and a project-learning approach, students are more likely to stay engaged and on task, reducing behavioral problems in the classroom. How two seasoned teachers created one of the most exciting and effective teaching units of their careers. I have spent the past 13 years involved with computer technology education. When I started, the challenge was to interest the students and teachers into coming into the computer lab at all. I came to my alma mater, Kennett High School in Conway, New Hampshire with two charges. Number one was to get the lab up and running. Number two was to facilitate the proper use of the lab. This was to have been a one year job as I was still active as a professional photographer and video maker. Even then I saw the handwriting on the wall. Imaging as I knew it was about to change. I didn’t know how long it would take but it was clear that digital photography was the wave of the future. After three years at Kennett, I took a new position as a computer teacher at Kingswood Regional Middle School in Wolfeboro, NH. While I was in a position to create my own curriculum, I found that incorporating photography and video making was not met with a lot of enthusiasm. Over the past ten years, my curriculum has evolved to include units on just about every aspect of computing including digital photography and video making. Unlike those early days in Conway when kids used to complain about spending time in the computer lab, now you can’t keep them out. Two years ago my job description changed. I became a computer technology integrator. I felt that I had accomplished a lot during the first year in my new capacity. Somehow, in spite of all the innovations and the fact that the computers in the building were being effectively used on a regular basis, I still hadn’t found an activity that I felt would be the paradigm of computer technology integration. I often hear from adults, that kids know so much about computers. My experience says otherwise. While most kids are good at text messaging, using IM, and playing games, the vast majority of my incoming middle school students do not type well, do not know how to research, and can not discern between valid and invalid information on the Internet. Most have problems saving their work correctly. They have not had much experience working in teams nor do they understand the implications of publishing their work for an audience rather than for an individual teacher. Many seem to like the idea of using a video or a still camera but don’t want to be bothered with learning how to use the tools capably. I wanted to find a project that would require the students and the teachers to raise the bar. I wanted something that would require a combination of many of those skills that the students should be honing while at the middle school. I wanted something that the result of which, they would be proud to present to the public and something that would require a deeper awareness of local and world issues.. The activity should be self-directed enough that the teachers would serve as guides not as purveyors of information. Enter Arthur Viens, team leader and social studies teacher for Team Vista at Kingswood Regional Middle School. Vista has always had a reputation for innovation but both Arthur and I had often discussed the fact that neither one of us had found that illusive ideal of computer technology integration. We agreed that video should probably be a part of it. We recognized that the subject matter would have to be something that the students would buy into and be interested in. We also wanted them to come away with an understanding of their chosen topic within the context of its importance on the world stage.. Serendipitously, we both received a flier for the C-Span Student Cam Competition. This appeared to be exactly what we were looking for. Was Arthur willing to go out on a limb and alter his curriculum in order to try something that looked like hard work but also appeared to be so promising? He was. Unfortunately, it became apparent that we would not be able do justice to this kind of unit in time to meet the contest deadline. We figured we could borrow the idea, create the curriculum and be ready to have our students participate in the C-Span contest next time around. We would have our own film festival this coming spring and show the final versions of the student videos there. We would also put them on the school website. The C-Span challenge was to create a video that each group of students felt was the most pressing issue that President Obama should address after taking office. Since we had started with this theme, we decided to stick with it. First, we showed Arthur’s four classes the winners from past C-Span student entries. We discussed what video making techniques worked or didn’t work. We looked at the use of music to enhance the message. We showed the film “Stand By Me Playing For Change” as an example of this. We talked about the depth of research involved to create a compelling and coherent film. The students committed to subjects ranging from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to abortion, gun control, animal abuse, and the war on drugs. We told the students that they would need to understand their subject thoroughly in order to persuade the president that their point of view was worth his attention. Once again we viewed more C-Span student entries keeping in mind that certain techniques were more effective than others. We also stressed the importance of works cited appearing at the end of their respective videos. Any pictures used in the videos would need proper permission or Creative Commons attribution. Flickr is very good source for images and the photographers are very easy to contact. No one had a problem granting permission to the students. Students could use C-Span Student Cam footage as well as video segments on United Streaming. We also encouraged the students to create their own footage. Music was either created in GarageBand or culled from free music sites that fit fair use guidelines. The final videos were edited in Windows Movie Maker. Sound tracks were also created in Audacity or Windows Movie Maker. Note Taking and script writing was done in Open Office. Conversion issues were pretty much solved by using the free program, Any Video Converter. As we progressed, it became obvious that YouTube also had a wealth of potentially useful programming.. The students were allowed to use YouTube on the condition that they could receive permission to use footage and/or music. Some students even contacted major recording artists to seek permission to use clips for their work. Some students did receive the go ahead. Using YouTube also presented us with some teaching moments. Not all YouTube content is following fair use guidelines. In such cases, the students had to learn to differentiate between what they could and could not use. They needed to also find out who actually held the rights to the material and proceed from there. Using YouTube actually provided the opportunity to discuss in depth the implications of fair use. Had we spoon fed the students with only pre-approved sources, these opportunities would not have presented themselves. Dealing with the issues of what constitutes good research was perhaps the most important pedagogical outcome of this undertaking. We used the www. martinlutherking.org and Institute for Historical Review to acquaint students with examples of website that might not be what they appear to be. I am convinced that most of the students now understand that they need to carefully read any information they find on the web. As obvious as it may sound, this alone is a major accomplishment on the middle school level. My next initiative will be to encourage all of our teams to include instruction based on what Arthur and I have learned from the evolution of this project. As it turned out, the actual video editing, was the easiest part. By the time they started to use Movie Maker, they had planned their video in Inspiration and Open Office, accumulated their information, video clips, music, and works cited. The students did indeed work very independently. Arthur and I were kept very busy with questions and we were able to take on the role of guides. The questions were surprisingly good and the creativity and depth of the research were both impressive. Most of the videos were very well done. Some followed our rubric more than others. The students can compare their video to the guidelines in the rubric to see where they succeeded and where they fell short. Evaluations did not stop there. Each class viewed their classmate’s work and, using the rubric, the students became film critics. Arthur and I also shared our thoughts in order to stimulate discussion. Some of the videos were of course better than others. What impressed us the most was that almost all the students were very engaged in the project. Most endeavored to truly increase their understanding of their chosen topic. Most used their creativity to give life to a multi-media presentation they could be proud of. The ability to design well-produced media may well be one of the most important skills that students can develop for future employment. In a recent article in the on line edition of “The Journal”, the results of a nationwide poll of registered voters was reported. Two out of three of the participants felt that students need to learn “computer and technology skills, critical thinking and problem solving skills, and teamwork and collaboration”. All of these were utilized in this assignment along with, reading, writing, organization, higher level thinking, and creativity. In fact, all of the thinking skills from Blooms Revised Taxonomy ranging from remembering, to understanding, to applying, to analyzing, to evaluating, to creating were used in the project. Aren’t these all abilities we should all be helping our students to cultivate? Finally, we showed “Invisible Children” a very moving film on children soldiers in Northern Uganda. This was made by three amateur video-makers who were in their early twenties. Going to Africa and documenting the atrociousness that they witnessed was life changing for all three young men. The video progresses from an obvious niavite among the film makers into a highly moving series of interviews with the victims of daily violence in the Sudanese refugee camps. Our students were impressed both by the message of the video and by the fact that the boys, not all that much older than themselves, were able to create such an important piece of work. Judging from the student’s reflections, this film was life changing for many of them. They understood the power of visual media and they understood the need for involvement in global issues. Early on in the film, one of the video makers points out that,“media defines our lives and it shapes how we view life.” We will be doing a our students a great disservice if we do not provide them with the skills to understand and use technological media in an ethical, creative and meaningful way. While watching the videos, I did pick up on two short comings. In some cases the students used acquired clips that should have been edited down. Perhaps next time we may need to consider putting a length limit on how long a clip should be. I also noticed that while the students were required to follow the MLA guidelines in creating a written works cited document, this information did not always appear as completely as it should have in the final credits in the video. There were occasional conflicts in the groups but in every case a solution was found and agreed upon. Our final take. This project was worth the five weeks, off and on, that we devoted to it. The bar was raised and the students did themselves proud. It was hard work but this is what teaching and learning are all about. All of us, the students included, more than once lost track of time. That was because everyone was so engaged. We provided the tools and the time. The students took over from there. The ability to decipher and evaluate the vast amount of information on the Internet is crucial for success in the 21st Century. Last but not least, they now know how to save. Equally important, video making, in this case, provided a hands-on, real world opportunity for the students to continue their mastery of social studies, language arts, and computer GLEs. Many of the skills stressed in those areas of study are needed in order to successfully complete a multimedia project such as this one. No less important is the mastery of visual literacy skills. As the film makers pointed out in “Invisible Children”, visual media is where we get much if not most of our information in the modern world. It also influences the way we think. In order to become informed citizens in the twenty first century students will need to know how to interpret and use visual media. The implementation of a combination of skills necessary to reach a desired goal or to create a desired product is as effective in increasing student abilities as teaching to the test. Probably more. It is certainly more real world and much more interesting. In the future, we will take advantage of ever-evolving on line opportunities for communication with other students around the world and as well as experts in many different fields. “I would like to close with a quote from Dr. Tim Tyson at Mabry Middle School in Marietta, Georgia.

2019-04-19T18:50:20Z

http://filmrd.edublogs.org/tag/digital-story-telling/page/26/

Appeal from the District Court, Dodge County, Ancy Morse, J. Robert H. Peahl, Faribault, for appellant (C8-85-282), respondent (C1-85-754). David J. Rice, Rochester, for respondent. Considered and decided by PARKER, P.J., and WOZNIAK and HUSPENI, JJ., with oral argument waived. Appellants Michael N. Andersen and Hazel E. Andersen appeal from a judgment entered November 6, 1984, which the trial court attempted to amend on February 15, 1985, after this appeal was filed. The parties dispute the court's method of partitioning a jointly-owned farming operation and raise other issues such as unjust enrichment, tortious interference with contract relations, and general abuse of discretion. We consolidated the appeals, and now affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for entry of judgment partitioning the property. Hazel, Norman and Michael Andersen are joint owners of a farming operation near Rochester, Minnesota. This appeal follows a lawsuit resulting from the breakdown of that family farming operation. The problem among the parties brewed for a number of years and culminated when Norman moved from the farm in October 1980. Hostility among the parties is very evident. For clarity, the parties will be referred to by first names. Appellant Michael is the son of Norman and Hazel who were divorced in 1983. Hazel is also appealing based on a judgment entered against her. Michael, Norman and Hazel purchased the farm in 1966. They intended that each of them would have an undivided one-third interest. The 270-acre farm cost $26,500 and was financed by a Federal Land Bank mortgage. There was conflicting testimony whether Michael paid his share of the mortgage and what constituted payments. Michael did not receive any of the farm income from 1966 to 1977. In 1975, Hazel and Norman sold their home and moved in with Michael on farm property he owned individually. They lived with him for about two years during construction of a new home on the jointly-owned farm. This home was to be used as Norman and Hazel's homestead. The parties dispute whether Michael paid a proportionate share of construction costs. Norman testified he paid for most of the construction with proceeds from the sale of another home, a $10,000 inheritance from his mother, and current income. Hazel and Norman entered into a contract for deed in 1977 selling an additional one-third undivided interest to Michael. As a result, Michael now owns an undivided two-thirds interest, subject to the contract payments. Since Hazel and Norman were subsequently divorced, they now each own an undivided one-sixth interest, and their interest as vendors under the Contract for Deed with Michael. There is no evidence of any agreement among the parties relating to rent, expenses, mortgage, or capital improvements. Norman left the farm in 1980. Michael claimed that when Norman left the heating system was defective, and he spent $3,000 to replace it. In addition, he claimed to have spent $7,500 on landscaping, septic system repair, and other miscellaneous improvements. Norman testified that the house needed only routine maintenance when he left and that he gave Michael money to repair the heating system. Michael says his parents are responsible for Federal Land Bank payments and all real estate taxes. Norman claims that Michael was to pay his proportionate share of the expenses and taxes. All parties shared equally in farm income between 1977 and 1980, but Michael claims the farm has been operating at a loss since then. In 1982, Michael built a grain storage shed on the jointly-owned farm. He testified that economic conditions dictated he should store, rather than sell, the 1982 harvest. Norman told Michael he did not agree with the construction of the storage facility. Nevertheless, construction began on October 11, 1982 and stopped the next day after Norman talked to the excavating contractor. Excavation resumed on October 16. According to Norman, the shed was completed November 2, 1982. Michael claims it was not complete until November 15, 1982. Michael argues that Norman's interference resulted in a $3,269 loss. Norman denies his interference caused any damage or delays, but that delays were usual and normal harvesting problems. The parties also contradicted one another's testimony regarding Norman's counterclaim against Michael for conversion of personal property. Hazel and Michael assert gift, while Norman denies it. Norman's cross-claim against Hazel concerns a 1983 contract for deed check from Michael payable to Hazel or Norman. Hazel cashed the check and put the proceeds in her savings account. She did not pay Norman one-half the sum as provided for in the divorce decree. She now appeals from the $3,171.70 judgment against her. A bifurcated trial was held in June 1984. The first part determined that the value of the jointly-owned farm was $245,000 and that an undivided one-sixth interest is valued at $40,416. The parties waived a jury trial and the court tried the remaining issues June 13-18, 1984. The court held: (1) that neither party proved entitlement to reimbursement from any other party; (2) Norman was not responsible for any improvements after October 4, 1980, including the storage shed; (3) the 1982 corn harvest was not delayed by Norman's actions in halting site preparation for the shed and construction was completed without his consent; (4) there was no specific agreement covering rent on the farm property; (5) the 1977 contract for deed obligates Michael to pay Norman and Hazel $3,500 per year, plus seven percent interest; (6) the divorce decree between Hazel and Norman requires the contract for deed payment to be split equally between them; (7) that Hazel owes Norman one-half the 1983 payment plus interest; (8) that the farm cannot be physically partitioned without detriment to each party. The court also held that the items Norman claims Michael converted were either gifts to him or farm property acquired with farm proceeds. Therefore, Michael did not convert them to his own use and is not liable to Norman for damages. The court awarded Norman $40,416 for his one-sixth interest in the farm and $2,970.17 for his share of the 1984 contract for deed payment. On December 13, 1984, the court heard post-trial motions. On February 4, 1985, while the motions were still under advisement, Michael filed a notice of appeal from the November 6, 1984 judgment. On February 15, 1985, the trial court issued amended findings, conclusions of law, order for judgment and judgment and decree which reduced Norman's award to $2,970.17 and ordered appraisal of the jointly-owned farm. The court denied the motion for a new trial and all other motions. Hazel appealed from the amended judgment on April 22, 1985. On May 2, 1985 Michael appealed from the amended judgment, and on June 26, 1985 the Court of Appeals denied his motion to consolidate the two appeals. The appeals court dismissed the May 2 appeal, and consolidated Hazel's appeal with Michael's February 4 appeal. 1. Did the trial court err in denying Michael's claim for contribution from Norman for expenses and improvements to jointly-owned property? 2. Did the trial court err in denying Michael's claim for interference with business relations? 3. Can the trial court issue a judgment ordering both money damages for a partial interest in realty and a partition by sale? 4. Is the post-appeal order of the trial court of any effect? 5. Is the judgment against Hazel Andersen supported by the evidence? 6. Does Hazel Andersen properly appeal from the motion in limine and partition of the farm? This dispute was tried by the court since the parties waived their right to a jury trial. "On review by an appellate court, 'a finding of the trial court is not to be disturbed unless clearly erroneous, either upon a clear demonstration that it is without substantial evidentiary support or that it was induced by an erroneous view of the law.' " Cleys v. Cleys, 363 N.W.2d 65, 69 (Minn.Ct.App. 1985) (citations omitted). 1. Michael contends the court erred when it denied his claim for contribution from Norman for expenses and improvements to the jointly-owned property. He says the expenses were incurred after October 4, 1980, the date Norman left, for such items as landscaping, installation of a septic system, heating, and a grain storage facility. Norman claims that he is not required to share in the payment because he did not authorize the improvements. Contribution is an equitable remedy and subject to equitable considerations. Hoverson v. Hoverson, 216 Minn. 228, 235, 12 N.W.2d 501, 505 (1943). There, a co-tenant farm manager was requesting contribution from another co-tenant. The supreme court held that, since plaintiff was in possession and managing the farm, profits must first be applied to improvements and taxes. Id. at 235, 12 N.W.2d at 505. Furthermore, contribution does not mature until the party owing a liability has paid for more than his fair share. Id. at 236, 12 N.W.2d at 506. In considering a claim for contribution the court should balance the benefits flowing to the party who occupied the property and received the rents and profits against the burden of paying the necessary taxes. Cleys, 363 N.W.2d at 71. Clearly, Michael, as two-thirds owner of the farm, receives the greater benefit and should carry a greater burden than Norman, a one-sixth owner. In addition, the general rule is that a tenant in common, absent agreement or understanding with a co-tenant, may not make improvements upon common property at the expense of his co-tenant so as to enable him to recover any portion of the cost or value of the improvements. Hoverson, 216 Minn. at 236, 12 N.W.2d at 506. When the rule is applied to this situation, it is clear that Michael is not entitled to recover. There is no evidence of any agreement between Norman and Michael. In fact, Michael was aware that Norman disapproved of his building plans. All of the items for which appellant claims reimbursement can be classified as improvements and are governed by this rule. The facts support the trial court's findings that the improvements were done without Norman's approval or consent. Thus, the trial court's failure to award contribution was not clearly erroneous and is supported by the evidence. 2. Michael's next contention is that the trial court erred in denying his claims for tortious interference with contract. The trial court found that Norman's interference with construction of the grain storage facility did not unduly delay the grain harvest and that he was justified in his involvement. Although there is no question that Norman disagreed with the location of the storage shed, there was conflicting testimony as to when the shed was complete and the reason for the delay. The trial court found that the third parties involved independently decided not to finish the work. The claim for wrongful interference of contract is a tort action. See Royal Realty Co. v. Levin, 244 Minn. 288, 69 N.W.2d 667 (1955). The elements of this tort are: (1) existence of a contract; (2) the alleged wrongdoer's knowledge of the contract; (3) intentional procurement of its breach; (4) without justification; and (5) damages. Furley Sales and Associates, Inc. v. North American Automotive Warehouse, Inc., 325 N.W.2d 20, 25 (Minn. 1982). The dispute here is focused on elements four and five. The applicable standard for justification is found in Potthoff v. Jefferson Lines, Inc., 363 N.W.2d 771 (Minn.Ct.App. 1985), as "reasonable conduct under all the circumstances of the case." Id., 363 N.W.2d at 776. Interference is not justified when it is done for the indirect purpose of injuring the plaintiff or benefitting the defendant, and the defendant has the burden of proving sufficient justification. Furley, 325 N.W.2d at 25. The facts could reasonably lead to the conclusion that Norman was justified in discussing the shed with the contractors. The parties were already considering a partition, and Norman wanted a physical division awarding him the area around the old homesite, the site of the new storage shed. The court's findings support his contention that he was justified in his action. The trial court further held that the damages Michael claims did not directly result from Norman's actions. The record shows that poor weather was largely responsible for the delay in the corn harvest. Therefore, there is sufficient evidentiary support for the court's conclusion that Norman was justified in the actions he took to stop construction of the storage shed and was not responsible for the harvesting delay. 3. Michael claims the trial court erred by ordering both money damages and a partition and sale for partial interest in realty. The November 6, 1984 judgment awards Norman $43,386.17; $40,416 for his interest in the property and $2,970.17 for his share of the 1984 contract for deed payment. In addition, the court noted in its findings that the sale to Michael would be an alternative to a partition and sale pursuant to Minn.Stat. § 558 (1984). Although this procedure is not found in Minn.Stat. § 558, the parties initially agreed to set the value of the farm and permit Michael to purchase Norman's one-sixth share. It is appropriate for a trial court to permit alternative methods in fashioning a remedy. Although the statutory procedure must be followed, once the court has taken jurisdiction of the case it may exercise its general equitable powers to effect the most advantageous plan which the particular nature of the case admits. Carlson v. Olson, 256 N.W.2d 249, 255 (Minn. 1977). In light of this decision and the parties' agreement, the court did not err in permitting alternative solutions. However, the court erred in entering judgment against Michael for the amount of Norman's share. The trial court correctly attempted to correct this error in an amended judgment on February 15, 1985, after the appeal to this court had been filed. Thus, the trial court did not err in fashioning the alternative solution, but erred in entering a money judgment against Michael for Norman's one-sixth share. 4. The next issue is whether the trial court's February 15, 1985 amended judgment has any effect since the appeal was filed on February 4, 1984. The general rule is that an appeal, when perfected, divests the trial court of jurisdiction. This appeal was perfected prior to the February 15, 1985 amended judgment. We have held that a post-appeal order of the trial court is null and void because the trial court lost its jurisdiction to this court once appellant filed a notice of appeal. Evans v. Blesi, 345 N.W.2d 775 (Minn.Ct.App. 1984), pet. for rev. denied (Minn. June 12, 1984). Thus, the February 15, 1985 amended judgment has no effect since jurisdiction shifted to this court at the time of filing of the notice of appeal. Id., 345 N.W.2d at 780. Although the amended judgment is of no effect, the trial court was in a position to re-examine the judgment and properly rectified the error. Recognizing this, we order that the judgment against Michael be reduced from $43,386.17 to $2,970.17 and the property be partitioned, as the trial court attempted to do in its amended judgment. 5 and 6. Hazel claims to appeal from the February 15, 1985 amended judgment. If that is the case, her appeal is not proper because jurisdiction had already shifted to this court. In addition, her brief challenges: (1) the original judgment in favor of Norman; (2) the grant of a motion in limine prior to the 1984 trial; and (3) the property valuation established by the November 6, 1984 judgment. Her notice of appeal on these issues was filed on April 22, 1985. Pursuant to Minn.R.Civ.App.P. 104.01, "An appeal may be taken from a judgment within 90 days after its entry * * *." Hazel's appeal from the November 6, 1984 judgment is not timely and is without merit. However, considering the record, there is no doubt that she owes Norman one-half of the 1983 contract for deed payment. The trial court's decision is affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for entry of judgment consistent with this opinion.

2019-04-26T04:47:51Z

https://casetext.com/case/andersen-v-andersen-9

Seatac Airport plans a big new international arrivals hall. Real Change on the low income fare. Metro multilingual information has some translation errors. More bike storage on Amtrak Cascades. Capitol Hill Seattle asks mayoral candidates insightful questions about urbanism. Asking homeowners to help prevent mudslides on the tracks. Summary of the Lynnwood Link EIS. Mercer Island Station comments are obsessed with parking. A systematic way to evaluate TOD. TriMet thinks ORCA is too primitive for their next smart card. Just how empty are all those legally required parking spaces? Buying transit tickets by phone set to take off. Seattle not the only city to be getting a new bikeshare program. The dumb protectionist rule that killed Las Vegas-Los Angeles HSR. The arrivals hall project looks plain awkward. Arrive at S gates go up elevators/escalators, walk a relatively long distance on a walkway to get to the immigration counter. I assume you need to do your bags first? or do the bags flow over to the the new hall and THEN are checked through if you’re connecting? Japan does this. Its not uncommon to have two airport stops on a train line when the terminals are sufficiently far apart. Of course, Link has no other purpose than as a shuttle to the airport and it can terminate there. It’s not like it’s going to Des Moines or anything. And don’t imagine a spur. I don’t know what TriMet expects from ORCA. What exactly does a non-primitive card look like if ORCA is “primitive”? Tell that to Trimet, still with their (primitive?) paper tickets and (primitive?) physical ink validation. ORCA isn’t branded with MasterCard, Visa, AmericanExpress, etc. That makes it old school. Nevertheless, I think agencies have to develop some sort of in-house card, or share other agencies’ card system, in order to have a robust electronic payment system accessible to all. Problems with ORCA for expansion that Tri-Met hasn’t mentioned are the high cost of the card, the lack of products that cover all of Tri-Met’s pass categories, and the difficulty negotiating a revenue-sharing formula when you throw in a whole new set of pass cost levels. It hardly seems worth the effort to give up a chunk of fare revenue from Seattle tourists and commuters. In an open-loop payment system, a prepaid transit card is just a prepaid debit card (possibly restricted to reject non-transit transactions), similar to those already in widespread use as gift/prepaid cards, issued by Visa/Mastercard. How are transfers tracked in a system like that? Wouldn’t restrictions on the storage of credit card numbers make that more difficult? Our transit agencies need to avoid tying themselves to bank debit or credit card schemes. These schemes are expensive (up to 3% of revenue) and the newer schemes provide unnecessary fees aimed at consumers (e.g. CTA’s Ventra card). The future bodes for direct payment systems that don’t require the old school credit card networks. Companies like Dwolla with its innovative payment gateway and pricing could be the future. 3% sounds like a bargain to me. What Ventra fees, specifically, do you take issue with? Al: The important part is not that we use Visa or Mastercard, just that you’re paying with money as opposed to “magic transit points” (even if those points have a 1-1 correspondence with USD). I personally think that phone-based NFC is the most compelling option. You can set up your phone to pay using your choice of payment method; when you pay, you’re given a cryptographically-secure “virtual transfer”. The next time you board, you “pay” by using that transfer, and so long as it’s still valid, you’re not charged any money. For people who can’t afford a phone, or choose not to have one, we can continue using existing ORCA cards. As I understand it, the technologies are backwards-compatible. Once you factor in the fixed fee per transaction charged for credit card processing, it would extract more than 10% of transit revenue. We need to stop debating credit cards as the backbone of a cashless payment system. We’ll ignore for a moment that a lot of people use the credit cards to put money on their ORCA cards anyway. I think that people are only concentrating on the money transfer part of the equation, and forgetting about fare product structures: things like transfer rules, combination of fares passes with e-purse, zonal fares, … I think that the cash management side of the problem is realtively easy, the cost is elsewhere. I personally like the fact that the card is charged with transit coupons rather than cash, although I understand that others may not. It’s easier for me to give one to someone else and be reasonably sure that it will be used appropriately. It makes them less attractive targets to theft. I hate the idea of involving the CC companies for clearing unless something can be done about their high per transaction fees. Using a CC to put 25 bucks on a card is about a 4% hit. To pay a $2.00 fare it’s closer to 15%. 3% is not a bargain. Especially when technology can facilitate frictionless transfers. The only reason the “market rate” is 3% is because of the monopoly that banks have developed in cashless transfers. The company I mentioned before charges only 25 cents for transactions over $10.00. So you send $10,000,000 to someone using that service, the fee is 25 cents. Has it occurred to anybody that paying by debit/credit card can be even slower than cash? It would be nice if my ORCA card worked on things other than public transit. Like snack vending machines. With my $1.25 monthly pass, I would clean house at vending machines! How is dumping debris over the cliff not illegal? If there isn’t already a law requiring these homeowners to do a minimum to keep mud slides from happening, can we get something moving to save some low-hanging money? Likewise, how was digging into the side of a cliff to build a railroad track in the first place legal? I’m not sure of the exact dates that the Seattle to Everett portion of the GN line was built, but I think it was around 1890. In those days there wasn’t oversight or control of railway construction. If it worked–great, if not–try again. It also was perfectly legal in 1890 to dump the water from your swimming pool over the cliff and spill raw sewage into the local lakes and streams. But we’ve realized the foolishness of those acts and passed laws to regulate or prevent them. If homeowners are being negligent or irresponsible and their actions are causing mudslides and damage to BNSF/WSDOT property they had better change their ways or purchase really large liability insurance packages to cover the damage they are causing. I wonder how carefully everyone would start maintaining their property if BNSF or WSDOT through a few multi-million dollar lawsuits at the homeowners. It sure wouldn’t be popular, but it would be effective. I’m pretty sure most of the Great Northern between Everett and Seattle was built on fill at the base of the slope. I don’t think they cut into the slopes much, if at all. The next fare restructure *is* the ideal time to institute a low-income fare stabilization program, as it allows the other fares to go up more, and eases the transition out of zone-based and time-based fares. The low-income fare doesn’t need a fare reduction. It can just stand in place while other fares go up, so it wouldn’t be a hit on fare revenue, or be subsidized by other riders. The county council has moved the timeline for instituting the restructure back by as much as a year, which removes it from becoming a campaign issue for those standing for election or re-election this fall. Still, that just digs the hole deeper, widening the cut to higher than 17%, and wipes out this year’s additional projected sales tax revenue. I’ve been told that Metro wants to implement an electronic payment discount as part of the restructure, and that instituting the low-income fare could be tied to implementation of that across-the-board ORCA incentivization. I’ve also heard that the Kitsap model is what Metro is looking at implementing, but I haven’t heard specifically that it would be electronic-payment only, like Kitsap’s is. Election season is the perfect time to get some county councilmembers to promise that the low-income fare be electronic-only. Guess the rest of the city can pound sand when it comes to his energies. Interesting. So now it’s 1st or nothing with 4th/5th eliminated from consideration. They’re trying to stack the deck for mixed-traffic operation even though exclusive lanes are obviously necessary. Vague comments like “Most believe that mixed traffic operation will be necessary”. No funding is needed for a low income fare program. All anyone needs to do is what many Real Change vendors do now – plop ¢4 in the fare box, say “Sorry, thats all I got” and walk on anyway. Or pay nothing at all. Ask for a transfer and the driver is required to give it. We already have a low/no fare program. Its called zero consequences for fare evaders. Except for the humiliation of asking for it, or never knowing which drivers are going to give you a longer interrogation than others. Some drivers do stop the bus until you pay or get off or the police come. All this is fine for stereotypical tough guys but that’s only a small fraction of the poor, and it’s not fair to leave everybody else out with a blithe “Metro is free if you just don’t pay a fare”. Who is left out? Policy is “no fare disputes” period. Drivers are to issue transfers on request even if no payment is given. And humiliation? Most fare evaders are brazen. I seriously often see Real Change vendors right off if a day if sales refuse to pay, and the ones who drop pennies in the fare box act as if they paid full fare. And the gold paper flash passes are the biggest fraud off all second only to handed off, saved or altered transfers. There is no need to waste a single dime on a low income fare distribution program. We already have one. What exactly are you trying to accomplish here? Or is there no point, you’re just frustrated and this is your place to throw a tantrum? If the later, can you please do it elsewhere, the adults are talking here. We do need a Low Income option and it does need to be on ORCA. Who’s left out are meek women who don’t like confrontations, and law-abiding people who left their ORCA card at home or have run out of cash. They’re the ones who are not getting on the bus or agonizing over it. It’s not just all “brazen Real Change people”, and calling it that is like the people who want to eliminate food stamps and Medicaid because they can’t stand the thought that there may be one person somewhere who’s scamming the system, never mind that you’d dump off the majority of people who are honest. There’s also the issue of POP services like Link and (ostensibly) RR — get caught without valid POP on one of those and you’re not going to get a “no fare disputes” policy from the enforcer. We should be looking to expand pre-payment, and a proper low-income system is probably necessary to do that. There’s no tantrum here just a statement of fact. Arguing the need to have an expensive and complex low income fare program is arguing that liw income people dont ride at reduced fare or no fare at all right now. They do – daily and without consequence. There is no need for a wasteful program that will change nothing, only add cost to an already strapped system. Martin Duke made comparable arguments against the concept of system wide fare enforcement when elimination of the RFA was being considered. It would ultimately cost as much or more than it would save. What exactly is broken about the current system that allows free rides on request (or without)? How much would it cost to simply fix that – if it needs fixing at all? Wouldnt it be simpler and cheaper to just drop the illusion of fare evasion being illegal? Do like the hospitals do and post a sign on all buses stating that nobody will be denied transportation based on ability to pay? Its more honest, would remove the humiliation factor, keep drivers in line and be infinitely less expensive. No new bureacracy – just signs. I think the word you’re looking for is “donation”. @Mike Orr: Did you mean “meek people”, or are you actually claiming only women are meek? 12 comments and not one complaint about MI. I’m impressed. Call me when Man Bites Dog. I was amused by it. It shows how much Islanders are more driving-oriented than Bellevuites. But there’s still hope for a frequent circulator bus that at least some of them would use, no matter how much they can’t imagine it now. It’s also good to see Mercer Island offering to pay for the additional parking itself rather than insisting ST do it. Maybe if they put in a street car on MI or had the circulator bus have extra plush seats and wifi more people on the island would use it… I doubt it though. It’s not terribly surprising that Mercer Islanders are less than thrilled about Link. legal street parking near the proposed Link station is all but non-existant, and the P&R is severely undersized. Outside of downtown Mercer Island, the current transit provision is almost worthless, and Metro is talking about eliminating even that. On top of that, the State wants to charge to get to the closest usable P&R in Eastgate [South Bellevue is roughly as overcrowded as MI] so that they can pay for the 520 bridge. Oh and for destinations in downtown Bellevue Link is likely to be slower than the 550 because Bellevue doesn’t seem to want it. Really the only Islanders who will be better off with Link are Microsofties within walking distance of the station. Given all this, I don’t think it’s entirely unreasonable for them to take the somewhat parochial view that it’s an awful lot of pain for not much gain. I certainly sympathize with their concern that a new parking garage will get built and people will come from Bellevue to park there in order to catch a bus. If parking for residents only helps get Islanders out of their cars and on the train and reduces congestion/emissions, I’d consider that a win. People don’t come from Bellevue to Mercer Island to catch a bus. It’s just as easy to park in South Bellevue, and the P&R is bigger. People come from Kirkland, Bothell, North Bend, and points further away. Of course, let us remember that the MI park and ride is undersized because that is the way MI wanted it…. @ap: Actually S. Bellevue fills up about the same time as, or perhaps slightly before MI. Eastgate is much easier for parking, but has hardly any tunnel buses now. Fine if your destination is the ID, but the crawl to fourth, and traffic on fourth probably adds 5 minutes to the ride to Westlake. That said, I suspect you are right about where non Islanders are coming from. @Paul: you are of course correct. I thought that the city council had made a mistake then, but, in all fairness, an Eastgate sized P&R would have been out of character in the town center as it was then. Of course, knowing what private developments have been approved since, the decision seems insane. @William: You’re probably correct. I had forgotten that they built a garage on Mercer Island. My frame of reference is a decade old, when I bicycled past both park and rides every morning during commuting hours. So that’s who’s behind the new gosh-awful Sound Transit maps. Is that a LRT vehicle I see in that picture of the Sea-Tac arrivals? The track is inches away. The station is the better part of a mile. Not sure I understand your point–the proposed terminal expansion will be quite close to the southward extension of Link, as it’s located to the west of the existing A concourse (between there and 99, which is not much more than 100m). Now the station–yeah, that’s a different story. It’s a good 3/4 mile if you walk through the terminal; only about 0.4 miles if you could walk along 99, which of course you can’t on that side. Selfishly as I would use that new facility fairly frequently I’d love a second station there…since they can’t fix the original f up of the current station’s location. never mind, d.p.–I see what you’re saying re the location of the existing station as opposed to how close the track will actually be to the terminal at that location. I agree completely. For the most part, international arrivals means people carrying large quantities of luggage. Most of these are probably not Link customers anyway. The airport end isn’t so bad, since you can at least take a SmartCart right up to the station. It’s the lack of luggage racks on the train itself, plus the problem of what to do at the other end of the trip. Even if you have someone picking you up, it is usually easier for the driver to simply go to the airport than to deal with all the traffic getting in and out of downtown (the problem of driver and passenger finding each other tends to be more difficult downtown as well). Two hours ago, ASDF, I got off a jam-packed shuttle from the N satellite to the main terminal. Of the 100+ people on that shuttle, I was the only one to head toward Link. Ease and station location matter. You can deny this all you want, but the near-empty trains running to and fro every ten minutes prove you wrong. I have a gasoline related question. That’s sort of transit related, right? Before about the 1970’s, you could pump your gas first, then pay. Even with cash. Just pick up the nozzle, fill your car, then go in and pay. But sometime around the 70’s, gas stations stopped allowing that. They all became prepay. I understand there were two gas shortages in the 70’s, but adjusted for inflation, gas prices pre-70’s were no higher than they are now, so it can’t be that higher gas prices causes more drive-offs, because the prices are the same as in the 1950’s. So my question is, is it just that people are less honest today than in the 50’s, or is there some other reason gas is now pre-pay? Most likely the technology to accomplish prepay the pump dropped to a low enough price to be less than the cost of people leaving without paying. Because most people pay with a credit card or debit card, with a reader at the pump – just as easy to collect the data at the front end of the transaction instead of the backend, and there is no chance of theft at all this way. Those readers didn’t exist years ago. Full service was a lot more common in those days. Even if you pumped yourself, there was someone out there to make sure you paid. Also while gas prices aren’t really all that much higher in real terms than in 1970 (especially pre-tax prices), they were a lot more expensive (in real terms) in 1979 than in 1970, and it’s around then that the switch to self pump/pre pay started. That’s the real difference. Self-serve pretty much demands pre-pay. When I visit Oregon, they don’t need pre-payment. Another factor is that the gasoline business has changed a lot over the years. Back in the 50s, the folks at the gas station probably knew most of their customers personally. Nowadays, stations serve more customers with more pumps and higher volumes, but probably with lower margins. Back then, the station owner could give you grief next time you came in if you drove off without paying. Nowadays, they’d need to review the recording on the DVR and track you down from your license plate. I’ve got a question for y’all. Tonight on the northbound 574 at 512 P&R, I got carded. The driver noticed I was using a youth ORCA card, and asked me to show ID because I do look over 18 (I just turned 18 in May). I explained that I don’t have ID, and I don’t need it because both it’s not in the Sound Transit schedule book that I need ID ready to pay youth fare, and because I have a valid youth ORCA card, which required age-providing identification to obtain. She says those aren’t valid, because I could have obtained the card from a youth to pay a lesser fare, and they have had the ID for youth fare requirement for 8 years. She let me go, and I almost missed my transfer in Federal Way. My question is does Sound Transit require ID for cash payment, ORCA card, both, or neither? She insisted both, but that would kind of eliminate a benefit of an ORCA card. I will not carry around my passport for this; it’s ridiculous. Even if some people do transfer youth cards, it’s not like it’s going to hurt the agency. It punishes youth by potentially denying them a ride, and it punishes everyone by being late. When she said that I could have obtained the ORCA card from a youth, I thought she was joking! I could have done the same with non-photo ID (or even photo ID sometimes). Am I supposed to prove beyond the shadow of a doubt that I am under 19 RIGHT THERE, while the bus is running late? *let me go, as in “I’ll let you ride this once, but have ID ready next time.” I also didn’t have any cash in my pocket. If Sound Transit wanted to be able to verify ORCA cards were being used by their proper owners they should have a put picture on the ORCA card. It’s an obvious solution, isn’t it? My advice: next time a bus driver harasses you, ask her to either stop or call the police (or transit police, whatever.) I’m sure she’ll refuse to make a scene because she can’t take that risk. You are not personally responsible for Sound Transit’s lack of planning with their ORCA cards. I can’t tell her to call the police, it’s not an emergency. That would make me look stupid. What really miffs me is that she said that this policy has been in place for 8 years, which is quite specific. Except I don’t see that anywhere in the schedule book or website of Sound Transit (which governs the 574) nor Pierce Transit (which the driver of the 574 actually works for), so if she’s right, this is a major miscommunication on the agency(s) part. I do notice that Pierce Transit drivers tend to be harsh with youth trying to use cash without ID. I mean, come on, the economy is tough now, but do adults using youth fare, with or without an ORCA card, cause ANY measurable burden on the agency? What I meant by “call the police” was “put up or shut up.” Often times people will cause a stink about something but they’re not willing to actually take any action. If she refuses to call the transit police, then what is she willing to do? If she refuses to let you board, you should definitely file a complaint with Sound Transit. Good luck with that…even though I’d love to see it. I am wondering why I should continue to use mass transit anymore. Both on my way to work last night and on my way home this morning I had to deal with buses that were very late. I got to work late and git home half an hourr later than normal. I mean why? Drivers do not care. If they are late it is no big deal to them. They could not even start the routes and would not even get in trouble. I have seen them sit around at the first stop sometimes 15-20 after they were supposed to start. The rules are never enforced. I pay for my fare always. However, if you do not pay it is ok the driver will not do anything. Stealing in encouraged by Metro and Sound transit. The facebook page telling what the daily transfer is so criminals can use reuse old ones is still in effect. These criminals are getting away with it and no one cares. Also while driving the code of conduct is not enforced. People blast music without headphones. If you ask them politely to please use headphones or to turn it down you are cursed out or, even worse, called a racist. You tell the driver and most of the time they do not make an announcement. I have been talked down to by drivers for asking. I know that as a South King County Resident I am a second class citizen in all of your eyes. Seattle is all that is important to you. So I know that this will be just laughed at and tossed. I just feel I need to point these things out. I am just sick of it all. With regard to the XpressWest HSR project that is now shelved, if the Federal Government is footing a large percentage of the funding for a mega-project, it is not unreasonable for them to demand particular requirements. A “Buy America” requirement while not in keeping with Austrian neo-liberal economics, is still quite a valid objective for a government to demand. That the funds it puts forward be used to develop and foster in country development. It would be interesting to find out if the Federal Department of Transportation tried to assist the XpressWest entity with lining up suppliers that could fulfill the Federal Requirement or did it simply leave it to XpressWest to find those suppliers on their own? On the other hand, XpressWest could launch a grievance that this rulemaking maybe out of compliance with the open markets requirement of the WTO. In theory, a “Buy America” requirement should reduce the net cost to the federal government in that the feds will recoup some of the cost when the contractors, their employees, and their executives pay income tax (although such revenue will be spread over the entire government, not go to the HSR fund). Whether the additional income tax revenue collected as a result of such requirements exceeds the higher cost of building the track to begin with, I will not begin to speculate. The “Buy America” provisions are disastrous *because there is no US rail industry*. It increases the net cost to the federal government, a lot. Now, *if we had a US rail industry*, like we did even as late as the 1950s, then Buy America might make sense. We don’t and it doesn’t. Federal government policy destroyed the US rail industry, and you can’t bring it back with “Buy America” policies. You would have to actually subsidize it directly. “Buy America” is stupid in this context: it’s like requiring that all cacao beans sold in the US be grown in the US; it’s not *feasible* or *reasonable*. It would have made sense to protect our existing railroad industry back in the 1950s, but decades of bad government policy destroyed it, and now “Buy America” is protecting absolutely nothing. You can’t apply protectionist policies when you have no industry to protect. In the field of rail, “Buy America” is routinely worked around by foreign companies setting up shell-companies in the US to do menial labor jobs, because nobody is going to waste their time doing actual high-value work in the US. Worst case is a company like Boeing decides to jump into the light rail business. However, just to our north Bombardier builds some pretty good equipment. They have in the past set-up manufacturing in the US (might still have some). Seems like if we are going to have a free trade zone then the provision should be Buy North American. Bombardier might have an in because of NAFTA. Give the Mercer Islanders a giant P&R (with housing on top) in exchange for increased height around the station. Would it be possible to build a garage on top of the highway, kind of like a lid? It seems fairly common in other cities. That area is desirable enough that some real TOD should be doable. And if tall enough, the views would be incredible. It’s always possible, it’s just a question of money. You’d be talking on the order of $50,000 or more per space. A University of Colorado Boulder team has developed a radically new technique that uses the power of sunlight to efficiently split water into its components of hydrogen and oxygen, paving the way for the broad use of hydrogen as a clean, green fuel. The CU-Boulder team has devised a solar-thermal system in which sunlight could be concentrated by a vast array of mirrors onto a single point atop a central tower up to several hundred feet tall. The tower would gather heat generated by the mirror system to roughly 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit (1,350 Celsius), then deliver it into a reactor containing chemical compounds known as metal oxides, said CU-Boulder Professor Alan Weimer, research group leader. Speaking of leaving Windows 95 behind…imagine walking on to a bus, and it recognizes you and charges you without you having to do anything. Finnish company Uniqul has patented and tested out a new payment system that lets you pay your bills with your face. When it’s time to pay up at a gas station or mall, don’t pull out your credit card; instead, look into a camera, and wait until it recognizes you. After that, it pulls up your information, you tap okay and the payment is complete. Is anyone at Sound Transit looking at Link boardings? It is almost impossible to get on a train in the tunnel during evening rush hour these days. The last two nights, after waiting through two impossibly packed trains, I finally walked down to Pioneer Square, where there is always some relief from the people deboarding to get on Sounder. It’s almost making me rethink the 36, which is blessedly spacious these days. Add a third car from 4-7.

2019-04-26T09:41:15Z

http://seattletransitblog.com/2013/07/31/news-roundup-empty-space/

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Many of the recipes make two cups worth of shake, and can be prepared in 10 minutes or less, using ingredients like ice, milk, applesauce, bananas, and natural sweetener. Each bag contains only 16 servings, so you need two bags to make it through the month at one shake per day. Yes, there is a day money back guarantee. If you are unhappy with the product, you can receive a refund within 30 days of delivery. Any remaining items in the order must be sealed and unused. In order to get a refund, you need to give the company your name, order ID, and delivery address. One of the bigger questions surrounding such an expensive meal replacement shake. Some people love the taste of the plain shakes, while others need to utilize the recipes to stomach them. The chocolate flavor seems to be favored over the vanilla option. Some 18 Shake diet reviews say they have gotten great results with the program. We want to take a minute to look at some of the other options out there, as well as a side-by-side comparison to some popular competitors. It contains 20 vitamins and minerals and only has one gram of fat — and no sugar. Both of these shakes are among the most popular meal replacement options available on the market today. One serving of Shakeology has calories, so obviously 18 Shake wins in that category. Shakeology has 17 grams of protein, but their protein comes from pea protein, which is a vegan source. Both shakes use whey protein. But Shakeology wins for the variety of protein they offer. But, it contains twice as many calories, four times the sugar, only 9 grams of protein, and only 8 grams of fiber. IdealShape comes in 15 flavors and is more affordable. Chocolate coconut, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, banana cream pie, chocolate peanut butter, cookies n cream, vanilla chai, mint chocolate, eggnog, mocha, salted caramel, chocolate cream pie, superfood blend dark chocolate stevia sweetened, orange cream, cinnamon bun, key lime, and vanilla superfood blend stevia sweetened. It uses a different hunger blocker. Where 18 Shake uses Fibersol, IdealShake uses Slendesta — but 18 Shake contains more protein, less sugar, and fewer calories. Slendesta is a potato protein extract. Herbalife has a bit smaller portion size, at 25g compared to the It contains less protein — only nine grams. It also contains less fiber, at only 9 grams, but this is a hefty fiber dose compared to many other competing shakes. One container of Herbalife contains 30 servings. Not only is Herbalife more affordable, but offers a ton of flavors on top of it, making this our choice out of the two. Isagenix has a bigger variety of flavor options, like: Pumpkin Spice is a seasonal flavor, with other seasonal flavors released accordingly. Isagenix has several types of shakes. They have one that uses whey protein like the 18 Shake, but they also have a dairy free range that use plant based proteins. The dairy free shakes are also soy and gluten free. With that bigger portion size comes more calories, but if we cut them down to the same size roughly, Isagenix still has more sugar, more fat, and less fiber. The protein content is about the same. It is also free of soy, sugar, and gluten, contains 15g of high quality plant-based proteins, and is naturally sweetened. Hi Salma, I currently workout in the evening and have found a whole food meal after works best. I used to do optimim nutrition whey protein after my workouts, but I feel like my body does better with whole foods now. In reference to the shakes, I have a half s bag of protein shake mix, Curves brand. How does that compare? Hi Candy, Sorry I could not find any information with the marcos or ingredients for that brand. It says in book you can switch out a yellow three times a week for 16 oz of unsweetened almond milk. How come on shakeology recipes 4 oz counts as a yellow? Does adding almond milk to your shakes just make it creamier? Almond milk does make the texture creamier than water would. How do you meal prep? I was planning on prepping snack and lunches for the whole week? But wondering if cut washed fruits and veggies would stay fresh? Also same with cooked meat? I do not have any problems with anything going bad, but I would imagine some fruits or vegetables would not last as long as others. Cooked meats should stay good for days. Hi Lanna, No white rice is not allowed. White rice is processed, it does not contain the same amount of nutritional value as brown rice does. Can I subsitite non fat flavored Greek yogurt it has about two more grams of sugar than plain. Also with oatmeal is that also plain oatmeal only? Hi Nicole, Flavored yogurt is not allowed, they often artificial sweeteners. Plain rolled oats or steel cut oats, you can add your own berries or spices, but no instant oatmeals with the flavorings are allowed. This is really useful—thanks! Or will that be a detriment to my overall progress? You really should count the containers as they are meant to be. It kind of goes against the point of the diet program if you are going to counts yellows as red. The 21 Day Fix wants you eating a balanced diet. While benas, lentils, quinoa are high sources of vegetarian protein they are also dense on carbs, that is why they are yellows. What about green tea? Hello, I recently got the 21 day fix. Will I still get results by lowering my calorie bracket? I have a lapband and physically can not eat the amount of food it says I should eat. Hi Mallory, Do the best that you can do. Here are a couple tips — try to keep the ratio of containers as even as possible, alternate the containers you do eat over the week so you still get the balancing of the diet. I would use a tsp of olive oil and about a cup of mixed vegetables and some all purpose seasoning. Do the veggies that you enjoy most or have on hand. I am a caffeine junkie…. Hi Marsha, Yes, on the tea with stevia. No, on the diet sodas, those contain articial sweeteners that you want to be avoiding. What kind of dressing can be used? Hi Angie, The eating plan comes with 5 recipes for dressings, mostly olive oil based. Here are the names of the dressings so you can get an idea, — balsamic vinaigrette, creamy herb dressing, lemon tarragon vinaigrette, dijon vinaigrette, and asian citrus vinaigrette. Hi Dawn, The containers come with the program, base, deluxe or challenge pack. Check out my review from the sidebar for more information. Bethany, Are there any other vegetables or substitutes for the vegetables listed on the plan? Hi Emi, The vegetables in the fix diet are a good place for you to start. They are listed in order of most nutritious. So I guess my question is this all of the colored containers. You pack with the food you can eat. Is this for the whole day breakfast lunch and dinner or is this for one meal at a time? Just need a lil help. Hi Lacie Jo, You match you calorie tarrget that corresponds with your calorie level. So if it says, 3 green containers for example that means you get to fill the green container upto three times throughout the day. You could do two greens for lunch and one for dinner, or any way you like. I have a few questions, can you provide me with the link to purchase the 21 Day fix challenge Pack, and in addition to the challenge pack I would like to order a extra set of containers to keep at work. How do I calculate my calorie intake per day. I would like to use your meal plan but how do I adjust it if my calorie per day intake is different then yours. Is the 21 day fix ok for children to do as well? Yes, you can add on additional containers. The eating plan shows you how to calculate your calorie level, simply multiply your weight by 11, add for calorie burn, and subtract to get your calorie target. You can use my meal plan as guide and just add in containers where needed, if I had two you could have three. Children should have parental consent as well as parental guidance for the program, I would also consult with a doctor too. Thanks to you and all the others that have posted great questions and comments. I am currently waiting on my 21 Day Fix package and I did order the one that includes the Shakeology Chocolate and am beyond anxious to start already. My aunt is already on her 3rd week and has gotten excellent results using Shakeology. I do think the price is a bit expensive but if it will help me more, then I will do the sacrifice and continue ordering it. What do you think? Is 18 Shake comparable to Shakeology? Thanks in advance for your response Bethany. Hi Melissa, I took a quick look. My first impressions is it is just a cheap knock off. Frankly, it is not really even that cheap, the servings per container is so low. The amount of calories in the shake is also low because it does not really seem to contain very much. Not much I can really say, but I would stay away. It could be a company simply trying to piggy back off another. Exactly what I thought but figured someone with more experience needed to confirm my sentiments. Should I halve the water then? Also, is this enough to have after working out first thing, or should I add peanut butter to it? Hi Lisa, I would double check the bag serving size, it should read one scoop is a serving. I always like to mix something, but you can try it both ways and see if you have more or less energy during your workout. This is extremely helpful! I am starting my 21 Day Fix tomorrow and really loved the meal planning guide as well as your take on flexibility and shakeology. I will definitely be looking at your page for inspiration!! But, the 21 Day Fix diet is based around whole foods, eating multiple meals a day, so yes I believe it would be. Also, if we already have an exercise regimen is that ok? Do we still need to do the videos? Would that be allowed, at all? Your website is so helpful, thank you! Hi Micah, PB2 is not listed under any of the approved food categories. The videos are not meant to be combined with another program. Again, the creamer is not listed, you would have to check into the nutritonal value on the label for what it exactly contains. You do not want stuff with added sugars. I am very interested in the 21 day fix but I have a few questions. Is it extremely important to do the videos as well?? I run on the opposite days I am not at the gym. After the 21 days is up, where do you go from there? Start right back over? Thank you so much, your site is so helpful!!! Mi Micah, I would not do both your gym routine and the 21 Day Fix workouts, one or the other. After 21 days of the fix, I have seen people continue the next day picking up where they have left off, take a 1 week break before beginning again, and move onto to a different program entirelym and tnow that the 21 Day Fix Extreme program has been released this is another option. I can already see the inches coming off. I jave done work outs in the pass. But I would just eye things I would eat. I love this plan because it tell you what to eat and how much to eat. My husband and I have been doing the 21 Day Fix for a few days now and its going well but because of his hectic schedule, sometimes he cant sit down and eat the whole foods we have packed or planned on. So my first question is, could he use the shakeology twice in one day? I am not sure if there is anything against using the shake more than once a day. Is it bad to not feed your body after your work out? Or do you have any suggestions? Any advise would be appreciated. Instead, you could try drinking a recovery shake or a fast-digesting protein shake like whey — both will help you recover more quickly, and you can find both on Beachbody. I hope this helps, but please let me know if you have any other questions. Keep up the good work! Hello — just reviewing your site and I have a Q. I am assuming it means weight — but how much weight — in regards to bread wg. Much thanks, Kathi Hodge. Hi Lori, No, the container system is meant to get you eating a balanced diet by ratio. If you did that you would be changing the ratio of macronutrients. The containers are not the same calorie amount either, so you would end up consuming to many or not enough calories. Hi Mara, During the summer I grill both. During the winter, I will pan fry steak on each side for a couple of minutes and then broil in the oven flipping every two minutes until cooked through. Pork tenderlon during the winter is baked in the oven or slow cooked in the crock pot. Just a quick question…when you say you pan fry your steak and then broil, what are you cooking the meat in? Do you have to use a container for oil or something? Also, is that the same with the veggies? Should they all be steamed only? Any help you could give would be great: Hi Courtney, I use a cast iron skillet to brown and then broil. I use a tsp of coconut oil to fry in and yes you count it. Veggies can be cooked any way you like them. Hi Maysa, the best time to exercise is whenever you will be most likely to actually exercise and less likely to find an excuse not to. The best time is when you can most easily make the time to exercise and schedule it into your day. I am not looking to lose weight is this not the right program for me? Hi Kerri, you can do a hybrid program combining the two programs. Results will include overall toning and shaping, as well as increased strength, flexibility, and endurance. There is quite a variety to choose from. I am in the daily caloric range. My question is how do I meet that goal per day with six meals? When I wrote out a sample meal plan for one day, I still did not have enough containers filled as recommended. Hi Kiara, you just need to eat more than one of select color containers at at your planned meals until you meet your daily requirements. The good news is that you have a couple options. For example, add one or two fruits or even one fat to your Shakeology to make it not just a red, but a red, a purple or two, and a spoonful. Thanks for all the information!!! I know you said IdealShape is not comparable to Shakeology nutritionally…. But if I was to still use it I have two huge containers left!! What about the Isagenix Lsalean Meal replacement shakes? From what I have read they are very similar to Shakeology so could they be infused with the 21 day fix as a red?? Maybe, yellow and red container, limiting to three times a week. Hi Bethany, Thank you for the time you put into this eating plan. It is such a help! Shakeology uses whey protein, Bodykey uses soy protein. I would rather drink whey every day. Bodykey also uses stevia. Shaekology uses non-GMO fructose and stevia. The sodium count in Bodykey is mg, while Shakeology is mg — that is a substantial difference. And, Shakeology uses Himalayan salt, which is a naturally harvested salt with its own set of health benefits. Negligible amount, but not a great thing to see on a health food shake. Shakeology is a true health food shake and contains a huge list of superfoods, which all have their own unqiue health benefits to make you feel better than ever. There are no superfoods in Bodykey, although they have some probiotics in there. I am weird when it comes to daily supplements, so I would definitely opt for Shakeology over Bodykey because I happen to like their ingredient list better. Bodykey does have a lot of vitamins and minerals on their list, but for me, sugar alcohol as a second ingredient is not very impressive for a so-called healthy, meal replacement shake. I know from my own experience that Shakeology helps me feel good, recover more quickly, and stay on track — I drink it every morning with my frozen fruit and love it. Then had surgery and just ordered the 21 day fix to get back into working out. What do you suggest? Thanks for your time: Yes, I think using the containers with any program is a wonderful idea. As for the second round with containers, it is probably a combination of both. In a second round you will be in better shape so you can push harder during the workouts too. Hi, I am on the calorie plan- started out really well- eating the container amounts of food- losing what I hoped I would. Is it not a good idea to cut out those containers- of course that would put me below for the day- any suggestions would be most appreciated. Slow and steady is the way to keep the weight off for good. The first week I lost 5 pounds I want to lose 15 and am in the calorie range. Second week and into 3rd have only lost another 2. Would like to know what you would advise? Hi, I would recommend eating the amount of calories that the eating guide says. Eating below calories a day is never recommended as it is not enough calories to support your internal organ to function properly. I am started 21 day fix and I loved your meal plan. I was just wondering if you had recipes for the food? I have a problem getting my protein in and enjoy the taste and recipes you can do with P28 products! Ive also seen some recipes that use PB2 which I also have on hand, how would that be counted?? The Fix diet wants you eating certain whole foods for the most part. Will I fail on this diet. I would never have a plate with steamed vegetables on it! Hi Kelly, Corn is not a vegetable it is a complex carbohydrate. Do you like veggies raw or roasted, there are a lot of vegetables that I do not like steamed, that I enjoy roasted with olive oil. Maybe, this is something you could experiment with. I am wondering about the grey box you have. Are there portions for these things as well? I am unsure about how to incorporate them into their plans. Hi Heather, The grey box is the teaspoon foods from the 21 Day Fix portion approach eating plan. Honey, is that considered a yellow or a teaspoon? Also how long should we wait between 1st and 2nd or subsequent rounds of the 21 days or can we just continue seamlessly? Ah, this brings to question: When I complete the 21 day fix, if during that time I weigh and lost say 5 lbs, do I have to readjust the calorie fix? Yes, you would need to adjust your calorie level to your new weight for continued weight loss. Can you tell me how the Almond Breeze Coconut Milk, unsweetened can fit into the diet? Is it considered a protein or a carb? There are only 45 calories per cup so I am not sure where it would fit in. I see in your blog the question about what color container coconut milk is. Your shopping list shows it in Blue but your responses are Yellow. Hi Tonya, This post should be used as a companion to the eating plan the program comes with. The eating plan goes into much more detail than I could ever cover. The blue is for canned coconut milk. The yellow is for carton, but there is a weekly limit on these. So if you make your shake with unsweetened almond milk does this count as one yellow carb for the almond milk and one red protein for the shake? How much almond milk counts as a yellow? How can you lose the weight at eating calories at a higher amount than what we have always be taught? For example 56 yes old and eat calories… Thank you. Hi, If you are consuming between calories a day and burning a day, you would lose about one pound a week. And, you are right, the marketing propaganda has made weight lose a much more complex situation than it should be. If I am pounds how many calories do I need to burn a day to lose weight? The above comment confused me. Hi Dianna, A calorie deficit a day through diet, ecerise, or diet and exercise to cause about a 1 pound loss of fat over the course of a week. You have to take into account your metabolism and activity level, not only your body weight to create a daily calorie estimate. The program does include the simple equation you need an I will be writing a blog post shortly about it. I just ordered the program. Based on my weight I will be in the lowest calorie bracket but my husband will be in the highest calorie bracket. Suggestions on how to make food for both of us at the same time with such a big difference in portions for things? Hi Bethany, I have learned a lot from your blog! Just one question though, would I be able to use a little Stevia or raw sugar maybe a teaspoon or so in my morning coffee? THanks for all the info. Im starting the program tomorrow. Wondering if is ok if i work out first thing in the morning then drink the shakeology shake? In other words is it ok to work out on an empty stomach? I had gastric bypass 15 months ago…94 lbs gone. Can eat whatever I like now,….. BUT, protein for most important nutrition factor. Will this work for me? I hope this helps! Hi, loving your blog, really informative. Just a couple of questions — when measuring the rice has it been cooked first? And is cows milk semi skimmed allowed and if so what category does it fit in and how many fl oz can you have? Rice is measured out after cooking. I want to try the 21 day fix my only problem is I have had restrictive weight loss surgery and I know I will not be able to eat as many of the containers I am supposed to do you think this program could still work for me? That being said, Nicole how far out from surgery are you? If you are still within a year out I would suggest that you just stick with the meal plan that your surgeon has given you. I ask because I will not have time to be making separate meals for everyone with 2 under age 2! Hi Nat, most of the recipes will have serving sizes, so a recipe would use say three containers per serving. You would eat your serving size and mark down the containers. In your example, if a recipe used only 1 red and two greens, I would double, triple, etc the recipe so it makes enough to serve your family. Hope that makes sense. You would count the mustard greens as green and turnip as yellow. I have tried Shakeology and live it and have noticed a difference in my energy and overall health. However , it can get costly so I have been trying Fitmiss Deliight … What are your thoughts? Shakeology also keeps your digestive system regular, which also helps heighten energy levels. I currently do PiYo and I have a shake every morning. I do 8oz of unsweetened vanilla coconut almond milk and slightly less than one scoop of shakeology. I have the Arbonne shakes and do not want them to go to waste, how does it compare to the Shakeology? I am really interested in the 21 day fix plan. I am in the calorie range. But, I read a comment from you previously that said if you want to lose, eat less….. I am trying to lose weight so should I down to the next level of calorie range? I do workout daily if that makes a difference. Hi Christina, I rephrased my previous comment, that was not my intent for it to be taken that way. You are good at the calorie range for weight loss. The diet plan goes into more depth about the cxlore ranges for different goals. While looking at the different information available online about calorie intake, I noticed that my target caloric intake is over calories higher than calories a day. Am I going to feel starved out on this program? Is there anyway to adjust the calories a day? HI Aj, If you calorie target to maintain your current body weight is calories, calories would be a good starting place for weight loss. And, yes you can adjust the number of calories once you get a feel for the program. But, first it would best to use the program as it is designed before tweaking it to meet your needs. I understand that shakeo counts as a protein but should one use the protein grams on the back of the bag? Or is shakeo already counted as a red? Hi Dee, a scoop counts as a red container. You are right a scoop would not fit in a red, but that is what it is counted as. Just one of those things. So much great info! Hi Jennifer, that is tough. But you can make it work. Here are a few ideas. Try not to eat large meals on the nights you work, keep healthy snacks handy if possible, prepare what you are going to eat before your shifts start, go light on carbs and higher in protein and healthy fats. And, be sure to stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water through out the night. Hi Sky, it is going to be hard to follow without the containers or workouts. But, do your best, stick to a whole food diet and you will be headed in the right direction. I have purchased the 21 day fix with shakeology. I work 12 hour shifts,making a fully balanced meal plan a bit difficult. Are there any suggestions to bes divide up the 5 meals throughout my day? Hi Cyndi, You use the containers tp portion your meals or snacks. Protein is red, berries are purple. Hi Joann, It will work, you just need to stick with it and if you have to make adjustments until it does work. Hi Sarah, your results will be different. But, I mean if you eat a piece of cake everyday durring the program your results would be different too. I have a question about family meals. I stay home with my 2 young boys and want them eating healthier, but I have no idea where to start as far as caloric intake, portions with them, etc. Is there a resource you know of that has reliable information for how to calculate their daily needs? Do you think I need to be as strict with them as far as portion sizes? Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated! Hi Meghan, You should not have to restrict the portions. Hi I just ordered 21 day fix. Unfortunately Shakeology is very expensive but I do have a nutribullet and make my own kale shakes will that work for the moment? If not what can I use? You will have to break down the ingredients in the kale shake down to what they would count as in the containers. Going to try the 21 Day Fx Challenge Pack glad to here the pack contains Shakeology too, looking forward to posting back here on my results. Particularly referring to ingredients and the expense. Just a suggestion I have really. Why not point out that when u order the challenge pack it includes the Shakeology? Even my joints feel better!! Hi Danielle, Glad to hear Shakeology is working so well for you, I got my botfriend to start drinking it too and he said the same thing as you, that his joints felt better and were not cracking as much. With the different colour containers and foods for each container, do you decide on what to eat for each meal? Basically you create you own recipe? Hi Danielle, Yes the 21 Say Fix is flexible in that it wants you to be able to eat what you enjoy. So you get to be creative, and it does come with a fex basic recipes to get you going. Hi Kathy, black coffee is best. Splenda is artificial sweetener and is not recommended. A tsp of organic coconut oil is what I recommend to people. I would just need some clarification on the serving for this program…. Great website— thank you. Hi Rose, yes it is a cooked cup, so half a yellow dry, will come out to a full yellow when cooked. I start the program on Monday October 13 and I purchased shakeology but the individual bags does that count as one scoop like if I would have the container?? Hi Gaby, yes the individual bag servings are a red container. They have had issues in the past for the following controversies:. The company has faced much criticism from customers, as well as through several high profile lawsuits. For the best results with meal replacement shakes diet our experts recommend to use it at least 5 months. Save your money buying a few bags of meal replacement product. Any product sold by a multilevel marketing company will often be flooded with fake reviews. This is because sellers of these brands known they will earn a commission if they sell more products. Here are some verified reviews from real customers of BodyKey:. Many concerns were expressed about the taste, quality, and lack of weight loss properties. There was also a lack of appetite suppression from people. Overall, the only certified reviews about this shake were negative. There are better brands that have only natural ingredients, and a well rounded nutritional profile. The very best shake out of goes by the name of 18Shake. This meal replacement has a blend of 2 forms of whey protein for healthy amino acids, as well as proper appetite suppression. This shake is so well reviewed, that the company backs it up with a day money back guarantee. Thank you for the post! My friend don not like BodyKey their shake is shabby. My friend had a bad reaction to this cheap pill with upset digestive system and had an issue with a shipment. Never take supplement unless medico recomends this product! Leave this field empty. The information provided within this site is strictly for the purposes of information only and is not a replacement or substitute for professional advice, doctors visit or treatment. The provided content on this site should serve, at most, as a companion to a professional consult. It should under no circumstance replace the advice of your primary care provider.

2019-04-20T12:18:20Z

http://bootsoutletstore12.info/cuxo/bodykey-shake-recipes-jucu.php

Are You Ready for Your Child to Get Fantastic Grades? If you are looking for the solution to your child's learning obstacles then you are in the right place. Get the Learning Success System today and get your child started on a bright future. Are you afraid that your child is going to quickly fall behind their peers? Is your child quickly losing steam? Losing self-confidence and beginning to wonder if they are “not-smart”? Maybe you’ve been dealing with this for a long time and it’s wearing you down. Do you spend so much time on homework that you are scrambling to get things done. Do you have no time for yourself because you are working so hard at helping your child? Has it affected your sleep? Your relationships? Skips Words - Loses Place - Letters Jump? Have difficulty sounding out words? Have fluency and pronunciation problems? Have difficulty with sight words? Loses skills you thought they had already learned? Are you afraid that your child will have a difficult time existing in this world without reading or spelling skills? Are you concerned that they won’t get a decent education? Or hold down a good job? Are you afraid they won’t be happy and successful? Are you tired of dreading report card time? Or parent teacher conferences? Do you hate to hear other parents brag about their children? Getting tasks done on time? Are you just plain tired of the struggle? Do you want it fixed? Do you just want this behind you? Have you had difficulty dealing with the school system or finding a solution? Well, it’s not your fault. The school system is not designed to help those who learn differently. If a student’s learning style doesn’t fit, they just fall through the cracks. They may graduate. But without an education. There is a solution. And it’s actually quite easy. There is a large and growing movement of parents who have found the solution. The Learning Success System is easily done in the comfort of your own home. It brings the combined knowledge of teachers, educational therapists, psychologists, mind-body and proprioception experts, nutritionists, and motivation experts right to your fingertips. No other system combines the expertise from these different fields to come up with a complete solution that solves every aspect of a reading difficulty. And it improves more than just reading. It enhances math skills and writing skills as well. It builds your child into an overall better learner. This is not more reading practice. It's not more of the same. The Learning Success System gets to the core of the problem. Quit beating your head against the wall (and your child's) by more and more homework. Get to the underlying problem and fix that instead. Anything else is just a band-aid. When you fix the core problem, everything else becomes so much easier. Learning Success Online Portal - All of the exercises neatly organized in our online learning portal. Sort by exercise type to get exercises suited to your child's needs. Daily Instructional Emails - We keep you on track with our daily instructional emails. Each email introduces the next exercise, explains the exercise, and explains the purpose of that exercise. Helping you to easily understand how to help your child. Video Explanations - Each exercise comes with a video tutorial. Explaining exactly how to do that exercise. This makes it very easy to follow and do. New Exercises Added Monthly - Each month, for a year, we add a new set of exercises to your account. Your account is always fresh with new and fun exercises. Member Forums - Interact with other parents helping their children. A lot of great things happen in our member forums. Access to Learning Professionals - Our team members are here to help. They'll give professional advice in the expert forums. Ask a question and get it answered by a professional. Exercises come in a variety of formats. Some are videos which you follow along. Some are game-like animations. Some are downloadables. Some are audibles in which you follow along with. All are easy and well explained. Making it very easy for you to understand and do with your child. I hear it every day. I hear about the endless struggles. And the heartbreak. Parents just want to help their children. And they'll do anything to help their children. But so often they try all the wrong things. Wasting time and wasting money. Wasting lots of money. Did you know that many Learning Centers charge more that $1200 per month? And every time you try one more thing that doesn't work, your child's self-esteem crumbles. Think about it from your child's perspective. If you've done "everything" and they are still struggling. Then they will just assume that they are stupid, and give up. They'll reach a point where they refuse to do anything. That's why it's so important to use the right solution from the start. Don't go down the slippery slope of ruined self-confidence. If your child is already acting out and using avoidance strategies STOP NOW and get on the right path. Don't reach a point of total rebellion. And if you are already there you need to back up. Get back on the right path. Just getting by is not a solution. Graduating with a diploma and no education is not a solution. It’s not a winning proposition. It’s a losing proposition. No employer wants to hire someone who can’t read. Not for any job you’d want to work in anyway. “But I have a diploma” will mean nothing to that employer. Why should they care? Kids graduate without being able to read all the time. And that isn't good for anyone. There are two major reasons why many programs fail. A lot of programs are just more of the same disguised in a different way. They are either more academics or a copycat of the Orton-Gillingham method. The Orton-Gillingham program was first used over 90 years ago. And nearly every program out there is a copycat of that program. Neuroscience has come a long way since then. Yet most programs use techniques from the early 20th century. 2) Only working one aspect of the problem. We’ve identified 8 major dimensions, some with subcategories. If you are only doing one or two of these dimensions you will have very little success. You need to cover every aspect of the problem. The Learning Success system covers all 8 dimensions. To cover all of the dimensions we assembled a team. Each member having expertise in one or more dimensions. It’s this well rounded, holistic approach that works. Members of the team have expertise in the following areas. It’s this multi-pronged approach that makes the Learning Success System unique. We attack the problem from all angles. Just like fighting a battle, we do not go in with just the ground troops and get slaughtered. We go in with support from all of the forces. And with the Learning Success System, you will too. Don’t get slaughtered by using a single approach. What Can the Learning Success System Do For Your Child? If your child is struggling with reading they are suffering. For them reading is torture. They are working very very hard with little or no results. They feel as if they are going nowhere. Lot’s of effort, no reward. But once you work on these micro-skills, then you drastically increase reading ability. Reading becomes easy. And when it’s easy it’s fun. Once a child is capable of reading well, they are often eager to discover all the exciting new worlds that reading has to offer for them. Children love to read. Look at the popularity of the Harry Potter books, and all the other great children's book. That popularity is a testament to the fact that children love reading. Or what about the things your child does enjoy? Maybe it’s dinosaurs or sports cars, or bugs, or video games, the list goes on, but the point is that once your child enjoys reading, these worlds open up to them. And that makes for a happier, more well-rounded, child. Which, I’m sure, would make you happier also. Reading shouldn't be hard labor. When reading is difficult, it is slow. Building up the micro-skills takes those shackles off. And when that happens your child will be off and running. Faster reading speed means less time spent on homework. Every subject requires reading in one way or another. So when you increase reading speed you save time across all subjects. That means more play time for your child. And burning off energy with play time actually, increases learning ability. Not only is the exercise good for them, but it’s good for their brain. It relieves stress, so they are not only healthier but happier also. Dumping all those nasty negative emotions that have been holding them back. It’s a virtuous circle. Faster reading equals more time. More time means more time spent on the fun things. That means a happier healthier child. Which means increased learning ability. And a happier healthier child means a happier healthier you. When reading micro-skills are weak, your child has to work so hard at the words, that comprehension is non-existent. Their brains are struggling so hard that they can’t grasp the meaning of the words. Especially when visual memory and auditory memory are weak. When you improve these micro-skills, you set your child free from the bonds of reading difficulty. No longer are they bound and held back by the struggle, but set free to actually comprehend what they are reading. And reading without comprehension, well, what’s the point? But once comprehension is available to them, well that changes everything. No more reading it over and over to try to understand. Get it, and understand it the first time. You don’t have to keep quizzing them and explaining each little part. You’ll just smile when you hear them read to you and then promptly explain to you the meaning of the story. When the micro-skills are weak. Reading is sooooooo tiring. It takes everything to just get through it. It might create headaches and eye strain. But once you fix the micro-skills, reading is a breeze. And when your child enjoys reading, they will read more. Once they catch the bug of learning, there’s no stopping them. They’ll be off and running with all the energy they need to complete their studies. How will that feel when you don’t have to help them through the littlest things? Once they can do it on their own? Reading affects all subjects. When reading is difficult, all subjects suffer. Improve reading and you improve all grades. What would better grades feel like? Who would be happier? You’re child? You? Grandparents? Teachers? Your whole family? How would it feel to know that your child is on the right path? The path to enjoying reading. The path to a good education. The path to a good career. The path to being happy and having a happy family of their own. With happy grandkids for you. Good reading skills means being at grade level or above. How would it feel when your child is ahead of the class? Enjoying school and gaining self-confidence. Increased self-confidence leads to a lot of great things. Like being more creative. Like being more independent. Getting things done on their own. Self-confidence is the key to a happy and productive life. The avoidance tactics will be gone. No more tantrums, crying, acting lazy, or shutting down. And no more feeling stupid. Reading skills gives your child the ability to really learn. Really learning and getting a good education leads to a better future. Think about your child’s future. Wouldn’t that be great to one day see them in a financially rewarding and satisfying career? With a happy family? You can look back on today and be thrilled at the choice you made. The choice to help your child become a great reader and a successful learner. How will you feel when that day comes? Visiting your grandchildren in their beautiful home. 1) Immediately upon purchasing you will be given access to the member's portal. In the lessons section of the portal, you will have access to your first month's lessons. This is to give you easy access to all of the lessons and keep things organized. 2) Each day you will receive an email. That email will tell you which lesson to do and provide further instructions for that lesson. 3) Each lesson takes approximately 2-3 minutes. Some will be very easy and some will be slightly more challenging. If a lesson is extremely easy you just do it a few times over a few days and then move on. If a lesson is more challenging you will continue to do that lesson each day until it becomes very easy. By doing the above you will be building up a daily routine. That routine should last for about 15 minutes. If it is less than that you will add more lessons into the routine. If it starts to get longer you stop adding lessons to the routine until the ones you are working on become easy and you can move on. This process makes for an ever-changing routine that your child will enjoy. Most children find it very fun. Since it is nothing like school work they often consider it a game and have fun with it. You also get immediate access to the member forums where you can ask questions of other parents and our experts. These small, easy exercises build up your child's natural learning ability over time. This makes school work easier for them. As their skills build homework resistance fades and grades improve. Once your child regains their confidence and has built up their learning skills they will begin to excel in school. Catching up to and often surpassing their peers. Your child is either moving backward or forwards. When there is a learning struggle things can go from bad to worse quickly. Every day is a new risk that your child will have that moment that is just too embarrassing and frightening to handle. Every day this goes on your child slips further and further into lower self-esteem, more frustration, and more fear. Making it harder and harder to recover. Go too long and the chances of turning this around become slim. So it is critically important to act fast and get your child on an improvement path today. Letting it go another day just makes it harder on your child. Every day that goes by is painful for your child. Act today and get back your happy smart child. Click the button below and get started. You'll get immediate access! I can't wait to see your child on the path to success. Our guarantee. Try the program and if you do not see an improvement in your child simply send us the completed worksheets and we will issue a full refund. Simple as that. Act now to get these free bonusses. It's important to have expert help when you need it. So we set up a private members forum for you to ask questions. You'll get answers from our experts and also from other parents who are working through the same things as you. Our experts not only have a lot of knowledge, but they have been through this as well. So they understand what you are going through. The program is designed to build up all micro-skills. However extra, dyslexia specific, exercises are added so that if dyslexia is a known issue you can focus more on those exercises. Specific exercises treat all forms of dyslexia including phonological, visual, and directional. Easy exercises that develop all of the micro-skills typically weak in dyslexics. Specific exercises help with math micro-skills such as visual memory, visual memory manipulation, and visual discrimination. Easy exercises treat all of the micro-skills typically weak in dyscalculics. Handwriting is important to learning. Developing the connection between the brain, the eyes and the hand is critical. It will help in other areas. And because there is less and less focus on this in school, we feel that it is important to get practice in this area. So we have added lots of extra handwriting exercises. Brain balancing exercises are beneficial for everyone. So we've thrown in a complete series of them. Whether its a quick question or a deeper discussion, having an experienced professional to ask can make all the difference. Our members forum is the perfect place for that. Ask a question and one of our professionals will be there for you. Our team members regularly frequent the forums looking to help our member parents. Sometimes you want to just chat with other parents going through the same thing. Or ask a quick question. We have found that our private facebook group is perfect for that. It’s easy and quick for when you just want a quick check in, or want to hear how others are having big successes with the program. We want to keep you on track. Email is a great way to do this. The emails not only remind you that it's time to login and do an exercise, but they also provide more detail on the purpose of each exercise and how to do it. Our members have told us they love this bonus because it keeps them motivated and on track. If you'd rather keep your question private you can do that too. We provide you with unlimited email support. That's right, Email anytime and one of our professional learning specialists will answer your question. We know that having a child who is struggling is difficult. It's hard to know what to do. So we're here to help. Kung Fu is where it all started. That's where we realized the benefits of cross lateral coordination exercises as well as confidence. I retired from teaching kung fu after 20 years. Since we knew how important these classes were to kids we filmed our beginning kids kung fu course and put it in the program as a bonus. These classes have been extremely helpful for a lot of kids. They could be helpful for your child as well. Okay, this sounds like an out of place bonus, but trust me, it could be helpful. Back in the 90's we filmed an exercise video. It was a hit. We then got lots of emails from people telling us their kids loved it. That wasn't the intent but what the heck. It's full of cross lateral coordination exercises. So if they want to do it let them. It's great exercise and a great brain exercise too. Everyone child is different. As you do the program you will start to realize patterns. The micro-skills that have been holding you back will become obvious. At this point you will want to concentrate of those skills a little more. We provide extra exercises in each category to allow you to customize to your needs. This will also help you if you need help in other skills such as math or writing. With this ability to customize you can use the Learning Success System to improve skills in all areas of learning. I can't say what this is because when we release it in the next couple months it will be a new product. If you purchase now we're throwing it in as a bonus. Don't miss out because as soon as it's released it will only be available as a separate purchase. You are going to like it. A lot! Get this program now because this bonus is only available for a short time. We are only making it available as a bonus for those that purchase now. Once we release it as a product we'll have to charge for it. I can't say what this one is either because when we release it in the next couple months it will be a new product. If you purchase now we're throwing it in as a bonus. Don't miss out because as soon as it's released it will only be available as a separate purchase. You are going to like it. A lot! P.S. Waiting is the worst thing you can do. Every day that goes by will eat at your child's self-esteem. Every day has a chance of being that day that embarrasses them so badly that they write off school forever. Every day counts. Get started today.

2019-04-24T06:26:11Z

https://www.learningsuccesssystem.com/get-started/child/not-dyscalculia

In times of economic instability people often turn to precious metals like Gold and Silver to protect their wealth. Up to 1976 the United States had coins minted for circulation containing Silver, and these are now quite popular for investing in Silver. The reason they are so popular is that they tend to have a lower price tag then your standard bullion coins. This lead the coins to earn the name "junk" silver. in recent years people have gained a large respect for these coins and they have since adjusted in price to be more on par with Silver's going rate. It is very rare to find Silver coins in circulation anymore as many people have searched through them, and banks have started using automatic sorting machines that set the silver coins aside, but it is still good to know what you are looking at, and what you are looking for. Quick Reference: Just below is a quick reference table for your convenience. Feel free to print this for your personal use, but if you use it on your own website, blog, emails, etc. please include a link to this article. Thank you. Some resources to get you on the road to Gold and Silver investing safely, intelligently, and hopefully profitably. Important words and phrases in the world of Gold and Silver investing. If you don't understand some of the words or phrases, use this as your reference. This is an article similar to the one you are currently reading but it highlights the Gold coinage of the United States. While the confiscation tactics are often geared towards Gold investors, there are sales people that will tell you whatever they need to so you will purchase their goods. People will tell you that their very expensive, often overpriced, rare coins are worth the price because they cannot be confiscated. They will tell you that they have this magical ability to evade being seized in the event that the government needs your Silver. These are all lies. Firstly, I highly doubt that confiscation will occur as we no longer have a currency backed by Gold or Silver (which was the case when the original confiscations occurred). So all of the countries that are holding our currency cannot come running to us asking for Gold and Silver, like they did when the original confiscations occurred. Secondly, these assumptions, and that is what these sales people are doing, are founded on the fact that President Roosevelt exempted coins that were numismatic in nature. This does not mean that a future President would exempt them again, assuming a confiscation ever did occur. Don't be fooled by these con artists, there are plenty of honorable Gold and Silver dealers out there who would love to do business with you and not keep you up at night worrying. This is a quick reference table to help you quickly identify which US coins are Silver and how much Silver content they have. World War II provided many obstacles for America. One obstacle was America's need for the metal Nickel. Because Nickels are made from - Nickel, it seemed a huge waste to put this vital metal into our coins, so they substituted the Nickel in Nickels with Silver. The only years that Nickels have ever been minted with Silver are 1942 - 1945. These are often referred to as "Wartime Nickels." Just like nearly every other very old coin, these coins are quite scarce and run a high premium. These coins should be purchased for their beauty and historical significance more-so than their silver content as you will pay a hefty price for even a bad condition one. Purchasing these Dimes in awful condition will still cost you a fairly decent amount. We would not suggest investing in these coins for Silver content, but if you have an appreciation for beautiful coins and history, then these make wonderful collectibles! These Dimes depict Lady Liberty sitting on a rock and holding a shield that reads "LIBERTY" across it. These Dimes carry a relatively high collectors premium and tend to be somewhat rare compared to the newer Dime issues. There are also different versions that exist called "varieties" that feature small differences like different sized dates. These are a good coin to begin with if you want a nice historical coin that won't necessarily cost you a few hundred dollars. The Barber Dimes are very popular dimes among collectors. They feature the portrait of Liberty as depicted by Charles Barber. These Dimes are more scarce than their more recent counterparts, and this creates a higher premium on these coins. You may still find bad condition specimens of these Dimes with a relatively low price tag but you will still most likely pay more for this coin than you would for a newer Dime. These Dimes are often called "Mercury Dimes" because of the image on the coin, but the image is actually of Liberty with Wings on her hat. The wings are supposed to symbolize freedom of thought. These Dimes are more highly collected due to their increasing rarity, so these are being less invested in for their Silver and more-so for their rarity. You can still get these in a lesser condition for about the same price you can get one of the newer Roosevelt's but don't expect a great condition coin for only the price of its Silvers content. These are the most common of the Dimes that you will receive if collecting Dimes for Silver content. These Dimes had the highest mintage rates out of all of the other Silver dimes and they are the most current ones made. These are often referred to as "junk silver" or "junk dimes" because of their relatively easy availability. Any Dimes that you may get that are older than these tend to have a higher value than what the silver in them is worth. This is their "collectible value" or "numismatic value." Any made after 1964 are just worth 10 cents, and that is because Congress passed the law that removed Silver from them. More Information: Article on American Silver Roosevelt Dimes. Very much like the Draped Bust Dimes, these Quarters are extremely scarce and will carry a very high premium. The Obverse of the coin features a portrait of Ann Willing Bingham, wife of Senator William Bingham. These coins also came in different varieties, so it is highly suggested that if you do purchase any of these coins, you do so from a reputable dealer. These coins are fantastic to collect for their historical value, but very impractical as a Silver investment due to their very high premium. While these Quarters will be less scarce than the Draped Bust, these are definitely a collectors coin more-so than an investment coin. These coins began featuring Lady Liberty on the obverse and are stunning coins. Capped Bust Quarters are very scarce in comparison to newer Quarters and carry a high premium as well. They are a historically significant coin for America because it was the first series to use the collar method that is used today. These coins also come in varieties so it is important to purchase them from a reputable dealer. The Seated Liberty Quarter features Lady Liberty Seated on a rock and holding a shield with "Liberty" inscribed across it. These coins are still relatively available but still carry a decent premium. I would not suggest purchasing these only for Silver content, but if you want a nice historical coin that is still relatively affordable then these are a good place to start. Barber Quarters, much like Barber Dimes, are a more pricey coin to buy when compared to more recent coins, but are a more inexpensive way to own a piece of Silver history. You will still pay a decent premium on the coin in good condition because of its numismatic value, but it is a very fine piece of history that can still be had at a very reasonable price. The Standing Liberty Quarters are a great way to own a piece of recent history, while investing in Silver at the same time. For a decent to good condition coin you will pay a bit of a premium because they are still relatively rare, but in a more regular to bad grade version of the coin you will pay a modest premium compared to its Silver content. I enjoy purchasing these in lower conditions because of the price difference. They are still relatively old, and poorer conditions can be gotten at a modest premium over the silver value. If you are buying American coins for their Silver content then you will most likely end up with many of these. They have modest premiums, excluding key dates, and they are widely available even in the best conditions. These are very popular coins with Silver investors, but few consider that they will eventually have a historic value to them just as all previous coins do. This is an extremely rare and hard to come by coin. Even a poor condition will cost you multi-hundreds of dollars. The coin's obverse depicts Lady Liberty with her free flowing hair. Even these in some of their worst conditions will run you an easy $25.00. This is due to their relative rarity and historical value. There are many different varieties, so if you stumble upon one of these ungraded, then you may want to send it into a reputable coin grader to see if you've struck gold! This Half-Dollar, like the other coins in this set, feature the wife of Senator Bingham. These coins are beautiful and historic. They will run you $100 dollars easily in bad condition. Again, not exactly the most practical for Silver investment, but lovely coins nonetheless. The Seated Liberty Half-Dollar is a lovely coin, but unfortunately a lovely example will cost you a hefty sum of money. To complicate things, this coin has many different varieties, some making the coin slightly more expensive, others making the coin astronomically more expensive. This coin is wonderful for collecting, but probably wouldn't make a good Silver investment coin if you plan on having silver in any substantial quantity. The Barber series is quite popular among collectors. Nice examples will cost you big while decent examples can range from the low to mid hundreds. Low quality examples can be had for less than $100.00. Again, not very practical for Silver investment, but great for coin collecting. This is one of the more regal looking coins minted by America in my opinion. High grade versions of this coin are very expensive, but low quality ones are relativly available and put you closer to the Silver investment category. If in very bad condition, some can be gotten for less than $10.00. This is still a premium over the price of Silver (as of the date of this writing.) but it is not too horrible. These half-dollars are very popular among collectors. Much like the Walking Liberties these can be had in low grade conditions at very affordable prices and are a good way to get your Silver investment building. Mid-condition will definitely be more pricey but is a good step towards having a Silver investment and coin collecting. The Kennedy is about the most popular Silver investment choice that people make. This can be heavily attributed to availability. The 1964 versions are 90% silver and the 1965 - 1970 versions are 40%. The 40% can be had for about the going price of Silver, and sometimes cheaper because they are less popular, and more available. This makes the 40% coins ideal for investing in Silver. Roughly only 162,000 of these were minted, so these are going to obviously be quite rare. These were one of the first coins minted in the United States of America. If you have one of these you need not worry about investing in Silver! Another rare specimen of an early dollar, be ready to drop $1,000.00 for a low quality specimen that is so bad you'd barely be able to recognize it was a coin. A beautiful coin, and one of my favorite designs. Even a terrible grade will run you a couple hundred dollars. I wouldn't suggest buying this for silver investment but I certainly would get one for collecting. This design first appeared on the Gobrecht dollars, but so few were actually minted I didn't put them on this list. The Trade Dollar was originally issued to compete with foreign coinage during trade between countries. Due to some very complicated matters the coins became very unpopular during their time in America and were basically forgotten about until the early 1900s. The coins are now highly sought after. Many that you find may have cuts into them. These are called chop marks and were the marks of Asian assayers to guarantee the purity. Due to their new found popularity these coins will be quite expensive. These are some of the most available Silver Dollars on the market due to their long run and large amounts of production. If you are to invest in Silver Dollars these would be a great choice in lower condition. Due to a recent surge in demand for higher quality ones you will pay a much higher premium for those grades. The Peace Dollar is another popular series of coin. This coin has a lot of controversy about it due to its design, the time period it was released in and the newly realized 1964 versions. Supposedly all of the 1964 dollars were melted down, but rumors exist that some may be hidden away by their owners. Currently it is illegal to own one of the 1964 Peace Dollars. These 40% Dollars can be worth a bundle in high grades. If you decide to add some of these for a Silver investment then you must know that only the San Francisco mint made Silver ones. This is a good resource. Some not to be found in circulation coins were missing, like the silver 3 cent piece, the half dime, and the twenty cent piece. But, these are too valuable to concern oneself with silver content. You covered the important ones. Will definitely bookmark this site for info on silver coins. Well done. Wow, there is some really great information in here. I was totally unaware of confiscations until this artile. I've always enjoyed searching for Silver Wartime nickels in rolls from the bank. The show up surprisingly often. Voted beautiful and up! Thanks for the hub. Based on your information, I consider myself rich as I have a lot of coins mentioned in the hub, some from 1800s.When I think that some of them are 90% silver, I know I need to keep them until I can negotiate a decent offer. A friend asked me about my coin collection and I was willing to part with it because I needed money. However,now that I know how much silver I have in the coins,I will not part with them easily. Thank you for the lovely comment Research Analyst! It is really fun when you are searching through your change and you find a piece of silver in it. It's like a mini treasure hunt. I'm glad that I could provide this information to you. this is a great resource for identifying U.S. Silver Coins, especially now in such a down economy people are looking for ways to invest their money into valuable coin collections. Thank you so much for your compliments. It makes me very happy to hear that this may assist you in some way. At the very worst, this is just something fun to know. I'm glad to hear that people may actually use this. I've hears some stories from very prominent hubbers that wrote these fantastic hubs and spent tons of time but few actually reference it. I did spend a lot of time and hope that it serves you and any other readers well. What a great hub! I can really appreciate a piece of work I know has taken a lot of time and effort. It's answered a lot of questions for me. Wow, seriously great job! I will refer back to it, definitely. @Army Infantry Mom: I tried very hard to put together as comptrehensive a list as possible. I've been working on it for quite a few weeks now, but it really came together nicely. I'm really glad that you enjoyed it and I hope that it helps your son out. @VioletSun: It's always neat finding special coins in the change. I always search through my change to see if I can find any goodies. I'm glad that I was able to share my knowledge with you. I am not a coin collector, but have on occasion wondered what adds value to a coin just in case I should be lucky and find a rare coin with my change. LOL! Informative article, I learned something new today. Wow,..you covered just about everything. I appreciate the time it must have takin you to put this together. My younger son is intrested in coin collections,..this will benefit him well. Props to you !!!

2019-04-22T10:13:16Z

https://hubpages.com/games-hobbies/Identifying-US-Silver-Coins

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2019-04-21T22:11:33Z

http://shubertmotors.com/os1.html

Why are merchants allowed to apply payment surcharges? Merchants incur costs when they accept a payment from a customer. Different payment methods can have very different costs. For example, cards that provide significant rewards to consumers are typically more expensive for merchants. Surcharging provides merchants with the ability to pass the cost of accepting more expensive payment methods back to the customers who use those methods. When merchants have the right to apply a surcharge to more expensive payment methods they are able to provide price signals that encourage consumers to use less expensive payment methods. By helping to hold down payment costs, the right to surcharge helps to hold down the price of goods and services charged to all consumers. The definition of card acceptance costs has been narrowed. Acceptable costs are limited to fees paid to the merchant's acquirer (or other payments facilitator) and certain other observable costs paid to third parties for services directly related to accepting particular types of cards. Acquirers and payment facilitators must provide merchants with an annual statement that clearly sets out their average cost of acceptance for each of the card payment systems regulated by the RBA. Acceptance costs will be expressed in percentage terms. It is expected that merchants who wish to surcharge – including in the airline industry – will typically do so in percentage terms rather than as a fixed dollar amount, which should mean that surcharges on some lower-value transactions will be reduced significantly. The Government has given the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) investigation and enforcement powers over cases of possible excessive surcharging. Overall, the RBA expects that the narrower definition of the cost of acceptance, the proposed transparency measures and the ACCC's new powers will result in a framework that is clearer for all parties, with more effective enforcement in cases where merchants may be surcharging excessively. The goal of the RBA's revised surcharging standard is to improve price signals to consumers about the relative costs of different payment methods. Excessive surcharging diminishes the effectiveness of these price signals. The new standard is targeted at eliminating instances of excessive surcharging, through improved transparency and stronger enforcement. Merchants must be provided with easy-to-understand information about their costs of card acceptance, which will enable them to make informed decisions about whether to accept higher-cost payment methods and, if they do, whether to surcharge them. Where merchants do decide to impose surcharges, consumers can be confident that these represent the actual costs to the merchant. Consumers can make a complaint to the ACCC if they consider that a surcharge is excessive. The changes took effect in two stages. Large merchants have been required to comply with the new standard since 1 September 2016. Other merchants have been required to comply with the new standard since 1 September 2017. Information on the previous surcharging framework can be found in the RBA's surcharging Guidance Note and Surcharging Q&A. Merchants remain subject to all the obligations under the Australian Consumer Law. Why was there a delay for smaller merchants? Much of the concern over excessive surcharging involves larger merchants. These merchants should have the ability to analyse and calculate their payment costs and so have been subject to the new framework since 1 September 2016. In contrast, smaller merchants are less likely to surcharge and to surcharge excessively. They often also have a relatively less detailed understanding of their payment costs. Surcharging decisions for these merchants will benefit from improved data on payment costs. By 1 September 2017, all merchants should have received an annual statement from their acquirer or payments facilitator with easy-to-understand information outlining their average cost of acceptance for each of the card schemes subject to the RBA's standard. How do the changes affect small and medium-sized merchants more generally? Small and medium-sized merchants who do not benefit from preferred interchange rates currently bear the cost of the high interchange rates on premium MasterCard and Visa cards. Accordingly, they should see a material reduction in merchant service fees from the changes to the RBA's interchange standards. This should improve their competitiveness relative to larger merchants who may benefit from low interchange rates on all their card transactions. Merchants will also receive easy-to-understand information on the cost of payments for the different types of cards they accept. This should enable them to make more informed decisions about whether to accept higher-cost payment methods and, if they do, whether to surcharge them. This will place downward pressure on payment costs. If merchants decide to surcharge, they will have clear information on the maximum permissible surcharge for each payment method. Can card schemes, acquiring banks or payment facilitators prohibit merchants from charging a surcharge? Card schemes such as American Express, MasterCard and Visa cannot prevent or deter merchants from recovering the costs of accepting card payments. Banks and other payment facilitators are not allowed to prohibit or deter merchants from charging a surcharge on a particular payment instrument. Schemes, banks and payment providers cannot refuse to provide card acceptance services to a merchant solely because that merchant plans to surcharge or because of the level of their surcharge. They can, however, seek to ensure that a surcharge does not exceed the merchant's cost of acceptance. Merchants incur costs when they accept a payment from a customer. Different payment methods can have very different costs. Cards that provide significant rewards to consumers are typically more expensive for merchants. For example, some merchants face fees of more than 3 per cent on American Express transactions, while transactions on some types of premium MasterCard and Visa cards can currently cost many merchants more than 2 per cent. When merchants have the right to apply a surcharge to more expensive payment methods they are able to provide price signals that encourage consumers to use payment methods that are less expensive. By helping to hold down payment costs, the right to surcharge helps to hold down the price of goods and services charged to all consumers. It also reduces the extent to which those who pay with cheaper payment methods are subsidising those consumers – typically from higher income households – who use more expensive payment methods. Is there a limit on the size of a surcharge? Surcharges must not be more than the amount that it costs a merchant to accept a particular type of card for a given transaction. For example, debit cards are typically less expensive for merchants to accept than credit cards. It is important that merchants do not impose surcharges in excess of their actual payment costs. Merchants will know how much that is from statements supplied by their bank or payments provider; these must contain easy-to-understand information on the average cost of acceptance for each payment method. These statements will express acceptance costs in percentage terms and the standard defines the cost of acceptance in percentage terms. This should ensure that merchants who wish to surcharge – including in the airline industry – will generally do so in percentage terms rather than as a fixed dollar amount. This means that surcharges on some lower-priced transactions should be reduced significantly. If merchants wish to surcharge two or more payment methods at the same rate (e.g. all credit cards from American Express, MasterCard and Visa; or both debit and credit cards from a particular system) they are required to set the surcharge at the lowest cost of those different payment methods. How can I avoid paying a surcharge? Merchants that choose to surcharge will generally offer a non-surcharged payment method. This will typically be a payment type with a lower cost of acceptance for the merchant. If no surcharge-free method is offered, the amount of the surcharge should be built into the base price and not added on to the price of an item. Consistent with requirements under the Australian Consumer Law, merchants are required to prominently disclose the terms of any surcharge. A consumer who wishes to avoid paying a surcharge should ask the merchant to identify an alternative non-surcharged payment method. How do I know the surcharge imposed by a merchant is reasonable? While merchants are allowed to impose cost-based surcharges on card payments, surcharges must not exceed the permitted surcharge specified in the RBA standard. The standard provides a narrower definition of the cost of acceptance than the previous standard, along with transparency measures to ensure merchants have clear information on the payment costs they face. Merchants of different sizes and in different industries have a wide range of payment costs. However, as a guide, payments through the domestic eftpos system are usually quite low cost for merchants, mostly below ½ per cent of the transaction value. Debit MasterCard and Visa Debit may cost many merchants around ½ to 1 per cent, though for some merchants the cost of these cards is combined with credit card costs. MasterCard and Visa credit may cost many merchants about 1 to 1½ per cent. And it is common for merchants to pay 1½ to 2 per cent for an American Express card payment. In general, smaller merchants face higher payment costs than larger merchants and may have higher costs than these typical ranges. What can I do if I believe I have been asked to pay an excessive surcharge? Consumers who have concerns over whether a payment surcharge is excessive can contact the ACCC. The ACCC has investigation and enforcement powers over cases of possible excessive surcharging. Will merchants be able to replace surcharges with other charges? Merchants cannot avoid the rules by calling their payment surcharges something else while still applying them to some payment methods and not others. However, the new surcharging framework only applies to payment surcharges – that is, to fees that are specifically related to payments or apply to some payment methods but not others. Some merchants apply fees, such as ‘booking’ or ‘service’ fees, which are unrelated to payment costs and apply regardless of the method of payment (this is for instance common in the ticketing industry). The surcharging framework is not intended to apply to these fees but merchants are required to meet all provisions of the Australian Consumer Law in terms of disclosure of any such fees. Do the new rules affect the taxi industry? Surcharging in the taxi industry remains the responsibility of state regulators. Until recently, surcharges of 10 per cent were typical in that industry. However, authorities in Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory have taken or announced decisions to limit surcharges to no more than 5 per cent. Other states and territories are also considering such limits. As new payment methods and technologies emerge, it is likely to be appropriate for caps on surcharges to be reduced below 5 per cent. The Government and the RBA will continue to monitor developments in the taxi industry with a view to assessing whether further measures are appropriate. Card payments for hire cars and ride-sharing services are within the scope of the RBA's surcharging standard and potential ACCC enforcement. What is the objective of the new framework? The new RBA standard is intended to ensure that merchants have the right to surcharge for payment cards while also ensuring that consumers are not surcharged excessively, consistent with the Government's amendment to the Competition and Consumer Act 2010 . A merchant cannot surcharge a card transaction at a rate that exceeds the merchant's average cost of acceptance for that transaction for the relevant card system. The ACCC has responsibility for enforcement in the event that a merchant is attempting to surcharge excessively. How does the new framework benefit merchants? The framework emphasises the right of merchants to surcharge to cover their acceptance costs and signal differences in costs to consumers. It also improves the transparency of payment costs to merchants. Under the RBA's new surcharging standard, merchants will receive an annual statement from their acquirer or payments facilitator that clearly sets out their average cost of acceptance for each of the card payment systems regulated by the RBA. These transparency measures, which help merchants to know how much it costs them to accept card payments, should contribute to downward pressure on payment costs. This information will also enable merchants to make more informed decisions about whether to accept higher-cost payment methods and, if they do, whether to surcharge them. What cards does it apply to? The RBA standard and the ACCC's enforcement powers currently apply to payment surcharges in six card systems – eftpos, Debit MasterCard, MasterCard Credit, Visa Debit and Visa Credit and the American Express companion card system. However, other card systems may include conditions in their merchant agreements that are similar to the limits on surcharges under the RBA's standard, in which case merchants may be contractually bound to similar caps on what they can surcharge cards from other systems. Over time other payment types could be added via regulation. What surcharge can a merchant impose when they accept a card payment? Merchants are permitted to surcharge, but are not required to do so. Under the new framework a merchant who decides to surcharge a particular type of card may not surcharge above their average cost of acceptance for that card type. It is likely that most merchants who decide to surcharge debit or credit cards will do so based purely on what they are charged for payments by their acquirer or payment facilitator; this includes costs such as merchant service fees, terminal fees, and any other fees incurred in processing card transactions. Merchants are able to surcharge any of the cards covered by the RBA's standard up to the average percentage cost of acceptance in their annual statement for that card type. However, some merchants may have other costs (as outlined below) of accepting a particular type of card that they would like to include in their surcharge. If those costs meet the requirements for inclusion and can be documented, merchants may add them to the costs charged by their acquirer or payment facilitator over the previous year and, based on their total costs, calculate their average percentage cost for that card system. Merchants may not surcharge above this average cost. What information is available for merchants? Effective mid-2017, merchants will receive annual statements from their acquirer or payment facilitator that show the average percentage cost over the past year for each of the card types covered by the RBA/ACCC framework; this will be based on costs such as merchant service fees and terminal rental costs. An acquirer is the entity (often a bank) which has relationships with card companies such as eftpos, MasterCard and Visa that enable it to provide merchants with the ability to accept card payments. Alternatively, a merchant may use the services of a payment facilitator, a non-bank entity which has arrangements with an acquirer that allow it to offer card acceptance services to merchants. The RBA has worked with acquirers and payment facilitators on the design of easy-to-read statements that are reasonably standard across the industry. If a merchant wishes to surcharge for some costs in addition to those paid to their acquirer or payments facilitator, they will have to keep records of the costs paid to other providers. What costs in addition to the merchant service fee can a merchant include in their surcharge on a particular type of card? In addition to the fees paid to the merchant's acquirer or payment facilitator for standard card acceptance services, merchants may include some additional types of costs if they are directly related to accepting that particular card type. the cost of insuring against forward delivery risk. This applies to agents (such as travel agents) who pay an external party to insure against the risk that the agent will be liable to a customer for the failure of a principal supplier (such as an airline or hotel) on payments accepted via cards. In each case, these costs must be specific to the particular types of cards that the merchant is surcharging, rather than being a cost that applies to all payment methods accepted by the merchant. Furthermore, they must be costs paid to an external provider and verified by contracts, statements or invoices. A merchant's internal costs cannot be included in a surcharge. How should a merchant calculate their permitted surcharge if they have costs in addition to those paid to their acquirer or payment facilitator? In the event that merchants wish to include additional costs that are part of the cost of acceptance for one or more of the six regulated card systems, they should calculate the proportion of those costs applying to particular systems, allocating costs based on total transaction values for each system over the previous year. The cost attributable to any particular system may then be included in the surcharge on payments for that particular system. An example of the calculation of acceptance costs for costs in addition to the merchant service fee is explained below. The statement from the merchant's acquirer indicates that the average cost of transactions through Card System X over the prior year was 0.85 per cent. The merchant could therefore surcharge Card System X at a rate no higher than 0.90 per cent (the 0.85 per cent average cost of acceptance paid to the acquirer plus the 0.05 per cent cost of fraud prevention). Additional costs (such as gateway fees, fraud-related chargebacks, insurance for forward delivery risk or terminal fees paid to a payment service provider) should be dealt with in a similar way, that is by determining what proportion of these costs applies to each card system and calculating the percentage cost relative to the value of transactions through each system. What if a merchant uses more than one acquirer or payment facilitator? Some merchants have more than one acquirer or payment facilitator, for example one for their point-of-sale transactions and another for their online transactions. Where this is the case, it will be reasonable for merchants to use the information on the statement provided by their main acquirer or payment facilitator. If merchants wish to be more exact about their payment costs, they may calculate an average acceptance cost, weighting the costs of their different acquirers by the value of transactions through the two entities. How often do merchants have to review their surcharge? Merchants may choose to reset their surcharges frequently based on evidence of their average cost of acceptance over the most recent twelve-month period. However, the RBA's standard has been designed so that merchants will be able to identify their payment costs once a year and set their surcharge for the next year based on that information. They must then review that surcharge in a year's time when they receive a new annual statement about their payment costs. Can merchants set a common or blended surcharge which applies to different cards? Merchants may choose to set the same surcharge for a number of different payment systems, provided that the surcharge is no greater than the average cost of acceptance of the lowest cost system included. For example, a merchant may choose to set the same surcharge for two credit card systems, which have average costs of acceptance of 1 per cent and 1.5 per cent. In this case, the maximum common surcharge that could be charged would be 1 per cent. However, if the merchant wished to surcharge the two systems separately, it could charge 1 per cent and 1.5 per cent as appropriate. In this example, the merchant would not be able to blend both these costs into a 1.25 per cent surcharge, since it would be surcharging excessively for the scheme that cost 1 per cent. When did the rules take effect? Large merchants became subject to the new rules on excessive surcharging effective 1 September 2016. All other merchants became subject to the rules from 1 September 2017. What is the definition of a large merchant? Large merchants are defined as those that meet at least two of the following tests: consolidated turnover (including that of any related companies) of more than $25 million in the most recent financial year; consolidated gross assets at 30 June 2015 of $12.5 million or more; or 50 or more employees as at 30 June 2015. What if a merchant does not have an annual statement from their acquirer or payment facilitator? Effective 1 June 2017 the RBA's standard requires all acquirers to ensure that merchants receive statements that clearly set out merchants' average cost of acceptance for each card scheme. There may be merchants who wish to surcharge but do not have statements covering 12 months, for instance because they have not been established for that long. These merchants should make good faith estimates of their payment costs based on their available information – for example, any recent monthly statements they have, invoices and contracts from their acquirers, payment facilitators or payment service providers. Merchants may also wish to include items such as gateway fees paid to a payment service provider, the cost of fraud prevention services, any terminal costs paid to a provider other than their acquirer or payments facilitator, fraud-related chargeback fees (but not the chargebacks themselves) or the cost of insuring against forward delivery risk. If they wish to include such items, they will have to gather information on these costs over the past year and then calculate the amounts attributable to particular payment systems as outlined in Box 1 below. Based on data for the total value of transactions in each system, they will be able to calculate the additional percentage amount that may be included in the cost of acceptance and the permitted surcharge. Examples of how to calculate average costs of acceptance from information on payment costs under some different types of merchant plans can be found here. What if a merchant does not wish to surcharge in percentage terms but rather to charge a fixed amount? In most cases payment costs are charged to merchants in percentage terms, so it will typically be appropriate that any surcharge is also expressed in percentage terms. Indeed, one of the factors behind the Government's amendment to the Competition and Consumer Act and the RBA's new standard was dissatisfaction with the practice in the airline industry of imposing fixed-dollar surcharges that are well above actual cost of card acceptance for low-priced airfares. Accordingly, the standard defines the cost of acceptance in percentage terms and requires acquirers to provide information on payment costs in these terms. However, this does not prevent a merchant from capping the surcharge it applies at a fixed amount. For example, if a merchant has an average cost of acceptance for a particular scheme of 1 per cent, it could choose to apply a surcharge of 1 per cent up to a maximum surcharge of $10. In such cases a 1 per cent surcharge would be applied to payments up to $1000, and a surcharge of $10 would apply to payments greater than $1000 ( which would be less than the average cost of acceptance for that scheme). Alternatively, if a merchant's cost of accepting a particular payment method is truly a flat amount (for example, if the merchant's acquirer charges a flat fee of say 10 cents to all eftpos transactions), then a flat surcharge of the same amount on all transactions would not be excessive. Are there any other requirements on surcharges? Nothing in the standard alters the existing obligation of merchants to comply with the provisions of the Australian Consumer Law, set out in the Competition and Consumer Act. Sections 18 and 29 prohibit merchants from engaging in misleading or deceptive conduct and making false or misleading representations with respect to the price of goods or services, and section 48 prohibits component or partial pricing if the represented price only constitutes part of the total price of the goods or services. The new rules apply to all American Express companion cards, ie American Express cards issued by banks. The RBA has not designated the American Express proprietary card system, meaning that the ACCC cannot enforce the new rules on excessive surcharging for these cards. However, in the case of these cards, American Express can enforce excessive surcharging against merchants directly as its merchant agreements contractually prohibit merchants from surcharging any American Express transaction above the reasonable cost of acceptance. If excessive surcharging became an issue for proprietary American Express transactions, the RBA could reconsider current regulatory arrangements. What about other payment cards such as Union Pay, JCB, Diners Club etc? The RBA has not designated UnionPay, JCB or Diners Club. Accordingly the RBA's new standard does not apply to transactions carried out using those systems. However, these payment systems (and others) may include conditions in their merchant agreements that are similar to the framework under the RBA's standard. In such cases merchants may be contractually bound to surcharge caps in those systems, similar to the caps enforced by the RBA's standard. If excessive surcharging became an issue for these systems it will be open to the RBA to reconsider the regulatory arrangements. UnionPay provided the RBA with an undertaking on 29 May 2017 indicating it will not enforce no-surcharge rules in Australia and will amend its rules by the end of 2017 to ensure that they are consistent with the RBA’s new standard. Diners Club has also provided the Bank with an undertaking in relation to no-surcharge rules, and American Express has provided a similar undertaking in relation to proprietary card transactions. What about other systems such as PayPal and BPAY etc? PayPal and BPAY are payment systems in their own right that merchants and consumers may use. Consumers can fund transactions through those systems from a number of sources, including their credit card or their bank account. The cost to a merchant of accepting PayPal or BPAY reflects fees for those systems, so any surcharge applied on those systems is not a credit card surcharge. PayPal and BPAY are not currently designated, so transactions through those systems will not themselves be covered by the RBA's standards. However, these payment systems could include conditions in their merchant agreements that are similar to the framework under the RBA's standard. If excessive surcharging became an issue for either system the RBA could reconsider the regulatory arrangements. PayPal updated its user terms and conditions on 19 October 2016 to permit merchant surcharging. Paragraph 11.2(c) of the updated User Agreement for PayPal Services allows merchants to surcharge PayPal transactions as long as the surcharge does not exceed the amount the merchant is charged by PayPal for the transaction. PayPal has published information about surcharging PayPal payments. Why does the RBA regulate interchange fees? Interchange fees affect the prices faced by cardholders and merchants in using and accepting payments. Most notably, interchange fees increase payment costs for merchants and fund rewards programs for some cardholders. While there may be a useful role for interchange fees when a card network is first established, the case for significant interchange fees in mature card systems is much less clear. Where merchants feel unable to decline particular cards (because consumers expect to be able to pay with that card and may take their business elsewhere if they cannot), the incentive is for card schemes to raise interchange rates. Evidence from a range of countries suggests that competition between well-established payment card schemes can lead to the perverse result of increasing the price of payment services to merchants (and therefore to higher retail prices for consumers). The tendency for interchange rates to rise to high levels is most apparent in unregulated jurisdictions like the United States where credit card interchange rates in the MasterCard system are as high as 3.25 per cent plus 10 cents, implying that – after scheme fees and acquirer margin – some merchants may pay over 3½ per cent in merchant service fees for high rewards cards. The past decade has also seen a decline in transparency for some end users of the card systems, partly because of the increased complexity and the wider range of interchange fee categories. In particular, merchants that do not benefit from ‘strategic’ rates face much higher interchange rates and payment costs than ‘preferred’ merchants and may have no transparency over the cost of particular transactions. A standard Visa or MasterCard credit card will have an interchange cost for ‘non-preferred’ merchants of 0.25–0.30 per cent, while the highest level of premium card will have an interchange cost of up to 2.0 per cent for those merchants, with merchants typically having little ability to distinguish between these cards or to respond in terms of acceptance decisions. In 2003 the RBA introduced benchmarks intended to prevent the significant upward pressure on interchange rates seen in many markets. Contrary to some claims at the time that limiting interchange fees would affect the viability of card systems, the Australian cards market has continued to grow strongly and innovation has thrived. The RBA's reforms have been supported by the leading Australian consumer and merchant organisations. Following the reforms, a number of other jurisdictions, such as the European Union, have also regulated interchange fees. What are the RBA's new interchange standards? The weighted-average benchmarks remain the primary element of interchange regulation. The weighted-average benchmark for credit cards remains at 0.50 per cent. The weighted-average benchmark for debit cards has been lowered from 12 cents to 8 cents, effective 1 July 2017, consistent with the fall in average transaction values since the debit benchmark was introduced. The weighted-average benchmarks are supplemented by caps on any individual interchange fee within a scheme's schedule. No credit card interchange fee is permitted to exceed 0.80 per cent and no debit interchange fee is permitted to exceed 15 cents if levied as a fixed amount or 0.20 per cent if levied as a percentage amount. These changes are expected to significantly reduce the extent to which small and medium-sized merchants are disadvantaged relative to preferred merchants in the MasterCard and Visa interchange systems. The credit card interchange standard has been modified so that issuance of American Express companion cards is subject to the same interchange fee regulation that applies to the MasterCard and Visa systems. In particular, interchange fees are defined to also include the interchange-like ‘issuer fees’ paid by American Express to card-issuing banks as an incentive to issue cards. In addition, both companion card issuance and traditional ‘four-party’ issuance (in the eftpos, MasterCard and Visa systems) are subject to rules on ‘other net payments’ to issuers, so as to prevent any circumvention of the interchange standards. transactions on prepaid cards are included with debit cards in the observance of the debit benchmark. The cards market has continued to thrive under regulated interchange fees and Australia is recognised as one of the most innovative markets globally. Based on the experience of the earlier reforms, the RBA is confident that these reforms will contribute to a more competitive and efficient payments system and will not adversely affect the development of the cards market in Australia. How will the RBA's changes affect my credit card? There should be little effect on interchange payments on standard consumer cards and therefore only limited changes to other aspects (e.g. interest rates, interest-free periods) of such cards. However, the new standard is likely to result in some reductions in the generosity of rewards programs on premium and companion cards for consumers. Some adjustment in annual fees on these cards is also possible. Commercial and corporate card products often provide significant benefits free of charge to the company holding the card. It is possible that there will be changes to either the pricing or services provided by these products. These changes are part of the process of improving price signals to cardholders and creating a more efficient and lower-cost payments system. How will the RBA's changes affect my debit or prepaid card? The new standard has required schemes to reduce the high interchange rates that applied to some premium and commercial debit and prepaid cards. While it is currently unusual for rewards to be provided on debit and prepaid cards, some adjustments to product offerings for premium and commercial cards is possible. Interchange rates on standard cards are likely to be largely unaffected, so it is unlikely that there will be substantial changes to arrangements for most transaction accounts. More broadly, the changes to the interchange standards, especially on debit cards, should be reflected in lower merchant service fees and some merchants may decide to remove minimum spending requirements on cards, so consumers may find that they can use their cards for a greater range of transactions. I generally use payment methods other than cards. How will the RBA's changes affect me? Users of other payment methods are likely to benefit from the changes since the reforms will reduce the extent to which people using lower-cost payment methods cross-subsidise users of higher-cost methods (such as super-premium credit cards). The reforms will place downward pressure on the prices of goods and services faced by all consumers. Looking ahead, the RBA's interchange reforms will make it more likely that new payment methods are able to emerge. Interchange fees are used by the large card schemes to encourage banks to issue their cards and to encourage consumers to use those cards rather than some other payment method. Reforms that limit the upward pressure on interchange fees will make it easier for new players to compete. How will the RBA's changes affect credit unions, building societies and other small financial institutions? Most smaller financial institutions have tended to focus on offering credit card products in the low-fee and low-rate sectors of the market. While a few offer ‘premium’ rewards cards, most typically do not issue cards with extensive rewards that attract very high interchange fees. The smaller institutions do not issue American Express companion cards. The new interchange standard will have the largest effect on the high interchange categories applying to rewards cards and are likely to result in only small changes to interchange rates on standard cards. Hence, there should be little, if any, effect on interchange revenues of the smaller institutions, so little need for change to their business models. I am a small merchant. How do the RBA's changes affect me? Small and medium-sized merchants who do not benefit from preferred interchange rates previously bore the full cost of the high interchange rates on premium and commercial cards issued in the MasterCard and Visa systems. Accordingly, they should see a material reduction in merchant service fees from the RBA's reforms. This should improve their competitiveness relative to larger merchants who benefit from low interchange rates on all their card transactions. Merchants will also receive easy-to-understand information on the cost of payments for the different types of cards they accept. This should contribute to downward pressure on payment costs and will enable merchants to make more informed decisions about whether to accept higher-cost payment methods and, if so, whether to surcharge them. If merchants do decide to surcharge, they will have clear information on the maximum permissible surcharge for each payment method. Why are ‘companion cards’ subject to regulation? The RBA regulated interchange fees (payments from a merchant's bank to a cardholder's bank) in the MasterCard and Visa systems in the early 2000s because it was concerned about their use to drive up payment costs and their effect on payment choices by consumers. The card payment systems operated by American Express and Diners Club did not use interchange fees given that American Express and Diners Club maintained the relationship with both the cardholder and the merchant, without the involvement of banks. Since then, American Express has implemented a new model under which some cards (companion cards) are issued by banks rather than American Express itself. This model involves payments from American Express to banks to support issuance, along with more generous rewards programs than those typically available for MasterCard and Visa cards. These payments are ultimately funded by merchants and perform a function very similar to that of interchange fees. But to date they have been unregulated while interchange fees have been subject to a regulatory cap. The RBA's new approach of regulating payments to issuers in American Express companion card arrangements will restore competitive neutrality between these cards and the MasterCard and Visa systems, and reduce the effect of payments to issuers on cardholder payment choices. How will the RBA's standards affect the way that prepaid cards, including gift cards, are labelled? From 1 July 2017, all prepaid cards that are issued by participants in the designated eftpos, MasterCard and Visa schemes that are capable of being visually identified as prepaid cards must be so identified. Where a prepaid card is clearly identified as a gift card, it does not also need to be separately labelled as a prepaid card.

2019-04-20T16:16:19Z

https://rba.gov.au/payments-and-infrastructure/review-of-card-payments-regulation/q-and-a/card-payments-regulation-qa-conclusions-paper.html

I’m a fairly close observer of what we have come to call “The Wine Media”. My 20+ years observing the writing and reporting of all things wine, and any expertise I’ve accumulated as a result, is part of what I offer my clients—who hire me and keep me around in part because I’m a fairly reliable analyst of the wine media. I make a living understanding the wine media, how it works, what it wants and who reads it. Me and people like me may be more valuable than ever before for the simple reason that the Wine Media has never been more complex and has never more fully satisfied the audience for wine information than it does today. This has implications—for everyone. I cannot pull up an example of a single source of wine information that comes close to satisfying the needs of all these different types of audiences or the other audiences you could easily slice off of these and identify as having unique needs and desires. I can’t even think of a single foolish publisher of wine information that has ever attempted to address the entire universe of wine media consumers with a single effort. Unless a publisher/writer/reporter of wine information wants to invest considerable amounts of money, expertise and time, it’s extraordinarily difficult to build a significant audience in the realm of wine media, no matter how many slices of the wine-centric reader you may want to try to satisfy. This means it remains very difficult to develop a profitable or even near-profitable wine media venture meant to be more than a sidelight for said publisher. These realities shape the contours and content of today’s “Wine Media”. Interestingly, as one attempts to break down this unique subject area, it’s still best to do so by looking not at what kind of audiences have been developed, but rather the categories of publishers that are attempting to meet these audiences’ needs. Furthermore, the most useful way to gaze upon the Wine Media is not by looking at the kind of writing and reporting being done, but rather who is doing this. This is the case because wine information is largely inconsequential the vast majority of literate people. Consider the kinds of stories about wine that find their way out of the blogs, wine publications and wine sections of the daily newspapers and into the mainstream press: “A Wine Counterfeiter Scams Rich Folk out of Millions”. “France Has a Disastrous Harvest”. “Wine Experts Shown To Know Very Little”. It’s the scandalous and disastrous that is deemed worthy of coverage in the mainstream media. Occasionally, the business or political writers cover wine politics when a state considers significant change to its regulatory or legal structure. The Wine Media reports on what the general population would call esoterica: information and an area of interest that is very specialized, very obscure and highly relevant to only a relatively small number of, well, geeks. The Wine Blogger remains largely an amateur. That is to say, the vast majority of wine blogs are written without the intent of the publisher making much of anything in the way of revenue. This is not necessarily a reflection of the depth of ambition of the average wine blogger. It’s more a reflection of the slight general interest in wine-related writing and reporting, the lower expectations people have of blogs in general, and the somewhat inadequate structure of the traditional blog layout to accommodate revenue streams. Yet, it can be said that some of the most impressive wine expertise and some of the most interesting commentary is now appearing on wine blogs written by these amateurs. While some folks dismiss the quality of writing and commentary appearing on blogs, they do this correctly only by averaging the quality of the entire universe of wine bloggers. But when you zero in on the best of wine blogging it is very difficult not to make the case that remarkable talents inhabit this publishing category. It is still true that the best wine bloggers tend to publish regularly, often multiple times per week. It is still true that the best wine bloggers have a well-developed and unique voice. It is still true that the best wine bloggers tightly embrace the wine sub-culture with all its seeming inscrutability, quirks and layered cultural meaning. It is still true that the best wine bloggers foster audiences that contribute to the blogger’s success and influence by engaging in substantive comments of their own. Put another way, the best wine bloggers appear to genuinely care deeply about the meaning of wine and the benefits it delivers to those who dive in to the deep end of the wine pool. Finally, here’s the real interesting thing to remember about wine bloggers today: They in no way constitute a sideshow, a unique alternative or a developing sector of the wine media. They are today an integral and mainstream component of the wine media mechanism. By “Wine Critic” I am referring to that category of the wine media that tends largely to review and assess the character and quality of individual wines. They write notes and reviews of wines and often grade wines. The club of serious wine critics is relatively small and always has been. What I find most interesting about this slice of the wine media is that their output has changed the least over time, their body of work has tremendous room for evolution and that this small group still maintains significant influence. The most read and therefore most influential wine critics remain ensconced at traditional publications: The Wine Advocate, The Wine Spectator, The Wine Enthusiast, Wine & Spirits Magazine, International Wine Cellar, Connoisseurs Guide to California Wine, etc. While most of these publications and critics have in one way or another taken their work online, this fact is inconsequential to the character of their output. The wine critic remains dedicated to what is generally a 100-word review with a score or rating of some type attached. The questions that seems to most consistently occupy wine media watchers is whether or not the value of wine critics is waning or should wane, whether the 100 point rating scale remains valuable or influential and the degree to which critics are being, or ought to be, replaced by the crowd? The first two questions are difficult to answer because they require some form of measurement that can then be compared to measurements taken in the past. And I’m not sure any forms of reliable past measurements have been undertaken. A number of wine critics have obviously been very consequential in the past. And these folks remain influential today. But to what degree? It’s hard to say with any precision. However, it is true that traditional wine critics have new competition today in the form of social media and the crowd-sourced wine review. Denying the impact of CellarTracker, for example, is just stupid. Furthermore it appears that the crowd will be with us for the foreseeable future if only because technology provides easier and more convenient ways for members of the crowd to express an opinion and because this technology motivates more members of the crowd to do just this. That said, to-date I see no indication that the individuals wine critic/expert is loosing any important measure of their influence among wine geeks any more than the academic journals are loosing their influence among the economics, paleontology, historiography, particle physics and Hegelianism geeks that read them. It seems to me that the crowd sourced reviews will play an increasingly important role among the crowd, while the wine experts and critics will continue to play an important role among the geeks or demand a reliable level of expertise from their wine critics. That said, I am convinced there is room for the wine critic to evolve their output into something different. There is something stale about the 100 word wine review. It will be something fascinating to see if there is any development in this area of the wine media going forward. They are relatively small in number and those with the largest readership, despite increasing their circulations (Wine Spectator is up to a 400,000 circulation), still have a readership smaller than the largest circulation publications covering many other notable subjects. However, the avid consumer of wine information should have noticed that these mainstream wine publications still possess and employ the best minds in wine writing and produce some of the most reliably important coverage of the world of wine. No matter what you think of their opinions and biases, it’s a fact that the Jim Laubes, Matt Kramers, Steve Heimoffs, Patrick J. Comiskeys, Joshua Greenes, Paul Gregutts and Andy Perdues are formidable wine minds. It has always been the case that excellent reporting and writing about wine came from the mainstream wine media primarily because this is where you go to get paid to write about wine. Wine writing is almost never a lucrative project. So, when payment is offered for prose, those offering they payment often have their pick of the litter. Also under the category of “The Wine Publications” I put the wine newsletters and journals. Most of these are headed up by wine critics, yet nearly all of them offer commentary. There has been a certain dynamism in this sub category of the “Wine Publication” category. Still with us and still going strong are the Charles Olkens Dan Bergers, Robert Parkers and other stalwarts. But others have come on the scene who offer new perspectives and opportunities for wine geeks including Antonio Galloni, Doug Wilder, and Alice Feiring, to name just a few. These specialists provide coverage of niche topics and deliver very unique takes on the world of wine and I see no reason to believe that they will go away anytime soon and I’m sure they will be joined by new entrants into the newsletter/journal/niche category. In fact, this area of niche publication is one of the more likely ways for the wine blogger to graduate to a paying audience. Certain mechanical harvesters do a better job than others. The size and dynamism of direct to consumer sales channel is important to more and more companies. The development of the Chinese retail sector is impacting global wine production. These are the kinds of topics one finds covered in the wine trade media and this sector of the overall wine media world is critical to the functioning of the wine industry. A number of writers and publications contribute to realm of wine trade media. However, in the United States The Wine Communications Group dominates the sector. This company publishes Wine Business Monthly, Wine Business Insider, Wine Business Daily News Email, WineBusiness.com, Wines & Vines and The Practical Winery and Vineyard Journal. Their impact and influence on how members of the wine trade understand their business cannot be underestimated. M. Shanken Communications, the publisher of The Wine Spectator, also happens to be the publisher of another important source of trade news. They publisher both IMPACT as well as MarketWatch, two publications that regularly survey the wine and spirits industry and chronicle the movement of its movers and shakers and most important sales channels. These and other sources of industry-related writing tend to trade in nuts and bolts reporting, making them somewhat unique inside the wine media. They also are the source of the most traditional journalists in the wine media, those reporting the facts and not opinion. It’s important to note that this kind of wine writing rarely gets much attention, if only because it rarely the source of scandal and bombast. However, the growing complexity of the global wine industry and the quickened pace of change in the industry over the past 10 years means that no other sector of the wine media has played a more important role than the trade media does today. This is also the reason why news aggregation sites and services such as Lew Perdue’s Wine Industry Insight has gained such an important following. There is no indication that the importance of the wine trade media will wane. There is such constant movement and development and complexity now swirling inside the wine industry that outlets covering this maelstrom of ideas and change will remain critical and dynamic. Lettie Teague of the Wall Street Journal, Eric Asimov of the New York Times, Katherine Cole of the Oregonian, Jon Bonne of the San Francisco Chronicle, Bill St. John of the Chicago Tribune, S. Irene Virbila of the Los Angeles Times, Dave McIntyre of the Washington Post…These are the writers that provide the foundation for the public opinion and perception of wine in America and their influence nearly unmeasurable. The large daily newspapers, whether in print or online, remain the place where the largest number of Americans get their information in written form. The circulation of only those publications mentioned above is in the millions. So, when Mr. Asimov or Ms. Teague or Mr. St. John declare what the wine trends in America are or advise on what to buy or introduce us to a new winery or weigh in on the way Americas do or ought to buy or keep wine, it has impact…great impact. These are also the writers that interpret for the general public what the geeks inside the world of wine are talking about, arguing about and worrying about. I would argue that the degree to which the general public has a positive or negative view of wine or the wine industry in large part is due to how this relatively small group writes about the subjects they cover. But it is also notable that unlike in previous times, it is no longer a requirement that a large daily newspaper have a wine writer on staff or print a wine column. There is an equation here that impacts this reality. Categories of information that are in no way crucial the public weal and that are merely best understood at hobbies (such as wine, the game of bridge, the art of dance and gardening) must pay their way in the large dailies. That is, any space devoted to these topics must produce accompanying advertising in order to justify their inclusion in the newspaper. Wine columns have not always done this and with the continuing decline of circulation numbers of daily newspapers, the wine column has steadily disappeared. This development should remain of critical importance to the wine industry. Finally, I want to draw attention to one realm of the wine media that may not be considered a traditional slice of that pie, that has expanded with the development of the Internet and that provides wine geeks with a remarkably robust source of wine information and opinion: Online discussion forums. This is where the geeks gather to discuss in-depth any number of wine-related topics and the form of these discussions often takes on a very sophisticated note. They represent places where novices, experts and other wine-interested parties can learn a great deal about the topic of wine. There are a number of wine discussion forums and each possess a unique personality. Wine.Woot revolves around the “Wooters” that are catered to by this wine selling platform. WineBerserkers.com is home to a very active group of both wine lovers and members of the trade. Mark Squire’s Wine Discussion Board at eRobertParker hosts subscribers who have very opinionated views of wine. CellarTracker hosts a forum that delivers a wide-ranging discussion of all things wine. The Wine Lovers Discussion Forum is the oldest and most venerable discussion forum. Finally, Facebook has a number of “groups” where various aspects of wine and the wine industry are regularly discussed. It’s rare that news is broken at these venues. And it’s true that the commenters who inhabit these forums can sometimes be overly opinionated to the point of rudeness. But it’s equally true that they can be dynamic communities where intense, enlightening and detailed discussion of wine topics are most fully explored. Personally I adore them and have regularly surveyed their content since the early days when Compuserve, AOL and Prodigy were the places where wine geeks gathered online. I see no indication that the way wine is written about and discussed will or is changing in any meaningful way. Whether it is on a blog, in a Daily, on a discussion forum or in the wine trade publications, the subject of wine will focus primarily on opinion the evaluation of particular products. Places, people, companies and trends will be evaluated for the benefits and inspiration they provide. Reviews whether by critics or crowds will remain central to the discussion. Ratings and scores are going nowhere. And the diversity of products and producers will remain the primary driver of how wine is covered in the media. We all know that “wine” in general is unique in its ability to bring worlds together. Albeit subjective in its taste, critics and publishers that introduce us to new worlds should be commended. I shall continue by journey until I pass. Please continue to write, critique, advise and blog on, so I can continue by life’s work. Amongst social networks, it seems that Twitter takes a (more and more) valuable and relevant position in term of content curation and marketing tool as well. And when I write marketing, I intend that Twitter can be turned into a strategic / competitive marketing tool. What do you think ? Great piece Tom! Well written; well said. Thank You for sharing the insight. Happy New Year to you & yours! Tom, good analysis. Sorry I didn’t get around to reading it until now. Happy new year! Tom, I very much appreciate this post and the many other informative posts you have provided in the past. This post in particular is a wonderful nugget summarizing the current state of the wine world. Fermentation is my “go to” wine blog. Keep up the great work – and Happy New Year! Great Article Tom… Cheers !!!

2019-04-23T05:08:05Z

https://fermentationwineblog.com/2013/12/state-wine-media-2013/

CNET's reporters are covering the launch of the much-hyped iPhone 4. Stay tuned for updates from New York City and San Francisco. It's finally here. The much-anticipated iPhone 4 is hitting store shelves on Thursday at 7 a.m. local time in each time zone where it's available. CNET has teams of reporters covering the launch in New York City and San Francisco. Marguerite Reardon and Caroline McCarthy will be heading up coverage in New York, while Erica Ogg, Josh Lowensohn, and James Martin will be keeping tabs on what's happening out west. These reporters will be checking in at Apple stores and other locations, such as Best Buy, Wal-Mart, and Radio Shack, where iPhone 4s will be sold starting on Thursday. CNET will also let you know how things are going at the AT&T stores where only customers who preordered phones will be able to pick them up. Anyone looking to buy an iPhone off-the-shelf from AT&T will have to wait until Tuesday. AT&T says that demand for the iPhone 4 is 10 times what it was for last year's iPhone 3GS. And Apple says it took 600,000 preorders for the new phone through its sales channels. If history is any indication of what to expect, initial sales of the iPhone 4 are likely to be big. Apple sold more than 1 million iPhone 3GS smartphones the first three days it was on sale. The original iPhone sold about 270,000 units during its first weekend in June 2007, while the iPhone 3G sold around 1 million when it launched in July 2008. While there's little doubt that the lines will long, the big question is whether AT&T's activation system will be able to hold up under the pressure. If the preorder process is any indication of what to expect, iPhone fans may need to be patient. On June 15, thousands of customers trying to preorder the iPhone were met with error messages on AT&T's and Apple's Web sites. AT&T's servers were overwhelmed and the company ended up suspending preorders. To keep up with the latest news from the launch, stay tuned to CNET's updates all day. McCarthy, 6:24 a.m. EDT at the 14th Street Apple Store: About 150 people are in the preorder line for iPhone 4. The line for non-reserved phones is significantly longer. They're telling new arrivals to get in one big line, and then if people have proof of preorder, they sort them into the preorder line. Reardon, 6:30 a.m. EDT at the Fifth Avenue Apple Store: The lines for the iPhone 4 are wrapped around the block at Apple's flagship store on Fifth Ave. The line for the customers who haven't reserved an iPhone wind down 58th Street and around the block to 59th Street next to the Apple Store. There's also a huge line of people already lined up in the reserved line. These are customers who have reserved their phones in advance and are just waiting to pick them up. While it's clear the crowds are bigger to get the phone, the hoopla and the party atmosphere from previous iPhone launches seems to be missing. With a half hour to go, no one is chanting yet. McCarthy, 6:41 a.m. EDT: The line stretches all the way from the corner of 14th St. and 9th Ave. down to 10th Ave. (Google Maps should be able to tell you how long this is) and then up around 10th Ave. past the intersection of 15th St. almost to 16th St., but after the corner of 14th and 10th there are gaps in the line because of driveways, a gas station, etc. Employees of the Apple Store are wearing blue iPad T shirts--no special shirts for this launch. McCarthy, 6:44 a.m. EDT: First preorder: Been here since 10:15 p.m. EDT last night, originally had a 3G and lost it> He's a textbook editor for McGraw-Hill, and his name is Zach (26). He was about 42nd in line before they divided it into preorder and non-preorder. First people to show up who didn't preorder the phone got to the store at 3 p.m. EDT yesterday. Zach says he took the day off work, and got his boss' approval. He is not playing hooky. Reardon, 6:50 a.m. EDT: The doors open in 10 minutes. People in the back of the line only got here about 20 minutes ago. Jose Marinez, 36, said he has stood in line every year since 2007 to get an iPhone. He isn't worried that Apple will run out of phones, but he is a little worried that AT&T's servers might crash again. He tried to preorder the phone on June 15 and gave up when he couldn't get through on the Web site. McCarthy, 6:58 a.m. EDT: Apple Store employees starting to cheer to rev people up. McCarthy, 7:01 a.m. EDT: Preorders are being let in, 60 people at a time. It's going smoothly so far. Afew minutes later, the first batch of walk-ups (non-preorders) are let into store, but ushered downstairs rather than into the upstairs area. Only about 20 let in. McCarthy, 7:10 a.m. EDT: It's been 10 minutes and the first guy in line has not yet come back out--AT&T activation. Apple Store employee talking to people who show up and wonder how long the wait will be: "The demand is tremendous. It seems like everybody in New York wants this phone." McCarthy, 7:11 a.m. EDT: First customer walks out with phone. McCarthy, 7:17 a.m. EDT: This is going to be a long day for some of these people: there are still hundreds of people in the preorder line--still only one group of 60 has been let in--and the walk-up line is still much much longer. Line going SLOW. An Apple Store employee tells me that they do not yet know when the store will be open to "regular" customers for non-iPhone purchases. McCarthy, 7:25 a.m. EDT: Activation time in-store appears to be 10-15 minutes. But the line itself is very slow. A lot of people who may have expected to get to work on time might not. Lots of reps from companies that resell used iPhones, or organizations that donate them to developing countries, are soliciting people in line. The line for walk-ups is now all the way to corner of 16th St.--and keeps growing. Reardon, 7:30 a.m. EDT: People have been filing into the Fifth Ave. store for about a half-hour now. The line for people who have reserved iPhones is moving quickly. But the line for people who have not preordered a phone keeps growing. It now ends near the corner of 59th St. and Fifth Ave.--people enter the Apple store on 58th and Fifth Ave. Reardon, 7:40 a.m. EDT: I just overheard an Apple representative say that everyone standing in line right now without a reservation will likely get a phone. He thinks the line should take two hours to get through. McCarthy, 7:51 a.m. EDT, en route in Manhattan: The RadioShack on 14th St. and 7th Ave. is opening at its usual 9 a.m. time, no one waiting in front, no ads for iPhone 4 in window (in fact, there's still a 3GS poster). McCarthy, 8:18 a.m. EDT at RadioShack in Brooklyn Heights: Across the East River in Brooklyn Heights, about 15 people are clustered in front of the RadioShack on Montague St. It's opening at its regular hour of 9 a.m. The people waiting are a mix of preorders and walk-ups. There are no Apple Stores in Brooklyn, FYI. McCarthy, 8:32 a.m. EDT: A RadioShack employee just arrived at the Brooklyn Heights store. The line is not getting much longer. The first guy has been here since 5:30 a.m. EDT. The 15th person in line is a girl who says her boyfriend is in line at the 14th St. Apple Store. He preordered a phone there and says even the preorder line is moving at a snail's pace; she, meanwhile, preordered at the Montague St. RadioShack: "I'll probably be back in bed before he even gets to the front of the line." She said the two of them waited in line for the original iPhone together but that she's "over that." That said, people at RadioShack know they're taking a gamble because they've heard the store may have as few as 10 phones in stock. Reardon, 8:36 a.m. EDT: I just spent some time inside the Fifth Ave. Apple store with CNET TV's camera crew. Unlike with previous iPhone launches, the activation process is going pretty smoothly--customers are in and out within 25 minutes. No one I talked to reported any problems. Customers with preorders were allowed in the store first. And by 8:00 a.m. the store was letting in people without preorders. But the line outside for non-preorder customers doesn't look to have moved much yet. McCarthy, 8:36 a.m. EDT: A RadioShack employee comes out of the store and says they don't have as many phones as they'd hoped. Even though the store technically isn't open yet, he's letting the people who preordered phones come in one by one. McCarthy, 8:43 a.m. EDT: If people who preordered the phone aren't in line right now, it'll be first come, first serve. Only 4 each of the 16GB and 32GB models are in stock. Guy at RadioShack has a list and if people's names aren't near the top of it, they don't get a phone now. The line breaks up once people learn they won't get one. Reardon, 8:52 a.m. EDT: It's a good thing that Apple is offering a tutorial at one of the tables for people to show them how to use the features on their new phones. Some customers were having trouble getting the FaceTime app to work. Two guys who had come to the store together to get their iPhones were eager to show off the new FaceTime video chat application. But at first, neither one was able to figure out how to launch the chat. Once they realized that they initiated the video call by clicking on the FaceTime button in their contacts, the application wasn't working for one of the guys. Even though FaceTime video calls are made only over a Wi-Fi connection, users still need to have a 3G connection to initiate the call. And unfortunately for these friends, one of their phones wasn't getting 3G cellular signal from AT&T in the Apple store. McCarthy, 9:00 a.m. EDT: The people waiting in line at the Brooklyn Heights RadioShack had a definitive answer as to whether they'd be getting an iPhone today before the store had even opened for business. Most, unfortunately, walked away empty-handed. Reardon, 9:06 a.m. EDT: The line at the Fifth Ave. Apple Store for customers who did not preorder an iPhone 4 is starting to go down. It is still wrapped around the block, but it's not to the corner anymore. Reardon, 9:45 a.m. EDT at the Best Buy on 62nd Street and Broadway: 9:45 a.m. I was just informed by a sales manager that Best Buy stores in Manhattan and possibly throughout the country will only be selling preordered iPhone 4s. He said he doesn't expect Best Buy stores in New York City to have iPhone 4s in stock until next week at the earliest, or the first week of July. Ogg, 6:49 a.m. PDT at the Stockton Street Apple Store in San Francisco: The reservations line is a third longer than the walk-in line, stretching around the corner two city blocks. While a few camped out overnight, the crowd mostly began forming around 4:30 a.m. PDT today. As usual, there are people passing out coffee and donuts to the eager iPhone buyers gathered here. Ogg, 6:55 a.m. PDT: An update on the early entrepreneurs we wrote about on Tuesday: Chris Bank, the first man in line Tuesday, who was selling his spot for $200, actually handed it off for $400. The taker was Joe Sabia of San Francisco, who saw the story on CNET and decided to buy the spot and do it for "just a really fun story." This will be his first iPhone. Joe Lobato, who was trying to trade his spot for a new iPhone, because he couldn't afford it, found a family of three to buy two phones--one for him, one for them. So at least a couple of the early entrepreneurs here were successful. Reardon, 9:56 a.m. EDT: I just checked with my colleague Erica Ogg, who covers Apple. She said that some Best Buy stores are only selling preorder phones, while others will have phones in stock for people coming to buy them off the street. I guess the best bet is to call your local Best Buy store in advance to find out if they have them. According to the manager at a Best Buy store in Manhattan, all stores in the New York City district will only be selling preorders today. Ogg, 6:58 a.m. PDT: The store is about to open, camera crews are crowding the entrance. No chanting by employees--yet. Then, as the Apple employees come down the stairs to form a receiving line inside the store, those waiting in line start to cheer. Ogg, 7:02 a.m. PDT: The countdown from employees begins...and the doors open at two minutes after 7 a.m. The first people with reservations start pouring into the San Francisco store. So far everything seems fairly orderly. Only those who reserved have been let in so far. The people who made purchases appear to be waiting patiently. Lowensohn, 7:07 a.m. PDT at the Apple Store in Palo Alto: The line here was considerably longer than that for the iPad. The guys at the front of the line had, like many others, spent the night in front of the store, though they only got there at 10:30 a.m. the day before. Ogg, 7:11 a.m. PDT: In San Francisco, the first buyers emerge, all smiles, and of course, to the proverbial pop of flash bulbs. Reardon, 10:14 a.m. EDT: Here is some more detail on the Best Buy inventory. According to an FAQ that Best Buy has put on its Web site, only stores that have more inventory than the preorders will be selling the iPhone on launch day (that is, today). Since preorders have been so high, Best Buy's Web site says it's unlikely that many stores will have enough inventory to sell iPhone 4s to walk-in customers. Another tidbit to keep in mind is that just because you've preordered a phone with Best Buy doesn't guarantee that you will be able to pick up that phone today. Unlike Apple, which has said that it will have enough iPhone 4s available on launch day for everyone who preordered the devices, Best Buy says on its Web site that even preorders are first come, first served. From the FAQ: "If I pre-ordered the iPhone 4 at Best Buy, will I get it on launch day, June 24th, 2010? -- This is not guaranteed and is completely dependent on how many the store receives from Apple. Any inventory received will be used to fulfill outstanding preorders in the order they were placed. For example, if the store has twenty preorders on launch day but only received fifteen phones from Apple, then the first fifteen preorders should receive their phone on launch day." Best Buy says that customers who preordered iPhone 4s, but did not get their phones on launch day, will get them when the next shipment of phones comes in from Apple. Ogg, 7:17 a.m. PDT: After about 15 minutes, the first walk-in buyers are allowed to enter the store. Sabia, who paid $400 and slept one night on the sidewalk, gets a cheer from some of his fellow waiters-in-line. Bank, who slept outside this store since Tuesday, gets a cheer from Apple employees, who he's clearly befriended, as he enters the store to make his purchase. Ogg, 7:27 a.m. PDT: Just as at the iPad launch here a few months ago, Apple's chief designer, Jonathan Ive, emerges from the Stockton Street store quietly, nodding politely at the few fans who recognize him. Ogg, 7:36 a.m. PDT: After a half-hour, only two walk-in customers have been let inside. Looks like it's going to take a lot of patience for people who did not have a reservation. Ogg, 7:59 a.m. PDT: The first walk-in buyer here in San Francisco, Joe Sabia, emerges with his iPhone. He decided to not sign an AT&T contract, so he paid full price for the phone. "That way if it goes to Verizon in the next few months, I can use it there." Lowensohn, 8:04 a.m. PDT: Both lines here in Palo Alto continue to grow. The walk-in line has now stretched around the block. Likewise, the line for those who have preordered is around the same size as it was for iPad walk-ins back in April. CNET ran into brothers Christopher and James Nicholson, who camped out overnight here. Christopher explained that he had done the same when the Palo Alto store first opened, but that it was his brother's first time doing so. Another first for James was the latest iPhone--he had not owned any of the previous iterations. The two brought a cooler, as well as a pillows and blankets. "I was kind of bummed [Robert] Scoble wasn't here," said Christopher. "When I was here for the iPad launch, that guy was a lot of fun." Lowensohn, 8:48 a.m. PDT: People with reservations who got here at 6:30 this morning are just now getting their handsets. On the walk-in line, it's still going to the folks who camped overnight. Also overheard two employees saying the store was expecting a midmorning stock delivery. Though from the looks of what they have on the floor, there's a ton of stock. Lowensohn, 9:01 a.m. PDT: Apple appears to be selling a ton of bumpers--a casing for the sides of the iPhone 4. Almost everyone I've seen walking out without a bag seems to have bought one. And most are black. "Normally, I would have waited," Rosendaal said. He's had every version of the iPhone that has come out since 2007. Every year he has upgraded to the new version, but he's never waited in line at a store. After about six hours of waiting he said he doubts he'll ever do it again. Reardon, 12:42 p.m. EDT: Apple sales representatives are telling people who are coming up to the line that they need a reservation at this point to get an iPhone 4. The line has gotten much shorter in the past half-hour. Customers who have preordered phones for this location have until 10 p.m. tonight to pick up their phones. If they don't show up, they will forfeit their reservation and the phone will be released for sale to walk-in customers starting tomorrow morning. Apple employees said they weren't sure if this location will get a new order of phones tomorrow. But they expect a line to form early in the morning to pick up any phones that weren't claimed today. McCarthy, 1:45 p.m. EDT: A friend I bumped into when I showed up at the 14th St. Apple store in NYC at 6:15 a.m. is still in line. Lowensohn, 10:56 a.m. PDT: The lines here in Palo Alto are still going, but the one for walk-ins is now considerably shorter than earlier in the day. The rain has given way to warm and sunny weather, which prompted iPhone advertising and analytics company Mobclix to park a large Ben & Jerry's ice cream truck next to the line. At this point it's safe to say anyone who's spent more than a few hours in line will have had enough sugar to put down an elephant. Linegoers did get another treat in the form of a FedEx and UPS truck both pulling up across the street from the store and unloading piles of brown boxes, though the Apple employees who were unloading them were quick to point out that they were not additional iPhone units. CNET later confirmed that many of the boxes contained iPad models with 3G antennas. But the truck's arrival does explain the earlier rumors of a delivery on its way. Reardon, 2 p.m. EDT: At the AT&T store at 95th and Broadway. It looks like preordering the phone and picking it up from an AT&T store may have been the best bet for customers looking to get an iPhone 4 on launch day with no hassles or long lines. I just checked out an AT&T store on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. There was no line in the store, and a sales representative said that no significant line had formed at any point of the day. Customers came into the store at their leisure to pick up their preordered phones today. "There were a few people in line early at 7 a.m.," he said. "But most people were able to just walk in and pick up their new phones." Even customers who hadn't expected to get their phone delivered today were able to get their iPhone, he added. AT&T informed customers earlier this week that the company would only sell preordered phones at its retail locations on launch day. It will begin selling the phones to people who were not able to preorder starting Tuesday, June 29. The sales representative said he expects the store to have plenty of phones in stock for the release on Tuesday, but he urges customers to get in line early. The store opens at 7 a.m. Lowensohn, 11:40 a.m. PDT: Here at the Apple store in Palo Alto, people without reservations now have to wait 4 to 5 hours, while people with reservations have to wait approximately 3 hours. The line for people with reservations is also approximately five times the size of the walk-in line, but it's moving faster. Folks with reservations have until 9 p.m. to get in line and be guaranteed a phone today. Lowensohn, 1:14 p.m. PDT: Just a quick update from the Palo Alto store, where the people currently at the front of the reservation line have now been waiting for 7 hours to get their phones.

2019-04-20T08:34:44Z

https://www.cnet.com/news/live-blog-iphone-4-goes-on-sale/

The game between third ranked Leopards (29-9) and eighth ranked Golden Stars (20-18) was the most important one in the last round on Friday night. Leopards were crushed by Golden Stars in Shenzhen 121-99. Golden Stars looked well-organized offensively handing out 29 assists. 32 personal fouls committed by Leopards helped opponents get some easy free throw opportunities. It was a great evening for Lithuanian power forward Donatas Motiejunas (213-90) who led his team to a victory with a double-double by scoring 36 points (!!!), 23 rebounds and 6 assists. American point guard Ty Lawson (180-87, college: N.Carolina) helped adding 28 points and 8 assists (went 8 for 8 at the free throw line). The best for the losing side was American point guard Dwight Buycks (191-89, college: Marquette) with 29 points and 5 rebounds. The winner was already known earlier in the game, so both coaches allowed to play the bench players saving starting five for next games. Golden Stars maintains eighth place with 20-18 record, which they share with Shanghai S. Leopards at the other side keep the third position with nine games lost. Golden Stars is looking forward to face bottom-ranked Fly Dragons (#20) in Beijing in the next round which should be another easy win for them. Leopards will play at home against Bayi Rockets (#18) and are hoping to win this game. CBA top team - Guandong Tigers (34-4) had no problems winning another game. This time they crushed fourteenth ranked Brave Dragons (14-24) in Dongguan 122-95. It was a quality performance for the former international Jianlian Yi (212-87) who led the winners and scored 29 points and 7 rebounds. Sonny Weems accounted for 16 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists. Center PengFei Yan (207-93) came up with a double-double by scoring 28 points and 14 rebounds for Brave Dragons in the defeat. Since the result was very predictable, it gave the chance for the coaches to test many bench players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Guandong Tigers have an impressive series of eleven victories in a row. They maintain first place with 34-4 record. Brave Dragons lost fourth consecutive game. They keep the fourteenth position with 24 games lost. Guandong Tigers will play against Sharks (#9) in Shanghai in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Brave Dragons will play at home against Xinjiang Flying Tige (#6) and hope to get back on the winning track. 15th ranked Eagles (11-27) were outscored at home by tenth ranked Sharks (20-18) with the biggest margin this round 121-86 on Friday night. The best player for the winners was Luis Scola who had a double-double by scoring 27 points and 15 rebounds. At the other side the best for losing team was Dakari Johnson who recorded 22 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists. Since the result was very predictable, it gave the chance for the coaches to test many bench players and allowed the starting five to rest. Sharks moved-up to eighth place, which they share with Shandong GS. Loser Eagles keep the fifteenth position with 27 games lost. Sharks will meet at home league's leader Guandong Tigers in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Eagles will play against Jilin Tigers (#12) and hope to secure a win. There were no shocking results in the rest of the games of round 39: Guangsha L. won against Tianjin GL on the opponent's court 115-100. Bottom-ranked Beijing Dragons unfortunately lost to Nanjing TX MK in a home game 101-106. Jilin NE T. recorded a loss to Fujian S. on the road 95-106. Jiangsu D. was defeated by Zhejiang Ch. on its own court 112-116. Beijing Ducks smashed Sichuan BW in a road game 119-92. Guangzhou LL lost to defending champion Liaoning FL at home 94-110. Xinjiang FT outscored Bayi R. on the opponent's court 116-96. The most impressive stats of the last round was 46 points (!!!), 7 rebounds and 4 assists by Donald Sloan of Jiangsu D.. Very expected game in Tianjin where 17th ranked Gold Lions (9-29) were defeated by fourth ranked Zhejiang Guangsha Lions (28-9) 115-100 on Thursday. Zhejiang Guangsha Lions outrebounded Gold Lions 49-35 including a 20-6 advantage in offensive rebounds. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 23 assists. The best player for the winners was international center Jinqiu Hu (208-97) who had a double-double by scoring 24 points and 10 rebounds. American point guard Courtney Fortson (180-88, college: Arkansas) chipped in a double-double by scoring 17 points, 8 rebounds and 12 assists. At the other side the best for losing team was American-Filipino power forward Andray Blatche (211-86) who recorded a double-double by scoring 27 points and 15 rebounds (went 8 for 8 at the free throw line) and American-Montenegrin point guard Taylor Rochestie (185-85, college: Washington St.) added 27 points and 6 assists respectively. Five Zhejiang Guangsha Lions and four Gold Lions players scored in double figures. Both coaches used bench players and allowed the starting five to rest. Zhejiang Guangsha Lions maintains fourth place with 28-9 record. Gold Lions lost their sixth game in a row. They keep the seventeenth position with 29 games lost. They share it with Bayi R.. Zhejiang Guangsha Lions' supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will face at home their local rival from Hangzhou Golden Bulls. Rather predictable result in Beijing where sixteenth ranked Monkey Kings (10-28) defeated bottom-ranked Fly Dragons (7-31) 106-101 on Friday. The best player for the winners was American guard Joseph Young (188-92, college: Oregon) who scored 45 points (!!!), 5 rebounds and 6 assists. Forward JianYe Song (198-91) chipped in a double-double by scoring 12 points, 11 rebounds, 4 assists and 5 steals. At the other side the best for losing team was American Thomas Robinson (208-91, college: Kansas) who recorded a double-double by scoring 24 points and 19 rebounds and the other American import swingman Ricky Ledo (201-92, college: Providence) added 23 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists and 6 steals respectively. Four Fly Dragons players scored in double figures. Both coaches used bench players in such tough game. Monkey Kings maintains sixteenth place with 10-28 record. Fly Dragons lost their fourteenth game in a row. They stay dead last with 31 lost games. Monkey Kings will meet at home league's second-placed Flying Leopards in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Fly Dragons will play against Golden Stars (#8) and hope to secure a win. Not a big story in a game in Jinjiang where 11th ranked Jilin Tigers (18-19) were defeated by seventh ranked Sturgeons (21-17) 106-95 on Friday. The best player for the winners was Canadian Andrew Nicholson (206-89, college: St.Bonaventure) who had a double-double by scoring 25 points and 13 rebounds. American-Ukrainian point guard Eugene Jeter (180-83, college: Portland) chipped in a double-double by scoring 19 points, 6 rebounds and 12 assists. At the other side the best for losing team was American guard Dominique Jones (193-88, college: S.Florida) who recorded a double-double by scoring 31 points, 19 rebounds and 7 assists and the former international guard JinMing Cui (193-92) added 22 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists respectively. Both teams had four players each who scored in double figures. Both coaches used bench players and allowed the starting five to rest. Sturgeons maintains seventh place with 21-17 record. Loser Jilin Tigers dropped to the twelfth position with 19 games lost. Sturgeons will meet Gold Lions (#17) in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Jilin Tigers will play against Eagles (#15) in Qingdao and hope to secure a win. Everything could happen in Nanjing at the game between two tied teams. Both twelfth ranked Golden Bulls and 13th ranked Jiangsu Dragons had identical 18-19 record. But Jiangsu Dragons were not able to use a home court advantage and lost to the opponent from Hangzhou 116-112 on Friday night. Golden Bulls made 29-of-37 free shots (78.4 percent) during the game. They also forced 22 Jiangsu Dragons turnovers. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 23 assists. The best player for the winners was American guard Marcus Denmon (191-90, college: Missouri, agency: BeoBasket) who scored 32 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists (went 10 for 10 at the free throw line !!!). His fellow American import guard Brandon Paul (193-91, college: Illinois, agency: Pensack Sports) chipped in a double-double by scoring 22 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. Four Golden Bulls players scored in double figures. At the other side the best for losing team was American guard Donald Sloan (190-88, college: Texas A&M) who recorded 46 points (!!!), 7 rebounds and 4 assists and Serbian center Miroslav Raduljica (213-88) added 22 points, 9 rebounds and 5 assists respectively. Jiangsu Dragons' coach rotated ten players in this game, but that didn't help. The victory was the third consecutive win for Golden Bulls. They moved-up to tenth place, which they share with Guangzhou LL. Loser Jiangsu Dragons keep the thirteenth position with 20 games lost. Golden Bulls' supporters look forward to an exciting derby game next round, where their team will travel locally in Hangzhou to the arena Zhejiang Guangsha Lions. CBA top team - Guandong Tigers (34-4) had no problems winning another game. This time they crushed fourteenth ranked Brave Dragons (14-24) in Dongguan 122-95. Guandong Tigers dominated down low during the game scoring 70 of its points in the paint compared to Brave Dragons' 50. Guandong Tigers forced 26 Brave Dragons turnovers. Strangely Brave Dragons outrebounded Guandong Tigers 47-35 including 37 on the defensive glass. Their players were unselfish on offense dishing 27 assists comparing to just 11 passes made by Brave Dragons' players. It was a quality performance for the former international Jianlian Yi (212-87) who led the winners and scored 29 points and 7 rebounds. American swingman Sonny Weems (198-86, college: Arkansas) accounted for 16 points, 7 rebounds and 8 assists for the winning side. Four Guandong Tigers players scored in double figures. Center PengFei Yan (207-93) came up with a double-double by scoring 28 points and 14 rebounds and American point guard Bobby Brown (188-84, college: CS Fullerton) added 30 points and 5 assists (went 8 for 8 at the free throw line) respectively for Brave Dragons in the defeat. Since the result was very predictable, it gave the chance for the coaches to test many bench players which allowed the starters a little rest for the next games. Guandong Tigers have an impressive series of eleven victories in a row. They maintain first place with 34-4 record. Brave Dragons lost fourth consecutive game. They keep the fourteenth position with 24 games lost. Guandong Tigers will play against Sharks (#9) in Shanghai in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Brave Dragons will play at home against Xinjiang Flying Tige (#6) and hope to get back on the winning track. 15th ranked Eagles (11-27) were outscored at home by tenth ranked Sharks (20-18) with the biggest margin this round 121-86 on Friday night. Sharks dominated down low during the game scoring 76 of its points in the paint compared to Eagles' 48 and made 21-of-26 free shots (80.8 percent) during the game. They outrebounded Eagles 50-31 including a 37-19 advantage in defensive rebounds. Sharks looked well-organized offensively handing out 25 assists. The best player for the winners was Argentinian-Spanish power forward Luis Scola (206-80) who had a double-double by scoring 27 points and 15 rebounds. American point guard Jimmer Fredette (188-89, college: BYU) chipped in 32 points and 7 assists (went 10 for 10 at the free throw line !!!). At the other side the best for losing team was American power forward Dakari Johnson (213-95, college: Kentucky) who recorded 22 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists and the other American import point guard Jonathan Gibson (188-87, college: N.Mexico St.) added 19 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists respectively. Five Sharks and four Eagles players scored in double figures. Since the result was very predictable, it gave the chance for the coaches to test many bench players and allowed the starting five to rest. Sharks moved-up to eighth place, which they share with Shandong GS. Loser Eagles keep the fifteenth position with 27 games lost. Sharks will meet at home league's leader Guandong Tigers in the next round and it will be quite challenging to get another victory. Eagles will play against Jilin Tigers (#12) and hope to secure a win. There was no surprise in Sichuan where 19th ranked Blue Whales (8-29) were outplayed by fifth ranked Beijing Ducks (26-12) 119-92 on Thursday. Beijing Ducks dominated down low during the game scoring 68 of its points in the paint compared to Blue Whales' 46. They looked well-organized offensively handing out 30 assists comparing to just 16 passes made by Blue Whales' players. The best player for the winners was Croatian-American center Justin Hamilton (213-90, college: LSU) who had a double-double by scoring 29 points and 12 rebounds. American guard Aaron Jackson (190-86, college: Duquesne) chipped in a double-double by scoring 24 points and 11 assists (on 9-of-11 shooting from the field). At the other side the best for losing team was American Jamaal Franklin (196-91, college: San Diego St., agency: Slash Sports) who recorded 16 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 blocks and guard Rongqi Huang (190-99) added 19 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists respectively. Both teams had five players each who scored in double figures. Since the result was very predictable, it gave the chance for the coaches to test many bench players and allowed the starting five to get some rest. Beijing Ducks maintains fifth place with 26-12 record. Blue Whales lost their fourth game in a row. They keep the nineteenth position with 29 games lost. Beijing Ducks will meet Long-Lions (#10) in the next round which should be theoretically another easy game. Blue Whales will play against Jiangsu Dragons (#13) and hope to secure a win. No shocking result in a game in Guangzhou where second ranked Flying Leopards (33-5) won against 9th ranked Long-Lions (19-19) 110-94 on Friday. Flying Leopards made 20-of-25 free shots (80.0 percent) during the game. The best player for the winners was American forward Brandon Bass (203-85, college: LSU) who had a double-double by scoring 21 points and 11 rebounds. His fellow American import Lester Hudson (190-84, college: Tenn-Martin) chipped in 22 points and 5 rebounds. Four Flying Leopards players scored in double figures. At the other side the best for losing team was American point guard Kyle Fogg (190-90, college: Arizona) who recorded 34 points (!!!), 8 rebounds and 7 assists and guard Kailun Guo (188-95) added 12 points and 5 rebounds respectively. Both coaches used bench players and allowed the starting five to get some rest. Defending champion maintains second place with 33-5 record behind leader Guangdong ST. Long-Lions lost their fourth game in a row. They dropped to the tenth position with 19 games lost. They share it with Zhejiang Ch.. Flying Leopards will meet Monkey Kings (#16) in the next round which should be an easy win for them. Long-Lions will play against Beijing Ducks (#5) and hope to secure a win. Very expected game in Ningbo where 18th ranked Bayi Rockets (9-29) were crushed by sixth ranked Xinjiang Flying Tige (25-12) 116-96 on Thursday. Xinjiang Flying Tige dominated down low during the game scoring 74 of its points in the paint compared to Bayi Rockets' 38. Xinjiang Flying Tige had a 31-17 advantage in offensive rebounds. The best player for the winners was American-Bulgarian point guard Darius Adams (188-89, college: Indianapolis) who had a double-double by scoring 38 points (!!!), 10 rebounds and 6 assists. The former international center Ziming Fan (211-98) chipped in 20 points and 8 rebounds (on 8-of-9 shooting from the field). At the other side the best for losing team was the former international guard Shuo Han (196-86) who recorded 24 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists and international guard Lei Meng (193-95) added 23 points and 6 rebounds (perfect behind the arc making all five shots) respectively. Five Xinjiang Flying Tige and four Bayi Rockets players scored in double figures. Both coaches used bench players and allowed the starting five to get some rest. The victory was the fourth consecutive win for Xinjiang Flying Tige. They maintain sixth place with 25-12 record. Loser Bayi Rockets dropped to the seventeenth position with 29 games lost. They share it with Tianjin GL. Xinjiang Flying Tige will meet Brave Dragons (#14) in the next round and are hoping to win another game. Bayi Rockets will play against Leopards in Shenzhen and hope to secure a win. The game between third ranked Leopards (29-9) and eighth ranked Golden Stars (20-18) was the most important one in the last round on Friday night. Leopards were crushed by Golden Stars in Shenzhen 121-99. Golden Stars looked well-organized offensively handing out 29 assists. 32 personal fouls committed by Leopards helped opponents get some easy free throw opportunities. It was a great evening for Lithuanian power forward Donatas Motiejunas (213-90) who led his team to a victory with a double-double by scoring 36 points (!!!), 23 rebounds and 6 assists. American point guard Ty Lawson (180-87, college: N.Carolina) helped adding 28 points and 8 assists (went 8 for 8 at the free throw line). The best for the losing side was American point guard Dwight Buycks (191-89, college: Marquette) with 29 points and 5 rebounds and international center Zijie Shen (205-97) produced a double-double by scoring 10 points and 10 rebounds. Four Golden Stars and five Leopards players scored in double figures. The winner was already known earlier in the game, so both coaches allowed to play the bench players saving starting five for next games. Golden Stars maintains eighth place with 20-18 record, which they share with Shanghai S. Leopards at the other side keep the third position with nine games lost. Golden Stars is looking forward to face bottom-ranked Fly Dragons (#20) in Beijing in the next round which should be another easy win for them. Leopards will play at home against Bayi Rockets (#18) and are hoping to win this game.

2019-04-23T06:44:04Z

https://www.asia-basket.com/China/news/565311/CBA-Round-39:-Leopards-are-defeated-by-Golden-Stars

This article is about the TV series. For other uses, see Twin Peaks (disambiguation). Twin Peaks is an American mystery horror drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch that premiered on April 8, 1990, on ABC. It was one of the top-rated series of 1990, but declining ratings led to its cancellation after its second season in 1991. It nonetheless gained a cult following and has been referenced in a wide variety of media. In subsequent years, Twin Peaks is often listed among the greatest television series of all time. The series follows an investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan) into the murder of homecoming queen Laura Palmer (Sheryl Lee) in the fictional suburban town of Twin Peaks, Washington. The show's narrative draws on elements of detective fiction, but its uncanny tone, supernatural elements, and campy, melodramatic portrayal of eccentric characters also draw on American soap opera and horror tropes. Like much of Lynch's work, it is distinguished by surrealism, offbeat humor, and distinctive cinematography. The acclaimed score was composed by Angelo Badalamenti with Lynch. The success of the show sparked a media franchise, and the series was followed by a 1992 feature film, Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me, that serves as a prequel to the series. Additional tie-in books were also released. Following a hiatus of over 25 years, the show returned in 2017 with a third season on Showtime, marketed as Twin Peaks: The Return. The season was directed by Lynch and written by Lynch and Frost, and starred many original cast members, including MacLachlan. Season one of Twin Peaks focuses on the mystery of who killed Laura Palmer (played by Sheryl Lee, pictured in 1990). In 1989, the logger Pete Martell discovers a naked corpse wrapped in plastic on the bank of a river outside the town of Twin Peaks, Washington. When Sheriff Harry S. Truman, his deputies, and Dr. Will Hayward arrive, the body is identified as homecoming queen Laura Palmer. A badly injured second girl, Ronette Pulaski, is discovered in a fugue state. FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper is called in to investigate. Cooper's initial examination of Laura's body reveals a tiny typed letter "R" inserted under her fingernail. Cooper informs the community that Laura's death matches the signature of a killer who murdered another girl in southwestern Washington the previous year, and that evidence indicates the killer lives in Twin Peaks. The authorities discover through Laura's diary that she has been living a double life. She was cheating on her boyfriend, football captain Bobby Briggs, with biker James Hurley, and prostituting herself with the help of truck driver Leo Johnson and drug dealer Jacques Renault. Laura was also addicted to cocaine, which she obtained by coercing Bobby into doing business with Jacques. Laura's father, attorney Leland Palmer, suffers a nervous breakdown. Her best friend, Donna Hayward, begins a relationship with James. With the help of Laura's cousin Maddy Ferguson, Donna and James discover that Laura's psychiatrist, Dr. Lawrence Jacoby, was obsessed with Laura, but he is proven innocent of the murder. Hotelier Ben Horne, the richest man in Twin Peaks, plans to destroy the town's lumber mill along with its owner Josie Packard, and murder his lover (Josie's sister-in-law), Catherine Martell (Piper Laurie), so that he can purchase the land at a reduced price and complete a development project, Ghostwood. Horne's sultry, troubled daughter, Audrey, becomes infatuated with Cooper and spies for clues in an effort to gain his affections. Cooper has a dream in which he is approached by a one-armed otherworldly being who calls himself MIKE. MIKE says that Laura's murderer is a similar entity, Killer BOB, a feral, denim-clad man with long gray hair. Cooper finds himself decades older with Laura and a dwarf in a red business suit, who engages in coded dialogue with Cooper. The next morning, Cooper tells Truman that, if he can decipher the dream, he will know who killed Laura. Cooper and the sheriff's department find the one-armed man from Cooper's dream, a traveling shoe salesman named Phillip Gerard. Gerard knows a Bob, the veterinarian who treats Renault's pet bird. Cooper interprets these events to mean that Renault is the murderer, and with Truman's help, tracks Renault to One-Eyed Jack's, a brothel owned by Horne across the border in Canada. He lures Jacques Renault back onto U.S. soil to arrest him, but Renault is shot while trying to escape and is hospitalized. Leland, learning that Renault has been arrested, sneaks into the hospital and murders him. The same night, Horne orders Leo to burn down the lumber mill with Catherine trapped inside and has Leo gunned down by Hank Jennings to ensure Leo's silence. Cooper returns to his room following Jacques's arrest and is shot by a masked gunman. After solving the murder of Laura Palmer, Kyle MacLachlan's (pictured here in 1991) character of Dale Cooper stays in Twin Peaks to investigate further. Lying hurt in his hotel room, Cooper has a vision in which a giant appears and reveals three clues: "There is a man in a smiling bag"; "The owls are not what they seem"; and "Without chemicals, he points." He takes Cooper's gold ring and explains that when Cooper understands the three premonitions, his ring will be returned. Leo Johnson survives his shooting but is brain-damaged. Catherine Martell disappears, presumed killed in the mill fire. Leland Palmer, whose hair has turned white overnight, returns to work but behaves erratically. Cooper deduces that the "man in the smiling bag" is the corpse of Jacques Renault in a body bag. Donna befriends an agoraphobic orchid grower named Harold Smith whom Laura entrusted with a second, secret diary she kept. Harold catches Donna and Maddy attempting to steal the diary from him and hangs himself in despair. Cooper and the sheriff's department take possession of Laura's secret diary, and learn that BOB, a friend of her father's, had been sexually abusing her since childhood and she used drugs to cope. They initially suspect that the killer is Ben Horne and arrest him, but Leland Palmer is revealed to viewers to be BOB's host when he brutally kills Maddy. Cooper begins to doubt Horne's guilt, so he gathers all of his suspects in the belief that he will receive a sign to help him identify the killer. The Giant appears and confirms that Leland is BOB's host and Laura's and Maddy's killer, giving Cooper back his ring. Cooper and Truman take Leland into custody. In control of Leland's body, BOB admits to a string of murders, before forcing Leland to commit suicide. Leland, as he dies, is freed of BOB's influence and begs for forgiveness. BOB's spirit disappears into the woods in the form of an owl and the lawmen wonder if he will reappear. Cooper is set to leave Twin Peaks when he is framed for drug trafficking by Jean Renault and is suspended from the FBI. Renault holds Cooper responsible for the death of his brothers, Jacques and Bernard. Jean Renault is killed in a shootout with police, and Cooper is cleared of all charges. Windom Earle, Cooper's former mentor and FBI partner, escapes from a mental institution and comes to Twin Peaks. Cooper had previously been having an affair with Earle's wife, Caroline, while she was under his protection as a witness to a federal crime. Earle murdered Caroline and wounded Cooper. He now engages Cooper in a twisted game of chess where Earle murders someone whenever a piece is captured. Investigating BOB's origin and whereabouts with the help of Major Garland Briggs, Cooper learns of the existence of the White Lodge and the Black Lodge, two extra-dimensional realms whose entrances are somewhere in the woods surrounding Twin Peaks. Catherine returns to town in yellowface, having survived the mill fire, and manipulates Ben Horne into signing the Ghostwood project over to her. Andrew Packard, Josie's husband, is revealed to be still alive. Josie Packard is revealed to be the person who shot Cooper at the end of the first season. Andrew forces Josie to confront his business rival and her tormentor from Hong Kong, the sinister Thomas Eckhardt. Josie kills Eckhardt but she mysteriously dies when Truman and Cooper try to apprehend her. Cooper falls in love with a new arrival in town, Annie Blackburn. Earle captures the brain-damaged Leo for use as a henchman and abandons his chess game with Cooper. When Annie wins the Miss Twin Peaks contest, Earle kidnaps her and takes her to the entrance to the Black Lodge, whose power he seeks to use for himself. Through a series of clues Cooper discovers the entrance to the Black Lodge, which turns out to be the strange, red-curtained room from his dream. He is greeted by the Man From Another Place, the Giant, and Laura Palmer, who each give Cooper cryptic messages. Searching for Annie and Earle, Cooper encounters doppelgängers of various people, including Maddy Ferguson and Leland Palmer. Cooper finds Earle, who demands Cooper's soul in exchange for Annie's life. Cooper agrees but BOB appears and takes Earle's soul for himself. BOB then turns to Cooper, who is chased through the lodge by a doppelgänger of himself. Outside the lodge, Andrew Packard, Pete Martell and Audrey Horne are caught in an explosion at a bank vault, a trap laid by the dead Eckhardt. Cooper and Annie reappear in the woods, both injured. Annie is taken to hospital but Cooper recovers in his room at the Great Northern Hotel. It becomes clear that the "Cooper" who emerged from the Lodge is in fact his doppelgänger, under BOB's control. He smashes his head into a bathroom mirror and laughs maniacally. On October 6, 2014, it was announced that a limited series would air on Showtime. David Lynch and Mark Frost wrote all the episodes, and Lynch directed. Frost emphasized that the new episodes are not a remake or reboot but a continuation of the series. The episodes are set in the present day, and the passage of 25 years is an important element in the plot. Most of the original cast returns, including Kyle MacLachlan, Mädchen Amick, Sherilyn Fenn, Sheryl Lee, Ray Wise, and several others. Additions include Jeremy Davies, Laura Dern, Robert Forster, Tim Roth, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Amanda Seyfried, Matthew Lillard, and Naomi Watts. The limited series began filming in September 2015 and was completed by April 2016. It was shot continuously from a single, long-shooting script before being edited into separate episodes. The series premiered on May 21, 2017, and consists of 18 episodes. In the 1980s, Mark Frost worked for three years as a writer for the television police drama Hill Street Blues, which featured a large cast and extended story lines. Following his success with The Elephant Man (1980) and Blue Velvet in 1986, David Lynch was hired by a Warner Bros. executive to direct a film about the life of Marilyn Monroe, based on the best-selling book Goddess. Lynch recalls being "sort of interested. I loved the idea of this woman in trouble, but I didn't know if I liked it being a real story." Lynch and Frost first worked together on the Goddess screenplay and although the project was dropped by Warner Bros., they became good friends. They went on to work as writer and director for One Saliva Bubble, a film with Steve Martin attached to star, but it was never made either. Lynch's agent, Tony Krantz, encouraged him to do a television show. He took Lynch to Nibblers restaurant in Los Angeles and said, "You should do a show about real life in America—your vision of America the same way you demonstrated it in Blue Velvet." Lynch got an "idea of a small-town thing", and though he and Frost were not keen on it, they decided to humor Krantz. Frost wanted to tell "a sort of Dickensian story about multiple lives in a contained area that could sort of go perpetually." Originally, the show was to be titled North Dakota and set in the Plains region of North Dakota. After Frost, Krantz, and Lynch rented a screening room in Beverly Hills and screened Peyton Place, they decided to develop the town before its inhabitants. Due to the lack of forests and mountains in North Dakota, the title was changed from North Dakota to Northwest Passage (the title of the pilot episode), and the location to the Pacific Northwest, specifically Washington. They then drew a map and decided that there would be a lumber mill in the town. Then they came up with an image of a body washing up on the shore of a lake. Lynch remembers, "We knew where everything was located and that helped us determine the prevailing atmosphere and what might happen there." Frost remembers that he and Lynch came up with the notion of the girl next door leading a "desperate double life" that would end in murder. The idea was inspired, in part, by the unsolved 1908 murder of Hazel Irene Drew in Sand Lake, New York. Lynch and Frost pitched the idea to ABC during the 1988 Writers Guild of America strike in a ten-minute meeting with the network's drama head, Chad Hoffman, with nothing more than this image and a concept. According to the director, the mystery of who killed Laura Palmer was initially going to be in the foreground, but would recede gradually as viewers got to know the other townsfolk and the problems they were having. Lynch and Frost wanted to mix a police investigation with a soap opera. ABC liked the idea and asked Lynch and Frost to write a screenplay for the pilot episode. They had been talking about the project for three months and wrote the screenplay in 10 days. Frost wrote more verbal characters, like Benjamin Horne, while Lynch was responsible for Agent Cooper. According to the director, "He says a lot of the things I say." ABC Entertainment President Brandon Stoddard ordered the two-hour pilot for a possible fall 1989 series. He left the position in March 1989 as Lynch went into production. They filmed the pilot for million with an agreement with ABC that they would shoot an additional "ending" to it so that it could be sold directly to video in Europe as a feature film if the TV show was not picked up. ABC's Robert Iger and his creative team took over, saw the dailies, and met with Frost and Lynch to get the arc of the stories and characters. Although Iger liked the pilot, he had difficulty persuading the rest of the network executives. Iger suggested showing it to a more diverse, younger group, who liked it, and the executive subsequently convinced ABC to buy seven episodes at .1 million apiece. Some executives figured that the show would never get on the air or that it might run as a seven-hour mini-series, but Iger planned to schedule it for the spring. The final showdown occurred during a bi-coastal conference call between Iger and a room full of New York executives; Iger won, and Twin Peaks was on the air. Each episode took a week to shoot and after directing the second episode, Lynch went off to complete Wild at Heart while Frost wrote the remaining segments.Standards and Practices had a problem with only one scene from the first season: an extreme close-up in the pilot of Cooper's hand as he slid tweezers under Laura's fingernail and removed a tiny "R". They wanted the scene to be shorter because it made them uncomfortable, but Frost and Lynch refused and the scene remained. Veteran film actress Piper Laurie (pictured here in 1990) helped cement the Twin Peaks cast. Twin Peaks features members of a loose ensemble of Lynch's favorite character actors, including Jack Nance, Kyle MacLachlan, Grace Zabriskie, and Everett McGill. Isabella Rossellini, who had worked with Lynch on Blue Velvet was originally cast as Giovanna Packard, but she dropped out of the production before shooting began on the pilot episode. The character was then reconceived as Josie Packard, of Chinese ethnicity, and the role given to actress Joan Chen. It casts several veteran actors who had risen to fame in the 1950s and 1960s, including 1950s film stars Richard Beymer, Piper Laurie, and Russ Tamblyn. Other veteran actors included British actor James Booth (Zulu), former The Mod Squad star Peggy Lipton, and Michael Ontkean who co-starred in the 1970s crime drama The Rookies. Kyle MacLachlan was cast as Agent Dale Cooper. Stage actor Warren Frost, father of Mark Frost, was cast as Dr. Will Hayward. Due to budget constraints, Lynch intended to cast a local girl from Seattle, reportedly "just to play a dead girl". The local girl ended up being Sheryl Lee. Lynch stated "But no one—not Mark, me, anyone—had any idea that she could act, or that she was going to be so powerful just being dead." And then, while Lynch shot the home movie that James takes of Donna and Laura, he realized that Lee had something special. "She did do another scene—the video with Donna on the picnic—and it was that scene that did it." As a result, Sheryl Lee became a semi-regular addition to the cast, appearing in flashbacks as Laura, and portraying another, recurring character: Maddy Ferguson, Laura's similar-looking cousin. The character of Phillip Gerard's appearance in the pilot episode was originally intended to be only a "kind of homage to The Fugitive. The only thing he was gonna do was be in this elevator and walk out," according to David Lynch. However, when Lynch wrote the "Fire walk with me" speech, he imagined Al Strobel, who played Gerard, reciting it in the basement of the Twin Peaks hospital—a scene that appeared in the European version of the pilot episode, and surfaced later in Agent Cooper's dream sequence. Gerard's full name, Phillip Michael Gerard, is also a reference to Lieutenant Phillip Gerard, a character in The Fugitive. Lynch met Michael J. Anderson in 1987. After seeing him in a short film, Lynch wanted to cast the actor in the title role in Ronnie Rocket, but that project failed to get made. Richard Beymer was cast as Ben Horne because he had known Johanna Ray, Lynch's casting director. Lynch was familiar with Beymer's work in the 1961 film West Side Story and was surprised that Beymer was available for the role. Set dresser Frank Silva was cast as the mysterious "Bob". Lynch himself recalls that the idea originated when he overheard Silva moving furniture around in the bedroom set, and then heard a woman warning Silva not to block himself in by moving furniture in front of the door. Lynch was struck with an image of Silva in the room. When he learned that Silva was an actor, he filmed two panning shots, one with Silva at the base of the bed, and one without; he did not yet know how he would use this material. Later that day, during the filming of Sarah Palmer having a vision, the camera operator told Lynch that the shot was ruined because "Frank [Silva] was reflected in the mirror." Lynch comments, "Things like this happen and make you start dreaming. And one thing leads to another, and if you let it, a whole other thing opens up." Lynch used the panning shot of Silva in the bedroom, and the shot featuring Silva's reflection, in the closing scenes of the European version of the pilot episode. Silva's reflection in the mirror can also be glimpsed during the scene of Sarah's vision at the end of the original pilot, but it is less clear. A close-up of Silva in the bedroom later became a significant image in episodes of the TV series. The score for Twin Peaks has received acclaim; The Guardian wrote that it "still marks the summit of TV soundtracks." In fall 1989, composer Angelo Badalamenti and Lynch created the score for the show. In 20 minutes they produced the signature theme for the series. Badalamenti called it the "Love Theme from Twin Peaks". Lynch told him, "You just wrote 75% of the score. It's the mood of the whole piece. It is Twin Peaks." While creating the score, Lynch often described the moods or emotions he wanted the music to evoke, and Badalamenti began to play the piano. In the scenes dominated by young men, they are accompanied by music that Badalamenti called Cool Jazz. The characters' masculinity was enhanced by finger-snapping, "cocktail-lounge electric piano, pulsing bass, and lightly brushed percussion." A handful of the motifs were borrowed from the Julee Cruise album Floating into the Night, which was written in large part by Badalamenti and Lynch and was released in 1989. This album also serves as the soundtrack to another Lynch project, Industrial Symphony No. 1, a live Cruise performance also featuring Michael J. Anderson ("The Man from Another Place"). The song "Falling" (sans vocals) became the theme to the show, and the songs "Rockin' Back Inside My Heart", "The Nightingale", "The World Spins", and "Into the Night" (found in their full versions on the album) were all, except the latter, used as Cruise's roadhouse performances during the show's run. The lyrics for all five songs were written by Lynch. A second volume of the soundtrack was released on October 30, 2007, to coincide with the Definitive Gold Box DVD set. In March 2011, Lynch began releasing The Twin Peaks Archive - a collection of previously unavailable tracks from the series and the film via his website. FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper states, in the pilot episode, that Twin Peaks is "five miles south of the Canadian border, and twelve miles west of the state line". This places it in the Salmo-Priest Wilderness. Lynch and Frost started their location search in Snoqualmie, Washington, on the recommendation of a friend of Frost. They found all of the locations that they had written into the pilot episode. The towns of Snoqualmie, North Bend and Fall City – which became the primary filming locations for stock Twin Peaks exterior footage – are about an hour's drive from the town of Roslyn, Washington, the town used for the series Northern Exposure. Many exterior scenes were filmed in wooded areas of Malibu, California. Most of the interior scenes were shot on standing sets in a San Fernando Valley warehouse. The soap opera show-within-the-show Invitation to Love was not shot on a studio set, but in the Ennis House, an architectural landmark designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles. Mark Frost and David Lynch made use of repeating and sometimes mysterious motifs such as trees (especially fir and pines), coffee, cherry pie, donuts, owls, logs, ducks, water, fire—and numerous embedded references to other films and TV shows. During the filming of the scene in which Cooper first examines Laura's body, a malfunctioning fluorescent lamp above the table flickered constantly, but Lynch decided not to replace it, since he liked the disconcerting effect that it created. Cooper's dream at the end of the third episode, which became a driving plot point in the series's first season and ultimately held the key to the identity of Laura's murderer, was never scripted. The idea came to Lynch one afternoon after touching the side of a hot car left out in the sun: "I was leaning against a car—the front of me was leaning against this very warm car. My hands were on the roof and the metal was very hot. The Red Room scene leapt into my mind. 'Little Mike' was there, and he was speaking backwards... For the rest of the night I thought only about The Red Room." The footage was originally shot along with the pilot, to be used as the conclusion were it to be released as a feature film. When the series was picked up, Lynch decided to incorporate some of the footage; in the third episode, Cooper, narrating the dream, outlines the shot footage which Lynch did not incorporate, such as Mike shooting Bob and the fact that he is 25 years older when he meets Laura Palmer's spirit. In an attempt to avoid cancellation, the idea of a Cooper possessed by Bob came up and was included in the final episode, but the series was cancelled even before the episode was aired. Before the one and a half hour pilot premiered on TV, a screening was held at the Museum of Broadcasting in Hollywood. Media analyst and advertising executive Paul Schulman said, "I don't think it has a chance of succeeding. It is not commercial, it is radically different from what we as viewers are accustomed to seeing, there's no one in the show to root for." The show's Thursday night time slot had not been a good one for soap operas, as both Dynasty and its short-lived spin-off The Colbys did poorly.Twin Peaks was also up against the hugely successful sitcom Cheers. Initially, the show received a positive response from TV critics. Tom Shales, in The Washington Post, wrote, "Twin Peaks disorients you in ways that small-screen productions seldom attempt. It's a pleasurable sensation, the floor dropping out and leaving one dangling." In The New York Times, John J. O'Connor wrote, "Twin Peaks is not a send-up of the form. Mr. Lynch clearly savors the standard ingredients...but then the director adds his own peculiar touches, small passing details that suddenly, and often hilariously, thrust the commonplace out of kilter."Entertainment Weekly gave the show an "A+" rating and Ken Tucker wrote, "Plot is irrelevant; moments are everything. Lynch and Frost have mastered a way to make a weekly series endlessly interesting."Richard Zoglin in Time magazine said that it "may be the most hauntingly original work ever done for American TV." The two-hour pilot was the highest-rated movie for the 1989–90 season with a 22 rating and was viewed by 33% of the audience. In its first broadcast as a regular one-hour drama series, Twin Peaks scored ABC's highest ratings in four years in its 9:00 pm Thursday time slot. The show also reduced NBC's Cheers's ratings. Twin Peaks had a 16.2 rating with each point equaling 921,000 homes with TVs. The episode also added new viewers because of what ABC's senior vice-president of research, Alan Wurtzel, called "the water cooler syndrome", in which people talk about the series the next day at work. But the show's third episode lost 14% of the audience that had tuned in a week before. That audience had dropped 30% from the show's first appearance on Thursday night. This was a result of competing against Cheers, which appealed to the same demographic that watched Twin Peaks. A production executive from the show spoke of being frustrated with the network's scheduling of the show. "The show is being banged around on Thursday night. If ABC had put it on Wednesday night it could have built on its initial success. ABC has put the show at risk." In response, the network aired the first-season finale on a Wednesday night at 10:00 pm instead of its usual 9:00 pm Thursday slot. The show achieved its best ratings since its third week on the air with a 12.6 and a 22 share of the audience. On May 22, 1990, it was announced that Twin Peaks would be renewed for a second season. During the first and second season, the search for Laura Palmer's killer served as the engine for the plot, and captured the public's imagination, although the creators admitted this was largely a MacGuffin; each episode was really about the interactions between the townsfolk. The unique (and often bizarre) personalities of each citizen formed a web of minutiae that ran contrary to the town's quaint appearance. Adding to the surreal atmosphere was the recurrence of Dale Cooper's dreams, in which the FBI agent is given clues to Laura's murder in a supernatural realm that may or may not be of his imagination. The first season contained only eight episodes (including the two-hour pilot episode), and was considered technically and artistically revolutionary for television at the time, and geared toward reaching the standards of film. Critics have noted that Twin Peaks began the trend of accomplished cinematography now commonplace in today's television dramas. Lynch and Frost maintained tight control over the first season, handpicking all of the directors, including some Lynch had known from his days at the American Film Institute (e.g., Caleb Deschanel and Tim Hunter) and some referred to him by those he knew personally. Lynch and Frost's control lessened in the second season, corresponding with what is generally regarded as a decrease in the show's quality once the identity of Laura Palmer's murderer was revealed. The aforementioned "water cooler effect" put pressure on the show's creators to solve the mystery. Although they claimed to have known from the series' inception the identity of Laura's murderer, Lynch never wanted to solve the murder, while Frost felt that they had an obligation to the audience to solve it. This created tension between the two men. Its ambitious style, paranormal undertones, and engaging murder mystery made Twin Peaks an unexpected hit. Its characters, particularly MacLachlan's Dale Cooper, were unorthodox for a supposed crime drama, as was Cooper's method of interpreting his dreams to solve the crime. During its first season, the show's popularity reached its zenith, and elements of the program seeped into mainstream popular culture, prompting parodies, including one in the 16th-season premiere of Saturday Night Live, hosted by MacLachlan. David Lynch at the 42nd Primetime Emmy Awards on September 16, 1990, where Twin Peaks was nominated for fourteen awards. He was nominated for directing and co-writing the pilot episode. For its first season, Twin Peaks received fourteen nominations at the 42nd Primetime Emmy Awards, for Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Kyle MacLachlan), Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (Piper Laurie), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Sherilyn Fenn), Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series (David Lynch), Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series (David Lynch and Mark Frost), Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series (Harley Peyton), Outstanding Art Direction for a Series, Outstanding Achievement in Main Title Theme Music, Outstanding Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore), Outstanding Achievement in Music and Lyrics, and Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series. Out of its fourteen nominations, it won for Outstanding Costume Design for a Series and Outstanding Editing for a Series – Single Camera Production. For its second season, it received four nominations at the 43rd Primetime Emmy Awards, for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Kyle MacLachlan), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Piper Laurie), Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series, and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Drama Series. At the 48th Golden Globe Awards, it won for Best TV Series – Drama, Kyle MacLachlan won for Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series – Drama, Piper Laurie won for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV; while Sherilyn Fenn was nominated in the same category as Laurie. The pilot episode was ranked 25th on TV Guide's 1997 100 Greatest Episodes of All Time. It placed 49th on Entertainment Weekly's "New TV Classics" list. In 2004 and 2007, Twin Peaks was ranked 20th and 24th on TV Guide's Top Cult Shows Ever, and in 2002, it was ranked 45th of the "Top 50 Television Programs of All Time" by the same guide. In 2007, UK broadcaster Channel 4 ranked Twin Peaks 9th on their list of the "50 Greatest TV Dramas". Also that year, Time included the show on their list of the "100 Best TV Shows of All-Time".Empire listed Twin Peaks as the 24th best TV show in their list of "The 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time". In 2012, Entertainment Weekly listed the show at no. 12 in the "25 Best Cult TV Shows from the Past 25 Years", saying, "The show itself was only fitfully brilliant and ultimately unfulfilling, but the cult lives, fueled by nostalgia for the extraordinary pop phenomenon it inspired, for its significance to the medium (behold the big bang of auteur TV!), and for a sensuous strangeness that possesses you and never lets you go." The series has been nominated for the TCA Heritage Award six consecutive years since 2010. It was ranked 20th on The Hollywood Reporter's list of Hollywood's 100 Favorite TV Shows. With the resolution of Twin Peaks' main drawing point (Laura Palmer's murder) in the middle of the second season, and with subsequent story lines becoming more obscure and drawn out, public interest began to wane. This discontent, coupled with ABC changing its timeslot on a number of occasions, led to a huge drop in the show's ratings after being one of the most-watched television programs in the United States in 1990. A week after the season's 15th episode placed 85th in the ratings out of 89 shows, ABC put Twin Peaks on indefinite hiatus, a move that usually leads to cancellation. An organized letter-writing campaign, dubbed COOP (Citizens Opposed to the Offing of Peaks), attempted to save the show from cancellation. The campaign was successful, as ABC agreed to air the remaining six episodes to finish the season. But due to the Gulf War, Twin Peaks was moved from its usual time slot "for six weeks out of eight" in early 1991, according to Frost, preventing the show from maintaining audience interest. According to Frost, the main storyline after the resolution of Laura Palmer's murder was planned to be the second strongest element from the first season that audiences responded to: The relationship between Agent Cooper and Audrey Horne. Frost explained that Lara Flynn Boyle, who was romantically involved with Kyle MacLachlan at the time, had effectively vetoed the Audrey-Cooper relationship, forcing the writers to come up with alternative storylines to fill the gap. Sherilyn Fenn corroborated this claim in a 2014 interview, stating, "[Boyle] was mad that my character was getting more attention, so then Kyle started saying that his character shouldn't be with my character because it doesn't look good, 'cause I'm too young... I was not happy about it. It was stupid." This meant the artificial extension of secondary storylines, such as James Hurley and Evelyn Marsh, to fill in the space. After ratings began to decline, Agent Cooper was given a new love interest, Annie Blackburn (Heather Graham), to replace the writers' intended romance between him and Audrey Horne. Despite ending on a deliberate audience-baiting cliffhanger, the series finale did not sufficiently boost interest, and the show was not renewed for a third season, leaving the cliffhanger unresolved. Lynch expressed his regret at having resolved the Laura Palmer murder, saying he and Frost had never intended for the series to answer the question and that doing so "killed the goose that laid the golden eggs". Lynch blamed network pressure for the decision to resolve the Palmer storyline prematurely. Frost agreed, noting that people at the network had in fact wanted the killer to be revealed by the end of season one. In 1993, cable channel Bravo acquired the license to rerun the entire series, which began airing in June 1993. These reruns included Lynch's addition of introductions to each episode by the Log Lady and her cryptic musings. Looking back, Frost has admitted that he wished he and Lynch had "worked out a smoother transition" between storylines and that the Laura Palmer story was a "tough act to follow". Regarding the second season, Frost felt that "perhaps the storytelling wasn't quite as taut or as fraught with emotion". Writing for The Atlantic, Mike Mariani wrote that "It would be tough to look at the roster of television shows any given season without finding several that owe a creative debt to Twin Peaks," stating that "Lynch's manipulation of the uncanny, his surreal non-sequiturs, his black humor, and his trademark ominous tracking shots can be felt in a variety of contemporary hit shows. In 2010, the television series Psych paid tribute to the series by reuniting some of the cast in the fifth-season episode, "Dual Spires". The episode's plot is an homage to the Twin Peaks pilot, where the characters of Psych investigate the death of a young girl in a small town called "Dual Spires". The episode also contains several references to the original show. Twin Peaks actors that guest star in the episode are Sherilyn Fenn, Sheryl Lee, Dana Ashbrook, Robyn Lively, Lenny Von Dohlen, Catherine E. Coulson and Ray Wise. Prior to the airing of the episode, a special event at the Paley Center for Media was held where the actors from both shows discussed the episode. Reviewers and fans of four seasons of Veena Sud's U.S. TV series, The Killing, have noted similarities and borrowed elements from Lynch's Fire Walk with Me and Twin Peaks, and compared Sud and Lynch's works. Carlton Cuse, creator of Bates Motel, cited Twin Peaks as a key inspiration for his series, stating: "We pretty much ripped off Twin Peaks... If you wanted to get that confession, the answer is yes. I loved that show. They only did 30 episodes. Kerry [Ehrin] and I thought we'd do the 70 that are missing." Twin Peaks served as an inspiration for the 1993 video game The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, with director Takashi Tezuka citing the series as the main factor for the creation of the "suspicious" characters that populate the game, as well as the mystery elements of the story. The show has also influenced a number of survival horror and psychological thriller video games—most notably Alan Wake,Deadly Premonition,Silent Hill, and Max Payne. The American animated show Gravity Falls repeatedly referenced the Black Lodge along with other elements of Twin Peaks throughout its run. The song "Laura Palmer" by the band Bastille was written influenced by the "slightly weird, eerie" atmosphere of the show. The series was released on VHS in a six-tape collection on April 16, 1995, however, it did not include the original pilot episode. On December 18, 2001, the first season (episodes 1–7, minus the pilot) of Twin Peaks was released on DVD in Region 1 by Artisan Entertainment. The box set featured digitally remastered video was noted for being the first TV series to have its audio track redone in DTS. The second season release was postponed several times, and the release was originally canceled in 2003 by Artisan due to low sales figures for the season 1 DVD. The second season was finally released in the United States and Canada on April 3, 2007, via Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment/CBS DVD. In July 2013, it was revealed that a Blu-ray version of the complete series would be released. In January 2014, Lynch confirmed the Blu-ray release and that it would contain the pilot, season 1, season 2, and new special features, and possibly the film. It was announced on May 15, 2014, that the Blu-ray of the complete series of Twin Peaks and the film containing over 90 minutes of deleted scenes would be released on July 29, 2014. Online, the series is available through the pay CBS All Access service in full, along with Showtime's "Anytime" service for pay-TV subscribers and its over-the-top separate service. The original series is available for HD streaming via both Hulu and Netflix in the U.S. Hulu also offers The Return, the 18-episode continuation originally aired on Showtime, as an additional-cost subscription option for viewing some of Showtime's programming. During the show's second season, Pocket Books released three official tie-in books, each authored by the show's creators (or their family), which offer a wealth of backstory. The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer, written by Lynch's daughter Jennifer Lynch, is the diary as seen in the series and written by Laura, chronicling her thoughts from her twelfth birthday to the days leading up to her death. Frost's brother Scott wrote The Autobiography of F.B.I. Special Agent Dale Cooper: My Life, My Tapes. Kyle MacLachlan also recorded Diane: The Twin Peaks Tapes of Agent Cooper, which combined audio tracks from various episodes of the series with newly recorded monologues.Welcome to Twin Peaks: An Access Guide to the Town offers information about the history, flora, fauna, and culture of the fictitious town. The Secret History of Twin Peaks, a novel by series co-creator Mark Frost, "places the unexplained phenomena that unfolded in Twin Peaks in a layered, wide-ranging history, beginning with the journals of Lewis and Clark and ending with the shocking events that closed the finale." It was published on October 18, 2016. The 1992 film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me is a prequel to the TV series. It tells of the investigation into the murder of Teresa Banks and the last seven days in the life of Laura Palmer. Director David Lynch and most of the television cast returned for the film, with the notable exceptions of Lara Flynn Boyle, who declined to return as Laura's best friend Donna Hayward and was replaced by Moira Kelly, and Sherilyn Fenn due to scheduling conflicts. Also, Kyle MacLachlan returned reluctantly as he wanted to avoid typecasting, so his presence in the film is smaller than originally planned. Lynch originally shot about five hours of footage that was subsequently cut down to two hours and fourteen minutes. Most of the deleted scenes feature additional characters from the television series who ultimately did not appear in the finished film. Around ninety minutes of these scenes are included in the complete series Blu-ray that was released on July 29, 2014. 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2019-04-21T21:15:44Z

https://punchaceleb.com/hot-jane-morgan/

I have been reflecting on some ideas around our current election system which were (originally) prompted by our pro tem appointment process. First, I think the Community Team needs to get out of the moderator-selection business. Currently, 45% of our moderators were appointed by someone from the Stack Exchange staff, and more than half (58%) our sites have yet to hold a proper election. We need to give agency back to the communities regarding how you pick and maintain your elected leadership from the beginning and as the community continues to grow. Is there an interest in broader election reform? The purpose of this post is to gauge the general interest in taking a fresh look at our current electoral ideology and how you pick and maintain your moderation leadership. This isn't about working out specific implementation details or resolving every obstacle. I want to see if there is a general appetite for looking at broader reforms around how we elect and maintain moderators. The first question to ask is: “Is this even a thing? Should I be looking at this?" Or am I stepping on customs so ingrained and sacrosanct, I should just leave it alone. Jon Ericson has been experimenting with pro tem elections to replace moderators who have moved on. As we were looking at improvements to that process, I kept asking if we should roll that [cool idea] back into the regular election cycle? Starting with a clean slate, I started considering how broader electoral changes might improve some of the issues around our representative ecosystem. I think we might be edging into something more capable and adaptive — so I want to see if I should continue working on this. Here are a few issues I’ll put on the table for consideration; I'm sure there are others. This is an open discussion and trial balloon to see whether there is any interest in looking at broader electoral changes. Please feel free to add your thoughts in the answers below. There's no reason we (the community team) need to continue picking your moderators. We've already started experimenting with pro tem elections, so I'd like to improve on that process so ALL moderators are elected by the community — including pro tems — starting shortly after the private beta. Jon's pro tem experiments show that pro tem elections can work, so I would like to see if we can merge both processes into one, unified election ecosystem. As the distinction between pro tem and "real moderator" starts to fade— read on. The CoGro Team (particularly Jnat and others) has been grinding away at a long-neglected backlog of sites needing moderator replacements (resignations, absentees, vetting candidates). Those delays will not likely end with the current backlog. The community team continues to be conspicuously short on resources to help communities with other issues. I believe this next bullet item can essentially free up those resources almost entirely. Let's start with an assumption that I can simplify the election process to make it much less exhausting. The basic idea is to have much simpler, lightweight elections… more often… at regular intervals… maybe even yearly. The idea is to make elections much less epic and generational by creating more opportunity for the community to decide who they elect and retain. One way to help assure your best talent rises to the top is to provide more opportunity for avid users to apply. This one seems like a no-brainer. Leveraging our current Q&A framework, we can model a town hall where communities are empowered to host their own event if they so choose, or skip it if they don't (with CM assistance where needed, of course). Should "Moderator For Life" always be automatic… and FOREVER? Our Moderator team is the best there is, bar none. Having senior moderators is important to retain valuable talent. But should communities have a say when that happens? And should they be empowered to decide if something has changed? We don't want to have a lot of needless rollover elections, so maybe we could come up with a system where long-term "senior moderators" are easily retained, while more established communities can avoid needless elections when it turns out: "Nah, we're good. We don't need another election." I love our STV voting system; I think the single transferable vote is inspired. I’m not sure if there’s room for improvement, so I mention it here but I would largely keep the fundamental mechanism intact. The first Skeptics election had 64 voters in total. That's a scary number to me, any lower and I'm not sure the election would mean anything. The previous stance by SE was always that the community needs a certain size and activity to host elections, and I don't see any reason why this would have changed. Coupling elections to graduation doesn't make any sense anymore with the way they work now, and the endless beta many sites are in, but that is something SE already knows and has worked on. I don't see any reason to change much more than the decoupling of elections from the graduation state, as graduation is now coupled to criteria many sites won't hit soon, or maybe never. I'm personally not a fan of the town hall questions for elections. They don't provide substantial insight about a candidate to me, compared to the rather large effort they are for the community and each candidate. The most reliable indicator for a mod for me is still previous activity on the site. So I would personally consider changes there potentially good, but it's also not something I would care a lot about. Personally, I don't have any issue with moderators being appointed by SE. Of course I've been appointed twice by SE, and later elected in both cases. I don't see any alternative to appointments in early sites, there is simply no way actual elections would work at that time. SE isn't a democracy, and I think it's a bit misleading if we style SE sites as democratic. SE still holds all the power, and while they usually don't exercise it, the community only runs the site within the constraints set by SE. This would be a fundamental change in the relationship between the moderators (particularly the elected ones) and the company and, more importantly, the community. I'm not sure I would have run for election - especially on Stack Overflow - if I was always having to think about re-election. I know in other walks of life elections aren't for life, but then we get the constant electioneering which distracts people from doing the job they were elected to do. I know that Stack Exchange takes breaches of the rules around moderating very seriously and diamonds have been removed from several moderators for various reasons. Perhaps what we need is a simpler (but not necessarily quicker) process for this. Inactive moderators - currently it seems to take too long for inactive moderators to be removed. I know that there are multitudinous reasons why a moderation might become inactive and not all of them require the immediate removal of the diamond, but should the system become more automated? You've not logged in at all in the last months. You've logged in but not performed any (or very few) moderator actions. This would remove the need for the CMs to reach out (at least in the first instance) and this reminder might be enough to prompt the moderator to say "you know what, I don't have time for moderating right now and I should step down". Unpopular moderators - I don't see this as being a reason to remove the diamond. We're not elected/appointed to be popular but to help run the sites. Sometimes that involves making decisions that might upset a number of people. Harmful moderators - these are the cases where the moderator is taking actions that are actually detrimental to the site. These actions might be popular (at least with some sections of the community), but are against the overall ethos of the site or direction that the majority of the community wants to go. People are quick (certainly on Stack Overflow) to go to meta and raise issues they see with moderator actions, so I don't think there's a need to invent a new way to air grievances. If someone doesn't want to go public they can always raise a ticket with the community managers. Does there need to be something that collates the meta questions (it could use the score to see how valid the rest of the community thought the complaint was) and CM tickets to show if a moderator is heading in the wrong direction before something bad happens? I don't have an answer here though. Alright, I can see where a lot of this comes from - elections are a lot of work for the CM team, as are the pro tem appointments. I get that with a reduced team and an ever growing network, you'd want to look at seeing what can be done to reduce your load and increase overall productivity as sites are happier when they have mods to steer the ship and have the number of mods they need to keep the ship afloat. That makes sense to me. That said, a lot of this seems to devalue a lot of the work, time and energy that mods put into their sites, most of which their community never sees. There's a reason we joke about being janitors, after all. So when I read this and see "should it be forever", and the idea of having to re-run yearly just feels like a lot of mess and disruption. I get it, you don't want to risk the idea that the community feels like the mods are the kings and queens stepping all over the populace (cue that "help, help, I'm being repressed" skit here, if you like). At the same time, all of us who have been here for a while have put a lot of ourselves into making sure the sites are awesome, and this feels very "okay thanks for coming out, putting up with all the crap, dealing with all this stuff as we step away from being present, but here's the door". Maybe that's not charitable of me, and perhaps I am supposed to hope that my community will recognize my awesome and keep me around. But here's the rub - like I mentioned earlier, a lot of what we do and what we handle, users don't see. We're supposed to be exception handlers and janitors and all that good stuff. A sign of a healthy site is that you shouldn't see the mods unilaterally dealing with and closing all the things. So...the community might not always know that I handled infinitely more flags than my fellow mods by a hundredfold, lets say - they might only see that they personally like ModX better because they're more fun in chat. I am not sure how to balance all of this. I get that you guys desperately need to relinquish some control because this stuff isn't tenable as things get bigger and bigger. But I am not sure that this, as I am interpreting it, is the best way to go about it. A further thought - if you are, effectively, forcing mods to step down if they're not constantly re-elected, this kinda flies right in the face of the fact that you have said many times to mods (of elected/non beta sites, who haven't like...blown up stuff or caused giant messes) that elect to stop moderation and step down due to burnout or other personal reasons that their diamond is, effectively, theirs if they decide they wish to step back into the moderation ring again. It feels like youre doing a bit of a 180, here, instead of supporting the people you have, you're just flipping them out in favour of others. This feels like instead of supporting mods who might feel burnout, that you are trying to preempt that by potentially setting us aside. Could we get a yearly check in meta post by the Community user asking if the site would like to have a mod election? On some sites, a mod election may be necessary while on others the community could be perfectly happy with the mod team. In either case I don't see a harm in asking and in the second it would help the moderators know that the community is happy with what they are doing. The reason for having the Community user post it on a schedule is that otherwise the mods may feel like the asker of the meta post is irritated with them for some reason, because if they are happy then there is no reason for an election right? While if the Community user posts it then it's just a neutral question that gets asked every so often. I think it's worth doing a mix of what we do now on betas, and the election process. It is. However on a new community, it's extremely useful to get things started on the right foot. The nice thing with the current appointment system is that you guys get to vet the candidates. On one hand, this hopefully means folks with the right mix of SE experience and subject knowledge expertise get picked. On the other hand, this, well, might not scale that well. Y'all can't know everyone. On a smaller, more manageable site (the good ol' days?) it would probably be a great way to get to know the folks in the community (I'm not sure if betas get their own CM on overwatch any more) as well. The pro-tem process also kind of got me used to being a moderator, so it's also a useful way to bootstrap members of a community who are not mods on a smaller site with different challenges. Not everyone makes it (that's true of some elected mods too), but it allows there to be a bit more diversity in the broader community of mods. Of the two "newbie" mods on Software Recs - one's a Stack Overflow mod now, and I'm a moderator on Super User, so the process might actually have helped in some way there. Elections also seem expensive in terms of time and effort, but that's probably a CM might know better than us. I suspect a mix - of an initial batch of hand picked moderators, with top-ups/replacements until graduation being elections - might be a good fit. On beta sites, having elections for top-ups and replacements gives a chance for folks with the 'right' personalities to assert themselves before folks need to decide if they'd be a good candidate for moddyness. Well, in theory, on mature sites, you're basically running elections as needed. It seems to work, and other than Stack Overflow, most sites are not going to need a massive, churning moderator team. In fact, if moderators are getting replaced often, it's more work, and maybe a sign that moderating the site is a bit too much of a chore. They might. On the other hand, it's a massively manual process. As mentioned earlier, elections are expensive, and personally I feel running them only as needed makes sense, even when it's cheaper. This is something that's been a problem for... quite a while. It seems to be getting a little better, but it does feel there's a point where I'd ask, "if it's short of resources, how far is streamlining going to help?". At some point, there's a distinct lack of fat in the processes to trim. Simpler elections sound like a good idea. On the other hand, it's worth considering if running them more often than "as needed" makes sense. On the short term, it might be worth using simpler, more streamlined elections to cut back on the backlog. I like simpler. More often should need a clear reason why it's better. Meta is kind of that. We also have a room on Super User for contacting mods, and it works reasonably well. There's a handful of users on many sites (who I shall not name since they would probably be embarrassed) who have an impact primarily through meta and such. Having read through and realising I misunderstood this completely - They could - but other than initiating town hall question collection and picking the questions, the CMs act primarily to facilitate and organise. I'm not really sure that those processes mirror anything a regular mod comes across ... as a normal mod. In a sense - the community does but I'm not very sure how devolving the process to the community would work better than it does now. The idea of getting mods to "re-up" and letting them take a break and come back has been mentioned before. As someone who's both a mod and an ex-mod - I actually feel the value of a experienced, engaged and accessible moderator kind of goes beyond the site they actually moderate on. So, I'd feel that a mod should be a mod as long as they're able to, and willing to put in the time. I'd say, a mix of minimum activity and an option to step down at any time would be a great compromise. I'm not sure of a "great" system of working out when a community needs more mods short of the mods asking. As long as the flags are handled (which is a "easy" metric in terms of statistics), they're able to keep ahead of meta and there's no major/widespread drama in the community over mod teams. Even where some of our experienced mods are less active, they do form a really useful counterbalance on some decisions behind the scenes, so "activity" is not a great metric. That's to say, we shouldn't have moderator turnover for the sake of having turnover on a mature site. The idea is to make elections much less epic and generational by creating more opportunity for the community to decide who they elect and retain. This seems to be connected to your bullet point about moderators for life. Can you elaborate on that a bit? For example, if you have 3 moderators and the election comes, 3 new would be elected and if the old ones wanted to stay, they needed to nominate themselves again? This sounds like a lot of extra work for then active moderators, who had to go through the election process while also volunteering to keep on moderating their sites. Furthermore, as @fbueckert mentioned in a comment, moderators also have to make unpopular decisions. It shouldn't become too much of a popularity contest. I wouldn't want moderators to have to worry also about the popularity of their potential decision, because there's another election soon. If it's the best decision for the community should matter only. Consider an "Honorary Mod" status for elected moderators. They drift away from the site, have less time for the job, etc. This is usually accompanied by a substantial decrease in activity. They're not around much any more. They are welcome to return later. Something bad happened and the diamond is removed. They get hired by SE and might get an employee-diamond to replace the mod-diamond. They still have privileges, but use them much less frequently because they have network-wide responsibilities now. They were actually doing just fine and are still active and interested, but you want them to step aside so the community can have another election. The risk with removing a diamond from an active elected moderator is that it could cause some frustration and resentment, for both the moderator and the community. Here's somebody who's dedicated years to the site, who thought it was a lifetime position after election, and who's now being told "thanks but you're done". Even when people know intellectually that a change-up is good for a site, I anticipate that many will still struggle with it, because people are complicated multi-faceted beings, not logical machines. Further, there are people whose wisdom and insight we want to retain access to. I could (but won't publicly) name a few individuals who I want to still be part of the mod team even if their activity greatly drops, because they bring history, particular problem-solving abilities, or special skills to the team. Currently they can remain on the team; your proposal would kick them out. For mods who are only stepping down (or being nudged out) to make room, and (perhaps) who have served the site for some threshold amount of time to be determined, let's create an "honorary moderator" status.2 Functionally, this is similar to the case of a moderator getting hired -- the person retains access to the mod tools and chat rooms and team,1 is free to handle things when noticed or urgent, sometimes participates in mod chat, but by and large does not participate in the active moderation of the site. These honorary mods wouldn't carry a normal share of the moderation load, wouldn't count toward a quorum when an official mod panel needs to be called, and would be separated out from the active mods on moderator lists. Should this status be for life? I don't know. I don't think we are at risk of the honorary mods overwhelming the currently-active ones, in the same way that the 15 or so employees with diamonds don't overwhelm the three moderators on a smaller site. So I think "as long as the person is active and wants to participate in this way" would be fine. I think it's also fine to go into this with that intention but knowing that we might need a time limit later -- anybody accepting the honorary diamond knows things might have to change. I got this idea from my congregation's honorary trustees. Past presidents (it's a big job and you had to work your way up through offices usually over ~ten years) become lifetime honorary trustees. They may attend and participate in board discussions, they have access to all the official doings that officers and trustees do, and they are allowed to vote for several years. After a set time they lose the vote but retain everything else. Most of them have drifted away by then, but it's a graceful transition, not a boot. And if somebody wants to return to "active duty", we'll elect them to the board again. 1 Having your team account deleted because the community needs you to make room for another mod would be especially demoralizing, I would think -- you lose your account and body of work. 2 It can be called something else; this is an idea, not a precise suggestion. "Ex-officio", "mod advisor", "venerated elder"... ok, probably not that last one, but this is the kind of function I'm describing. I hope this is rare, but sometimes an election is the last thing a site needs right now -- there's some issue on the site, some factional dispute or the like, and an election will be contentious and perhaps produce results we'll all regret in a few months. I'm not sure how to address this, but we should somehow "take the pulse" of the community before scheduling an election, rather than just having a fixed schedule. Of course, if there's a problem that significant, the community and the CM team should be working together to solve it. The "are we ready for an election?" prod would surface those issues if they haven't been visible to the CMs before. As I've always seen it, site elections are a sign of trust between the Community Team and the site itself; you effectively trust us to be able to select our own leadership without running the site and the network's good reputation into the ground in the process. Early beta sites really haven't earned that trust. And there's also long-running beta sites which still haven't earned that trust. Appointing moderators instead of throwing it to the fickle winds of the voting public is still necessary to ensure that sites have proper leadership when they for whatever reason are unable to choose that leadership for themselves. However, I do agree that there's no real reason for the Community Team to do this most of the time. Except for the very first moderator selection on a fledgling site, in most situations where appointing a pro-tem moderator is necessary you already have an existing moderator team, or at least part of one; these are the people that you have already trusted to know how to effectively lead the community, and whose judgement you're (presumably) already relying on when deciding who next to appoint. Why not just cut out the middle-man and let them deputize their own pro-tems? I would still want the Community Team to sign off before giving any deputized pro-tem access to PII and such, but the majority of flags and work that would necessitate having a pro-tem in the first place doesn't involve more than just having elevated mod-level privileges (e.g. one-vote close/delete/undelete powers). The community leaders should be able to decide if and when there's need for a few extra hands while they're waiting for the next election; there's no reason to backlog the Community Team with this. If a new "real" moderator is needed urgently, we'll let you know. We should do a better job of giving "drive-by" voters relevant information about the candidates. Right now the election screen contains very little information about how a particular candidate interacts with a community – instead, it provides "objective" information like reputation, time on the site, candidate score, and badges, in addition to the candidate's blurb. But besides what the candidate wishes to reveal in her bio, there's no information about the candidate's views on the site, her approach to moderation, her approach to conflict, and so forth. This puts us in the situation where high-rep users, after a long hiatus or period of conflict with the community, can attract votes on the basis of name recognition and "good stats" from drive-by voters who got their minimum voting reputation some time ago and haven't been engaged recently. They get a notification that there's an election, and they vote, and that's that. One way to help address this is by developing better "objective" stats that incorporate things like recent review queue activity (as opposed to years ago), recent flag count and acceptance rate (not just total count), recent meta posts count and score, and so forth, and displaying them prominently, rather than only showing metrics based primarily on rep and long-term badge achievements. I believe a better informed electorate would help make elections less stressful for communities. I'd also speculate that this would reduce the need for CM involvement following controversial elections, though this is just a deduction with no data or even anecdote to back it up. I like the overall idea, but I'm nervous about a few things with replacing pro-tem mods, in particular right out of private beta. Lack of solid knowledge. The community doesn't know their candidates that well, they probably haven't seen them run into many tough situations yet. Lack of voters. There won't be that many users yet, and if all goes well, the site will quickly grow to where most users didn't vote in that first election. Lack of risk mitigation. If we get bitten by the previous two points, we don't have a good safety net. If a mod elected early on does turn out to be a bad choice, it's difficult to avoid a lot of drama, which is always harmful, but perhaps even more so for a site early in public beta. All of that said I absolutely think that we should have elections eventually, and pro-tem mods should be a temporary solution, and making elections simpler and thus easier to have (e.g. for replacements) sounds great. Have we considered the effect on private information? I don't know if this is neutral or negative, but more people cycling through the moderator positions means more people who can see all the mod-private information, like suspension histories and PII. Everybody is bound by the moderation agreement (including after they step down) so I'm not concerned that things are more likely to leak out, but over time more people will see private communication between mods and users. This could become uncomfortable for the users involved; that "be nice" suspension of a prominent user with all the juicy details in the mod message is visible to an ever-increasing number of site users. What will the effect be? This concern already exists whenever we add a moderator, but we're opening the door wider now. Do we care? I don't know. Just from an information-security perspective, we should ask ourselves the question. There's one notable advantage of more users cycling through moderator teams: increased perspective among non-mods. There are many good points here so far about concerns with having more elections. I agree with almost all of them. If the problems with more frequent elections could be figured out, I see one big advantage: the more users who have experienced having to moderate a site, the more “forged in the fires of moderation” users we will have. I think this would be good for the sites. Becoming a moderator has an interesting side effect: the rules look very different when you're the one trying to judiciously apply them. This change in perspective has been remarked on by and is very valuable for myself and my fellow local mods. If we could get some of that outside the set of mods, I think it would be a great benefit to a site. After all, it's one thing for the people who control the levers judging and enforcing the rules to have a big-picture view of tending to site health and operation. It's even more valuable to have that perspective among the general membership. It makes for a lot more cooperation and a lot less friction. But, it's less likely to spread from “The Man” of lifelong mods though, and more likely to spread among non-mods by seeing other non-mods model it. As much as the idea of standing for election every year (or whatever) gives me a headache thinking of how it would politicise every mod action, if we could somehow get more regular users to have moderator experience under the belts, I think that one thing would be of great benefit to site health. In short, moderator experience makes for more conscientious users, and we can always use more of those. If we can figure out how to get more users real moderation experience without breaking anything or anyone else, that would be good. I think the mod for life position works quite well, and I would not change it to have mods reelected annually, or some such. There are plenty of cases where mods step down, or get removed and new users step up and are elected to replace them. Or in another case, a site grows and it gets more mods. That all works (could use some tweaking on the inactive mods steeping down part) but the mod for life bit is central to how our sites are run. As others have stated changing the mod position to focus on reelections is dangerous (just look at politics). If instead of curating the site we help run, which includes some actions that are unpopular, I was just filling my term looking to the next election, I'd always be thinking about how this would effect my votes (again look to politicians). Take an example from our site, blender has an all new still experiential version 2.8, we are getting questions about that new version. There is an ongoing debate about whether or not 2.8 questions should be on topic yet. If I was thinking about getting re-elected, I'd say sure ask away (that is the popular thing), however if I'm thinking about the longevity of the site, and the usefulness of the questions/answers I say no. All that is still changing, next week that button might not be there. Ok, back to the problem of elected forever. Do we realistically expect a mod to volunteer for decades? (Some people have life to do, and simply can't.) No, nobody does. We need to make it very clear this is an opened agreement. Moderators are elected to help run the site for as long as they want to. When a mod gets busy (new job, school, baby, family emergency, moves, etc) they should simply be able to leave. No pressure, no expectations from the users or SE. They could very well be here for decades, or just a few months. Whatever it is, mods should feel free to come and go as they want. Once a moderator of SE, always a moderator of SE. After a moderator is elected and signs that Moderator Agreement, they should be able to return as a mod any time they want (say they finished school, or that baby grew up) even if their position has been filled. Granted they left in good standing, and have stayed even marginally engaged with the site (this does not go for the few that get asked to leave, or are kicked out). You can't have too many mods. So if a mod who helped start the site years ago now has time again and comes back, it is a win win. There is less workload on all the other mods; there is less to learn then a brand new mod; and the site keeps its energy with "fresh blood." Lets say there is a mod "Frodo Baggins." Frodo is more busy then he use to be, he's still on the site nearly every day handling flags and all, but if he knew he could step down, let one of the super active power users take over, and yet still be able to come back as a mod, he probably would step down. See at that point there is no reason not to. The site benefits because the more active a mod the better, and Frodo has lost nothing by leaving. In our current system, there is a huge disincentive to leave as a mod. If you leave, you leave all that power (even if you don't use it that much any more). Our sites suffer when semi-active mods do not want to give up their seats, because there is no guarantee that they will ever be able to come back. So instead of forcing the mods to keep getting reelected (which has a whole host of its own problems), just remove the reasons the mods do not want to leave. Mods keeping a re-election mindset is dangerous. Sites' quality will suffer. Enable mods to freely step down and rejoin when they want. Solves most of the inactive mod problem, keeps sites fresh and active, and the special role mods play safe. Any references to "The Fellowship of the Ring" or "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" may be incidental. The recent pro tem election on the Vi site has left me with mixed feelings. Active member of the community. Sporadic contributor (mostly from when the site was new). I would still consider him to be a good mod, but that's mostly based on contributions I've seen on other sites (he's a great mod on another site). Prolific contributor on other sites, but not on ours. I think few people knew who they are (and thus if they're a good mod). Very few/sporadic contributions on any site spread out over many years. There wasn't really a choice: only one candidate was clearly qualified. I think no one was surprised by the outcome: candidate 1 got 72% of the vote. It's not that I'm unhappy with the outcome; but it seems to me that the entire election process was just ... unnecessary? I'm not active on the parenting site, but looking at their election it seems there was a little bit more choice, but one candidate getting 60% of the votes seems it wasn't a difficult decision there, either. Honestly I'm not sure if the election really improved anything over just appointing the mod. On the other hand, I don't think it did any harm, either. Small update: one of the nominees self-deleted their account a day after the election results were announced. While we can't be sure of the reason, I think it's not unreasonable to assume that that disappointment with the election results is a factor. No content is lost and the user's contributions were sporadic, so not a huge deal; but it does highlight that elections can be a risk and have negative effects. Okay, I am throwing a suggestion out there. It’s very rough and mostly food for thought. Also, it pertains to “running” sites with an established moderator team and probably does not translate well to sites on the scale of SO or the community of SciFi. I am aware that this goes against the premise of sticking to STV, but while STV is great, it is simply not made for what I am suggesting. Introduce a score that quantifies how much a new moderator is needed. This can be calculated from flag-handling times, some special button each active moderator can push, or recent retirees. Introduce a score that quantifies how suitable somebody is for moderatorship. This could cover some basic community-moderation achievements (like the moderator score in current elections) but most importantly should be based on anonymous votes by experienced users. The latter could roughly work like this: Once a user reached a certain reputation, they can nominate up to e.g. three other users for moderatorship (and change that list at any time). The value of these nomination votes could somehow mildly scale with reputation or be higher for existing moderators. If all of the above is positive, the candidate writes a brief text to introduce themselves, is subject to questions by the community, and most importantly subject to a vote. In the latter, voters are only asked to express their approval of this particular candidate. If the result of this is positive, the candidate becomes a moderator. No moderator elections if there are no suitable or willing candidates. Excellent candidates can become moderators when they are ripe. You seem to be proposing a procedure by which the whole community can remove a diamond moderator by majority vote, when there are more candidates than there are seats. A better alternative to consider is removal by a two-thirds vote of the whole community. I suggest that if you do establish a yearly election cycle, it is a great idea to list existing diamond moderators on the ballot, and give them an opportunity to campaign, but they should be removed if they receive twice as many downvotes as upvotes. Why? Because moderator elections are not democratic. I am not criticizing this. It is just important to keep in mind. A community cannot set the rules of its own elections. It cannot set terms, term limits, voting procedures, it cannot determine the powers of its elected officials. Robert’s Rules do not apply. The closest the community comes to establishing bylaws is voting on meta posts which propose community policy, and even then community policy cannot contravene Stack Exchange policy. The moderator agreement is with Stack Exchange, not with the community. In short, elected moderators are community representatives, sort of. But it is closer to the truth to say they are appointed volunteers, and that Stack Exchange uses elections as a way to crowd-source and automate the decision of who is safest to appoint. So the question becomes, how can Stack Exchange crowdsource the question of which diamond moderators they should remove because they are not an asset to Stack Exchange? For that there should be a community consensus, that is, the two-thirds majority which is conventionally the minimum for removal from any office. This procedure is detailed at “Handling Calls to Remove a Moderator”. A two-thirds vote is fairly consistent with what Robert’s Rules calls for. Robert’s Rules begin with confidential investigation by a committee that prefers charges, followed by a trial of the facts by the assembly (censure a.k.a. impeachment), and, if censure passes by a majority, a second two-thirds vote on removal then takes place. “Stack Exchange Inc. reserves the right to terminate my privileges as a moderator at any time without warning.” This is a clause in the Moderator Agreement. Termination could presumably take place whenever a diamond moderator violates the agreement. I do not know if this procedure has documented steps that provide for a fair hearing or due process. From the number of posts, it seems obvious there is interest. Not alot consistency what direction it should take but there is interest. A lot of the posts opposed to reoccuring elections are about the drama (and pain) of the current process. The suggestion is for a simpler less painful process. Long before I was active on SE, I had a mop at a couple of the en.wikipedia.org sites. The process used at https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Wikisource:Administrators was not overly painfull, quickly removed the inactive, and provided a route to return. It is one of the most graceful and pleasant process I have seen. It is a common occurrence on wikis to create an account, be active for a certain period of time, then become inactive. While this is to be expected due to the nature of this site, accounts with restricted access should not be left unattended for a long period of time. Users who return after an extended break may no longer be in touch with community practices or policies, which is not desirable in an administrator. Inactive accounts are also more open to account hijacking, and this may be difficult to detect as compromised if the original user is not there to notice edits they didn't make. Furthermore, the list of users with restricted access should only contain those capable of responding to queries within a reasonable period of time. On Wikisource, an inactive sysop will generally have his or her rights removed. An "inactive administrator" is one who has not edited during the past six months and has not made more than 50 edits during the last year. Inactive users automatically lose their restricted access in their next scheduled confirmation of the voting unless the community supports continued access. Any user who has lost access due to inactivity may reapply through the regular processes. I'm incredibly leery of this aspect. It completely changes the paradigm of moderators, and not in a good way. I get that SE is trying to make elections take less from their staff to enact. But...that's kinda the cost of doing business in this system. If you want final oversight and control of the site, you need to keep your hands in it. Less involvement implicitly means less control. See chat and the various debacles that have happened there. If you want to take a step back and automate the process more, while requiring moderators to stand for re-election, you're telling the community that their input and decisions matter more than the overall health of the site does. You're going to face massive backlash when you see something isn't working right, and stick your oar back in. If you want the oversight, you need to put in the work. There are too many words, comments, answers to read them all. So, I'm going to focus on two points. If this has already been said by someone else, apologies. But should communities have a say when that happens? May I suggest two years? If someone is a good fair-minded mod whose presence is unintrusive until needed or an unreliable biased person, I believe two years is sufficient time to either confirm or remove their title. If their status is confirmed, then it's guaranteed for life five-seven years. During which time, a mod can freely choose to resign whenever RL intervenes and new elections should be held, if and when the community feels that necessity. Turnovers are necessary for the well-being of any public institution, private company and workforce, the same principle applies to websites. What about the users who have the right to vote? Should a user who has only posted twice in five years have the same say as someone who has regularly contributed to the site? Should a user who has never posted on meta have the same privilege as someone who has participated, not every week, not every month, but at least (hypothesis) four times on meta in any given year EDIT (this could also include comments). But for candidates, I want to vote for someone who sticks out their neck every once in a while, and I expect them to have been an active member also on meta, not only on the main site. It's a fact, but what I'm about to say will not be liked, not all users are created equal. Some have earned more of a voice than others. I think that regular elections are simply a horrible idea. Having to go through the circus of elections on a regular basis would be a very strong incentive to step down. I am currently a mod on 3 sites (elected on two, appointed on one) so I would have to go through three elections every year if we made this a yearly thing. That would be very tiring. I also think it is very counterproductive to make mods a more political position than they need to be. Moderators need to feel they can do their jobs, which sometimes involves making users angry at us, without fear of this leading to them losing the next election. I really don't want to have a situation where moderators will consider their actions through the distorting lens of how they would affect their reelection bid. I can't see that having a beneficial effect on the quality of moderators' work. However, I do think it could be useful to give the community a simpler way of expressing its feelings about current moderators. To that end, I propose we have a running mod score. Each mod's profile could have two special voting buttons and each user would have the right to up- or downvote the mod (users should be able to change their vote at will). If a moderator's score falls below a certain threshold, and if the total number of votes cast represents a significant proportion of the community, that could trigger some sort of action. Perhaps a mini-election (like a vote of confidence) where users would be asked to vote on the mod retaining their position. Of course, the score should be completely ignored until enough users have voted one way or another that the score can be taken to be representative of what a large part of the community feels. The score also doesn't need to be visible to anyone but SE employees. I think it is important that the communities feel their mods (at least their elected mods) always represent them and there should be a better way for the community to remove a mod when they feel the mod's no longer right for the job. As it stands, the only way a community can de-mod someone is by contacting SE or raising a huge stink on meta. This also means that a few vocal users who dislike a mod can have a disproportionate impact and cause all sorts of drama by complaining on meta. If we had a moderator score as I describe, that could give a much better, more objective and more representative measure of how the community really feels about its moderators. I think these are good ideas for the smaller exchanges. Moderation on low volume sites can be difficult for only a few users to shoulder, and the community is often hard pressed to meet the numbers themselves. Moderation of the smaller sites has been problematic in the past, so taking a slightly different angle could help keep the sites clean while also increasing interest in participation and contribution. That said... I don't think this makes sense for the larger sites. The moderation at Stack Overflow, by far the largest site of the exchange and the lifeline of the company, is in a pretty coalesced state. Its overall process, lineage of term, and selection is being handled very well. I haven't seen really any complaints about it there, and I am an avid follower of their meta site, a frequent contributor, and have ran in a few elections. They were fair, the elected moderators have done well, there was a lot of community participation across the board, and the frequency seems balanced. tl;dr; Good for small, avoid for large. Please do not do this for Stack Overflow. Suggestion: stop using down votes for mod election votes (primaries1). Does it really matter who you are against? Who you are for is what matters. The use of negative voting in SE elections, the down vote button alongside the up vote button, remains a sign of the flaws in SE community's attitudes towards people. We have done a thing lately in trying to improve that. Carry that momentum forward. Down votes during mod elections: not necessary. Add up the "who I am for" votes (the up votes); we each get three in a given election. The winners will still win. The down vote tool for questions and answers retain their utility for the things -- questions and answers -- that is this site's attraction. People aren't things, so please stop treating them that way (in the mechanical sense). 1 primaries point edited in thanks to feed back in comments from @MonicaCellio. I am extremely confused by this bullet point. Our Moderator team is the best there is, bar none. I don't know which moderator team you are referring to, and what evidence you have for it being "the best there is". Having senior moderators is important to retain valuable talent. It is not clear what you are saying here. Are you saying that giving talented people the option of being permanent moderators is important for keeping them? So these talented people that are such good moderators, wouldn't do it if they were not made permanent? In my opinion, that attitude alone is enough for me not to want such a person to be a moderator. Have a say in when what happens? When a moderator becomes permanent? If you are thinking about making it possible for some moderators to become permanent, then why should the community not have a say in this? Yes they should be able to select which ones are permanent and when they graduate to becoming permanent (though I really don't understand what you're saying so maybe my answer is not relevant). And should they be empowered to decide if something has changed? Whether or not something has happened in the past (for example "changed") is not usually something we decide in the present. We don't want to have a lot of needless rollover elections, so maybe we could come up with a system where long-term "senior moderators" are easily retained, while more established communities can avoid needless elections when it turns out: "Nah, we're good. We don't need another election." So at what point have you addressed your question in bold at the beginning, about whether or not "moderator for life" should always be automatic and FOREVER? This has been one of the most confusing paragraphs for me ever to try to interpret. It is extremely obvious that no one should be given mod privileges permanently. Someone is eventually going to develop Alzheimer's and delete every single question on their SE. Also the atmosphere in an SE changes over the years. Those who were good moderators 10 years ago will likely not be liked when the grandchildren of millenials are writing 90% of the questions and answers here. This is why there are ways to remove moderators (for example with 2/3 votes from other moderators). If by FOREVER in all capital letters, you mean you want to remove the capability to remove moderators, then I disagree that this would be a good idea. Have two grades of moderators. Ones that have to run for re-election every year (or however often you propose to have regular elections), and ones that have to run for re-election every 10 years (or whatever). You need to have served at least 1 term as a short-term moderator, to run for long-term moderator. The 10 year moderators would be what you seem to call "senior moderators" and naturally by virtue of the fact that their term is 10 years long, it is easy to "retain" them. But you will find that 10 years is a long time and things change a lot over 10 years, you probably want these "long-term moderators" to be for something like 5 years instead. So should people become "long-term" moderators "automatically" ? No. Some people are good on paper but when they are given the power they turn out to be terrible. Make them survive at least one re-election before you make them "long-term", and don't have anything "permanent". The long-term moderators are given a huge number of years (for example 5) during which they do not need to run for re-election which should be plenty of incentive to do the job, and during this huge number of years, the only way they can be removed is by the existing methods (for example, 2/3 of the other moderators voting for it, though I find 2/3 strange and would think 51% is enough). Moderator elections in beta sites? How does the Constable badge work in the new graduation model?

2019-04-18T10:51:00Z

https://meta.stackexchange.com/questions/316051/help-me-opine-about-a-new-election-system/316079

ANTHONY BYRNE, MEMBER FOR HOLT: I'm Anthony Byrne, the federal Member for Holt. You're actually in, for journalists who have travelled out here, the constituency of Holt, one of the fastest-growing areas in Australia. And that's what makes the announcements that you've read about and are about to hear about today, more significant. Given the significance of the announcements, I'm obviously accompanied by my federal colleagues, Mark Dreyfus and Julian Hill, and also by the candidates for Flinders, Josh, Peta Murphy from Dunkley, and Simon Curtis from La Trobe. The state Member for Cranbourne, Pauline Richards, and the member for Carrum, Sonya Kilkenny. But also importantly, the Premier, and most importantly, the Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten. The road that you see there has at the moment, 25,000 vehicles that go through it per day. In about another 10 years’ time, it will be 50,000 people. You're in the city of Casey. The City of Casey has a population at present of over 300,000 people - 349,000 people. It's almost as big as Canberra. By 2041, it's going to be 540,000 people. This area, ladies and gentlemen, is just transforming before your eyes. And what it needs - and it has with a State Labor Government that's invested significantly through Premier Andrews in this area, a State Government that is invested and invested in the future. What we do need is we need a Federal Government that's going to do the same thing, and that's why I'm so proud to have my friend and colleague and the Leader of the Opposition, Bill Shorten here, and I'll pass over to Bill. BILL SHORTEN, LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION: Good morning, everybody. It's great to be here with Premier Andrews, shadow spokesperson Anthony Albanese and a range of our Labor candidates and members at both the State and Federal level. This is an exciting announcement for Victoria, for Melbourne, in particular for the south-eastern suburbs. Melbourne is one of the fastest growing centres in Australia. I remember coming here as a university student, visiting friends, and this was basically power lines and paddocks and a few plant nurseries between Frankston and Dandenong. And beyond Dandenong, there was some great country towns like Pakenham and Berwick. But in the last 30 years, and in particular the last 10 years, this area has boomed. There are thousands of people flooding in and the roads need to keep up with the population growth. It's growing so fast here that even the GPS is not keeping up with the new roads and redirections. So what this area needs is a State and a Federal government focused on the people. Now they've got that at the state level with Premier Dan Andrews, on everything from level crossings, to his ambitious vision for suburban rail, to further investment in roads. But unfortunately for the last six years, the fastest-growing areas of Australia have been neglected by a Coalition Liberal Government who really don't know where Melbourne is. Did you know in the last financial year, for every dollar spent by Canberra on roads and infrastructure around Australia, only seven cents has come to Victoria. That's not good enough when people in Victoria pay their taxes to Canberra. So today, I'm really pleased to be announcing along with Premier Dan Andrews, that we are good to go to build a great pipeline of projects of roads in south-eastern Melbourne if we win the next election in six or seven or eight weeks. This is not a pipe dream, it's reality. The Victorian Government's done the hard work, they've got the plans. What they need is an ally in Canberra to invest in the fastest growing suburbs around Victoria, and indeed around Australia. So there's a range of exciting projects which will see the roads uncluttered, de-congested. People move out here because they can afford the houses, but the road infrastructure really needs to keep up. That's what we're doing today. We've got a plan. It's ready to go at the state level, the work's been done. And if we can get elected in eight weeks’ time, then this plan becomes a reality. We've got the ability to raise the funds to spend the money and it'll be in our first budget. I'd now like to hand over to Premier Dan Andrews and then Anthony Albanese. I should just say though with regards to the New South Wales election, I extend my congratulations to Gladys Berejiklian on being re-elected Premier of New South Wales. I commiserate with Michael Daly and State Labor. They put up a big effort but they fell short. But my congratulations go to Premier Berejiklian. Now over to Dan Andrews. DANIEL ANDREWS, PREMIER OF VICTORIA: Thanks very much, Bill and it's great to be out here in the south-eastern suburbs, able to celebrate a proper partnership to get things done. Over these last four and a half years, we've been building in road and rail, hospitals and schools - how much more could we have achieved and how much more will we be able to achieve with a proper partner in Canberra? Someone who's prepared to invest side by side with us, to do that hard work, to make sure that we've got people home safer and sooner, more time with families, less time on terribly congested roads. These outer south-eastern roads are ready to go. And I can announce today that the request for proposal - an important part of a tender process - will in fact begin today, with documentation going up online, and we'll be out talking to the market in the coming weeks and months, getting final prices and putting together the final package so that we can be under construction in 2020 and complete this entire package, a very big package of suburban roads entirely upgraded, completed by 2025. The other point to make today as well is that Bill's commitment of $850 million comes also with a shared commitment between the Federal Labor Party and the State Labor Government to make sure that every time we spend taxpayers’ money building the infrastructure we need, we're investing in jobs and skills. One in 10 workers on these projects will be apprentices, trainees, cadets. And that's all about leaving a legacy so that right across their working life, they can continue to build the infrastructure that matters so very much. So Bill, I'm so pleased to think that finally, obviously we have to work hard towards the election of a Labor Government in seven or eight weeks’ time but if that comes to pass, finally, the people of Victoria will have a strong and equal partner in getting the infrastructure we need built today to set us up for the future. Can I also, just before I throw the Albo, can I also pass on my congratulations to Gladys. It's a great outcome for her and I wish her well. As a Victorian Premier, I don't wish her too well but still, it is a fantastic result for her and she's rightly proud. Albo. ANTHONY ALBANESE, SHADOW MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE, TRANSPORT, CITIES AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Thanks, mate. This is what a true partnership between what we hope is a Shorten Labor Government and a State Government looks like. People sitting down, working through plans, working cooperatively. And when people look back at the years of the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison revolving door government, what they'll look at is six years of lost opportunity. Six years in which we didn't have investment here in Victoria. We lifted investment last time I was the Infrastructure Minister from $87 dollars for every Victorian to over $200. And what we want to do is to lift Victoria up so it gets its share again. In our last budget, Victoria received 26 per cent of the national infrastructure budget. Last year, it received 7.7 per cent. This is in spite of the fact that Melbourne is Australia's fastest growing capital city and Victoria is Australia's fastest growing state. What we need to do is invest in the growth regions. This very electorate of Holt is where the Growth Areas Alliance had its national conference I spoke at about 18 months ago, for that very reason. Just a few weeks ago, I, with the federal candidates and members who are here today, met with all of the councils in this region about their priorities. What we do today is deliver on these eight projects. $850 million dollars, including a new project for a park and ride facility. Including making sure that when they have made announcements, the current Government, such as Racecourse Road, they haven't done it properly. We'll have a full duplication in partnership with the level crossing removal that the Victorian Government are undertaking themselves. The Victorian Government under Daniel Andrews has had to do all of the heavy lifting. Whether it be rail, whether it be road, whether it be park and ride facilities. A Shorten Labor Government will partner in the interests of Victorians, and in the interests of improving roads safety, and in the interests of boosting productivity and our national economy. At the same time as boosting jobs and making sure that we boost training and skills opportunities for people in this region. SHORTEN: Thanks very much, Anthony. Are there any questions on this announcement or any other matters? JOURNALIST: Mr Shorten, you've given some interviews in recent days where you've spoken about what sort Prime Minister you'd hope to be. Is that clear indication that you believe that you will win the election? SHORTEN: No. It's a clear indication I want people to vote for Labor at the next election. I think in Australia at the moment, the most common sentiment is that people are sick of the instability and chaos of politics, they're sick of division. And I think they look at Labor federally and say, well, we mightn't agree with every policy you've got but we know you're united and we know you're stable. I think there's another equally important feeling out there in Australian families every evening, the sense that everything's going up except your wages. Only Labor's got a wages policy. Only Labor's going to be fair dinkum on climate change. Only Labor's helping make sure that women get an equal deal to men. Only Labor can say that we're the stable party of politics. And in regard to today's announcement, we didn't get trapped behind a traffic jam of Liberal limousines coming out here to find the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. As Anthony said and as Daniel said, this is the fastest-growing part of Australia at the moment. But it hasn't been getting its fair share from Canberra. It's important that when we encourage people to move out to the outer suburbs, when we want them to have their dream of their own home, that we back it up with the taxes people spend to reinvest in their communities, on their roads out here, so they're not spending hours and hours every day, practically weeks every year, sitting in traffic trying to get home and get to work. SHORTEN: Well why don't I'll let Anthony answer this, he is clearly gunning to. JOURNALIST: Are you going to use that money to fund any of this work or will that be spent on something else? ALBANESE: Well this is just a farce. Find something in the budget papers, find something, a line item with $3 billion. What they did was they took $3 billion that had been allocated for the Melbourne Metro that was approved by Infrastructure Australia. They took that money and allocated it, for a project that is going ahead, and allocated it to a project that isn't going ahead. And then because it was a budget fix, they advanced $1.5 billion to the Victorian Government, that they then wouldn't allow them to spend for ages. They then approved the spending of that and then are trying to double count and say the $3 billion is still there. This is a joke. This was for a project that had a BCR, a benefit of 45 cents for every dollar. And as I've said to various Liberals in the Cabinet who have raised this issue in Canberra, if they give me $100, I'll give them $45 the next time I see them and we'll call it a deal. Because that's the proposal that they had that's been rejected, now twice, with the election and re-election of the Andrews Government. This is a con for them to justify the fact that Victoria is being short changed and getting 7.7 per cent of the Federal infrastructure budget. It should be called out for what it is. If they've got money available, seriously in the budget, they should be allocating it in areas that are ready to go, like these projects. ALBANESE: It's not there. This is a fantasy, this is an absolute fantasy. What we are about is real projects with real dollars that create real jobs, that make a real difference to urban congestion. Not fantasies, not pretending something's there that that simply isn't. And the fact is that because of that decision, the Andrews Government has gone it alone on Melbourne Metro and has gone it alone on so many projects. This is just a con. And the fact is that my state of New South Wales has got pretty close to 50 per cent of the infrastructure budget. When I was the Minister, I cooperated with the Victorian Liberal Government, I cooperated with the Newman Government. What we have in Canberra now is a partisan government that has punished people for voting Labor. SHORTEN: I'm might just say in the light, just momentarily as you collect your next questions and reflect on what Anthony said, and that goes to answering again, your earlier question, this is why Labor's competitive: we've got more unity, we've got more talent and we've got more vision, and that clearly is the case in infrastructure. JOURNALIST: How does a result in New South Wales effect your campaign over the next 6 weeks? SHORTEN: I think it'd be fair to say that there weren't many federal implications, but rarely is there an election that you can't learn something from. You know, I've been thinking about it overnight, and the rise of some of those smaller parties and independents show that no major party can take the voter for granted. And I actually think that the challenge, or the lesson, for me out of yesterday, is to keep putting forward a long term view of the nation, to keep putting forward vision. It's not enough to rely on the fact that you're not the other party, that you've got to offer a positive set of plans. And when you look at the fact that we've got a bigger, better tax cuts for working people, that we're going to reverse the cuts to education, hospitals and health care, and of course, take real action on climate change, and get wages moving - that's the sort of vision people are looking for. JOURNALIST: But after being buoyed from the Victorian results, is this pretty average result for Labor in New South Wales a wakeup call? SHORTEN: Well again, I'd probably refer you to my previous answer. I think when you have a look at the debates they were having a New South Wales, it was about stadiums, it was about the treatment of the bush in New South Wales. But you know, no one should ever say there's nothing to learn. And again, I would say that when you have a look at the vote that independents and third-parties got, not Labor, Liberal, Nats, then what we need to do is recognise people are hungry for vision. Politics as usual doesn't cut it. There's a lot of people who think that the system's broken or that the fix is in and that the vested interests run Australia. Well we're coming with a different platform. We're coming with a platform which is about looking after working and middle class people. What frustrates Australians is we can't move forward on climate change and energy policy. What frustrates people is that everything's going up except their wages. What frustrates people is education cuts and health care cuts. That's what's frustrating people. We've got a vision for that and we look forward to the next seven weeks. JOURNALIST: Bill, Michael Daley's comments about Asians very damaging there in the last week. Does that leave your party with a lasting problem in that state? SHORTEN: No. I've spoken to Michael Daley. He's the first to acknowledge that his comments were wrong and I've certainly said that to him. I think he paid a price for that. More generally, when it comes to tolerance and diversity, I think again, it just highlights the importance of the mainstream parties putting the extremists last. Again, I say to Mr Morrison, put the country first, put One Nation and like-minded parties last. SHORTEN: I was very flattered that they asked me to speak at their launch. At least there was one major party leader speaking. Again though, I think you'd fairly say that there were a lot of state issues and that is the consensus. But you know, I think every election is a wakeup call and you've got to make sure you're offering strong vision, strong policies. I think even our harshest critics wouldn't say that we've been a small target opposition though, would they? JOURNALIST: But why didn't you campaign more with Michael Daley? SHORTEN: Sorry, I don't accept your assumption. I was up there six times. But also, I'm not running for Premier of New South Wales, and if I was, you would have seen a lot more of me. JOURNALIST: What do you think Mark Latham will bring to the New South Wales Parliament? Do you think he will be a valuable addition there? SHORTEN: Well, he brings his Federal parliamentary pension, but, I don't know. I find that talking about Mark Latham takes us nowhere. JOURNALIST: Would you like to see Michael Daley continue as the Labor Leader in New South Wales? SHORTEN: That will be a matter for New South Wales. Listen, Michael came in, 80-plus days, steep climb, did his best but I think even as your question's acknowledging, he hit some rough road in the last 10 days. SHORTEN: Yeah, we've been certainly talking about that in the light of Christchurch, it's a shocking wake up call to say that our major social media platforms, the new media, can't regard themselves as beyond the arm of regulation. I mean if you in the old media, probably some of the things that they allow on their platforms, you'd be in court. You've got to think about what happens before you publish. Social media is a fantastic development, the internet is fantastic - absolutely. But we can't allow it to become a swamp of hatred because - and it's no good for the people who run the swamp, create the swamp to then not take responsibility for what crawls out. What I'll do is I'll be meeting, like the current Prime Minister, with major companies, talking to them. But also what we want to do is, I think there's another issue which people have been raising with me in recent days, is how much tax do these companies pay? You know, if you run the local newsagency, you're a construction worker on this job, you've got to pay your tax. I was surprised, frankly, to find out that in 2017, Google had revenue of $1 billon in Australia, paid $37 million tax. So, I think there's a lot of conversations we've got to have with the big social media companies and I certainly look forward to embracing them with a constructive mindset. JOURNALIST: The Treasurer knocked down a plan this week to increase taxes on the tech giants. I think it was a new digital tax that they were looking at. Is that something you'd be open to? SHORTEN: We haven't seen what the Government's plans are. We're always open to being constructive. JOURNALIST: Are fines or convictions the answer in your mind, or do we need to have a discussion first? SHORTEN: Well I think it's all of the above, isn't it? And let's be clear, it's not just social media. I think existing media need to make sure that they're not encouraging hate speech. I think it's important that politicians, especially the mainstream politicians, work together to stop extremism. This country can't be the great country it should be if we're picking on minorities, if we're dividing, if we're teaching people to be afraid. You know, we've got to stop the dog whistling on immigration, stop the dog whistling and stop the hate speech or the covert encouragement of it. This is not just a one size fits all solution. Yes, the Googles, the Facebooks, the social media new platforms need to be more accountable. But it's all of us, really. All of us have to lift our performance. And that's why again, I'd encourage the Prime Minister to our follow our lead. He mightn't like Labor, and I don't like their policies, but I don't think that the Liberals are worse than One Nation or Fraser Anning. I'm not afraid to say that if Labor can't win the election, I'd rather have the Liberals than Pauline Hanson or One Nation. And our preferences are reflecting what I say. But Mr Morrison can't say that his preferences can do one thing and then pretend to be, you know, something else. His actions are what indicate the truth of his words. JOURNALIST: Premier, real quick just back on this big spend. I know there's no final cost but how will we be paying our share? ANDREWS: There'll be a budget allocation. There already has been and with additional support from a Shorten Labor Government that will mean that some of that funding is freed up to allocate to other projects. Ultimately, a proper partnership, a shared effort, 50:50 on these important projects means we can get them done quicker, we can deliver them in full, create jobs along the way, and that's the way that it should be. Bill's running on the notion of a fair go, and when it comes to infrastructure funding, Victorians have not been getting a fair go. That's why today's promise is so very important and welcomed wholeheartedly. Not just by me and my team, but I think from families right across the south-eastern suburbs who want to get home sooner and safer, they want to spend time with their kids, not time stuck on terribly congested roads. The Prime Minister doesn't seem to understand that. Bill Shorten as the alternative Prime Minister, he most certainly does. ANDREWS: No, no. These are all important road upgrades and cash grants from a future Commonwealth Government will help support building them.

2019-04-22T12:56:11Z

https://www.billshorten.com.au/doorstop_melbourne_sunday_24_march_2019

WHICH THANKSGIVING FOOD IS GOOD FOR DOGS TO EAT? Each Thanksgiving, I cringe upon reading articles written by “pet experts” and veterinarians striving to convince pet owners to not share holiday foods for fear of creating illness in their canine or feline companions. This mindset reinforces the tendency for owners to solely rely on commercially-available, highly processed pet foods that differ vastly from the way food appears in nature. However, there are many foods served at Thanksgiving feasts that pet owners can and should share with their pets. Yes, turkey is safe for both cats and dogs to eat. It’s a food source I often recommend for my patients, as it’s less commonly used in commercially available diets than other fowl like chicken. In my training of Chinese medicine food energy, it is believed that turkey is a cooling protein source for animals with an excess of Yang (heating) energy such as cancer, immune-mediated disease (allergies, “autoimmune” diseases) and infections (bacteria, yeast). Of course, providing turkey to our pets in an appropriately-sized portion is key. Only offer small amounts of white turkey meat lacking skin, which is 38 calories per ounce. Never give turkey bones to your canine or feline companion, because the cooked bones can splinter, causing irritation to the stomach and intestines. Turkey bones can contribute to vomit, diarrhea, pancreatitis and other digestive tract problems. Yes, cats and dogs can both have mashed or sweet potatoes. However, Thanksgiving potato dishes are often prepared with butter, cream, sugar, nuts, raisins or other additives that could cause digestive problems for your pet. My top recommendation is to provide small volumes of cooked sweet potato without the skin or any additives. Sweet potato, boiled and without the skin contains 22 calories per ounce—medium-sized sweet potato is about 5.3 ounces—and is rich in fiber and antioxidants like beta carotene.Potato, boiled and without skin (i.e., white, Russet potato), contains more calories than sweet potato at 26 calories per ounce. Cats and dogs can both enjoy small bits of bread rolls at Thanksgiving. Bread chunks can even be used to disguise medications or supplements, and make the process of administering such treatments more tolerable to the patient and owner. The bread itself should not be coated with butter, oil or spices. Even though your canine or feline companion can eat bread rolls, my top recommendation is to focus on vegetables or meat, instead of bread and other carbohydrates, when offering your pet Thanksgiving foods. Yes, cats can eat corn kernels. But cats are obligate carnivores, meaning they must eat meat in order to thrive. Corn as a significant portion of a cat’s meal isn’t appropriate based on its biological needs. My suggestion is to give your cat only cooked corn, as raw corn can harbor bacteria, molds or parasites that could lead to health problems. I also recommend that no more than one tablespoon of kernels removed from the cob be given to your feline companion. Many cats and dogs eat canned or freshly cooked pumpkin as a fiber source as it can reduce colonic inflammation associated with diarrhea, help firm up soft stools and even provide greater stool bulk to benefit constipation. But pumpkin pie isn’t a dessert made exclusively of pure vegetable matter. It also has sugar, cream or milk, spices, flour, butter or lard. Other ingredients in the filling or crust could cause digestive tract upset in both cats and dogs, so even though pumpkin itself is good for your pet, pumpkin pie isn’t. My top recommendation is to stick to the non-dessert form of pumpkin (canned or freshly cooked) when offering a Thanksgiving day treat to your canine or feline companion. Canned, unsalted pumpkin has 10 calories per ounce, contains nearly three grams of fiber per eight ounce (one cup) serving, and can help with canine and feline constipation and diarrhea. Some drugs commonly given dogs have serious side effects. One group of drugs called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID for short) is one of those drugs. Last week a new client complained that her last veterinarian had been “drug-happy”-in fact, she’d “divorced” him over the issue. As prime example of his pill-popping profligacy, she explained that he’d insisted on putting both her dogs on a popular NSAID. In case you’re not familiar with them, NSAIDs comprise the most popular class of drugs prescribed for pain in both humans and dogs. You probably know two of the most common NSAIDs, aspirin and ibuprofen, and might even know others. But the human versions of these drugs aren’t always safe for use in dogs at doses sufficient for relieving pain. That’s why veterinary science worked to develop several canine versions almost two decades ago. Since then, these drugs have been the recipient of accolades and acrimony alike. It seems like nothing good can come without something bad…especially nothing new. Canine NSAIDs, as relative newcomers, have received an outsized share of criticism relative to older, stronger, and even more side effect-ridden drugs. Well, that explains why my new client’s last vet was getting flak for being so fast and loose with these meds. It also explains why there’s so much scary information on the Web about drugs like Rimadyl® (carprofen), Metacam® (meloxicam), piroxicam, Deramaxx®, and Etogesic® (etodolac), among many others. Now, I understand where these owners are coming from. Really, I do. Safely prescribing medication requires a careful hand. But here’s the thing: All medications have side effects, just like all pain relievers have side effects. So why should NSAIDs get any special attention? Don’t get me wrong: I’m not saying these drugs are 100% safe. But they are too crucial for too many of our pets’ comfort to discount their use just because there’s a possibility that a problem will ensue. Pets are living much longer these days, dogs in particular. And it’s not always the result of fancier surgeries, improved cancer care, and better nutrition. I can honestly say from my experience that pain-relieving NSAIDs have made the most significant dent in my canine patients’ quality of life and longevity by far. Of course, these drugs come with warnings you should know about, ones which veterinarians have a moral and ethical duty to divulge in detail. This is necessary not just because you, the human and caretaker, have a right to make a thoughtful decision for your pets, but also because knowing the risks and side effects means you can minimize them. Indeed, pet owners who are NOT prepared to identify side effects and intervene if necessary are those whose pets usually suffer the greatest consequences from using these drugs. In fact, I’ve never known even one of my patients to have suffered a severe reaction to any NSAID. All reactions have been minor and the drug was discontinued, changed, or reduced in dosage so that pets could achieve an appropriate safety profile and comfort level: a win-win. That’s great, right? But do YOU know the basic facts about NSAIDs? Side effects of NSAID primarily include vomiting, regurgitation, diarrhea, lethargy, poor appetite, and evidence of nausea (licking the lips and/or salivating). Dark, tarry stools, overtly bloody stools, bloody vomitus, and vomitus with coffee ground-like material in it are all evidence of more severe gastritis and/or enteritis. Worst case scenarios here can include severe bleeding ulcers, though these almost always have early warning signs to help you prevent them. Are There Really Hypoallergenic Dogs and Hypoallergenic Cats? While we all believe that some dogs, e.g. poodles, don’t produce antigens to stimulate our allergies, let’s read this and find out what’s going on. Day after day, allergy-suffering animal loverscomb breed descriptions in search of their Holy Grail: a hypoallergenic dog or cat — one that doesn’t produce sniffling, sneezing, wheezing, itchy eyes, skin reactions or an asthma attack. But what about breeds created to be hypoallergenic, such as Labradoodles, Goldendoodles and other Poodlemixes? They were bred with the idea that the Poodle’s curly (and supposedly hypoallergenic) coat would diminish the likelihood that they would cause allergies. Like any other animal, however, they vary in the amount of dander and allergen they produce. Reputable breeders don’t guarantee their animals will be hypoallergenic. If you’re allergic but still want to add a pet to your family, these tips can help you find one that may be less likely to leave you sniffling, sneezing and wheezing. Do a test run. To find out if a particular breed or hybrid sends your allergies into overdrive, Dr. Miller recommends visiting someone who has only that breed in his or her home and see if your symptoms flare. “If they don’t, that doesn’t mean that breed is OK for you, but it increases the likelihood that you might be able to live in harmony with that [type of] dog,” he says. Look for certain features. Smaller animals and those that shed less tend to spread fewer allergens in their wake. But someone who is sensitive to a particular allergen may still react to it. Watch out for lickers. “If you’re allergic to dog saliva and the dog is a licker, you’re likely to have issues with him,” Dr. Miller says. Consider gender. If you have a mild allergy to cats but still want to adopt one, gender may be something to factor in when making your choice. Male cats, especially those who are not neutered, make more allergens than females. How allergy sufferers respond to allergens varies, but a few simple strategies can help ease the burden. Many people find that taking medications or getting allergy shots helps them better tolerate the presence of animals. Also smart: having your pet groomed frequently, either by a professional or someone in the household who doesn’t have allergies. One caveat from Dr. Miller: If your pet allergies cause asthma attacks, which can be dangerous, you’re better off not trying to live with a dog or cat. Though it’s true that no animal is truly allergen free, there are breeds or hybrids that may be less likely to stir up sensitivities because of their type of coat or the amount of allergens they produce. Here are hypoallergenic dogs and hyperallergenic cats. Dogs: Bedlington Terrier, Bichon Frise, Chinese Crested, Coton de Tulear, Goldendoodle, Irish Water Spaniel, Italian Greyhound, Labradoodle, Maltese, Maltipoo, Miniature Schnauzer, Toy or Miniature Poodle, Poochon, Portuguese Water Dog, Shih Tzu, Silky Terrier, Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier, Yorkshire Terrier, or a Toy or Miniature Xoloitzcuintli. Cats: Balinese, Bengal, Cornish Rex, Devon Rex, Javanese, LaPerm, Oriental Shorthair, Russian Blue,Siberian and Sphynx. Here at PawNation, we have an overwhelming amount of love for dogs of all shapes and sizes, whether we know them or not. We want to shower them with attention and become best friends. However, we understand that there is a protocol to follow when meeting and greeting new dogs, and we want you to know it too. Keep reading to learn how to properly say hello to a dog and its owner while out and about. Many people get excited when they see dogs and beeline right for them. However, you should always approach the canine’s owner before interacting with their dog. Ask permission before petting a dog, because you don’t know if it’s friendly or not. If they say no, respect that. The canine could be skittish around strangers and may lash out. The owner could be thinking of your own safety, so don’t get offended. If you’re greeting a dog, either squat down to its level or stand straight. Squatting down puts you on the dog’s level, making it equal footing between both of you. Standing straight is the alpha position, but don’t stay in between the two and hover over the dog. This is a threatening position to canines and could lead to aggressive behavior. Many of us go right for the head when we pet a dog, but that’s one thing you should be avoiding when greeting a strange dog. Reaching over the top of a dog’s head is intimidating and makes a dog feel uneasy. Instead, give a soft rub under the chin, the cheek or even the chest. We know it’s tempting to stare deeply into those adorable puppy dog eyes, but try your best not to do it. Dogs view eye contact as a challenge and could become aggressive, so avoid doing it with a canine that you just met. You should look either at the owner or a neutral part of the dog’s body, like the chest or shoulders. So you’ve successfully gained the dog’s attention and are lavishing it with scratches and rubs. That doesn’t mean you should be shoving your face in front of the dog’s face. Again, keep in mind that you’re a stranger to this dog. You wouldn’t be standing uncomfortably close to someone you just met with your face abnormally close to theirs, so don’t do it to an unfamiliar dog either. The canine could feel threatened by you invading its spaceand may lash out. Keep yourself safe by keeping your distance. Is There Diabetes in Dogs? Type I diabetes, known as diabetes mellitus, is the most common type of diabetes in dogs, but it can be prevented through diet and exercise. Can dogs get diabetes? The simple answer is yes, they can. While the two are not conclusively linked, the surge in canine obesity corresponds to the rise in incidence of canine diabetes. Though there are two forms of diabetes — commonly known as sugar diabetes (diabetes mellitus) and water diabetes (diabetes insipidus) — and the first is by far the most frequently diagnosed in dogs. Diabetes mellitus tends to affect dogs later in life, typically between the ages of six and nine, but the rate of incidence seems to be higher in female dogs. While there can be a genetic component, in the vast majority of cases, diabetes mellitus in dogs can be prevented through a combination of diet and exercise. Diabetes in dogs cannot be cured, but diagnosed early, diabetes can be managed in the same ways as in humans: through a modified diet, exercise, and insulin injections. There are two major forms of diabetes in dogs, known colloquially by their identifiable sources, to wit, sugar and water. Since diabetes mellitus, or sugar diabetes, is by far the more common, that’s what we’ll focus on here. Put simply, diabetes mellitus in dogs is a condition in which a dog is unable to convert his food into the energy he needs. In a bit more detail, dogs develop diabetes mellitus when the pancreas produces insufficient amounts of insulin. Insulin helps to convert proteins in dog food into glucose. Glucose is a sugar that provides energy to all parts of a dog’s body. When a dog has diabetes mellitus, the excess sugar is voided in the urine. Over time, dogs with diabetes can experience vision loss and an increase in kidney problems. Fortunately, diabetes mellitus in dogs can be both prevented and managed. The rarer form of canine diabetes, known as water diabetes or diabetes insipidus, is usually related to the brain, kidneys, or a failure of communication between them. In dogs, diabetes insipidus arises from a dog’s inability to retain water and is usually caused by head trauma or by faults in the pituitary gland or in the kidneys. Changes in appetite and frequency of urination are the primary symptoms of both sugar and water diabetes in dogs. Food plays a major role in canine diabetes. Because the dog’s pancreas is not producing enough insulin, the brain is tricked into thinking that the dog is starving. Thus, a diabetic dog may overcompensate by eating more or by being hungry more often. Hyperglycemia in dogs, or the excess in blood sugar levels, means that a dog with diabetes will also urinate much more frequently. Just as insufficient energy drives a dog to eat more, increased urination also leads to increased thirst. Along with appetite changes and frequent urination, dogs with diabetes will experience decreased energy as the condition progresses. Left untreated, diabetes in dogs can lead to widespread system failures, with the eyes and kidneys being the first victims. Dogs with diabetes are at increased risk for developing cataracts in the eyes and eventually blindness. Over time, the failure to filter blood sugar may lead to enlarged kidneys and urinary tract infections. While there is no conclusive link, dogs who are overweight or obese tend to be diagnosed with diabetes more frequently than those who adhere to a disciplined diet and regular exercise. When symptoms of diabetes in dogs appear, a veterinarian can diagnose the condition in two primary ways: through blood tests and urinalysis. In pronounced cases, levels of sugar in the blood and urine will be noticeably higher. Can diabetes in dogs be reversed? Once diagnosed, diabetes in dogs cannot be cured, but it can be managed in the same ways as it is in humans. For dogs, these diabetes management strategies, under the supervision of a veterinarian, include a modified diet, regular exercise, and insulin injections. Dogs diagnosed with diabetes will require strict treatment for the remainder of their lives. Some dog breeds seem to experience a higher rate of developing diabetes than others. Breeds believed to be genetically predisposed to canine diabetes include the Beagle, Bichon Frise, Dachshund, German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Keeshond, Miniature Pinscher, Schnauzer (Standard and Miniature), Poodle, Puli, Samoyed, Spitz, and certain Terrier breeds (Australian, Cairn, and Fox). Genetic predisposition is only an increased likelihood, not an eventuality. In dogs that are not genetically predisposed, preventing diabetes is a simpler process than treatment. A regular, well-portioned diet along with regular, if not daily, exercise are key to preventing the development of diabetes in dogs. Avoid giving your dog table scraps, especially around the fall holidays. A lifetime of an unbalanced diet and insufficient exercise can lead to overtaxed kidneys andpancreatitis, both of which have been causally linked to diabetes mellitus in dogs. Diabetes in dogs is not a rapid onset condition, but the culmination of a process as a dog reaches middle and old age. Over the course of your dog’s life, a veterinarian can help you determine appropriate meal portion sizes tailored to your dog’s breed or mix; size; and age. Do you live with a diabetic dog? Among dogs, regardless of breed, females are at higher risk for diabetes, especially as they age. Spaying female dogs can reduce the risk that hormones released during the estrous cycle do not interfere with insulin production.

2019-04-23T09:51:22Z

https://westsidedognanny.com/2014/11/

Xcode 8 makes it easier to find several new categories of bugs with improvements in Runtime Sanitization and the Clang Static Analyzer. The Thread Sanitizer will help you find data races and other concurrency bugs. The static analyzer has been extended to search for localizability issues, check nullability, and find memory leaks in MRR code. [ Music ] Hello, I'm Anna. Welcome to the Thread Sanitizer and Static Analysis talk. Since our team works on bug-finding tools, we are going to tell you about new ways of catching bugs. I'm going to start with giving a brief overview of Address Sanitizer and then dive much deeper into Thread Sanitizer which is a new feature we introducing this year. Later, Devin is going to come up and tell you about the new checks we've added to the Clang Static Analyzer. But let's start. Sanitizers, [inaudible] LEM tools that combine compile time instrumentation and runtime monitoring to find bugs at runtime. They're similar to Valgrind. However, their main advantage is that they have low runtime overhead. They work with Swift and Objective-C, and they have tight integration into the Xcode UI. So last year we've introduced Address Sanitizer to macOS and iOS. This tool finds memory corruptions such as stack and heap buffer overflows use up the freeze, double freeze. It's extremely effective at finding memory issues. So if you're not using it already, I highly, highly, highly recommend it. This year we've extended the tool to provide full support for Swift. Which will be especially exciting to those of you who love to live dangerously in Swift. So what does it mean if you are using unsafe pointer types? Run your test with Address Sanitizer turned on, it will find some bugs for you. Now, while Address Sanitizer mainly focuses on memory corruption issues, there is another large source of bugs that are threading issues. These are even harder to reproduce and debug. They're sensitive to timing. They might occur only in some certain circumstances which means that the appellations that contain them will have unpredictable behaviors. So this year we introduce support to another tool, Thread Sanitizer which will help you to both find and better understand your threading bugs. TSan reports mainly different kinds of bugs, so let's take a look at some of them. It will tell you about use of uninitialized mutexes. This might not seem like a big deal. However, if you are using a mutex that is not appropriately initialized that will lead to very subtle bugs in your applications because you're not actually getting any mutual exclusion when you use such a mutex. Another example are thread leaks. If your application has a lot of threads and if those threads are leaked, you will, and if there's memory leaks. Another one unsafe call in signal handlers and unlocks from a wrong thread. However, data races are by far the most common problem because they're so easy to introduce. They happen when multiple threads access the same memory location without using proper synchronization. So let's see how this tool works by going into an Xcode demo. So here I'm going to demo this Thread Sanitizer on an alpha version of last year's WWDC app. So here as you would expect, it brings up a schedule for the week. However, notice this interesting visual bug. Even though all the session's data has been downloaded, the network activity indicator keeps spinning. Now, I know I use a global variable to decide when to show and hide this indicator so there might be a threading problem. Let's see if Thread Sanitizer can help us find it. In order to turn on Thread Sanitizer, we go to edit scheme. Choose diagnostics tab. And click here on enable Thread Sanitizer. Now, here you can choose to pause in the debugger on every single issue and debug that issue right there. Or you could choose to keep running, collect all the threading issues that Thread Sanitizer report, and explore them later on. The second workflow is new in Xcode 8, and it's only supported by Thread Sanitizer, so let's take a look how that works. When your launch application under Thread Sanitizer, Xcode is going to rebuild your project with extra compiler instrumentation, and it's going to launch it in a special mode that tries to find threading issues. So here is our application is up. And Xcode tells us that Thread Sanitizer detected two issues by displaying this purple indicator in the activity viewer. Clicking on this purple indicator will take us to the issue navigator. And while previously we only used it to display build time issues such as compiler warnings, compiler errors, Static Analyzer issues. This year has been extended to provide support to runtime issues. And this is where Thread Sanitizer's issue found its home. So Thread Sanitizer reported two problems. Let's take a look at each one. The first one is use of uninitialized mutex. Now, this problem occurred as you were running that application sometime in the past. Thread Sanitizer is going to tell us about that exact moment by providing a historical stack trace. Even though this is not a live stack trace, you can walk its frames as if it was a live stack trace. So let's take a look. At some point we called acquire lock. That called pthread mutex lock, and passed an invalid mutex reference. That was called from reset feed status which was called from the initializer. Now, as you can see here we do initialize the mutex, but we initialize it after we use it. It's a simple ordering bug. So just reordering those to statement should take care of that. Okay, let's go on to the second problem which is a data race. Also, here Thread Sanitizer tells that there is a data race on the variable called activity count. Now, that's the same global variable that they use to decide when to show and hide that indicator. Since this is a data race, Thread Sanitizer will tell us about two events. The two race accesses. A read and a write here. So the read happened on thread 11, and the write happened on thread 13. Notice that neither of those are a main thread, and the stack traces are the same which means that they are probably executing the same cord from multiple threads without using synchronization. So let's take a look. Okay, here we are updating this activity account variable. Now, I could have fixed this race by adding a lock. But notice that this is just a symptom. The next line here updates the UI. And we know that the UI updates should happen on the main thread. So the proper fix here is to dispatch both the counter increment and the UI update onto the main cue with Grand Central Dispatch. This will both take care of the logical problem in our application and also take care of the race because all the threads will access that count variable from the same thread. Now, I'm sure I sound very convincing and you all believe me that I fixed the bugs. However, the best way of checking yourself is to run the tool again on your project. So we should rerun the application again with Thread Sanitizer turned on. And again it's going to rebuild your project with this extra checking and launch it in the special mode. Now, the application is up. We see that the strange visual UI bug is gone, and Thread Sanitizer doesn't report any issues. So all is well. Let's go back to slides. So just to recap the demo, you can enable Thread Sanitizer in the Scheme Editor when you go to the diagnostics tab just like you did with Address Sanitizer. In addition to ASan's workflow of stopping in the debugger on the very first issue, Thread Sanitizer it supports an additional mode. Where you could keep routing as the issues that detected, and then you could explore them in the issue navigator. They will stay there until you launch an application again. So let's now talk about what Xcode does behind the scenes to make this all work. In order to use Thread Sanitizer, Xcode passes a special flag to both Clang and Swift compilers that instruct them to produce an instrumented binary. This binary links to a TSan runtime library that is used by the instrumentation to both monitor the execution of the program and detect those threading issues. So if you're building and running Cocoa command line, you can pass an option to either of the compilers. And Xcode will also support Thread Sanitizer by providing enableThreadSanitizer option. Now by default, TSan will keep running as the errors are detected. But you can instruct it to abort on the very first issue by setting this TSan options environment variables to halt on error equals 1 when you launch your process. That will allow you to have the same workflow as what you have with Address Sanitizer. So where can you use this tool? Thread Sanitizer is supported on macOS and in the 64-bit simulators. It is not supported on the device. So now you know how to use this tool, how to launch it, how to find issues. Let's talk about what, how you can fix the bugs it reports. And we'll focus mainly on data races because this is the biggest category of bugs it reports. So what is a data race? Data race happens when multiple threads access the same memory location without using proper synchronization and when at least one of those accesses is a write. And the problem here that you might not only end up with stale data, but the behavior here is unpredictable. You might even end up with a memory corruption. So what are the reasons for data races? Well, it often indicates that you have a logical problem in the structure of your program. And only you will know how to fix it. On the other hand, it also means that we are missing some synchronization. So let's talk about that second scenario. Here is an example of a data race in Swift. We have a global variable data. We have a producer that sets it for 42 and a consumer that prints it. If those two pieces of code are executed by two different threads, there will be a data race. So how about this code? We introduce another variable called is data available. And we set that flag after we update the data in the producer, and in the consumer we are going to wait until the flag is set and then if once it's set, we print the data. Well, this looks very logical. It seems like it should work. The problem here is what you see is not what will get executed. The instructions here can be reordered by either the compiler or the CPU, so you cannot assume that the flag is set after the data is updated. The order of the instruction is not guaranteed neither in the producer nor the consumer. So what is the point here of this slide? I just want to demonstrate that trying to roll your own synchronization methods is often not a good idea. What should we do instead? We should use something that's available already. For example, Grand Central Dispatch is a very good option. You can dispatch the recent accesses onto the same serial queue that will make sure that they execute it on the same thread, and there will be no data race. So now as you might recall Thread Sanitizer works for both Objective-C and Swift. So let's use Objective-C for our next example. Here is lazy initialization code. And we are implementing method called getSingleton. That makes sure that we return the same shared instance to all of its callers. Now, if this code is executed by multiple threads without proper synchronization, there will be a data race when both threads try to update the shared instance variable. Okay, so what about this code? We tried to fix the problem by allocating and initializing a local variable, and then we are using atomic compare and set operation to make sure that threads atomically update that global variable. So there will be no data race on the right. This might look like a step in the right direction, but this code still has problems. So let's take a look at them. First, it's very difficult to reason about memory management when you are using atomics. So, for example, here you will have use-after-free if you are using ARC. And if you are using MRR, this object will be leaked only in case there is a race. So that's not good. That's not the only problem. Another problem here is that since the read is unsynchronized, there could still be a race where one thread is trying to read that shared variable and another one is trying to atomically set it. So this is undefined behavior, and that's not good. What should you do instead? I mean, if you know the solution already, use Grand Central Dispatch. Dispatch wants performed laziness socialization for you. It's even simpler in Swift. Both global variables and class constants have dispatch one semantics. So you can choose either of those two solutions, whatever works best for your code. Okay, so just to summarize, you should use the highest level API that's suitable to your needs. And most people should be using Grand Central Dispatch. If that's not suitable, you can use pthread APIs or NSLock, for example, now, we do have a new OS unfair lock that's new on our platform this year, and it replaces OSSpinLock. And they also have C++ and C11 Atomics. They are supported by Thread Sanitizer. But as you've seen in the previous example, they're very difficult to use correctly. And besides the performance, being here is either not measurable or negligible. So don't choose to use those APIs if you did not measure that they actually have something on your application. So for more information about all of those APIs, please attend Concurrent Programming talk on Friday. So now let's talk about benign races. What are those? Some developers argue that on some architectures, for example x86, you do not need to insert synchronization between a read and a write because the architecture itself guarantees automaticity of those operations on pointer size data. Now, it's important to remember that any race, even at a benign race, is considered to be undefined behavior from C or C++ standard. So not only will you be surprised if that code with benign races write, runs on an architecture you have not tested well on before. But the compiler is free to reorder those instructions as if no other thread saw that. So the bottom line is that you might end up with very subtle bugs. So as our engineering lead for Thread Sanitizer [inaudible] "Fix all the bugs." Now, to the most exciting part of our talk. As we all know, data races are hard to reproduce since they're so sensitive to timing. So the most interesting thing about Thread Sanitizer is that it can detect races that did not even manifest during that particular program run. Let's see how it does that. When you compile your program with Thread Sanitizer, it instruments every memory access, and it prefixes it with a check, with a code. But first, records the information about that access. And second checks if that access participates in a race. So let's take a closer look. For every aligned 8 bytes of application memory, Thread Sanitizer shared those state, keeps track up to four accesses. So suppose we have four threads. Thread one writes to that memory location. Thread sanitizer updates that, stores that information to shadow thread to reset memory location. Again, we record that, and we keep going on and on. So now what happens if you have more than four accesses? Thread Sanitizer uses an educated guess onto what cell to evict next. So here it evicts access to that same thread which lets it not lose precision. However, if we had access from a fifth thread, it would evict a random cell. So bounding the number of accesses like this means that we might not catch all races and all cases. Okay. Now, let's talk about how it detects data races. Thread sanitizer uses a well known technique of vector clocks for race detection. So how does that work? Thread local storage for each thread keeps track of threads own counter and the counters of all the other threads. This counter is initialized to zero, and every time a thread accesses memory, its counter is incremented. So, for example, here suppose thread one access two memory locations. Thread two accessed 22 memory locations. Thread three accesses 55 memory locations. Now, this timestamps are not comparable. Each thread uses those timestamps or counters to order the accesses to memory that it performs. Okay. So let's go back and bring back our memory location and its shadow and see how its threads interact and how they update the counters here. We'll also add the lock that threads used to synchronize access to that memory location. Okay, thread one writes. It's a well behaved thread. It's going to acquire a lock. It's going to update its counter. It's going to write to that memory location. Now, Thread Sanitizer sees that. It's going to update the shadow. Before updating the shadow, it sees that there is nothing in the shadow, stored in the shadow which means that that memory location has not been accessed before. So it just safe to go ahead and write that down. Now before releasing the lock, thread one is going to update it with its own timestamp, and it releases the lock. Now, it's time for thread two to write. Again, thread two is a very well behaved thread. It's going to acquire the lock. Now, acquiring a lock like this lets thread two see that thread one has implemented its counter. Now, thread two implements its own counter, it writes to that memory location. Thread Sanitizer sees that it's trying to update the shadow. Now, here it sees that there is something there it shadowed before, so that means that memory location has been accessed already, so it's going to check for races. By comparing the timestamps, Thread Sanitizer sees that thread two has synchronized after thread one has accessed the memory. So there is no data race. And we can just proceed with the update. Before releasing the lock, thread two is going to update with its own timestamp. And it releases the lock. Okay, now it's time for thread three to write. Thread three has been waiting for a long time. It's so excited to write to that memory location. Guess what, it forgets the lock. It implements the counter, writes to the memory location, Thread Sanitizer is there, it's watching. It's trying to update the shadow and check for races. So here the Thread Sanitizer sees that the old view of thread three is too old. The reads and writes stored in the shadow happened after thread three last synchronized. This allows Thread Sanitizer to catch the bug. So what's important to know about this algorithm is that the sensitivity of timing that we associate with data races does not apply here. TSan can detect races even if they did not manifest during that particular run but could occur if you run your application again or your users run your application. And this makes using Thread Sanitizer much more effective than debugging and trying to reproduce those data races in the [inaudible] without the use of the tool. Now, another thing to remember here is that Thread Sanitizer is a runtime bug finding tool, so it will only catch races if you provided sufficient coverage. So please run all your tests with Thread Sanitizer turned on. And that was Thread Sanitizer new in Xcode 8. Use it. It will find bugs, it will make your applications better. Now, off to Devin who will tell you about the checks we've added to the Clang Static Analyzer. Thanks, Anna. Unlike the sanitizers, the Static Analyzer can find bugs without even running your code. It does this by systematically exploring all paths through the program. This makes it great at catching hard to reproduce edge-case bugs. It's supported for all of the languages that Clang compiles to, so C, Objective-C, and C++. This year, we've added three now checks to the Static Analyzer. A check for missing localizability, a check for improper instance cleanup in your manual retained release code, and a check for nullability violations. Let me tell you about them. A common bug in localized apps is to forget to localize a UI element. This can be very startling for your users. They'll be using your app in their own native language when all of a sudden, out of the blue a string in your language shows up in their UI. This is not a good user experience. So let me give you a demo of how the Static Analyzer can catch this kind of bug. Okay. So I'll demo the Static Analyzer on the same app that Anna used. To run the analyzer, you can go to Xcode's product menu and choose analyze. This will explore a large number of paths through your program and try to find a bug along each one. Just like Thread Sanitizer, if address, if the Static Analyzer finds an issue, it will display this blue Static Analyzer icon in Xcode's activity bar. If you click on it it will show you the issue navigator, so it looks like we have a localizability issue. A nonlocalized string is flowing to a user-facing property. So we should localize it. But looking at this method, I don't see anything immediately wrong. So I'm going to click on the diagnostic. This shows me more information about how this nonlocalized string ended up flowing to the user-facing property. I can explore this path with the path explorer bar at the top of Xcode's editor. Working my way backwards, I can see that this method is called from a TableView data source method, and then an intern it's passing in this nonlocalized constant string. So let's localize it. To do so, I'll use the NS localized string macro. This will load a translated version of the string at runtime. Now, it's really important when using this macro to also include a comment for your translator to help them correctly translate that string. So I will say "This is the button that resets the session filter." Okay. Let's run the analyzer again to make sure we fixed the issue. Looks great. So I'll switch back to slides. To recap, you can run the analyzer from the product menu, and it will display any of the issues that it finds in the issue navigator. As we saw, it's super useful to click on that diagnostic to show the path. This makes it easy to understand the issue and ultimately how to fix it. So the analyzer can now find missing localizability as we saw. But it will also warn us if we've forgotten to provide that comment to our translators. Here I've provided a comment of nil which is not helpful at all. And so the analyzer will warn about it you can turn these checks on and other Static Analyzer checks in the Static Analyzer section of your project's build settings. The check for missing localizability will be turned on automatically by Xcode if your project has localizations in more than one language. The check for missing comments is off by default, but you should make sure to turn it on if you don't communicate these comments to your translator in some other way. For example, you might already be doing this directly in your strings file. This year we've also improved checking of dealloc in your manual retained release code. It's really important under manual retained release to not release instance variables that are synthesized for assigned properties in your dealloc. If you do so, this can cause an over-release when the owner of that value also releases it and can crash your program. So the analyzer now warns about this. On the other hand, you must release instance variables that are synthesized for retain or copy properties. Because if you don't, they will leak. The analyzer warns about this as well. Yeah! So this is an awesome check. It found a bug in every single manual retained release project that we ran it on. So try it out. Of course, the best way to get rid of retained release issue is to update your project to automated reference counting. Fortunately, Xcode can help you do this automatically. If you go to the edit menu and choose convert to Objective-C ARC. This will have the compiler handle all of the messiness of retained release for you. Finally this year, we've added a check for nullability violations. This builds on work from last year where we annotated our STKs to indicate whether methods or properties take or return nil. For example, Core Location's timestamp property is non-null. This is because every measurement of a location also has a corresponding date and time. In contrast, its floor property is nullable. That's because this property will return nil when the location is in a venue that's not indoor location enabled. You should annotate your own headers with nullability because it enables a new program and model where you communicate your expectations about nullability directly to your clients. This is important because violations of those expectations can cause crashes or unexpected behavior. In fact, we thought it was so important that we built it into Swift where the optional type requires you to check for nil before using a value. Now, it's important in Objective-C as well, and so we've added a check for nullability violations to the Static Analyzer. And this check is particularly useful for projects that mix Swift and Objective-C code. And it finds two kinds of issues. There might be logical problems in your code. Maybe you're returning nil when you shouldn't. Or you might have an incorrect annotation. So let's take a look at how to fix each of these two kinds of issues. A common mistake is to initialize a local variable with nil and then later fill it in with a series of non-exhaustive branches. This method, for example, returns a short description of a location. Either the name of a city or the country that contains that location. But we fail to consider an important case. What if the location is in international waters? Then there will neither be a city nor a country. And so this method will unexpectedly return nil. And the analyzer will tell us about it. Fortunately. This is awesome, too. Fortunately, the fix here is simple. All you need to do is initialize your local variable with a nonnil default. In this case, we'll use the constant string Earth and, of course, we'll make sure to localize it. On the other hand, it could be that your code in the implementation is perfectly fine, and it's the annotation that's incorrect. And we found that one way that this commonly arises is when you use the convenient NS assume nonnull begin and end macros. These macros wrap a portion of your header and say that inside of the reins that they wrap, that types will be implicitly nonnull. This can save you a lot of typing, but it also makes it really easy to forget to mark a property as nullable. In this example, the pressure property returns nil when the device doesn't have a barometer. But the property is implicitly nonnull. Fortunately, the fix here is simple as well. We can simply explicitly mark that property as nullable inside of that region. And this will tell clients that they shouldn't expect pressure data to always be available. Now, you do need to be careful about this. That's because the nullability of your API is a contract. And so you shouldn't change it just to make the analyzer happy. Instead, you should carefully consider the API that you want to expose and use that. If you do decide to change your API, you'll also need to carefully think about backwards compatibility. This is particularly important in Swift where nullability changes how a type is imported. You might also find yourself in a situation where you can change neither the implementation of your method nor its annotation. And in these cases, you can suppress the analyzer diagnostic with a cast. One way that this commonly arises is in methods that defensively return nil when a precondition is violated. In this example, the method returns nil when an index is out of bounds. If there's existing code that relies on this behavior, then you can't remove that check and you can't replace it within a cert. Instead, the right thing to do is tell the analyzer that that's what you meant by casting the return value to nonnull. So that's what's new in the Static Analyzer and Xcode 8. So let's wrap up. Today we told you about three great tools. These tools find real bugs. Address Sanitizer and Thread Sanitizer find memory corruption in threading issues at runtime. And the Static Analyzer can find bugs without even running your code. So please use these tools on your own projects. They will help you find your bugs before your users find them for you. If you're interested in more information, you can go to your session website. And there's also several related sessions that we think you might find helpful.

2019-04-22T18:45:43Z

https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2016/412/

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2019-04-18T17:23:13Z

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When Dalton Conley, a professor of sociology at Princeton University, talks about race, his authority is based on more than academic research. Every day he straddled the lines of race in the New York City housing project where he grew up in 1970s, a white kid, son of bohemian artists. The apartment complex, Masaryk Towers, then and now stands in a largely Puerto Rican and African-American neighborhood on the Lower East Side. As Conley explained when he stopped by the Nautilus office last week for an interview, his childhood was like a social science experiment. “Even when you flip the script and you are the minority, you see the stark advantages of whiteness and the divisions of social and cultural capital,” he said. Given the history of using biology for political means, it’s really important to say that race as we know it is not a biological concept. In 2009, Conley earned a Ph.D. in biology, specializing in genomics. The results of his biological education appear between covers in 2017’s The Genome Factor: What the Social Genomics Revolution Reveals About Ourselves, Our History & Our Future, co-written with Jason Fletcher, a professor of public affairs with appointments in sociology, applied economics, and population health sciences, at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In our Nautilus interview, Conley confronted the controversies that infix discussions about race. A recent podcast interview between author Sam Harris and Charles Murray, coauthor of The Bell Curve, the notorious 1994 book that delves into race and IQ, inspired a volley of exchanges. Throughout, Conley spoke with calm conviction, drawing from both biology and sociology, to bolster his view that race is not a scientific category. Genomics, he explained, is now filtering out the myths and misinformation, proffered by both the political left and right, about race, intelligence, and success. You write that “race does not stand up scientifically.” Why? Race as we treat it in the United States—black, white, Hispanic, other—the one-drop rule, otherwise known as the law of hypodescent, where if you have any black ancestry, African American ancestry, you’re classified as black—these commonsensical notions of racial divisions in the United States really do not map onto genetic clines or ancestry differences in the human population. In fact, those real ancestry differences belie our notions of race. Are you saying there’s no genetic component to race? There are definitely genetic ancestry signals in our genomes that are easily recognizable. For example, if someone is 100 percent, 50 percent, 25 percent, or even 12.5 percent Ashkenazi Jewish, that is very identifiable in the genome. If someone has African ancestry we can recognize that in the genome. The more fine-grain you get, either you need really detailed genotyping information or a big sample size to really identify small differences, like, say, between Swedish and German, or something like that. But there are definitely signals of our historical origins in the genome. There’s no denying that. My point is that they don’t actually reinforce what we call race socially, and what we act on in our daily lives in the United States or elsewhere, for that matter. I define race as a social identity in which you do not choose your identity, unlike ethnicity. Ethnicity is something that’s affiliational. I’m actually an eighth Irish but on St. Patrick’s Day, especially given my last name is an Irish last name, I can choose to be 100 percent Irish, drink green beer, and wear all green. But if I said, “Well, I’m also English,” or “I’m also Jewish,” people wouldn’t say, “Well, that doesn’t make sense. Which is it? Choose.” It’s individual, it’s affiliational, you can have multiple ethnic identities. Race is something that’s socially determined. I don’t choose my race. Society around me, how people react to me, defines my race. Generally, even though there is a robust multiracial movement, you can only have one race. In fact, to the extent to which the scholars and activists are pushing the idea of multiracial classification, especially since the 2000 census allowed more than one choice, that’s pushing what we call race more toward what sociologists would call ethnicity. Race usually also implies a power differential. That’s why the boundaries of race are so policed, because there’s real stakes there. Now, I’m making this distinction between race and ethnicity that sociologists make. However, it’s not a hard line. Obviously there’s inequalities within ethnicity. Some ethnicities have higher status and higher associated incomes and so forth than other ethnicities. But that’s the fundamental difference between race and ethnicity. That’s all social, I would say. Biologically, there are genetic clines that are more continuous distributions of the alleles, nucleotides, and repeats that you see in some populations at a higher prevalence than you see in other populations. Some people call it the continental ancestry because you can really recognize not just which continent people’s ancestors hailed from, but also even sub-continental, tribal identities that have unique genetic signatures that are passed on and we can see in our own genomes today. We all have the same genes, i.e., the same protein coding sequences, but there is significant variation between groups. Some of that has important consequences like Tay-Sachs or sickle cell, and some of it is just neutral accumulated mutations that don’t really matter much. What compelled you to tackle genetics and race? I feel that, absent our history, we could probably talk about continental ancestry and genetic clines productively, and investigate them and understand patterns of human migration and group difference with genetic tools at our disposal. Some people are doing that kind of research, learning that, for example, people came over to North American earlier than we thought. That’s partly evidenced by artifactual analysis, but also from genetic analysis. Learning about who mixed with whom in the New World has been very informed by genetic analysis. I think it’s all very interesting and very important to human sciences. “The Bell Curve” authors were totally premature and over their skis scientifically, because there was no genetic evidence to analyze. However, I think it’s important to, given the history of eugenics, the history of trying to essentialize biological differences, even the debate in the 19th century that put Darwin on the side of his erstwhile enemies, the religious conservatives—there was a debate called monogenism versus polygenism which was, “Are humans all one species or are they multiple species?” Darwin, based on scientific evidence, was arguing that we are all one species. Many people seized on his ideas in the late 19th century to argue that there were fundamental biological differences and used that to justify everything from imperialism and slavery to genocide. I think, given that history of using biology for political means, it’s really important to say that race as we know it is not a biological concept. Speaking of controversy, what is The Bell Curve? Richard Herrnstein and Charles Murray wrote this book in 1994 based on very limited data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth that the role of intelligence in society, and getting ahead, had increased, and concomitantly that the role of genes had become more important in determining success and who gets ahead and the role of environment had decreased. In fact, it was a very elegant, if slick, sophistic argument that the U.S. and other modern societies had become meritocracies much more than they were in the old boy days when women were excluded and Jews and blacks were excluded from elite institutions and so forth, such that the paradoxical consequence of becoming meritocratic was that the inequalities that do remain are based more on merit, and therefore are more intractable. Add in the fact that as higher education became more important and a sorting ground for future spouses, then the more endowed genetically were increasingly not mixing up with everybody else but reproducing with each other. Therefore, in each generation furthering genetic disparities in intelligence and in socioeconomic success. They added a number of other arguments, like that we’re living or entering a period of dysgenics where lower ability people were having more kids than higher ability people, leading to an overall “degrading of the population” despite all the evidence of the Flynn effect, which is IQ has actually been increasing over the course of the 20th and 21st century with each generation. Lastly, they made an argument that these dynamics explained racial differences in success and in other outcomes, and that they were based on innate genetic differences between what we’ve called social races. What’s wrong with The Bell Curve? They were making this argument back in the mid 1990s, 1994, and there was no molecular data on a large scale available for analysis of humans. They were really, at the very least, totally premature and over their skis scientifically, because there was no evidence to analyze. All we knew about how important genes or an environment were back then came from twin studies and some adoption studies, and some other methods. But basically trying to infer how big an elephant is by looking at the shadow of the elephant, not observing the actual elephant itself. We hadn’t sequenced the human genome. More importantly, we hadn’t developed these chips that allow people to send in their saliva to 23andMe or Ancestry.com or some other lab and get a readout of their actual molecular sequence. Now, today that we can do that, and scientists have been doing that. Biological and social sciences have combined forces to do that for major studies, whether that’s medical studies or traditional social, scientific, and economic surveys. We can now actually pose the question that they posed over 20 years ago. The answer seems to be yes, some genetics matter for success. That’s not deniable. But it’s not that genetics are becoming more important for socioeconomic success than they were in earlier birth cohorts in the 20th century. It’s flat. It’s not accelerating. If anything, there might be even some evidence of declining importance of genes for cognitive ability and for socioeconomic success. We have seen, for example, that the genetic effects on, say, height and on obesity have really ratcheted up as the environment has changed over the last hundred years. Today, your BMI is much more determined by your genotype than by your environment than it was 100 years ago. It’s not that all genetic effects are going down or stable. Some are really becoming more important. Genetics of smoking’s become more important than environment today. But for intelligence and for socioeconomic status, how far people get in school, and all those kind of things, the evidence is just simply not there to support their claim that we’ve become more of a genetically stratified society than when we were in mid-20th century. In a recent interview with Charles Murray, author Sam Harris said “there seems to be very little we can do environmentally to increase a person’s intelligence, even in childhood. It’s not that the environment doesn’t matter, but genes appear to be 50 to 80 percent of the story.” What do you think? I had said that genes explain about 50 percent of most human behaviors, including cognitive ability. They’re rounding up. They’re taking the higher-end estimate to say 50 to 80 percent genetic. I don’t think there’s a consensus on that. I also think that’s a complete misreading of the relationship between the genetic providence of a trait and whether or not we can do something about improving it. The left likes to say that there are no biological differences between any recognizable groups of people. And we just know that’s not true. I’m talking to you right now. I can see you across the room. You’re wearing glasses. I had severe myopia and had LASIK surgery in my late 20s. Myopia in modern society is almost completely heritable. It’s almost completely 100 percent genetic. It didn’t exist in pre-modern societies, largely. It is a function of our environment, but in terms of who gets or does not get myopia, it’s almost 100 percent genetically determined. Yet we both cured our myopia, so to speak, with glasses and with surgery, so just because something is genetic doesn’t mean you can’t address it. I believe that’s true about cognitive ability or educational success, non-cognitive skills. Just because they have a genetic basis in a cross-section among a population today does not mean that we cannot address it. The Flynn effect that I mentioned, that the average IQ has been increasing over the course of the 20th century, shows that even if there’s a genetic basis, fixing the environment, getting lead out of gasoline, getting rid of asbestos, becoming a more knowledge-driven, cognitively complicated society—there’s lots of theories about why the Flynn effect is occurring. But basically, generally improving the health and well-being does raise the average IQ of the population. I think there’s plenty of evidence of that. Again, just because something has a genetic basis does not mean that we can’t do anything about it. Is there a genetic basis to intelligence? I think that the general consensus in the behavioral genetics literature and the molecular genetics literature is that there is definitely some basis to cognitive ability that’s genetic. What percent is genetic, what percent is environmental, is up for grabs. In fact, there’s some evidence to suggest, although it’s controversial, that that itself varies by social position. A psychologist at University of Virginia, Eric Turkheimer, has shown that it appears as though when you’re in low socioeconomic status, if you’re growing up in poverty, the environment trumps genetics. Your impoverished environment doesn’t even allow your genetic propensities to rear their head, so to speak. If you have two siblings, and one is genetically gifted and one’s not, they end up more similar because they don’t have the resources or the right environment to allow those differences to emerge. Only in high socioeconomic status families do you see the genetic-effect bloom, if you will, so that you actually see that differences are based on genetics in high SES families. So you can’t say independent of the social environment how much of IQ is genetic. That’s one view. The other view is that, what I tell people in shorthand, if you look at any behavior, it’s probably plus or minus about 50 percent environmental and about 50 percent genetic. Some are less genetic and some are more. Also, Eric Turkheimer coined what he called the First Law of Behavior Genetics, that all human behavior is partially heritable. What does the political left get wrong about genes and race? I think the left likes to say that there are absolutely no biological differences between any recognizable groups of people in the world. And we just know that’s not true from genetic analysis, from disease prevalence, from genetic disease prevalence across the world. We know that populations that live in high altitudes, for example, have developed genetic adaptations to that. We know that adult lactose tolerance varies by population, and where there were large domesticated mammals from which we drank milk as adults. So there are real differences. We can’t say that we’re all exactly the same biologically. I think even as recently as the year 2000, the late Harvard biologist Stephen J. Gould said basically human evolution stopped 40,000 years ago or more, and everything you see, all the differences across the globe you see, are the result of the same blueprint essentially. The same human biology. But we know that, for example, increasingly there’s evidence that evolution has sped up. Meaning that segregation of alleles has sped up since the neolithic revolution 10 to 12,000 years ago. So that’s the part that the left clings to that’s not holding up scientifically. What does the political right get wrong on genes and race? The right just goes off the deep end in suggesting that there are real genetic basis of what we call socially as race or ethnic differences, and that most importantly, that these differences in genetic allele frequencies across groups explain controversial human behaviors like criminality and deviance, cognitive ability and other outcomes that we care about. They’ve really hung their hat on small effects. There’s something called the warrior gene, colloquially, the monoamine oxidase gene, which degrades neurotransmitters so that they can be reused. There’s group-level variation in the alleles in that gene, and it’s been associated with criminal activity, and lo and behold, people are making arguments that race differences in criminality are genetic. Now it turns out that was a spurious effect. That was a chopsticks problem [discussed below], and it never replicated, and it’s been refuted over and over again. In fact, the leading journal Behavior Genetics refuses to publish single gene studies anymore because we now know that they’re probably false positives because, as I mentioned, any effects on behavior are teeny and spread across the genome, so it’s very hard to recognize a single effect of a particular gene and certainly not explaining group differences in observed behaviors. Yet the right refuses to see that scientific evidence, and is still stuck in 2003, when we thought that single genes explained big proportions of human behavior when they don’t, and they’re really just proxies for cultural differences. What do you make of comparing IQ scores of blacks and whites? There is no denying that there is a test score gap between blacks and whites in the United States. What the etiology of that is, is an entirely different story, however. It is too facile to claim that that’s genetically based, that the genetic differences between these two groups explain that test score gap. In fact, there’s plenty of evidence that’s not the case. For example, the test score gap has narrowed since the Civil Rights triumphs of the 1960s. If it was entirely genetically based or even predominantly genetically based, that should not happen, number one. Number two, we just can’t factor out the environmental differences in history that we see between blacks and whites in the United States to come to some residual genetic comparison that will be clean. Even now that we can measure the genome directly like many of us are doing, that doesn’t help us in explaining cross population differences. The genomes of blacks and whites are different because of the fact that a lot of the genetic variation got truncated among the white population, the non-African population, due to the bottlenecking coming out of Africa, where the entire rest of the world, essentially, is populated by 1,000 to 2,000 common ancestors. The right goes off the deep in suggesting that there are real genetic bases of what we socially call race or ethnic differences. When there’s that kind of small population bottleneck, it eliminates a lot of the genetic variation that had built up over thousands of years. That genetic variation remains in African populations who do not experience that bottleneck. Of course, there’s been other bottlenecks, like Ashkenazi Jews in Europe in about the year 800. The Icelanders, an island population, is a huge population bottleneck. Because of that fundamental difference in genetic diversity, you can’t compare the genomes between whites and blacks. They’re apples and oranges. So all the analysis that can generate what we call a polygenic score, for example, to predict an outcome in European populations, doesn’t predict in black populations. The whole genetic architecture is different. You could analyze within a given ancestral population, say, Western Europeans, and one of the genes that more or less predicts who does better or worse on cognitive tests or non-cognitive skills, for that matter. But you could not then export those estimations to a different population such as a African-American population and run the same analysis. In fact, if you do that for something as neutral as height, it doesn’t work. What’s called a linkage disequilibrium structure of the genomes are different. In other words, the SNPs, the A-C-T-G that we measure and tag, are measuring different things in different populations. They’re approximal to different amounts of variation. So, if you take a polygenic score for height that predicts a very good percentage, basically 50 percent, of variation in the white population in height, it does not predict very well in African-Americans. In fact, it predicts African populations to be, if I remember correctly, several inches shorter than they quote, unquote should be, based on the analysis of whites. There, we have an objective indicator. We have height. We can take the polygenic score for whites and port it over to African-Americans or Africans, and it simply predicts incorrectly. That is also true for any outcome, whether we did that for body mass index, cardiovascular disease, or intelligence, so we really can’t make the apples-and-oranges comparison. You can only compare within ancestral groups. There’s the added issue that once you compare cross-groups, you’re confounding history and culture with genes because they’re both inherited together in what’s called population stratification, or the chopsticks problem. You could find many alleles, many genetic variants, that will predict chopstick usage if you analyzed a combined population of whites and Asians, but all you’re detecting, ultimately, is that certain alleles are more frequent in Asian populations and certain alleles are more frequent in white populations. It’s really not causing chopstick use, because if you looked within those populations, those alleles wouldn’t predict at all. They’re just correlated with these cultural traditions that are inherited. That’s one of the many big challenges in looking at racial differences or continental ancestry differences in any outcome, let alone for something as crazily controversial as intelligence. What should we better understand about the interaction of genes and the environment? There is a sharp line in the popular imagination between genes and environment. But that doesn’t really exist. Our environmental exposures are very much determined by our genetic propensity. So let’s say I had perfect pitch, which I have exactly the opposite of perfect pitch. I have a terrible ear for music. And I quickly learned that I’m no good at music. So yes, I had to take the clarinet in middle school. But the moment I could drop that, I dropped it. The kid who had an innate genetic propensity to perfect pitch and to rhythm probably got many more positive rewards for doing music in whatever form. And therefore put him or herself in environments that further nurtured that musical talent. You can easily see that with athletics. You know, we don’t dote on people like me at the Olympic training center in Colorado. We don’t give all those environmental resources to people who are not genetically endowed. And even within a family, it’s the kid, we know that reading to kids when they’re very young increases verbal ability. We know that from experiments. But there are, even within the family, differences between the kids in how much they tug on their parent’s sleeve in saying one more story before bedtime. They are structuring their own environments to a certain extent. Likewise, if you are in a certain environment, your genetic propensities may be completely ignored or quelched. If you’re the incredibly fast-twitch muscle, fine motor, or quick-reflex dexterity kid, born into a family of Asperger mathematicians—I’m sorry to use a cliched trope—you may not be able to fully express, or be supported in expressing, your innate athletic ability. And vice versa. If you’re the brainiac kid born into the family of the high school football coach, you wouldn’t be nurtured as much and the genetics wouldn’t flower. So you really can’t even separate nature and nurture. And the pathways by which genes, when we talk about, say, IQ or something being 50 percent genetic, that includes those pathways through the environment. The fact that a genome may lead you to an environment that then creates a virtuous circle to increase your cognitive ability or certain aspects of your cognitive ability. Just like showing early athletic talent leads you to be swept up into the better teams and longer practice hours. So I think we have to keep sight of that intertwining braiding of nature and nurture before we imagine that we’re just going to select a baby with a high score on this or that, and our job is done. What will we know about genes and intelligence by 2025? What will happen by 2025 is that we will have polygenic scores that predict a range of outcomes much better than they do today. So that 10 percent predicting cognitive ability or education will at least double by then. We will be no closer to a scientific understanding, or we’ll only be slightly closer to a scientific understanding, of how those genes rear their heads so to speak, or have their effect. The kid who had an innate propensity for perfect pitch got many more positive rewards for doing music in whatever form. For example, we don’t know if the effect of genes on, say, IQ or on educational attainment, works through central nervous system, on brain size or cortical surface area, or through height and physical attractiveness. We know that physically attractive children get more attention from parents, from teachers, from strangers. So they have more interactions, they have more verbal development. It could be that it’s related to height and discrimination based on height or skin tone. The kind of Catch 22 is that as we more fully explain the variation in the population that’s based, or correlated with genetic differences, as we get better at doing that we lose the precision on what the mechanism is. Yes, we do biological annotation analysis to show that of these top 74 genes for example, they’re over-expressed in the central nervous system, they’ve been shown by other research to have important roles in what we call endophenotypes, that is, measures that we know are kind of intermediate between gene and IQ. Mostly, as I mentioned, in the central nervous system. However, the more we increase the predictive power of these polygenic scores, the more we’re capturing a broader and broader array of effects. And we really can’t narrow those down biologically to understand exactly, you know, how you build a better baby. We can kind of do it by selection, just the way that chicken breeders have quadrupled the size of a chicken, and particularly the breast meat, over the last 50 to 75 years. We can now do that with these scores, with more scientific precision than if we wanted to sort of self-breed as smarter, just by mating based on observed interaction, you know, dating. But who knows if we want to do that? Hopefully we’re not that crazy. But I don’t think we’re getting to a deeper understanding yet, at least, of what is exactly the biology and the developmental processes behind them. Why do you say a lot of “pseudo-science racism” has infected the race and genetics discussion? It’s very easy to go and do some sloppy science and show that there’s genetic differences between two groups and those genetic differences correlate with, let’s say, IQ differences or some other differences because, as I said, there’s the chopsticks problem that there are the genetic differences between groups, there are behavioral and social differences between groups, and you can correlate those pretty easily. Doing careful, real science, helps on these controversial topics, helps slay those dragons and beat back those ideological pseudo-scientists. It’s why I got into this in the first place. You mentioned The Bell Curve was published in 1994. I think a much more important book was published a couple years later, and that’s What Money Can’t Buy: Family Income and Children’s Life Chances by the sociologist Susan Mayer, who’s at the Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago. She showed that many of social science’s assumptions that people with more income, their kids do better; well, it must be a causal effect of income, so let’s raise incomes. This was right around the time of welfare reform that the book came out, and it really suggested that, “Wait a second. We never did a big experiment where we randomly assigned different levels of income to families and then observed the children and see who did better. We’re basically going off of correlational data and people. The families that have a lot of income are fundamentally different in many ways than the families that don’t have income.” She did a lot of neat statistical tricks to show that, probably, the effect of income on children is vastly overstated. That sent me, personally, down a rabbit hole to try to understand what is the true effect of income and wealth on kids’ outcomes, and what is spurious, and what makes up that spurious effect? Is it cultural? Is it genetic? That’s how I ended up spending the last 20-plus years, first looking for natural econometric experiments to try to really assess the effect of social environment on kids, but then ultimately to go into the belly of the beast and try to understand how genetics might be influencing how kids turn out socioeconomically. Gosh, well, as I mentioned, my father was an artist. But his other metier was a horse player. I spent probably, on average, a day a weekend with him at Aqueduct or Belmont racetracks. Essentially he does what I do, which is he uses background and environmental variables to predict which horse is going to win the race, and tries to make money off of that. And after I graduated college, I literally intended to save up some money and move to California and live off of horse handicapping at Golden Gate Fields in the Bay Area, and then hop freight trains. That was actually my intended career, which was to use the same skillset of statistical analysis to make a living as a sort of Charles Bukowski-esque horse player. But life had other stuff in store for me.

2019-04-19T02:40:48Z

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Gaze in wonder at the lofty spires of Hungary’s Parliament Building as it rises majestically above the Danube in Budapest. Sit down for friendly, intimate meals with farmers in Croatia and artists in Romania. Uncover scores of little-known treasures, including the picturesque Bulgarian hill towns of Veliko Tarnovo and Arbanassi and the surprising rock-hewn churches of Ivanovo—a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Step back in time to investigate the history and legends along the Danube while you cruise the Iron Gates. Tour Belgrade by bicycle, marvel at the massive People’s Palace in Bucharest or see Vlad the Impaler’s tomb in the Romanian countryside. From Budapest to Bucharest, Roman ruins to medieval fortresses, this journey will reveal the unstoppable resiliency of the human spirit, as well as the highlights of this spectacular region. The adventure of a lifetime awaits you. Explorers wishing to discover ancient lands and modern multicultural cities. Photographers, amateur archaeologists, connoisseurs of regional cuisines and anyone who loves beautiful and mysterious locales. Arrive at Bucharest Henri Coandă International Airport. If your cruise/tour package includes a group arrival transfer or if you have purchased a private arrival transfer, you will be greeted by a Uniworld representative and transferred to the hotel. Count Dracula might be a fictional character who makes the blood curdle on Halloween, but his historical namesake is not. Vlad III—known in his heyday as Dracula or “Vlad the Impaler”—was a medieval prince with a penchant for brutally punishing his enemies. Or was it all a smear campaign instigated by his enemies? Find out more today on a visit to his tomb. Also on the agenda—a guided tour of the infamous Ceausescu Mansion. Legend says that a tiny, verdant island in the midst of lovely Snagov Lake, just north of the city, contains Vlad the Impaler’s tomb. Vlad III, who ruled Wallachia (now part of modern Romania) in the 15th century, may have inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula (and countless successor vampire novels), though he got his sobriquet “the Impaler” for the brutal methods he employed against his enemies, not for sinking his teeth into virgins. However cruel Vlad was, the monks of Snagov Monastery held him in great esteem and are said to have buried him in their monastery after he was slain in a battle nearby. Take a boat over the peaceful waters to the serene garden and monastery to see the simple marble slab that marks the tomb, as well as the beautiful medieval frescoes that adorn the interior of the monastery. Bucharest is a fascinating combination of Communist grandiosity, elegant French-influenced 19th-century buildings and surprising survivors dating from the 1500s. Perhaps nothing more perfectly encapsulates Romania’s 20th-century experience than the mind-boggling People’s Palace, which you can visit today. Another option is a walking tour that shows you this city from a local’s perspective. Begin the day with a panoramic tour of Bucharest, followed by a traditional three-course Romanian lunch at a local restaurant, before transferring via motorcoach to Giurgiu, where your ship awaits. A panoramic tour will show you that Bucharest is a fascinating combination of Communist grandiosity, elegant French-influenced 19th-century buildings and surprising survivors from the 1500s, which are acquiring new gloss in Lipscani, the restored old quarter. Bucharest began as a fortress in the 15th century, a warlike origin that set the tone for its turbulent history. It saw glory days as the summer residence of the Wallachian princes and was burned to the ground by the Ottoman Turks; then Austria-Hungary and imperial Russia fought over it for a century. After Wallachia and Moldavia united to form Romania in the mid-19th century, Bucharest enjoyed a prosperity that was reflected in its extravagant architecture, some of which miraculously survived WWII bombing and Communist building programs. You’ll see Bucharest’s very own Triumphal Arch, which is modeled after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and Victoria Boulevard, lined with chic shops and handsomely restored prewar buildings—and sites where protests brought down Ceausescu’s regime in 1989. These days Bucharest enjoys a lively and eclectic cultural scene, hosting international arts festivals and concerts, and a measure of prosperity apparent in its busy cafés and thriving street life. Perhaps no sight in Bucharest more perfectly encapsulates Romania’s 20th-century experience than the mind-boggling structure known as the People’s Palace. Nicolae Ceausescu razed one-sixth of the city to erect this enormous palace—the second-largest building in the world—which all but bankrupted the country and helped trigger his downfall. Some 20,000 laborers worked on the building, which has 1,100 rooms in its 12 stories. Only a small portion of it is open to tours—in fact, only a small portion of the rooms are furnished—but you’ll see the vast marble-sheathed halls, huge chandeliers and basement bomb shelter that comprise an astonishing monument to the dictator’s ambition. The cost to the country was enormous, but the craftsmanship is exquisite; the dictator meant it to be a showcase of Bulgarian decorative arts, and in that he fully succeeded. “Give a penny for the Athenaeum.” Back in the 1880s, this was the theme for the fundraising campaign that resulted in one of Bucharest’s most beautiful and most beloved buildings: the Romanian Athenaeum. Ordinary citizens, not wealthy patrons of the arts, contributed their pennies and built a jewel-box concert hall with perfect acoustics, which they cherish to this day: It’s called the spiritual and artistic heart of the nation. Start to explore the Bucharest locals love right here with a look at the stately neoclassical home of the George Enescu Romanian Philharmonic Orchestra, and continue to Revolution Square, perhaps best known for the moment when Nicolae Ceausescu climbed into a helicopter on the roof of the Central Committee building and fled Bucharest in 1989. Stroll past the elegant shops in the neighborhood, as you head to Lipscani, the restored old quarter. Just a few years ago this neighborhood was all but a shambles; now it is a lively social center. Here you’ll find everything from a famous beer hall to a spectacularly renovated bookstore, as well as the city’s oldest surviving church and the remnants of the Old Princely Court, where the Wallachian rulers—including Vlad the Impaler—lived in the 15th and 16th centuries. Your walking tour ends at Hanul Lui Manuc, built two centuries ago as an inn and recently restored, where you will take a seat in the tree-shaded courtyard and relax over some favorite local appetizers—perhaps some stuffed mushrooms and a variety of sausages. Your next destination, the Basarbovo Rock Monastery, is the only rock monastery where monks still live and worship today. Climb the narrow rock stairway to the 15th-century cloister, which is cut into the limestone cliffs high above the Lom River, and take a look at the arresting frescoes. You’ll also spend some time in Rousse, a city with an easygoing, gracious feeling. Freedom Square, a huge open plaza, takes its name from the Freedom Monument, which soars from the center of the square; the stately Belle Epoque buildings surrounding the square attest to the city’s prosperity in the 1890s. Stroll along wide, tree-lined Alexandrovska, the main pedestrian street that links the city’s many attractive squares, encountering such landmark sights as Rousse’s grand theater, the city museum and the first movie theater (it opened in 1896). Twice the capital of Bulgaria—before and after the Ottomans conquered the nation—Veliko Tarnovo climbs steep hills above the Yantra River, topped by the ruins of Tsarevets, the stronghold where Bulgaria’s kings ruled between 1185 and 1393. The remains of the great stone walls and towers that you see formed the historic heart of the Second Bulgarian Empire. History lives in this town, as a quick look at the wares for sale in Samovod Marketplace will show you: Handicrafts are all made by local artisans using ancient, medieval or Renaissance technologies. You’ll have time to peruse the exceptional local pottery and textiles there before heading to Arbanassi, home to six amazing 17th-century stone churches, each one decorated with colorful and intricate frescoes. Learn something of the multicultural history of this fascinating town at the Ethnographic Museum and visit the UNESCO-designated Nativity Church, where murals of the Nativity, the Last Judgment and the zodiac brilliantly blend religious and humanist iconography. At another of the churches, Holy Archangels Michael and Gabriel, you’ll hear the otherworldly singing of an Orthodox choir in a short concert. Your day’s adventure includes a traditional three-course Bulgarian lunch, complete with live folk music. Drive through the scenic Bulgarian countryside to Belogradchik, a small town in the foothills of the Balkan Mountains, not far from the Serbian border. After some light refreshment at a local hotel, you’ll be ready to explore the astonishing rock formations nearby, which are over 200 million years old—and have inspired nearly as many legends! Many of the strange wind- and weather-hewn shapes have names, such as Adam and Eve, the Bear and the Castle. The outcroppings formed a natural defense for the town that was enhanced with man-made fortifications over the centuries. Whether you choose to hike with a local expert to the top of the path or not, you’ll be rewarded with spectacular views. Your return will take you past some sights that highlight Vidin’s mixed heritage: the Orthodox cathedral, the Turkish mosque, the Konak (the 18th-century headquarters of the Turkish police) and the cruciform barracks (which date to the 1790s). The final stop will be Baba Vida, whose stern 10th-century stone walls were built on the site of a Roman watchtower. Cross the Danube via the brand-new bridge that links Bulgaria and Romania to meet Mircea Dinescu, poet, journalist, satirist, media mogul and key figure in the revolution that overthrew Nicolae Ceausescu in 1989. Among his surprising ventures is Cetate Cultural Harbor, a haven for artists of all sorts—poets, potters, painters, filmmakers and musicians. In 1996 Dinescu’s foundation purchased a once-grand house called Port Cetate, which had fallen on very hard times, and transformed it into a largely self-supporting farm and “cultural harbor.” Artists from all over Europe are invited to participate in workshops and residency programs, and the farm is the scene of a film festival, music camp, poetry camp and even a gastronomic arts festival. There’s a reason for that particular focus: Dinescu makes fine wine, which you may sample, and the kitchen staff turns out delectable Romanian specialties. Stroll through the peaceful grounds and study the artwork on display before sitting down to tapas and music. The setting may be rustic— that’s part of the charm—but the art, music, poetry, food and wine are quite sophisticated. Today’s main attraction will be the spectacular scenery along the Danube, as you cruise a stretch of gorges known as the Iron Gates. Later, head ashore to explore a Paleolithic site and an extraordinary well-preserved medieval fortress. All along the way, history lines the banks of the river. Keep an eye out for Trajan’s Plaque, which the ancient Romans erected to commemorate the road they anchored in the steep cliffs above the water, and Golubac Castle, built in the 14th century and attacked successively by the Serbs, Magyars and Turks. The Turks won the castle in 1458, which helped to reinforce their control of the area until 1867, when they abandoned it. Lepenski Vir is one of the largest and most significant prehistoric archeological sites from the Stone Age, located on the Danube. It was once the epicenter of one of the most highly developed prehistoric cultures, with complex social relations and even rudimentary urban planning. The discovery of this prehistoric settlement has changed the image experts once had about the early Stone Age, expanding scientists’ knowledge about human communities that walked the earth millennia ago. Later, you’ll visit Golubac Castle, one of the best preserved medieval fortresses in Europe, a powerhouse that has loomed over the Danube for centuries. Unwind onboard as you cruise the breathtaking Iron Gates, an 83-mile-long (134-kilometer-long) stretch of scenic gorges that were cut through the Carpathian and Balkan mountains over eons by the Danube River. These gorges, which act as a natural border between Serbia and Romania, are among the most dramatic and beautiful sights in all of Europe. This was one of the swiftest and most dangerous stretches of the river before two dams were built: Iron Gate I and Iron Gate II. Construction on the dams began in 1964 and took 20 years to complete; they have dramatically altered the area’s landscape, raising the water level by 114 feet (35 meters) and drowning several islands and villages. As a motorcoach carries you through the city, you’ll see a mix of architectural styles that reveal the city’s past, ranging from Gothic, Ottoman, baroque and art nouveau to utilitarian Communist apartment blocks and modern high-rises. While Belgrade has been no stranger to political upheaval, the 19th-century Residence of Princess Ljubica and serene old residential streets speak of calmer days, as do the bustling present-day café-lined boulevards. You’ll pass the tomb and memorial museum of Josip Broz Tito, which is located at the site of Tito’s former residence in Belgrade’s affluent Dedinje neighborhood, and visit Kalemegdan Fortress, high on a hill above the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers. Ancient Romans built the first fortress here, and successive conquerors and defenders—Slavs, Byzantines, Ottomans, Habsburgs—continued to build and destroy fortifications on this site for another 1,500 years. Walk along the old stone walls, passing monuments and memorials (some will surprise you—poets and composers are honored here as well as military actions), for a sense of Serbia’s distant and more recent history. It’s not the only intriguing historical sight you’ll see today, however. You will also visit the Karadjordjevic Dynasty Palace and sip a glass of sparkling Serbian wine as you tour a compound of palaces built in the 1920s and 1930s. Serbia’s royal family, which is related to most of Europe’s royalty, has a strictly honorary position in modern-day democratic Serbia, but Crown Prince Alexander (who did not feel that taking the title of king was appropriate when his father died in exile in the United States in 1972) and his family still live in these palaces. A local expert will show you the public rooms of the Royal Palace, the White Palace, the adjacent chapel and the spacious grounds. Mount a bike and spend a leisurely half-day getting an up-close look at Belgrade, complete with lively commentary from your guide, who will tell you not just about the tumultuous recent past but also what it’s like to live here. Ride past Branko’s Bridge, Staro Sajmište (a former concentration camp), the Palace of Serbia and Hotel Jugoslavija; after a refreshing stop at a traditional fisherman’s bar, you’ll be ready to pedal to Kalemegdan Fortress and see a bit of Serbia’s more distant past. Welcome to Croatia! This ancient country has made a remarkable recovery from a brutal civil war, and its beautiful countryside, colorful folk traditions and delicious rustic cuisine make it a most rewarding place to visit. Welcome to Croatia! This ancient country, which has made a remarkable recovery from a brutal civil war, is noted for its beautiful countryside and thriving folk traditions, as well as delicious simple, local rustic food. You’ll dock in Vukovar, Croatia’s biggest port, at the confluence of the Danube and Vuka rivers. The bullet-riddled water tower stands as a reminder of the bitter Croatian War of Independence, fought between 1991 and 1995, when Croatia sought to break away from Yugoslavia. Thousands died during the siege of Vukovar, which was heavily damaged. As you take a short walk through the town now, you will see lasting signs of the conflict, but you will also see a revitalized community, determined to rebuild. From Vukovar you’ll head to Osijek, where you’ll visit Tvrda, a military and civil complex begun in 1687 by the Habsburgs after they took the region back from the Ottomans. You’ll also learn something of Osijek’s long history—which dates back to Roman times—and stop by the Church of the Holy Cross, built by the Franciscans after the Ottomans left. Venture into a lesser-known part of Croatia today. Set off from the port of Vukovar with your local expert, who will tell you about Vukovar’s calamitous experience during the Croatian War of Independence (1991-1995), when much of the city was shelled, and head to Osijek, the capital of Slavonia. Osijek is an attractive town on the banks of the Drava River that combines a long history—settlement predates the Romans, who built a fortress there that was conquered by Attila the Hun— with an easygoing charm and a readiness to embrace the future. You’ll stroll through Tvrda, the baroque military and civil complex begun in 1687 by the Habsburgs after they seized the town from the Ottoman Turks, and see some of the historic highlights via a panoramic tour. Located on opposite sides of the Danube, Buda and Pest each has a distinctive character and allure all its own. Explore this dynamic and multi-faceted city with your choice of excursions—you can see it from a local’s perspective on our exclusive walking tour, cover more ground with a panoramic tour or “Go Active” with a guided bike ride. Vibrant Budapest, Hungary’s capital, offers an enchanting combination of East and West, old and new. Even its geography is made up of two parts—Buda (the hills) and Pest (the flatlands)—divided by the Danube. Which part will you choose to explore today? You have three options to choose from. This panoramic tour is a wonderful way to get an overview of the city if you have never been here before. It will carry you from Heroes’ Square, created in 1896 to honor the thousand-year anniversary of Hungary’s founding and its greatest historical figures, past some of the city’s most striking architectural sights—Dohány Street Synagogue, the Hungarian National Museum, the state opera house, St. Stephen’s Basilica and the truly stunning Parliament Building—to Castle Hill, which has been called the heart of the nation. The city of Buda began here, when King Béla built a strong keep in 1243 as a defense against Mongol invaders; a castle replaced the simple fortress, and over the centuries other castles replaced that one. The current castle is primarily 18th century; a museum dedicated to Budapest’s archaeological finds is housed there, and the Castle Hill district has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You’ll go inside the magnificent 700-year-old Matthias Church, named for one of Hungary’s greatest kings, and then wend your way on foot to the picturesque Fisherman’s Bastion, whose seven fairytale-like towers represent the seven tribes that originally settled the region. It offers a glorious view of the city and the Danube below. Get ready for a fun immersion in the daily life of Budapest—your local expert will show you how to use the metro (one of the oldest in Europe) to easily reach all the city has to offer. Start with a visit to one of the city’s irresistible market halls. Stalls spill over with produce, sausages and meats, festoons of dried paprika, cheeses, and jars of honey, all of it authentically Hungarian. After you leave the market, stop for coffee and a sweet treat at Szamos Gourmet Palace, a combination pastry shop, café and chocolate maker in Vörösmarty Square. Marzipan is a favorite confection in Budapest, and Szamos has specialized in making it since the 1930s, so you might want to try some—but the shop’s truffle selection is equally irresistible. Refreshed, you’ll be ready to hop back on the tram for a visit to the gracious green spaces of Károlyi Garden, sometimes described as Budapest’s most charming small park. You’ll ramble along the boulevards and pass the Hungarian National Museum, truly getting the feel for this dynamic city, as you head back toward the ship. Note: Budapest’s market halls are closed on holidays. If your tour lands on a holiday, we will skip the market. Only the Netherlands and Denmark have a higher proportion of people who use bicycles for their daily transportation than Hungary, and you can spot the bright-green bikes that are part of the city’s bike-sharing program anywhere. Join a local expert to experience the Budapest bicyclists love: Wheel along the Danube past such sights as the moving tribute to the Jews shot by the Nazis on the banks of the river, the Hungarian Parliament building, St. Stephen’s Basilica and Andrassy Avenue, and swoop over the bridge to Margaret Island. It’s a fun and active way to get out and see the city the way locals see it. In the evening, a special Captain’s Farewell Reception and Dinner will be prepared for you. If your cruise/tour package includes a group departure transfer or if you have purchased a private departure transfer, you will be transferred to Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport for your flight home. Or you can extend your stay in beautiful Budapest with our exciting optional post-cruise extension. Arrive at Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport. If your cruise/tour package includes a group arrival transfer or if you have purchased a private arrival transfer, you will be greeted by a Uniworld representative and transferred to the ship. You’ll go inside the magnificent 700-year-old Matthias Church, named for one of Hungary’s greatest kings, and then wend your way on foot to the picturesque Fisherman’s Bastion, whose seven fairytale-like towers represent the seven tribes that originally settled the region. It offers a glorious view of the city and the Danube below.Note: Visits to the interior of Matthias Church may not be possible on some weekends and Catholic holidays. Only the Netherlands and Denmark have a higher proportion of people who use bicycles for their daily transportation than Hungary, and you can spot the bright-green bikes that are part of the city’s bike-sharing program anywhere. Join a local expert to experience the Budapest bicyclists love: Wheel along the Danube past such sights as the moving tribute to the Jews shot by the Nazis on the banks of the river, the Hungarian Parliament building, St. Stephen’s Basilica and Andrassy Avenue, and swoop over the bridge to Margaret Island. It’s a fun and active way to get out and see the city the way locals see it. Get ready for a fun immersion in the daily life of Budapest—your local expert will show you how to use the metro (one of the oldest in Europe) to easily reach all the city has to offer. Start with a visit to one of the city’s irresistible market halls. Stalls spill over with produce, sausages and meats, festoons of dried paprika, cheeses, and jars of honey, all of it authentically Hungarian. After you leave the market, stop for coffee and a sweet treat at Szamos Gourmet Palace, a combination pastry shop, café and chocolate maker in Vörösmarty Square. Marzipan is a favorite confection in Budapest, and Szamos has specialized in making it since the 1930s, so you might want to try some—but the shop’s truffle selection is equally irresistible. Refreshed, you’ll be ready to hop back on the tram for a visit to the gracious green spaces of Károlyi Garden, sometimes described as Budapest’s most charming small park. You’ll ramble along the boulevards and pass the Hungarian National Museum, truly getting the feel for this dynamic city, as you head back toward the ship. The bullet-riddled water tower stands as a reminder of the bitter Croatian War of Independence, fought between 1991 and 1995, when Croatia sought to break away from Yugoslavia. Thousands died during the siege of Vukovar, which was heavily damaged. As you take a short walk through the town now, you will see lasting signs of the conflict, but you will also see a revitalized community, determined to rebuild. From Vukovar you’ll head to Osijek, where you’ll visit Tvrda, a military and civil complex begun in 1687 by the Habsburgs after they took the region back from the Ottomans. You’ll also learn something of Osijek’s long history—which dates back to Roman times—and stop by the Church of the Holy Cross, built by the Franciscans after the Ottomans left.Enjoy an Ajvar demonstration in the courtyard of the monastery, a local specialty made from bell peppers, eggplant and tomatoes. You’ll also learn how to prepare vegetables in authentic Croatian style. From there, the group will split up and head off to different nearby villages for a home-hosted lunch.Later, you’ll visit the Vucedol Museum. The basic idea behind the concept of this unique museum was integration into the terrain—the entire structure is designed to be mostly buried in the ground and only the façade is open to the landscape. Its shape, as serpentine, follows terrain, and on whose green roof you can reach the archaeological sites over the museum. Along the path, you’ll encounter the various Vučedol culture archaeological findings that have been discovered to date, which showcase the daily life and customs during a turbulent time of the immigration of the first Indo-Europeans and their relationship with the natives, the blending of material cultures and religions. Following your time at the museum, enjoy lunch at the Goldschmidt winery. Venture into a lesser-known part of Croatia today. Set off from the port of Vukovar with your local expert, who will tell you about Vukovar’s calamitous experience during the Croatian War of Independence (1991-1995), when much of the city was shelled, and head to Osijek, the capital of Slavonia. Osijek is an attractive town on the banks of the Drava River that combines a long history—settlement predates the Romans, who built a fortress there that was conquered by Attila the Hun— with an easygoing charm and a readiness to embrace the future. You’ll stroll through Tvrda, the baroque military and civil complex begun in 1687 by the Habsburgs after they seized the town from the Ottoman Turks, and see some of the historic highlights via a panoramic tour. You’ll follow up your tour with a stop in a village just outside the city for a traditional Croatian lunch hosted by local villagers. Translators will be on hand to help you and your hosts converse, so you can actually learn a bit about one another’s lives and interests. You’ll pass the tomb and memorial museum of Josip Broz Tito, which is located at the site of Tito’s former residence in Belgrade’s affluent Dedinje neighborhood, and visit Kalemegdan Fortress, high on a hill above the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers.Ancient Romans built the first fortress here, and successive conquerors and defenders—Slavs, Byzantines, Ottomans, Habsburgs—continued to build and destroy fortifications on this site for another 1,500 years. Walk along the old stone walls, passing monuments and memorials (some will surprise you—poets and composers are honored here as well as military actions), for a sense of Serbia’s distant and more recent history. It’s not the only intriguing historical sight you’ll see today, however. You will also visit the Karadjordjevic Dynasty Palace and sip a glass of sparkling Serbian wine as you tour a compound of palaces built in the 1920s and 1930s. Serbia’s royal family, which is related to most of Europe’s royalty, has a strictly honorary position in modern-day democratic Serbia, but Crown Prince Alexander (who did not feel that taking the title of king was appropriate when his father died in exile in the United States in 1972) and his family still live in these palaces. A local expert will show you the public rooms of the Royal Palace, the White Palace, the adjacent chapel and the spacious grounds. Later, head ashore to explore a Paleolithic site and an extraordinary well-preserved medieval fortress. All along the way, history lines the banks of the river. Keep an eye out for Trajan’s Plaque, which the ancient Romans erected to commemorate the road they anchored in the steep cliffs above the water, and Golubac Castle, built in the 14th century and attacked successively by the Serbs, Magyars and Turks. The Turks won the castle in 1458, which helped to reinforce their control of the area until 1867, when they abandoned it. The discovery of this prehistoric settlement has changed the image experts once had about the early Stone Age, expanding scientists’ knowledge about human communities that walked the earth millennia ago.Later, you’ll visit Golubac Castle, one of the best preserved medieval fortresses in Europe, a powerhouse that has loomed over the Danube for centuries. Drive through the scenic Bulgarian countryside to Belogradchik, a small town in the foothills of the Balkan Mountains, not far from the Serbian border. After some light refreshment at a local hotel, you’ll be ready to explore the astonishing rock formations nearby, which are over 200 million years old—and have inspired nearly as many legends! Many of the strange wind- and weather-hewn shapes have names, such as Adam and Eve, the Bear and the Castle. The outcroppings formed a natural defense for the town that was enhanced with man-made fortifications over the centuries. Whether you choose to hike with a local expert to the top of the path or not, you’ll be rewarded with spectacular views. Your return will take you past some sights that highlight Vidin’s mixed heritage: the Orthodox cathedral, the Turkish mosque, the Konak (the 18th-century headquarters of the Turkish police) and the cruciform barracks (which date to the 1790s). The final stop will be Baba Vida, whose stern 10th-century stone walls were built on the site of a Roman watchtower. There’s a reason for that particular focus: Dinescu makes fine wine, which you may sample, and the kitchen staff turns out delectable Romanian specialties. Stroll through the peaceful grounds and study the artwork on display before sitting down to tapas and music. The setting may be rustic— that’s part of the charm—but the art, music, poetry, food and wine are quite sophisticated. Twice the capital of Bulgaria—before and after the Ottomans conquered the nation—Veliko Tarnovo climbs steep hills above the Yantra River, topped by the ruins of Tsarevets, the stronghold where Bulgaria’s kings ruled between 1185 and 1393. The remains of the great stone walls and towers that you see formed the historic heart of the Second Bulgarian Empire. History lives in this town, as a quick look at the wares for sale in Samovod Marketplace will show you: Handicrafts are all made by local artisans using ancient, medieval or Renaissance technologies. You’ll have time to peruse the exceptional local pottery and textiles there before heading to Arbanassi, home to six amazing 17th-century stone churches, each one decorated with colorful and intricate frescoes. Rousse walking discovery tour with Ivanovo and Basarbovo monasteries. Walk through the woods of Rusenski Lom, a protected region that is home to a wide variety of rare birds, among other wildlife, to Ivanovo Rock Monastery—once an enclave of more than 40 churches and chapels that the devout built inside caves above the Lom River Valley. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is famous for its beautiful and well-preserved 14th-century murals.Your next destination, the Basarbovo Rock Monastery, is the only rock monastery where monks still live and worship today. Climb the narrow rock stairway to the 15th-century cloister, which is cut into the limestone cliffs high above the Lom River, and take a look at the arresting frescoes. You’ll also spend some time in Rousse, a city with an easygoing, gracious feeling. Freedom Square, a huge open plaza, takes its name from the Freedom Monument, which soars from the center of the square; the stately Belle Epoque buildings surrounding the square attest to the city’s prosperity in the 1890s. Stroll along wide, tree-lined Alexandrovska, the main pedestrian street that links the city’s many attractive squares, encountering such landmark sights as Rousse’s grand theater, the city museum and the first movie theater (it opened in 1896). Another option is a walking tour that shows you this city from a local’s perspective. This morning, you’ll disembark the ship in Giurgiu and drive through the countryside to Bucharest, where you’ll enjoy a traditional three-course Romanian lunch at a local restaurant and a panoramic city tour. Tonight you’ll relax in the comfort of a luxury hotel located in the heart of the city, Romania’s capital and its cultural and economic center. Bucharest began as a fortress in the 15th century, a warlike origin that set the tone for its turbulent history. It saw glory days as the summer residence of the Wallachian princes and was burned to the ground by the Ottoman Turks; then Austria-Hungary and imperial Russia fought over it for a century. After Wallachia and Moldavia united to form Romania in the mid-19th century, Bucharest enjoyed a prosperity that was reflected in its extravagant architecture, some of which miraculously survived WWII bombing and Communist building programs. You’ll see Bucharest’s very own Triumphal Arch, which is modeled after the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, and Victoria Boulevard, lined with chic shops and handsomely restored prewar buildings—and sites where protests brought down Ceausescu’s regime in 1989. These days Bucharest enjoys a lively and eclectic cultural scene, hosting international arts festivals and concerts, and a measure of prosperity apparent in its busy cafés and thriving street life. Perhaps no sight in Bucharest more perfectly encapsulates Romania’s 20th-century experience than the mind-boggling structure known as the People’s Palace. Nicolae Ceausescu razed one-sixth of the city to erect this enormous palace—the second-largest building in the world—which all but bankrupted the country and helped trigger his downfall. Some 20,000 laborers worked on the building, which has 1,100 rooms in its 12 stories. Only a small portion of it is open to tours—in fact, only a small portion of the rooms are furnished—but you’ll see the vast marble-sheathed halls, huge chandeliers and basement bomb shelter that comprise an astonishing monument to the dictator’s ambition. The cost to the country was enormous, but the craftsmanship is exquisite; the dictator meant it to be a showcase of Bulgarian decorative arts, and in that he fully succeeded. “Give a penny for the Athenaeum.” Back in the 1880s, this was the theme for the fundraising campaign that resulted in one of Bucharest’s most beautiful and most beloved buildings: the Romanian Athenaeum. Ordinary citizens, not wealthy patrons of the arts, contributed their pennies and built a jewel-box concert hall with perfect acoustics, which they cherish to this day: It’s called the spiritual and artistic heart of the nation. Just a few years ago this neighborhood was all but a shambles; now it is a lively social center. Here you’ll find everything from a famous beer hall to a spectacularly renovated bookstore, as well as the city’s oldest surviving church and the remnants of the Old Princely Court, where the Wallachian rulers—including Vlad the Impaler—lived in the 15th and 16th centuries. Your walking tour ends at Hanul Lui Manuc, built two centuries ago as an inn and recently restored, where you will take a seat in the tree-shaded courtyard and relax over some favorite local appetizers—perhaps some stuffed mushrooms and a variety of sausages. Legend says that a tiny, verdant island in the midst of lovely Snagov Lake, just north of the city, contains Vlad the Impaler’s tomb. Vlad III, who ruled Wallachia (now part of modern Romania) in the 15th century, may have inspired Bram Stoker’s Dracula (and countless successor vampire novels), though he got his sobriquet “the Impaler” for the brutal methods he employed against his enemies, not for sinking his teeth into virgins. However cruel Vlad was, the monks of Snagov Monastery held him in great esteem and are said to have buried him in their monastery after he was slain in a battle nearby. Take a boat over the peaceful waters to the serene garden and monastery to see the simple marble slab that marks the tomb, as well as the beautiful medieval frescoes that adorn the interior of the monastery. Then continue further afield to the opulent former residence of Romania’s former leader Nicolae Ceausescu, where you’ll have a guided tour. It’s been a quarter of a century since deposed Romanian president Ceausescu and his wife Elena were executed by a firing squad on Christmas Day in 1989, but now you can roam the opulent 80-room residence where the couple once lived, situated on 3.5 acres of grounds in one of Bucharest’s most desirable neighborhoods. For 2018 Uniworld launched their newest Super Ship — S.S. Beatrice. The S.S. Beatrice boasts yacht-style light wood with blue and white finishes throughout, a renovated lobby featuring elegant mirrors, marble floors, a white Murano chandelier with blue shades, and a grand staircase made of nickel and black iron – a signature design element of Uniworld’s Super Ships. The ship’s redesigned lounge features sofas and chairs with hand-made upholstery, a parquet floor and upholstered ceiling panels, solar shades, and new USB ports allowing guests to charge anywhere they are sitting. The artwork throughout the ship includes pieces from Pablo Picasso, Alexander Calder and Pino Signoretto. Additionally, S.S. Beatrice has two new Grand Suites each measuring 310 square feet and a second 390 square foot Owner’s/Royal Suite. Connecting rooms, ideal for friends and families traveling together, have also been added. This majestic, ultra-luxurious, boutique cruise ship is the perfect base to explore the rivers from. Fabulous public areas are complelmented by lavishly appointed riverview staterooms and suites. Handcrafted Savoir® of England beds are draped in high-thread count 100% Egyptian cotton sheets and European duvets, along with a menu of pillow options. Staterooms and suites on the Rhine & Danube Decks have floor to ceiling windows opening to a French balconies. Individually decorated suite size: 225 sq. ft. The 130-passenger River Duchess is decorated in soft hues of blue and green complemented by soothing earth tones, providing a tranquil and elegant onboard ambiance. Enjoy spectacular and ever-changing views of Europe’s most enchanting waterways in the ship’s stylish Blue Danube Lounge, Palace Restaurant, or the La Motte Sky Lounge. An in-depth journey offering fresh new adventures in the Old World. Sail past quaint villages and great cities on the glorious Danube, visiting baroque abbeys and medieval cathedrals, tasting fine wines and encountering new cultures.

2019-04-26T12:56:15Z

https://www.globalrivercruising.co.uk/cruises/danube/uniworld-highlights-of-eastern-europe/

Last night, Saturday, April 2, 2011; Darnette and I watched the new DVD “The Klaus Dona Chronicles – Secret World 1” and the photos, data presented and described by Klaus Dona were incredible….! Images, artifacts, data of never seen before shelved items that will open your mind to the SECRET WORLD that was here before US…! And the questions that want answers quickly come to mind as these artifacts, created by WHOM? and showing in great detail WHAT? Before Us….! I have known Klaus Dona for a number of years and to talk with him is a pleasure beyond understanding, as Klaus shares ‘hidden’ data for the inquiring mind to consider..? The Klaus Dona website is http://www.unsolved-mysteries.info and just click onto language you know to read…New DVD out: “The Klaus Dona Chronicles – Secret World 1” can be purchased from Amazon: http://amazon.com with artifacts that will shock as Klaus explains the many enigmas surrounding the artifacts, data, truth! The photo image at the top of today’s Blog is a recent image taken of the Sun and posted on the Space Weather News website http://www.spaceweather.com where you can keep up with the latest Sun activity & data, with the ever changing reports and the WAITING for an EVENT from same….! Stan & Holly Deyo work many hours, producing UPDATED news from around the world on a daily basis. Holly must never sleep…? Their website http://standeyo.com is updated as quickly as news changes and I’ve never seen Stan so busy with radio shows…! Stan was recently on Coast To Coast AM with George Noory, warning of connections he found in data between Japan’s quakes and Yellowstone. http://www.coasttocoastam.com Also with recent reports from Guy, Arkansas region/New Madrid and West Coast trouble….! YEA!!!!! Can hardly wait to here you talk with GeorgeAnn! LARRY, LATELY I HAVE FELT THE EARTH CHANGES IN MY BODY AND SPIRIT. UNDER A STRAIN TOO SPEND A LOT OF TIME OUT , CAN SHE BE TELLING US SOMETHING IS IN THE WIND . THANKS FOR LISTENING LOVE YOU ALL . I have also been having a lot of body pain and feel so drained…more than usual!! I was to move north from the city on May 1st and for some strange reason, i was stopped from doing so….life gets stranger and stranger!! I dont know what is next for me! I know exactly what you are saying Vaughn. I have been feeling really run down for the last 6 weeks or so. The weeks are passing by very quickly and by body cannot play catch up. Anyone else feeling run down? Hey that is what I got for the day. Maybe there is something to it maybe not. I believe the Lord has just led me to that. Take it for what it is. When we see all these things happen the Lord says to hold your head up cause your redemption draws nigh. Hey Hey Hey I gotta go. Looking forward the your talk with George Ann Larry! Re the delusion..I think (here at least) many refuse to acknowledge through fear. Like an ostrich they bury their heads hoping it will all go away. Unfortunately, the rest of their backsides remain in full site so they will end up with a whuppin’, as you guys say over the pond. There was a 3.5 earthquake in Blackpool – a resort on the coast of Lancashire (west coast). Never known one there before? Still, that’s our mini Las Vegas these days. Maybe a warning? Who knows. Yes the winds of change are blowing Larry, picking up speed and blowing stronger. Here in Alliston, Ontario/CDA, what with the Japan ( manipulated or natural) catastrophe, we are just starting to reap the domino effect. Honda CDA is not receiving there auto parts from Japan. As of right now work has been reduced to 4 hour days for us at Simcoe Parts Services. We are a 400.000 sq. ft. 2/warehouse. All Honda vender’s ship there parts to us and we sequence them in lot ranges and then send them to Honda just in time. We are hearing that by April 15/16 we will run out of parts from Japan. Here we go, what will happen next, because Honda supports all this area, similar to GM and Detroit. I know the NWO bunch are not structured, they are flexible, so this could be 2 steps forward and 1 step back. All in all my faith is on Jesus Christ our solid Rock, all other ground is sinking sand, Amen. Come Lord Jesus come. I know there will be an economic collapse and then WW3. They will set up there NWO. But at the end Jesus will come back and destroy it by pouring down His wrath on them. Glory be to Jesus, for His bride is NOT appointed unto wrath. Thank you for your continued posts. I have been listening a lot lately to Steve Quayle’s shows that he did in March and WOW, if you haven’t had a chance to listen, I hope you will. I’m sure it’s a lot of things you already know. He’s been on Omegaman and Hagman & Hagman on blog talk radio. I love your & Stewarts updates, thank you for all your hard work. Outstanding DVD!!! Nothing is a surprise anymore…but it is amazing that we can still buy the truth such as described by Klaus. is an outstanding complimentary site to review after watching Klaus’ DVD. Larry, I enjoyed watching the klaus Dona. Movie with you. These are the things we all have thought about or dreamed of. Outstanding movie and I enjoyed our time together. Love you…..D. Can you believe it Larry? My move didnt pan out and i dont know what is in store for me now…i wait on the Lord! God bless you and Darnette!! Re the comments on tiredness etc. I was told about Diatomaceous Earth (food grade) and wheatgrass. Since I have been taking this daily, I have found my health improving. I suffer with arthritis in my joints and spine and even the pain there has eased. These also remove metals from the body and, in light of what is happening today, we need that! Check this out folks. I prayed Father would show me, as He created our bodies and knows what we need for health and I was innundated with information. Read it all up folks!! You will not regret it! Can you stand one more complaint. I live in Kentucky, and I am literally exhausted. From what, I do not know. I am a stay at home retired registered nurse, and it is all I can do to make myself get out of bed. When I get out of bed, I go directly to my recliner. I am not depressed and I am not an old lady. My husband still works, and he sleeps in his chair like an 80-year-old man, even though he is in his fifties. We are both very active and exercise faithfully every day. The last several weeks have played a toll on both my husband and I. Our three grown children are also complaining of this strange lethargy that has bombarded us. We are not idle folks, and this is what makes it so unsettling. I have a constant roaring in my right ear, and I feel like I am walking on uneven ground. I have daily aches and pains that have also increased. I have noticed that even the children seem detached and faraway looking. I have never seen anything like this in my entire life. Something is blowing in the wind. We have strong gusts of wind happening right now as I type. My eyes are burning as well. Soon we will all be walking around like zombies. I already feel like I am a walking zombie, and my husband will concur that he feels the same way. Soon Jesus will come back to gather His Saints to Himself, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. foods into the diet and getting rid of white flour and sugar and a lot of red meat. I too live in KY and this unnatural tiredness has affected people around here also. Since we have been doing all this juicing and DE, Kenneth no longer takes any of his meds…none!!! He is on heart meds, BP, cholesterol, sugar pill, potassium and a water pill. He took one dose when he had to go to the doctor as he figured they would draw blood. When he came home he was so dizzy he could not walk across the floor, and he got in his recliner and could not hold his eyes open. I told him that was his proof, it was the medicine that made him old and infirm. He is 68 and has lots more energy since juicing. And his white hair is starting to turn black, he has not had black hair since he was 19. A little perk of wheatgrass juice. My nails are strong and shiny, my skin soft and supple like baby skin, my hair is softer and shinier. Within just a few minutes of taking wheatgrass juice you will feel the energy. Like Pam says…check into these things. You will not regret it!!! My juicing book had one thing to say…..there is only one disease, malnutrition. All other diseases are rooted in malnutrition. By juicing you can take in many nutrients very quickly. For instance a 4 oz glass of juice may consist of half pound of carrots, a large bowl of lettuce, several radishes, a couple stalks of celery, and an apple. There is much information on the web, just google…you will be amazed at what you find. Something else to consider is sprouts…little tiny sprouts…jam packed with concentrated nutrients. A little dab will do ya….lol. Another thing I noticed just lately. I found myself feeling very rageful, murderously so. Then other women around the neighborhood would come in and they would be full of rage, wanting to go off and hurt something. Yes we all had a few problems, but this crazy rage we were feeling was really wierd, as usually we balance one another out. If one is crazy, we talk each other down, so to speak, but when everyone is feeling that way, then it makes you wonder. So I wondered if maybe we were affected by EM waves coming from the sun or if they had ramped up some cell towers or something. Then we all got to talking and we came to the conclusion that it hit us all on a Friday afternoon and we were like that until Tues when we all noticed that it had just dissipated. What ever it was didn’t seem to affect the men, only us women. Hmmm…made me think of a movie I saw recently The Signal…it was about a signal, similar to the emergency broadcast thing they do on TV, well when the people saw this on TV it did something to them and they would walk off somewhere like a zombie and then start killing people. Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I read somewhere that all this would drive some people mad as these solar flares increase and the electro magnetic field gets stronger as these planets align and the comet or planet x or whatever it is comes closer. I’ve been speaking to a whole slew of people who for the past while have been doing nothing but sleeping. (including myself) Since I think we are all in North America, I am wondering if they have stepped up their ‘spraying’ program and have added an extra ingredient to either knock us all out or make us utterly useless??? Thanks for all your hard work Larry with the alerts and this blog…much appreciated! Also, Pam…thanks for the ‘heads up’ on wheat grass! I heard it’s good for energy poor folks like us..LOL! I live in the UK and it’s the same over here re trails and effects. My friend in Kentucky told me about DE and wheatgrass and other juicing recipes. It’s sure tasty. I’m still tired a lot, but at least I know why. I just have to keep going till it all kicks in. I noticed at the weekend there were thicker (thus more trails from each plane) lines in the sky. I’m wondering if anything had been added. I know phosgene is one of them. I warn folks here, particularly with breathing problems. But the testimonials of the juicing and DE are amazing – specially from my friend and her family and friends. This is why God has told us to stay close to Him these days and follow His leading. I think even in our food and water intake we should be careful. Nothing has been mentioned for a long time re the gulf, although that matter is still ongoing and folks are sick and dying down there. That poison is still floating around in the air and water and rain. Could be that as well ya think? I too have noticed I am so much more tired than normal. I do not want to go anywhere extra except to work. I work in human resources for a company which has about 500 folks and there is more people on leave of absence than ever before at one time. I sure treasure my weekends when I do not have to go to work. I spent last weekend soaking on teachings from The Byte Show and drinking ice tea, very blessed time for me. Dear Sadie, and others commenting on this forum. Yesterday, April 4, 2011, my husband and I felt so drained that we thought we might have been drugged somehow. I know this sounds really creepy and paranoia on our part, but the drugged feeling lasted for hours and hours. My husband who is in his fifties, and fit, came on and slept until I made dinner. After dinner, he sat in his recliner and slept until it was time for bed. It was all I could do to keep my eyes open as well. The drowsiness became so intense, that I was thinking we might have to go to the emergency room. My husband is not a complainer, but he kept saying “I cannot keep my eyes open. What is wrong with me.” I shared his same sentiments. My eyes felt like they had a pound of sand in them and my eyes were watering. Every time I wiped my eyes they would start burning. All these symptoms went along with the extreme sleepiness. At one point, I thought maybe I might be escaping from reality. It was like I was spectator, watching my own life. It was the strangest sensation. My husband and I feel a little better today on April 5, 2011. It seemed with every step I took, I was wading through thick molasses. Strange indeed. When I went to sleep, I slept over 14 hours. My husband slept less because he had to go to work. Even as I got out of bed at 3:4o PM, I wanted to go back to bed and sleep, sleep, sleep. My husband and I have also been feeling very agitated. Something is not right. We will try the juicing. I love veges and fruit anyway you can prepare them. God help us all! Something weird is really happening. Please excuse my poor grammar and sentence structure. I am still a bit lethargic today. The other day, our skies were covered in chem trails. The sky looked so unnatural, that it was plain scary. Sometimes the chem trails are done in geometric shapes, and other times they are done cloud wisps. Any one with a half a brain could tell something was not right with the skies. My husband likes to ignore the fact that something is amiss with our skies. I have noticed that a lot of folks just shake their heads and go on. ONLY THOSE BEING PART OF THE BRIDE OF JESUS CHRIST ARE WORTHY TO ESCAPE ALL THINGS COMING ON THE EARTH! Who Does Jesus Christ Reckon As Part Of His Bride? While reading the study titled “Dark Light” from Stewart Best It became increasingly clear to me WHO the Bride of Jesus Christ really is: those people who are bestowed with Agape Love, who have become in their inner core being, their inner heart, not their conscious outer heart, THE SAME AS Jesus Christ. Only people who ARE pure faithfulness will never betray Him (again), don’t they? I believe the 5 Wise Virgins were clothed with the Agape Love of Christ; they had become in their character pure undefiled faithfulness. Oil is actually a picture of Agape Love. The Holy Spirit “only” helps us to walk the narrow road of self-crucifixion, so Jesus Christ eventually is able to feel at home in our inner core being (the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle), and stays there to live with us like in marriage while we still live on earth/ during our earthly live. When this happens we are clothed with Him, like in marriage. I believe only those people are sealed with the Holy Spirit to receive their inheritance in Heaven. The error/false doctrine/false teaching/the leaven in the majority of Churches is that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the converted person is taught the be the end goal, but it isn’t. We are only saved by being clothed with Jesus Christ, literally Him living in our inner core being/spirit, also called the subconscious that is in reality the driving force of everything we do, think and say. We are not aware of this subconscious, or inner heart/ being. The Holy Spirit is “only” the Helper to lead us on the road to crucifixion of our evil fallen nature, pulverizing to dust our fallen nature, that resides in our inner core being. Only the few walk this road, because this difficult and painful road exposes us to the evil nature in our inner core being, the evil creatures we REALLY ARE, and that we are oblivious of with our conscious being/heart, so that the Holy Spirit can rebuke and chastise us for who we really are, and drive us to despair over who we are, so we start begging Jesus Christ to have it replaced with HIS nature. The “MANY”, who are rejected by Jesus Christ as mentioned in Matthew 24, are deceived via false doctrine into thinking they have already arrived at this destination of having their evil SELF replaced with the Spirit of Jesus Christ, when in REALITY they are only displaying gifts of the Spirit after their conversion, while their evil fallen nature is still IN TACT, alive and kicking. Conversion is “only” an intellectual agreement with what the Bible teaches about salvation, after which a person decides with his or her fallen will to follow Jesus Christ, thinking they know what this following of Jesus Christ really means, but they don’t, because of the false Gospel that is taught in most Churches. The REAL BIBLICAL GOSPEL IS: We are called, after conversion, to be led by the Holy Spirit on the road to our literal self-crucifixion, so our evil fallen nature can be increasingly replaced by the Spirit of Jesus Christ Himself, literally. Then and only then are we really changed into His image, displaying Agape Love in what we do and say. ONLY THEN can we say we TRULY have been reborn, that the REBIRTH has taken place. CONVERSION and REBIRTH are NOT THE SAME, as is taught in most Churches. Hence the Lord HATES our “solemn assemblies”/church services, etc., just like in Israel under the Old Testament. We are not saved through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit ALONE, but by REALLY being clothed with the character of Jesus Christ, Him having taken residence in our inner core being/heart. Only then ARE we in our core being essence Faithful, and we will never betray Jesus Christ and God the Father (again). Hence we are fit for Heaven. Earthly marriage is a picture of the marriage between Jesus Christ and His Bride. What does the Lord require of married couples? That they are absolutely faithful to each other. With/through our natural love this turns out to be very difficult, because our natural love is not absolute or PURE, but relative and conditional, which God calls EVIL. I believe many professing Christians are deliberately led into a difficult marriage, because that’s the narrow way for them to be “forced” to have their by nature unfaithful character replaced by the absolute faithful character/ essence of Jesus Christ. This narrow way simply exposes their unfaithful nature to them, so it can be dealt with, IF they cooperate with the Lord. That’s why I believe that the Lord even allows the spouse of professing Christians, who REALLY want to become like Christ, to be unfaithful to them, in whatever way, so the Lord can increasingly transform these Christians into walking in absolute faithfulness (Agape Love) to their spouse and therefore also to Jesus Christ Himself. If we are faithful in “small” matters, like our earthly marriage, we will also be faithful in “big”, and “huge” matters, like reigning with Jesus Christ for eternity. Should The Bride be taken away from this earth, I believe that most people on earth will not notice it, because it will probably be a (very) small number of people. I might not be among this group of fortunate people either. BUT……that does not necessarily mean that I and other Followers of Jesus Christ have to go through The Tribulation (with the “Visitors” presenting themselves as our creators and saviors on the earth). Because the Lord can take us Home before this happens, simply by postponing End Time events like Elenin and Nibiru influencing/hitting the earth, etc. He is Lord over these events. I believe in my heart that the Lord gives us more time so people who have come to knowledge of the truth about REAL SALVATION, but have not as of yet sufficiently being transformed into the likeness/ the essence/ core being of Jesus Christ, ABSOLUTE FAITHFULNESS, can be transformed: really born again. This brings me to the impression I had in 2005 that I had another 10 years to live, bringing the time that I would part from this earth (hopefully into the permanent presence of the Lord) to 2015. I can very well imagine that it takes another 3-4 years before I have been sufficiently transformed into the likeness of the Lord, into the essence of absolute faithfulness, to have been proved in REAL LIFE HERE ON EARTH my absolute, indestructible unwavering faithfulness to the Lord Jesus Christ. The color BLUE that the Holy Spirit seemed to have pointed me to through all kinds of situations and things, like clothing, music lyrics, etc. represents the LAW OF GOD. The law of God is fulfilled in AGAPE LOVE, the character of Christ formed IN our inner core being/ our TRUE, REAL character. Not as we perceive our self with our conscious heart/ being, or as we THINK we are. And it comes full circle…….. Praise the Lord Jesus Christ for all these insights! I pray for the sufficient transformation (of everyone reading this message) into the likeness of Jesus Christ in the inner core being, should this not have happened as of yet. PS: I am reading the Wuest Translation of the New Testament, and this translation brings about/into the light/confirms the whole issue of the TOTAL absence of AGAPE LOVE in the fallen human being, and the way to be transformed into an AGAPE loving being (again).

2019-04-19T06:53:30Z

https://larrywtaylor.wordpress.com/2011/04/03/larry-taylor-blog-news-april-3-2011/

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Your Digital Currency Wallet allows you to send supported Digital Currencies to, and to receive and store supported Digital Currencies from, third parties on your instructions, using the Services. Dasset currently supports the list of Digital Currencies reflected on our exchange site, accessible here. However, the nature of the Digital Currencies that Dasset supports is subject to change, and could change without notice to you if this is required as a result of law, any order of a court of governmental agency, any change to the operating rules in the underlying Digital Currency ’s network, or any technological issue outside of our reasonable control. Dasset supports only the “advanced protocols” reflected on our exchange site, accessible here. It does not support any other protocols such as metacoins, coloured coins, side chains, or other derivative, enhanced or forked protocols, tokens or coins which supplement or interact with a Digital Currency supported by Dasset. Dasset will charge the Transaction fees set out in the Fee Schedule, accessible here. In addition, all Transactions need to be confirmed by ‘miners’ which group transactions into ‘blocks’ and add those blocks to the relevant network underlying the specific Digital Currency. When making a Digital Currency Deposit, you may need to pay the applicable ‘miner fee’ (i.e. network fee) to confirm the transaction on the network. To do this, you need to make sure your transaction includes a sufficient miner fee to be confirmed. Insufficient fees will delay the processing of a Transaction. Dasset may charge miner fees to process a Digital Currency withdrawal on your behalf. If we do so, Dasset will calculate the miner fee in our discretion and notify you of the amount of the fee at or before the time you authorise the Transaction. We will send you an email confirmation of all transactions relating to your Digital Currency Wallet. Dasset securely stores all Digital Currency private keys in our control in a combination of online and offline storage. As a result, it may be necessary for Dasset to retrieve certain information from offline storage in order to facilitate a Digital Currency Transaction in accordance with your instructions. This may delay the initiation or crediting of the relevant Digital Currency Transaction for up to 48 hours, or longer in some circumstances. Dasset will process your Transactions in accordance with your instructions, and you should carefully verify all instructions before placing any Orders. If there is an error in those instructions, then that is your risk and Dasset does not accept any responsibility or liability. When you transact with another Approved User through the Site (a Counterparty), there is a risk that the Counterparty may cancel the Transaction before the order is executed. You understand that Dasset cannot require a Counterparty to complete any Transaction and is not responsible for liable for any such Counterparty default. If you believe a Counterparty has behaved in a misleading or fraudulent manner, or otherwise in breach of these Terms and Conditions, please notify us immediately at [email protected] so that we can determine what action, if any, to take. Your Digital Currency Wallet is available only in connection with the Digital Currencies that Dasset supports at any time, in its discretion. As set out in clause 4.3 above, these supported Digital Currencies are subject to change. Dasset assumes no responsibility or liability for any attempt to use your Digital Currency Wallet for Digital Currencies that Dasset does not support at that time. Dasset does not control or own any of the underlying networks or software protocols that govern the operation of the Digital Currencies supported by Dasset. Dasset does not stand behind or underwrite any Transaction you enter into using the Dasset exchange. A Digital Currency Withdrawal may be delayed as a result of Dasset retrieving information from offline storage. Dasset has the right to refuse to process or to cancel any pending Order or Transaction at any time if it is required to do so at law or in response to a court or government order, or to enforce transaction limits, or if any Suspension Event occurs. Digital Currencies are a risky asset class and trading in Digital Currencies increases those risks. You confirm that you have read the Risks of Use set out here and agree to accept those risks. The amount or value of the Digital Currencies in your Digital Currency Wallet is not guaranteed or underwritten by Dasset nor by any other person, and you could lose the Digital Currencies, or the value of the Digital Currencies, stored in your Digital Currency Wallet in a short period of time. In that case, you will have no recourse to Dasset or to any other person for your loss (including loss of profit), or any liability or inconvenience that results. Dasset maintains a private exchange ledger (the Dasset Ledger) to track each Approved User’s Legal Tender Account balance and the Digital Currencies reflected in his or her Digital Currency Wallet. Entries in the Dasset Ledger are not recorded on a blockchain or otherwise published. Only transfers of Digital Currencies into, or transfers of Digital Currencies out of, your Digital Currency Wallet will be confirmed and visible on a blockchain. Dasset does not currently offer any margin trading, options trading, or shorting. Dasset does not make any warranty or representation in relation to any Counterparty and cannot confirm that a Counterparty will perform its Transaction obligations. Please note: A Transaction is not complete while it is in a pending state. Funds associated with Transactions that are in a pending state will be designated as such and will not be available to conduct other Transactions (including withdrawals). We can impose any conditions or restrictions on your access to the Transaction Services at any time without prior notice. These may include limits on the number or value of Transactions. We may impose Transaction limits from time to time. In particular, we reserve the right to review any withdrawals and to request further information before releasing funds for regulatory and fraud prevention purposes. You cannot revoke or cancel an Order once you have placed it. However, you can submit a request to cancel the Transaction to which that Order relates by clicking on the ‘Cancel Sells’ or ‘Cancel Buys’ or ‘Cancel All’ button (as appropriate) on the Dasset Exchange dashboard (a Cancellation Request). The Cancellation Request will only be effective if you submit it before the Order is filled. it is required to do so by a court order or government agency. Dasset maintains the records of these offers in our Order Book. When Dasset’s trading engine matches buy and sell offers in our order book, we record the trade on our Dasset Ledger. This transfers ownership of the seller’s traded Digital Currencies to the relevant buyer. are recorded on our Dasset Ledger. You can place an order to buy Digital Currency (a Buy Order) on the Dasset Exchange. By doing so, you authorise Dasset to initiate debits from the applicable Dasset Wallet and initiate a transfer to your Digital Currency Wallet. When you place a Buy Order, the full amount of purchase price and associated fees in Currency will be placed on hold or marked as pending in your Legal Tender Account. This means you cannot withdraw or use those funds for any other purpose until the Buy Transaction settles, expires or is cancelled. After your Buy Order has been placed, we will send you an email when it has completed, or if it has only been partially filled, as applicable. We will use all reasonable efforts to fulfil any Buy Order. However, if we cannot fulfil your Buy Order, we may notify you by email and seek your order to fulfil the Buy Order at the Market Price. Dasset reserves the right to unilaterally cancel any unfilled portion of any Buy Order that changes the best bid or best offer by more than twenty percent (20%) in either direction, or is otherwise clearly erroneous. You can enter a Stop Limit or an Order Limit for your Buy Transaction on the Dasset Exchange dashboard. If a Buy Transaction order only partially fills, the amount of Currency required to settle the balance (including fees) will remain on hold until the remaining Buy Order is filled, expires, or is cancelled. You can place an order to sell Digital Currency (a Sell Order) on the Dasset Exchange. By doing so, you authorise Dasset to initiate debits from your applicable Digital Currency Wallet and initiate a transfer to the applicable Dasset Wallet. When you place a Sell Order, the full amount of Digital Currencies offered for sale are placed on hold in your Digital Currency Wallet. This means you cannot deal with those Digital Currencies for any other purpose until the Sell Transaction settles, expires or is cancelled. Any fees associated with the Sell Transaction will be deducted by Dasset from the sale proceeds before they appear in your Legal Tender Account. After you have placed your Sell Order, we will send you an email when it has completed, or if it has only been partially filled, as applicable. Dasset reserves the right to unilaterally cancel any unfilled portion of any Sell Order that changes the best bid or best offer by more than twenty percent (20%) in either direction, or is otherwise clearly erroneous. You can enter a Stop Limit or an Order Limit for your Sell Transaction on the Dasset Exchange dashboard. Until the Sell Order fills, expires or is cancelled, the value of the Digital Currencies being offered for sale will not be available to be used for any other purpose, including other sell orders or withdrawals. For partially filled sell orders, the unfilled portion of Digital Currencies offered for sale will remain on hold until the remaining sell order is filled, expires, or is cancelled. The Dasset Exchange operates order matching engines for each trading pair. Dasset currently supports the trading pairs listed here. Our marketplace operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week (except for brief maintenance periods). We require that all trades be pre-funded (that is, you must have sufficient funds in your applicable Dasset Wallet before you can trade). Trading fees apply. They are set out in the Fee Schedule, accessible here. If a Suspension Event occurs, Dasset can suspend one or more Services to one or more (or all) Approved Users for so long as Dasset determines, in good faith, as is required or prudent in view of the interests of Dasset and its Approved Users (or affected Approved Users). Dasset will not be liable to any Approved User or other person for any loss (including any loss of profit), liability or inconvenience arising as a result of any Suspension Event, or the suspension of any Services or access to the Site arising from action taken following a Suspension Event. If Dasset considers that it is practicable and prudent for it to do so in the circumstances of the Suspension Event, and in view of the interests of Dasset and its Approved Users (or the affected Approved Users), it will give you the opportunity to withdraw your Digital Currencies from your Digital Currency Wallet and transfer them to another service (that is, a service which is not provided by Dasset). To engage in any other use or activity which breaches these Terms and Conditions. Dasset may block or refuse any person (including any Approve User) from accessing the Site and/or any Services or any Transaction if it believes in good faith that such person, Service or Transaction is connected with any Prohibited Use. Dasset does not need to provide any prior notice or explanation if it invokes this right. advise any regulators and co-operate fully with any law enforcement authorities which may include disclosing information we hold about you about you. This clause 12 does not limit any of our other rights and remedies at law. You agree to pay all fees associated with or incurred by you in connection with the Orders you place, the Transactions you complete and the other Services we provide you. Our current Fee Schedule can be found here and is deemed to form part of these Terms and Conditions. We reserve the right to change, modify or increase our Fee Schedule at any time. We will update our Fee Schedule no later than fourteen (14) calendar days before changes are to take effect. Your use of the Services following any update to our Fee Schedule is considered to be your acceptance of any such changes. It is your responsibility to determine what, if any, taxes you must pay in relation to the Transactions and on any of the Digital Currencies you hold in your Digital Currency Wallet, or otherwise. Dasset makes no representation as to your tax liabilities, or the tax liabilities of any other Approved User. Dasset assumes no responsibility for the tax liability of you or any other Approved User, not for collecting, reporting, withholding or remitting any taxes arising from any Transactions that you may enter into. To the extent permitted by law, Dasset and its related companies exclude all liability and responsibility for any loss, damages, costs or expense, whether in tort (including negligence), contract or otherwise and whether direct, indirect, or consequential (including in connection with business interruption), which you or any other person may suffer or incur in connection with the Services the use or inability to use the Site, and in respect of any Digital Currency or otherwise. the supply of the Services to you again. Dasset is not liable in any way whatsoever to you or anyone else for any financial decision or action taken by you or anyone else using the Services. Important: In providing the Services, Dasset is required to provide certain guarantees that cannot be excluded under consumer law, if you are using the Services for personal use, including guarantees as to the acceptable quality and fitness of purpose of the Services. Nothing in these Terms will be read or applied so as to exclude, restrict or modify or have the effect of excluding, restricting or modifying any condition, warranty, guarantee, right or remedy implied by the law and which by law cannot be excluded, restricted or modified, even if any other provision of these Terms and Conditions would otherwise suggest that this might be the case. To the extent permitted by law we do not warrant the reliability, availability, accuracy, completeness or timeliness of information on the Site. All information is provided “as is” without warranty of any kind, express or implied. This includes (but is not limited to) implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, title or non-infringement. you not meeting your legal obligations, including your tax obligations. any reliance by you on any information obtained through the Site. If you would like to make a complaint, we encourage you to contact us in the first instance by email to [email protected]. If you are unsatisfied with the outcome of our internal process, you can contact the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme Inc, which is an independent approved dispute resolution scheme that can help sort out unresolved complaints. This service is free of charge. in the case of the Fee Schedule, our costs of business. These Terms and Conditions are governed by, and are to be construed in accordance with, New Zealand law. All Users and Approved Users irrevocably submit to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of New Zealand. This clause operates subject to clause 18.2 (Arbitration). Dasset and you unconditionally and irrevocably agree that any dispute or disagreement arising out of or in connection with these Terms and Conditions and the provision of the Services will be settled by arbitration by a sole arbitrator in accordance with the New Zealand Arbitration Act 1996 and its amendments and the AMINZ Arbitration Rules current at the time arbitration is commenced. The place of arbitration will be Auckland and the law applicable to the arbitral proceedings and the matters in dispute will be New Zealand law. Dasset is not your agent, associate, or representative for any purpose. You consent to receive electronically all communications, agreements, documents, and disclosures (together, Communications) that we may or must provide in connection with your User Account, your Wallets, the Services or the Site. We will provide all Communications to you at the primary email address linked to your User Account. If we send an email to you at the primary email address linked to your User Account, you acknowledge that this constitutes ‘written notice’ from us to you. If you email us at [email protected], this constitutes ‘written notice’ from you to us. For all notices made by email, the date of receipt is considered to be the date of transmission. You consent to these electronic communications for all purposes. If any email to you is returned as undeliverable, we may block access to your User Account and Dasset Wallets until you provide and confirm a new email address. Please notify us immediately of any change to your email address. You may withdraw your consent to receive Communications electronically by emailing us at [email protected]. However, please note that if you withdraw your consent, Dasset reserves the right to immediately close your User Account. In that case we will refund any Legal Tender credited to your Legal Tender Account to the bank account linked to your User Account, and we will await your written instructions as to how to return your Digital Currency held in your Dasset Currency Account to you. If you would like to contact us for any reason, please do so by email to [email protected]. All logos, content, materials, software, graphics, text and trademarks on the Site are owned by and property of Dasset. You are not authorised to copy, licence, sell, distribute or create derivative works from any of that intellectual property. If Dasset does not enforce, or delays in enforcing, any compliance by you or another person with these Terms and Conditions, it does not mean that we have waived our rights and will not excuse any additional non-compliance with these Terms and Conditions. If any term of these Terms and Conditions is invalid or unenforceable under applicable law, the remaining terms will continue in full force and effect. Approved User This term is defined in clause 2.1. This term excludes any person whose User Account has been terminated, cancelled, suspended or closed. Buy Order This term is defined in clause 7.2. Buy Transaction This term is defined in clause 7.1. Communications This term is defined in clause 16. Counterparty This term is defined in clause 4.5. Dasset or us or we "Digital Asset Exchange Limited, a New Zealand incorporated limited liability company, trading as 'Dasset' with its registered office located at 101 Pakenham Street, Auckland Central, Auckland, New Zealand. Dasset is also a member of the Insurance & Financial Services Ombudsman Scheme Inc. http://www.ifso.nz. Dasset is not authorised or licensed by any New Zealand government entity or regulator. For the avoidance of doubt, Dasset is not required to be authorised or licensed to provide the Services in accordance with these Terms and Conditions." Dasset Custodial Bank Account The Dasset Custodial Bank Account is described in clause 3.5. It is the bank account in which Legal Tender contributed by Approved Users is held on trust for the benefit of those Approved Users. Each Approved User's entitlement is to the proportion of that balance which represents the face value of the Legal Tender that he or she has transferred to that account, less relevant deductions (e.g. for fees). Dasset Exchange The Dasset Exchange is the technology platform operated by Dasset which underlies the exchange Services. It is accessible at www.dassetx.com. Dasset Ledger This term is defined in clause 5. Dasset Wallets This means an Approved User's Legal Tender Account and Digital Currency Wallet. other cryptocurrencies (which are otherwise known as virtual currencies). These assets are based on the cryptographic protocol of a computer network that may be centralised or decentralised, closed or open-sourced, and as a medium of exchange and/or store of value. " Fee Schedule Our Fee Schedule forms part of the Terms and Conditions. Click here to access the latest version. Filled Order This is a Buy Order or a Sell Order which has been filled. Legal Tender The term Legal Tender means any national fiat currency which has the status of legal tender, such as New Zealand dollars, that may be used by an Approved User to buy or sell Digital Currencies using the Services. For clarity, it does not include any Digital Currency. Legal Tender Account This term is defined in clause 3. Your Legal Tender Account is not a bank account. Instead, it is a digital account which represents the share of your beneficial interest in the credit funds standing to the credit of the Dasset Custodial Bank Account. Limit Order When you place a Limit Order on the Dasset Exchange dashboard, you decide what Market Price you are willing to pay (for a Buy Order) or receive (for a Sell Order). Your order will be added to the Order Book and will be displayed for someone to accept it. Limited Orders will remain valid until they are filled or cancelled. Market Price The Market Price of a Digital Currency, at any time, is the price displayed as the 'Market Price' on the Dasset Exchange dashboard at that time. Open Order This is a Buy Order or a Sell Order which has not yet been filled. Order This means an order for Digital Currency and includes a Buy Order or a Sell Order. Order Book The Order Book is a list of all open Buy Orders and open Sell Orders. This is displayed on the Dasset Exchange dashboard. Privacy Act The New Zealand Privacy Act 1993, as it may be amended, or varied from time to time. References to the Privacy Act include regulations to any codes or regulations under it or relating to it from time to time. Private Key "A private key is a numerical code (an integer between one and about 1077). Private keys are used to verify transactions on the networks underlying Digital Currencies. It can exist in a shorter 'wallet import format' (WIF). It is important to keep your private key details safe and secure. Extreme caution must be taken whenever selecting, storing or transmitting private keys. If another person learns your private key, they can steal your funds. Also, if you forget or lose your private key or password details, Dasset cannot provide a back-up and this can result in the loss of your Digital Currencies. We strongly recommend you use secure cold storage. Also note that careless selection of a private key can lead to theft just as easily as its accidental release, so choose your private key wisely." Prohibited Use This term is defined in clause 11. Sell Order This term is defined in clause 8.2. Sell Transaction This term is defined in clause 8. Services The term Services means any service offered by Dasset, whether or not through our Site. The Services include the provision of a User Account, a Legal Tender Account, a Digital Currency Wallet, and buying services, selling services, trading services, and other services that we provide from time to time. Site The term Site means our websites, www.dasset.co.nz and www.dassetx.com, and all linked websites, application programming interfaces (APIs) and mobile applications or similar platforms or portals operated by Dasset from time to time. Stop Order When you place a Stop Order on the Dasset Exchange dashboard, you set an entry / exit price point. Once the Market Price for the relevant Digital Currency meets or exceeds the entry / exit point you have selected, your Stop Order becomes an Open Order. Suspension Event This term is defined in clause 10. Terms and Conditions Our Terms and Conditions, as updated from time to time, legally bind each User and Approved User. The current Terms and Conditions are set out in full here and are deemed to incorporate the Fee Schedule which is available here. Transactions The term Transaction means any transaction undertaken using the Services or otherwise through the Site. It includes a Buy Transaction, a Sell Transaction, and an Exchange Transaction. Users A User is any person who visits our Site or who uses any of our Services. You The term you means each Approved User and, where the context permits or requires, each User.

2019-04-19T10:27:48Z

https://dassetx.com/terms.html

Switzerland does not have a CFC regime. However, according to the case law of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, companies with statutory seats located abroad, but who have little or no local substance and are effectively managed in Switzerland may be subject to Swiss income tax. For finance companies, the maximum debt allowed is 6/7 of their total assets. In addition, the FTA publishes annually safe harbour interest rates for loans granted to related parties. Interest paid on debt exceeding the maximum debt allowed and interest rates exceeding the safe harbour interest rates are requalified as a hidden dividend if paid to a shareholder or a related party. Consequently, such interest is not a deductible expense for federal and cantonal income tax purposes and is subject to withholding tax at a rate of 35% (which may be reduced under a relevant tax treaty). However, the rules set out above are merely safe harbour rules and allow the taxpayer to prove that different arm’s length debt-to-equity ratio and interest rates apply. Swiss codified tax law contains very few rules relating to transfer pricing questions. As a general rule, Swiss law states that (i) expenses of a company must be commercially justified and (ii) profits not shown in the profit and loss statement of a company must still be included in its taxable profit. Based on these general rules, Swiss tax authorities can correct intra-group transactions that are not at arm’s length. In determining whether an intra-group transaction is at arm’s length or not, the Swiss administrative practice generally follows the OECD transfer pricing guidelines. As previously mentioned, the FTA publishes yearly rules regarding safe harbour interest rates for loans and advances between related parties, in various currencies. This publication provides for maximum rates regarding loans from the shareholders or related parties to the company, and minimum rates regarding loans from the company to shareholders or related parties. It is possible to obtain an advance pricing agreement (‘APA’) with the Swiss tax authorities. In general, the cantonal tax authorities are competent for granting unilateral APAs, whereas bi- or multilateral APAs, as well as unilateral APAs regarding Swiss withholding tax, are negotiated with the involvement of the FTA. The US has comprehensive CFC rules, which have been further expanded by TCJA to include a global minimum tax of 10.5% on most CFC profits of a US corporate shareholder. Under longstanding CFC rules, a controlling US shareholder of a CFC is subject to current US taxation on any so-called Subpart F income of the CFC. Subpart F income is intended to capture what Congress perceived to be “tax haven” income, and thus includes certain interest, dividends, rents, royalties and gains, as well as certain income from sale of property and provision of services involving related parties. An exception to subpart F income is provided for income subject to a local country tax of at least 90% of US the corporate rate (now 18.9% = 90% * 21%). In addition, the TCJA introduced a new category of income captured by the CFC regime – so-called “Global Intangible Low-Taxed Income” (GILTI). GILTI consists of all income of the shareholders’ CFCs that is not subpart F income (or eligible for certain limited exceptions), to the extent that such income exceeds a 10% return on the CFC’s investment in tangible assets used in its trade or business (measured by tax basis). GILTI is fully included in taxable income of the US shareholder on a current basis in each year, with a 50% deduction provided for US corporate shareholders that results in an effective US tax rate of 10.5%. Foreign tax credits are allowed against US tax on both subpart F income and GILTI. The TCJA also added the US’s first comprehensive thin capitalization test through amended Code Section 163(j). As amended Section 163(j) limits interest deductions of corporations and other businesses to 30% of adjusted taxable income. New Code Section 163(j) applies to all debt, whether third party or intercompany, whether the lender is US or foreign, and regardless of the US corporation’s debt-equity ratio. “Adjusted taxable income” is defined generally as US taxable income without regard to interest expense, loss carryforwards, and for taxable years beginning before January 1, 2022, depreciation or amortization (i.e., EBITDA). After 2022, deductions for depreciation or amortization are no longer added back, so that interest expense is limited to 30% of EBIT. Interest expense deductions that are disallowed carry forward indefinitely. As noted above, Code Section 482 and the regulations thereunder provide a comprehensive set of transfer pricing rules. In addition, strict liability penalties apply to transfer pricing adjustments in excess of certain thresholds, unless the taxpayers has maintained contemporaneous documentation with the filing of the original tax return in a form specified by the transfer pricing regulations. Advanced Pricing Agreements (APAs) are available from the IRS on a prospective basis. In the case of transactions between the US Company and an affiliate in a treaty country, bi-lateral and multi-lateral APAs are also available involving the IRS and the other competent authorities. The FTC provides for a CFC rule that constitutes an exception to the territoriality principle: only profits derived from activities carried out in France are taxable in France. According to this rule, profits realised by an entity, which is, directly or indirectly, more than 50%, owned by a French company and which is located in a privileged tax regime country, are deemed to be received by the French company in due proportion of the shares owned and therefore, are to be taxed in France. An entity is considered to be located in a privileged tax regime country if the effective corporate tax rate applied in this country is at least 50% lower than France’s. the amount of interest paid to related parties exceeds the amount of interest received from related parties. The portion of interest paid which exceeds the highest of the three set criteria is not deductible. These rules can be extended to interest borne with respect to a bank loan when certain guarantees have been granted by affiliated companies to the lender. Anti-hybrid stipulation, which forbids the deduction of interests, if the creditor is not taxable, at least at 8.33% (i.e. 25% of the French CIT) on the financial proceeds. The FTA applies the arm’s length principle: prices applied to transactions between related parties must be similar to prices that would have been agreed upon for transactions between independent companies. If not, the FTA may presume an indirect transfer of profits from the French company to its foreign affiliate and reassess its taxable income accordingly, that is to the extent of the amount deemed to have been unduly shifted. The burden of proof regarding an indirect transfer of profits lies with the tax authorities. The rules aiming at limiting the deductibility of the interest should be deeply amended by the 2019 Finance Bill in order to transpose the Anti Avoidance Directive ('ATAD') into the French interest limitation regime. The Finance bill should limit the deduction of net financial charges (including debts subscribed with a Bank or a third party) to either 30 % of the entity's EBITDA or 3 million euros (if higher) with a calculation made at the group level. The "rabot" would be removed and the thin-capitalization rules would be deeply amended. The FTC provides for the possibility of a bilateral advance pricing agreement between multinational companies and the tax authorities which would aim at fixing the transfer pricing method to be used in cross-border transactions. The State Aid action has not dramatically changed the situation, but just increased the already thorough examination of the APA requests. Interest paid to related parties located in a tax haven or privileged tax regime jurisdictions is deductible provided that the expenses are necessary and the debt with such related party does not exceed 30% of the Brazilian company’s equity. Additionally, Brazil does also provide for CFC rules, which in general, impose taxation on undistributed profits from foreign controlled and affiliated companies. Accordingly, profits from foreign controlled companies should be considered deemed distributed to the Brazilian controlling company by December 31 of each calendar year. On the other hand, provided that some conditions are met, profits derived from foreign affiliates not located in tax haven or privileged tax regimes jurisdictions are only subject to taxation in Brazil when they are effectively distributed. Moreover, Brazilian transfer pricing rules were enacted by Law 9,430/96 and its subsequent amendments. Such rules introduced transfer pricing controls, in order to avoid undervaluation of export prices, or overvaluation of import prices, for purposes of calculating corporate income taxes (Income tax – “IRPJ” - and Social Contribution on Profits Tax – “CSLL”). Transfer pricing rules are applicable to any import or export of goods, services and rights, performed between a Brazilian company and a related party abroad, or a party located in a tax haven or privileged tax jurisdiction. There are five methods to calculate import transfer price, as well as there are four methods to calculate export transfer price. For import transactions, if the actual import price is higher than the calculated transfer price, the taxpayer cannot deduct the difference for purposes of IRPJ and CSLL. For export transactions, if the actual price is lower than the applicable transfer price, the difference shall be computed for IRPJ and CSLL purposes. It is worth mentioning that the Brazilian transfer pricing rules differ from the OECD Guidelines related to the referred subject. Accordingly, Brazilian rules adopt fixed margins to calculate the transfer price, instead of the arm’s length principles. Finally, please note that the transfer pricing rules do also apply to loan transactions between foreign related parties. (iii) the income of the controlled foreign corporation is low-taxed, which means that the tax levied is below 25%. However, the German CFC rules provide for an exemption for corporations which have their statutory seat or their place of effective management within the EU or EEA. Such corporations may prove that their business has economic substance, they exercises genuine commercial activities and adhere to the arm’s-length-principle. In that case, the EU/EEA corporations will not be deemed to constitute a controlled foreign corporation under the German CFC rules. Germany operates a thin-capitalization regime, the so-called interest barrier rule. Generally, the interest barrier rule is applicable if the annual net interest expenses amounts to or exceeds EUR 3 Million. Under the interest barrier rule, the tax deductibility of interest expense on any debt of a company is restricted to the amount of the interest income plus 30% of the company’s EBITDA for tax purposes. The taxable EBITDA differs from the financial EBITDA because it is based on the taxable income of the company only. Therefore, any tax free income is not part of the taxable EBITDA. There are various exceptions and counter-exceptions to the interest barrier rule, e.g. for non-group companies. There is currently a proceeding pending before the Federal Constitutional Court whether or not the interest barrier rule is in line with German constitutional law. Germany operates a transfer pricing regime. As a matter of principle, transfer prices and any transaction between related parties have to be in line with the arm’s-length principle. There are several statutory rules to determine the transfer prices for products, services or the transfer of functions. According to these rules, the prevailing methods for determining transfer prices are the cost plus method, the comparable unrelated price method and the reselling method. In principle, the full range of the values calculated by the different methods can be applied. Germany has strict rules with respect to the documentation of transfer prices. Violations of the documentation rules may lead to adverse consequences as the tax authorities are authorized to adjust transfer prices. Furthermore, there are penalties in case certain transfer pricing documentation requirements are not met. (iii) a country-by-country reporting (if group consolidated revenues of at least EUR 750 Million). Unilateral as well as multilateral advance pricing agreements are available in Germany. Ireland does not have a thin capitalization regime. Ireland has had transfer pricing rules since 2010. The transfer pricing rules must be interpreted in a manner consistent with the OECD transfer pricing guidelines. Somewhat unusually the Irish transfer pricing rules only apply to “trading” transactions that benefit from the 12.5% corporation tax rate. Ireland has a formal advance pricing agreement (“APA”) program. Only bilateral or multilateral APAs are possible. It is not possible to agree a unilateral APA with Irish Revenue. The Mexican Income Tax Law provides several General Anti-Avoidance Rules, including thin cap rules, transfer pricing policies and CFC, to name a few. The Mexican Income Tax Law establishes that income obtained by Mexican residents or foreign residents with a Mexican permanent establishment through foreign entities or vehicles in which they participate, directly or indirectly, is considered to be derived from a preferential tax regime or “Refipre” and must therefore be taxed according to the Refipre rules, if such income is (i) not subject to tax abroad or is subject to tax at a rate lower than 75% of the income tax that would have been due and payable in Mexico on such income, if it had been obtained directly by a Mexican resident, or (ii) earned through foreign legal vehicles or entities that are tax transparent abroad. For such purposes, the Refipre rules take into account income obtained in cash, in kind, in services or in credit through foreign legal entities or vehicles and those which are presumptively determined by the Mexican tax authorities, even when such income has not been distributed to Mexican residents. In general, Mexican residents who obtain income from a Refipre must recognize it as taxable in Mexico during the year in which the income was derived, even if such income is not distributed to them by the foreign legal entity or vehicle that received it. The Mexican Income Tax Law provides, as a general rule, that interest expenses incurred by Mexican entities are deductible on an accrual basis, subject to certain limitations amongst of which is that if interest expenses are paid to a non-resident related party, a 3 to 1 debt to equity ratio must be met; otherwise, any portion of the interest payments to foreign based related parties exceeding such ratio shall be non-deductible. This rule does allow for exceptions when it comes to debt contracted by taxpayers that are part of the Mexican financial system or that are engaged in the construction, operation or maintenance of productive infrastructure linked to the development of strategic sectors or electricity generation. Transactions between related parties should comply with the arms’ length principle and be properly supported from a Mexican transfer pricing perspective (i.e., by a transfer pricing report), following the essential principles established under the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines. Under current legislation, it is in fact possible for companies to obtain APAs with the tax authorities. These rulings may be effective in the fiscal year during which the relevant request was made, in the preceding fiscal year and up to the three fiscal years following the year in which the request was made. The Norwegian CFC regime (No.: NOKUS) is applicable to Norwegian shareholders (i.e. shareholders, corporate or individual, resident in Norway for tax purposes) that directly or indirectly own at least 50 per cent of the shares or capital of a foreign company which is resident in a low-tax jurisdiction. For the purposes of these rules a jurisdiction is considered to be a low-tax jurisdiction if the effective taxation of the company is less than two thirds of what would be the effective taxation had the company been resident in Norway. It is not the headline tax rate but the effective tax rate which is relevant. The profits of the foreign company are attributed proportionally to the Norwegian shareholders irrespective of whether any distributions are actually made. A binding black list and a non-binding white list of jurisdictions with sufficient/insufficient taxation levels are issued by the Norwegian tax administration annually. The CFC rules are not applicable to companies resident within the the European Economic Area (EEA), provided the company is genuinely established and actually performs economic activities. The analysis must be based on an overall assessment, and the Norwegian shareholder must provide evidence to the tax authorities that the substance requirement is met. In addition, if the company is not resident in a country with which Norway has entered into a tax treaty, which contains an information exchange clause, the company must present a statement from the tax authorities in its country of incorporation which confirms that the information provided is correct. Further, the CFC rules are not applicable in situations where the company is resident in a country with which Norway has entered into a tax treaty for the avoidance of double taxation, and the company's income is not mainly of a passive nature. Norwegian tax law contains no specific statutory or regulatory prescriptions on thin capitalisation but refers to the arm's length principle. All interest paid is, as a main rule, deductible. The tax authorities may contest the deductibility of interest paid to a parent company if the paying company is thinly capitalised. There is no general rule or safe harbour rule prescribing when the company is thinly capitalised or not. The assessment must be based on a number of factors such as the business sector of the company, the EBITDA of the company, and the debt-to-equity ratio of the company. The interest deduction limitation rules state that interest expenses exceeding interest income (i.e. net interest expense) could be fully deducted if the total amount of net interest expense does not exceed NOK 5 mill. during the fiscal year, or if the interest is paid to a non-related party. Otherwise, net interest expense paid to a related party is deductible to the extent that internal and external interest expense combined does not exceed 25 per cent of the taxable EBITDA of the company. Parties are considered related in cases where one party has ownership or controls 50 per cent or more of the other party. External loans guaranteed by a related party of the borrower (tainted debt) are also covered under the rule. The interest deduction limitation rule applies to limited liability companies, and other similar companies and entities. It also applies to partnerships, shareholders in CFCs and foreign companies with permanent establishments in Norway. Financial institutions are exempt from the interest deduction rule. The Norwegian Ministry of Finance has proposed to extend the interest deduction limitation rules to include external debt, and a consultation procedure on the proposal was completed in 2017. The proposal was expected to be followed up in the national budget for 2018. However, the ministry has announced it still worked on the proposed amendments. The rules are expected to be introduced with effect for the income year of 2019. Transfer pricing documentation rules impose an obligation for companies to prepare specific transfer pricing documentation as an attachment to their tax returns. Reporting requirements and transfer pricing documentation rules apply to companies that own or control, directly or indirectly, at least 50 % of another legal entity. A Norwegian permanent establishment with its head office in a foreign country, and a foreign permanent establishment with its head office in Norway, are covered by the rules. Furthermore, partnerships where one or more of the partners are taxable in Norway are also covered by the rules. The taxpayer must generally be prepared to file transfer pricing documentation (type and volume of the transactions, functional analysis, comparable analysis, and a report of the transfer pricing method used) within 45 days of a written notice from the tax authorities. Norwegian tax authorities do not have a formal procedure to issue unilateral APAs. It is, however, possible to discuss the transfer pricing principles with the tax authorities. The Ministry of Finance has announced that they are considering introducing APA regulations, but they have not yet done so. In the case of sales of gas between related parties, a special APA procedure exists within the oil tax authorities, but so far this has not been used much in practice. Recently, Norway has opened up for mutual APA negotiations with other countries, but only a handful of pilot cases have so far been dealt with under such MAP/APA approach. Controlled foreign corporation (CFC) rules may apply to Italian resident persons controlling non-resident companies, partnerships or other entities established in jurisdictions (other than EU Member States and EEA Member States) where the nominal tax rate is lower than 50 per cent of the Italian nominal tax rate. They may apply also in respect of companies, partnerships or other entities established outside the above jurisdictions if (i) the CFC is subject to a foreign effective tax rate lower than 50 per cent of the effective tax rate that would have applied if the CFC were resident of Italy, and (ii) the CFC realizes profits that qualify as passive income or profits from intra-group services for more than 50 per cent. Italy repealed its thin cap regime as from tax year 2008. Italy applies an interest limitation regime whereby, in each tax year, companies can deduct interest expenses up to the amount of their interest income. The excess can be deducted for an amount equal to 30% of EBITDA of the relevant year. The excess 30% EBITDA as well as the interest expenses non-deductible in a given tax year can be carried forward and used or deducted in following tax years. Italy applies transfer pricing legislation largely consistent with the OECD arm’s length standard. The legislation has been recently endorsed in order to reflect the latest changes to the OECD Transfer Pricing Guidelines and the tax authorities usually make reference to such Guidelines. As above indicated (see answer to question 1 above), a taxpayer may apply for a unilateral advance pricing agreement. If the other country involved in the cross border transactions signed a double tax treaty with Italy, the taxpayer can apply for a bilateral advance pricing agreement. the annual total gross revenue of the foreign company in the related period in foreign currency exceeds the equivalent of TRY 100,000. If these conditions are fulfilled, the profits of the CFC will be included in the corporate tax base of the controlling resident company, and it will be subject to taxation in Turkey without consideration of whether or not the profits are distributed. The thin capitalization issue is covered in Article 12 of the CITL. According to this article, if the borrowings from shareholders or from persons related to shareholders exceeds three times the shareholders equity of the borrower company at any time within the relevant year, the excess portion of the borrowing will be considered to be thin capital. “Related parties” is defined as shareholders and persons who are related to the shareholders that own 10% or more of the shares, voting rights or rights to receive dividends of the company. The shareholders equity of the borrower company is defined as the total amount of the shareholders equity of the corporation at the beginning of the fiscal year, or the difference between the assets and liabilities of the company. If the company has negative shareholders equity at the beginning of the year, then any borrowings from related parties will be considered to be thin capital. If thin capitalization exists, the interest paid or accrued, foreign exchange losses and other similar expenses calculated for the loans that are considered to be thin capital are treated as non-deductible for CIT purposes. Moreover, the interest paid or accrued and similar payments on thin capital will be treated at the end of the relevant fiscal year as dividends and will be subject to withholding tax. Specific transfer pricing rules are valid in Turkey as of 1 January 2007 under Article 13 of the CITL, entitled “Disguised Profit Distribution through Transfer Pricing”. The regulations in Article 13 follow the arm’s-length principle established by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Transfer Pricing Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and Tax Administrations (OECD Guidelines), and are applicable to all financial, economic and commercial transactions and employment relations between related parties. Details on the application of Article 13 are provided in a communiqué regarding disguised profit distribution through transfer pricing. Turkish transfer pricing (TP) legislation is part of the CITL. The arm’s-length principle, which is defined in line with OECD Guidelines and Article 9 of the OECD Model Tax Convention, is described in Article 13 of the CITL, along with a detailed definition of related parties and the introduction of methods to be applied to determine arm’s-length prices. According to the CITL, related parties must set transfer prices for the purchase and sale of goods and services equal to those they would have agreed to had they been unrelated parties. A comprehensive definition of what constitutes a related party is found in Article 13 of the CITL. The definition of related party in Turkish transfer pricing regulations is very broad, and it includes direct and indirect involvement in management or control, in addition to the existence of a shareholder/ownership relationship. In addition to transactions with foreign group companies, the scope of the law also includes transactions with entities that are based in tax havens or jurisdictions those are considered harmful tax regimes by the Turkish government. Principles of transfer pricing documentation are covered in a TP communiqué. The communiqué introduced two different types of documentation liability for taxpayers. Accordingly, taxpayers need to fill out the form in the appendix of the corporate income tax return with information on the goods and services purchased and sales transactions they perform with their related parties in each accounting period. Furthermore, taxpayers registered with the Directorate of Major Taxpayers Tax Office are obliged to prepare an annual transfer pricing report including the information and documents stipulated by the communiqué and in the format defined in the same communiqué. These reports are completed to reflect the domestic and overseas transactions carried out with related parties in each accounting period and overseas transactions carried out in a given accounting period with other corporate income tax payers and their related parties. They need to be completed by the submission date of the corporate income tax return and to be submitted upon demand to the authority or officials authorized to carry out tax inspections after the end of these given periods. The legislation requires documentation as part of the transfer pricing rules describing how Turkish taxpayers should keep documented evidence within the company in case of a request from the tax authorities. The documentation must show how the arm’s length price was determined and the methodology selected and applied using any fiscal records, calculations and charts available to the taxpayer. An advance pricing agreement is a method used to determine the prices for purchases or sales of goods or services between related parties, and may be agreed upon with the Ministry of Finance upon a taxpayer request. This approved method will be fixed for a maximum period of three years within the terms and conditions of the agreement. If the administration finds the agreement interests more than one country, and if there are already APAs with another/other country/countries, the administration may consider a bilateral or multilateral agreement. In practice, the APA process changes according to the complexity and type (unilateral, bilateral or multilateral) of agreement, and the process cannot be completed in fewer than 18 to 24 months, on average. A) As for the CFC rule, Japanese tax law has “anti-tax haven” rules, or a Japanese version of the CFC rules. These rules have been overhauled by the 2017 annual tax reform in response to the BEPS Action Plan 3, and applies to Japanese shareholders from the fiscal years of the CFC beginning on or after April 1, 2018. If the Japanese CFC rules apply, the Japanese corporation that is a shareholder of the CFC will be taxed upon its pro rata share of certain adjusted income of the CFC (to be calculated based on the CFC’s total income and gains) . In general, Japanese CFC rules apply if (i) Japanese resident individuals and Japanese corporations collectively own directly or indirectly more than 50% of the total issued shares, voting rights or rights to receive dividends of a foreign corporation; (ii) a particular Japanese resident individual or a Japanese corporation (which is the subject taxpayer) owns directly or indirectly 10% or more of the total issued shares, voting rights or rights to receive dividends of that foreign corporation; and (iii) the effective income tax burden (rather than the face or nominal tax rate) of that foreign corporation in a given fiscal year is less than (i) 30% for certain shell-company CFCs and cash-box-company CFCs or (ii) 20% for all other CFCs. Typical examples include Cayman Islands, Hong Kong and Singapore subsidiaries of a Japanese corporation. It should be noted that tax-exempt income and gains in the foreign jurisdiction will lower the effective income tax burden; for example, if a Dutch subsidiary of a Japanese corporation is exempt from substantial amount of capital gains by the Dutch participation exemption, the effective income tax burden in that fiscal year could be less than 20%, despite the Dutch statutory corporate tax rate of 25%. That will make the Dutch subsidiary a CFC for that fiscal year. However, exemption of dividends received by the Dutch subsidiary from foreign companies by the participation exemption will not lower the effective income tax burden (this treatment is only limited to dividends). Even if the Japanese CFC rules apply because all the conditions explained above are met, there is an active business income exemption. That is, if the CFC meets all of the following criteria, the Japanese CFC rules apply only to the extent of the CFC’s certain enumerated passive income (rather than the CFC’s total income including active income): (i) the principal business of the CFC is other than financial investments in shares, bonds or IPs or leasing of vessels, (ii) the CFC is managed and administered on its own within the jurisdiction of its incorporation, rather than from Japan, (iii) the CFC maintains physical fixed premises such as offices and factories within the jurisdiction of its incorporation that is necessary to do its business, and (iv) depending on the type of business, the CFC does business principally within the jurisdiction of its incorporation (e.g., manufacturing) or deals with unrelated third parties to account for 50% or more of the total business transactions (e.g., distribution, transportation). If all these elements are met, the CFC’s income to be aggregated with the Japanese shareholder’s income will be limited to passive income, such as (a) dividends and capital gains from shares (but excluding those where the shareholding ratio is 25% or more for at least 6 months), (b) interest on deposits, bonds and loans (excluding interest from certain qualifying group-financing), (c) income from derivatives (excluding certain qualifying hedges), (d) foreign exchange gains (excluding those arising in the ordinary course of business), (e) royalties and disposition gains from IPs (excluding those where the IP is developed on its own) and (f) leasing income from real properties and fixed properties (excluding real properties located and fixed properties used in the jurisdiction of incorporation of the CFC). The active business income exemption has been expanded to a certain qualifying regional headquarters or intermediate holding company; that is, if a foreign subsidiary incorporated in the Asian-hub low-tax countries such as Singapore and Hong Kong operates as an Asian regional headquarters or as an intermediate holding company for the Japanese parent corporation, subject to certain requirements being met, the CFC will not be disqualified from meeting the condition (i) above (i.e., the principal business of the CFC is other than financial investments in shares), merely because it is a holding company. If the debt giving rise to the interest is owed to a foreign corporation, which is a controlling shareholder (owning directly or indirectly 50% or more of the total shares) of the Japanese corporation, the ‘thin capitalization’ rules apply, and, generally speaking, interest payable upon the portion of the debt exceeding three times the shareholders’ equity of the Japanese corporation will be nondeductible. The ‘thin capitalization’ rules apply not only in the case of direct financing by the controlling shareholder, but also in other similar cases, such as financing by third parties with a guarantee provided by the controlling shareholder. Transfer pricing rules also apply to interest payable to affiliated foreign corporations of the Japanese corporation in order to require that the interest rate be arm’s length (i.e., the portion of the interest exceeding the arm’s-length rate will be denied deduction). One Japanese court precedent indicates that the arm’s-length interest rate generally refers to the rate available in the market for substantially similar finance transactions. Further, as a result of the 2012 annual tax reform, a Japanese version of the ‘earnings stripping’ rules has been introduced, and applies from fiscal years beginning on or after April 1, 2013. There, if the ‘net’ amount of the interest paid to certain foreign related parties of the Japanese corporation in a fiscal year exceeds 50% of certain ‘adjusted income’ (substantially equal to EBITDA, i.e., taxable income before that interest deduction, depreciation, etc.) of that Japanese corporation in that fiscal year (i.e., interest paid to foreign affiliates is excessive as compared to the taxable income), the excess portion of the interest will not be deductible in that fiscal year. The excess portion will be carried forward for seven future fiscal years, however, and will be deductible to the extent the above conditions are met in the relevant future fiscal year. There is a certain de minimis exception, as well as an exception where the gross amount of interest paid to foreign related parties does not exceed 50% of the total gross amount of interest (including interest paid to third parties). The Japanese government is now reviewing whether these earnings stripping rules should be more tightened, in response to the BEPS Action Plan 4, by lowering the threshold percentage rate from 50% to some 10-30%. It should be noted that interest deduction can be denied, even if none of the foregoing regimes is applicable, if the Japanese tax authority considers the relevant debt transaction as avoiding Japanese tax and invokes the anti-avoidance statute applicable to closely-held corporations in the corporation tax law. The Universal Music case mentioned above is an example. C) As to the transfer pricing regime, generally, the Japanese government is of the position that Japanese transfer pricing rules as well as enforcement thereof should closely follow the OECD standards. For example, Japanese transfer pricing rules repealed priority of the three basic methods (CUP, RP and CP) over other methods (PS and TNMM), and adopted the “best method” rule. In addition, it has been made clear that the concept of a “range” of arm’s length profit level can be used for Japanese transfer pricing purposes (provided that it means a “full range” predicated upon full comparability, rather than the statistical approach of interquartile range) for the purpose of issuing a transfer pricing assessment. In addition, as a matter of enforcement or transfer pricing audit, it is very common that taxpayers make defensive arguments by referring to the OECD Guidelines along with Japanese local laws and regulations, and the Japanese tax authority generally accepts such arguments as legitimate. Indeed, some tax treaties, e.g., that with the United States, expressly provide that transfer pricing enforcement shall be made in accordance with the OECD Guidelines. It is possible to obtain an advance pricing arrangement (APA) from the tax authority, and it is a very common practice. In an APA, there generally is even more flexibility as compared to transfer pricing audit; e.g., the statistical approach of interquartile range is very commonly used and accepted. However, as an APA requires substantial time, cost and burden to deal with the tax authority (e.g., for responding to information and document requests), taxpayers generally concentrate on intra-group transactions that have significant volume and a large amount of tax at stake in applying for an APA. It is not rare that an APA takes two or three years until concluded. There are no CFC rules in Gibraltar. However, under the general anti-avoidance provision in our Tax Act, the Commissioner may disregard any CFC or transaction with such CFC where the Commissioner believes that it is fictitious or artificial. Interest paid on a loan by a company to related parties (which are not themselves a company) or loans where security is provided by related parties, where the ratio of the value of the loan capital to the equity of the company exceeds 5 to 1 is considered as a dividend payment and thus not a deductible expense for tax purposes. The amount of interest payments to connected persons which is in excess of that payable at “arm’s length” is deemed to be a dividend. (iii) 75% of the pre expenses profit. The UK CFC regime is based on rules designed to prevent diversion of UK profits to low tax territories. Where UK profits are diverted to a CFC, those profits are apportioned and charged on a UK corporate interest-holder that holds at least a 25% interest in the CFC. There are a number of exemptions to reflect the fact that the majority of CFCs are established for genuine commercial reasons. The Finance Act 2004 abolished the separate thin capitalization requirements that had existed previously and subsumed them within the general transfer pricing rules in the Taxation (International and Other Provisions) Act 2010 (TIOPA 2010). The UK transfer pricing (TP) regime is contained in Parts 4 and 5 of Taxation (International and Other Provisions) Act 2010. The UK TP regime must be considered in light of the recently implemented Diverted Profits Tax (DPT) rules, which were introduced by the Finance Act 2015. There is also an advanced pricing agreement (APA) programme through which unilateral, bilateral and multilateral APAs can be obtained. The process by which such an agreement can be obtained is detailed in HMRC’s Statement of Practice 2/2010. HMRC will determine the taxpayer’s DPT position before agreeing to an APA. As a result of the Starbucks and Apple decisions, any business which has secured a favourable APA could, potentially, be at risk of having those arrangements reviewed under the State Aid rules and be faced with having to make significant payments to repay tax benefits received under APAs that, allegedly, do not comply with State Aid rules.

2019-04-23T10:12:38Z

http://www.inhouselawyer.co.uk/wgd_question/is-there-a-cfc-or-thin-cap-regime-is-there-a-transfer-pricing-regime-and-is-it-possible-to-obtain-an-advance-pricing-agreement-2/

Footprints on Rock. Sydney: Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council. 1997. ISBN 0-7313-1002-0. Frankel, David (1982). "Earth rings at Sunbury, Victoria". Archaeology in Oceania. 17 (2): 89–97. Fuller, Robert S.; Hamacher, Duane W.; Norris, Ray P. (2013). "Astronomical Orientations of Bora Ceremonial Grounds in Southeast Australia" (PDF). Australian Archaeology (77): 30–37. A dukun is an Indonesian-Malay term for shaman. In Malaysia, they are referred to as bomoh. Their societal role is that of a healer, spirit medium and tradition experts. In common usage the dukun is often confused with another type of shaman and it is often mistranslated into English as witch doctor or medicine man. The dukun is the epitome of the kejawen or kebatinan belief system indigenous to Java. Beneath the thin superficial practice of Islam, very strong and ancient beliefs of animism, ancestor worship, in the pre-colonial past, dukun were exempt from paying taxes, as with Hindu priests and Buddhist monks. Many highly prominent and highly educated Indonesians and Singaporeans, even those with Western doctorate and masters levels degrees will still consult dukun or soothsayers. Dukun are most common on the island of Java, though the island of Madura is especially feared for being very powerful practitioners of dark magic, the Dayak people of Kalimantan are feared for their use of dukun when head-hunting. In Sabah, the Kadayan community are renowned for their dukun who are said to look waif-like with red eyes, in common practice, a dukun is consulted when a person perceives they have an issue that has a supernatural or paranormal association. If a dukun is not known to the individual, their family or friends, word of mouth often creates a situation where the dukun will appear as if summoned, the dukuns knowledge is passed down orally, but the specific customs differ from one community to another. Initiates may voluntarily decide to learn the craft, or the position might be inherited. Proto-Malay dukun often serve the role of both shaman and village chief, known as a tok batin. Dukun who inherited their knowledge from their parent or grandparent is held in higher esteem than one who served as another dukuns disciple, typically the initiation ritual involves meditation at a mountain, cemetery or some other location away from people. In some communities, such as the Kadayan of Sabah, dukun are required to learn silat before they can be initiated, the purpose is both for the purpose of self-defence and for the spiritual training. The slametan is the communal feast from Java, symbolizing the social unity of those participating in it. Clifford Geertz considered it the core ritual in Javanese religion, in particular the abangan variant, the feast is common among the closely related Javanese and Madurese people. A slametan can be given to celebrate almost any occurrence, including birth, death, moving to a new house, depending on the intention, the mood and emphasis may vary somewhat, but the main structure is the same. This is what the host intends for himself and his guests, by experiencing the egalitarian structure of the slametan and the petitions of supernatural protection from spirits. In Geertzs fieldwork in Mojokuto in the 1950s, he found that costs of slametans varied from 3 to 5,000 Indonesian rupiahs, depending on the type, slametans are generally held in the evening, after evening prayer is finished. The date is determined either by the occurrence it is celebrating, the guests, always men, are always close neighbors, and the selection of guests is based entirely on proximity, and not whether they are friends or relatives. They are called by a messenger of the host only five or ten minutes before the slametan is to begin, when they arrive, the guests sit on floor mats around the food which has been placed in the center, while incense fills the room. The ceremony begins with a speech in high Javanese. During pauses in the speech, the audience responds with solemn inggih, following the speech, somebody present gives an Arabic chant-prayer. Many will not know how, but the host makes sure that there had attended a religious school. Fragments of the Koran, especially the al-Fatiha, are most commonly used, at pauses the audience says amen. The prayer leader receives a small payment, at last, the food is served. While the ceremony is strictly for men, the food preparation falls upon the women in the family, each guest receives a cup of tea and a banana-leaf dish containing each sort of food in the center of the room. The food is fancier than average, and each variety has a symbolic meaning, the host himself does not eat, nor does he serve the food, which one or two of the guests does. A rite of passage is a celebration of the passage which occurs when an individual leaves one group to enter another. It involves a significant change of status in society, in cultural anthropology the term is the Anglicisation of rite de passage, a French term innovated by the ethnographer Arnold van Gennep in his work Les rites de passage, The Rites of Passage. The term is now fully adopted into anthropology as well as into the literature, in English, Van Genneps first sentence of his first chapter begins, Each larger society contains within it several distinctly separate groupings. In addition, all these groups break down into still smaller societies in subgroups, the population of a society belongs to multiple groups, some more important to the individual than others. Van Gennep uses the metaphor, as a kind of house divided into rooms, a passage occurs when an individual leaves one group to enter another, in the metaphor, he changes rooms. Van Gennep further distinguishes between the secular and the sacred sphere, many groups in modern industrial society practice customs that can be traced to an earlier sacred phase. Passage between these requires an ceremony, or ritual hence rite of passage. He is able to find some universals, mainly two, the separation between men and women, and the magico-religious separation between the profane and the sacred. He refuses credit for being the first to recognize type of rites, in the work he concentrates on groups and rites individuals might normally encounter progressively, childbirth, betrothal, marriage and the like. He mentions some others, such as the passage, a crossing of borders into a culturally different region. Rites of passage have three phases, separation and incorporation, as van Gennep described, in the first phase, people withdraw from their current status and prepare to move from one place or status to another. The first phase comprises symbolic behavior signifying the detachment of the individual or group, from an earlier fixed point in the social structure. There is often a detachment or cutting away from the self in this phase. For example, the cutting of the hair for a person who has just joined the army and he or she is cutting away the former self, the civilian. Robert Ranulph Marett was a British ethnologist. He was an exponent of what is called the Evolutionary School or more precisely the British Evolutionary School of Cultural anthropology. Marett focused primarily on the anthropology of religion, asserting with Tylor the evolutionary origin of religions he modified Tylors animistic theory to include the concept of mana. His anthropological teaching and writing career at Oxford University spanned the earlier 20th century prior to the Second World War and he trained many notable anthropologists. He was a colleague of John Myres and through him connected to the world of Aegean archaeology. Marett was the son of Sir Robert Pipon Marett and Bailiff of Jersey. He was born in Saint Brélade and he belonged to a family, originally named Maret, that settled on Jersey from Normandy in the 13th century. The Saint Brélade branch came finally to build a house for themselves. They were substantial in wealth and position, contributing high-level magistrates to the government of Jersey, roberts father had been Bailiff of Jersey. He was one of the founders of La Patrie, a patriotic newspaper, Philip Maret, 3rd son of the 2nd Seigneur of La Haule, born in 1701, had emigrated to Boston, where he became a merchant captain. His subsequent family participated in the American Revolution and the War of 1812, roberts mother, Julia Anne, bore the name of Marett before marriage. She was one of the eight children of the Janvrin sisters, Esther Elizabeth and Maria Eliza, by one Philip Marett, Philip was a name often used by the Maretts. Thus Julia Anne was only a distant cousin of her husband, the house, came into Robert Ranulphs possession through his mother. Her mother was Maria Eliza Janvrin and she and Robert Pipon had four children, Robert Ranulph, Mabel Elizabeth, Philippa Laetitia, and Julia Mary. Robert Ranulph may have been a son, but he had three sisters and a large number of cousins. He came from a large-family environment, nature in her kindness endowed him with good brains, good memory, lively imagination and abounding physical vigour. Divination is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Divination can be seen as a method with which to organize what appear to be disjointed. Fortune-telling, on the hand, is a more everyday practice for personal purposes. Particular divination methods vary by culture and religion, divination is dismissed by the scientific community and skeptics as being superstition. Psychologist Julian Jaynes categorized divination into the four types, Omens. Chinese history offers scrupulously documented occurrences of births, the tracking of natural phenomena. Chinese governmental planning relied on this method of forecasting for long-range strategies and it is not unreasonable to assume that modern scientific inquiry began with this kind of divination, Joseph Needhams work considered this very idea. This consists of the casting of lots, or sortes, whether with sticks, bones, coins, modern playing cards and board games developed from this type of divination. This ranks a set of given possibilities and it can be qualitative, for example, dowsing developed from this type of divination. The Romans, in times, used Etruscan methods of augury such as hepatoscopy. Augury is normally considered to refer to divination by studying the flight patterns of birds. An unconstrained form of divination, free from any particular medium, the answer comes from whatever object the diviner happens to see or hear. Some religions use a form of bibliomancy, they ask a question, riffle the pages of their holy book, other forms of spontaneous divination include reading auras and New Age methods of feng shui such as intuitive and fuzion. In this practice, the examines the hands of a person for whom they are divining for indications of their future. The Oracle of Amun at the Siwa Oasis was made famous when Alexander the Great visited it after delivering Egypt from Persian rule in 332 BC, deuteronomy 18, 10-12 or Leviticus 19,26 can be interpreted as categorically forbidding divination. A ceremonial pole symbolizes a variety of concepts in several different cultures. For example, in the Miao culture in Yunnan China, in The Evolution of the Idea of God, Grant Allen notes that Samoyeds of Siberia, and Damara of South Africa plant stakes at the graves of ancestors. A maypole is a wooden pole erected as a part of various European folk festivals. The festivals may occur on May Day or Pentecost, although in some countries it is erected at Midsummer. In some cases the maypole is a permanent feature that is utilised during the festival. It has been a practice in many parts of Europe throughout the Medieval and Early Modern periods. Today, the tradition is observed in some parts of Europe. Some scholars classify maypoles as symbols of the world axis and it is known that, in Norse paganism, cosmological views held that the universe was a world tree, known as Yggdrasil. There is therefore speculation that the maypole was in some way a continuance of this tradition, the floor of the Mære Church, was excavated in 1969, and found to contain the remains of a pagan cult structure. The nature of that structure was not clear, lidén felt this represented the remains of a building, but a critique by Olsen in the same work suggested this may have be been a site for pole-related rituals. A recent review of the evidence by Walaker concluded that this site was similar to the site in Hove and was likely the site of a ceremonial pole. A jangseung or village guardian is a Korean ceremonial pole, usually made of wood, jangseungs were traditionally placed at the edges of villages to mark for village boundaries and frighten away demons. They were worshipped as village tutelary deities, an Asherah pole is a sacred tree or pole that stood near Canaanite religious locations to honor the Ugaritic mother-goddess Asherah, consort of El. The relation of the references to an asherah and archaeological finds of Judaean pillar-figurines has engendered a literature of debate. The insertion of pole begs the question by setting up unwarranted expectations for such an object, we are never told exactly what it was. The word shaman probably originates from the Tungusic Evenki language of North Asia. The term was introduced to the west after Russian forces conquered the shamanistic Khanate of Kazan in 1552, Mircea Eliade writes, A first definition of this complex phenomenon, and perhaps the least hazardous, will be, shamanism = technique of religious ecstasy. Shamanism encompasses the premise that shamans are intermediaries or messengers between the world and the spirit worlds. Shamans are said to treat ailments/illness by mending the soul, alleviating traumas affecting the soul/spirit restores the physical body of the individual to balance and wholeness. The shaman enters supernatural realms or dimensions to obtain solutions to problems afflicting the community, Shamans may visit other worlds/dimensions to bring guidance to misguided souls and to ameliorate illnesses of the human soul caused by foreign elements. The shaman operates primarily within the world, which in turn affects the human world. The restoration of balance results in the elimination of the ailment, hundreds of books and academic papers on the subject have been produced, with a peer-reviewed academic journal being devoted to the study of shamanism. The word shaman probably originates from the Evenki word šamán, most likely from the dialect spoken by the Sym Evenki peoples. The Tungusic term was adopted by Russians interacting with the indigenous peoples in Siberia. It is found in the memoirs of the exiled Russian churchman Avvakum, adam Brand, a merchant from Lübeck, published in 1698 his account of a Russian embassy to China, a translation of his book, published the same year, introduced the word shaman to English speakers. The etymology of the Evenki word is sometimes connected to a Tungus root ša- to know, other scholars assert that the word comes directly from the Manchu language, and as such would be the only commonly used English word that is a loan from this language. This proposal has been thoroughly critiqued since 1917, ethnolinguist Juha Janhunen regards it as an anachronism and an impossibility that is nothing more than a far-fetched etymology. Ethnolinguists did not develop as a discipline nor achieve contact with these communities until the late 19th century, there is no single agreed-upon definition for the word shamanism among anthropologists. Joseph John Campbell was an American mythologist and lecturer, best known for his work in comparative mythology and comparative religion. His work covers many aspects of the human experience, Campbells magnum opus is his book titled The Hero with a Thousand Faces in which he discusses his theory of the journey of the archetypal hero found in world mythologies. Since publication of The Hero with a Thousand Faces, Campbells theory has been applied by a wide variety of modern writers. His philosophy has been summarized by his own often repeated phrase, Joseph Campbell was born in White Plains, New York, the son of Josephine and Charles William Campbell. He was from an upper-middle-class Irish Catholic family, during his childhood, he moved with his family to nearby New Rochelle, New York. In 1919 a fire destroyed the home in New Rochelle. In 1921 Campbell graduated from the Canterbury School in New Milford, while at Dartmouth College he studied biology and mathematics, but decided that he preferred the humanities. He transferred to Columbia University, where he received a BA in English literature in 1925, at Dartmouth he had joined Delta Tau Delta. An accomplished athlete, he received awards in track and field events, in 1924 Campbell traveled to Europe with his family. In 1927 Campbell received a fellowship from Columbia University to study in Europe, Campbell studied Old French, Provençal and Sanskrit at the University of Paris in France and the University of Munich in Germany. He learned to read and speak French and German, on his return to Columbia University in 1929, Campbell expressed a desire to pursue the study of Sanskrit and Modern Art in addition to Medieval literature. Lacking faculty approval, Campbell withdrew from graduate studies, in life he said while laughing but not in jest that it is a sign of incompetence to have a PhD in the liberal arts, the discipline covering his work. With the arrival of the Great Depression a few later, Campbell spent the next five years living in a rented shack on some land in Woodstock. A ritual is a sequence of activities involving gestures and objects, performed in a sequestered place, and performed according to set sequence. Rituals may be prescribed by the traditions of a community, including a religious community, Rituals are characterized but not defined by formalism, invariance, rule-governance, sacral symbolism, and performance. Rituals are a feature of all human societies. Even common actions like hand-shaking and saying hello may be termed rituals, the field of ritual studies has seen a number of conflicting definitions of the term. One given by Kyriakidis is that a ritual is an outsiders or etic category for a set activity that, to the outsider, seems irrational, non-contiguous, or illogical. The term can be used by the insider or emic performer as an acknowledgement that this activity can be seen as such by the uninitiated onlooker, the English word ritual derives from the Latin ritualis, that which pertains to rite. In Roman juridical and religious usage, ritus was the way of doing something, or correct performance. The word ritual is first recorded in English in 1570, there are hardly any limits to the kind of actions that may be incorporated into a ritual. Catherine Bell argues that rituals can be characterized by formalism, invariance, rule-governance, sacral symbolism, Ritual utilizes a limited and rigidly organized set of expressions which anthropologists call a restricted code. Maurice Bloch argues that ritual obliges participants to use this formal oratorical style, which is limited in intonation, vocabulary, loudness, in adopting this style, ritual leaders speech becomes more style than content. Because this formal speech limits what can be said, it induces acceptance, Bloch argues that this form of ritual communication makes rebellion impossible and revolution the only feasible alternative. Ritual tends to support forms of social hierarchy and authority. Rituals appeal to tradition and are concerned to repeat historical precedents accurately. Traditionalism varies from formalism in that the ritual may not be yet still makes an appeal to historical. The Hamar are known for their custom of "bull jumping," which initiates a boy into manhood. St. Aubin in 1890. The railway is visible just above the beach. La Haule Slip is the first one, just before the clearing. View of the beach from St. Aubin's Bay. La Haule is the large building on the left. Out of sight to the left is the village. The miko's attire consists of a white haori and a red hakama. The hair is tied in a ponytail with a white and red hair ribbon. An artist's representation of "Muhammed's Paradise". A Persian miniature from The History of Mohammed, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris. The Islamic prophet Idris is shown the afterlife places by an angel. In hell, the inmates are tormented by a demon. French Edition of Geertz' "Local Knowledge" A Nepali jhākri with a dhyāngro, a traditional frame drum. The Ghost Dance of 1889–1891 by the Oglala Lakota at Pine Ridge. Illustration by western artist Frederic Remington, 1890. A dukun (left) during the Bambu Gila (Mad Bamboo) ceremony in Liang Village, Ambon, Maluku. A slamatan in a mosque in Java during the colonial era. A Slametan in a mosque in Cibodas, with tumpeng as its main menu. ca. 1907. Han Dynasty tomb-tile showing "long-sleeved dancers" and attendants. The Oroqen shaman Chuonnasuan in July 1994. Teenage girls being initiated into the Sande society, Sierra Leone, West Africa. Text: "The dancers all wore fetishes peculiar to the order, each having special significance. These consisted of several ropes of cane cut into beads and of rows of seeds which had been bored and filled with Bundu (Sande) medicine." The first edition of Enchanted Feminism.

2019-04-26T08:19:33Z

https://wikivisually.com/wiki/Bora_(Australian)

Saving energy is good for our planet and good for our wallet. So how can you become more energy efficient at home? You can start by monitoring your energy use at home. Did you know that heating and cooling account for nearly half of your home’s energy costs? It’s true. And if you can cut the cost of heating and cooling your home, you’ll make a big difference in your bottom line. Here are a few things that you can do to help you save energy. A dirty or clogged filter will make your air conditioning unit work harder, using more energy. Over time, the stress of clogged filters can result in increased costs for repair or replacement of your HVAC unit. Dust, mold and other contaminants can build up in your air ducts, making the system work harder (and lowering the air quality in your home). Have your ducts cleaned annually to keep your HVAC unit running in peak condition. A programmable or smart thermostat can save you up to 10 percent on heating and cooling costs. If your home has single-pane windows, consider replacing them with more energy efficient windows. Also, think about adding solar shades or tinting film. Call the experts at ASAP Heating an Cooling for more information or to schedule an appointment. ASAP Heating and Cooling provides quality heating and cooling services to homes and businesses in Port Charlotte, Cape Coral, Naples, Southwest Florida and surrounding service areas. Do you have a smart thermostat? If not, this is something you should definitely consider. Heating and cooling account for nearly half of your home’s energy costs. Smart thermostats are the next generation of temperature control. They offer automation and more control over your home’s temperature and climate, which can save you money on your energy bill. Your smart thermostat’s Wi-Fi connection enables so much more than just temperature automation. Here are some of the advantages to owning a smart thermostat. A smart thermostat makes it easy to be energy efficient. Smart thermostats learn your schedule and your preferences, so they can handle the dropping and raising of your home’s temperature while you come and go. Your smart thermostat can also save you money by making you more energy efficient. Letting your smart thermostat manage your home’s climate automatically will push you toward energy-saving settings and help save you money. With some smart thermostats, you can get a monthly report that can help you to analyze your energy use. The report can tell you how much energy you used that month. It can compare your usage to that of other users and reward you for using energy-efficient settings. When you’re away from home, your smart thermostat can help keep you connected. Check the companion app while you’re away from home to see if the air conditioner is running and to check the temperature in your home. It’s a great way to make sure that your home is running smoothly while you’re away. With a smart thermostat, you can adjust the temperature in your home from anywhere. If you’ve got a mobile device, you’ve got control of your home thermostat. Some smart thermostats will even send email alerts if your home’s temperature rises or falls outside of your pre-determined range. It can also notify you if your thermostat is disconnected from its network, which can happen during a power outage. Smart thermostats are also great for vacations. They make it easy to set the temperature while you’re away without messing up your existing settings. Most smart thermostats are very easy to use. They have modern screen designs and great companion apps. If you’ve had issues dealing with programmable thermostats in the past, you’ll appreciate this new generation’s easy-to-use design. No matter what kind of thermostat you have, keep your air conditioning unit running in tip-top condition. Call the experts at ASAP Heating and Cooling to schedule an appointment. ASAP Heating and Cooling provides quality heating and cooling services to homes and businesses in Port Charlotte, Cape Coral, Naples, Southwest Florida and surrounding service areas. What constitutes an HVAC emergency? If you experience an HVAC system that fails to cool or heat, you’ve got an HVAC emergency on your hands, especially in unusually hot or cold temperatures. You may notice unwanted sounds or strange odors. This is also a problem that should be addressed immediately. Unfortunately, HVAC problems can occur at all hours of the day or night. When your air conditioning system breaks or malfunctions, you should know what to do to ensure the well being of yourself and your family. Here are some tips to follow when you need emergency HVAC repair. Before calling for a professional service company, it’s best to understand the problem. Check for any small problems you can fix on your own. If troubleshooting has not fixed the problem, it’s time to call in the professionals. Do not attempt to fix your HVAC unit by yourself. Trying to fix the problem yourself can lead to much bigger problems – and what begins as a small repair bill can turn into a much higher cost. If it is extremely hot or cold outside, you will want to fix the problem as soon as possible. Call for a professional HVAC technician – and if it’s after hours, make sure they have 24/7 emergency service. While you wait for the technician to arrive, make yourself as comfortable as possible. In hot weather, use fans to help cool the area and wear light clothing. In cold weather, use layering to keep heat in and use blankets to stay warm. If available, a space heater will help to keep a small area warm. At ASAP Heating and Cooling, we are happy to provide emergency services 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you’ve got an HVAC emergency, our helpful technicians will have your system up and running again in no time. The air conditioning coils are one of the most critical components of your air conditioning system. These AC coils are very delicate, and they need to be properly handled to preserve their cooling power. With regular maintenance, well-preserved AC coils will help keep indoor air quality higher and utility bills lower. Your air conditioning system has two sets of coils – evaporator coils and condenser coils. The evaporator coils are located on the indoor portion of your AC system. They are responsible for absorbing heat from your home’s air and transferring it to the refrigerant that carries it out of your home. The condenser coils are located in the outdoor portion of your air conditioning system. They are responsible for transferring heat from the refrigerant to the air outside your home or building. Over time, both your evaporator coils and your condenser coils can suffer from dirt buildup, which can have a big impact on the performance and efficiency of your air conditioner. With dirt buildup on the coils, it is harder for the system to transfer and absorb heat. So your air conditioner will have to work harder, and it will have to run more often, which means it will use a lot more energy to keep your home cool. Here’s what you should know about air conditioner coil cleaning. Much of your air conditioner’s coils are tucked away inside the system, making it difficult to effectively clean them on your own. Also, the coil fins are delicate and extremely sensitive. Improper handling could potentially lead to a very costly repair. That’s why it’s best to have a professional air conditioning company do the job. At ASAP Heating and Cooling, we’ll give you a free estimate for your system. Two primary benefits of a proper AC coil cleaning are an increased system efficiency and cooling power, plus improved indoor air quality. This maintenance should be done annually, before summer. Call the experts at ASAP Heating and Cooling for more information or to schedule an appointment for coil cleaning. ASAP Heating and Cooling provides quality heating and cooling services to homes and businesses in Port Charlotte, Cape Coral, Naples, Southwest Florida and surrounding service areas. Did you know that you can reduce your HVAC system use by as much as ten percent by raising or lowering your thermostat? In the summer months, the U.S. Department of Energy recommends keeping your home’s temperature at 78 degrees. Another good way to keep your HVAC usage in check is to maintain the system. A well maintained AC unit will run more efficiently, use less energy and cost less money to run. A properly maintained system will also last longer before needing to be replaced. Your air conditioner’s filters, coils and fins require regular maintenance to keep your AC unit functioning effectively and efficiently throughout its years of service. If you neglect necessary maintenance, you will have a steady decline in air conditioning performance – and your energy usage will steadily increase. Here are 5 ways to help maintain your air conditioner. This is your most important maintenance task to ensure the efficiency of your AC unit. Clogged or dirty filters will block normal airflow and reduce the efficiency of your air conditioner, and it can hinder the air quality in your home. A dirty filter will make your AC unit work harder than it should have to. Airflow through the system will become dustier, and it can trigger allergy and asthma symptoms. Replacing a dirty or clogged filter with a clean filter can lower your air conditioner’s energy consumption by 5 to 15 percent. Over time, your air conditioner’s coils can become dirty, which reduces the amount of heat they can absorb. That means your AC system has to work harder to keep your home cool. It is important to keep the coils clean to avoid placing any unnecessary strain on your AC system. Start by keeping the area around the condenser unit outside your home clear of any debris. Cut back any shrubs or plants that may be impeding air flow. Wash the unit and clean it with a brush. Do not use a power washer and be careful not the bend or damage the fins on the coil. Both the condenser and the evaporator have fins, which can bend over time causing insufficient airflow. Check the fins regularly to make sure they haven’t bent. If the fins have bent, you can use a fin comb or call your professional air conditioning company for help. The condensate drain allows the condensation created within the AC system to drain outdoors. Over time, the condensate drain can become clogged. If you check your condensate drain and notice that water isn’t draining properly, unclog the obstruction or call your professional air conditioning company for assistance. To keep your air conditioning system running in top condition, schedule a professional maintenance appointment. During that maintenance appointment, your entire air conditioning system will be cleaned, inspected and tuned to ensure that it is functioning at optimal levels. Regular maintenance appointments are a great way to protect your investment and to keep your AC unit working its best. Call the experts at ASAP Heating and Cooling for more information or to schedule a professional maintenance appointment. ASAP Heating and Cooling provides quality heating and cooling services to homes and businesses in Port Charlotte, Cape Coral, Naples, Southwest Florida and surrounding service areas. It’s important to keep your home fresh and clean. But have you thought about cleaning your air? If your air conditioning system is not properly maintained, it could affect the air quality inside your home. This could lead to a variety of health conditions, including respiratory conditions like allergies or asthma. It’s important to keep dirt, dust and mold out of your home, and properly maintaining your air conditioning system will help you to do just that. It is recommended that you have your air conditioning system cleaned once a year to help reduce health problems and to help keep your home fresh and clean. Remember, by taking the proper steps to maintain your air conditioning system you are protecting yourself and your family from air contamination that is caused by a dirty air conditioning unit. Here are some steps you should take to ensure that the air inside your home is fresh and clean. Your air conditioner’s filter keeps out dust, pollen, spores and other airborne problems that can lead to health issues. Changing the filter on a regular basis is important because a dirty filter causes less airflow, which makes your system work harder and costs you more money in energy bills. A dirty filter can also cause your air conditioning unit to overheat, or lead to other permanent damage. As a rule, you should replace or clean your air conditioner filter once a month. It is impossible to get all the areas of your house clean and free of allergens and microbes that can cause illness. That’s why it’s a good idea to clean your ducts. Dust mites, pollen and other allergens hide within the air ducts of your heating and cooling system, and it’s important to eliminate these impurities from your home. ASAP Heating and Cooling will clean your air ducts using a specialized portable vacuum system and a special brush that removes any materials within the duct walls. Remember, cleaning your ducts will help keep your home free from allergy-causing particles. Excess moisture in your home can lead to damage, and it can encourage harmful mold and mildew growth, which can cause health problems for you and your family. The ideal relative humidity for your home should be somewhere between 30 and 50 percent. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that you keep humidity levels no higher than 50 percent all day long. If humidity levels rise above or fall below that range, you may begin to experience issues like mold growth. Modulating systems remove more moisture from the air, preventing mold growth. While a fixed speed HVAC system can only run at full speed, a modulating system can have two or more speeds. A fixed speed AC system allows relative humidity to go as high as 60 percent, while modulating systems do not break 50 percent. So a modulating HVAC system prevents harmful mold growth by removing moisture from the air. How Do You Reduce Pollen in Your Home? When pollen counts rise, your allergies go into overdrive. Protecting your home from allergens is not an easy task, but there are some things you can do to help reduce the pollen count inside your home. First of all, cut down on the clutter. The less stuff you have in your home, the fewer places allergens can hide. Limit the number of knickknacks, magazines, newspapers and other dust catchers in your home. Make sure to dust often, and to dust those hard to reach areas, like ceiling fans. Fabrics and carpets are also dust collectors. If you have allergies, your best bet is wood or tile flooring, not wall-to-wall carpets. Use a damp mop regularly to keeps floors clean. If you must have carpeting, choose a short, tight pile and make sure to vacuum weekly. A vacuum with a high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter is recommended. If you have a bagless vacuum cleaner, make sure to empty it outdoors, not in the house. If you’re concerned about pollen, make smart decisions for your landscaping. Choose low-allergy trees like dogwood, cherry and magnolia. Female ash and maple trees are also considered low-allergy, but make sure to buy them from a reliable source to make sure of the tree’s gender. If you like flowers, choose low-allergy flowers like impatiens, columbine and viola. Keep your windows closed in the early morning hours and between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. when pollen counts are highest. Also, keep your windows closed when it is windy outside. If you have a car, keep it in the garage or give it a quick rinse whenever you can. Pollen settles on your car, and every time you touch your car, you will be spreading that pollen to your hands or clothing. When you’re coming in from outdoors, be careful to bring in as little pollen as possible. Make sure to thoroughly wipe your feet on the mat and take off your shoes as soon as you enter the house. Pollen can also attach itself to your clothing, so remove your outer garments in the mudroom and take a shower. Your hair is also a magnet for pollen, so make sure to wash it before you go to bed, or wear a hat or scarf when you go outside and remove it as soon as you enter the house. Remember that your pets can also bring pollen into the house. Make sure to brush your pets and wipe their paws before bringing them into the house. Make sure that your home is well ventilated and that the ductwork doesn’t leak. It is also a good idea to clean your ducts. Dust mites, pollen and other allergens hide within the air ducts of your heating and cooling system, and it’s important to eliminate these impurities from your home or place of business. Use a HEPA filter in your air conditioning unit and keep it clean. Replace the filter once a month. Keep the humidity level inside your house at no more than 50 percent. Call the experts at ASAP Heating and Cooling for more information or to schedule an appointment for duct cleaning. ASAP Heating and Cooling provides quality heating and cooling services to homes and businesses in Port Charlotte, Cape Coral, Naples, Southwest Florida and surrounding service areas. In today’s world, everything that we do and use is moving to “smart technology,” through the use of apps on our phones. These changes to our lifestyle are actually helping to make us more efficient. Technology has influenced all aspects of our daily lives, the way we learn, the way we interact, the way we read, the way we bank, even the way we shop; everything is now at the click of a button. So why would we not use technology to help us regulate the temperature in our homes? Smart thermostats not only make heating or cooling your home more convenient, they actually help you save money and conserve energy. Smart thermostats are automated devices that control your home’s heating and/or air conditioning. They perform the same functions as a traditional thermostat by allowing you to control the temperature of your home throughout the day. What makes a smart thermostat different is that it connects to the internet and allows you to control your home’s temperature from your smart phone. Most smart thermostats have other features that a traditional thermostat does not. A smart thermostat can show you how long it takes to make the change you’ve requested, so you can see how effective your climate control system really is. It actually works to discourage you from making changes to your home’s temperature that you should not make such as, turning the thermostat all the way down to try “cooling off the house faster” (which never works). Some of the models of smart thermostats will actually learn from your behavior and adjust themselves accordingly (and therefore don’t even need you to program them). The biggest difference and benefit of smart thermostats is, of course, that you can manage them right from your phone or a web-app. This feature is what gives you full control to tweak the programming, allowing you to save money, and see the financial benefits immediately. One of the most popular brands of smart thermostats is the Nest Thermostat. This one was the first of its kind and therefore the most widely known. This product came out of the gate with a lot of great features, making it a powerful pioneer. The Nest thermostat has a lot of positives; it combines a good-looking design and a bright LCD that provides a wealth of useful data with powerful remote management apps and tools to help you save money. In addition to that it has key features that make it a great contender to other brands. It is a learning thermostat, which can sense whether someone’s home, whether the air is suddenly getting humid, or someone’s fired up the oven, and adjust itself accordingly. As this thermostat picked up in popularity other smart thermostats followed, brands like Ecobee Smart Thermostat, Honeywell Prestige series, Honeywell Wi-Fi Smart Thermostat, and Emerson Sensi Wi-Fi Thermostat are all other popular smart thermostat brands. Each of these brands are slightly different in price, features, and benefits. It’s important to research each thermostat to find which one will be the best solution for you. If you are wondering if there is a down side to these wonderful devices, it is important to mention that the initial purchase of these thermostats is quite pricey. The price of these thermostats can range from $150 – $500 which makes them way more expensive than a traditional thermostat which would only range from $100 – $150. Keep in mind that these thermostats are investments and the EPA’s Energy Star program concluded that homes with programmable or smart thermostats could save up to $180 per year on heating and cooling, which is a sizable chunk of change.

2019-04-25T02:36:44Z

https://asapheatingandcooling.biz/blog/

Extract from Escott Reid’s new book Strengthening the World Bank being published in September by the Adlai Stevenson Institute, Chicago, III., U.S.A., $7.50, £3, or Rs. 40. Mr. Reid was director of the South Asia and Middle East Department of the World Bank from 1962 to 1965. “There is general agreement that the purpose of aid from the World Bank Group and other agencies is to make it easier for the governments of developing countries to pursue sensible development policies. The disagreement is over who is to be the arbiter of what are and what are not sensible development policies. There are two extreme theoretical positions. One is that the government of the poorer country should be the sole arbiter; that it alone can be considered by an international agency or by another government as the interpreter of the country’s system of values and development priorities, its social goals, and the aspirations of its people; that aid agencies must not question that government’s decisions but must assist it to carry them out expeditiously and efficiently. The other extreme position is that the aid agencies know what is best. “Neither of these two positions will come within the scope of practical politics in the foreseeable future. Both of them are non-starters. Until aid on concessional terms can be financed largely from sources other than taxes imposed by the governments of rich countries on their citizens, these governments will be compelled by the realities of the domestic political process to adopt policies on aid which will enable them to convince the taxpayers that they are making reasonable efforts to ensure that the aid financed out of their taxes is being well used. This applies to their own bilateral aid programs and to the multilateral agencies they contribute to, such as the World Bank Group, the regional banks, and the UN Development Program. As for the other extreme position, sentiment in the poorer countries limits both the willingness and the ability of their governments to accept intervention by aid agencies in their affairs. They are compelled by the realities of their domestic political processes to adopt policies which enable them to assure their citizens that they are not sacrificing the independence of their country in return for aid. “Proponents of all the schools of thought on international aid are compelled to accept, however reluctantly, the need to apply some system of rationing to the flow of aid money, since this money is scarce, and the softer it is the scarcer it is…. “What is at issue is not the need to establish a rationing system but the nature of the rationing system and, in particular, the extent of intervention in the affairs of aid-receiving countries which it entails. Those, both in the poorer countries and in the rich countries, who favor a relatively high level of intervention… believe, however, that aid agencies should limit their intervention to broad and central aspects of development policy, and express opinions on these only after penetrating investigation. Aid agencies, in striving to come to agreement with the poorer country, should make all reasonable concessions to reach agreement. If a reasonable compromise cannot be reached, the agencies should, in the interest of the poorer country, substantially reduce the flow of aid. Those who favor intervention ask whether it is to the advantage of the people of an aid-receiving country that aid agencies accept the development priorities of the government even when it is obvious that the government is assigning high priority to prestige projects which promise less economic and social returns than other, less ostentatious, projects…. “Many who would most vehemently deny that they are interventionists believe that since international efforts to help developing countries will be of no avail unless those countries make major changes in their political, social, and economic policies and institutions, aid should depend on the extent to which a country meets such performance criteria as equitable income distribution, land and tax reforms, effective trade and exchange rate policies, limitation of military expenditures, and the promotion of social justice…. Excerpts from a speech by Richard H. Demuth. Chairman of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, to the Association of Directors of International Agriculture Programs in Raleigh, N.C., U.S.A., June 14, 1973. “In the early days of the postwar development assistance effort, it was the conventional wisdom that what the developing countries needed to modernize their agriculture was not so much additional research as the organization of adequate extension services which could deliver to the farmers of the Third World the scientific expertise already available in the developed world. It was assumed that appropriate technology already existed that could be readily transferred from north to south. Experience has shown that, to a large extent, this was a false assumption—in other words, that appropriate agricultural production technologies for the poorer countries must for the most part be developed within and not outside the ecological zones in which those countries lie. “This meant emphasizing research and training within the Third World. A good deal of effort was then put, and is still being put, into the development of strong national research programs—and in a few countries notable progress has been made: Mexico, Colombia, Chile, India, and Thailand are outstanding examples. But moving on a country-by-country basis, particularly with the limited human and financial resources available, promised to be a slow procedure, wholly inadequate to the urgency of the world’s food production needs. “So, under the leadership of the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations, an alternative strategy was developed: namely, to assemble a critical mass of scientific talent in a few places within the Third World to launch a multidisciplinary attack sharply focused upon the most urgent technological problems facing agricultural production in the developin countries. The international agricultural research and training center was the means devised to implement this alternative strategy. “The family of international centers now numbers six, with one associate member. The full members of the family are the International Rica Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines; the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico; the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), for the lowland tropics of Africa, in Nigeria; the International Center of Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), for the lowland tropics of Latin America, in Colombia; the International Potato Center (CIP) in Peru; and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), with special responsibility for sorghums, millets, chick peas, and pigeon peas, in India. The “associate” member of the family is the Asian Vegetable Research Center located in Taiwan. “The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research was formed in 1971, when it became clear that the base of both financial and technical support for the centers need to be broadened beyond the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations and the U.S. and Canadian Governments which, up to then, had provided almost all the finance and back-stopping. The basic purpose of the Consultative Group, which is co-sponsored by the FAO, IBRD, and UNDP, is to mobilize such broadened support. Essentially, it seeks agreement among its members as to what agricultural research programs should be considered as having priority in the allocation of scarce development assistance funds, on the extent of the funds which should be provided each year, and on how the burden of financing might be shared. As a result of invitations issued by the three co-sponsors, some 13 donor governments, 7 international and regional development assistance agencies, and 4 private and public foundations have become members of the Group. The Group also has as members 10 developing countries, representing the 5 major developing regions of the world; these 10 LDC’s among them occupy 5 seats at the Consultative Group table. In its mixed composition of public and private organizations, of donor and recipient countries, and of regional and international agencies, the Consultative Group is a unique institution. “The Consultative Group has no funds of its own nor has it any authority to make decisions binding on its members. Yet, despite these limitations and despite the size and diversity of its membership, the Group has thus far succeeded in reaching very general agreement on the issues with which it has grappled. Perhaps the best indication of this is that funding for the international centers rose from $9 million for 1971 to $15 million for 1972 and to about $24 million for 1973. In addition, ICRISAT was created in 1972 under the aegis of the Consultative Group and this year is likely to see the addition of a seventh member of the family—ILRAD—an International Laboratory for Research on Animal Diseases, to be located near Nairobi in Kenya. “To the extent that the Consultative Group has been successful thus far, it is due, in my judgment, principally to two factors. The first is the existence of an excellent Technical Advisory Committee, popularly known as TAC, composed of six scientists from the developed countries and six from the developing countries, who meet under the chairmanship of Sir John Crawford of Australia. The TAC, the Secretariat for which is provided by FAO, considers the technical merits and priority of all proposals put forward for Consultative Group financing, and advises the Group on the principal research gaps which it believes need to be filled. The second factor is more elusive to define—but essentially it is that almost all the members of the Group are enthusiastic about the international center approach. The Group’s meeting are therefore singularly free of debate for the sake of debate, and are instead devoted to a common effort to find practical and constructive solutions. Agreement has been reached on such matters as having a single review conducted on behalf of the donors by the Consultative Group staff of the progress of each center in carrying out its approved program and in living within its budget; arranging for each center to have its program of research reviewed periodically by external panels of outstanding scientistis; helping the centers to present their budgets in a more or less uniform manner, so that meaningful comparisons can be made; and arranging for an appropriate division of labor as among the centers, so that there will be no unnecessary or undesirable duplication of work. Most importantly, of course, the Consultative Group, with the assistance of TAC, must seek agreement on what new or expanded programs should be supported. In addition to the agreement to set up an animal disease laboratory (ILRAD) in Kenya, there is near-agreement on setting up an overall International Livestock Center for Africa (ILCA), probably to be headquartered in Ethiopia, which, if established, would eventually absorb ILRAD as an integral part of its operations. The problems of the Middle East are also receiving attention; a mission organized by TAC has just returned from an investigation of the major constraints on agricultural production in that area and will shortly be reporting to TAC its view on whether an international research center would be an effective way of seeking to remove those constraints. The TAC also has under review, among other things, the desirability of promoting additional research on upland (rainfed) rice, probably as an extension of IRRI’S activities; of establishing relay stations for ICRISAT in the semi-arid zones of Africa; of expanding the research work now being done on food legumes; and of the possible utility of an intenational research center on aquaculture. Let me conclude with a few words of speculation as to the future. My firm belief is that we are only at the beginning of a very considerable effort. The Chairman of TAC made an informed estimate in 1972 that, by the late 1970’s, total financial requirements for programs which should be supported by the Group might well reach a level of about $70 million a year: $50 million for the core and capital requirements of the centers themselves and another $20 million for outreach. (Outreach is primarily working with national research programs in adapting to local conditions the research findings of a center.) This estimate envisages an international effort about twice its present size. I am inclined to think that, if anything, the estimate may be on the low side, particularly for outreach. Excerpts from an address, given by Pierre-Paul Schweitzer, Managing Director of the Fund, to the American Philosophical Society, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., on April 19. “In a situation in which there are conflicts of views between major countries, the power of an institution like the Fund to deal with such conflicts quickly and flexibly depends to a large extent on the nature of its decision-making process. In an institution which confers financial rights and responsibilities, it is almost inevitable that there will be weighted voting. Not to acknowledge relative economic strength would be patently unrealistic. It is also probably essential to have qualified majorities for certain important categories of decision. The creation of special drawing rights, for example, needs a majority of eighty-five percent. “The reluctance of countries to accept limitations on sovereignty is not, of course, peculiar to the monetary sphere. Nearly all international institutions find difficulty in preserving their authority in situations where their rules and procedures come into conflict with what their members regard as vital national interests. In the field of international financial relations, the types of problems which began to present themselves in recent years were simply not adequately catered for in the Articles of Agreement. For a while, of course, inappropriate rules can be made to work by constitutional interpretation. But there comes a point when rules cannot be patched up any more, and then they simply stop being observed. “However, as experience is demonstrating, the vulnerability of a system without clear and accepted rules makes it uncomfortable to live with for any extended length of time. There is always the worrying feeling that unwise policies on the part of individual countries might spark a retaliatory move that could trigger off a vicious spiral of restrictions and declining world trade. “The desire to have an internationally agreed and accepted new set of rules has been widely voiced, and has found expression in a number of resolutions of international bodies, particularly of the Fund itself. The world community, through the Fund, is presently engaged in what will certainly be the difficult task of drawing up this new set of rules. “It is possible to see in general terms the conditions, both economic and political, which will have to be met, if the new system is to be successful. “From an economic point of view it is important to promote the objective of a free trading environment. This means that countries must eschew placing restrictions on certain kinds of trade and payments by unilateral action. Although we cannot expect to move immediately to a world free of all restrictions, whatever restrictions are imposed should be justified on the basis of some internationally accepted criteria, subject to the scrutiny of the international community, and approved by some international regulatory authority. “The next prerequisite is that traders and investors should be able to use resources which they earn in one currency to make payments or investments in another currency. This is sometimes referred to as the convertibility of currencies. Convertibility is a term that is used with two somewhat different meanings. In a general sense, it means that there should exist a network of markets where traders can exchange currencies, free of administrative restrictions on the currencies or the amounts in which they deal. In the more technical sense in which it is usually used by monetary experts, it means that governments should establish an agreed value for their national currency and stand ready to buy and sell it at the fixed price against some agreed international reserve asset. Now clearly, convertibility in the general sense does not depend directly on convertibility in the technical sense. And since it is convertibility in the general sense that is important for international trade and investment, it could well be asked whether we could not live without convertibility in the technical sense. “Many economists, it must be admitted, believe we can, and indeed many major currencies are inconvertible in the technical sense at the present time. But if such inconvertibility should be prolonged and should give rise to additional uncertainties and risks, private traders and investors would probably be less willing to engage in international transactions. The monetary system would then have failed in its objective to create the best environment for the international interchange of resources. And if individual countries, having no fixed par value for their currency to which they are committed, try to influence their exchange rates in mutually incompatible ways, we run the risk of sliding back into a destructive spiral of measures which would not only hamper the growth of world trade, but could produce political frictions as well. “Acceptance of official convertibility as an objective implies the next prerequisite of a new monetary order: agreement on the form in which the international reserves which give effect to convertibility should be created and held. The important initial step of delegating to an international body authority over the creation of purchasing power has already been taken in the establishment of the special drawing right facility within the Fund. This is one area in which there is a strong consensus that there should be international decision making. It is widely agreed that reserve creation should be under deliberate international control, and not subject to haphazard influences such as the supply of gold or the state of the balance of payments of the United States or any other major country. “Increases and reductions in international reserve assets are the means whereby countries can meet deficits and surpluses in their balance of payments without imposing restrictions or abandoning convertibility. But international reserves cannot be expected to be unlimited. Another prerequisite for the international monetary system, therefore, is that it should have some mechanism to ensure that the relative values of currencies do not get out of line with basic or underlying forces of supply and demand. Since no country can influence the value of its currency in world markets without simultaneously affecting the currencies of its trading partners, this is another area in which international rules or understandings must qualify national discretion. “We have learned a number of lessons from postwar experience which at least point to the broad lines of how responsibility should be divided in this matter. We know that countries will not accept a system that, in the name of international balance, requires them to follow policies that are seriously at odds with their domestic objectives in the realm of employment or price stability. We know that, by and large, they find it easier to live with some agreed conception of what relative exchange rates should be, rather than to allow currencies to float in an uncoordinated way. And we know that a system in which the burden of adjustment is not equitably shared between surplus and deficit countries produces strains and frictions which may be political as well as economic. “It is tempting, of course, to make precise rules which specify that if a country experiences such and such a development, e.g., a prescribed deficit or surplus, in its balance of payments, such and such a consequence should follow. The difficulty is that such a system would almost certainly be too inflexible in operation to be either acceptable or appropriate. Given this, I expect that the new rules will provide for a greater degree of consultation and cooperation in the framing of what I have called adjustment policies, with mandatory provision being invoked only after continued failure to reach agreed solutions. “It should be apparent from what I have already said that a successful reform of the international monetary system will inevitably mean that countries will have to submerge a considerable amount of national sovereignty in an internationally agreed and administered system of rules. But we have reached a stage in our understanding of the nature of economic interdependence where I believe countries are prepared to take a significant step forward in internationalizing decision taking. “There is a willingness to acknowledge international authority provided it is not exercised in such a way as to come into direct conflict with what individual nations regard as their vital interests. For example, simply to outlaw exchange restrictions would risk being counterproductive unless action is also taken to remove the circumstances in which countries might wish to introduce restrictions. This means that the range of policies permitted to members to deal with balance of payments difficulties must be wide enough to ensure success without recourse to restrictions. Fund Activities covers member countries’ use of Fund facilities, actions of the Executive Directors, and efforts toward reform of the international monetary system. Brief Notes, from a variety of official and unofficial sources, places the Fund’s activities in the wider context of world economic and financial developments. National Economies draws on work of the Fund’s area departments to describe economic developments in member countries. Selected Topics carries general articles from the Fund staff and other sources. Subjects include exchange rates and restrictions, international liquidity, monetary reform, activities of regional financial institutions, trade, and taxes. To subscribe, mail the coupon below. The Fund publishes statistics on the international transactions of about 100 countries in the Balance of Payments Yearbook. Each volume of the Yearbook is first available in loose-leaf form, issued in monthly parts, at an annual cost of US$11.00 including binder, or US$7.50 without binder. The volumes are then published in bound form in hard covers at a price of US$6.00. The bound edition of Volume 24 covering 1967-71 will become available in October 1973, and the loose-leaf version of Volume 25 (covering 1968-72) will begin publication at that time. University libraries, faculty members, and students may purchase the current volume in loose-leaf form or earlier bound volumes at a special price of US$3.00. EACH VOLUME surveys the structure of the economies of a selected group of countries and describes any common institutional or regional arrangements that may exist. The chapters relating to the specific countries provide detailed information on production, prices, wages, economic development and planning, taxation and public finance, money and banking, foreign trade and payments, and external debt. Three-color maps and an index supplement each volume, and there are numerous statistical tables for each country. Vol. 1: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), and Gabon, 1968, xxiv + 365 pp. Vol. 2: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Somalia.1969. xxiv + 448 pp. Vol. 3: Dahomey, Ivory Coast, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, Togo, and Upper Volta. 1970. xxxviii + 786 pp. Vol. 4: Democratic Republic of Congo (Zaire), Malagasy Republic, Malawi, Mauritius, and Zambia. 1971. xxvi + 477 pp. Vol. 5: Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Burundi, Equatorial Guinea, and Rwanda. 1973. xxiv + 471 pp. All volumes are clothbound. Volumes 1-4 are available in English and in French. Volume 5 is available now in English and is in preparation in French. Prices: US$5.00 a volume; US$2.50 to libraries, faculty members, and students of universities. Payment in currencies other than the U.S. dollar will be accepted. The Secretary, International Monetary Fund, Washington, D.C. 20431, U.S.A.

2019-04-22T06:31:26Z

https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/IMF022/12445-9781616353131/12445-9781616353131/12445-9781616353131_A014.xml

"Bill Eger is a flight attendant who has suffered from debilitating back pain on and off for 15 years. After just three SLM Bodywork sessions he is functioning like a normal person again and is so impressed he has signed up to do the SLM therapist training, initially as a part time job and then full time as he retires from flying in the coming years." "My career as a World Champion Boxer was destined to be cut short by hand problems before I discovered SLM. I had consulted some of the best surgeons, physiotherapists, chiropractors, acupuncturists and massage therapists for help but none could relieve my pain and keep me fighting until I found Steve Lockhart and SLM Therapy." Three times World Boxing Champion. "Steve thanks for all the miracles you have performed for me this year, without them I would have never have won the World Cup." For almost a year I struggled with a nagging groin injury that seemed as difficult to diagnose as it was to treat. After countless visits to anyone with a different perspective and method of treatment for this enigmatic injury, my girlfriend sent me to Steve Lockhart. He not only addressed and removed imbalances in my body (allowing me to move strongly, securely and painlessly once again), but educated me on how to prevent them from plaguing me in the future. Steve has given me an extra 5-6 years of work in a demanding industry. "After suffering a mountain climbing accident my lower back become a chronic problem. I had many treatments from Chiropractors, Physiotherapists and Osteopaths all to no avail. I felt that the exact nature of the injury and consequent symptoms were overlooked. No one even came close to Steve's ability in reading the body and feeling the knotted spasms in the muscles, providing instant relief. Steve was able to diagnose and then correct this imbalance. For those with any type of injury , weather muscular or joint, I would not hesitate to send them straight to Steve. SLM has been the difference of regaining my previous strength, flexibility and peace of mind. He has also assisted greatly in strengthening my core muscle group and provided welcome advice on how nutrition helps the rehabilitation process." "As a former National Track and Field Athlete I incurred an injury which I sought treatment for over a period of 5 years. I supposedly saw the best of the best- physiotherapists, acupuncturists, sports doctors, massage therapists, alternative therapists and so on. After years of running around and spending thousands of dollars no one could help my injury. I saw Steve intensively for just one month and he not only understood the dynamics of my injury he worked to alleviate my pain in this short period of time. And the results have lasted. I recommend Steve as the most knowledgeable and talented massage therapist I know. He is in tune with the body, passionate about his work and dedicated to fixing any problem you have. A truly amazing healer!" "When Dave ruptured the disc at L4/ L5 in his lower back the top neurosurgeon and physiotherapist he saw told him there was no way he could avoid surgery as his injury was as bad as they had seen. Desperate to avoid the knife he chose SLM Bodywork and 4 months later he is well on the way to a full recovery, back at work and improving every week. The doctors now cannot believe his improvement in such a short time, see for yourself." I am sure you would agree if I could help Dave fix a ruptured disc and avoid surgery then I can help you with your back problem. "Deborah was having lots of problems sleeping with her back pain which came on after she broke her rib. She had been suffering for 8 weeks before she had her first SLM treatment and hasn't looked back. Just wanted to let you know how excited I am about the results I am getting from your program. I have had really terrible sciatica pain for a year and have tried physio, acupuncture, osteo, chiropractic and various other remedies all with no results, until I got your book and DVD. I started the SLM Yoga exercises about three weeks ago and started noticing improvement within days and now some days are completely pain free. I am looking forward to a complete recovery soon. I was getting really desperate for some relief from the pain until I found your program on the internet.Thank you so much. I commenced Steve's program on 5th December, 2006 with the objective of correcting a long standing pelvic imbalance. I experienced an immediate relief in several tight, painful areas after the first session, and by week three, my pelvis had rotated forward and my 1cm leg discrepancy was almost corrected. Steve's program contains the most coherent, constructive advice and self-help treatment plans I have ever found on this subject. I am delighted with my progress so far, and am highly motivated to continue. I encourage others who want to help themselves to use this program as a path to regaining wellness. Graduate Certificate Infection Control FRCNA (Ret'd). Just wanted to say a quick thank you for your Self-Treatment program. I have been using this for about about a month and have noticed a big improvement all round! I was being treated by a chiropractor for a workplace injury I sustained some 12 years ago. My pelvis was unaligned causing fairly severe pain over the past few years. Anyway I received your self-treatment program and am thrilled. I have much more mobility on a day to day basis, as well as essentially non-existent pain (comes and goes, but greatly reduced). When a feeling of soreness or stiffness comes, I pop down onto the floor, do some SLM Yoga and the pain is gone. Thank you so much! I have followed your DVD conscientiously nearly everyday, and have benefited quite noticeably- better posture, stronger muscles and therefor better spinal support resulting in freedom from pain and more mobility.I keep reading portions of both books as there is such a lot of practical information in them both. My scenario is- am 74, suffered a lumbar disk lesion about 40 years ago, and, to avoid surgery, spent some weeks in traction. Have consulted many chiropractors and various therapists with (as you would expect) only marginal results, and, really have learnt mainly by painful experience what I can and cannot do, and am really grateful that eventually I came in contact with you. I've been in trouble with my back for almost 4 years & have only recently been able to function again socially, dress myself etc. I still can't put my own shoes on, or look after my own hygiene properly without my husbands assistance. I haven't launched completely into the program, but I have been using the SLM Yoga now for several weeks once a week. My first reaction to using the SLM Yoga, is that it is so........ easy to do. I have always found stretching to be hard work for so little gain, but the SLM Yoga technique feels good while I'm doing it. It just feels right. The biggest problem I have is muscle spasms in the QL's, & it feels fantastic to actively isolate them and work on them. Not to mention how great it feels in every other tight part of my body. (Which by the way is everywhere from my neck to my toes) In the last two weeks I've discovered also that by doing the SLM Yoga workout after I have a flare up (which is at least once every few weeks that I go into Spasm & irritate the disc in L5/S1), that the technique relaxes the spasms & minimizes the effects of the flare up. So I get back on track much quicker. I've also passed you web link on to two work colleagues who have recently developed problems with their back. I recommend it highly to people. I strongly believe in your theory in relation to muscle imbalance. It just makes a lot of sense to me & has helped me make sense of what is going on in my body. I used to participate in competitive sport, specifically, alot of cycling. I have had a 'bad back' for years, but always dismissed it as just something I have - and then, after a significant injury 2 years ago (snowboard related), I thought I would never cycle again. I was on the floor for weeks at a time, in pain, unable to move. After considering as many options as I could and visiting many different therapists, Myotherapy proved to be the most helpful. Still with the occasional day with a crook back, I was eager to try the SLM Yoga system. The benefit was immediate: from being on the floor to sitting up and capable of moving about - after just one session. After practising the yoga for several weeks now, it is evident to me how muscular imbalances play such a significant part in the pain associated with, and the recovery from, an injury. The SLM yoga system has helped me deal with both the chronic back pain I have had for years, and also recovering from an injury that at one point I was considering having surgery to try and fix. I can now ride my bike again :-) and did the Gong ride on the weekend: the first 'event' I've done in 2 years. I'm very appreciative Steve, that you have developed such a helpful system. It has helped me immeasurably, and I have learnt alot in the process. I am a triathlete who has achieved success on the world stage in the 40-44 age group on two occasions. I got hit by a car on my bicycle June 2005 suffering compressed fractures of L4 L5 and nerve /muscle damage. I would be happy to endorse your self treatment program as I feel that I have progressed and really know what you are on about with the treadmill of practitioners. To me my body is still recovering but I am achieving this thru your program and a positive outlook. I have experienced a BIG learning curve since my Sciatic pain played up several months ago thanks to your Meditative Exercise - SLM Yoga CD plus read your books and found them filled with very easy to follow common sense information for the lay-person. Somehow I knew the information was out there in this technological world but I was really looking for something natural and simple - bringing things back to basics - which you succinctly do. Armed with the new information on your exercise regime and a change of a better choice of foods - your meditative exercise program now has been given a greater chance to do its magic. With my new awareness of these various facts I can now play tennis again as my body feels healthier and lighter. A lot of studies have been done by his father Dr. James D'Adamo on the Anthropology of Blood types. I realised that my cupboard was half full of foods that had been bought just because I had been conditioned to do so. You guess it - some were thrown out - and the rest to the chooks. My next change will be to try the detox regime you recommend in Dr. Sandra Cabot's book "The Liver Cleansing Diet" to give my body an even better head start and get it back to its normal healthy perfect state. I am very happy to tell my friends about your program and hope they also try it not just when they have pain but as a preventative measure. After years of upper back and neck pain I am finally getting some relief with your self treatment program. I've been to chiropractors for years getting immediate relief but always had to go back and never actually fixing the problem. Your SLM yoga hits the exact spots where my weaknesses are, you can actually feel it being so good for your back and strengthening it where it is weak. The rubber ball massages are great too, can't believe I can actually give myself a deep tissue massage, as soon as I get a pain from the gym or sport I get the rubber balls onto it and it goes away, normally my vertebrae would be affected. I get great benefit from the exercises that also hit the exact areas that need strengthening. After getting an SLM massage my back and neck were unbelievably pain free, I had never had a massage like it, you can actually feel the whole of the muscle letting go. Thanks Steve so rapt to be able to see light at the end of the tunnel and finally be pain free. Thank you for your follow up after my purchase of your wonderful system. I think your program has helped me greatly and I would be happy to endorse it. I am 53 this year. About 20 years ago I use involved in an automobile accident that left me with fractures in my pelvis, a broken shoulder, 8 broken ribs and a punctured lung. I also sustained many internal injuries. Considering the extent of the damage, I have almost no physical complaints today except nagging aches in my lower back and right shoulder. Also, my right leg became 1/2" shorter then before. I count myself truly lucky. However, as a typical 53 year old American woman, I have spent years at a job that required a long commute to and from the office as well as hours each day sitting at a desk. Lots of sitting, stress, and old trauma add up to pain that simply wouldn't respond to typical treatments. I have had physical therapy, x-rays, massage. Nothing could find the real problem or help for very long. However, after 5 sessions with your video, I can feel my lower back gaining strength and balance that I haven't felt in years. For the first time in a long time, I sleep through the night without pain. I am still sore in the morning but that is lessening now. I think very soon I will feel like really exercising again. I have told my massage therapist about your program and he wants to see your tape thinking it might be able to help other clients of his. Thank you for producing this "help yourself" system. In my case, it's been really wonderful. I am extremely pleased that I am now capable of a good days physical work. Almost two years ago I pinched my sciatic nerve and could barely move an inch because of the intense pain. With much difficulty I managed to drive to the doctor who informed me there was not much I could do but allow it to heal and he gave me a local anesthetic to remove the pain. That was fine for about eight hours and the pain returned. I began alternate day visits to the chiropractor and many good dollars later, in my frustration I researched to find out the cure and I located your site. Since then the road to my recovery has been only positive. I am amazed at how well I have improved my physical being and learned to manage the back pain that I have suffered in total for approximately ten years. My wife and I do the wall sits together and then follow with the stretching SLM yoga style. Each morning I have been driving to our block of land and working a full days manual labour. My latest project is treefelling some very large grey gum trees which requires constant back fatigue and lots of backbending work. When the day is complete it becomes a relief to get home and complete the SLM yoga program and feel the relief of any pain. I still have a constant awareness of my spine. In all activities I am thankful that I now have a confidence that soon I will have a complete and total recovery. Till then we will continue to benefit from this treatment. This product has my full recommendation to it. For the first time in over two years, I've not taken any painkillers for 3 weeks straight. The tingling and numbness in my feet has gone as has the pain down my legs. I can now walk at my normal speed for several hundred metres. I have started swimming again, doing the exercises as suggested in the book. The ball exercises for my back are the best thing that I have ever learnt. None of the specialists like physios, osteopaths, doctors, chiropractors ever suggested anything like it. The exercises you have given in your book are the best I've ever used - this is evidenced by better walking and better sleeping. I started the exercise program as soon as I finished reading the 'Do It Yourself Guide'. Your guide confirmed everything I believed was happening with my back and reinforced to me how it should be treated. Your book is the sort of information I have been looking for, for a long while. A book that takes a holistic approach to not only your back but your body and its health in general. Your book just makes so much sense. I have also recommended to people I have met to visit your web site. I am much more in tune with the muscles and certainly notice the difference under stress. Thank you very much Steve, I almost lost hope for a while and contemplated surgery, which of course all the physio's and chiropractors I had seen were saying. Just completed the SLM Yoga session. Wow what a good workout. I can certainly feel area's were I am weak and need some strengthening. So will definitely try and do it on a regular basis now. I have been prone to mid back pain for more than 10 years & in that time with the help of a good chiropractor I have been pain free for long periods. In recent times it has been taking more sessions with my chiropractor & more intensive treatments to attain the same level of relief. This time when my back pain returned I had purchased your self treatment book & with it & your clear answers in the forum I was able to treat the pain myself for the first time in 10 years without the need for any other outside help & for less than the cost of one visit to my chiropractor. Just wanted to let you know how effective I have found this program in a short period of time. Thanks Steve, I've been using the self-help program for 3 days now to correct rhomboid pain which has been ongoing for 3 months now. This is the second episode, the first one last 8 months in 2005/06!!!. I have had something like 30 chiropractic adjustments over the last few months, the effects of which barely lasted a few days. Also, I have been doing stretching programs for this entire period with little success. I have had really good results in just the 3 days since starting your program. I have found that doing the rubber ball work has really helped, just like your book says. Also my triceps in my left arm are still quite sore (again as the book outlined they would be). I had a perforated disc incident just over 20 years ago from which it took about a year to recover. I never had back problems again until now with this reoccurrence of sciatica down the right side, from the lower back to the ankle. My doctor prescribed an anti-inflammatory, which helped somewhat but not for long. After about 4 months of this I sent for your book, then your SLM program. I had major relief within two weeks of starting the exercises and also found the ball treatment very effective. It is now about six weeks and have virtually complete recovery except for the occasional niggle at the buttock. In my opinion this type of treatment should be the first thing anyone with a back problem should try. I was prepared to put up with the pain forever before considering having surgical intervention, as I have seen the sad results of surgery on two friends, one of which as been virtually bedridden for the past 5 years. Thank you for your program. Pat Jarvis. Mt Isa, Australia. I work at a desk on a computer for about 9 hours a day and am fairly sedentary. As a result of this I have been suffering pain in the upper back which radiates to the front of my left shoulder I have put up with this for 18months. On holidays in November, I pulled something? in my lower back and my movement was severely restricted. Since then I have been having fortnightly visits to my chiropractor, mobility returned, but has been still somewhat restricted. I received your self help program about a month ago. I have been following the yoga program about 3 times per week. Last week I forgot and missed my Chiro appointment, my back felt pretty good hence the appointment wasn't in my mind. I visited her (Chiro) yesterday. I sat on her bed as usual and she gently prodded my lower back, spine area, normally this is very painful but this time nothing. She then felt the area in my middle back that is always inflamed and swollen and asked me what I have been doing. She said my lower back and pelvis is back in alignment and she didn't need to do anything and my inflamed and swollen bits of my spine had improved significantly. She praised me for taking control of my own pain and told me to keep doing what I have been doing. Thanks Steve, although I was at first skeptical and reneged purchasing the program and SLM Yoga DVD, I am now very happy indeed. I want to say to you, that I am most impressed with your SLM system. In place of a SLM therapist here in Toronto, which I would happily visit once a month for tuneups, I've had good success with a shiatsu therapist, along with faithful adherence to SLM bodywork. Your two books and the DVD are exactly where it's at for my back and sciatica problems. They present the needed solutions, not understood in my experience with two medical doctor and three chiropractor visitations over a period of years. Your theories and knowledge of how muscles work, and how to cater to their needs for long-term relief of my pain has, to say the least, been most gratifying. Had you been available with your SLM system forty years ago ( I'm 74 now ), I'm confident that my pain-free years would have been increased by 40. Again, thanks Steve for the results of your successful efforts in the art of bodyworkings. Sorry for taking so long to get back to you....been a busy few weeks. Yes, its been 4 weeks (at the time of this email) since I started your program. I've been really impressed! After 4 weeks of following your advice, I'm at the stage where I am back to around 95% recovered. Some minor pain occasionally but I still working on getting rid of that! I previously had the same disc buldge injury some 9 months ago & did lots of intense physio to fix the problem. This took 4 months before I was at the stage where I am now. I would highly recommend your book & advice to anyone with any sort of back problem. I have found that your program makes perfect sense and have done a little with results felt immediately. My knees and hips no longer give so much pain when I walk. A little stiffness near the end of my hour of walking instead of constant pain. I still have a shoulder problem that has been giving me problems for over a year and many visits to chiropractors has done nothing to help.Now that I have sold my business I intend to spend some time getting myself back in shape using your program. I have lost 8kgs by walking and improving my diet and I have been able to avoid blood pressure medication by getting my blood pressure down. I will send a picture etc when I come back from my Easter break to Mildura. I am going to try to see one of your therapists as well. Please note: Results are not typical and may vary depending on the effort and time they are done and also on a persons age, condition and general health. People who carry out the exercises and follow the advice on this site do so at their own risk and those with existing health conditions should always consult their Doctor before they undertake the exercises in the programs or videos contained on this site.

2019-04-21T00:36:17Z

http://www.sciaticpain.com.au/getrehab/

Candidates can check the list of the shortlisted candidates here ! उम्मीदवार यहाँ क्लीक कर हिंदी में मेरिट लिस्ट देखें ! The Union Public Service Commission has officially released the merit list for the second phase of Civil Services Recruitment. The exam held from 28th September to 7th October. UPSC candidates who appeared for UPSC Mains Examination can check the list and see if their roll number has been mentioned. The shortlisted candidates will now appear for the final stage i.e. the personality test, after which, the final merit list will be prepared for UPSC Civil Services Recruitment 2018. NOTE: Personality Test of these candidates is likely to commence from 4th February 2019. The UPSC civil services exam, considered one of the toughest exams in the country is attempted by lakhs of people. Out of them, only a tiny fraction emerges successful after the long-drawn process concludes. The IAS exam is so rigorous that the toppers generally create much curiosity every year. Aspirants are eager to know the toppers’ mark. So, we bring you IAS toppers’ marks in all the subjects in the civil services exam. UPSC सिविल सर्विस में सफल उम्मीदवारों के अंक (हिंदी में) : यहाँ क्लिक करें ! Union Public Service Commission or UPSC has declared the final result of IAS 2017-18 as of today. The final list consists of roll number of candidates selected for Indian Administrative Service (IAS). As per the result, Anudeep Durishetty topped the UPSC IAS 2017-18 examination, followed by Anu Kumari, on the second rank. Anu Kumari is topper among all the female candidates too. As per the result IAS 2017-18 final result the top 25 candidates include 17 men and 8 women. The background of these candidates belongs to Engineering; Sciences; Anthropology; Management; Law; Mathematics; Medical and Commerce. Also, these top 25 candidates have graduated from premier Institutions of country. As per the result, we can clearly state that the written part of the examination conducted in between October-November, 2017 and the interviews for Personality Test held between February-April, 2018, as many as 990 names were recommended for appointment. The Civil Services Main Examination is the second stage of the Civil Services Exam. Only those candidates who clear IAS Prelims are eligible to sit for IAS Mains. It comprises 9 papers, out of which marks for only 7 are taken into consideration while preparing the merit list & the remaining 2 are merely qualifying in nature. Each candidate who is eligible for taking the Main Examination has to choose an optional subject, in addition to General Studies & Essay Paper, which are mandatory for all candidates. The Civil Services Exam is considered to be the mother of all exams. The syllabus is very vast and each part of the syllabus calls for a detailed strategy which may be unique for each candidate. However, Onlinetyari has set out a new initiative wherein we guide IAS aspirants by providing detailed strategies to tackle the IAS Exam. As per UPSC, the General Studies papers are so designed as to test the general awareness of a candidate on a variety of subjects. These subjects have been so chosen that they would be relevant for a career in the Civil Services. The nature & standard of questions asked would be such that a candidate would need no specialized study to answer them. The Civil Services Mains exam calls for simply a basic understanding of issues that are relevant to the exam. What this essentially means is that, you have to be aware of the issues that are relevant from the exam point of view and know certain basics around them. Since, there are issues too many, you can not afford to get into the details of all of them. IAS Mains syllabus would come in handy here. Always remember to go through the UPSC Syllabus while you prepare. Merely remembering facts around the issues is not sufficient. Candidates must be able to analyze those events in context of the larger picture. All candidates besides knowing and analysing issues must also have the ability to form their own opinion around them. This is very critical to your scores in the General Studies Papers. As a candidate, you would have to look at all issues from a very balanced perspective. You can not afford to have a partisan approach. While framing your opinions, it is always advised that you must weigh both the pros and cons and then come to a conclusion. How to crack General Studies for IAS Mains? All those candidates who give relevant, meaningful and succinct answers to the questions asked are likely to score better than the rest. UPSC is very serious around the Word Limits that are predefined for each question. Besides, the number of questions that are asked in the General Studies Paper is also a lot. Thus, there is a time constraint that you need to take care of. So, remember, as an IAS aspirant, you do not need to have a doctorate in each of the subjects that are a part of IAS Mains syllabus to crack General Studies for IAS Mains. Just make sure you read the question well, write only relevant & succinct answers, present them wonderfully. NOTE: More on Strategy for General Studies IAS Mains on OnlineTyari Blog. जलवायु परिवर्तन से संबंधित प्रमुख अंतर्राष्ट्रीय सम्मेलन : मुख्य तथ्य ! राज्य सभा : परिचय , मतदान प्रक्रिया और शक्तियां ! IAS साक्षात्कार परीक्षा में कैसे पाएं प्रथम प्रयास में सफलता ! UPSC CSE (IAS) मुख्य परीक्षा में प्रभावी उत्तर कैसे लिखें ? GS पेपर 4 के तहत एथिक्स आधारित केस स्टडी प्रश्नों का समाधान कैसे करें ! which include 32 vacancies reserved for Persons with Benchmark Disability Category, i.e. 2 Vacancies : for (e) multiple disabilities from amongst persons under clauses (a) to (c) including deaf-blindness. Candidates do not have to register separately for IAS Mains Exam. Candidates who are declared by the Commission to have qualified for admission to the Civil Services (Main) Examination will have to apply online again, in the Detailed Application Form (DAF) which would be made available to them. The DAF has to be filled very carefully because the candidates are required to submit their Post & Cadre preferences besides other important details through the detailed application form only. Successful candidates appearing for IAS Mains are sent out an auto generated e-mail by the UPSC, with their login credentials. Candidates have to fill the DAF online and also take a print out of the same & send it over to the Union Public Service Commission in the manner as prescribed by the UPSC. 1. For IAS & IPS: A candidate must be a citizen of India. e. A Person of Indian origin who has migrated from Pakistan, Burma, Sri Lanka, East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi, Zaire, Ethiopia and Vietnam with the intention of permanently settling in India. For Physically Handicapped Candidate: 42 years for General candidate, 45 years for OBC candidate and 47 years for SC/ST candidates. There would be a 5 year age relaxation if a candidate had ordinarily been domiciled in the State of Jammu & Kashmir during the period from the 1st January, 1980 to the 31st December, 1989. In order to appear for IAS Mains exams, candidates must have cleared the IAS Prelims the same year. Also, in order to appear for the IAS Prelims exam, candidates must meet the educational qualifications. Click here to know more about educational qualifications for IAS Prelims. As per the revised UPSC pattern, candidates have to appear for 9 descriptive papers as part of IAS Main Exam. And out of these nine papers, marks for only 7 are counted. The remaining two are merely qualifying in nature and the candidate has to score minimum marks prescribed by UPSC, each year, to qualify. Candidates have to qualify two papers: Paper A: English & Paper B: Indian Languages (mentioned in the Eighth Schedule of the Indian Constitution). These two exams are of 300 marks each. It is important to note that if a candidate fails to qualify any of these papers, his answer scripts for the remaining papers will not be evaluated. The Commission will have the discretion to fix qualifying marks in any or all papers of the examination. The essay is to be written in the medium or language of the candidate's choice. Candidates will be required to write essays on specific topics. UPSC will give the choice of topics. They will be expected to keep closely to the subject of the essay to arrange their ideas in orderly fashion, and to write concisely. Credit will be given for effective and exact expression. General Studies I: Indian Heritage and Culture, History and Geography of the World and Society. The Civil Services Main Examination is subjective type in nature. As per the latest IAS Exam 2017 pattern, there are 9 descriptive papers in IAS Mains, out of which marks for only 7 are taken into consideration while preparing the final merit. The remaining two are merely qualifying in nature and the candidate has to score minimum marks prescribed by UPSC, each year, to qualify. The 7 papers whose marks are counted towards the final merit are of 250 marks each. While the two qualifying papers are of 300 marks each. Paper-A: Language -300 Marks : One Indian Language to be selected by the candidate from the Languages included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution. What is the objective behind conducting the Main Examination? According to the UPSC Civil Services Notification, the objective of the Main Examination is to assess the overall intellectual traits and depth of understanding of candidates rather than their information, memory and recall only. This means the candidates are evaluated not only on the basis of the information they possess but also their ability to understand, analyse and relate their knowledge in the context of the questions asked. What is the Nature & Standard of Questions asked in the IAS Mains Exam? As regarding the nature and standard of questions asked in the IAS Mains Exam, the general opinion that prevails is that UPSC can ask anything & everything under the sky. This is because they feel that the UPSC Syllabus leaves nothing untouched. However, there is a science behind this and the questions asked in the Civil Services Mains Examination are not so random after all. There would be two papers for Optional Subjects in IAS Main Examination. One for Paper-I & Paper-II each and both would be 250 marks each. i.e. If you have Sociology as your optional, you'd need to appear for Sociology Paper-I & Paper-II. Same goes for all optional subjects. The scope of the syllabus for optional subject papers (Paper VI and Paper VII) for IAS Mains is broadly of the honours degree level i.e. one level higher than the Bachelors' degree and lower than the Masters' degree. In the case of Engineering, Medical Science and law, the level corresponds to the bachelors' degree. Each of the Candidates sitting for UPSC Mains Examination has to choose one optional subject from amongst the list of optionals provided by the Union Public Service Commission. It is not mandatory to choose your Optional Subject, the same as your Graduation/Post-Graduation subject. For example, an Electrical engineer can choose to appear for IAS Mains with Kannada as an Optional Subject, a Doctor can pick History as his/her optional, a humanities student can choose Medical Science if he so likes. Each of these Optional Subjects comes with its own detailed syllabus. (xvii) Indian Information Service(Junior Grade), Group ‘A’. *Cut off marks on the basis of GS Paper-I only. GS Paper-II was of qualifying nature with 33% marks as per Rule-15 of Civil Services Examination, 2017. Ques.- What items are banned at the Examination Venues? (a) Mobile phones, smart watches, bluetooth, pagers or any other communication devices and IT gadgets are banned items and are therefore not allowed inside the premises where the examination is being conducted. Any infringement of these instructions shall entail disciplinary action including ban from future examinations. (b)Candidates are advised in their own interest not to bring any of the banned items including mobile phones/bluetooth/pagers to the venue of the examination. (c) Candidates are also advised not to bring any valuable/expensive items to the Examination Halls, as safety of such items cannot be assured. Commission will not be responsible for any loss in this regard. Ques.- To how many services am I eligible to be recruited on the basis CSE? The above mentioned services are categorized / classified into (i) Technical Services and (ii) Non-Technical services. Based on your medical report, you are either eligible/fit only for all nontechnical services (not fit for technical services), both eligible/fit for technical as well as all non-technical services (fit for all services) or eligible/fit for non-technical and some of the technical services or eligible/fit for none of the technical as well as non-technical service (unfit for all services). Ques.- What is a TECHNICAL SERVICE? Ques.-Which are the Non-Technical services? The Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, Indian Audit and Accounts Service, Group 'A', Indian Revenue Service (Customs & Central Excise) Gr. "A", Indian Revenue Service, (IT) Group 'A', Indian Postal Service, Group 'A', Indian Civil Accounts Service, Group 'A', Indian Railway Accounts Service, Group 'A', Indian Railway Personnel Service, Group 'A', The Indian Defence Estates Service, Group 'A', Indian Information Service, Junior Grade Group 'A' Indian Corporate Law Service. Group 'A', Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep. Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli Civil Service, Group 'B'. Ques.- Whether a candidate who is allocated to one of the services participating in the Civil Service Examination can again appear in the Civil Service Examination for improvement? Ques.-How are candidates shortlisted for being called for interview for a particular post? The candidates must fulfill the prescribed minimum essential qualifications required for a particular post to get shortlisted. However, in case there are a large number of Applications, the Commission adopts a shortlisting criteria to restrict the number of candidates to be called for interview to a reasonable number in accordance with the methods mentioned in the detailed advertisement (Note-II under “INSTRUCTIONS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION TO CANDIDATES FOR RECRUITMENT BY SELECTION”). Ques.-How shall I get information regarding interviews? The call letter will be sent on your e-mail provided in the Online application. The practice of sending interview Call letters by post has now been discontinued. The candidates who have applied are, therefore, advised to check their e-mails regularly. Ques.-What documents should I carry at the time of interview? The candidates are informed about the list of documents required to be produced at the time of interview. This list is annexed to their Interview Call Letter sent through e-mail. Ques.-Can I carry my mobile, laptop or any other communication devices, with me for the Interview or Recruitment Test? No. Such gadgets are strictly prohibited during interviews or for Recruitment Tests. Ques.-How are candidates assessed by the Interview Boards? (a) The objective of the interview is to assess the personal suitability of the candidate for the post for which he/she has been called for interview. The idea is to judge the candidate through a fair and impartial assessment and award marks based on his/her overall performance. (b) The interview is not merely a test of knowledge (whether general or in subject matter) but an attempt to assess the potential of the individual for being shaped into a competent, dedicated and honest officer who can be entrusted with the tasks and responsibilities associated with public service. (c) Candidates are judged on the basis of their overall records (educational qualifications, knowledge, experience, interests, activities etc.) and performance in the interview. However, marks are awarded on an overall basis and not on individual attributes separately. Ques.-What is the composition of the Interview Board? An Interview Board is headed by a President, who is generally assisted by three Advisers who are Experts in their respective field(s)/discipline(s). Ques.-Can I know the details like designation, academic qualifications etc. regarding Interview Board Members? No. These details are not disclosed in compliance with Orders of Hon’ble Supreme Court in Civil Appeal No. 9052 of 2012 [arising out of SLP(C) No. 20217 of 2011], filed by BPSC Vs Saiyed Hussain Abbas Rizwi & Anr. Ques.- What are the Maximum Marks and the minimum qualifying marks in the interview? Ques.- Do the President and the Advisers give marks separately to a candidate? No. Marks are assigned by consensus. Ques.-Can a candidate belonging to one of the reserved categories viz., Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes/Other Backward Classes/Physically Handicapped be recommended for selection against an unreserved vacancy? A candidate belonging to one of the reserved categories can be recommended against an unreserved vacancy if he/she meets the criterion adopted for the unreserved category candidates and does not avail of any relaxation. Ques.-How is the seniority of candidates recommended by the UPSC determined? The UPSC only recommends selected candidates in the order of merit. The fixation of seniority of recommended candidates in their respective cadres/grades falls within the purview of the Ministries/Departments concerned and is determined by them. Ques.-Who verifies the character and antecedents of candidates recommended by the UPSC? The Ministries/Departments concerned and the Cadre Controlling Authorities are responsible for verification of the character and antecedents of the candidates recommended by the UPSC. Ques.- What is the main function of the All India Services (AIS) Branch? The main function of the All India Services Branch of the Commission is to assist the Commission in induction of State Services Officers into the All India Services through Promotion or by Selection. Ques.- Does the AIS Branch deal with the regular promotion cases/disciplinary cases/other service matters of the All India Services? No. AIS branch deals only with appointment by promotion of State Civil Service (SCS)/State Police Service (SPS)/State Forest Service (SFS) Officers to the Indian Administrative Service (IAS)/Indian Police Service (IPS)/Indian Forest Service (IFS) respectively and appointment by Selection of Non-State Civil Services (NSCS) Officers to the IAS. Ques.- Whether medical examination of candidates qualified in CSE (Mains) is mandatory? Ques.- From where a candidate can get an access to Appendix-III to CSE Rules as well as information relating to his/her medical examination? Ques.- What are the instructions for the candidates to follow before appearing the central standing medical board (CSMB) for medical examination? Candidate belonging to Physical Handicapped (PH) category is advised to bring along the appliances being used by him/her for his/her disability. Ques.- Whether the candidate can leave the medical examination incomplete? Ques.- Whether formal permission of the Chairman of the Medical Board would be required by the candidate before leaving the medical examination? Ques.- Whether medical examination report should be shared with the candidate? Ques.- Is there any provision for appeal against the findings of medical examination? Ques.- Whether it is mandatory to enclose certificate in support of his/her of being a fit candidate? Ques.- Where will the medical examination by the Appellate Medical Board be held? Ques.- When a candidate would be required to present himself/herself before Appellate Medical Board? Ques.- What will happen if a candidate fails to present himself before Appellate Medical Board on the scheduled date? Ques.- Whether there is any opportunity to file the appeal for review of the findings of Appellate Medical Board? Ques.- Whether there is provision for appeal of PH candidate against findings of CSMB? Ques.-Whether any fee will charged from PH for filing appeal against CSMB ? Ques.- Who will constitute medical board? Ques.- Whether Chairman of CSMBs may consult specialists of other designated hospitals before giving a medical report? Ques.- Whose decision as regards to fitness of the candidates shall be final? Ques.- What will be the constitution of the Appellate Medical Board? Ques.- Who will examine PH candidate on their appeal? Appellate Disability Medical Board (ADMB) constituted by Government would examine PH candidate on their appeal. Ques.- Whether it is mandatory to have lady doctor in the medical examination of lady candidate? Ques.- What is the procedure for the candidate having temporary unfitness? Ques.- In how many months such candidates would be re-examined? Temporary unfit candidate would be re-examined within a period not exceeding 6 months. After the re-examination final report as regards to his/ her fitness or otherwise for appointment to service would be given. Issues relating to candidates belonging to PH category. Ques.- What should be the degree of disability for claiming reservation in posts/services under the Central Government? Ques.-Who is the competent authority to issue Disability Certificate? Ques.-What is Physical Requirement and Functional Classification (PR & FC)? Ques.- Where PR and FC are for various services participating in CSE have been indicated? Ques.- Who is PH for the purpose of service allocation on the basis of CSE? Ques.- Who can issue the disability certificate? Ques.- Whether there is prescribed format for disability certificate? Yes, there is a prescribed format for issue of disability certificate. Ques.- What is the date by which disability certificate should have been issued to a candidate appearing in CSE? Ques.- Whether PH candidate would be medically examined after interview? Ques.- Who is competent to give permanent disability certificate? Ques.-Whether the disability certificate can be denied without giving an opportunity to candidate? Ques.- For how many services one can indicate his/her preference? Ques.- Whether change of preference of services once indicated is permitted? Ques.- I have not indicated preferences for all the service for CSE 2012. What will happen if I do not get service for which I have indicated preference? Ques.- Who is General Merit (GM) or Meritorious Reserved Category (MRC) candidate? Ques.- What is Service allocation from Reserve List ? Ques.- When requisitions are sent by DOPT to UPSC for recommending names from Reserve List? Requisition is sent to UPSC when after service allocation from CSE (Main) List, it becomes clear as to whether a particular GM candidate has been allocated service against unreserved vacancy or has switched over to his/her category. Ques.- What are the parameters on which service allocation to a particular candidate is decided? Service allocation to a particular candidate is depending on rank of the candidate in CSE, his/ her order of preference for service, his/her category, availability of vacancy in his/her category at his /her turn and findings of Medical Board/Appellate Board in respect of him/her. Ques.- Whether success in Civil Services Examination creates indefeasible right for appointment? No. Success in the examination does not confer indefeasible right for appointment unless Govt. is satisfied after such enquiry as may be considered necessary that the candidate having regard to his character & antecedents is suitable in all respects for appointments to the service.

2019-04-20T14:18:40Z

https://onlinetyari.com/ias-mains/

Manufacturers added 24,000 workers in April, the seventh consecutive month with robust hiring growth in the sector, averaging 26,571 per month over that time frame. As such, the latest jobs numbers confirm that the labor market has tightened significantly, with manufacturers increasing employment by a rather strong 19,000 per month on average since the end of 2016. Since the end of the Great Recession, manufacturing employment has risen by 1,202,000 workers, with 12,655,000 employees in the sector in this report. That is the highest level of manufacturing employment since December 2008. More importantly, healthy jobs growth is also leading to higher wages. Average weekly earnings for production and nonsupervisory employees in the manufacturing sector rose to $907.78, up 4.2 percent over the past 12 months. Despite the healthy increase in manufacturing employment, nonfarm payrolls increased just 164,000 in April. While this represented an improvement from the gain of 135,000 in March, it was below the consensus estimate of around 190,000. Meanwhile, the unemployment rate dropped to 3.9 percent in April and continued to be the lowest level since December 2000. In addition, the so-called “real” unemployment rate, which includes discouraged, other “marginally attached” workers, fell from 8.0 percent to 7.8 percent, the lowest level since July 2001. Other measures on manufacturing activity were also heartening, with continued growth and a solid economic outlook. The ISM Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index declined to 57.3 in April, the lowest level since July 2017, but even with softer growth in production, exports and hiring, the latest survey remained consistent with healthy expansions in the sector. Along those lines, new orders were robust, with that measure at 60 or higher—a threshold suggesting very strong growth—for 12 straight months. The sample comments tend to echo that finding, with respondents noting healthy growth in activity and a promising outlook, even as they cite some trade worries. At the same time, manufacturers report accelerated input costs, with the data on raw material prices at levels not seen in seven years. There were similarly encouraging findings in the latest manufacturing survey from the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank and in the most recent factory orders data. Improved international economic growth has also helped, with exports building in the early months of 2018 on the rebound in global demand in 2017. U.S.-manufactured goods exports totaled $280.56 billion through the first three months of 2018, up 6.34 percent from the year-to-date total of $263.83 billion in 2017. In addition, the U.S. trade deficit fell back to earth in March after soaring to the highest level since October 2008 in the prior release. The trade deficit declined from $57.74 billion in February to $48.96 billion in March—a six-month low. More importantly, goods exports rose to a new all-time high, up to $140.88 billion. With that said, it is worth noting that the U.S. dollar has risen 3.4 percent since January 25 against major currencies, according to the Federal Reserve. Still, the dollar remains 8.6 percent lower than it was at the end of 2016, helping the overall competitiveness of U.S. exports. As noted earlier, manufacturers continue to report a pickup in pricing pressures. Indeed, the personal consumption expenditures (PCEs) deflator has risen 2.0 percent over the past 12 months, the fastest year-over-year pace since February 2017. Excluding food and energy, core PCE inflation rose 1.9 percent year-over-year in March, accelerating for the seventh consecutive month after bottoming out at 1.3 percent in August. At the conclusion of its May 1–2 meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) acknowledged that inflation had approached the committee’s 2-percent goal, but as expected, participants chose not to raise short-term rates. The Federal Reserve did note continued strength in the U.S. economy, especially in the labor market, and the FOMC is widely expected to hike the federal funds rate again at its June 12–13 meeting for the second time so far this year. Given the healthy gains in manufacturing employment described above, the latest Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey report will be one of the highlights this week. In February, there were 426,000 job postings in the sector, with hiring at the highest level since November 2007. Indeed, manufacturers continue to cite their inability to attract and retain quality workers as the primary challenge for their business, according to the most recent NAM survey. There will also be additional data on inflation, with updates on consumer and producer prices. Other releases out this week include new figures on consumer credit, consumer sentiment and small business optimism. ADP reported that manufacturers added 10,000 workers in April, easing somewhat but extending the 18,000 gain in March. Through the first four months of 2018, the manufacturing sector has hired an additional 17,942 employees per month, up from an average of 14,823 per month for all of 2017. The data show strong growth in hiring activity since the end of 2016, especially as production and the overall economic outlook have improved. In contrast, manufacturing employment was more sluggish in 2016, illustrating the turnaround in the labor market since then. More importantly, continued strength in job growth is expected moving forward. Meanwhile, total nonfarm private employment increased by 204,000 in April, off from 228,000 in March. Nonetheless, it was the fifth consecutive month with job growth of at least 200,000 in the U.S. economy, according to ADP’s estimates. Over the past four months, nonfarm payrolls have risen by 228,542 workers per month, up from an average of 185,415 per month for all of 2017. This is yet another indication that the U.S. labor market remains quite robust. In April, the largest employment growth included professional and business services (up 58,000), education and health services (up 39,000), leisure and hospitality (up 36,000), construction (up 27,000) and trade, transportation and utilities (up 14,000). Small and medium-sized businesses (i.e., those with fewer than 500 employees) accounted for 73.5 percent of the net job growth for the month. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that manufacturers added 24,000 workers in April, extending the 22,000 gain in March. It was the seventh consecutive month with robust hiring growth in the sector, averaging 26,571 per month over that time frame. As such, the latest jobs numbers confirm that the labor market has tightened significantly, with manufacturers increasing employment by a rather strong 19,000 per month on average since the end of 2016. That is quite a turnaround from the sluggish job growth in 2016, and it is a sign that firms have continued to accelerate their hiring as the economic outlook has strengthened and demand and production have improved considerably. The latest report is very encouraging. Strong job growth in April shows that economic confidence remains high in the wake of historic, pro-growth tax reform. Moreover, manufacturers continue to invest, raise wages and hire more workers as they expand their businesses and plan for the future. Congress and the president delivered on their promises, and now manufacturers, through our “Keeping Our Promise” campaign, are showing how we are delivering on ours. Along those lines, average weekly earnings for production and nonsupervisory employees in the manufacturing sector rose from $901.39 in March to $907.78 in April. That translated into a whopping 4.2 percent increase over the past 12 months, up from $871.10 in April 2017, which further illustrates the strength of the labor market right now. The Census Bureau reported that private manufacturing construction spending slipped for the second straight month, down 1.1 percent in March after decreasing 0.9 percent in February. The value of construction put in place in the sector rose to $67.73 billion at the annual rate in January, the fastest pace since May 2017, but it eased to $67.14 billion in February and $66.38 billion in March. Overall, construction in the sector has drifted lower since achieving the all-time high of $82.13 billion in May 2015. Along those lines, manufacturing construction has declined 6.9 percent year-over-year. Even with some recent softness, construction activity should accelerate in the coming months with the solid economic outlook and robust growth in demand, production and hiring. Overall, private nonresidential construction spending declined 0.4 percent in March, but with year-over-year growth of a modest 2.2 percent. In the latest figures, the data showed mixed results. There were more dollars spent on construction projects in the amusement and recreation (up 4.5 percent), religious (up 3.5 percent), communications (up 1.6 percent), office (up 1.1 percent) and educational (up 0.9 percent) segments, among others. In addition to manufacturing, the other major sectors with decreased construction spending in March included health care (down 3.5 percent), commercial (down 2.2 percent) and lodging (down 0.4 percent). Meanwhile, private residential construction spending fell 3.5 percent in March, but with 5.3 percent growth over the past 12 months. In the latest data, single-family and multifamily construction declined 0.4 percent and 2.7 percent in March, respectively. More encouragingly, single-family activity jumped 9.7 percent year-over-year. In addition to those components, public construction spending was flat in March, with a gain of 3.0 percent over the past year. The Dallas Federal Reserve Bank reported that manufacturing activity continued to expand solidly in April. The composite index of general business conditions declined from 22.8 in March to 21.8 in April, but growth remained strong overall. In fact, most of the key measures of activity accelerated in the latest survey, including new orders (up from 10.3 to 27.9), production (up from 14.4 to 25.3), capacity utilization (up from 11.1 to 18.7), shipments (up from 10.3 to 19.3), employment (up from 11.7 to 17.8), hours worked (up from 10.2 to 14.3) and capital expenditures (up from 18.2 to 23.9). At the same time, the strong economy has lifted both wages and benefits (up from 24.1 to 29.3) and prices for raw materials (up from 43.0 to 46.3). Input costs in April grew at the fastest pace in seven years, mirroring the rise in other data. This trend is seen continuing over the next six months as well, with 53.7 percent of respondents predicting higher costs and just 4.6 percent anticipating declines. Meanwhile, manufacturers in the Dallas Federal Reserve’s district continued to be very positive in their overall outlook for the next six months. The forward-looking measure inched up from 31.6 to 31.9, which remained encouraging. More than half of respondents anticipate new orders, production, capacity utilization and shipments increasing over the next six months, with 41.3 percent and 39.1 percent planning to hire more workers and spend more on capital investments, respectively. The Census Bureau reported that new factory orders rose 1.6 percent for the second straight month in March. Strong nondefense aircraft and parts orders helped boost the data in both February and March, and in the latest data, that segment jumped 44.5 percent. Aircraft sales are highly volatile from month to month, however, with orders often bunched around key events. Excluding transportation equipment, new orders for manufactured goods increased 0.3 percent in March. Overall, new factory orders have trended sharply higher over the past year. Along those lines, sales of manufactured goods soared 8.1 percent since March 2017, or 6.6 percent with transportation equipment excluded. Nonetheless, core capital goods—or nondefense capital goods excluding aircraft—fell 0.4 percent in March. These can often be seen as a proxy for capital spending in the U.S. economy, and as such, the data suggest that capital investments might have been softer in March than we might prefer. Encouragingly, much like the headline number, there was a healthy gain of 6.8 percent over the past 12 months. Durable goods demand increased 2.6 percent in March, but excluding transportation equipment, new orders edged up just 0.1 percent. At the same time, sales of nondurable goods increased 0.5 percent in March. Looking specifically at durable goods activity in March, new orders strengthened for primary metals (up 2.1 percent), computers and electronic products (up 1.0 percent), electrical equipment, appliances and components (up 0.6 percent) and fabricated metal products (up 0.3 percent). In contrast, sales decreased for machinery (down 1.9 percent), furniture and related products (down 1.5 percent) and motor vehicles and parts (down 1.0 percent). Meanwhile, shipments of manufactured goods rose 0.4 percent in March, with durable and nondurable goods shipments increasing 0.4 percent and 0.5 percent, respectively. On a year-over-year basis, factory shipments have risen 6.8 percent since March 2017, or 6.6 percent with transportation equipment excluded. Core capital goods shipments pulled back 0.1 percent from February’s all-time high, but with year-over-year growth of 7.6 percent. The Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Census Bureau reported that the U.S. trade deficit fell back to earth in March after soaring to the highest level since October 2008 in the prior release. The trade deficit declined from $57.74 billion in February to $48.96 billion in March—a six-month low. More importantly, goods exports rose to a new all-time high, up from $137.13 billion to $140.88 billion. Also helping to push the trade deficit lower, goods imports dropped from $214.09 billion to $210.37 billion. In addition, the service-sector trade surplus rose from $19.21 billion to $20.54 billion. More importantly for manufacturers, exports have started 2018 on a positive note, extending the nice rebound in 2017. U.S.-manufactured goods exports totaled $280.56 billion through the first three months of 2018, up 6.34 percent from the year-to-date total of $263.83 billion in 2017. In addition, U.S.-manufactured goods to our top six trading partners were also better year-to-date this year relative to last year: Canada (up from $66.96 billion to $73.19 billion), Mexico (up from $58.70 billion to $63.93 billion), China (up from $29.50 billion to $32.02 billion), Japan (up from $16.03 billion to $17.46 billion), the United Kingdom (up from $13.08 billion to $17.18 billion) and Germany (up from $12.95 billion to $14.76 billion). Digging deeper into the latest release, goods exports mostly increased, as noted above, led by gains in nonautomotive capital goods (up $1.90 billion), foods, feeds and beverages (up $1.05 billion) and industrial supplies and materials (up $947 million). At the same time, goods imports fell across the board, including declines for nonautomotive capital goods (down $1.51 billion), consumer goods (down $928 million) and industrial supplies and materials (down $704 million), among others. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) reported that manufacturing activity continued to expand modestly in April, even as it pulled back for the second straight month from February’s best reading since May 2004. The ISM Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index declined from 60.8 in February, to 59.3 in March, to 57.3 in April, the lowest level since July 2017. Softer growth in production (down from 61.0 to 57.2), exports (down from 58.7 to 57.7) and employment (down from 57.3 to 54.2) help to explain the weaker headline number in April. The exports figure eased for the second consecutive month, down from the February rate, which had been the fastest since April 2011. Despite some weakening in other measures, new orders decelerated slightly but remained robust overall (down from 61.9 to 61.2), which was encouraging. To illustrate just how strong demand has been in the manufacturing sector, it was the 12th straight month with the new orders index at 60 or higher—a threshold suggesting robust sales growth. The sample comments tend to echo that finding, with respondents noting healthy growth in activity and a promising outlook, even as they cite some trade worries. With ever-stronger economic growth, manufacturers report accelerated input costs. Indeed, prices for raw materials remained highly elevated (up from 78.1 to 79.3), with the measure at a level not seen in seven years. More than 61 percent of manufacturing respondents said their costs had risen in April, with just 2.6 percent suggesting they decreased. This reflects a rebound in some commodity costs, even as overall pricing pressures continue to be largely modest, at least for now. In other news, inventories expanded in April for the fourth straight month (down from 55.5 to 52.9), even as the pace of growth slowed from February’s near eight-year high. More than anything, the recent growth in inventories is consistent with the healthy growth in overall production. The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that personal spending rebounded, up 0.4 percent in March after being unchanged in February. Americans consumed more durable goods in March, up 0.8 percent, but they bought fewer nondurable goods, which fell 0.2 percent for the month. Strong motor vehicle sales helped to boost the durable goods numbers. Overall, consumer spending remained a bright spot in the economy, with personal consumption expenditures (PCEs) up 4.4 percent over the past 12 months, down slightly from 4.5 percent year-over-year in the prior report. In addition, goods spending for durable and nondurable goods also increased at very healthy rates over the past 12 months, up 3.9 percent and 4.1 percent year-over-year, respectively. At the same time, personal income rose 0.3 percent for the second straight month in March. Since March 2017, personal incomes have risen 3.6 percent. As such, income growth has remained at modest levels. For manufacturers, total wages and salaries slipped from $869.9 billion in February to $857.6 billion in March. Despite some easing, manufacturing wages and salaries have increased by a solid 3.8 percent rate year-over-year, up from $826.3 billion in March 2017. The saving rate had fallen to 2.4 percent in December—the lowest rate since September 2005—but it has ticked higher since then. With more spending in the latest report, the saving rate dropped from 3.3 percent in February to 3.1 percent in March. One year ago, the saving rate registered 3.9 percent, illustrating an increased willingness to spend over the past 12 months. In other news, the PCE deflator was unchanged in March, pulling back from a gain of 0.2 percent in February. The drag on the PCE deflator in March stemmed largely from energy costs, which decreased 2.8 percent. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, increased 0.2 percent in March. More importantly, the PCE deflator has risen 2.0 percent over the past 12 months, up from 1.7 percent in the previous report and the fastest year-over-year pace since February 2017. Excluding food and energy, core PCE inflation rose 1.9 percent year-over-year in March, accelerating for the seventh consecutive month after bottoming out at 1.3 percent in August. This mirrors the recent pickup in other price measures, and since this is the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation, its appreciation will get a lot of attention. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that manufacturing labor productivity rose 0.5 percent in the first quarter, easing from the solid rebound of 4.5 percent in the fourth quarter. More importantly, it was the second straight quarterly increase in output per worker following a significant amount of choppiness over the past few years. Manufacturing output increased 3.3 percent in the first quarter, led by strong growth in durable goods, which had output growth soar by 5.5 percent. Nondurable goods output increased a more modest 1.1 percent. Overall, hours worked in the sector rose 2.8 percent, with unit labor costs up 2.7 percent. Durable and nondurable goods labor productivity increased 1.3 percent and 0.6 percent in the first quarter, respectively. The latest release featured revisions to the historical data. In 2017, manufacturing labor productivity increased 0.4 percent, down from the prior estimate of 0.6 percent. Output and unit labor costs rose 1.5 percent and 1.1 percent in 2017, respectively. The annual figure for manufacturing labor productivity growth was slightly better than the average from 2013 to 2017, which registered just 0.2 percent. Indeed, sluggish productivity growth continues to be one of the larger frustrations in the U.S. economy in the aftermath of the Great Recession. In comparison, the average growth rate for manufacturing labor productivity registered 3.9 percent in both the 1990–2000 and 2002–2008 time frames, or the two prior economic recoveries. Meanwhile, nonfarm labor productivity rose 0.7 percent in the first quarter, up from the 0.3 percent increase in the fourth quarter. Nonfarm output decelerated from 3.7 percent growth in the fourth quarter to 2.8 percent in the first quarter, but that was still a decent figure. Hourly compensation costs jumped 3.4 percent in the first quarter, with unit labor costs up 2.7 percent. Similar to the manufacturing data described above, nonfarm labor productivity has slowed considerably since the recession, averaging 0.7 percent per year from 2011 to 2017. That remains lower than the 2.7 percent annual growth rate average from 2000 to 2007.

2019-04-19T05:20:47Z

https://www.nam.org/Newsroom/eNewsletters/Monday-Economic-Report/2018/Monday-Economic-Report---May-7--2018/

We always try upon impress to our clients the importance of working with us to develop a complete marketing ecosystem: website, social media, photos, video, and copy. As all of these elements are interconnected and impact each other, it’s important to ensure that each are considered and built with the other in mind when they are being developed or produced, and never in a silo. (read more about ecosystems here). Connecting dots between these different channels and utilizing the assets across the entire ecosystem is the most effective to getting your message across. It's considered best practice, but sometimes we find that our clients are so busy or mired in the details that they have a hard time looking at their project through the 50ft lens, which lucky for them is just a part of our process before commencing any work. With our good friends over at Parker Services, a local, high-end plumbing company featured in some of the city's best restaurants and homes, we got to work on the complete creative suite together. From cooking up a new brand identity, portfolio photos, optimized social pages and a fresh website, to SEO-friendly site copy, team uniforms and vehicle graphics, we worked head-to-toe with Parker Services. We saw an opportunity to develop a visual and voice narrative that stood out from the competition, drawing on brands outside of their industry for inspiration. While it's sometimes easier to piece-meal projects together, both mentally and budgetarily, there is a greater risk of working off a disjointed ecosystem. From imagery and video, to copy and graphic assets, optimizing all your channels to work together is the best way to get the most bang for your buck. Check out some of the work we did for Parker Services below, as well as the process we took to get to our end result. We started with a simple brand identity that spoke to their customer and a heritage feel. Next we went and shot photos of their latest projects, like Optimism Brewery. As well as their fine work in private residences. Then we used their new photo assets to create a slick and manageable website. And optimized their social media channels. And nothing says "plumbing company" without some good t-shirts, hoodies, and hats for the crew. Nate Parker, of Parker Services looks pretty good in his signature jacket and hat, in front of their custom van. A few weeks back we got to work with one of our favorite clients, Therm-a-Rest, on a series of product videos shot in the North Cascades. If you've never been to the North Cascades, going during fall may be one of the best times to go, but any time of year is worth a visit. We used the quaint and scenic town of Mazama as a basecamp for the week's shoot, which is gorgeous in and of itself, and headed into the hills for three days of on-location action. We feel lucky to be able to call this work, and even luckier to share these adventures with a crew we get to call friends. Stay tuned for the final videos once they are released, but in the meantime check out some behind-the-scenes photos. Location scouting days aren't so bad when this is the destination. Six inches off the ground, or six feet? It's all in your head. It's well worth waking up at the crack of dawn to capture time lapses from a place like this. This crew is tight. Like too many people cramped in a #vanlife tight. Katie is busy setting up the Ronin while Penny poses in the background for an unknown photographer. It's not all fun and games on a shoot, but a lot of the times it is. Everyone busy setting up the campsite scene. Heading downhill for a two mile hike back from our high-alpine location. Earlier this summer we were fortunate to be able to work with our friends at Therma-a-Rest to produce their latest brand video. After a weekend spent in Leavenworth hiking, mountain biking, rock climbing, and hanging around a roaring campfire, this is what we came away with. The only thing better than getting to work on projects like this is working on them with some of your best friends. It's been an incredible year almost now that we've been working with these guys and it has been fun to offer our full suite of services and watch all of our hard work come to life! Recently we shot some photos for a new campaign launch up in Bellingham, Washington for their me and GO line of insoles and finally got to see the print collateral come together! Check it out! As cliche as it may be, we at WAU tend to refer to each other as Swiss Army knives. Complete with a wide range of different tools and functions, adept at handling many different situations, and always able to open a bottle. A perfect example of this broad, yet sharp skill set comes from Ben Lindbloom. In addition to crushing his daily Social Strategist & Client Manager duties, Ben is our principal photographer. Over the last year, Ben's photography skills have hit puberty and blossomed while creating high quality images for many WAU clients as well as for his side projects. There's so much to say about this one but right now we are incredibly inspired by and proud of his continued work with famed heritage outdoor brand, Filson. Ben's photos have begun to grace both catalog and web pages. Check out some of his work below, on his website, and keep an eye out for Filson's latest print catalogs. With an ever growing adoration for the brand, it has been a privilege and adventure traveling across the plains of Montana, the mountain ranges of Alaska and his very own backyard of the Snoqualmie Pass. Can not wait to see where the next adventure takes him! Take a look at some pictures from his latest shoot in AK, and follow him on instagram. Plants, animals, water, and us humans are all connected through an important and intricate ecosystem. Remove a species of plants and a species of animals will fail, poison the water and we’ll all have a hard time. The marketing ecosystem is no different. From social media sites, websites, email newsletters, and brick and mortar locations, connecting and utilizing these different channels the best way possible is key to getting your message across. While not nearly as important to our survival and existence as the natural world’s ecosystem, recognizing and leveraging the balance between different marketing channels is key to a successful marketing campaign. A strong campaign hits the mark across all social media channels: Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Friendster, and works in conjunction with your other marketing messages like email, your website, in-store POP, etc.. Learning how to leverage, keep track of, and sync up all of your channels is the hard part, but not impossible. It’s not just giant brands with huge marketing budgets making the most noise on the internet, anyone can leverage the tools at their fingertips. With the right goals and intentions in mind, they can inspire masses to take action. Spend time to identify what your message and intended output for your social campaign needs to look like, and look at how to use each of your channels uniquely to push that message. Tailoring those messages to the audience and the channel with an appropriate call to action is key to gaining any traction from your campaign. These days, there are a lot of marketing buzzwords floating around, (like ecosystem!) and even more people who throw them in conversation to sound intelligent, but being able to execute a plan that works with the ecosystem is another thing. With the right guidance, planning, and an understanding of best practices per channel, even the smallest businesses can launch a colossal marketing campaign. Interested in learning more or extending the reach of your current ecosystem? Hit us up! We’d be more than happy to help! The balance between your caffeine, alcohol and water intake. Eating enough fruits and vegetables to balance out that frozen pizza diet. The balance between aperture, shutter speed, ISO. The number of people who commute by bus, bike, and car. The amount of acceptable “sun tan” before you just look burnt. A professional in every sense of the word, Kimmy Fasani is a true Outlier. Not only one of the most talented female snowboarder of all time, but a stand up citizen and a role model for all. After a pretty bad injury a couple years ago, she could have easily hung up her hat and took it easy, but she rose to the challenge and rehabbed past what her doctors could have ever expected. In the process, she not only was able to snowboard again, but she discovered new passions like mountain biking and rock climbing and became a more well-rounded athlete. In addition to all of this, she is also one of the nicest and most genuine people you could ever hope to meet. She was generous enough to make some time during a trans-oceanic flight to catch up with us about her recovery, filming with her skier husband, Chris Benchetler, and her budding triathlon career. [Outliers] Being an outlier is pretty important to taking on a career as a professional snowboarder, do you think it was in your DNA to be an outlier, or was it a conscious choice you made to be different? [Kimmy] I grew up knowing I always wanted to do something unordinary. I loved pushing myself and I was pretty fearless, so it seemed natural to be an Outlier. [O] You suffered through a couple years of injuries lately, but now you seem to be stronger than ever, that has to be brutal, both emotionally and physically. As someone who depends on their body for their paychecks, what goes through your mind and how do you stay motivated through recovery? [K] I have gone through a lot of changes and growth in the past three years, and my injury was a big part of that. Just when I thought I had a good balance with my snowboarding, progressing my riding, and my sponsors, I had a major injury take place. The most important thing for me was to stay positive and focus on the day-to-day tasks of rehabilitation and healing. When my doctor said most athletes may not recovery 100% from what I had done to my body, I chose to be the small percentage that would recover beyond 100%. I worked so hard to get back to full strength, both physically and mentally. I really had to detach from all the goals I had before I got hurt, and realign myself with things that were going to be realistic with my year off snow and a slow progression back into this sport that brought me so much happiness. I tried not to stress too much about my contracts and their longevity because those were elements I could not be in control of, all I could control was my rehab process. [O] You spent some of your time away from the snow getting into biking and even ending up doing a triathlon, did you ever see yourself getting into that realm? Did your recovery time open those doors? [K] I had always wanted to do a triathlon and decided it was a fun, very ambitious, but a great goal to check off while I had to be off the hill. Biking and this triathlon gave me a way to see growth and progression as I recovered. They helped me mentally realize I could do anything I put my mind to. [O] What was it like to get involved with another sector of the active lifestyle industry? Did you notice any major cultural differences between the two sports? [K] Getting the chance to work with Chris MacCormmick, a professional triathlete, was really cool and inspiring. There are so many ways to push our minds and bodies, and being able to test out my abilities in that arena was a great experience. We share a lot of similarities in how we all push through challenges. I would love to continue to do triathlons for this reason. [O] In addition to snowboarding and cycling, you seem to be a very active rock climber and hiker, how do those activities help your snowboarding? [K] Rock climbing and hiking have been really fun activities to keep me outside during the off-season. Both these sports help keep me mentally and physically challenged and strong. They help me stay in the moment and great ways to spend time in the mountains and in nature. Climbing was pretty intimidating to get into because there were a lot of elements I had to trust before I felt comfortable on the rock, and I had to learn to trust my gear (harness, ropes, and belayer). I love climbing because it forces me to be present and stay in the moment. It’s a very mental sport; if your mind isn’t in the right place you may not make it up the route. Hiking and trail running are other hobbies because I love seeing the mountains by trail. It’s serene, peaceful, and also exhilarating and exhausting. I have a deep appreciation for being able to use my body to its fullest capacity since I got hurt. These two outlets are my favorite ways to stay in shape. [O] Your health and healthy living seem to be a big aspect of your life, is that a byproduct of getting older, or is it pretty much mandatory to being a professional athlete these days? [K] I think living a healthy and active life is something we all learn through experience. I have had a lot of people in my family struggle or pass away from cancer, and I want to do as much as possible to stay healthy in the hopes of avoiding it myself. I also find that living a healthy lifestyle makes me and my body feel good. I try to live life to the fullest and eat everything in moderation because of the things I have seen or have gone through personally. I think it’s important to be aware of what we are putting in our bodies, but I don’t think it’s mandatory to be “healthy" to be a snowboarder. However, being healthy and staying fit will probably give some riders more longevity in their careers. I especially noticed that being strong and having a healthy diet before I got hurt helped tremendously as I recovered. [O] It must be hard to maintain a healthy lifestyle when you spend most of the year traveling around the world, what are some of the things you do that other people could work into their lives to stay healthy? [K] Creating a routine while on the road has been really important to maintaining my lifestyle. I always have healthy snacks in my bag and I try to eat pure, unpackaged foods as much as possible. I try to eat mostly organic, and personally have chosen to limit my meat intake unless I know where the meat is from. As for activity, I always have my running shoes in my bag. Since filming in the backcountry is pretty hard on my body with the hiking, sledding, falling, etc, I don’t stress too much about working out in a gym everyday during winter. If I have a have a handful of down days in a row while waiting for weather to clear, I will go bouldering or workout in a local gym. [O] Last season, you filmed with your husband, pro skier Chris Benchetler, and the Nimbus Independent crew, how did that arrangement come about? Was that the first time you have had the chance to film with your husband? [K] It was a really great experience being able to film with Chris and his crew last season. I was having a hard time finding a place on a backcountry crew and these guys were awesome to let me tag along with them. That was the first time Chris and I had spent continuous time in the backcountry together. There were times where we would look at each other standing at the top of a jump and we would just start laughing because we got to share our passions for the mountains and winter sports together. [O] Did you notice any differences between filming with skiers and filming with snowboarders? [K] Filming with snowboarders and skiers has a lot of similarities, like terrain and feature choices. However, skiers can generate speed more quickly on an in-run to a jump than a snowboarder because of their poles and being able to skate with their skis. Therefore, some of the jumps and lines skiers pick can have limitations for a snowboarder. [O] A lot of women and girls look to you as an inspiration, which must be flattering, but who do you look up to and why? Have you had a chance to meet any of your role models the way people get to meet you and get inspired? [K] I am always very humbled and flattered when others tell me I have inspired them. Some of my biggest role models have been men and women who step outside the norm and have overcome challenges, which have led them to success. I can’t say I have one specific role model, but I am constantly being inspired by others who live life with a positive and ambitious attitude. [O] Burton released your full part from the 2014 season, which must have been a relief after being out of the action for so long, are you proud of what you were able to put out? [K] I am so grateful to have something to show for last season and even though my segment wasn’t my best snowboarding or filled with new tricks, I am proud that I was able to get back on my board and push myself out of my comfort zone while staying healthy. My injury played a big toll on my mind, and more than anything I just wanted to know that I could come back and be comfortably scared again. I really struggled to land tricks last year and I think part of it was that my body wasn't ready or strong enough to be hitting the jumps I was hitting. Mentally I had to try, and falling made me realize I was going to be okay! I’m hoping that this season I can start trying new tricks and showcasing the type of riding I know I am capable of. [O] Can you tell us what you have in store for this season? [K] This season I will be building a video part for the Transworld Snowboarding movie, which is really exciting! I just arrived in Japan with the Nimbus Independent crew and will spend majority of my season with them again. I am just trying to wait to see what Mother Nature does with snow and let my travel plans be dictated by her weather patterns. [O] If you could travel back in time and talk to 14-year old Kimmy, what do you think she would think of this woman standing before her? Is there anything you would want to tell her? [K] 14-year old Kimmy would be astonished that all of her childhood dreams have been fulfilled and that she could accomplish so much in life and snowboarding. At 14-years old my dad had just passed away and I was a mess. I was pretty challenging for my mom and snowboarding was honestly what kept me out of a lot of trouble. At that point in my life I had two choices, one was to stay positive and chase sports as a way to stay sane. The other would have been a dark road that probably would not have ended too well. Having a mom who was so supportive of me and my passions helped me chose the first option. Looking back I would tell my 14-year old self to stay encouraged, positive, patient, and trust that all the bad will be overshadowed by the good. All of the struggles will be worth it in the end and your life will be even more beautiful than you can imagine! The dark moments in life will only make you a stronger and enlightened person in the end. A decade ago, "content marketing" wasn't even a thing, yet there were plenty of us already laying the ground work for what would arguably become one of the most pervasive buzz words in marketing. Early on I saw the gap between marketers, the folks creating the strategies and budgets, and those who were expected to execute on those strategies and develop the assets in order to fulfill them. Enter Puget Sound Creative and plenty of other companies who would serve as bridges to those gaps. I have found that having marketers and creators sitting at the same table is crucial to any content and brand marketing strategy. Everyone who works with us has cross-functional backgrounds and, at minimum, a solid understanding of all facets of our business and offering. All our creatives and collaborators have been hand-picked with our values and clients in mind. 2015 marks the 4th year of what has been an incredible journey for myself and all of the people who have trusted and believed in what we have been building over here at Puget Sound Creative. I set out to create a platform to connect creatives, marketers, and individuals pioneering this incredibly inspiring wellspring of ideas and visual narrative, driving the future of marketing to the businesses that need it most. At that time, many saw this concept and my vision as a "unicorn". I too, was not 100% sure how exactly it was going to pan out, but in the least, I knew that we would have fun making magic with some really great people along the way, and off we went. So here we are. PSC has scaled from being one person in a basement room in a house shared with a couple friends, consisting of long nights and longer days with intermittent breaks for food and play. Now we're up to 5+ full time employees, a collection of incredible collaborators, and an office space! I am pleased to say that we are not your typical "agency". We believe that every single company and individual has a unique story and that deserves a tailored relationship with the tools and mechanisms for which we would expect to help tell their story. We do not have MBA's, we do not have the fanciest tools and buzzwords in our back pockets, (However, I may have a few good ones) and we certainly do not wear ties or power suits (Though I do think I might like one). We do have fun, we are constantly creating for our clients and in our personal lives, and we are certainly inspired by all of our clients, friends, and collaborators. We hope to be able to inspire you and your customers as well.

2019-04-20T09:16:30Z

http://www.weareunicorns.co/blog?offset=1454704655415

At Breit Cantor Grana Buckner, we are committed to providing our clients with the care, attention, and dedicated representation they deserve. For more than 40 years, we have made it our goal to take on negligent entities and hold them accountable for the harm they cause. Browse our client testimonials to see what others have to say about our legal team and if you were injured or lost a loved one due to someone else’s negligence, reach out to our Virginia personal injury attorneys today for a free consultation. The team provided my wife and me with the most professional legal advice and representation that in my mind helped us receive the best settlement in our case we could expect. Ron H. and Jan H. This attorney is polite, patient, and takes time to listen to what is being said. Makes you feel comfortable. If I need an attorney for a severe injury, he would surely be the one. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would rate him the highest. We recently associated Cantor, Stoneburner in a tragic wrongful death case that got resolved for top dollar in large measure because of the legal ability, creativity, and tenacity of Irv Cantor and his team. When you associate Breit Cantor Grana Buckner, you get it all: smarts, diligence, compassion, resources, relationships, and most of all, results! I was involved in a serious traffic accident. I was fortunate enough to have Scott Bucci recommended to me as an advocate for a fair and just financial settlement with the insurance companies involved. I was totally satisfied with the way my case was handled and would recommend Scott to a friend or relative if needed. [I appreciated] the courteousness and frankness, thoroughness in gathering documentation, availability for inquiries, forthrightness regarding my situation, [and] professionalism in dealing with insurance companies. I am the senior partner of a 19 lawyer plaintiff’s personal injury firm in West Virginia and Ohio. I have referred cases to Irv Cantor and his team, and Irv has referred cases to me and my firm. There is no one in the State of Virginia that I would rather refer cases to than Irv Cantor. I can also state without hesitation that he represents the highest ideals of our legal profession, and he is a credit to our profession. I have not made such glowing remarks and used these terms I have used above for any other lawyer that I have been associated with, outside my own law firm. Having gone through my injury and everything else that came along with it, was a very stressful time. Stephanie understood the stress that I was under and tried to make things as smooth and easy as possible. She explained everything so that I would understand what was going on, which step of the process we were in, and what to expect next. If I was uneasy about anything, Stephanie spent time talking through things with me. It was a very emotional period for me, and Stephanie understood that. She put all of her energy into this case, finding excellent experts, researching my injury and related injuries, and building a very strong case. The hours, the research, and the dedication will be appreciated for a lifetime. My family and I will be eternally grateful for what you have done for our son. During an extremely emotional time, you were understanding, caring, professional, and communicated clearly every step of the way. The amount of work and dedication your firm put into our case was obvious and much appreciated. Nothing means more than feeling like you cared about our son as much as we do. Special thanks to Stephanie Grana and Elliott Buckner. I was extremely happy with Mr. Bucci’s representation. It was simple yet strong. The other lawyer was ‘way over the top’ and sometimes I thought that would influence the jury toward their side, but in the long run, they saw through it. If you’re truthful you do not need to present your case for hours on end. That was Mr. Bucci’s theory and it worked perfectly. He was professional and polite, and I was very impressed with his presentation and very happy with the outcome. Also, whenever I needed an update before my case went to trial, it was easy to get. Everyone in the office was easy to talk to and gave me the information I needed. I have had the fortunate pleasure of co-counseling two cases with Irv Cantor and his team. The first, a medical negligence case, settled for $5,900,000 and the second, a wrongful death case, resulted in a jury verdict for more than was ever offered pre-trial. My joint venture with Irv and his team at Breit Cantor Grana Buckner was not only successful but also quite enjoyable. I look forward to my next joint venture with Breit Cantor Grana Buckner. I didn’t know where to turn. I called one attorney and he said that his firm wasn’t right for me, that I should call Stephanie. In a way, it was easier for me to talk to a woman about my case. I could speak more freely with Stephanie because it was woman to woman. My injury is very hard to talk about. It’s embarrassing and an intimate situation. I handled it the best I could and they helped me through it. They worked together as a terrific team and really went the extra mile for me. Your law firm is absolutely awesome! I believe you are the epitome of professionalism and action on behalf of your clients. Thank you so much! We were so blessed when we were referred to your law firm. You're a great lawyer and a wonderful person. We will forever be in your debt. Thank you so much for all of your hard work! We had interviewed other law firms before choosing one to represent us. During our initial consultation, it became apparent that Stephanie Grana and Irvin Cantor stood out above the crowd. They possessed intimate knowledge of how to proceed with brain injury case and were well equipped to take on our case. Their trial experience is very impressive. They were willing to listen to us and asked probing questions for case preparation. They discussed the possible pitfalls of a lengthy trial. They were upfront about costs and trial timelines. They mapped out a clear cut legal strategy and proceeded to build the case. Stephanie and Irvin sought out viable expert witnesses, deposed them and wrote a superb synopsis of our case. Prior to deposition, Stephanie prepared us well and during depositions was our champion assuring the defense of our rights. We were kept well informed as the case progressed. Stephanie prepared such a fine case that the defense realized the complete futility of going to trial. The defense team made a reasonable offer for an out of court settlement, bringing our case to a successful close. For this, we are very grateful. We highly recommend this firm for representation. After being involved in a car accident as a passenger in a vehicle that was rear-ended, I was referred to the law firm of Breit Cantor Grana Buckner. I was very grateful that I contacted them early on as they were able to help me through every step of my case. I had the pleasure of working with Elliott Bucker, Lori Tracoma, and Janie Pomfret, who all remained readily available and always willing to answer my questions and walk me through the various phases of my case. I greatly appreciated both their insight and foresight in providing reasonable expectations through the various stages of my case which was very reassuring for me. Never having used any form of legal services in the past, having their guidance significantly helped me in understanding the various processes better. From assisting with issues resolving subrogation to negotiation, trial, and settlement, I always felt confident that my case was in the right hands. They were very attentive and quick to respond to my many questions and truly cared about me not only as a client but also as a friend. I would highly recommend Breit Cantor Grana Buckner as they are remarkably knowledgeable, trustworthy and will use all of their resources to fight to make sure that you get what you deserve. There is no doubt in my mind that if I had not retained Scott Bucci the outcome would have no way been so favorable. Thanks so very much for a job well done!! From the beginning to end Scott and his team were very professional and eager to answer questions and be truly encouraging. He did an excellent job. I was retained to represent the family of a woman killed in a tragic accident in Virginia. Due to the high profile nature of the case, I knew it was vital to retain an extremely high-profile law firm. After consideration and discussions with other prominent Virginia attorneys, I chose Irv Cantor and his team. From Day 1, it became crystal clear that I had made the right decision. I have no doubt that the efforts of Breit Cantor Grana Buckner were the primary reason for the case resolving quite favorably. Stephanie Grana made dealing with a very difficult situation for my family and me much easier. She and all of the staff at Breit Cantor Grana Buckner showed compassion and understanding for our situation and always kept us informed every step of the way. It was an absolute pleasure to work with Stephanie Grana and I would recommend BCGB to anyone who may need their services. I want to thank you for everything you have done to help my son. I'm very happy to know that we found the best firm to handle this case! I will always refer clients your way. The first conversation I had with Scott I knew I had the right attorney. He listed to what I had to say and I could tell he was a very caring person. Scott told me what he would try to do and he did it. If I ever need an attorney it will be Scott. I was very pleased with the outcome of my case and this is why I say thank you so much, Scott. I partnered with Irv Cantor on a wrongful death case with a Virginia decedent. Irv and his team are everything I was looking for in an associating counsel – a keen insight into local courts, lawyers, and businesses; great judgment; a willingness to work through difficult procedural or substantive issues; and empathy for the decedent’s family. He, together with Stephanie Grana and Elliott Buckner, offered the ability to utilize mock juries and to use technology to present a case in its best light. They are very practical and easy to work with – I would work with them again in a minute if the opportunity presented itself. Having Stephanie on my side made me feel stronger, like Girl Power! All the defense team, including the doctor, were male and I felt like Stephanie was sticking up for me to them. It made it easier to show and discuss my personal injury with a woman and felt that she understood why I felt so violated. The stressful process was a little easier with Stephanie beside me. I wanted to thank you for everything you’ve done, not just for me, but for my whole family. It has made a big difference in our lives and I really appreciate it. The communication was excellent and I was never left wondering. Even if I could not speak right away with Mr. Bucci, he was always prompt about returning calls. Mr. Bucci was right on top of things from day one. It was a trying time for me but Scott and his entire staff were exceptional. I was never left in the dark and was always well informed. I also believe Mr. Bucci’s expertise resulted in a fair disposition of my case. All turned out as well as I thought it would. Thank you, Mr. Bucci and I would without a doubt refer you to a friend. Five stars. Thank you again. I am a sole practitioner in Alexandria. When I was referred to a catastrophic injury case, I associated Irv Cantor and his team to assist me. It proved to be a wise decision. The case resolved for $3,000,000. The joint venture was both smart and successful. In 37 years of law practice, I have worked with hundreds of attorneys, and the Breit Cantor Grana Buckner team is at the very top of my list. Stephanie - It has truly been a pleasure working with you on this case. And, I don't say that lightly. I find most plaintiff's attorneys are really not interested in the client, but you truly were. Working with you as a plaintiff's attorney has been very pleasantly different than many I have either worked with or sat across from. Tracy should be very pleased that she chose you. My legal representation was led by Mr. Scott Bucci. My case settled at mediation with favorable results. I would not hesitate to recommend him to anyone who has a personal injury claim, and I would not hesitate to use him in the future. Mr. Bucci took time to understand my injury situation and to provide expert advice on what actions to take. Your help at a very difficult and painful time was very much appreciated. Thank you for being there for me. If you need a lawyer call this firm! They are not only lawyers but true friends. They will defend you from the start to the end. Always available when you needed them no matter what. People that you can really trust. Thanks to you! Breit Cantor Grana Buckner provided regular updates on my case and responded promptly to my phone calls and questions. During the litigation process, BCGB gave me realistic assessments as the facts were developed, and solicited my input and feedback. As we prepared for depositions, the BCGB team clearly explained the process and addressed any anxiety or angst I expressed; at the depositions, I was proud of the way they controlled the situation and represented my interests. The three years encompassing my injury, my relative recovery, and the ensuing litigation were hands down, the most stressful three years of an otherwise very positive long life. BCGB always addressed me with professional concern and compassion, and a good sprinkling of humor. I will not hesitate to work with them again if circumstances require. Having gone through my injury and everything else that came along with it, was a very stressful time. The attorneys at Breit Cantor Grana Buckner understood the stress that I was under and tried to make things as smooth and easy as possible. They explained everything so that I would understand what was going on, which step of the process we were in, and what to expect next. If I was uneasy about anything, a team member would spend time talking through things with me. It was a very emotional period for me, and the BCGB legal team understood that. They put all of their energy into this case, finding excellent experts, researching my injury and related injuries, and building a very strong case. The hours, the research, and the dedication will be appreciated for a lifetime. I was very pleased with Mr. Bucci’s professional manner, keeping me informed, explanations, and the help of his staff was awesome!! This was my first and I hope only personal injury, and I could not ask for better representation. I would have gotten nothing without it. A million thanks!! After the first appointment with Mr. Bucci, we felt at ease and comfortable. We knew that the accident was not our fault, but the insurance company kept giving us the run-around. We trusted the expertise of Mr. Bucci and we can say we are satisfied life-long clients of his law firm. We would and do gladly recommend them to our friends. The whole staff is so polite and nice and very prompt. They provide outstanding customer service – the Five Star treatment. My attorney has carefully guided me through a few situations that have popped up in life. Very straight forward and trustworthy. Thanks!! The attorneys are dedicated and thorough. They bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table for his clients. Always available and always personable. True professionals. My son was struck by a city truck and sustained a traumatic brain injury. I hired Attorneys Breit Cantor Grana Buckner and they took care of everything. They interviewed every single witness that observed the accident in order to prove how the accident happened which was critical because my son’s head injury prevented him from remembering the accident. Everyone who worked on my son’s case made me feel like it was a top priority. Their diligence allowed me to focus on my son’s health. They did everything else. They are like family. From the moment I first contacted the attorneys about my personal injury, they treated me like a member of their family, I never felt like a ‘client’. They were always there for me, whether it was to give me emotional support or to answer any questions I had. While I was going through my recovery, they visited me at my home to make sure all of my needs were met and they called me on a regular basis to see how I was feeling and to find out if there was anything they could bring me or do for me. I never once had to worry about my case or had to figure anything out on my own, they were by my side every step of the way until my case was successfully settled. Without their help, I never could have moved on with my life. Attorney Mike Imprevento represented me in a suit against a windshield manufacturer and the dealership from which my bike (with windshield) was purchased. His extensive experience and expertise led to a fair and just settlement, allowing me to close the door on a most difficult time in my life as a result of a rather severe facial injury. Be assured that Mr. Imprevento and the entire staff at Breit Cantor Grana Buckner provided excellent legal counsel and sound direction on which you can depend.

2019-04-19T18:35:46Z

https://www.virginiatrialfirm.com/testimonials/

Jeremy Corbyn is merely stating the obvious. No, of course we would not go to war with Russia. For anything, ever. Although we did intervene after the Revolution in support of what we still regarded as the legitimate government, we have not gone to war with Russia, as such, since 1856. Owen Smith’s suggestion that we would, should or could do so is as naïve as his suggestion that we should have a nice cup of tea and a chat with the Islamic State. The Conservative Party failed to support those who were holding the line against what is now IS. Indeed, it wanted to bomb them. But it has understandably issued an attack ad against Smith on the subject. Yes, Smith is soft on IS. Corbyn, however, is not. The Soft Left is called that for a reason. As is the Hard Left. That latter is highly unlikely, for its own reasons, to support almost any war that the Anglo-American foreign policy Establishment is ever going to want to wage. Throughout the last 20 years, it has been right about that. But it is not pacifist. Very far from it. Nor is it anything less than clearheaded. Very far from it. NATO already revolves around Erdogan’s Turkey, while all and sundry are being let in. The next in the queue in the ghastly regime in Olympically corrupt, but strategically irrelevant, Montenegro. With honourable, but very rare, exceptions, the Labour Right is hopeless on these matters. A kind of chest-beating international hawkishness was one of the ways in which it defined itself as a distinct faction or tendency. In New Labour, that mixed with the anti-Soviet fanaticism of those who had very recently been Trotskyists or Eurocommunists. Those were perhaps the only two factions or tendencies that ever truly believed that the Soviet Union had either the means or the will to invade Western Europe, as we now know for a fact that it did not. Traditional Tories recognised that the USSR was a ramshackle operation waiting to collapse under the weight of its own contradictions. Although they were also among those who recognised, when it and Yugoslavia disintegrated, that two geopolitical catastrophes had thus occurred, the unpleasant ramifications of which would be felt for generations, even for centuries. Therefore, the heirs of Enoch Powell and Alan Clark ought to know better about NATO today. They have been as right as Corbyn and the Morning Star in the past. They ought to be so again. NATO membership causes us to give undertakings that we have no intention of honouring, and in reality could not honour even if we wanted to do so. It causes us to give those undertakings to entities that do not deserve them, whether strategically, morally, or both. And it subjects us to a supranational body that presumes to demand two per cent of our Gross Domestic Product. Not only that, but it really only expects a handful of states, including our own, to meet that in practice. Imagine the reaction of the NATO zealots in Parliament and the Press, or at least of the Tory ones, if it were so much as suggested that the United Kingdom now accede to a body of that kind. They ought to join those of us who demand that that body be dissolved, and that the United Kingdom begin that process by seceding from it unilaterally, unconditionally, and immediately. Yet what a far less hysterical time the Cold War was. Everyone with any sense knew that it was all lies. People who could not see that, including those who imagined that a threat of domestic revolution existed, were a joke even at the time. But we shall come back to them. The Soviet Union had neither the will nor the means to invade Western Europe, never mind the United States. It had no desire whatever for alternative centres of Communist power. It would in any case collapse under the weight of its own contradictions, exactly as and when it did. Consider quite what Britain was like in those decades without the world’s coming to an end, or the United Kingdom’s constitutional order collapsing, or either party of government’s adopting Marxism-Leninism, or anything like that. The intelligence services were so riddled with Soviet agents from top to bottom that it was a standing joke even among the general public. Such penetration extended even to the Royal Households. As the exposure of two dead Ministers as Czechoslovak agents has demonstrated, it also extended to the very right-wing elements both of the Labour Party (John Stonehouse) and of the Conservative Party (Ray Mawby). Professing oneself a Communist was always perfectly respectable at the very highest levels of British society, where it was treated as just another aristocratic eccentricity. Wogan Phillips, second Baron Milford, sat as a Communist in the House of Lords for 31 years until his death in 1993: throughout most of the 1960s, and throughout all of the 1970s and the 1980s. He still called himself a Communist even after the party had dissolved itself in 1991. Eric Hobsbawm ended up as a Companion of Honour. Neither Tony Benn nor Michael Foot ever did, even though it would have been the obvious gong for both of them. It is notable that, unlike the second Viscount Stansgate, the second Baron Milford never disclaimed his peerage. In point of fact, the latter’s party was a moderating force, especially over and against sections of the Labour Left, which contained people whose views, Trotskyist and otherwise, were far more extreme. Throughout its history, the Communist Party of Great Britain was avowedly and actively opposed to a violent revolution in this country, holding, as Lenin had done, that its objectives could and should be attained wholly within and through the British constitutional and parliamentary process. By the 1970s, especially, by no means everyone on the Labour Left took that view. Most still did. But by no means all. And Labour had had a problem with Trotskyist infiltration for as long as there had been Trotskyists at all. The CPGB was full of intelligence agents, but the intelligence agencies were full of Eastern Bloc agents, and so on, and on, and on, and on, and on. We shall never know the extent to which the turning of those wheels within wheels prevented or resolved industrial disputes, precluded those disputes’ escalation, and so forth. Certainly, the CPGB was capable of highly fruitful co-operation with the trade union and Labour Right, much of which was very Right indeed and had all the British and American connections to match. Compare and contrast the successful partnership between Mick McGahey and Joe Gormley in 1972 and 1974 (against a Conservative Prime Minister loathed by the overlapping worlds of MI5, MI6 and his party’s own right wing) with the failure of McGahey and Arthur Scargill in 1984 and 1985. The Communist had wanted to hold a national ballot, and had always remained open to compromise. He had wanted to reintegrate the UDM without rancour once, as he correctly predicted, its patrons had discarded it. He always called Scargill “that young man”, and he declined ever to write his memoirs or to authorise a biography, since “differences must remain within the family,” which said it all. McGahey used to appear on things like Any Questions. He was as respectable as that. His union, with the closest ties of any to his party at home, and with an unmatched internationalist tradition stretching deep into the Soviet Bloc, effectively controlled around 85 per cent of the nation’s energy supply for many decades. It did not strike at all between 1926 and 1972, or between 1974 and 1984, an extremely unusual approach during those periods even for trade unionists with vastly less, quite literal, power. The NUM was also a huge voting bloc at Labour Party Conferences, joined by the numerous Constituency Labour Parties that it effectively controlled. It sponsored enough MPs to make a significant difference, considering the normal size of Labour Governments’ majorities, if any, historically. For almost the whole of that period, only MPs had a vote in Leadership Elections. Look at the Leaders elected. Like those on the mainstream Labour Left Tribune, certain staffers on the Morning Star were and are members of the Parliamentary Press Gallery and Lobby, as their Daily Worker predecessors also were. Such membership required and requires full security clearance to go about the Palace of Westminster, and Lobby membership gives access to twice-daily briefings by the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman. The Daily Worker and then the Morning Star participated in all of that throughout the Cold War, as did Tribune. Did the Realm fall? Well, there you are, then. Joan Maynard managed to sit not only as a Labour MP but as a member of that party’s National Executive Committee while also, with several other MPs, on the Editorial Advisory Panel of Straight Left, a newspaper and a faction that had been set up because of the feeling that the Communist Party was going soft. In 1979. She served with distinction on the Agriculture Select Committee. Her Straight Left colleague James Lamond was on nothing less than the Public Accounts Committee. For many years, all of them under a Conservative Government and most of them under Margaret Thatcher, he was on the Speaker’s Panel, chairing Standing Committees of the House. Parliament survived. Pat Wall sat as an MP while probably the single most important Trotskyist thinker in the world at the time. His fellow-Militant Dave Nellist won Spectator Backbencher of the Year. Mildred Gordon was an MP while the widow of a leading American Trotskyist and the wife of Trotsky’s bodyguard, who as her husband presumably held a House of Commons pass. None of this is to condone any of those positions or factions. But all of it does provide some context. Not least, it provides some context to the most uncritically spook-dependent British Government of all time, which came to power in 1997. That Government was both laden with, and surrounded by, veterans of extreme left-wing organisations. Of course those veterans did whatever the intelligence services told them. They were the intelligence services. The Marxism Today for which Tony Blair wrote is long gone. He was the only politician at the founding meeting of Demos, the think tank founded by its final Editor. Formally, the Communist Party became the proto-Blairite Democratic Left, which became the ultra-Blairite New Politics Network, which became Unlock Democracy, which is still there, in a building bought thanks to the largesse of Lenin. Unfortunately, however, the spirit of Jimmy Anderson and Major Harry Truscott remains very much a feature of the present age. The party that the Prime Minister leads contains any number of them. Another party, still complete with a member of a House of Commons, has only such people in it, or even so much as voting for it. There would seem to be no shortage of them even in the Parliamentary Labour Party. Some of them believe that both the Sino-Soviet Split and the fall of the Soviet Union were faked. Many of them believe that the KGB murdered Hugh Gaitskell in order to install Harold Wilson. All of them believe that Wilson was a Soviet agent. They really, truly, honestly believe these things. They are convinced that Scargill was trying to stage a Red Revolution on the 1917 model, and that Gormley had more or less done so in 1974. It never occurs to them that the Heath Government, which in any case they profess to despise, was “toppled” by nothing other than the votes of the electorate, four years after that same process had installed that Government. The theory of the Great Red Peril, including The Enemy Within, continues to be propounded, but tellingly by people who for the most part are not employed by academic institutions. The same was true of that theory at the time. As it also was, and very largely still is, of the economic theories to which Thatcher, who was as illiterate economically as she was historically and geopolitically, was so attached. Across the full range of her agenda, the intellectual guiding lights hated the Conservative Party, not least when they were nominally members of it. They had no roots in it; nor had she. Not uncommonly, they had Marxist roots instead. The Conservative Party hated them back, which led it to hate her, until eventually it became the only organisation ever to succeed in getting rid of her. She then spent 15 years a joke figure, and just under another decade as one of those extremely old people who are only waiting for the end. But even during her Premiership, it was not as if there were no ties to the Soviet Bloc. Very soon after Polish miners had been gunned down, the Thatcher Government was importing coal from Poland to order to assist in breaking the Strike. On the other side of the Sino-Soviet Split, Thatcher fully deserved her designation by Red Star as “The Peking Plotter”. She never saw a Maoist whom she did not like. She installed Robert Mugabe, having refused any other settlement, and she even arranged a knighthood for him. Then there was Nicolae Ceaușescu. Then there was Pol Pot. When Nelson Mandela died, her flame-keepers could be heard criticising him and his for their criticism, in turn, of Steve Biko. We ought to be governed by people who understand all of this. But we are not. Nor would we be under Owen Smith or any of his supporters. But we will be, when Jeremy Corbyn is Prime Minister. There is no evidence that Corbyn is in any sense a Marxist, and that is rather the point. There are not 10,000 people in every British Marxist organisation put together. Corbyn’s mentor, Tony Benn, found inspiration in seventeenth century Radical readings of the Bible, and in his own Radical readings of the Bible. Michael Foot looked to the literature of the eighteenth century, when numerous subcultures remained unconvinced of the legitimacy of the new Whig State, and of that State’s capitalism and imperialism. At every point of challenge to that State and ideology, those subcultures have recurred. Benn’s stock speech contained a potted history of the Peasants’ Revolt, the Levellers, the Diggers, the Chartists, the Suffragettes, and so on. It attracted considerable ridicule, but it made an important point. The Radical traditions of these Islands, and not least of England, traditions to which upper and upper-middle-class figures such as Benn and Foot have always been integral, provided and provide the context in which the tiny Marxist minority can participate. Fear of being overwhelmed is altogether misplaced. Both the Radical and the conservative traditions, closer than is often realised or admitted and each present in all of the main parties, are more than capable of standing their ground. Gramsci called for a broad social movement towards institutional hegemony, for a celebration of the “national-popular”, and for an organic and self-organising working-class culture that included worker-intellectuals. We, on the other hand, already had those things, most obviously in and as the Labour Movement, including, but not restricted to, the extraparliamentary origins and the federal structure of the Labour Party. Thus, and thus alone, was the CPGB, which in fact started life as a secession from the Independent Labour Party, able to contribute to the General Strike, to the Hunger Marches, to the Battle of Cable Street, to the formation of the International Brigades (although see below on that one), to the occupation of the London Underground during the Blitz, to the Forces Parliaments, to the Dock Strikes after the War, to the Squatters’ Movement of 1946, to the creation of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from 1947, to the Clydeside Apprentices’ Strike of 1952, to the foundation of the Notting Hill Carnival, to the work-in at United Clyde Shipbuilders, to the Grunwick dispute, to the three Miners’ Strikes, to the People’s March for Jobs, to the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, to the Movement for Colonial Freedom, to the Anti-Apartheid Movement, and to the Solidarity Campaigns with Vietnam and Chile. Thus, and thus alone, was the successor Communist Party of Britain’s Andrew Murray able to preside over the largest demonstration in British history. Does anyone seriously suggest that the CPB, as such, could have brought two million people onto the streets of London, even against the Iraq War, for a rally addressed by the Mayor of London and by several Members of Parliament, including the Leader of the Liberal Democrats and a future Leader of the Official Opposition? Thus, and thus alone, were British Trotskyists able to find an audience for their guru’s equal opposition to Fascism and to Stalinism (although it was the ILP Contingent that went to fight the former only to be killed by the latter), and then to participate in the movement against the Vietnam War, in the student movement of 1968, in the industrial disputes of the 1970s, in the Anti-Nazi League, in the fully successful campaign against the Poll Tax, in the Stop the War Coalition, and in the anti-austerity movement. Thatcher bitterly regarded the abandonment of the Poll Tax as the British State’s greatest ever concession to the Far Left. Yes, that was organised by Militant. But does anyone seriously believe that Militant could have done it on its own? Thus, and thus alone, did Ken Livingstone become Mayor of London in 2000. Thus, and thus alone, did George Galloway become MP for Bethnal Green and Bow in 2005, and for Bradford West in 2012; the first candidate to the left of Labour to win an English seat since 1945 is not a Marxist, and his profound religious faith informs the full range of his political positions. Thus, and thus alone, did Corbyn become Leader of the Labour Party in 2015. By participating in The World Transformed, everyone doing so is acknowledging the point: thus, and thus alone, will Corbyn become Prime Minister in 2020. A very comprehensive and interesting historical account and analysis. I think the analysis of Labour’s right wing and its service to British imperialism has been a feature in its history. ”The Labour Right is hopeless on these matters. A kind of chest-beating international hawkishness was one of the ways in which it defined itself as a distinct faction or tendency.” But it not just the right wing which was social-imperialist. From the late 19th century onward, reputedly left Firebrands such as Hyndman, Brailsford and Shaw, were unapologetic cheerleaders for the British war in South Africa 1899-1902, the First World War and the surpression of the uprising in Ireland 1916. The tradition continued with the British suppression of nationalist/communist revolutions in India until 1948, and Malaya, Cyprus, Aden, and Kenya until well into the post-WW2 era. Moreover the Labour government saw fit to also intervene in the Greek civil war on the side of the Royalist/collaborationst forces until 1949. NATO ‘socialism’ is a feature of some of the more faux radicals of what is called the progressive left. These are usually found among the ex-Trots now ensconced in centre-left parties like the UK Labour Party and the US democrats, and including even the disgusting German Greens under the tutelage of one Danny ‘the red’ Cohn-Bendit. Home grown cold war ‘leftist’ imperialists include Paul Mason and Owen Smith. In fact it would be true to say that the majority of the PLP supports the NATO/EU agenda vis-a-vis Russia and probably China, without even thinking about it; it is a matter of a dog-whistle conditioned reflex, with little or no understanding of international relations, history or economics. All of which shows how far the imperialist contamination has penetrated.

2019-04-20T18:22:03Z

https://off-guardian.org/2016/08/22/corbyn-is-right-we-would-never-go-to-war-with-russia/

The Second Circuit’s recent decision in Stratte-McClure v. Morgan Stanley, No. 13-0627-cv (Jan. 12, 2015) (2015 WL 13631) (slip opinion available here: Stratte-McClure v. Morgan Stanley) (also referred to as Fjarde AP‐Fonden v. Morgan Stanley), stirs the pot on the important issue of private section 10(b) claims based on alleged violations of Item 303 of SEC Regulation S-K, 17 CFR § 229.303. Claims founded on a purported failure to comply with Item 303 are problematic because Item 303 is the SEC’s effort to enhance disclosures of “soft information,” not historical facts, about a public company. It requires that a company evaluate and discuss the future prospect that some developments or uncertainties could be important in future company performance. Because such decisions (i) inevitably involve the exercise of management judgment the need for disclosure, and the nature and scope any such discussion, and (ii) are almost always subject to second-guessing in retrospect, when the future is revealed and the uncertainties become less uncertain, they present serious risks of converting private section 10(b) claims into a form of hindsight insurance against stock price declines. The SEC at one time excluded forward-looking information from SEC filings, but about 40 years ago started to encourage companies to provide forward-looking information in SEC filings. This eventually led to the development of mandatory disclosure requirements of “MD&A,” the short term for the Management Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations required by Item 303. Item 303 arose out of SEC concerns that investors were missing out on key elements of company information if they obtained only purely historical information. Informed investment decision-making could be greatly improved if investors were able to get management insights into areas of company risk and uncertainty that had not yet been realized. This type of non-historical, future-looking evaluation is often referred to as “soft information.” The area of soft information disclosure is problematic because the SEC wants to encourage management to share such evaluative analysis, but to do so in a way that does not expand company and management exposure for not reading the future correctly. Accordingly, along with developing rules encouraging such disclosure, the SEC, Congress, and the courts have taken steps to limit private securities claims based solely on allegedly inadequate forward-looking disclosures. The SEC adopted so-called “safe harbor” rules (Rule 175 under the Securities Act of 1933 and Rule 3b-6 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934), under which a forward-looking statement in a company’s MD&A disclosures could not be found fraudulent absent proof that it “was made or reaffirmed without a reasonable basis or was disclosed other than in good faith.” In the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA), Congress enacted a more general safe harbor precluding liability in private actions for a forward-looking statement if: (i) it is identified as such and accompanied by “meaningful cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially,” or (ii) immaterial, or (iii) the plaintiff fails to prove that the forward-looking statement was made “with actual knowledge . . . that the statement was false or misleading.” 15 U.S.C. § 78u-5(c). The first portion of this statutory safe harbor was effectively a legislative adoption of the judicially-created “bespeaks caution” doctrine under which a forward-looking statement accompanied by meaningful cautionary language was deemed immaterial as a matter of law. Nevertheless, forward-looking statements that turn out to be inaccurate, or the failure to provide advance warning of a likely future impact of a current problem, has been a theory underlying private securities actions for decades. Because this allows a backward-looking theory of fraud to be pursued after events occurring after the alleged misleading statements or omissions are accompanied by significant stock price impact, it is a powerful lure for the plaintiffs’ class action bar. This theory can be especially powerful in the context of so-called “material omissions.” In those cases, the plaintiff can seek damages supposedly arising out of a company’s failure to provide a prediction about the future – the failure to disclose the potential impact of facts or circumstances that later turn out to harm the company. The most difficult hurdle in these cases is finding a “duty to disclose.” The securities laws do not require the disclosure of all company information to investors, nor even all material company information. Instead, public companies are required to disclose only the specified information mandated in SEC regulations, and to ensure that when they do disclose information, they do not at the same time withhold information without which the disclosed information becomes misleading. In general, companies have no obligation to provide evaluations or predictions about possible future developments, so this “duty to disclose” requirement can be a major obstacle to a private securities action based on a failure to do so. It is in this context that recent cases have considered the impact on private securities actions of Item 303 of Regulation S-K. Two recent appellate cases adopt very different approaches to this issue: the Second Circuit’s decision in Stratte-McClure and the Ninth Circuit’s decision in In re NVIDIA Corp. Sec. Litig., 768 F.3d 1046 (9th Cir. 2014). It is no exaggeration to say that billions of dollars of future litigation costs and liabilities may turn on which of these approaches ultimately prevails. Describe any known trends or uncertainties that have had or that the registrant reasonably expects will have a material favorable or unfavorable impact on net sales or revenues or income from continuing operations. If the registrant knows of events that will cause a material change in the relationship between costs and revenues (such as known future increases in costs of labor or materials or price increases or inventory adjustments), the change in the relationship shall be disclosed. (1) Is the known trend, demand, commitment, event or uncertainty likely to come to fruition? If management determines that it is not reasonably likely to occur, no disclosure is required. (2) If management cannot make that determination, it must evaluate objectively the consequences of the known trend, demand, commitment, event or uncertainty, on the assumption that it will come to fruition. Disclosure is then required unless management determines that a material effect on the registrant’s financial condition or results of operations is not reasonably likely to occur. Exchange Act Release No. 34–26831 (May 24, 1989). NVIDIA involved the company’s alleged failure to include in its Item 303 MD&A disclosures the potential financial impact of a defect in a chip incorporated into various manufacturers’ computers and other devices. Although the existence of the defect was disclosed, the amounts to be paid under warranty obligations were allegedly known uncertainties, and the MD&A allegedly failed to include a required discussion of that prospect. Stratte-McClure involved the alleged failure by Morgan Stanley to include in its MD&A a discussion of the potential future financial impact of long positions it held on collateralized debt obligations or credit default swaps at the time of the housing mortgage meltdown. Let’s start with a key point on which both courts agree. They both emphasize that information required to be disclosed under Item 303 may not satisfy one of the key elements of a section 10(b) claim: materiality. That is because the SEC instructions make it clear that disclosures may be required “unless management determines that a material effect . . . is not reasonably likely to occur” (emphasis added). As a result, disclosures of immaterial information are required if management cannot “determine” they are unlikely to have a future material impact. Accordingly, plaintiffs will still have the burden of pleading facts showing a required disclosure was, in fact, material. See NVIDIA, 768 F.3d at 1055; Stratte-McClure, slip op. at 18-19. The difference between the courts – a critical one – is that the NVIDIA court concluded that Item 303’s requirement that certain immaterial information must be disclosed prevents it from creating the “duty to disclose” necessary to support a fraud claim under section 10(b), while the Stratte-McClure court concluded that the “duty to disclose” and materiality elements should be disaggregated for this purpose. [I]n Basic, the Supreme Court stated that materiality of forward-looking information depends “upon a balancing of both the indicated probability that the event will occur and the anticipated magnitude of the event in light of the totality of the company activity.” . . . As the court in Oran also determined, these two standards differ considerably. 226 F.3d at 288. Management’s duty to disclose under Item 303 is much broader than what is required under the standard pronounced in Basic. The SEC intimated this point as well: “[Item 303] mandates disclosure of specified forward-looking information, and specifies its own standard for disclosure—i.e., reasonably likely to have a material effect…. The probability/magnitude test for materiality approved by the Supreme Court in [Basic] is inapposite to Item 303 disclosure.” Exchange Act Release No. 34-26831, 54 Fed. Reg. at 22430 n. 27. The SEC’s effort to distinguish Basic’s materiality test from Item 303’s disclosure requirement provides further support for the position that Item 303 requires more than Basic—what must be disclosed under Item 303 is not necessarily required under the standard in Basic. Therefore, “[b]ecause the materiality standards for Rule 10b5 and [Item 303] differ significantly, the ‘demonstration of a violation of the disclosure requirements of Item 303 does not lead inevitably to the conclusion that such disclosure would be required under Rule 10b–5. Such a duty to disclose must be separately shown.’” Oran, 226 F.3d at 288. Item 303’s affirmative duty to disclose in Form 10–Qs can serve as the basis for a securities fraud claim under Section 10(b). Rule 10b–5 requires disclosure of “material fact[s] necessary in order to make … statements made … not misleading.” This Court and our sister circuits have long recognized that a duty to disclose under Section 10(b) can derive from statutes or regulations that obligate a party to speak…. And this conclusion stands to reason—for omitting an item required to be disclosed on a 10–Q can render that financial statement misleading…. Due to the obligatory nature of these regulations, a reasonable investor would interpret the absence of an Item 303 disclosure to imply the nonexistence of “known trends or uncertainties … that the registrant reasonably expects will have a material … unfavorable impact on ․ revenues or income from continuing operations.”… It follows that Item 303 imposes the type of duty to speak that can, in appropriate cases, give rise to liability under Section 10(b). The failure to make a required disclosure under Item 303, however, is not by itself sufficient to state a claim for securities fraud under Section 10(b)…. Since the Supreme Court’s interpretation of “material” in Rule 10b–5 dictates whether a private plaintiff has properly stated a claim, we conclude that a violation of Item 303’s disclosure requirements can only sustain a claim under Section 10(b) and Rule 10b–5 if the allegedly omitted information satisfies Basic’s test for materiality. That is, a plaintiff must first allege that the defendant failed to comply with Item 303 in a 10–Q or other filing. Such a showing establishes that the defendant had a duty to disclose. A plaintiff must then allege that the omitted information was material under Basic‘s probability/magnitude test…. Stratte-McClure, slip op. at 14-20 (citations and footnotes omitted). We note that our conclusion is at odds with the Ninth Circuit’s recent opinion in In re NVIDIA Corp. Securities Litigation…. That case held that Item 303’s disclosure duty is not actionable under Section 10(b) and Rule 10b–5, relying on a Third Circuit opinion by then-Judge Alito, Oran v. Stafford…. But Oran simply determined that, “[b]ecause the materiality standards for Rule 10b–5 and [Item 303] differ significantly,” a violation of Item 303 “does not automatically give rise to a material omission under Rule 10b–5” (emphasis added).… Having already decided that the omissions in that case were not material under Basic, the Third Circuit concluded that Item 303 could not “provide a basis for liability.”… Contrary to the Ninth Circuit’s implication that Oran compels a conclusion that Item 303 violations are never actionable under 10b–5, Oran actually suggested, without deciding, that in certain instances a violation of Item 303 could give rise to a material 10b–5 omission. At a minimum, Oran is consistent with our decision that failure to comply with Item 303 in a Form 10–Q can give rise to liability under Rule 10b–5 so long as the omission is material under Basic, and the other elements of Rule 10b–5 have been established. It is possible that the differences between these decisions reflect the proverbial “distinction without a difference.” After all, the Stratte-McClure court requires that materiality be pleaded and proved in addition to a disclosure duty, which eventually may lead to the same result. But “eventually” can be a big word. The name of the game is these cases is surviving dismissal and getting into discovery. Materiality is a notably hard element on which to get a claim dismissed. Even scienter-based dismissals tend to be arduous litigated results with multiple amended complaints, and plaintiff’s counsel often manage to survive dismissal by presenting often dubious “confidential witness” allegations that prevent dismissal, even if they don’t stand up in discovery. Dismissing these cases will be much easier if the “duty to disclose” is understood to mean “duty to disclose material information,” as the NVIDIA (and arguably Oran) court ruled. That would require a disclosure duty in an omissions case to be founded in the substance of omitted material, and not just on a disclosure duty not founded in the importance to investors of the omitted information. The practical effect of the two different rules could be enormous, since the issue is not which side will win at trial, or even summary judgment, but will the case survive to the point that a hefty settlement may be the preferred result for both sides. It is important to remember, as the Supreme Court has done in past private actions under section 10(b), that the section 10(b) private right of action was judicially created, and for that reason is more amenable to judicial interpretation and refinement than statutory causes of action. The Supreme Court has in the past, and likely will in the future, taken into account the policy implications of endorsing one approach or another in determining the precise parameters of the elements of private section 10(b) claims. In doing this, the Court may also place some weight on obvious efforts by the SEC and Congress to limit exposure to private actions from the forward-looking disclosure requirements. As a result, even if the Second Circuit’s disaggregation approach is arguably more sound from the standpoint of pure logic, the practical appeal of interpreting “duty to disclose” to include, at least implicitly, a materiality aspect could ultimately prevail. This entry was posted in Private Litigation, Securities Law and tagged 17 CFR 229.303, 2d Circuit, 9th Circuit, Basic v. Levinson, CDO, CDS, class action, collateralized debt obligation, credit default swap, duty to disclose, Fjarde AP‐Fonden, Fjarde AP‐Fonden v. Morgan Stanley, forward-looking information, fradu by hindsight, fraud, In re NVIDIA Securities Regulation, Item 303, Item 303 Regulation S-K, Item 303(a)(3)(ii), legal analysis, management discussion and analysis, materiality, MD&A, Ninth Circuit, omissions, private securities litigation, PSLRA, Regulation S-K, Rule 10b-5, safe harbor, scienter, SEC Rule 303, Second Circuit, section 10(b), securities, Securities Exchange Act of 1934, securities fraud, securities law, securities litigation, soft information, Stratte McClure v. Morgan Stanley, Stratte-McClure on January 19, 2015 by Straight Arrow. On December 11, 2014, Judge Lewis Kaplan ruled that his court lacked jurisdiction to consider Wing Chau’s injunctive action to prevent an SEC administrative prosecution against him on due process and equal protection grounds. Although the ruling was narrowly confined to the jurisdiction issue, it nevertheless was a significant victory for the Commission. In October 2013, the SEC commenced an administrative proceeding against Chau and his firm, Harding Advisory, alleging misrepresentations in connection with the sale of collateralized debt obligations (“CDOs”) that imploded during the housing/mortgage crisis. The allegations essentially charged that Chau and Harding misrepresented the nature of the process for selecting assets that went into the CDOs. After seeking to work within the administrative process to get the kinds of discovery and preparation time that typically would be available if the action were brought in federal court, Chau and Harding commenced a federal action in the Southern District of New York to stop the administrative proceeding. They asserted in their complaint (which can be reviewed here: Wing Chau v. SEC), that the SEC administrative action violated due process because it did not allow a fair defense to be developed, and denied equal protection of the law because they were singled out for administrative prosecution when similar actions against other persons were brought in federal court (and two of three were lost by the SEC). The court had previously denied a temporary restraining order and the administrative trial went forward and was concluded. The parties are awaiting an ALJ determination. The threshold issue was whether such an action was permissible — whether the district court had jurisdiction to hear a claim to preempt the administrative action. Applying the standards set forth in Thunder Basin Coal Co. v. Reich, 510 U.S. 200 (1994), Judge Kaplan ruled there was no jurisdiction because (1) the plaintiffs could get meaningful judicial review in an appeal of the administrative action, (2) the claimed constitutional violations were not wholly collateral to the issues to be decided in the administrative action, and (3) the consideration of due process and equal protection claims were not outside of the SEC’s “expertise.” A copy of the opinion can be found here: Chau v SEC Opinion. The court found it significant that the due process claim “has been that the SEC’s procedural rules . . . are unfair in light of ‘facts and circumstances of [their] case'” and not that “the SEC’s rules are unconstitutional in every instance.” Slip op. at 18-19. The numerous grounds asserted to show that the respondents had been prevented from presenting a fair defense did not provide jurisdiction because they “all . . . are inextricably intertwined with [the] ongoing administrative proceeding and can be reviewed by a court of appeals.” Id. at 20. And because the challenges involve the day-to-day conduct of the proceeding, the due process arguments are not “wholly collateral” to the proceeding under Thunder Basin. Id. Finally, “plaintiffs fail to articulate any convincing reason why the SEC lacks the competence to consider the fairness of proceedings before its ALJs.” Id. at 22. The issue is the fairness of a particular hearing, not a determination that one of the SEC’s “constituent parts is unconstitutional,” and the “SEC is well equipped to evaluate claims of unfairness in proceedings before its ALJs — and if it fails to do so, the courts of appeals stand ready to correct the error.” Id. at 22-23. The equal protection claim yielded the same result. Although a sister court found jurisdiction for such a claim in Gupta v. SEC, 796 F. Supp.2d 503 (S.D.N.Y. 2011), Judge Kaplan was not convinced to follow that decision. He found the Gupta allegations of discriminatory conduct stronger, but also did “not find Gupta‘s application fo the Thunder Basin factors persuasive in these circumstances.” Slip op. at 25. In essence, he disagrees with the reasoning in Gupta and relied on modestly different facts to rule the other way. He again also found no basis to conclude that the equal protection claim is outside of the SEC’s “expertise.” But he did so with a circular argument. He acknowledged that adjudicating such claims “is ‘not peculiarly within the SEC’s competence,'” but without addressing why equal protection analysis was within the SEC’s competence, stated that the SEC’s attempt to address the equal protection issues in an attempted interlocutory appeal from an ALJ decision “indicate that the SEC is competent to consider plaintiff’s constitutional claims.” Id. at 31-32. At the end of the opinion, the judge noted that plaintiffs’ challenge “[t]aken to its logical conclusion . . . would upend all manner of administrative enforcement schemes.” Id. at 32. He concluded that because “the normal channels of statutory review are adequate” his court lacked subject matter jurisdiction. In an epilogue, Judge Kaplan took note that “the growth of administrative adjudication, especially in preference to adjudication by Article III courts and perhaps particularly in the field of securities regulation, troubles some.” Id. at 34. He singled out concerns that this approach could “increase the role of the Commission in interpreting the securities laws to the detriment or exclusion of the long standing interpretive role of the courts.” This is a concern that has been raised by federal district judge Jed Rakoff (see here). He also mentions concern that such SEC determinations might be accorded “broad Chevron deference to SEC interpretations of the securities laws in the determination of administrative proceedings.” Id. at 34-35. Concern about the proper scope of Chevron deference to SEC statutory interpretations was noted recently by Justice Scalia (see here). Judge Kaplan said “[t]hese concerns are legitimate, whether born of self-interest or of a personal assessment of whether the public interest would be served best by preserving the important interpretative role of Article III courts in construing the securities laws – a role courts have performed since 1933.” “But they do not affect the result in this case. . . . This Court’s role is a modest one” — to determine subject matter jurisdiction. Id. at 35. In reaching its conclusion, the court “has not considered any views concerning the proper or wise allocation of interpretive functions between the Commission and the courts,” which “are policy matters committed to the legislative and executive branches of government.” Id. at 35-36. But there remains no doubt that this is an SEC victory that, at a minimum, delays consideration of some aspects of the propriety of shifting SEC enforcement actions to its own administrative courts (see posts on this issue here and here). This entry was posted in SEC Enforcement, Securities Law and tagged administrative courts, administrative proceeding, ALJ, CDO, Chau v. SEC, Chevron deference, constitutionality, due process, equal protection, Harding Advisory, Judge Kaplan, jurisdiction, lawyer, legal analysis, Lewis Kaplan, Peixoto, Peixoto v. SEC, SEC, SEC enforcement, SEC v. Chau, section 10(b), securities, securities law, securities litigation, separation of powers, Stilwell, Stilwell v. SEC, subject matter jurisdiction, Wing Chau on December 15, 2014 by Straight Arrow. On June 13, 2014, New York Supreme Court Judge Charles Ramos dismissed a private fraud action brought by investors, or assignees of investors, in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS). The case is Phoenix Light SF Ltd. v. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., No. 652356/13 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. June 13, 2014) (see the decision here). It was the right result because sophisticated investors should vet their investments carefully and not expect to be bailed out when they fail to do so. RMBS are essentially certificates entitling the owners to payments by borrowers on mortgage loans purportedly made in a manner consistent with stated underwriting guidelines and packaged together in a single security. When the financial crisis hit, borrowers failed to pay at expected levels and investors did not receive their expected returns. The RMBS at issue in this case involved 23 different offerings in the period 2005-2007 totaling more than $450 million. Plaintiffs alleged the usual assortment of materially false and misleading disclosures or omissions in the sale of the RMBS certificates. These include: (1) the loan originators (e.g., New Century, Countrywide, and the like) failed to comply with stated loan underwriting guidelines for the borrowers’ ability to pay and the assessed value of houses serving as collateral; (2) loan to value ratios on the underlying loans were misstated because they were based on inflated appraisals; (3) offering documents misstated the percentage of homes that were occupied by their owners; and (4) credit ratings on the RMBS were inflated. Plaintiffs alleged that Goldman Sachs knew from its own due diligence efforts that the loans were of poorer quality than represented, and for that reason sold short the RMBS being sold to investors. The buyers of these RMBS were highly sophisticated investors. The entity that assigned many of these securities to plaintiffs (likely after the financial crisis began, for payments well below the face value of the original certificates) was WestLB AG, an established German bank and investment bank. Media coverage of the housing crisis tends to follow the lead of politicians who bemoan the greed that led investment banks like Goldman Sachs to sell mortgage-backed securities, or other collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), based on poor quality mortgage loans. It is plain, however, that the market for these securities was highly sophisticated. They promised higher yields than other debt obligations, and were thought to be well-collateralized and diversified. Investment funds, pension funds, and the like, whose investments are (or should be) vetted by professionals experienced in the analysis of such investments, provided an eager market for them. These were not widows and orphans … they were the leading institutional investors of our time. Part of the failure of these investments is explained by the unprecedented nature of the financial crisis that occurred, which caused many market participants – buyers and sellers alike – to discount the likelihood of disastrous declines in housing value. But part of the failure is attributable to sophisticated investors that simply did not do their jobs. When the crisis hit and these investors suffered serious losses, they did what we have come to expect in our society – they looked for other people to point fingers at. This is just such a case. Judge Ramos gave short shrift to several of the defendants’ legal arguments, then turned to the one that was dispositive, at least under New York law: sophisticated investors who fail to do the basic work required to choose appropriate investments cannot turn to the courts to make others the guarantors of their losses. It is important to understand that when these huge investments are made, investors typically have the right to obtain a full list of the loans underlying the securities so that they can conduct their own analysis of loan quality, how well the loans conform to the underwriting guidelines, and how well risk is reduced by packaging together loans from diversified geographic areas. Many investors eager to get the projected high yields never did that homework. Plaintiffs in this case carefully alleged that “there was no information available to plaintiffs at the time they bought the certificates – other than the loan files, which defendants did not share – that would have allowed plaintiffs or the assigning entities to conduct an investigation that would have revealed” that the loans did not conform to underwriting standards. But plaintiffs did not allege that they had sought and been denied this information. If they had done so, it was standard practice to provide that information on request. See slip opinion at 15-16. Here, plaintiffs need to sufficiently allege that defendants were the ones who possessed peculiar knowledge about the misrepresentations and omissions, and that plaintiffs could not have uncovered the misrepresentations and omissions even with reasonable due diligence…. [They fail] to meet the second prong, as the allegations of the complaint itself, actually establish that plaintiffs could have uncovered defendants’ alleged misrepresentations and omissions if they had exercised due diligence by asking for the loan files, which plaintiffs admit was information available at the time they bought the Certificates. … It does not matter if the failure to seek this information was because of blind faith in the proves of origination and/or securitization, or if it was attributable to the desire to quickly get on board of what the investors thought was a profitable bandwagon, the obligation of a sophisticated investor to inquire cannot be merely excused. It is strikingly refreshing to see the court recognize that sophisticated investors investing in highly sophisticated and complex securities have to act prudently under the circumstances, and if they fail to do so the courts are not there to prevent appropriate lessons from being learned. This entry was posted in Private Litigation, Securities Law and tagged CDO, fraud, lawyer, legal analysis, Phoenix Light SF v. Goldman Sachs, private securities litigation, reasonable reliance, RMBS, securities, securities fraud, securities law, securities litigation on June 17, 2014 by Straight Arrow. Bloomberg View: No Kangaroo Courts at the SEC, Please! Is it Time To Broaden the Definition of Insider Trading? The Empire of Edge: How a doctor, a trader, and the billionaire Steven A. Cohen got entangled in a vast financial scandal. Tippees Turn on Tipper in Insider Trading Investigation – And the Tipper's Penalty is Based on Their Profits! “Loser Pays”: Who Will Be The Biggest Loser? Is the SEC Becoming a Law Unto Itself? Obus Says SEC Attorneys Are "Bullies" Should Old Subpoena Compliance Rules Apply in the Digital Age? High Frequency Trading: Is It A Dark Force Against Ordinary Human Traders And Investors?

2019-04-21T10:57:17Z

https://securitiesdiary.com/tag/cdo/

"Ole Miss" redirects here. For the University of Mississippi athletics program, see Ole Miss Rebels. Not to be confused with Mississippi State University. The University of Mississippi (colloquially known as Ole Miss) is a public research university in Oxford, Mississippi. Including the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, it is the state's largest university by enrollment. The university was chartered by the Mississippi Legislature on February 24, 1844, and four years later admitted its first enrollment of 80 students. The university is classified as an "R1: Doctoral University—Very High Research Activity" by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education and has an annual research and development budget of $121.6 million. The university ranked 145 in the 2018 edition of the US News Rankings of Best National Universities. Across all its campuses, the university comprises some 23,258 students. In addition to the main campus in Oxford and the medical school in Jackson, the university also has campuses in Tupelo, Booneville, Grenada, and Southaven, as well as an accredited online high school. About 55 percent of its undergraduates and 60 percent overall come from Mississippi, and 23 percent are minorities; international students respectively represent 90 different nations. It is one of the 33 colleges and universities participating in the National Sea Grant Program and a participant in the National Space Grant College and Fellowship Program. Ole Miss was a center of activity during the American civil rights movement when a race riot erupted in 1962 following the attempted admission of James Meredith, an African-American, to the segregated campus. While the university was successfully integrated that year, the use of Confederate symbols and motifs has remained a controversial aspect of the school's identity and culture. In response the university has attempted to take proactive measures to rebrand its image, including effectively banning the display of Confederate flags in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium in 1997, officially abandoning the Colonel Reb mascot in 2003, and removing "Dixie" from the Pride of the South marching band's repertoire in 2016. In 2018, following a racially charged rant on social media by an alum and academic building namesake, former Chancellor Jeffrey Vitter reaffirmed the university's commitment to "honest and open dialogue about its history", and in making its campuses "more welcoming and inclusive". The "Dead House" was built before the Civil War and was used as a morgue during the war. Bodies were carried from the Dead House across campus to the Civil War Cemetery, which contains more than 430 graves. The building was demolished in 1958, and Farley Hall--which contains the Meek School of Journalism and New Media--was erected in its place. The Mississippi Legislature chartered the University of Mississippi on February 24, 1844. The university opened its doors to its first class of 80 students four years later in 1848. For 23 years, the university was Mississippi's only public institution of higher learning, and for 110 years it was the state's only comprehensive university. Politician Pryor Lea was a founding trustee. When the university opened, the campus consisted of six buildings: two dormitories, two faculty houses, a steward's hall, and the Lyceum at the center. Constructed from 1846 to 1848, the Lyceum is the oldest building on campus. Originally, the Lyceum housed all of the classrooms and faculty offices of the university. The building's north and south wings were added in 1903, and the Class of 1927 donated the clock above the eastern portico. The Lyceum is now the home of the university's administration offices. The columned facade of the Lyceum is represented on the official crest of the university, along with the date of establishment. In 1854, the university established the fourth state-supported, public law school in the United States, and also began offering engineering education. With the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, classes were interrupted when almost the entire student body (135 out of 139 students) from the University of Mississippi enlisted in the Confederate army, forming an infantry group nicknamed the University Greys. However, all 135 students were killed during the war, a 100% casualty rate. Most died during the battles of Gettysburg and Vicksburg. The Lyceum was used as a hospital during the Civil War for both Union and Confederate soldiers, especially those who were wounded at the battle of Shiloh. Two hundred-fifty soldiers who died in the campus hospital were buried in a cemetery on the grounds of the university. During the post-war period, the university was led by former Confederate general A.P. Stewart, a Rogersville, Tennessee native. He served as Chancellor from 1874 to 1886. The university became coeducational in 1882 and was the first such institution in the Southeast to hire a female faculty member, Sarah McGehee Isom, doing so in 1885. The student yearbook was published for the first time in 1897. A contest was held to solicit suggestions for a yearbook title from the student body. Elma Meek, a student, submitted the winning entry of "Ole Miss." Meek's source for the term is unknown; some historians theorize she made a diminutive of "old Mississippi" or derived the term from "ol' missus," an African-American term for a plantation's "old mistress." This sobriquet was not only chosen for the yearbook, but also became the name by which the university was informally known. "Ole Miss" is defined as the school's intangible spirit, which is separate from the tangible aspects of the university. The university began medical education in 1903, when the University of Mississippi School of Medicine was established on the Oxford campus. In that era, the university provided two-year pre-clinical education certificates, and graduates went out of state to complete doctor of medicine degrees. In 1950, the Mississippi Legislature voted to create a four-year medical school. On July 1, 1955, the University Medical Center opened in the capital of Jackson, Mississippi, as a four-year medical school. The University of Mississippi Medical Center, as it is now called, is the health sciences campus of the University of Mississippi. It houses the University of Mississippi School of Medicine along with five other health science schools: nursing, dentistry, health-related professions, graduate studies and pharmacy (The School of Pharmacy is split between the Oxford and University of Mississippi Medical Center campuses). Several attempts were made via the executive and legislative branches of the Mississippi state government to relocate or otherwise close the University of Mississippi. The Mississippi Legislature between 1900 and 1930 introduced several bills aiming to accomplish this, but no such legislation was ever passed by either house. One such bill was introduced in 1912 by Senator William Ellis of Carthage, Mississippi, which would have merged the college with then-Mississippi A&M. However, this measure was soundly defeated, despite the bill only seeking to form an exploratory committee. In February 1920, 56 members of the legislature arrived on campus and discussed with students and faculty the idea of consolidating MS A&M, MS College of Women and Ole Miss to be located in Jackson, rather than appropriate $750,000.00 of funds requested by then-Chancellor Joseph Powers which were needed to repair dilapidated and structurally unsound buildings on the campus, which was discovered following the partial collapse of a dormitory in 1917 and a scathing review of other buildings later that same year by the state architect. These funds, plus an additional $300,000.00 were appropriated to the school, which was used to build 4 male dormitories, a female dormitory and a pharmacy building, which partially resolved a longstanding issue of inadequate dormitory space for students. During the 1930s, Mississippi Governor Theodore G. Bilbo, a populist, tried to move the university to Jackson. Chancellor Alfred Hume gave the state legislators a grand tour of Ole Miss and the surrounding historic city of Oxford, persuading them to keep it in its original setting. During World War II, UM was one of 131 colleges and universities nationally that took part in the V-12 Navy College Training Program, which offered students a path to a Navy commission. Desegregation came to Ole Miss in the early 1960s with the activities of United States Air Force veteran James Meredith from Kosciusko, Mississippi. Even Meredith's initial efforts required great courage. All involved knew how violently William David McCain and the white political establishment of Mississippi had recently reacted to similar efforts by Clyde Kennard to enroll at Mississippi Southern College (now the University of Southern Mississippi). Meredith won a lawsuit that allowed him admission to The University of Mississippi in September 1962. He attempted to enter campus on September 20, September 25, and again on September 26, only to be blocked by Mississippi Governor Ross R. Barnett, who proclaimed that "...No school in our state will be integrated while I am your Governor. I shall do everything in my power to prevent integration in our schools." After the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held both Barnett and Lieutenant Governor Paul B. Johnson, Jr. in contempt, with fines of more than $10,000 for each day they refused to allow Meredith to enroll, Meredith, escorted by a force of U.S. Marshals, entered the campus on September 30, 1962. Two people were killed by gunfire during the riot, a French journalist, Paul Guihard and an Oxford repairman, Ray Gunter. One-third of the US Marshals, 166 men, were injured, as were 40 soldiers and National Guardsmen. After control was re-established by federal forces, Meredith, thanks to the protection afforded by federal marshals, was able to enroll and attend his first class on October 1. Following the riot, elements of an Army National Guard division were stationed in Oxford to prevent future similar violence. While most Ole Miss students did not riot prior to his official enrollment in the university, many harassed Meredith during his first two semesters on campus. According to first-person accounts, students living in Meredith's dorm bounced basketballs on the floor just above his room through all hours of the night. When Meredith walked into the cafeteria for meals, the students eating would all turn their backs. If Meredith sat at a table with other students, all of whom were white, they would immediately move to another table. Many of these events are featured in the 2012 ESPN documentary film Ghosts of Ole Miss. In 2002 the university marked the 40th anniversary of integration with a yearlong series of events titled "Open Doors: Building on 40 Years of Opportunity in Higher Education." These included an oral history of Ole Miss, various symposiums, the April unveiling of a $130,000 memorial, and a reunion of federal marshals who had served at the campus. In September 2003, the university completed the year's events with an international conference on race. By that year, 13% of the student body identified as African American. Meredith's son Joseph graduated as the top doctoral student at the School of Business Administration. The Circle, including its flagpole and Confederate Monument. Additionally, on April 14, 2010, the university campus was declared a National Historic Site by the Society of Professional Journalists to honor reporters who covered the 1962 riot, including the late French reporter Paul Guihard, a victim of the riot. From September 2012 to May 2013, the university marked its 50th anniversary of integration with a program called Opening the Closed Society, referring to Mississippi: The Closed Society, a 1964 book by James W. Silver, a history professor at the university. The events included lectures by figures such as Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. and the singer and activist Harry Belafonte, movie screenings, panel discussions, and a "walk of reconciliation and redemption." Myrlie Evers-Williams, widow of Medgar Evers, slain civil rights leader and late president of the state NAACP, closed the observance on May 11, 2013, by delivering the address at the university's 160th commencement. The university was chosen to host the first presidential debate of 2008, between Senator John McCain and then-Senator Barack Obama which was held September 26, 2008. This was the first presidential debate to be held in Mississippi. The university adopted a new on-field mascot for athletic events in the fall of 2010. Colonel Reb, retired from the sidelines of sporting events in 2003, was officially replaced by "Rebel", a black bear, and then, in 2018, was replaced by The Landshark. All university sports teams are still officially referred to as the Rebels. The university's 25th Rhodes Scholar was named in 2008. Since 1998, it has produced two Rhodes Scholars, as well as 10 Goldwater Scholars, seven Truman Scholars, 18 Fulbright Scholars, a Marshall Scholar, three Udall Scholars, two Gates Cambridge Scholars, one Mitchell Scholar, 19 Boren Scholars, one Boren fellow and one German Chancellor Fellowship. The student-faculty ratio at University of Mississippi is 19:1, and the school has 47.4 percent of its classes with fewer than 20 students. The most popular majors at University of Mississippi include: Integrated Marketing Communications, Elementary Education and Teaching; Marketing/Marketing Management, General; Accountancy, Finance, General; Pharmacy, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Administration, Other; Biology, Psychology and Criminal Justice; and Business Administration and Management, General. The average freshman retention rate, an indicator of student success and satisfaction, is 85.3 percent. University of Mississippi Medical Center surgeons, led by James Hardy, performed the world's first human lung transplant, in 1963, and the world's first animal-to-human heart transplant, in 1964. The heart of a chimpanzee was used for the heart transplant because of Hardy's research on transplantation, consisting of primate studies during the previous nine years. The University of Mississippi Field Station in Abbeville is a natural laboratory used to study, research and teach about sustainable freshwater ecosystems. Since 1968, the school operates the only legal marijuana farm and production facility in the United States. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) contracts to the university the production of cannabis for the use in approved research studies on the plant as well as for distribution to the seven surviving medical cannabis patients grandfathered into the Compassionate Investigational New Drug program (established in 1978 and canceled in 1991). The first commercial blues recording was Mamie Smith's performance of Perry Bradford's "Crazy Blues" in 1920. The university houses one of the largest blues music archives in the United States. Some of the contributions to the collection were donated by BB King who donated his entire personal record collection. The archive includes the first ever commercial blues recording, a song called "Crazy Blues" recorded by Mamie Smith in 1920. The Mamie and Ellis Nassour Arts & Entertainment Collection, highlighted by a wealth of theater and film scripts, photographs and memorabilia, was dedicated in September 2005. The Center for Intelligence and Security Studies (CISS) delivers academic programming to prepare outstanding students for careers in intelligence analysis in both the public and private sectors. In addition, CISS personnel engage in applied research and consortium building with government, private and academic partners. In late 2012, the United States Director of National Intelligence designated CISS as an Intelligence Community Center of Academic Excellence (CAE). CISS is one of only 29 college programs in the United States with this distinction. The Haley Barbour Center for Manufacturing Excellence (CME) was established in June 2008 to provide unique opportunities for students interested in manufacturing. The CME is developing interdisciplinary educational opportunities within an innovative academic learning model that provides our students with the practical experiences, fundamental knowledge, and creative skill sets needed to lead the world of modern manufacturing. The CME is working with companies who express a strong desire to become industry leaders and who wish to work with CME staff and students. The university offers the Chinese Language Flagship Program (simplified Chinese: 中文旗舰项目; traditional Chinese: 中文旗艦項目; pinyin: Zhōngwén Qíjiàn Xiàngmù), a study program aiming to provide Americans with an advanced knowledge of Chinese. The Croft Institute for International Studies at the University of Mississippi is a privately funded, select-admissions, undergraduate program for high achieving students who pursue a B.A. degree in international studies. Croft students combine a regional concentration in Europe, East Asia, Latin America, or the Middle East with a thematic concentration in global economics and business, international governance and politics, or social and cultural identity. The program emphasizes intensive foreign language training, qualitative and quantitative skills, mandatory study abroad for a semester or more, and a yearlong senior thesis. The University of Mississippi has several student organizations to help students get to know one another and adapt to life at the university. One organization is the International Student Organization (ISO), which organizes activities and events for international students. Notable events of the ISO include a cultural night, date auction and international sports tournament. Named in honor of distinguished Ole Miss alumnus, former U.S. Sen. Trent Lott, the Lott Leadership Institute offers a wide range of leadership and outreach programs that work to enrich the lives and enhance the abilities of students and faculty, as well as high school students, students from other colleges and universities, and the community. UM is a collaborator in the Mississippi Excellence in Teaching Program, designed to attract top students to teacher education programs with full scholarships and professional incentives. The goal is to attract the top high school seniors who want to become mathematics and English teachers in Mississippi. Funded by the Robert M. Hearin Support Foundation, the program is designed to create a unique “honors college style” learning experience for high-performing education students and promote collaboration between students and faculty at UM and Mississippi State University. The World Class Teaching Program is a special program at the University of Mississippi School of Education designed to provide support to teachers going through the National Board Certification process. The Sally McDonnell Barksdale Honors College attracts a diverse body of high-performing students to the University of Mississippi and prepares citizen scholars who are fired by the life of the mind, committed to the public good and driven to find solutions. Established in 1997 through a gift from the Jim Barksdale family, the Honors College merges intellectual rigor with community action. It offers an education similar to that at prestigious private liberal arts schools and universities, but at a far lower cost. Small, discussion-based classes, dedicated faculty and a nurturing staff enable honors students to experience intellectual as well as personal growth. The University of Mississippi is a member of the SEC Academic Consortium. Now renamed the SECU, the initiative was a collaborative endeavor designed to promote research, scholarship and achievement among the member universities in the Southeastern Conference. The SECU formed to serve as a means to bolster collaborative academic endeavors of Southeastern Conference universities. Its goals include highlighting the endeavors and achievements of SEC faculty, students and its universities and advancing the academic reputation of SEC universities. In 2013, the University of Mississippi participated in the SEC Symposium in Atlanta, Georgia which was organized and led by the University of Georgia and the UGA Bioenergy Systems Research Institute. The topic of the symposium was titled "Impact of the Southeast in the World's Renewable Energy Future." The University of Mississippi was No. 18 on the 2012 Forbes Best Value Colleges list, part of the annual America's Top Colleges section. It was the only SEC school to make the Top 20 list. However, it failed to make the top 300 in best value in 2017. For the last 10 years, the Chronicle of Higher Education named the University of Mississippi as one of the "Great Colleges to Work For", putting the institution in elite company. The 2018 results, released in the Chronicle's annual report on "The Academic Workplace", Ole Miss was among 84 institutions honored from the 253 colleges and universities surveyed. In 2018, the Ole Miss campus was ranked the second safest in the SEC and one of the safest in nation. U.S. News & World Report ranks the Professional MBA program at the UM School of Business Administration in the top 50 among American public universities, and the online MBA program ranks in the top 25. All three degree programs at the University of Mississippi's Patterson School of Accountancy are among the top 10 in the 2018 annual national rankings of accounting programs published by the journal Public Accounting Report. The undergraduate and doctoral programs are No. 7, while the master's program is No. 9. The undergraduate and doctoral programs lead the Southeastern Conference in the rankings, and the master's program is second in the SEC. One or more Ole Miss programs have led the SEC in each of the past eight years. The Army ROTC program received one of eight prestigious MacArthur Awards in February 2012. Presented by the U.S. Army Cadet Command and the Gen. Douglas MacArthur Foundation, the award recognizes the ideals of "duty, honor and country" as advocated by MacArthur. For its life-changing work in 12 Delta communities, the UM School of Pharmacy won the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy's 2011–12 Lawrence C. Weaver Transformative Community Service Award. AACP presents the award annually to one pharmacy school that not only demonstrates a major commitment to addressing unmet community needs through education, practice and research but also serves as an example of social responsiveness for others. Ole Miss continues to be the premiere destination for college tailgating as the Grove claimed second place in Southern Living's "South's Best Tailgate" contest in 2012. The William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation at the University of Mississippi was honored by the International Association of Official Human Rights Agencies with its 2012 International Award. This accolade from the nonprofit organization devoted to promoting civil and human rights around the world was presented in New Orleans. The University of Mississippi's main campus is located in Oxford. There are also regional campuses in Booneville, DeSoto, Grenada, and Tupelo. The University of Mississippi in Oxford is the original campus, beginning with only one square-mile of land. The main campus today contains around 1,200 acres of land. Also, the University of Mississippi owns a golf course and airport in Oxford. The golf course and airport are considered part of the University of Mississippi, Oxford campus as well. The buildings on the main University of Mississippi campus come from the Georgian age of architecture; however, some of the newer buildings today have a more contemporary architecture. The first building built on the Oxford campus is the Lyceum, and is the only original building remaining. The construction of the Lyceum began in 1846 and was completed in 1848. The Lyceum served as a hospital to soldiers in the Civil War. Also on the campus, the Croft Institute for International Studies and Barnard Observatory were used for soldiers during the civil war. The Oxford campus of the University of Mississippi contains a lot of history with the Civil War. The campus was used as a hospital, but also after soldiers died, the campus served as a morgue. Where Farley Hall is now located, the prior building was referred to as the "Dead House" where the bodies of deceased soldiers were stored. Architect Frank P. Gates designed 18 buildings on campus in 1929-1930, mostly in the Georgian Revival architectural style, including (Old) University High School, Barr Hall, Bondurant Hall, Farley Hall (also known as Lamar Hall), Faulkner Hall, Hill Hall, Howry Hall, Isom Hall, Longstreet Hall, Martindale Hall, Vardaman Hall, the Cafeteria/Union Building, and the Wesley Knight Field House. Today on the University of Mississippi campus, most of the buildings have been completely renovated or newly constructed. There are currently at least 15 residential buildings on the Oxford campus, with more being built. The Oxford campus is also home to eleven sorority houses and fourteen fraternity houses. The chancellor of The University of Mississippi also lives on the edge of campus. The University of Mississippi campus in Oxford is known for the beauty of the campus. The campus has been recognized multiple years, but most recently, in 2016, USA Today recognized Ole Miss as the "Most Beautiful Campus". The campus grounds are kept up through the University of Mississippi's personal landscape service. The different satellite campuses that The University of Mississippi has are much smaller than the main campus in Oxford. The satellite campus in Tupelo started running in a larger space in 1972, the DeSoto campus opened in 1996, and the Grenada campus has been operated on the Holmes Community College campus since 2008. The University of Mississippi campus and satellite campuses continue to grow. There will continue to be progress in construction to accommodate for the large growth in student population. Archie Manning's uniform number, 18, is the official speed limit of the Oxford campus. In March 2012, Ross Bjork was named the university's new athletics director. The other speed limit on campus is 10, for the uniform number of Eli Manning (Archie's son). There are hundreds of students organizations, including 25 religious organizations. The Daily Mississippian (DM) is the student-published newspaper of the university, established in 1911. Although it is located on the Ole Miss campus, it is operated largely as an independent newspaper run by students. The DM is the only college newspaper in the state that is published five times a week. The staff consists of approximately 15 editors, about 25 writers and photographers, and a five-person student sales staff. Daily circulation is 12,000. The award-winning publication celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2011–12. TheDMonline.com is the online version of The Daily Mississippian and also includes original content that supplements the print publication - photo galleries, videos, breaking news and student blogs. Page views average up to 360,000 a month. The Ole Miss student yearbook is a 368-page full-color book produced by students. It has won many awards, including a Gold Crown. WUMS-FM 92.1 Rebel Radio, is a FCC commercially licensed radio station. It is one of only a few student-run, commercially licensed radio stations in the nation, with a signal stretching about 60 miles across North Mississippi. Its format features Top 40, alternative and college rock, news and talk shows. NewsWatch is a student-produced, live newscast, and the only local newscast in Lafayette County. Broadcast through the Metrocast cable company, it is live at 5 p.m. Monday-Friday, and livestreamed on newswatcholemiss.com. These publications and broadcasts are part of the S. Gale Denley Student Media Center at Ole Miss. Approximately 5,300 students live on campus in 13 residence halls, two residential colleges and two apartment complexes. All freshmen (students with less than 30 credit hours) are required to live in campus housing their first year unless they meet certain commuter guidelines. The Department of Student Housing is an auxiliary, meaning that it is self-supporting and does not receive appropriations from state funds. All rent received from students pays for housing functions such as utilities, staff salaries, furniture, supplies, repairs, renovations and new buildings. Most of the residence staff members are students, including day-to-day management, conduct board members and maintenance personnel. Upon acceptance to the University of Mississippi, a housing application is submitted with an application fee. The cost of on-campus housing ranges from approximately $4,000 to more than $8,000 (the highest price being that of the newly renovated Village apartments) per academic or calendar year, depending on the occupancy and room type. Students (with more than 30 credit hours) have the option to live off campus in unaffiliated housing. Graduate students, undergraduate students aged 25 or older, students who are married, and students with families may live in the Village Apartments. The complex consists of six two story buildings, and is adjacent to the University of Mississippi Law School. Undergraduates over 25, married students, and graduate students may live in the one-bedroom apartments. Graduate students and students over 25 may live in studio style apartments. Students with children may live in the two-bedroom apartments. Children living in the Village Apartments are zoned to the Oxford School District. Residents are zoned to Bramlett Elementary School (PreK-1), Oxford Elementary School (2-3), Della Davidson Elementary School (4-5), Oxford Middle School (6-8), and Oxford High School (9-12). Despite the relatively small number of Greek-letter organizations on campus, a third of all undergraduates participate in Greek life at Ole Miss. The tradition of Greek life on the Oxford campus is a deep-seated one. In fact, the first fraternity founded in the South was the Rainbow Fraternity, founded at Ole Miss in 1848. The fraternity merged with Delta Tau Delta in 1886. Delta Kappa Epsilon followed shortly after at Ole Miss in 1850, as the first to have a house on campus in Mississippi. Delta Gamma Women's Fraternity was founded in 1873 at the Lewis School for Girls in nearby Oxford. All Greek life at Ole Miss was suspended from 1912 to 1926 due to statewide anti-fraternity legislation. Today, sorority chapters are very large, with some boasting over 400 active members. Recruitment is fiercely competitive and potential sorority members are encouraged to secure personal recommendations from Ole Miss sorority alumnae to increase the chances of receiving an invitation to join one of the eleven NPC sororities on campus. Fraternity recruitment is also fierce, with only 14 active IFC chapters on campus. The Associated Student Body (ASB) is the Ole Miss student government organization. Students are elected to the ASB Senate in the spring semester, with leftover seats voted on in the fall. Senators can represent groups of organizations such as the Greek councils and sports clubs, or they can run to represent their school (i.e., College of Liberal Arts or School of Engineering). The ASB officers are also elected in the spring semester, following two weeks of campaigning. A common tradition among Ole Miss students is that, after they vote in ASB elections, they go to local convenience stores to purchase Coca-Cola or PepsiCo brand soft drinks. Following the elections, newly sworn-in ASB officers release applications, conduct interviews, and eventually choose their cabinet members for the coming school year. The student body, excluding the Medical Center, includes 18,121 undergraduates, 2,089 graduate students, 357 law students and 323 students in the Doctor of Pharmacy program. African-Americans comprise 12.8 percent of the student body. Nobel Prize-winning novelist William Faulkner, who attended the university but did not graduate, served as the university's postmaster from 1921 to 1924. In 1929, Faulkner wrote As I Lay Dying in the University of Mississippi Power House, where he worked as a fireman and night watchman. Best-selling legal thriller writer John Grisham received his Juris Doctor degree at Ole Miss Law. United States Senators Trent Lott, Roger Wicker and Thad Cochran earned their undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Mississippi, and Senator Jeanne Shaheen earned a master's degree. NFL quarterback Archie Manning attended Ole Miss and played football for the Rebels. Manning's youngest son, NFL quarterback Eli Manning, a two-time Super Bowl champion, also played at Ole Miss. Mahesh Bhupathi, tennis player and winner of 4 Grand Slam doubles titles. The university has produced three Miss Americas: Susan Akin, Mary Ann Mobley and Lynda Lee Mead. Charlie's Angel Kate Jackson and longtime As the World Turns star Anthony Herrera attended the university. Mangan, Katherine (June 25, 2015). "Removing Confederate Symbols Is a Step, but Changing a Campus Culture Can Take Years". Chronicle of Higher Education. Nick, Bryant (Autumn 2006). "Black Man Who Was Crazy Enough to Apply to Ole Miss". Journal of Blacks in Higher Education. 53. pp. 60–71. ^ "University Endowment Builds to All-time High of $715 Million - Ole Miss News". Ole Miss News. ^ "About UM: Facts - University of Mississippi". 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Retrieved May 10, 2017. ^ "Gates, Frank P., Co. (b.1895 - d.1975)". Mississippi Department of Archives and History. Retrieved November 7, 2017. ^ a b "Landscape Services | University of Mississippi". www.olemiss.edu. Retrieved May 10, 2017. ^ "The University of Mississippi – Tupelo". www.outreach.olemiss.edu. Archived from the original on February 7, 2007. Retrieved May 10, 2017. ^ "The University of Mississippi – DeSoto". www.outreach.olemiss.edu. Archived from the original on July 9, 2010. Retrieved May 10, 2017. ^ "The University of Mississippi – Grenada". www.outreach.olemiss.edu. Archived from the original on August 17, 2011. Retrieved May 10, 2017. ^ Garner, Dwight (October 14, 2011). "Faulkner and Football in Oxford, Miss". The New York Times. ^ "Bjork Press Conference" March 22, 2012". Archived from the original on October 16, 2012. ^ "Office of Leadership & Advocacy". dos.orgsync.com. Retrieved November 27, 2018. ^ "Buildings - Student Housing". Student Housing. Retrieved November 27, 2018. ^ "Village." University of Mississippi. Retrieved on February 2, 2012. ^ "Campus Map." University of Mississippi. Retrieved on February 2, 2012. ^ "Our Schools Archived 2012-02-21 at the Wayback Machine." Oxford School District. Retrieved on February 2, 2012. ^ "TWO SECRET SOCIETIES UNITED. - DELTA TAU DELTA AND THE RAINBOW SOCIETY JOIN HANDS. - View Article - NYTimes.com" (PDF). March 28, 1885. Retrieved April 30, 2016. ^ "Mississippi History Now - Lee Maurice Russell: Fortieth Governor of Mississippi: 1920-1924". Retrieved May 29, 2015. ^ "William Faulkner Quits His Post Office Job in Splendid Fashion with a 1924 Resignation Letter". Openculture. September 30, 2012. ^ Spillman, Rob (October 15, 2012). "On William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying". PEN America. ^ "Bio - John Grisham". Retrieved May 29, 2015. Wikimedia Commons has media related to University of Mississippi. Wikisource has the text of a 1905 New International Encyclopedia article about University of Mississippi. "Mississippi, University of" . The New Student's Reference Work . 1914. "Mississippi, University of" . Collier's New Encyclopedia. 1921.

2019-04-26T16:04:24Z

http://conceptmap.cfapps.io/wikipage?lang=en&name=University_of_Mississippi

India’s frontline fighter Sukhoi-30MKI is set to get a lethal edge with the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) tonight clearing a Rs 6,000-crore plan to acquire the air-launched version of the BrahMos missile, a joint Indo-Russian production, for the warplanes. The IAF will get 200 of these missiles. The BrahMos, a supersonic missile with the capability of travelling at 2.8 mach, has already been inducted into the Indian Navy and the Indian Army. Some modifications are needed to enable Sukhoi-30 carry the missile and deliver it. The missiles need some miniaturisation and Sukhoi-30 needs special under-the-wing pods to carry it. Some of the fighter aircraft are being modified indigenously by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) at its Nasik facility and fitted with an integrated aerial launcher developed by the BrahMos. The first live test of the missile using a Sukhoi-30 is expected in December. Once inducted, the missile will complete a sort of triad of supersonic missiles available with India on land, in air and at sea. The IAF warplane will be able to hit a target 300 km away. The Rs 6,000-crore outgo will involve purchase of BrahMos missiles, its integration onto the warplanes and testing, sources said. Halwara, near Ludhiana, will be the second base of Sukhoi-30s in North India. The warplanes are currently based at Bareilly in western UP. The deployment of Sukhoi-30s at Halwara will complete in July 2013. Sources said the CCS also cleared a Rs 2,000-crore proposal to tide over the crippling shortage of tank ammunition. The Invar Missile, which can be fired from the barrel of the T-90 tanks, has also been okayed. The Army had projected its demand for 20,000 Invar missiles at a cost of Rs 2,000 crore. Under the Army proposal, 10,000 Invar missiles would be procured from Russian manufacturers whereas the remaining would be license-produced by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) under the transfer of technology (ToT) agreement. Defence Minister AK Antony today joined the growing tribe of optimists who believe it was impossible to have a repeat of the humiliating military defeat of 1962 Sino-India war. Over the past four weeks, Army Chief General Bikram Singh and Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal NAK Browne have assured the nation of the prowess of the armed forces. General Bikram Singh had said a repeat of 1962 was not possible while the IAF boss pointed out that the outcome of the 1962 war would have been different had the IAF warplanes been used. Antony, talking to the media on the sidelines of the Navy Commanders Conference today, said, "India of 2012 is not the India of that (1962) period. We are now capable of defending every inch of our country." He was replying to a question on India vis-a-vis China 50 years after the 1962 war in which India had suffered a defeat. Antony quickly added a caveat to his words by talking about the abysmal infrastructure saying "infrastructure in the North-East is not up to our satisfaction, but it has improved a lot as compared to the past". Earlier, India, as per its policy, had not focused on enhancing infrastructure in border areas of northeastern states fearing the road could be used by an ingressing army. "Now we have moved very fast. Our infrastructure, assets and manpower have substantially improved," he added. He said India would continue to build infrastructure. In the increasingly networked world of today, cyber security is a vital national need. It is indeed heartening that the government has taken steps to enrol the private sector as an ally in its battle to defend the nation from cyber attacks — both within and from outside. The world over, governments and the private sector work together to patrol the increasingly chaotic cyber space, and it’s high time the Government of India did so too. The ‘Recommendations of Joint Working Group on Engagement With Private Sector On Cyber Security’ prepared by the government lays down the parameters on which both sectors can work together. The government is reacting to the misuse of cyberspace facilities that had triggered the mass movement of people from the Northeast who were working or studying in other parts of the country. The government is doing well in setting up various groups and committees that will enable it to move swiftly as and when the need arises. However, fire-fighting is only one aspect of the problem. What is needed is to train personnel and build expertise. The nation needs to develop expertise in dealing with cyber security. Private enterprise will help cut the red tape, and add the necessary verve as well as cutting-edge technology/training needed to combat cyber threats. It has been estimated that India needs over five lakh cyber security professionals, something that is simply not available right now. To fulfil this need, cyber security needs to be immediately introduced in the academic curricula of professional colleges. The government must also take effective steps in training the police and other law enforcement agencies in the various aspects of cyber security. Only then would they be equipped to deal with cyber-crime investigation and cyber forensics. A world of caution is in order here, as in any such endeavour: the government must ensure that the democratic rights of freedom of speech and privacy of the citizens are not violated. India is a leading provider of IT talent to the world; it needs to secure itself even as it continues to embrace cyberspace. Flaws in India's 'forward policy' of locating troops north of the disputed MacMahon line, were exposed in Kameng frontier division of Arunachal Pradesh. Within days of the attack, the well-prepared Chinese had overrun the Indian defences. Thousands of Indian Army soldiers and officers were killed, captured or wounded while some even shame-facedly took refuge in neighbouring Bhutan. Interspersed in this mayhem, some units showed flashes of military, bravado and tenacity. However, over all, the largely unhindered Chinese advance and India's retreat remains one of the saddest chapters in military history. The debacle in the Kameng sector aptly illustrates the confusion and lack of planning. It was in August 1962 when the Chinese crossed the MacMahon line to counter the Indian moves and occupied the Thag La ridge north of Tawang. The lone Indian post at Dhola, created as part of the Forward Policy, was attacked. It signalled the Chinese were not averse to crossing the MacMahon Line -- a thing which they had not done since the 1914 Simla conference with the British and Tibetans. The Indian leadership took a stand "Chinese must be evicted by force". The Eastern Army Command sent a message asking Indian troops "to engage Chinese patrols that came within the range of their weapons". Brig John Dalvi, Brigade Commander of the 7th Infantry Brigade, asked for logistics to support his troops. Eastern Army Commander, Lt Gen LP Sen, shared his opinion that eviction of the Chinese was not possible with existing logistics. Brig Dalvi wanted logistics in place. The top echelons were keen to press ahead. The differences are aptly summed up by Maj Gen DK Palit in his well-documented book 'War in the Himalaya'. Palit, then the Director Military Operations, says "Senior commanders were ignorant of both the terrain and logistical difficulties." Bringing in supplies and ammunition was not easy. Only a jeep track existed only till Bomdilla located some 160 kms north of Tezpur in Assam, further north the journey was on foot and the mountains tracks were unsuitable for load carrying soldiers. Indian troops had made a strong beginning on October 10 when the Chinese attacked Tseng Jong just north of the river Namkha Chu. A single company, about 120 men, from 9 Punjab, retaliated. Some 77 Chinese died (as reported by the Peking press at that time). The Punjabi's won three Mahavir Chakra (MVC) and two Vir Chakra (VrC). The Company Commander, Maj MS Chaudhary, died of wounds, his sepoy Kanshi Ram overpowered a Chinese with bare hands and snatched his automatic rifle. Despite a good start, the Punjabis were asked to withdraw from Tseng Jong. The Chinese stepped in and started probing around Tsangle and 'Bridge 5'. At the first light of October 20 Chinese opened up a full attack all along the Namka Chu. Within the first few minutes Indian telephone lines broke down, leaving the units to act on their own. The Chinese had used the gaps in the Indian defences and occupied positions at the rear of the Indians, sandwiching them. Resultantly, an entire company of 2 Rajput was wiped out while the 1/9 Gorkha Rifles (GR) had been overrun within the first few hours. The enemy guns now turned towards "Tsangle" and "Bridge 5", while the Indian radio frequencies had been jammed so the gunners did not even get a signal from their superiors to fire. The Rajputs suffered the worst. A total 282 of were killed. The 'History of the conflict with China' produced some thirty years after the war by the Historical Division of the Ministry of Defence, says "The unit fought a heroic battle, literally to the last round". All officers excepting Maj Gurdial Singh were killed. He led another charge, was taken prisoner of war (POW), and later awarded an MVC. The Gorkhas, like the Rajputs, were also attacked from the rear. By then the 7 Infantry Brigade lost links with its units. Brig John Dalvi was taken prisoner on the afternoon of October 21 -- and entire Brigade had disintegrated. Elsewhere, the Chinese had attacked the Assam Rifles-held post at Khinzemane. A five-hour battle ensued following which Col Rattan Singh and 24 others were taken prisoner. Some miles away Second Lieutenant GVP Rao of Artillery was fighting a losing battle, Chinese had attacked in huge numbers. Rao and his men fought on till the last bullet. He died and got an MVC. On the night of October 20, Maj Gen Niranjan Prasad, GOC, 4 Infantry Division, told his superiors that the Indian frontline had been wiped out. The next morning the Division's tactical headquarters was asked to withdraw from Zimithang and locate South, at Tawang. The Chinese broke up their force into two. One headed to Tawang and the other to get the Lumpo ridge vacated. Zimithang was taken over on the night of October 22-23 and Lumpo was under Chinese control by 9 am on October 23. Elsewhere the Chinese targeted Bum-La before they entered Tawang, here the 1 Sikh covered itself in glory. Subedar Joginder Singh held back the invaders. With no ammunition left, Joginder Singh was asked to withdraw. He and his men responded by advancing with only the bayonets fixed to their guns. The Subedar was wounded and taken POW. He died in enemy custody. "Subedar Joginder Singh and his men mowed down the first wave, and the enemy was temporarily halted by the heavy losses it suffered. Within a few minutes, a second wave came over and was dealt with similarly", read the citation for the Param Vir Chakra - the highest war-time gallantry honour -- awarded to him. Another company of 1 Sikh led by Capt Haripal Kaushak stood firm. They "proved to be an iron curtain for the enemy", says the 'History of the Conflict with China'. The Chinese had moved into Tawang unopposed on October 23. Lt Gen Sen, ordered withdrawal of troops to Bomdila located further south. Lt Gen BM Kaul was appointed the new IV Corps Commander on October 29 while Maj Gen AS Pathania replaced Maj Gen Niranjan Prasad as the GOC 4 Infantry Division. Yet again the Chinese sneaked in south of the Se La pass and cut lines of communication of the 4 Infantry Division. Indian field units reporting rapid road construction and Chinese movement were admonished for 'exaggerated' reports about enemy movements. On November 17 the second attack commenced at Nuranang. The 4 Garhwal Rifles held positions with tenacity and won two MVC -- Lt Col BM Bhattacharjea and Rifleman Jaswant Singh, besides seven VrC. The 62 briagde had been withdrawn to south of the Se La. By now the Indians were virtually being pushed down the Himalayas with the Chinese in hot pursuit. Strangely the Indian side wanted to be north of Bomdila. Strategically, the Indians could have just dug themselves in at Bomdila located at 10,000 feet and stopped the enemy. South of Bomdilla was a steep downward gradient that led to the Assam plains. The Chinese had no means to transport its guns across Se La and their supply lines were getting affected. By now the Chinese were not pursuing the retreating Indian Army, the indication was they were regrouping, a tactic they used in the 1952 Korean war. Indians had taken defensive positions at Se La (14,600 feet), Dirang and Bomdila. At Dirang the 7 cavalry was holding fort with its Stuart tanks which deterred the Chinese. The task was to stop the advance on the Bomdilla-Dirang road. The 7 cavalry provided covering fire to the troops to extricate themselves. On November 18 Bomdila had fallen without much of fightback. On November 23, the Chinese announced a ceasefire. The Rajputs, headed by Lt Col Bhramanand Avasthy, did not know of this and were retreating with 300 odd men when they came under attack. More than a hundred Chinese were killed and the entire lot of the Rajputs was wiped out at battle now known as the 'Last stand at Lha-Gyala Gompa'. Baring a lone shepherd not a single man survived to cite the valour of Lt Col Avasthi and his men, hence no battle honours. His daughter Neeharika Naidu, who was only nine years in 1962, says, "A shrine has come up at the place where people come and worship and pay homage to my father". Maj Gen DK Palit writes in his book, War in the High Himalay "The civilians set the pace, but the Army went along, beguiled by the conviction that the Chinese would not call our bluff." Such was the confusion that 2 Sikh Light Infantry was withdrawing when it met with the frontline defences of 1 Sikh who did not even known about the withdrawal. With communication lines snapped, 4 Sikh LI and a section of 7 Mahar MMG unit were left to fend for themselves. When attacked these two small units were butchered. Some of them managed to save themselves by escaping into Bhutan. It was decided to pull out of Bomdila. There was little the brigade commander could do. There were no mines and just a handful of troops to defend Bomdila, which the Chinese took over on November 18. Elsewhere the 62 Brigade commander Brig Hoshiar Singh was ambushed and killed on November 27. Such was the condition that on December 1 -- a good fortnight after the withdrawal -- some 2,291 ranks were still missing. New Delhi: The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS), the highest decision making body for security issues headed by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, today cleared the acquisition of air-launched version of BrahMos missiles for the Russian-made Su-30 MKi air planes and Russian made Invar anti-tank missiles. The acquisition is estimated to cost the Indian exchequer Rs. 8000 crore. Earlier, in March, 2012, in a letter to the Prime Minister and Defence Minister A K Antony, former Army Chief General V K Singh had highlighted severe shortfalls in ammunitions and missiles and had pointed out the Indian Army had tank ammunition for three-four days only. Sources told NDTV that the CCS cleared the Rs. 6,000 crore plan to acquire the air-launched version of the BrahMos missile for India's main stay fighter plane Su-30 MKi. BrahMos, a super-sonic missile that can travel at about 3 mach speed, is already being used by the Indian Navy and the Indian Army. It is a joint venture between India and Russia. The Indian Air Force is expected to get about 200 of these missiles. Su-30 MKi will have to be modified to enable them to carry the air version of the BrahMos. In its current form only a single BrahMos can be fitted in the underbelly of the Su-30 MKi. There is, however, an effort to miniaturise the missiles and also modify the Sukhoi-30 under-the-wing-pods so that more than one missile can be fitted into a single aircraft. Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) is currently working on the modifications. The first test launch of the air version of the BrahMos is expected to be conducted in December 2012. The BrahMos air version missiles will have range of about 290 kilometres and will enable the Indian Air Force to hit targets deep inside Pakistan while flying within Indian air space. The CCS also cleared the acquisition of Invar anti-tank missiles for T-90 tanks at a total estimated cost of Rs. 2,000 crore to tide over crippling shortage of tank ammunition. The Invar Missile are fired from the barrel of the T-90 tanks. The Army wants about 20,000 Invar missiles. Source said that about 10,000 of these missiles would be brought from Russian whereas the remaining would be produced by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL) under Transfer of Technology (ToT). New Delhi, Oct 18 — India's armed forces will Friday make a joint pitch before Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and members of the cabinet committee on security (CCS) on setting up three new commands to meet the threats to space assets and cyber infrastructure and for controlling commando operations. The three new commands - special operations, aerospace and cyber security - will draw elements, assets and manpower from all the three services, as well as from other relevant government departments, a top commander said. A presentation, laying out the modalities and feasibility of the separate formations for carrying out these specialist tasks, will be made when the commanders of the army, navy and air force meet with the prime minister and the CCS members at the combined commanders conference, the officer told IANS on condition of anonymity. The proposals have been prepared by the Chiefs Of Staff Committee (COSC) headed by Indian Air Force (IAF) chief Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne. This followed threadbare discussions with the other two COSC members - Indian Army chief General Bikram Singh and Indian Navy chief Admiral D.K. Joshi. Browne will take lead in making the presentation. There will also be deliberations on the proposals at the daylong conference, where the heads of the sword arms of the three services will also express their views. The idea behind the three separate commands has evolved from a suggestion made by a task force on national security headed by former cabinet secretary Naresh Chandra which submitted its report earlier this year. The report of the task force is currently being studied by all relevant departments of the government, including the three armed forces. The three services are of the view that each of the three new commands should be headed by a three-star officer while they synergise efforts and assets in these key areas of security. Their opinion is that a lieutenant general should head the special operations command, which will pool in the commando forces of the army, navy and air force in a single formation, while the aerospace command should be headed by an air marshal and the cyber command by a vice admiral. The army has been the pioneer in India in operations by special forces, the air force is the first among the three services to create a space cell and the navy is the first to raise a dedicated cyber security cadre. At present, the Indian armed forces have two joint tri-services commands - the Port Blair-based Andaman and Nicobar Command and the New Delhi-based Strategic Forces Command that handles all nuclear weapons assets. The chiefs of these two commands are drawn by rotation from the three services. Through the chief of integrated defence staff (IDS), the heads of these commands report to the COSC, as will the heads of the three new formations. The decision on the three new commands will rest with the government, though the tri-services commanders will impress upon the nation's top security leadership the necessity for such formations in the wake of threats and trends in these sectors. The special operations command has been successfully implemented by the US armed forces. Also, China has separate formations in the People's Liberation Army in the field of cyber security to carry out both offensive and defensive operations against threats to the country's information technology infrastructure. Both these nations already have highly advanced space security programmes. China had in early 2007 demonstrated its anti-satellite capability, raising concerns among all space-faring nations on the security of their assets in space. THE INTRODUCTION to the Henderson-Brooks report by Gen J.N. Choudhary, a former chief of the Indian army, exposes the failure of political leadership and the wrongly appointed army commanders that led to India’s defeat in the 1962 war with China. It is claimed in the report that India had no shortage of arms and stores. But the report cannot deny that Indian soldiers without acclimatisation and adequate winter clothing were pushed into the mountain snows. Many researched and informative articles have been published in newspapers. Recently Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne stated that the use of the Indian air force, proposed by the military and disallowed by the government, would have changed the course of the conflict. He is right. (The Henderson Brooks report is an analysis (operations review) of the Sino-Indian war of 1962. Its authors, Lt Gen Henderson Brooks and Brig P. S. Bhagat, are former officers of the Indian army). The report has been kept classified by the Indian government because its contents “are not only extremely sensitive but are of current operational value”). The Chinese media have dismissed these claims by asserting that their air force was much too powerful then. Indian commentators have echoed the Chinese view. It is wrong. At that time even the US view was that due to logistics, the terrain and poor refueling facilities, the Chinese air force would have been ineffective. The strident criticism in Indian parliament by Acharya Kripalani, Minoo Masani, Atal Behari Vajpayee and others has been recalled by commentators as the reason that forced the government into ill-prepared hostility to China. Implicitly a chauvinistic opposition is blamed for the government’s follies. What the writers have omitted is the fact that there was also a sustained demand by critics to purchase arms from the West for immediate need and not to persist with the plodding, time-consuming official policy of building self-reliance in armaments inspired by the Soviet model. The opposition leaders were not leading the charge against the government’s China policy. It was the media. The opposition was too weak at that time. Mainly it was Sri Mulgaokar, Frank Moraes and, later, Prem Bhatia who led the charge. These editors were not inspired by the politicians. The politicians were led by them. Mulgaokar was my editor. I was around 25 and had returned after a two-year stint in Britain, dividing my time there between journalism and dish-washing in cafes. I think a flavour of those times based purely on memory would not be out of order for critics today. The truth is that Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Defence Minister Krishna Menon were not only woefully ignorant about strategy, about realpolitik and security, but were also besotted with misplaced notions about the Soviet Union. Both were mentored by liberal Brits. For years while Nehru foolishly kept chanting Hindi-Chini Bhai Bhai (India and China are brothers), the Chinese were steadily preparing for war. Nehru’s advisers in Britain were as silly as their Indian protégés that included an entire Indian intellectual class conditioned by the British. VILIFICATION OF CRITICS: Those who rightly criticised India’s China policy were in those Cold War days described as CIA agents. The Economist of London in its intelligence report, restrictedly distributed to subscribers, wrote that Mulgaokar who was leading the charge against the government’s blind spot on China was inspired by the CIA. Mulgaokar wrote a sharp letter of protest to the weekly’s editor, Donald Tyerman. The latter wrote a profuse letter of apology which I read. In those days my brother Rakshat Puri, very recently deceased, was the India correspondent of London’s New Statesman and Nation, which was a Bible for Indian intellectuals. He wrote an expose about the road being clandestinely built by the Chinese in disputed border territory. The Indian government was aware of course, but kept parliament and the nation in the dark. The New Statesman editorially echoed the Nehru-Menon approach. After the 1962 war, the weekly’s legendary Editor, Kingsley Martin, visited India. He was god to most Indian intellectuals. He visited the India Coffee House on Delhi’s Janpath and shared a chat with a few of us. As a brash youngster I hauled him over the coals. I asked him whether or not he owed an apology to those of us in India who had been warning of the catastrophe India would suffer and had been rubbished by the likes of him. I think he was not used to such criticism, particularly from an Indian. He mumbled, hummed and hawed and could give no reply. That was the mood of that time. Now it is galling to read about chauvinistic critics who pushed Nehru into the Sino-Indian conflict and no recognition is given to those who accurately foresaw the defeat. I guess it required a brash 25-year-old to say that the Emperor wore no clothes. I subsequently had the article published in a small weekly, Thought, edited by Ram Singh. In that article I wrote: “This is therefore as good as a time as any for Nehru to resign from the prime ministership. Propriety demands it, wisdom counsels it and sympathy pleads for it. Nehru should resign primarily because his China policy of high stakes has not succeeded. It has contained omissions which have facilitated an infringement of our sovereignty by the Chinese. “This is no place to go into the whole depressing record of honest mistakes, dire circumstances, crass negligence and political naivete which has brought us to our present situation, where we have to sit round a table and argue with aggressors the legal validity of our claims matched against theirs on territory in their possession and control…that chunks of our territory were occupied by the Chinese and neither Parliament nor people were informed at Nehru’s sole instance, but instead led at that very time into the soporific bhai-bhainess of Panch Sheel, was an unpardonable lack of the sense of responsibility. With India embarking on a massive defence modernisation programme, orders worth `100,000 crore is expected to be placed during the 12th Five Year plan period. Defence and Aerospace experts participating in a panel discussion on ‘Making India the ESDM hub focus on telecom, aerospace & defence and automobiles’ at the Bangalore IT.biz on Wednesday said that with all the three armed and para-military forces set to procure latest weapons and military systems, abundant opportunities are in store for private companies. Participating in the discussion Lt Gen AKS Chandele, former DG, Electronics and Mechanical Engineers, Indian Army said that orders worth `100,000 crore is expected to be placed during the 12th Five Year plan period (between 2012-2017) providing ample opportunities to the private companies. He said that the Army will be embarking on big modernisation programme, which include acquiring tactical communication system, network centric warfare system, future infantry soldier as a system (F-INSAS) and procurement of radars, sensors and night vision devices. He said the navy, apart from ordering about 40 vessels, will also be acquiring six diesel and nuclear submarines. Similarly the air force will be undertaking many upgrade and refurbishments. NC Agarwal, chief executive officer of the Multi-Role Transport Aircraft Limited (MTAL), a joint venture between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and Russia United Aircraft Corporation, said that many opportunities lay in the field of avionics. Apart from India developing its own aircraft, it will also be upgrading a significant number of its existing fleet. India’s First medium multi role combat aircraft (MMRCA) will roll out in four years. Agarwal, who has been HAL’s Director (Design and Development), said the defence procurement process in India was very complicated, which led to delays in the armed forces getting the required product. Citing the example of Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT) Hawk, he said that aircraft was inducted into the airforce 21 years after India began negotiations with BAE Systems. On the 126 MMRCA programme, he said that though the request for proposal was put out to vendors in 2005 the contract has still not been finalised and that the first aircraft will manufactured in India in about four years from now. As per the MMRCA programme, 18 aircraft will be provided in a flyaway condition by Dassault Aviation, the remaining 108 will be produced locally by HAL. New Delhi: An MP from Karnataka has allegedly constructed an engineering college on a field firing range in Belgaum belonging to the army, which is already facing shortage of these practice fields for training its personnel. Sources said Angadi Institute of Technology and Management has not got 'No Objection Certificate' (NOC) from civil or military authorities. Defence Minister AK Antony has also sent two letters to the MP who has been demanding de-notification of the firing range which is available with the army till 2020, they said. Belgaum is an important military base of the army and houses the Commando school and the regimental centre of the Maratha Light Infantry regiment. About 10 years back, the Army had 104 ranges but the numbers have come down to 66 including 12 acquired and 54 notified ranges. Thirty-eight field firing ranges have been taken away from the army and re-notified in this period, they said. The issue of shortage of these ranges also came up for discussion during the ongoing Army Commanders' Conference. There are ranges in the Kargil and Srinagar areas also where demands have come from the local representatives for denotifying them for public use, sources said. However, the Army has been able to get a new firing range in Rewa in Madhya Pradesh which will be ready for use in next few years.

2019-04-26T14:25:40Z

http://www.jottings.in/2012/10/from-todays-papers-19-oct-2012.html

SIW is an advanced System Information for Windows tool that analyzes your computer and gathers detailed information about system properties and settings and displays it in an extremely comprehensible manner. SIW can create a report file (HTML, JSON, CSV, TXT or XML), and you can run it in batch mode (for Computer Inventory, Hardware, Software and Network Information, Software License Management, Security Audit, Server Configuration Management). - Software Information: Operating System, Software Licenses (Product Keys / Serial Numbers), Passwords Recovery, Installed Programs, Applications, Security, Accessibility, Environment, Regional Settings, File Associations, Running Processes, Loaded DLLs, Drivers, NT Services, Autorun, Scheduled Tasks, Databases, Audio and Video Codecs, Shared DLLs, ActiveX, MMC Snap-Ins, Shell Extensions, Event Viewer, Certificates, etc. - Hardware Information: System Summary, Motherboard, BIOS, CPU, Memory, Sensors, Devices, Chipset, PCI/AGP, USB and ISA/PnP Devices, System Slots, Network Adapters, Video Card, Monitor, Sound Devices, Storage Devices, Logical Disks, Disk Drives, CD/DVD Devices, SCSI Devices, S.M.A.R.T., Ports, Battery and Power Policy, Printers, etc. - Network Information: Basic/Extended Information about Network Configuration, Network Statistics, Network Connections, Active Directory (Computers, Groups and Users), Network Shares, Open Ports, etc. - Network Tools: MAC Address Changer, Wake On LAN, Remote Licenses (from Windows Folder, Remote Computer or Registry Hive), Hosts Scan, Ping, Trace, etc. - Miscellaneous Tools: Eureka! 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2019-04-25T11:06:29Z

http://sinhro.net/showthread.php?s=d0c6ed599bb2c49b80a4e37c536bd94b&t=160764&page=90

Quality assessment and optimization of purified protein samples: why and how? Purified protein quality control is the final and critical check-point of any protein production process. Unfortunately, it is too often overlooked and performed hastily, resulting in irreproducible and misleading observations in downstream applications. In this review, we aim at proposing a simple-to-follow workflow based on an ensemble of widely available physico-chemical technologies, to assess sequentially the essential properties of any protein sample: purity and integrity, homogeneity and activity. Approaches are then suggested to optimize the homogeneity, time-stability and storage conditions of purified protein preparations, as well as methods to rapidly evaluate their reproducibility and lot-to-lot consistency. In recent years, purified proteins have more and more frequently been used for diagnostic and therapeutic applications [1-3]. Purified proteins are also widely used as reagents for downstream in depth biophysical and structural characterization studies: these are sample- and time-consuming, generally requiring long set-up phases and sometimes depending on (limited) accessibility to large instrumentation such as synchrotrons. Unfortunately, scientists (especially in the academic environment) frequently want to rush to the final application, considering biochemical analysis of proteins as either trivial or a superfluous bother. Very often, the implications of such a regretful attitude are irreproducible, dubious and misleading results, and unfortunately sometimes lead to failure at more or less advanced stages (including clinical trials ), with potentially severe consequences. This is even more the case nowadays, when recombinant production of challenging proteins such as integral membrane proteins or heavily modified (glycosylated, …) proteins is being attempted on an ever more widespread scale. the protein samples are pure and homogeneous. their concentration is assessed precisely. all of the protein is solubilized and in a natively active state. Our experience as a core facility dealing with several dozens of different projects every year is that quality control considerations are much too often overlooked or taken for granted by facility users and the scientific community at large. However, those who assess and optimize carefully the quality of their protein preparations significantly increase their chances of success in subsequent experiments. Purified protein quality control has already been the object of several general reviews [5-7]. Attempts have also been made to define a set of “minimal quality criteria” that should be fulfilled by any purified recombinant protein prior to publication, especially among the “Minimal Information for Protein Functionality Evaluation” (MIPFE) consortium [8-10]. In this review, we wish to go one step further and provide a concise overview of a sequence of simple-to-follow physico-chemical approaches that should be accessible to the vast majority of investigators. Most of the methodologies that are proposed can be found in classical biochemistry or structural biology laboratories, and in the majority of institutional protein science core facilities. Many of the methods and techniques mentioned here are well known, maybe too well, but clearly need to be reappraised in university curricula and laboratory practice: indeed knowledge about them is generally (and inappropriately) regarded as obvious, but very often it is in reality very sketchy, sometimes unfortunately resulting in gross blunders. Hopefully, this review will help providing more robustness to the production of efficient and reliable protein samples within a large scientific community. Prior to any downstream experiment, purity and integrity are the very first qualities that need to be assessed for any protein sample (Figure 1B). This is routinely achieved by Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS–PAGE). This technique, associated with Coomassie blue staining, can detect bands containing as little as 100 ng of protein in a simple and relatively rapid manner (just a few hours) . After reduction and denaturation by SDS, proteins migrate in the gel according to their molecular mass, allowing to detect potential contaminants, proteolysis events, etc. However, many low amount impurities and degradation products can go unnoticed, especially in low concentration samples or during optimization phases in which minute aliquots are analysed. Experimental protein quality control methodological work-flow. A) The properties (purity & integrity, homogeneity, activity) to be assessed for each new protein sample are listed on the upper left. First-line methods are essential and should be used systematically for a full quality control assessment. Complementary methods can be added depending on the protein sample peculiarities and quality control requirements. Similarly, methods for sample optimization monitoring are grouped below in two categories: first-line and complementary. B) The work flow has to be followed step-by-step starting with the “protein production and purification” green box. For each step, achievement of quality criteria is indicated by a green arrow (passed) while failure is indicated by a red arrow (failed). In case of failure, process optimization has to be carried out as indicated by black arrows. Initial sample assessment is sufficient if a sample is only produced once and used directly without storage (orange arrow at the bottom left). In contrast, if samples have to be stored for an undetermined period of time and produced several times, the sample optimization part of the work-flow should be performed thoroughly. If no appropriate storage conditions can be found, one should work only with fresh preparations (orange arrow on the right). Two higher sensitivity colorimetric staining methods can be used either directly after electrophoresis or coupled to Coomassie blue staining: zinc-reverse staining and silver staining . These can detect as low as 10 ng and 1 ng protein bands respectively. Zinc-reverse staining (also known as negative staining) uses imidazole and zinc salts for protein detection in electrophoresis gels . It is based on the precipitation of zinc imidazole in the gel, except in the zones where proteins are located. When zinc-reverse staining is applied on a Coomassie blue stained gel, previously undetected bands can be spotted . This technique is rapid, simple, cheap and reproducible, and is compatible with mass spectrometry (MS) . On the other hand, silver staining is based on the binding of silver ions to the proteins followed by reduction to free silver, sensitization and enhancement . If used as a second staining, it is essential to fix the proteins in the gel with acidic alcohol prior to initial Coomassie blue staining . Two drawbacks of this technique are that proteins are differentially sensitive to silver staining and the process may irreversibly modify them preventing further analysis. In particular glutaraldehyde, which is generally used during the sensitization step, may interfere with protein analysis by MS due to the introduction of covalent cross-links . To circumvent this problem, a glutaraldehyde-free modified silver-staining protocol has been developed, which is compatible with both matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) and electrospray ionization-MS . Several fluorescent dyes such as Nile red, ruthenium(II) tris(bathophenantroline disulfonate) (RuBPS), SyPro and Epicocconone, can also be used to reveal a few ng of proteins in gels [18-20]. CyDyes can even reveal amounts of protein lower than one nanogram but have the inconvenience of requiring to be incorporated before gel electrophoresis . Apart from Nile red, these staining methods are compatible with subsequent MS analysis. However, their major disadvantage is that they require a fluorescence imager for visualization and that they are significantly more expensive than classical colorimetric dyes. Different alternatives (or additions) to SDS-PAGE exist to further separate and distinguish the protein of interest from closely related undesired subproducts or contaminants. One of them is isoelectric focusing (IEF), which separates non-denatured proteins based on their isoelectric point, most often on gel strips. This allows to resolve proteins of very similar mass, notably unmodified and small molecular mass post-translationnally modified (e.g. phosphorylated) variants of a same protein. IEF is often used upstream of SDS-PAGE in so-called 2D gel electrophoresis . Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is another useful alternative, with the advantage of superior separation efficiency, small sample consumption, short analysis time and automatability. CE separates proteins, with or without prior denaturation, in slab gels or microfluidic channels, according to a variety of properties, including their molecular mass (SDS-CGE), their isoelectric point (CIEF) or their electrophoretic mobility (CZE) . Interestingly, CE can readily be coupled on line with MS . UV-visible spectroscopy is most often used for protein concentration measurements (see Total protein concentration determination section). However, it is also a very convenient tool for the detection of non-protein contaminants, as long as the protein of interest contains aromatic residues and the absorbance is monitored over a large range (at least 240 – 350 nm). In particular, undesired nucleic acid contaminants can be spotted as bumps at 260 nm, resulting in a high 260/280 nm absorbance ratio (which should be close to 0.57 for a non-contaminated protein sample ). On the other hand, reducing agents (especially DTT) alter the symmetry of the 280 nm absorbance peak by increasing the absorbance at 250 nm and below [25,26]. It is essential to verify the integrity of the protein of interest beyond SDS-PAGE, especially when setting-up a new production/purification protocol, as low level proteolysis events (affecting just a few amino acids) and undesired modifications may go unnoticed in electrophoresis. The method of choice for detailed analysis of protein primary structure is MS, as it can provide molecular mass with 0.01% accuracy for peptides or proteins with masses up to 500,000 Da using only a few picomoles of sample . The presence of undesired proteolytic events and chemical alterations can be readily detected by comparing the difference between the observed and the expected mass of the protein. Furthermore MS can provide detailed information about the presence of desired post-translational modifications (phosphorylations, acetylations, ubiquitinations, glycosylations, …) . Overall the convenience and precision of MS measurements is such that they should be considered as routine to ensure the integrity and overall state of modification of the peptide or protein of interest. MS-based methods, such as MALDI in-source decay , are progressively replacing traditional protein sequencing by Edman degradation . However, N-terminal Edman sequencing is still of relevance in several cases, for instance when one wishes to verify easily and specifically the N-terminal boundary of the protein of interest, or when highly accurate masses cannot be obtained by MS because of the size of the protein or the presence of certain post-translational modifications . One may also wish to further characterize the degradation products or contaminants detected by electrophoresis, as determining their origin may give clues about how to avoid them from occurring. Proteins extracted from gel bands can be digested and analysed by MS . Identification can be achieved by peptide mass finger-printing, as the precise peptide pattern that results from the digestion of a protein by a sequence-specific protease (like trypsin) is unique for each protein and can be matched by protein-sequence database search . Usually MALDI time-of-flight (TOF) spectrometers are used for this type of analysis because of their speed, mass accuracy and sensitivity. Typically, proteins detected by Coomassie blue or negative staining can be identified. Once the purity and integrity of the protein sample has been assessed, one has to ensure it is homogeneous (Figure 1). Dynamic light scattering (DLS), because of its rapidity and low sample consumption, is a very convenient method to determine simultaneously the monodispersity of the species of interest and the presence of soluble high-order assemblies and aggregates . DLS measures Brownian motion, which is related to the size of the particles. The velocity of the Brownian motion is defined by a translational diffusion coefficient that can be used to calculate the hydrodynamic radius, i.e. the radius of the sphere that would diffuse with the same rate as the molecule of interest. This is done by measuring, with an autocorrelator, the rate at which the intensity of the light scattered by the sample fluctuates. As a 3 nm radius particle scatters 1 million times less light than a 60 nm one, DLS is the method of choice to detect small quantities of aggregates in a sample . A few percent of large aggregates may even swamp the scattered light coming from small particles. It is important to notice that large particles may also originate from poor buffer preparation (all protein purification and storage buffers should systematically be filtered prior to use). Autocorrelation functions can be mathematically resolved using a variety of algorithms, developed either by instrument manufacturers or academic researchers (for instance Sedfit ). However, the robustness of these mathematical solutions is fairly poor. Moreover, a precise quantification of each individual species is difficult and the resolution of DLS does not allow to resolve close quaternary structures (for instance monomers from dimers and small-order oligomers). Overall, DLS is such an easy and convenient technique that the danger of over-interpreting its quantitative results is high . However, the technique is very well adapted for qualitative studies (which are the focus of this review) and can be performed over time and/or at different temperatures in order to test the stability of the protein preparation in different buffers (see Optimization of homogeneity and solubility section). Although less sensitive than DLS, UV-visible spectroscopy is also of use to detect the presence of large particles (with a hydrodynamic radius higher than 200 nm) in a protein preparation. This can be done by monitoring the absorbance signal above 320 nm, where aggregate-free protein samples are not supposed to absorb light, and the signal can be attributed exclusively to the scattering of light by large aggregates present in the sample. This simple measurement can quickly provide qualitative information about the sample of interest. If the UV visible signal is used for concentration measurement, the contribution of scattering to the overall absorbance can be deduced by tracing a log-log plot of absorbance versus wavelength in the 320–350 nm region. This can then be extrapolated to the rest of the spectrum [26,36]. One interesting alternative to UV-visible spectroscopy is fluorescence spectroscopy . After excitation at 280 nm, the fluorescence emission signal is measured at 280 nm and 340 nm, corresponding respectively to light scattering and intrinsic protein fluorescence. The ratio of the intensities at 280 nm and 340 nm (I280/I340) is concentration independent and purely related to the degree of aggregation of the sample. This ratio, also called aggregation index (AI), should be close to zero for aggregate-free protein preparations and can attain high values (>1) when significant aggregation occurs. As already stressed above, DLS does not have the sufficient resolution to correctly assess whether a protein sample is heterogeneous in terms of oligomerisation. Analytical size exclusion chromatography (SEC) is currently the standard separation technique to quantify protein oligomers. SEC, which very often is also the last step of protein purification, separates molecules according to their hydrodynamic size, often defined by their Stokes or hydrodynamic radius , with larger sized molecular species (which are not necessarily larger molecular mass species) eluting before smaller ones. Recent developments of the technique have increased the rapidity of elution, through column parallelization and injection interlacing and/or the use of the latest SEC columns with smaller pore size, allowing improved resolution with smaller bed volumes, reduced elution times (below 10 min) and low sample consumption (5 μg in 20 μl) [40-42]. This should encourage people to resort to SEC as a systematic approach to analyse sample heterogeneity. Aggregates, contaminants and potentially different molecular arrangements of the protein of interest can be readily separated and quantified, with classical online UV detection. One should however keep in mind the fact that the protein sample will be diluted during SEC by as much as a 10-fold factor, which might alter equilibria between oligomeric species. Furthermore, however “inert” may the gel filtration resins be, some proteins do interact with them, rendering SEC impossible. Two column-free separation techniques may be used as alternatives: asymmetric flow-field flow fractionation (AFFFF), which is also well suited for large molecular assemblies that may be dissociated by SEC [42,43], and capillary electrophoresis with electrophoretic mobility separation (CZE) . Contrary to a widespread belief, the molecular mass of the species eluted in each SEC peak cannot be obtained through column calibration approaches, in which protein standards are separated according to their hydrodynamic radius and not their molecular mass (the correlation between both parameters being far from linear, especially for non-globular and intrinsically disordered proteins). To obtain information about mass, it is necessary to resort to a static light scattering (SLS) detector , in combination with a UV or a refractive index (RI) detector. Of note, as in the case of DLS, SLS is also able to detect small amounts of aggregates with high sensitivity, as the light scattering signal is proportional to molecular mass . In size exclusion chromatography with on-line static laser light scattering (SEC-SLS), experimentally determined molecular mass is independent of the elution volume of the protein. Both the total scattered light intensity (which depends on molecular mass and concentration) and the concentration of the protein (using the UV or RI detector) are measured and analysed to determine the molecular mass of the protein as it elutes from the chromatographic column. SEC-SLS is applicable and quite accurate over a broad range of molecular masses (from a few kDa to several MDa), as long as the column is able to resolve completely the different species present in the sample, allowing the area of each peak to be integrated. In order to improve the separation of peaks with respect to traditional SEC, one can resort to ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) systems, which have very recently been made amenable to SLS. As an alternative, AFFF can also be used in conjunction with SLS [42,43]. Once the homogeneity of the protein of interest has been assessed, one has to ensure it is active and functional (Figure 1). An infinite variety of generic or protein-specific functional assays has been designed, relying principally on catalytic and binding properties. An attempt at listing such assays would go much beyond the scope of this review. Efficient assays allow to measure precisely the active concentration of the protein sample, and thus to determine (if the total protein concentration is known: see Total protein concentration determination section) the percentage of purified protein that is indeed functional. One should not overlook such active protein concentration determinations, as it can unfortunately often be found that the proportion of purified protein which is indeed in a native active state is low. This can be due to misfolding issues, to the inability of the protein to reach its native structural state spontaneously or to interferences of sequence additions (such as tags or extra amino acids originating from cloning vectors). But in most cases, this is due to poor (and overlooked) micro-integrity and homogeneity of the purified protein (see Purity and integrity section). Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is a convenient technique to determine the active concentration of binding proteins. This is done by exploiting the properties of diffusion of molecules in continuous flow microfluidic devices [46,47]. The so-called “calibration-free concentration analysis” (CFCA) method, which has been implemented in a user-friendly format in different SPR instruments available commercially , allows to determine the concentration of protein able to recognize a specific ligand (or protein partner) tethered on a surface. For CFCA measurements, the ligand has to be immobilized at high densities, creating conditions in which the interaction rate of the protein is limited by its diffusion towards the surface (mass transport limitation), and becomes proportional to its active concentration [46,47]. Alternatively, if the protein of interest is tagged, one can resort to a “sandwich” SPR assay to determine directly what proportion of protein is active: a measurable amount of protein is first captured through its tag on a surface on which a tag-specific receptor is immobilized (NTA for His-tag, or an antibody for others) and then titrated by a saturating amount of specific ligand . Different methods are available to measure the total protein concentration in a sample, allowing to deduce the percentage of active protein (see Active protein concentration determination section). Bradford, bicinchonic acid (BCA) and Lowry assays use standards for calibration, which can be a source of error as the composition of the protein of interest may not necessarily match that of the protein standards . It is also possible to use UV-visible absorbance measurements to determine the total protein concentration as long as its extinction coefficient is reliably known or calculated [26,50]. The extinction coefficient at 280 nm is most frequently calculated from the amino acid composition , allowing to determine concentrations from UV absorbance at this wavelength (see [26,50] for protocols). However, one should always monitor wider absorbance spectra (at least from 240 to 350 nm), as these can provide much more information than concentration, as already detailed in the two sections referring to UV-visible spectroscopy above. However, UV absorbance measurements are only usable for concentration determination if the sequence of the protein of interest contains a known amount of tryptophans and tyrosines, the two principal light-absorbing amino acids. If this is not the case, an alternative is to use Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) as initially suggest by Etzion et al. . After subtracting the contribution of water between 1700 nm and 2300 nm, the analysis of the amide band I and II of the IR absorbance spectrum can be used to calculate protein concentration by determining the concentration of amine bonds. Recently, commercially available FTIR equipment has been developed (Direct Detect from Merck Millipore), applying this method to protein samples that are dried on a membrane. The only limitations of the equipment are the minimal and maximal concentrations that can be used (0.2 to 5 mg/ml) and the incompatibility of several amine-containing buffers (HEPES ≥ 25 mM, Tris ≥ 50 mM, …) or additives (EDTA ≥ 10 mM, …). Another alternative is amino acid analysis (AAA) which is a very valuable technique both for protein identification and quantification . Briefly, quantitative AAA involves hydrolyzing the peptide bonds to free individual amino acids, which are then separated, detected and quantified, using purified amino acids as standards (see for protocol). Nonetheless, UV-visible spectroscopy remains beyond any doubt the most widely spread, cost- and time-efficient technique for total protein concentration determination. To take full advantage of this technique even in the absence of tyrosine and tryptophan residues, one solution can be to use FTIR-based protein quantification and AAA measurements at first, to generate concentration calibration curves for the protein of interest in correlation with UV absorbance (at 280 nm or another wavelength). These calibration curves can then be used to determine the concentration of subsequent samples directly by UV absorbance spectroscopy. Identifying conditions in which a protein sample is “well-behaved” and meets all the required criteria described in Initial sample assessment section is generally not a trivial task. In this section, we aim at providing an overview of potential solutions to overcome difficulties that may arise along the quality control work-flow (Figure 1). We also discuss how to determine optimal conditions for the preservation of good quality samples, and how to ensure that the protein production/purification process that one has devised leads reproducibly to samples of equivalent high quality. A variety of solutions are available to overcome issues of contamination of protein samples with impurities, degradation products or undesired chemically-modified proteins . These go from changing the purification protocols (modifying the washing and elution conditions from affinity chromatography columns, or adding purification steps such as ion-exchange chromatography) to more upstream changes such as the addition of different sets of protease inhibitors, the modification of the conditions of induction of protein expression, the choice of another cloning vector (with a different tag, or a tag placed at another position or at both ends), or even resorting to another expression host system. To remove protein aggregates, it is important to ensure that the last step of the purification process always is size-exclusion chromatography. A column should be chosen that allows elution of the protein of interest well away from the void volume, and thus total separation from large protein aggregates. People often need to concentrate their protein samples in order to attain concentrations high enough for their downstream applications: unfortunately, this process, which resorts to spin concentrators or precipitation/resolubilisation protocols, very frequently tends to induce aggregation. Therefore, one should be careful not to concentrate their sample more than strictly necessarily (avoiding overly high concentrations): this should either be done before the final size-exclusion chromatography step, or be followed by an analytical SEC or DLS on part of the concentrated sample to ensure that it has remained free from aggregates. To minimize the formation of protein aggregates (and to improve solubility), a variety of changes can be made upstream to the production/purification protocol . Adjustment of several parameters of the sample buffer composition (pH, salinity, presence of additives, co-factors or ligands, …) can also dramatically increase homogeneity. People often rely for this on empirical rules that they have learnt with experience, as there is no clear correlation between the stability of a protein and its intrinsic properties (amino acid composition, isoelectric point, secondary structure elements, …). Recent DLS instrumental developments, that allow to process a large number of samples in a 96, 384 or 1536 well plate format, have made buffer condition screening an easy task. Many groups have used DLS as a technique to improve the solubilisation conditions of their proteins, in particular before crystallization studies [55,56]. Buffer matrices for multi-parametric screening of pH, salinity, buffer nature, additives and co-factors can be generated by hand or using simple robotics . Typically samples, at a concentration of 10 mg/ml for a 10 kDa protein or 1 mg/ml for a 100 kDa protein, are diluted 10 times in each test buffer with a consumption of only 2 μl of sample per condition. The homogeneity of the sample and the presence of aggregates (and high-order physiologically irrelevant oligomers) can be monitored in each condition, allowing to select the optimal buffer composition for protein homogeneity. Preservation of good quality protein samples over time is all important, as very often one will not consume all of a sample straight away. People most often rely on hearsay for the short-term or long-term storage of their precious protein samples. A very widely spread belief is that flash freezing (with or without cryoprotectants such as glycerol) is the best method for long-term retention of protein properties. However, this is far from being a general truth, especially because significant denaturation, aggregation and precipitation can occur upon freezing/thawing . Proteins may become unstable and lose their biological activity through a variety of physical or chemical mechanisms, even at cold temperatures [59-61]. The best storage conditions are very much protein-dependent, and may vary from unfrozen aqueous solutions to salted precipitates or freeze-dried solids [59-61]. A practical way to approach this issue is to start by monitoring the time stability of one’s protein sample at a few relevant temperatures (e.g. 4 and 25°C) using DLS and a functional assay, in the optimal buffer for sample homogeneity and solubility (see Optimization of homogeneity and solubility section). Indeed, one may quite often realize this way that simple storage of the protein sample without further processing (for instance at 4°C) provides long enough stability for all down-stream experiments. Many people also evaluate the thermal stability of their proteins in different buffers, using methods such as differential scanning fluorimetry (DSF, also known as thermal-shift assay) : however, there is no clear correlation between thermodynamic and time stability of a protein, and it is therefore not straightforward to obtain insight about the long-term stability of a sample from its thermal stability analysis. On the contrary, thermodynamic stability generally correlates with rigidity , which is of particular importance when the downstream application is structural characterization (for instance by X-ray crystallography). If a protein needs to be stored for an undetermined period, one can explore different methods (freezing with or without cryoprotectants, lyophilization,… [59-61]) and determine their effect on the properties of the sample using DLS and a functional assay. Of note, the best storage conditions may be largely different from the experimental conditions for downstream applications, so a preliminary desalting or dialysis might be needed before quality control. A fundamental principle of good laboratory practices is that experiments need to be reproduced and should thus be reproducible, both within a laboratory and between research groups. During the lifetime of a project, it is therefore very likely that one will need to prepare more than a single sample of a given protein. Other groups might also need to prepare it independently in the frame of collaborations or comparability studies. Determining the robustness of one’s production/purification process and its capacity to reproducibly deliver samples of equivalent quality is therefore all-important. However, once the quality of a purified protein sample has been fully assessed and optimized a first time, verification of lot-to-lot consistency does not necessarily require the repetition of the whole quality control work-flow (Figure 1B). A very practical way to rapidly estimate the equivalence of protein lots is to verify the conformity of their “spectral signatures”. The most straightforward is to compare UV-visible spectra which, as has been stressed above, contain a wealth of information beyond simple 280 nm absorbance. This may be profitably complemented by circular dichroism (CD) in the far-UV, which provides information about the global content of secondary structure elements in a protein [63,64]. Of note, contrary to a widespread belief, the presence of secondary structure elements in a protein (“foldedness”) is not by itself a quality control criterium, especially as many proteins are either intrinsically disordered or contain unfolded segments in their native state. But differences between the CD spectra acquired for two different lots of the same protein (in the same buffer) may readily reveal divergences in folding that could correlate with differences in active concentration, especially if spectral similarity is analysed quantitatively rather than visually [65,66]. “Thermal denaturation signatures”, determined by techniques such as CD or differential scanning calorimetry (DSC, ), can also be a very convenient and accurate way to determine the equivalence of protein lots, provided special attention is given to the equivalence of protein sample conditioning buffers. Indeed, differences between protein lots can translate into detectable differences in the global shape of their denaturation profiles . Apart from spectral and thermal denaturation signatures, MS (for integrity), DLS (for homogeneity), analytical SEC (for both purity and homogeneity) and a functional assay are the most convenient and discriminating methods to assess the reproducibility and equivalence in quality of distinct protein lots. In this review, we have attempted to cover all the aspects of protein quality control, from the necessary initial sample assessment to sample optimization. For each step, a set of relevant techniques has been suggested (Figure 1A). The first-line methods are essential and should be used systematically for a full quality control assessment. Different complementary methods can be added depending on the protein sample peculiarities and quality control requirements. The suggested approaches for first line assessment include the “basic requirements for evaluating protein quality” that have been recently proposed , but go significantly beyond them. We also suggest a sequential experimental work-flow, to be followed as a check-list in order to optimize the time and effort spent on each sample (Figure 1B). This work-flow elaborates the protein quality control and storage optimization steps of the general protein production/purification pipeline . Overall, this global synthetic step-by-step overview should hopefully lead to better protein samples and therefore to better chances of success in downstream applications. In line with community-based efforts that have been deployed in other fields like structural biology [69,70], proteomics and interactomics [71-74] or quantitative real-time PCR [75,76], research relying on purified proteins would gain significant reliability and credibility from the implementation of good practices, such as the systematic and transparent reporting of the results of purified protein quality control assessments, at least in the supplementary information sections of scientific publications. PL, BB and SH collected data and references for different parts of the review; BR and PE coordinated and assembled the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

2019-04-21T12:38:47Z

https://microbialcellfactories.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12934-014-0180-6

For the past couple of years, my husband and I have not exchanged traditional, wrapped-and-Christmas-bowed gifts. Instead, we plan an experience. We started our anti-Stuff celebrations because neither of us could think of a gift we truly wanted. Then we'd each be scrambling to think of something, anything, since not giving a box with a bow was unacceptable. This way, the pressure is off, and we create memories of fabulous meals and trips to vineyards, instead of piling up Stuff to fulfill a gift requirement. I'm not against traditional gifts, especially if you know it's something the recipient will use or enjoy. But if you are at a loss for the hard-to-buy-for loved ones on your list, consider an anti-Stuff gift of consumables or experiences. Why? Easier than picking something that comes down to personal taste, such as perfumes, sweaters, knickknacks, etc. Word of warning: make sure the gift is something the recipient would enjoy or something in which he or she has expressed interest, not something you like or think he or she should like! That holds true with any sort of gift-giving. Basket of consumables from the farmers' market. I've made baskets filled with locally-made items such as jam, jelly, biscotti, granola, chocolate, honey, coffee, salsa, vinegar, and olive oil. Cooking classes. There are classes on everything from knife skills to sushi rolling to creating Tuscan feasts. Wine and cheese pairing class. Bonus points if it's held at a gorgeous vineyard. Zip-line tour. Send the adrenaline junkie on your list flying through the trees. Kayaking lessons. Paddling is a great way to enjoy the local lakes and rivers. Cave tour. Give the gift of a tour or a special event. Some caves host dinner and a concert, all underground. Horseback riding. A day on a dude ranch is a nice way to get back to nature. Gift certificates to the local “artsy” movie theater. They'll get to see the indie flicks without having to wait for the DVD release. A museum membership. Members typically receive perks such as unlimited admission, invitations to previews of exhibitions, a discount at the museum's store, and invitations to special events. Dance lessons. Just make sure you know if your recipient is a belly dancer at heart or more of the foxtrot-type. Tickets to a performance. If it's a date-specific event, you'll need to be sneaky to make sure the recipient will be available, but tickets to concerts, plays, and other performances are memorable gifts. Music lessons. If your brother has always wanted to channel his inner Jimi Hendrix, indulge the fantasy with a few guitar lessons. A round of golf. If their sport costs money, buy them some time on the green, at the batting cages, or wherever the sport is enjoyed. Tickets to a sporting event. One year I bought my husband tickets to a Dallas Cowboys football game for his birthday. I was living in an apartment complex owned by Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys. Tenants could purchase tickets to the game, including seats on a chartered bus to drive us the three hours to the stadium. Lessons in their preferred activity. Find out what they like to do and where they do it. Inquire about lessons. Art lessons. Sewing, knitting, sculpture, painting, drawing, photography, stained glass…there's no end to types of art classes. Gardening gifts. Seeds, herbs, perennials, saplings, and bushes make great gifts for loved ones with green thumbs. Spa services. Massages are appreciated by most people, especially if they are hunched over a computer or on their feet all day. Foot massages and pedicures are good options for those who aren't comfortable with full-body massages. A night at a nearby bed and breakfast. Only for those who have been very good this year! This approach isn't for everyone. I think children should get to enjoy tearing open a gift and having a few things to play with right away, rather than being told it's a gift that will be a blast…later. But I'd venture to say there are probably a few people on your list who would prefer a thoughtful, anti-Stuff gift that reflects their interests and doesn't have to be stored, dusted, or worse, guiltily tossed in a Goodwill bin. What do you think about anti-Stuff gifts? What types of consumable or experiential gifts are on your wish list? J.D.'s note: For those concerned about the cost of these suggestions, be sure to check out last year's list of homemade Christmas gifts. There are 84 reader responses to "The Anti-Stuff Holiday Gift Guide". Great article April! We are currently trying to pay off debt and have talked about this type of Christmas this year. We want to do something special together that we will remember for a lifetime vs. something that will just fill up our closet. Thanks for the great ideas! For parents, often the gift of time is the most precious. A day off from the kids, alone, to do whatever you want to do can be a great gift! I would love to do this, but my family (both on my side and my SO’s side) is all about the “stuff” during the holidays. The habit to give lots of “stuff” is so ingrained in my SO (he prefers quantity to quality on top of that, like his own family) that his feelings get hurt when I tell him that I don’t want “stuff.” I try not to give too much “stuff” either, but that hasn’t always been successful because apparently everyone wants “stuff” and likes to give “stuff,” so I try to oblige and be graceful on both fronts. I hate the holidays because I’m tired of fighting the anti-stuff battle with everyone every year, so now I simply budget for it, expect to waste a bit of money, and go with the flow. These days, keeping the family peace is more important than insisting on “no stuff” since no one listens anyway. And I don’t feel guilty about tossing stuff in the Goodwill bin anymore. Nice post! I completely agree. Unless there is something specific I know to buy, I love getting my family tickets to sporting events, concerts, or the ballet (depending on the person). I have been told that this is a good gift because it’s like telling someone you love that you want to spend another whole day with them in the future. I’ve been trying to come up with ideas for anit-stuff gift exchanges for the adults in the extended family. We live in a fairly small town, and some involved come from 100-200 miles away to participate. I love the idea of experience gifts but find it difficult with the travel time that would be required for most. I thought maybe I’d suggest a big combined blowout for father’s day instead of Christmas including maybe a baseball game and Omaha steaks on the grill. We’ll see how the family reacts to that. I really like this idea. My family has been decreasing material gift giving over the years and I have definitely started thinking more about experiences that I want to have rather than things I want to have. Thanks for the awesome tips! One more that might be good is charity giving – give money to a charity in the name of someone else. Zoo memberships are great for a family (especially if you live somewhere they are open all year). My MIL gave us one last year and its been great, it even includes parking so throwing the kids in the car and going to the zoo for an hour is very doable (rather than trying to make it a whole day event and everyone getting tired and cranky!). Last year for my parents we made a donation to buy a family in need a sheep and two chickens from World Vision. And for my brothers we gave them a monthly subscription to our own little cookie club. We don’t live nearby, so every month we mail them a dozen cookies. Speaking of which, I need to get to the post office. These are terrific gift ideas that I can use this holiday season! I think it’s much better than buying a family member a gift he/she won’t necessarily use. I also agree with the kids still getting gifts that they can enjoy right then and there. Although, I’ve been known to give bond certificates that that can’t appreciate at the moment, but their parents appreciate. So I’ll usually buy a little gift for the kids to go along with their bond. I wholeheartedly agree with this article. I personally would MUCH rather go somewhere and do something than get another gift that I probably will not use. My husband is ridiculously hard to buy for. He’s an electronics junkie, and I gave up on buying him anything like that a long time ago; as soon as he gets one thing a newer more updated version comes out & it’s frustrating for the gift giver. For our anniversary one year, I took us to Asheville, NC one weekend & we spent time at the Biltmore & other areas around town. That was a great time. This year when he asked what I wanted for the holidays, I said that I’d rather us do something together because I honestly can’t think of anything. This year we’re giving Goats, Chickens, etc to our family. Actually we’re giving them through World Vision to people who need them in honor of our family. The best gifts are a combination of usefulness, thoughtfulness, and immediate impact. Useful, because–like you mentioned–it won’t sit around on a shelf gathering dust. The friend will actually use it. Whether it’s a physical tool or a membership of some sort, the gift brings genuine value into their life, and they utilize it to improve whatever it is they’re doing (or would like to learn to do). Thoughtful, because it shows you care (cue cheesy music). Seriously though, the friend gets a sense that you really know them, what they like, what they are interested in. It’s not a generic gift but something the friend cares about. Not just any food gift, but a specific country, region, or style of cooking the friend loves or wants to learn how to make. Immediate impact, because we’re all kids, no matter what our age says. We like to tear open fun stuff, and have something to hold and look at it. Just walking up to your friend and telling them their gift starts on Monday, or to check their email to confirm lessons, doesn’t maximize the impact of the gift. But present your non-tangible (if that’s the case) gift in a visually-exciting way, and the smile is immediately formed on the face. There’s a reason some places offer to give gift cards packaged in a themed and exciting way. Great post, and great ideas. We really try to have experiences with our kids as opposed to stuff and doing the same for adults is just as great. Thanks for some good ideas. Our family looks on the positive side of stuff instead of banning it altogether. We make lists so that we know the recipient wants the item. Most of the items we give and receive are useful items. We will often delay purchases of things we need to replace that are not urgent so that they can be given for the holiday season. Some examples of “stuff” we have exchanged and still love and use all the time: pizza stone, chef’s knife, winter socks, wallet, messenger bag, tupperware, expansions for much-loved and played board games, circular saw, shower curtain, and more that I can’t think about. If we are not sure what someone likes and we would like to give them a gift, we give them homemade fudge or cookies or chocolate covered pretzels that we dip ourselves. But, with most people, if we are close enough to give them a gift, we are close enough to ASK THEM what they want as a gift. It’s funny, I was just noticing a few of the usual crap-no-one-needs holiday gifts appearing in stores, and the thought process they use to market incredible junk is the same in that you have some sort of superficial classification or hobby for the recipient, and need to get them something… What can you get the “foodie” who has everything? Newly invented junk! If you notice some newly invented affordable but marginally useful piece of junk for “the foodie” this year, try to resist. The worst new junk has to be the stuff for “the student” and “the techie.” Stuff that is marketed mostly to fulfill a desire to get a gift for everyone– gaarrgh! I forgot “the husband.” Junk created for Xmas gifts for the hubbie is usually good for a chuckle. @stevesliva–Good point. As a foodie myself, the last thing I want is a specialized kitchen gadget that does one thing and gets used twice a year. Most gadgets don’t do anything that a chef’s knife can’t do. The thing to give foodies is food! Either as consumables or as an experience. I am totally with you. We have switched from buying things for each other to spending good quality time with each other a while ago. I think this also leads to less fights within the family, which I believe is a general problem during the holidays. When you focus on each other rather than the potential disappointment in an inadequate gift, you will most likely collect good memories of the holidays. I love gifts that do not have to be “stored” and are used up. As long as it’s not a restaurant that is so far away it becomes impractical (my uncle and his wife do this every year to us). I would also much rather spend a few days on a mini-vacation with loved ones than wrapping presents for them and opening another sweater. Unless I have an exact idea of a “thing” someone on my list wants, they get gift cards or tickets or the like. Great ideas to create a new paradigm for Christmas (or is it going back to an old paradigm?) Would love to have great Christmas *memories* rather than a pile of forgettable Christmas *stuff*. A good gift for a baptism, Kiva Certifacate. Kiva Is a nonprofit lending organization where people can choose a person from a third world nation that is trying to start up a small business to lend money to. I think this is a great gift because it is somthing the parents can do right away and as the kid gets older and they can choose who to make a loan to when previous loans were repaid. All great ideas. If you have to give gifts, make sure that it’s something that the person wants. My siblings & I, along w/our SOs, exchange names to cut down on the gifts (and money spending), and a list is a requirement. My BF suggested that we not buy gifts for each other this year. Instead, since I work for an airline & can fly for free, we’re taking a day trip to Washington DC – all it will cost is metro fare & food, since the museums are free. He’s never been to DC and it’s been 15+ years since I’ve been there, so I’m sure it will be a memorable experience. On the other hand, experience gifts can be just as unappreciated as any other. I once gave a museum membership (in the town where they live) to my brother and his family, but that didn’t mean they used it: and I should have realized that it wasn’t a really good gift, since I do know them well enough to know that camping or gardening supplies would be things that they would really like. Similarly, I have been given gift certificates for massages and pedicures that I’ve never used; those just aren’t things I find fun or relaxing or a good experience. Maybe if you don’t know a person well enough to buy something they like (or you’re not willing to buy what they would really appreciate!) then maybe there shouldn’t be a gift exchange. Because my husband and I are in a better financial situation than some of our relatives, we regularly give gifts to people from whom we know won’t be giving gifts to us. And that feels just fine (we even keep on giving gifts to the younger folks even without a thank you note — up to high school age, we figure it’s their parents who should be monitoring that, and if they don’t, well, why punish the kids…). And sometimes someone gives one of us a gift we didn’t expect — when that happens we don’t think we are suddenly required to reciprocate; grateful thanks for the thoughtfulness is enough, I think. We definitely want to do something along the lines of this for my parents-in-law, who have moved closer and downsized. The last thing they need is more stuff, unless it is something readily “consumable”. Ironically my husband and I have hinted quite a few times really what my husband and I would like is simply time off together, even to watch a movie (i.e. a iou “I will watch the kids one evening”) but no dice. If we get a sitter it costs 80-100 and so it is a gift that is most appreciated. Along the same lines as babysitting for someone with kids, I sometimes give iou’s for chores I know someone hates doing, or a gift certificate where it can be done. For example, this year my siblings and I are combining gifts for my dad to get his two dogs groomed, because they shed like crazy and fight him on getting bathed and brushed. Out of the four kids, none of us are really home at times when the dogs most need grooming (when they shed heavily in the spring). Giving him a way to get them groomed elsewhere also means he won’t have two wet dogs hanging around the house the whole day! I’ve also given friends “A day of cleaning” and let them pick out what things around the apartment they least like doing. Maybe they don’t mind vacuuming but hate cleaning the bathroom (or vice versa). Another thought for anti-stuff – donations to a person’s favorite charity, in their name. My husband and I started this several years ago, as our parents have what they need and buy what they want. My mom LOVED it – and has passed on the practice within her circle as well. After cleaning out 12 years of accumulated stuff in preparation for an interstate move, we vowed to truly focus on experience rather than stuff. Goodwill benefitted, but isn’t it a shame to just keep a bunch of stuff you never use or really needed in the first place? I also like giving subscriptions: magazine, netflix, game sites, gift of the month clubs… giving something people can enjoy all year long. My boyfriend and I keep extensive (like 4-5 pages, single-spaced) lists of things that we want as gifts. They are organized into categories – electronics, books, DVDs, movies, clothes, experiences, food, etc. We give edited versions of these lists to friends and family we know will be buying us presents to ensure we get exactly what we want. When applicable, sizes and URLs for buying the things online are included. i love your posts, April! i hate storing stuff that i don’t use, but not all experiences are enjoyable either. i hate going to discos and clubs where people smoke so much but i would appreciate a good book or a building kit (robotics, electronics, models, crafts etc) anytime! I love the idea of Zoo passes/museum passes. I have both and they are not only good for the locality issued, but because I travel quite a bit, they are good at many locations across the country for either free or discounted admissions. (I can get into Phoenix or columbus zoo for half price with my pass) I can use my Arboretum pass to get in free at the local botanical garden. since both my kids live out of state I try to buy them things that ship or pack easily, but also give thought to what they want or what they would use. While I really like the article, I do find it somewhat sad that it needs to be said at all. Isn’t this how people usually give gifts? It’s how my family has always given gifts. I’m confused. Our exchanges are not solely items like tickets, but the gifts are never “stuff”, they are items that have either been requested/hinted at, or are items that the giver knows the recipient will love and use. It’s only “stuff” if it’s never loved or used. It’s not a Christmas item, but for my mom’s birthday and Mother’s Day, I clean her ovens. She hasn’t had to do it in years. I do it as a surprise–I live in the same town and do it when she and my dad are at a movie or something, but sometime around those times of year. These are all great ideas. However, almost all of them are extremely expensive. I very much want to give (and receive) gifts that don’t clutter up the home, but I also don’t want to be spending thousands of dollars on my gift giving. You mentioned food baskets and movie tickets which are within most people’s budgets. How about something along the lines of a cooking lesson from you instead of a cooking school? One thing that I have done over the past few years was to a take an $100 restaurant gift certificate that had been a gift, (seriously — it was over the top!) and have the restaurant split it in half, which meant we could give a $50 gift certificate away and still have a dinner out ourselves. My husband’s family takes the romance out of gift giving, but makes sure that everyone gets exactly what the want/need. Like a new winter coat, power tool or beautiful wool slippers that will last for years. They send each other links for the exact item, size, & color, and that is exactly what they get. They generally keep requests under $100. I don’t love the practice, but it never feels bad to get the books/sweater/shoes you’ve been wanting. I’ve been trying to make gifts for friends & family — I made beef stock from scratch & froze it, potted bulbs or tomato plants, and this year I want to make dog biscuits for the dog lovers. I love the idea of giving and experience rather than gifts and I try to do that on birthdays. If I gave everyone an experience gift or gift card to a spa on Xmass my budget would be way over the top. Sometimes it is cheaper to give an actual gift that you know someone will like and won’t inflate the Xmass budget. One that I haven’t seen mentioned yet: my DH and I usually are able to find some item that we both want and use the money we would have otherwise spent on gifts. One year it was a PVR, another year we combined it with other gift money we had received and bought an iMac, etc. Basically, items which are splurges. Plus, because it’s by agreement, we can wait until after Christmas and take advantage of Boxing Day sales, if appropriate. This is something I can relate to. I never liked stuff. I just didn’t. Stuff just creates clutter and usually leaves no memories. I am all about creating experiences. Memorable experiences last forever and add much more to our lives than things. Gifting an experience is much more memorable. For example, my girlfriend took hot air ballooning for my birthday! It was awesome! I will remember it forever! I am not saying that gifting useful and thoughtful things is a bad idea, but most people gift things that people don’t need or want. Let’s us create experiences for our loved ones and let us declutter the world and our minds one experience at a time! I love the idea of experiences instead of stuff, but please make sure that the person is actually going to be able to enjoy the experience. Years ago, my MIL gave me a certificate to a very expensive spa, that I could use to get a massage or facial, but I never used it. First, it was hard for me to schedule an appointment, because I couldn’t find anybody to watch my children. So, if you’re giving theater or movie tickets to parents, maybe an additional gift could be a babysitting night so the parents can actually go and enjoy the movie. Also, when I looked up the prices for the spa, it turned out that all the prices were above that amount on the certificate, so I would have ended up having to pay extra to get any of their services. I’m sorry to say that the certificate went unused, because I hate to waste money, but it just didn’t work into my lifestyle. I thought this post could use more pictures, so I just added a bunch. If I’d thought about it, I would have worked with April to find photos for all of the ideas. I think they’re great! I agree. Last year we were struggling to figure out what my father-in-law would like for a christmas. What can you give someone who can practically buy anything he wants, anytime he wants. Then I remembered introducing him to a vocal trio called the Puppini Sisters, and my wife just found out that they were going to be in town early the following year (2009). We bought him 4 tickets so he can bring his wife and two other friends. What a bonus, because the “two other friends” ended up to be me and my wife because the couple they invited could not come. Seeing my in-laws having a blast was priceless. This year I will be giving the gift of a chartered fishing trip… I paid for the charter, and am giving it to my husband, my brother-in-law, my father-in-law, and my father….. it worked out to be the right price for a half-day trip….they can all go together and have the gift of a day spent together on a great boat on Lake Michigan! These are great tips. Unfortunately, my family doesn’t go anywhere or do anything, so I’m stuck buying ‘stuff.’ I tell my parents to get my husband and I gift certs or something, because our tastes are so different, but they are of the ‘I need to buy things to buy things and have things for you under the tree’ mentality and it has been very hard for me to break out of that mentality as a grownup. I still love buying lots of *things* but only when I know it will have meaning or use for the recipient. We’ll see how this year goes! Experiences are where it’s at. If I had a foodie friend, instead of putting together a basket I would get a gift card to the local gourmet/chef’s supply emporium and suggest we could go together. Most of us in my city have only a few chances a year to find an afternoon to spend together … sometimes it’s hard just to find an afternoon to spend with DH! Recently we went to a chef’s supply store, had brunch in their cafe, then spent a very entertaining hour browsing and shopping. Not only did we find a couple of tools we’d been looking for (like an oyster knife), we found some gourmet food items that let us carry that experience over. For the rest of the family we can exchange anything homemade or recycled (thrift store, etc.) or nothing at all….usually there are beeswax candles, wine (winemakers in the family), food, plants, etc. But this year I am thinking about getting California State Park passes for everyone since we all like to hike and the state needs the funds so they don’t close the parks! This is a wonderful post full of great ideas for all types of people. Re theater tickets: we gave each of our daughter’s a night out at a Broadway show (alone with Mom — a treat in itself) and presented it with a wrapped CD of the show music. We have gotten an unbelievable amount of mileage from those tickets — which, granted, were expensive. By the way — we bought a $20 program at the show as a souvenir, and that was also a great investment. I can’t even count the times they have taken those out and read them and sang to them and talked about the show and showed them to friends and brought them to school. I’d like to warm people against the alcohol “of the month” clubs. I got my husband a year of the microbrew of the month, and it was a logistical nightmare. In the summer the beer was skunked, in winter it was frozen. There was an “adult signature required” sticker on the box in plain sight, and still Fed Ex would dump it on the porch with no warning. One box went missing, and we’re pretty sure the neighbor kids stole it. We decided it wasn’t worth the legal risk, and will never do it again. This reminds me of a funny story that happened to us….years ago we had signed up for a quarterly wine club, adult signature required for delivery, yadda yadda. I love the idea but I am also with the poster (#35) that mentioned the majority of these gifts are very expensive especially when you’re talking about extended family. So, I’ll take the somewhat opposing view and side with stuff. See, I think “stuff” has a bad name and that’s not fair. Everyone enjoys stuff if you take the time to buy OR MAKE things you know they will appreciate and use. This does require time and planning though and most people just don’t care about that sort of thing. Really, it shouldn’t be Anti-Stuff it should be Anti-Meaningless/Useless. Some people mentioned the “romance of gift-giving” and I appreciate that. For instance, I maintain a wish list on Amazon but, and I stress this every time I reluctantly admit I have one to my friends and family, it’s a guide to things I like not the end-all of what exactly to get me. I put a lot of effort into the things I buy my friends and family and always get great feedback on them. My family started a tradition of a yankee swap for the adults (and the kids still get gifts). We set a price each year $50, and get one gift that most people would enjoy (or we can get a gift for a specific person but they don’t necessarily get to keep it). So we wrap the present and put it in the middle of the room, and draw numbers. Who ever gets number one pick a present from the pile and opens it. From the next person has five minutes to decide if they want to steal the present already opened or pick another present from the pile. This goes on until the last person in the group picks. When someone takes your gift, you get the option to take from someone else or go back to the gift pile. Its a lot of fun, and saves everyone some $$ if there is a large family. @Kristy (26) – I wholeheartedly agree with your grad student suggestions. Both my partner and I are grad students and we would love something as easy as a coffee gift certificate – whether from a national chain or a local one (all our family lives 2000+ miles from us). Some people might think this was a boring or unthoughful gift, but since we try not to spend too much money on coffee out, but still love to go and do work at coffee shops, it would be perfect. Same with bookstore gift certs – whether for an academic book or something fun – even though this isn’t really an experience gift, though we both do love wandering a bookstore for a while, esp. with the luxury of having a bit of money to spend at the end. Also, this isn’t exactly an experience gift either, but it kind of is by default of distance – last year my brother and SIL made a calendar featuring photos of their adorable bulldog. My SIL dressed him up in all sorts of seasonal outfits and then created the calendar with those photos – we love it and have it in our kitchen. Since they’re so far away, its fun to have a bit of them with us all year long. I’m *totally* drinking the Kool-Aid on this concept! My brother and I are trying to slowly change our family’s mindset on physical gift giving. Last year, we did a gag-gift “white elephant” exchange. Nobody receives anything of material value, but everyone enjoys hours of laughter and great memories of spending time with each other. One exception to the rule: I have started a tradition of giving calendars with my own photography on it. For me, it allows me to share my joy and passion of photography with others. It’s useful, hand-made, and relatively cheap (~$15/calendar). FedEx Office and Shutterfly are two places that have done a wonderful job on these calendars. Agree with Stephanie (#52) and Kristy (#26) – coffee is always the perfect gift for a student. A study basket is even better! What a great post! Some of my extended family members are simply doing a gift card exchange (with $15 gift cards) this year because it’s so hard to buy for people. Then people can go out and get what they want. And I often do a lot of homemade gifts. They’re useful and inexpensive. Last year our budget was very tight for Christmas, so I made some homemade hot chocolate mix (tons of recipes online) and packed it into nice, decorated mason jars for our friends. It was a hit! One warning to those considering buying a gift for gardeners: I am a gardener, and sometimes I receive plants as gifts and don’t have a good spot to put them in my yard. If you have an idea of what plants the recipient could actually use, that would help. I seem to be the odd one out on this, but if someone gave to a charity in my name, I would probably never speak to that person again. I am extremely particular what I support and none of my family knows who they are. Now, if giftgivers know someone is ok with that type of gift, it is a different story. Just don’t assume that a donation will please someone. uh, ok wolfgirl, i guess you’re really particular. Unless it was a charity to drown kittens (or something equally horrible) i don’t think i’d be so angry at a person for donating in my name, even if you don’t support that charity they at least tried to do a good thing. I have given both dinner gift certificates (with included babysitting) and massage/spa treatment gift certificates, both went over very well. As for myself, last year I told everyone that I wanted to take cooking classes, and said that if they didn’t know what to get me, money to go toward the classes would be great. All my siblings and my mother-in-law gave toward the cause, and I don’t think that any of them were affronted that I asked for money. I made sure to gush about the cooking classes in my thank you note, so that they understood that I really appreciated the gift. I’ve been doing this for years already, even when my children were small. I’ve given gift cards to local movie theaters for families of employees, with gift cards for soda and popcorn. I’ve taken my parents out to dinners and shows. This year, husband and I will see a Broadway show (we live in metro NYC) instead of getting tangible gifts. But if this is about financial sense, why spend money on something that’s gone in an instant, an hour or a day? Thanks for the great ideas. My mind is spinning with ideas of how to make this year’s Christmas much more “experience” oriented! I love these ideas! Both the combination of a fun event or activity in lieu of a gift as well as the “no clutter” idea!! My favorite family Christmas tradition is Bingo where there’s very little money spent up front, loads of laughs, every single person can participate, and we’re all enjoying time together. Nothing can beat it! My wife and I needlessly exchanged gifts at Christmas virtually for no other reason than to say we exchanged gifts. The gifts we gave were hardly necessities, probably some of them weren’t even wanted. We finally came to our senses and realized we could spend all the money in the world on each other and it wouldn’t bring us closer to one another. Since then, we give each other the gift of time. There is nothing more precious in either one of our lives, so each Christams, we plan dates throughout the year that come hell or high water, we will spend those dates together. My husband and I haven’t exchanged Christmas gifts in over 5 years. But, we do have a Christmas budget; and use the money that we would have spent on each other to make a very nice donation to our favorite charitable organizations. We still get the joy of giving, plus we know that our gift is needed and appreciated. Excellent post, and wonderful comments! My siblings and I have a fun tradition. Each of us picks a charity, and the others make a donation to it in our honor. I love it!! My husband and I also give gifts to a child or two from our local giving tree. Like Cara, I have in-laws who are all about the stuff. They seem to take it personally if I say I don’t want any THINGS. In the interest of family harmony, I’ve decided to drop it. I’m not good with Christmas gifts because in my family, Christmas was “Ki’s Day”, just like there is Mother’s Day and Father’s Day. In other words, parents would give something to their kids, and that’s it (and the kids would give something on Mother’s and Father’s Day). Since I don’t have children, giving Christmas gift just feels completely weird to me. Now that I’m married, I let my husband do most of the giving because it still feels awkward and unnatural to me. Of course, it feels just as weird receiving gifts from people who aren’t my parents (I don’t even receive gifts from my parents anymore since I’m not a kid anymore). And I have to say I’m not the type to like giving something because it’s the proper time to. When I see something a friend or family would enjoy, I get it for them right away. It could be December, I’m still not going to wait until Christmas to give it to them. Anyway, I realise my personal experience is different from most. And I do think the gifts you mentionned really are great ieas that people would enjoy more than gifts that were bought because “you gotta buy something”. I do agree with what someone else said though, that most of these are kinda expensive, and might not be in everyone’s budget (especially if you need to get one for everyone you know). Great article, some useful alternative ideas. BTW where did you get the picture of the cat? it’s a spitting image of my moggy, Milo! For well over a year my husband (I really dislike the term ‘DH’) and kids, along with my sister and her family, have been wanting to take my Mom to a dinner and a Broadway show (she went through treatment for colon cancer). So last year, she wasn’t up to it due to the chemo. Several other times we tried to get together (sis lives 1 and 1/2 hours north of us and mom lives 1 and 1/2 hours south of us), but since my sister has 2 young kids under 5 (my youngest is 9), she always has a sitter problem; to make matters worse, someone always gets sick at the worst time (flu at Christmas, New Year’s, what have you). My sister’s husband travels a lot and my husband works shift work, so their schedules are often conflicting! There are also so many other obligations during the holidays like work parties, school concerts, piano recitals, fundraising events, church events and planning, decorating, shopping, cleaning, baking; it’s way too much for one person to have to do in a month or so (our husbands tend to do the bare minimun all year long!). So many good intentions that never pan out is what frustrates me–not to mention the hundreds of dollars to have to spend for that ‘experience’. This year we decided that we would only give the kids gifts, no adult gifts…we’re old enough to buy for ourselves and are satisfied with just spending a holiday together at last!!!! Sorry for typo above….’minimum’! Comment editor won’t work for some reason on my computer. @Ian–That’s my cat, Mia, in the photo. She likes to “help” with gift wrapping. The best give I ever gave involved box and bows … and nothing else. My mother was always putting things “someplace special” and then forgetting where the special place was. One year I was desparate for a gift and out of ideas. The lightbulb went off. I wrapped the biggest box I could find, in the fanciest manner I could manage, and labeled it “Someplace Special.” She used it for 15 years before it finally disintegrated. I don’t usually get that lucky with ideas, though. My family has a tradition of sometimes giving money. The recipient is to use the gift for something special – no paying the electric bill – and then telling the giver all about the special thing. One year my special thing was a 3 day group lecture-and-tour of a historic battlefield. Not only did I thoroughly enjoy it, I now understand US history better. Great post April! I have been on the receiving side of this idea many times and I can tell you that it means a lot more to me and I usually get a lot more out of it. Adopted Zoo Animal — I was a llama mama! Wine Club Membership — This one was awesome! Safari Trip for 2 at Safari West — Perhaps my favorite! An idea that is always nice and from the heart is making a donation to an organization that is meaningful to that person on their behalf. One year for Christmas I adopted animals for all of my friends through the World Wildlife Fund and another year we purchased animals through Heifer International and gave that to all of our long distance family members. Perhaps the best experience I ever gave was surprising my mother with a trip to Disneyland. She was 57 the first time she ever stepped foot in a Disney park, and even though it rained on us most of the time, we had a blast and she had the biggest smile on her face the whole day! A lot of the above options are extremely expensive! We tend to get consumables for family, and our kids since those gifts are sure to get used. We do like to teach our kids about giving, so we chose to start a new tradition where everyone buys a gift for each member of the immediate family. This year they are saving their allowances to purchase gifts. It’s wonderful to see them choose something so thoughtfully for each other. I like to give a receive consumables like food, craft items for the kids, etc. or memberships since we can use those again and again. We also shop for a child or family in need each year. The gift I really want? To be debt-free, but I think it may take until next Christmas to get there. This year all the adults in the family are receiving brandied pears and amarreto pears, canned this summer. Previous experience tells me they will be appreciated. Two days out of the summer for canning and I’m done with most of my list. I have been scanning old photos (you know, before digital camaras?). I also have very old family photos. When I am done scanning, I am planning on making (or having made) photo albums for the rest of my family. Before digital, pictures weren’t shared quite as much. They will enjoy having pictures of when we were kids, or their own children, or of their great grandparents. As someone who just graduated from college, I have to agree with the coffee, consumables gifts for students. Gardeners appreciate gift certificates too! We don’t always have a use for plants, seeds, etc. If your buying tools make sure they are good quality and not something they already have,or they will turn into “stuff.” We used to buy my grandmother GCs to her favorite nursery. They were her favorite gifts! Every year she turned them into flowers for her garden. At past 80 she had all the stuff she needed, but had to watch her budget. It helped her to afford what she still loved. I am most definitely anti-stuff, because I hate clutter. The experience and memory is worth a lot more than STUFF to me.. The charity donation idea …I swear some people use it passive-aggressively. My old coworker loved to tell about how her in-laws made a donation in her name to a conservative Christian organization, when they knew perfectly well she was an atheist. I once gave my (now ex-) husband a balloon ride. That was a hoot! Later I gave him a ride in a glider, which he also seemed to enjoy. When asked what he wanted for Christmas, he would invariably say “money.” Grr! So, one Christmas I took my paycheck to the bank, had it cashed out in one-dollar bills, packed it into a box, and wrapped it as his present. That was the last time he asked for money. Then he started asking for real estate. This is an excellent post! I plan on sharing it with all of the people who absolutely insist on buying gifts for me, as I do not enjoy seeing them struggling to buy the ‘perfect gift’ when the holiday seasons roll around (especially since my birthday is within two weeks of the holidays). Anti-stuff gifts are definitely the best, as an experience with all its memories attached can be treasured for a lifetime as opposed to Stuff, which could be lost, broken, or used up. I really like this idea. Being a big fan of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu I’d love to have a private lesson with one of the local black belts in my area. While I love the ideas of giving gifts of experiences like tickets to the zoo, theater, etc. what do you do if you live so far away from these things that they aren’t practical? I live in a smaller town where these sort of attractions just aren’t available anywhere close. I also have three stepdaughters (19,20 and 27) that are all about things and “stuff” and would most likely not really appreciate gift certificates or food gifts. My husband and I have about decided just to give them cash, but once you put some cash in a box and stick it under the tree it just feels really impersonal. My girlfriend and I recently did a glass blowing workshop. It was awesome. This is another string to the bow. It won’t suit everyone, but it’ll suit others better than the usual alternatives. I can’t afford to buy for a lot of people at once, so I make a point of not giving christmas gifts to many people. They will get enough stuff at christmas to drown in, without my contribution. I do place importance on birthdays, especially the ones near christmas, which get submerged. However, I take my nieces to the pantomime every year. They’re talking about it for weeks, sometimes months afterwards, and it’s the kind of treat their harassed parents don’t have freedom to give them. Nothing I could afford to buy would make that big an impression on them. Sometimes it goes wrong, though: I once bought entrance tickets (wedding present) to an attraction I knew the recipients would really enjoy. Weeks after the tickets expired, I got a polite thank you for the tickets to the recycling centre. It could have been worse: they could have mistaken it for a sewage farm.

2019-04-24T08:58:17Z

https://www.getrichslowly.org/anti-stuff-holiday-gift-guide/

1. KARL MARX WAS RIGHT. Although he claimed not to believe in God‚ he confessed in his "Design of History" to what he called the principle of History: A DRIVING FORCE BEHIND HISTORY WHICH REVEALED A PLAN FOR MAN; this Dialectics of Materialism, swinging to one way then the other, but always coming back to the middle and getting closer to the goal! 2. But if you confess to that‚ as logical thinkers you must realise that THERE HAD TO BE A DESIGN AND A PLANNER BEHIND THE PLAN. This driving Force then must be an omnipotent Power, A GOD BEHIND HISTORY, Who must have given a Plan and a Goal to History, and man is being driven to his ultimate goal whether he likes it or not! 7. Therefore, since these background chapters are really all rather self–explanatory, we will give only a small commentary on each one to help prepare you for the astounding prophecy of the future which begins to unfold in chapter 6 as THE FOUR HORSEMEN THUNDER FORTH AND THE SEVEN-SEALED BOOK OF THE FUTURE IS OPENED! 9. SO DOMITIAN, EMPEROR OF ROME AT THAT TIME, FIGURED, "WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH A GUY LIKE THIS? We can't kill him‚ so we'll just stick him some place where he can't do much damage, can't preach or witness to anybody, and where he won't accomplish too much!" 11. PATMOS WAS A 10–MILE LONG ROCKY ISLAND off the southwest coast of Asia Minor in the Aegean Sea, which adjoins the Mediterranean. It was big and inhabitable enough to have a little town on it‚ and of course the island is still there today. 17. The awesome appearance of this supernatural being so astonished John that he "fell at his feet as dead." But the Man said, "Fear not.... I am he that liveth, and was dead; and behold, I am alive for evermore‚ Amen; and have the keys of Hell and of Death." (vs.17,18) THIS, OF COURSE, COULD ONLY HAVE BEEN JESUS IN HIS HEAVENLY APPEARANCE. 18. Many of the terms used here to describe Jesus may be very literal—for instance, "His face like the sun." This literally happened to Him on earth when He was transfigured on the mount where Elijah and Moses appeared to Him (Luke chapter 9). So, ALTHOUGH SOME OF THESE ARE DEFINITELY SYMBOLIC, THEY NEVERTHELESS REPRESENT REALITY—reality which is even greater than the limited symbols used here to describe Him. 19. For instance, THE SWORD GOING OUT OF HIS MOUTH IS SYMBOLIC OF THE "SWORD OF THE SPIRIT WHICH IS THE WORD OF GOD." (Ep.6:17) But this spiritual sword is so powerful that with it He shall literally slay millions of the wicked at His Second Coming: "by His sword will the Lord plead with all flesh. And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other." (Is.66:16; Jer.25:33) It's symbolic, but very, very real! 20. THE SEVEN STARS AND CANDLE–STICKS ARE ALSO SYMBOLIC. The 20th verse of this same chapter says. "The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches; and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches." 23. THE GENERAL PATTERN FOR THE BOOK OF REVELATION IS A PROGRESSIVE PREVIEW OF HISTORY "from the things which are," or were in John's Day, to the "things which shall be hereafter." However‚ frequently, sometimes even in the middle of chapter, the Revelation goes back into the past to give some background into whatever subject it's dealing with before showing you their future and how they wind up. 24. CHAPTER ONE IS DEFINITELY PART OF THE "THINGS WHICH ARE" IN JOHN'S DAY and it is an introduction to the vision itself. It introduces Jesus, Who is giving the Revelation through His angel, and John who is writing it. It also shows us that it is going to be about the past, present (of John's day)‚ and the future. 25. In verses 4 and 11 of chapter one‚ John named seven churches (groups of believers‚ not buildings) which were in seven Asian cities: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira‚ Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodecia. ALL OF THESE WERE NAMES OF EXPLICIT, DEFINITE CITIES OF ASIA MINOR, today known as Turkey. They were all within close distance of each other and only a short distance from the isle of Patmos. 27. The letters reveal churches in different levels of obedience and/or apostasy, and give rebukes, guidance and promises from the Lord to each one. THOUGH WRITTEN TO LITERAL CHURCHES IN ASIA, WE CAN READ THE LETTERS TODAY AS WARNINGS‚ ADVICE AND COUNSEL regarding any situation existing in our selves or in our church and take it to heart. 29. In this sense then, even though these churches were in Asia in John's day and are part of "the things which are," or were in 90 A.D., they typify all the churches which shall come "hereafter." THE PROMISES TO THESE CHURCHES HAVE HAD MANY FULFILMENTS THROUGHOUT HISTORY AND ARE NOW HAVING ULTIMATE FULFILMENTS IN THIS‚ THE LAST GENERATION. 32. Of the seven churches, Smyrna and Philadelphia are without reproof. Sardis and Laodicea have nothing good said of them except that Sardis had a "few" undefiled believers left. Ephesus, Pergamos and Thyatira are part bad, part good. THE TWO GOOD CHURCHES‚ SMYRNA AND PHILADELPHIA WERE COMPOSED OF WILDLY WILLING WORKERS AND WERE FACING PERSECUTION FROM THE SYNAGOGUE OF SATAN, the false worship system of that day—and today! 33. THE TWO VERY BAD CHURCHES GREATLY RESEMBLE THE VAST MAJORITY OF SO-CALLED CHRISTIANS TODAY: materially rich and living it up with good times, but spiritually poor and dead—Sardis, whom the Lord "will come on as a thief," and Laodicea, whom the Lord will "spue out of His mouth." 34. THE REMAINING THREE WERE FAITHFUL IN CERTAIN RESPECTS but Jesus said‚ "I have a few things against thee." In Ephesus they were losing their first love for the Lord. In Pergamos they were tolerating false teachers and idolatry. In Thyatira they were swallowing the lies of the false prophetess Jezebel who was teaching that fornication with idols or worshipping Mammon and the System were acceptable. 35. READ THEM ALL AND SEE WHERE YOU FIT! 36. "After this I (John) looked, and BEHOLD, A DOOR WAS OPENED IN HEAVEN: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said‚ Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter." In chapter 1 we found out that Jesus had a voice "as a trumpet" (1:10), so this is Jesus talking to John. 37. Now‚ SOME FALSE PROPHETS HAVE ACTUALLY MISINTERPRETED THIS VERSE AS THE RESURRECTION AND RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH BUT IT ISN'T. It is Jesus telling John to come up so that He can show him the things which must be "hereafter." So far the Revelation has dealt only with "the things which are," or were in John's day; but now Jesus tells John He's going to show him the future. 39. Jesus just called John and "immediately." He said, "I WAS IN THE SPIRIT AND BEHOLD, A THRONE WAS SET IN HEAVEN, AND ONE SAT ON THE THRONE" (4:2), the throne of the Lord God Almighty—His central Headquarters. 42. But John did see something there that we can understand, and it's in the Fifth Chapter. "I SAW IN THE RIGHT HAND OF HIM THAT SAT ON THE THRONE A BOOK WRITTEN WITHIN AND ON THE BACKSIDE, SEALED WITH SEVEN SEALS. And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood A LAMB as it had been slain. 46. "All things that the Father hath are Mine," Jesus said (including this book of the future)," therefore said I, that He (the Spirit) shall take of mine‚ and shall shew it unto you," John had recorded that saying of the Lord many years earlier in his gospel (chapter 16 verse 15), and now years later, through the communication of God's eternal Spirit, JESUS IS ABOUT TO SHOW HIS BELOVED APOSTLE THE ENTIRE FUTURE OF THE WORLD! 49. THIS IS THE FIRST OF THE FAMOUS FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE who ride forth here in chapter six. "Apocalypse" is simply another name for Revelation, but it means the same thing- `to uncover.’ God uses these four horsemen to "uncover" His own viewpoints on religion, war and economics. 50. The main reason why this and every chapter in Revelation that deals with the System is draped in such heavy symbolism is because GOD'S VIEWS ARE SO EXTREMELY ANTI-SYSTEM THAT IF THE ENEMIES OF THE TRUTH HAD EVER BEEN ABLE TO PROVE WHAT THIS WAS ACTUALLY SAYING, THEY WOULD HAVE BURNED EVERY COPY LONG AGO. But since the game is almost over and the End is at hand, God is letting the cat out of the bag and giving the world the whole truth and letting the chips fall where they may—so we hope you can take it. 53. 2nd Seal—"And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say‚ Come and see. And THERE WENT OUT ANOTHER HORSE THAT WAS RED: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword." (vs.3‚4) Well, who does this sound like? What takes "peace from the earth"?—WAR! THIS RED HORSE SYMBOLIZES WAR, the military and their war machines. 54. THE HORSE'S COLOUR IS VERY APPROPRIATE, REPRESENTING ALL THE BLOOD SHED IN MAN'S HELLISH WARS—wars for which God is not responsible, but which come from the pride, prejudices and avarice of man's own greedy heart. "From whence come wars and fightings among you?" James asks‚ "Come they not hence‚ even of your lusts." (Jam.4:11) The "great sword" given to him certainly symbolizes the great "improvements" in war machines and the greater frequency and greater extent of wars since the prophecy was given. 58. When God originally made the world, before anybody was rich or poor, everybody had about the same amount of land and food and things with which to build their houses, beasts to plow and carry burdens, etc. What happened then‚ was that A FEW BEGAN LEARNING A LOT OF EVIL THINGS CALLED MAN'S "WISDOM" and they began tricking, robbing, lying to and killing others so that they could get more than their share. The people who began doing this became known as the rich and powerful. These are the big multi-millionaire manufacturing merchants and money manipulators, or ruling classes of the world today. 66. The devil's power over the kingdoms of this world and his relationship with its rulers are so close that REVELATION PICTURES SATAN AND HIS KINGS AS ALMOST IDENTICAL TWINS. The devil is presented as a "dragon‚ having seven heads and ten horns" (Rev.12:3,9), and the government as "a beast...having seven heads and ten horns" (Rev.13:1; Dan.7:17). 67. And you may find this shocking, but GOD WOULD RATHER EVEN HAVE COMMUNISM, OR ROME‚ OR GREECE, OR BABYLON OR ANY KIND OF ANTI—GOD, ANTI-CHRIST, DEVIL–INSPIRED PAGAN GOVERNMENT RULE THAN HAVE NO GOVERNMENT AT ALL! Because when there is no government, then absolute iniquity and absolute horror of sin reigns rampant like in the days of Noah. So there has to be some government to keep law and order and to keep iniquity somewhat in check. Since they won't have God's government, then He has to give them the Devil's government. So we have had the beast and dragon working together and ruling the world from Egypt till today! 69. THIS PALE HORSE OF THE FOURTH SEAL, THEN, REPRESENTS THE DEVIL'S RULE IN THE KINGDOMS OF THIS WORLD. He designs them, man builds them, and their end is death and Hell—total destruction both now and forever! 72. THESE MARTYRS, THOUGH, ARE ACTUALLY GOD'S EXCEPTIONS, JUST EXAMPLES OF THE DEDICATION OF HIS WITNESSES. The majority of God's Children have usually lived to help carry on the work. But even they too must "die daily" as Paul said, because serving Jesus really kills your pride, your self, your selfishness, your egotism‚ and may even cause some considerable physical sacrifice and strain. So really, all of God's true Children are slain for their testimony. 74. 6th Seal—"AND I BEHELD WHEN HE HAD OPENED THE SIXTH SEAL, AND, LO‚ THERE WAS A GREAT EARTHQUAKE; and the Sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the Moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven (or meteors) fell unto the earth...And the heaven departed as a scroll...and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 76. Here we have the ultimate goal of 6,000 years of history: THE GLORIOUS SECOND COMING OF THE LAMB OF GOD‚ JESUS CHRIST (Jn.1:29) to mete out His violent wrath upon the wicked and rescue the saints of all ages by the miracle of the resurrection and rapture. 80. What we have actually seen, then, under these six seals is a panorama of history from John's day up to the very end. Then, AT THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST, THE WHITE HORSE AND THE RESURRECTED MARTYRS EMERGE AS VICTORS OVER THE OTHER THREE HORSEMEN: the kings (pale horse)‚ the rich men (black horse), and the captains (red horse). This is also presented in more detail in Rev.16 and 19. 84. Jesus predicted in His famous Endtime discourse of Mt.24 that THERE WOULD BE AN INCREASE IN WAR, FAMINE, PESTILENCE AND EARTHQUAKES, LEADING EVENTUALLY TO "AFFLICTION, SUCH AS WAS NOT FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE CREATION," and that these calamities would get so bad that "except that the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh should be saved: but for the elect's (or Christians') sake‚ whom He (God) hath chosen, He hath shortened those days." (Mt.24:7,21,22; Mk.13:19‚20) In other words, Jesus was saying that one day man would reach such an impasse that letting him continue unchecked would result in the destruction of everyone on Earth. However, WHEN MAN FINALLY REACHES THAT SUICIDAL POINT, HE SAID GOD WOULD SHORTEN THE DAYS, which in the Greek literally means to stop the days, or stop those days of man's suicidal attempts to destroy the Earth. And the way God will stop it, Jesus said, was by His own Second Coming to punish the evil doers, take over the world, and rule it the way God wants. 85. ONLY WITHIN THE LAST THIRTY YEARS HAS THE HUMAN RACE DEVELOPED THE POTENTIAL TO DESTROY ITSELF. The military (Red Horse) have their nuclear bombs, satellites and intercontinental missiles. It fact, they right now have enough atomic bombs to over kill the earth's entire population several times. The rich (Black Horse) in their pursuit of the almighty dollar are finally succeeding in polluting the entire earth—a by–product of twentieth century technology! The rich (especially the U.S.) have been responsible for starting this century's great wars, and their hoarding and wasting of their riches is threatening another one! And it is their unchecked greed which will be responsible for the worldwide famine that even the scientists are predicting will occur by the late 1980's! 86. Meanwhile governments (Pale Horse) have become bestial monsters destroying whole nations in their pursuit of power, and martyring whole nationalities‚ races and creeds who don't agree with them or their devilish policies!—Yes, TODAY MAN HAS ALMOST FINALLY REACHED THAT HORRIBLE TIME WHICH JESUS SAID WOULD IMMEDIATELY PRECEDE HIS SECOND COMING. However‚ the worst is not here yet. So don't worry, the coming of Christ isn't going to happen any minute—Ha! HE IS COMING SOON, BUT HE IS NOT COMING BEFORE ALL THE SIGNS ARE FULFILLED WHICH HAVE TO PRECEDE HIS COMING. 87. As the Apostle Paul said, "Now we beseech you, brethren‚ by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together (Resurrection and Rapture) unto Him." (Notice he said "the coming," showing there is only one coming to rapture the Church, not two.) "That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word nor by letter as from us (nor, we might add, from some churchy false prophets of today) as that the day of Christ is at hand!" (2Th.2:1,2) in other words, DON'T LET ANYBODY DECEIVE YOU INTO BELIEVING THAT THE DAY OF CHRIST OR THE SECOND COMING AND RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH CAN HAPPEN AT ANY TIME BECAUSE IT IS NOT "AT HAND!" The falling away, which in the Greek means "apostasy' or departing from the faith. This has been happening throughout all church history, but in these last days it will become, and is becoming, greater. The "man of sin" has to be revealed. This is the man commonly referred to throughout Bible prophecy as the ANTICHRIST; THE ENDTIME WORLD DICTATOR. 91. During the first 3 1/2 years, he will allow them to have their religious freedom. BUT IN THE "MIDST OF THE WEEK," AFTER 3 1/2 YEARS, HE WILL BREAK THE COVENANT, causing their religious freedom to cease and setting up an "abomination of desolation"—an idol or image of himself—and demanding all to worship it or be killed. 93. When will you see it?—In the midst of the week, or seven years, Dan.9:27! THIS GREAT TRIBULATION, THEREFORE, WILL BEGIN IN THE "MIDST OF THE WEEK" and will continue throughout the remaining 3 1/2 years of the "seven year" covenant!—"Until the consummation (or completion of the seven years), and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate." 95. All that to say this: THERE ARE SOME DEFINITE SPECIFIC EVENTS THAT HAVE TO TAKE PLACE BEFORE CHRIST CAN COME BACK. There is this seven-year Covenant, for one, and the Abomination of Desolation resulting in 3 1/2 years of Great Tribulation of the Church‚ for another. There is the Antichrist world dictator who must yet arise to place this Abomination, which means we need a world government, which means we've got another World War yet to go! 96. ALL OF THESE EVENTS MUST HAPPEN BEFORE THE EVENTS DESCRIBED UNDER THE SIXTH SEAL, THE WRATH AND SECOND COMING, CAN OCCUR. Since these first six seals present the whole span of history from the Ascension to the Second Coming, they are in a sense like God taking a camera and doing a real quick "pan" of history from the beginning to the very end‚ just like they often do in movies to give the setting for the story they are about to tell us. 97. THEN WITH THE SEVENTH SEAL, WHICH OPENS IN THE EIGHT CHAPTER, GOD TAKES HIS CAMERA AND ZOOMS IN FOR A CLOSE-UP of the last few years of this period, the central theme of the Revelation containing the story of the Great Tribulation‚ the Second Coming, and the ushering in of Christ's Millennial Kingdom on earth. 98. CHAPTER SIX, THEN, IS A TABLE OF CONTENTS OF THE MAIN CHARACTERS yet to be uncovered in the remainder of the Revelation‚ presented as a brief summary of history from the Ascension to the Second Coming of Christ! 100. "And after these things I (John) saw four angels...holding the four winds of the earth. And THERE WERE SEALED AN HUNDRED AND FORTY AND FOUR THOUSAND OF ALL THE TRIBES OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL."(vs.1-4) Verses 5-8 list the names of the twelve tribes of Israel‚ 12,000 from each tribe being sealed. 101. THESE 144,000 WHICH RECEIVE THE SEAL OF GOD ARE NOT PHYSICAL ISRAEL. THEY ARE THE TRUE SPIRITUAL ISRAEL. As the Apostle Paul said, "They are not all Israel, which are of Israel. which came out of Great Tribulation." (vs.9–14)—And in the original that means the Great Tribulation, the one that precedes the Second Coming of Christ! 105. THE DEVIL, WHO IS THE GREAT COUNTERFEITER, IS GOING TO BE OUT SEALING HIS CHILDREN TOO at this time, putting a mark in their right hand or forehead, which is the famous MARK OF THE BEAST (the Antichrist dictator and his government)—666. (Rev.13:15) And all those who refuse to bow down to him will be killed. 108. WHOSE BRAND ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE? WILL YOU DIE FOR THE TRUTH AND LIVE FOREVER? Or will you live for the lie and die forever? If you don't drop out and serve Jesus now, tomorrow may be too late!

2019-04-20T06:13:17Z

https://pubs.xfamily.org/text.php?t=398

Mornin'! It's hard to believe June's biding adieu today. Time sure flies when you're having fun. How can you not have fun when you live at the Shore? There will be plenty of fun at the Shore this upcoming Holiday weekend. I'm lining up all the fun possibilities as everything will be in the mix. That could even be some dancing as the ol' knee is finally beginning to really feel better as I just past the 2 month mark since knee surgery. June ends with a perfect summer day as it's starting out with the Sun coming over the cloudless horizon and temperature at 69°. Temps will be seasonal in the lo-mid 80's with low humidity and a W-NW breeze at 10-15mph. It'll be sunny all day. It'll be a perfect day at the Shore! Outside fun today?...you can count on it. High tide:7:28a.m.; Low tide:1:12p.m.; Ocean temp: 76°; Sunset: 8:28p.m. Mornin'! It's 74°, cloudy and breezy (westerly winds at 10-18mph) this summer morning. The breeze will shift later coming off the sea. The clouds aren't allowing the Sun to do its grand entrance first thing this morning, but it's coming. It'll be sunny today with temps going into the low-mid 80's. Humidity's 89% but lower than yesterday. Should feel more comfortable today and tomorrow before the next round of heavy, humid, heat pays our island a visit just in time for the holiday. So far, the weekend is looking A-OK, albeit warm. High tide:7:01p.m.; Low tide:12:27p.m.; Ocean Temp: 75°; Sunset:8:28p.m. Summery hump day = Beach day! Mornin'! It's 74° in Wildwood as the sun's breaking on through. Beginning at dawn...skies were foggy and overcast, but the sun's finally showing it's big ol' self as the clouds are making way. We're going to see a mix of sun and clouds again today. As the forecasters are calling it..."Partly Sunny/Cloudy" day. Speaking of clouds, there will be clouds hanging around mostly all day bringing in some scattered showers and/or thunderstorms (sometime this afternoon)...40% chance. It's going to be warm and humid with temps going into the mid-80's and humidity near 80%. Winds are null as I blog but later will waft in from the SE at 10-15mph. High tide:6:18p.m.; Low tide:1:14a.m.; Ocean temp:75°; Sunset:8:29p.m. My guess would be NOT a total washout and perhaps a partial beach day. I'd go for it. Mornin'! It's 74° this gray, still, Monday morning in Wildwood. No sun to see rising in the East this morning. There's a 40% chance of a rain showers throughout the day today, but won't be a total washout as the sun will be peeking through the clouds every chance it can get. Temps will rise to the lo-mid 80's; humidity will remain on the low side. Winds will be out of the West at 10mph and shift to the SE bringing a cooler seabreeze a little later. Beach day? For the diehards...go for it. For the others...perhaps a stroll on the beach? Or better yet...a trip to The Mall! High tide: 5:34p.m.; Low tide: 10:55a.m.; Ocean temp...same as the air temp...74°; Sunset: 8:28p.m. Mornin'! It's 73°. That's both the air temp and ocean temp btw. Sun's up and it'll be a seasonably warm Sunday as temps will be around the mid-80's; with fairly low humidity but humid just the same. Breeze is minimal coming from the NW at 5mph. That'll shift later and come from the sea making it feel more cooler and comfortable. Forecasters are saying partly sunny today (20% chance of a shower later). I'm saying 'beach day". High tide:4:47p.m.; Low tide: 10:08a.m.; sunset this evening: 8:28p.m. Mornin'! Looking like a nice weekend. It's a balmy 75° in Wildwood this morning. The sun and clouds are up in the big blue greeting the day. It'll be mostly sunny with those clouds passing throughout the day today. Temps are heading into the mid-upper 80's with much less humidity. There's a very minimal chance (10%) of a shower passing through later today as well. Breezes are out of the W-NW at 8mph and will continue to waft over the island from the West and by late this afternoon will shift as the seabreeze kicks in. You know the drill. Looking like a nice one for the island's weekend events...not to mention a pork, broccoli rabe and provolone sandwich at the Italian Fest, or simply a nice beach day, or perhaps a day on the boat (take heed...it's Operation Dry Water weekend...the USCG is on guard for BUI's), or maybe even an indoctrination to Elkdom! Congrats Joe! High tide: 3:44p.m.; Low tide: 9:22a.m.; Ocean temp: 73°; Sunset: 8:28p.m. Mornin'! It's 72° this morning as the sun rises in Wildwood. Breeze is at a minimum at 3mph coming from the SSW. They'll stay out of the SSW most of the day...land breeze...warm breeze. It'll be hazy, hot and humid at the shore. Temps are heading into the mid-80's as humidity's climbing (87%). Chance of thunderstorm later today is 40%. High tide: 3:07p.m.; Low tide:8:36a.m.; Ocean temp: 73°; Sunset time: 8:28p.m. Congrats to the Mibsters who won the Marble Championship this summer. All the "Beach-goers", "Beach Blast Soccer" folk or "North Wildwood Italian Fest revelers"...enjoy the outdoors today but keep an eye on the sky. Mornin'! It's a balmy, tropical 74° in the early, morning stillness. Birds have begun to chirp as the skies begin to lighten and a tiny breeze blows out of the South at 5-9mph. The skies are also a bit cloudy and hazy and could hamper today's sunrise. It's going to be hazy, hot and humid (humidity's up to 89%) as temps rise to the mid-upper 80's. By the way, some of the haze we've been experiencing as of late is actual smoke wafting up the eastern coast from the North Carolina Forest Fires. I thought it was a bit muggy out for anyone to be firing up their chiminea as it was definitely smokey outside yesterday and last night. There will be a mix of sun and clouds today with more dry than wet but a 50% chance of a scattered thunderstorm is in that mix all day. This "Mix" could stick around as the forecast for the next 2 days looks like a "ditto" from yesterday and today into tomorrow and Saturday. Winds will be out of the S-SW at 10-15mph. High tide:2:15p.m.; Low Tide:7:51a.m.; Ocean temp:72°; Sunset:8:28p.m. Beach day? I'd say go for it, just keep an eye on the sky. That goes for all you Mibsters in the National Marbles tournament and who competing on the beach. Good luck to you! Mornin'! It's 69° in Wildwood as daybreak develops under thick cloud cover. Woke up to Thunder and Lightning around 4 this morning. Nothing came of it though other than some loss of sleep. It's now quiet except for the sound of the surf pounding and birds chirping. The "Mix" today is a "Dry and Wet" day as there's a 60% chance of showers and/or thunderstorms all day into this evening. Some storms hitting the island today could be severe. You've been warned. Another "Mix" is the possibility of peeks of Sun along with Cloud cover throughout the day right into late this afternoon. Humidity's 82%. Temps will hit the upper 70's-low 80's and if the humidity stays up there and the sun pops out = "a very warm day". Winds are minimal out of the S-SE at 5mph and will pick up later at 10-15mph and will stay a "seabreeze" throughout the day. High tide:1:24p.m.; Low tide:7:32p.m.; Ocean temp: 73°; Sunset: 8:28p.m. I think that about covers it. Beach day??? That's your call, but prepare accordingly and keep an eye on the sky as the Mix hangs around today and possibly tomorrow and Friday as well. Mornin'! It's the first official day of Summer; the Summer solstice. It's when the sun reaches the highest position in the sky; when the earth and moon's axial tilt is most inclined towards the Sun; it's the longest day of the year and it officially begins at 1:16p.m. this afternoon. Beginning today the days begin to grow just a tad shorter...sunrise a tad earlier each evening. It's currently 67° in Wildwood and temps will head into the mid-upper 70's with an increase in humidity at 81%. The sun's replicating the exact show it put on yesterday for sunrise. It's almost completely obscured with clouds as its trying with all its might to rise and shine, all the while painting those clouds with the prettiest pastel colors. No breeze to speak of but it's coming later out of the SW at 10-15mph and somehow the heavy backbay fragrance is seeping in the porch windows while the gulls are laughing their butts off at something out there. Today will be the last of the so-so days this week as rain and/or chance of rain is unlikely but will be hanging over our heads as the chance is 30% and the remainder of the week right into the weekend percentage gets a bit higher each day. Get out and enjoy while the gettin's good. High tide:12:34p.m. (like that number); Low tide:6:37p.m.; Ocean temp: 73°; Sunset:8:28p.m.; 94 days until Autumn! Last Day of Spring! C'est La Vie! Mornin'! It is what it is...the last day of Spring. Tomorrow afternoon, we'll be welcoming in the longest day of the year...Summer Solstice of 2011. Looks like we made it. (Barry Manilow?) It's currently 70° in WW this slightly overcast and lightly breezy start of the day. The sun's trying in the worst way to make its presence known, but there's a handful of clouds holding it back. I just heard it's raining in Delaware and those showers could be heading right over the Bay right toward WW this morning with a 50% chance of the island getting a little watering. With that said, if we do experience some showers and/or thunderstorms this morning, it should clear up for a decent beach day by late morning/early afternoon. By then the temps will get into the mid-upper 70's and the seabreeze coming from the East at 10-15mph will make for a nice day at the Shore. High tide:11:46a.m.; Low tide:5:46p.m.; Ocean temp:73°; Sunset:8:28p.m. Mornin'! Happy Father's Day! You know who you are and here's wishing you all enjoy your day. I've always felt that Father's Day was the true kick off to summer. I know that I have a strong sense of my Dad's spirit ever since I've moved by the sea. He so enjoyed the peace and serenity the seashore fed to his spirit and I completel y get it. I feel ya Dad and this one's for you...it's 70° in WW this warm, humid, still, hazy/overcast, fragrant morning. Humidity's at 87% as we're still a bit on the sticky side. No breeze to speak of although there's currently a very slight one out of the NNE @ 6mph. Temps will get into the mid-80's with a Northeasterly breeze at 11-15mph later. It'll be partly sunny today with a 30% chance of an isolated Thunderstorm here and there. It's gonna be a hit or miss with sun and clouds all through the day. High tide 11:02a.m.; Low tide:4:53p.m.; Ocean temp: 73°; Sunset: 8:27p.m. One day till Summer! Love ya Dad! An Old Friend. A New Blog. Mornin'! It's 71° in WW this early Saturday morn. We're heading into the "sticky" region as temps go into the mid-80's today and humidity starts "sticking" around. It'll the better half of the weekend as we'll see more blue skies and sun than tomorrow. However, the clouds will play a part in today's weather and make for a partly cloudy day at the Seashore. No rain is forecasted until the overnight and tomorrow. A West-Southwest breeze at 10-15mph will hang around all day as well. High tide:10:11a.m.; Low tide:4:07p.m.; Ocean temp:73°; Sunset:8:27p.m.; 2 days until Summer! My bets are on a decent beach day. Even better...a day on the boat. Or, even better...some fishin' or crabbin'...could be a good day to dig out the crab pot! Mornin'! It's going be a mixed bag on the island today. It's 69° in WW this morning. It's dreary. It's cloudy. It's breezy (Southery breezes 10-15mph). It'll be mostly cloudy with the sun peeking through here and there today as temps get into the mid-upper 70's with a 50% chance of rain showers and/or thunderstorms throughout the day into this evening. Breezes will pick up a bit and head in from the S-SW later. High tide: 9:22a.m.; Low tide: 3:19p.m.; Ocean Temp: 73°; Sunset: 8:27p.m. Summer's arriving in 3 more days! Oh...I wanted to mention...it'll be a beauty in Wildwood tomorrow...Beach Day!!!! Mornin'! It's 67° in WW this beautiful, early morn. The Sun just peeked over the horizon and what an incredible sunrise this morning. A bit of a "red sky" along with it. And, I'm not talking "Cafe" so take heed sailors. It's gonna head into the mid 70's again today with a S-SW breeze at 10-15mph. After we enjoy a mostly sunny morning, clouds will gradually appear throughout the day and by late this afternoon/early evening, the clouds will thicken and a 40% chance of rain is forecasted as we could see rain and/or thunderstorms throughout the night. High tide:8:33a.m.; Low tide:2:29p.m.; Ocean Temp:72°; sunset: 8:26p.m.; moonrise:9:21p.m. Tomorrow almost seems like a repeat of today and the weekend's looking like beach days are ahead. 4 days until Summer! Mornin'! It's...get this...57° in Wildwood this early, sunny morn. Beautiful start of the day. I'm lovin' this weather. Temps will rise into the mid-upper 70's as the weather remains seasonable...in other words "more comfortable" and "the way it should feel this time of year". The sun just rose as it will be mostly sunny today with blue skies and light breezes out of the Northwest at 10-15mph. The air will shift in the afternoon as it usually does coming from the South making for a light, cooler seabreeze wafting over the island. Just lovely at the Shore today. I'm smiling. Okay, here's today's Stats: high tide: 7:42a.m. and again tonight at 7:59p.m.(pay close attention to this one as it will create tidal flooding); Low tide: 1:39p.m.; Ocean Temp: 73°; Sunset: 8:26p.m.; Moonrise tonight: 8:32p.m. You could probably catch the Sunset as well as the Moonrise together in Cape May, NJ tonight. Last evening, I got to see that Moon rise over the ocean...what a spectacular thing to see! If you do venture out this evening...remember the tidal flooding caused by the Full Moon...it's salt water filling the Streets. You've been forewarned. 5 days until Summer! Mornin'! And, another lovely one it is. It's 64° in Wildwood this perfectly still, cool, quiet, fragrant morning at the Seashore. All windows are open as the cool air barely moves the hems of the window curtains. After watering the gardens this morning, I placed the Flag outside in the window ledge holder in honor of its day and it's barely moving due to the stillness in the air. Less than a week away is officially Summer as it's coming really fast now. Talk about coming fast...the next Full moon is tomorrow, yet we're already feeling its affects by it's brightness and tidal flooding...be aware that tonight's high tide will be excessive flooding due to the draw of the Full Moon along with an onshore breeze. Don't drive through flood water...it's corrosive salt water and very damaging to your vehicle! Today's weather will be mostly sun with a mix of clouds later and we may even see a pop-up shower this afternoon. Temps will stay moderate at 70-75°. Breezes will be out of the N-NE at 10-15mph. High tide: 7:15p.m.; Low tide:12:46p.m.; Ocean temp:73°; Sunset: 8:26p.m.; Moonrise: 7:34p.m.; 6 days until Summer. If only Summer would stay exactly like today...ahhh! Mornin'! It's 69° in Wildwood this overcast, hazy, quiet and just a tad breezy morning. It'll be mostly sunny today with a more seasonable feel to it today as temps get into the mid-upper 70's. Humidity's down too and it'll feel much more comfortable at the Shore. Winds will be out of the North at 10-15mph. The decision to give the airconditioner a little rest was an easy one as all windows are back open! One more week until Summer even though it's been giving us some serious sneak previews as of late.High tide:6:24p.m.; Low tide:11:53a.m.; Ocean Temp: 72°; Sunset: 8:25p.m. Mornin'! Happy Sunday! It's 71° in WW this sunny, mild, very still, and still humid morning. No breeze to speak of but a lovely morning just the same, not to mention a lovely sunrise. The gulls laughing in the distance seem to be saying so. Today will be a repeat of yesterday. Warm, humid, overcast at times, sunny at times. Temps will be in the lo-mid 80's, not too breezy (8-10mph coming out of the S-SW) with 60% chance of shower/and-or/thunderstorms this afternoon. High tide:5:29p.m.; Low tide:10:57a.m.; Ocean temp: 73°; Sunset: 8:25p.m.; 8 more days until Summer. Just saying. Mornin'! Check it out...the weekend happenings in Wildwood: American Legion Convention (Parade this afternoon), Masonic Lodge Youth Group Convention, Veterans of Foreign Wars and Ladies Auxillary Convention and lets not forget it's Mummers Brigade Weekend (featuring the top winners of the Philadelphia Mummers Day Parade)! Does it get any better than that??? By the way, the Mummers Parade kicks off at 4:45p.m. today at 2nd and Old New Jersey Ave. so I'd be getting your strutting flipflops polished! Alot going on in the weather department too...It's currently 72° with some hefty fog covering the island this early morn with hardly a breeze out there. It's supposed to stay mostly cloudy and rather dreary looking today I'm sorry to say to all the above revelers who enjoy a sunny, cloudless sky at the Shore. But although mostly cloudy with possible periods of rain showers (60% chance), we'll see peeks of sun as well and it won't be a total gray day or washout. Temps will get into the mid-upper 70's with humidity sticking around. Breezes will be Easterly (seabreeze) at 10-15mph keeping that humidity at bay and making our lives more comfortable. High tide:4:29p.m.; Low tide: 10:00a.m.; Ocean Temp: 72°; Sunset: 8:24p.m.; 9 more days until Summer, although I think it sneaked in this past week. Mornin'! TGIF! It's 72° in Wildwood as daybreak unfolds. The sunrise is trying its best to show it's lovely self but there's some major cloud cover on the horizon keeping that big orange ball at bay. Actually it's making for a unique sunrise as the gray, dark, clouds are being painted beautiful shades of orange and coral. Hit some record highs yesterday with that intense heatwave as Wildwood hit 95°. The Heat will back off today as temps will be in the mid-upper 80's thanks to some overnight enormous thunderstorms. I was on the back porch last night around midnight and could actually smell the electricity in the air during that storm. We even got some hail off of that badboy. Humidity's not backing down today as it's at 90% and will stick around (no pun intended). Today will have a mix of clouds and sun, although there's a 40% chance of rain or pop-up thunderstorms all day. Winds are "O" right now but will pick up from the North at 10mph later and Easterly (seabreeze) even later today. The weekend's looking much like the same as today with even greater chances of clouds and rains/thunderstorm (60%). Today's tides: High:3:32p.m.; Low:9:03a.m.; Ocean Temp: 72°; Sunset (if visible): 8:24p.m. Summer's still on its way in 10 more days...what a joke! Mornin'! "The Heat Is On"...who was that? I was thinkin'...Kenny Loggins but it's Glenn Frey. It's 75° in Wildwood this calm, quiet, balmy, hazy, and very warm morning. The haze, heat and humidity will take us right into the evening. Temperatures could reach 95° feeling like 100° as the humidity 89%/dewpoint 71% is giving us a heat index; much like a chill factor but just the opposite; you know...what it actually feels like to our bodies. Hydrate like you've never drank before...water that is. Any breeze wafting this way will be minimal (10mph) out of the West (hot air) as there is a very slight possibility it could shift from the East (much more comfortable breeze) later this afternoon. It happened yesterday, so keep the faith in that ol' seabreeze. There's a 60% chance of a thunderstorm tonight too by the way. Need I say that the Beach is the place to be today? High tide:2:30p.m.; Low tide:8:06a.m.; Ocean temp:71°; Sunset: 8:23p.m. Should I even say how many more days until Summer? This is summer! Officially it's June 20th. Mornin'! In the words of Marilyn Monroe..."We're having a Heatwave; a Tropical Heatwave." I was gonna go with Martha and the Vandella's but Marilyn came to mind first. Today's a repeat of 6/8/08 and the first of a 2-day near record highs. It's 70° as the sun's rising off the coast of Wildwood. It'll be hazy, hot and humid as temps rise as well into the 90's along the beaches. The W-SW breezes (land breeze) at 10-15mph will do nothing to cool us as we need the Easterly seabreeze to help with that and there's none coming our way anytime soon. Humidity's rising to 82% which will make it feel even hotter and stickier. Sweat is the only moisture we'll see and feel until tomorrow night when there's a possibility of a thunderstorm. High tide:1:28p.m.; Low tide:7:31p.m.; Ocean temp:70°; Sunset 8:23p.m.; 12 more days until summer. Ha...now that's a joke, just wait until tomorrow! Mornin'! It's 66° in Wildwood this slightly breezey, sunny, bright, comfortable morning. Dew points will begun their climb today reaching 60 and by tomorrow...70. What's that mean? It means Humidity...high humidity is heading this way today as it will be sunny today and may reach the 80's. It's just the beginning as tomorrow will be warmer and Thursday...even warmer (near 90). We're entering our next heat wave as well as windows closed with central air on. Breezes today will be out of the W-SW at 10-15mph. Hopefully the breeze will shift this afternoon and come off the ocean, but no one's committing to that. Like I said...get out your Motown collection cause Martha and the Vandellas are up next. High tide: 12:23p.m.; Low tide: 6:26p.m.; Ocean temp: 69°; Sunset: 8:22p.m.; 13 days until Summer! 8 days until the Full Moon! Mornin'! It looks like a pretty "Good Monday". It's currently 66° with low humidity and some minimal cloud cover (the sunrise shouldn't be affected this morning) and not a leaf moving on the trees. Temperature will remain seasonable as the thermometer barely rises up to the low-mid 70's. Seabreeze will tag along at 10mph out of the SE. There's a possibility of a stray shower in areas in South Jersey later today...it's a hit or miss. Martha and the Vandellas will be coming to mind by Wednesday of this week as another Heat Wave is headed in this direction. High tide:11:34a.m.; Low tide 5:27p.m.; Ocean temp:68°; Sunset: 8:22p.m. Mornin'! It's 66° in Wildwood. It appeared that the sunrise would one-up the clouds this morning, but the clouds won out. The sky and horizon looked brilliant orange as the morning unfolded, but the gray took over and totally obscured the sun. So, it's a bit cool, cloudy, dry and still outside. Birds are chirping wildly. There's a hint of sea-aroma in the air. Temps will go to the low-70's. Showers are expected today...possibly a brief one as early as late this morning. The chances increase (30%) as the day progresses...even more so this evening. The forecasters are saying that it should be mainly dry and cloudy most of the day though...we'll just have to wait and see. We just may see peeks of sun. High tide:10:44a.m.; Low tide:4:33p.m.; Ocean temp:69°; Sunset time: 8:21p.m. (if there is one). 15 days until Summer and by the end of this upcoming week...we're going to have a nice taste of it! Mornin'. My heart breaks though for the family of 12 year old Abiah Jones who died from a fall off the Giant Ferris Wheel on our amusement pier yesterday. Many, many sad days ahead for her family and friends as prayers will flow their way for a long time to come. The weekend events will continue as usual along with continued comfortable weather. It's a cool 57° in Wildwood this early morning. Skies are clear as the sun's about to lift over the horizon. There's a slight 5-10mph NW breeze which will become a "seabreeze" later today. Mid-upper 70° temps will be the main part of keeping the island beautiful today. High clouds will roll in this evening and a shower during the night is a possibility. High tide:9:59a.m.; Low tide:3:45p.m.; Ocean temp:67°; Sunset: 8:20p.m.; 17 days until summer. Mornin'! It's 55° lovely degrees this morning in Wildwood as the sun's rising faster than my fingers are typing. No cloud cover or not much of a breeze happening out there (5mph); but one will be coming a bit later from the N-NW at 10-15mph. Humidity is down as the temps will rise into the mid-high 70's again making for a continued pleasant and lovely day at the Shore. High tide: 9:17a.m.; Low tide:3:01p.m.; Ocean temp: 66°; Sunset:8:20p.m.; 18 days until Summer. BTW...Saturday's looking like a repeat of today; Sunday...not so much. Motocross on the beach this weekend not to mention the Elks convention is in town....parade begins at noon at 25th & Atlantic Aves. Wildwood's up and running! Another sneak peak of Summer today! Mornin'! It's 73° in Wildwood this lovely, sunny, breezy, less humid morning. The only thing missing is a Rooster clucking (aka...morning sounds of Key West), but the Seagulls are making up for it. We're heading into an even more comfortable weather pattern if that's possible as it's been lovely here at the Shore. It'll be high near 80° today with a NW breeze at 15-20mph and we could see wind gusts of 25-30mph later this afternoon. Here's something good to report...these weather conditions may be sticking around throughout the entire weekend. High tide:8:36a.m.; Low tide:2:19p.m.; Ocean temp: 70°; Sunset: 8:19p.m.; 19 days until Summer! Mornin'! Yep...June's here. I don't mean Cleaver, Lockhardt or Carter either. While on the topic of names, here's this year's list of Hurricane names...and June isn't one of them...Arlene, Bret, Cindy, Don, Emily, Franklin, Gert, Harvey, Irene, Jose, Katia, Lee, Maria, Nate, Ophelia, Phillipe, Rina, Sean, Tammy, Vince and Whitney. Today kicks off the very long Hurricane Season from June 1st to November 30th. There's none of that in today's forecast as it's lovely this morning...70° as a cool ocean breeze wafts in all the windows. It's very hazy, a bit foggy and overcast...you decide. Not sure if we'll see a sunrise with the skies this hazy, but I'm sure the sun will have no problem burning it away once it up over the horizon. Speaking of haze...it's still going to be a warm, summer-like day as the forecast is hazy, hot and humid with temps reaching the mid 80's. Starting to get the tropical-Key West feel on the island. My Croton plant (I call it my Key West Plant as they're everywhere you look in the Keys)is now out on the porch and thriving perfectly. Breezes will hang around at 10-15mph out of the S-SW. A severe thunderstorm could possibly pass over the island later today (late afternoon/early evening). High tide: 7:55a.m.; Low tide:1:39p.m.; Ocean temp: 71°; Sunset:8:18p.m.; 20 days until Summer (the longest day of the year)!

2019-04-22T04:36:38Z

http://wildwoodweather.blogspot.com/2011/06/

After the success at the Kingpins Show in Amsterdam and at the Denim Premiere Vision in Paris, geopower nps continues its tour! geopower nps™, Garmon's compound that helps eliminating pumice stones from denim washing, was launched at Kingpins Amsterdam and is still promoted this week at Denim by PV. Garmon has also chosen Kingpins Amsterdam also to launch GreenScreen Certified™. Garmon Chemicals continue making a big splash in the market with their nimbus and nimbus-z innovations. Garmon Chemicals will be one of the speakers at the Transformers conference that will take place in Amsterdam on Oct 24th 2016. In collaboration with respected industry players, Garmon has been developing a whole new range of responsible chemical solutions conceived specifically to work with cutting-edge equipment and carbon footprint. Being committed to positive change, Garmon proudly announces the commercial release of two new compounds that effectively enrich the range cleared through GreenScreen® for Safer Chemicals. Garmon Chemicals innovates rather than repair. avol oxy white is the true alternative to potassium permanganate in denim, a forward looking-innovation and not just problem solving. Garmon Chemical's new products and The Italian Job's new collection will be at the Denimsandjeans.com Vietnam on June 16-17, 2016. Garmon & The Italian Job @ Kingpins Amsterdam 2016 and the collaboration with Invista, Archroma, Lenzing and Royo. Garmon & The Italian Job @ SS '17 Kingpins Amsterdam and the presentation of optima. Changing course. Welcome to the first issue of the Garmon Chronicles newsletter. Garmon Chemicals has reaffirmed its commitment to sustainability as part of a new growth strategy, which includes a set of strategic green action aimed at increasing transparency and traceability in the company and throughout the industry. Garmon Chemicals renewed its commitment to a more environmental friendly and transparent use of chemicals within itself and the fashion industry. The new goal for the company, which was purchased in January 2018 by the US-based Kemin Industries group, is to implement a multiple initiatives including product innovations, workshops and new certifications. Through product innovations, thought leadership and new certifications, Garmon Chemicals is reinforcing its commitment to an increasingly green and transparent use of chemicals. Garmon Chemicals is relaunching its commitment to an increasingly green and transparent use of chemicals. The new goal for the company, which in January 2018 has become part of the US Kemin Industries group, is to embark on an actual journey towards sustainability, integrating product innovation with increasingly distinctive strategic actions. Garmon Chemicals, la società che da gennaio è entrata a far parte del gruppo USA Kemin Industries, rilancia il proprio impegno verso una chimica sempre più verde e trasparente con la costruzione di un percorso di sostenibilità. Product innovations, thought-leadership and the new certifications. A set of strategic green actions, aimed at increasing transparency and traceability in the company and throughout the industry. On May 31, Garmon Chemicals, Cottonsmith, a Cotton USA brand license, and the College of Fashion and Design, Donghua University, held the event “Cotton Creation Era–Denim Creative Design Award Ceremony” at Naked Hub in Shanghai. The aim of the initiative was to promote the importance of the traceability and sustainability of cotton raw materials, fabrics, design and production. Kingpins Amsterdam marked its fifth anniversary this week, as the invite-only trade fair hosted a new lineup of innovative denim manufacturers. The occasion was celebrated with a series of events, parties, exhibitions, and seminars ranging from all facets of the denim industry. Strengthened by its recent acquisition by Kemin Industries, Garmon has developed what it says is a "cutting-edge" Stretch Care green collection. Responsible chemistry for a successful fashion design. Garmon Chemicals leads sustainable brand-driven innovation with its new course, unveiled at the Kingpins Show Amsterdam. Garmon Chemicals restarts from the future, directly from the stage of the Kingpins Show Amsterdam. Denim aficionados are getting ready for Kingpins Amsterdam, which will be full of events and celebrations to mark its fifth anniversary. Responsible chemistry for a successful fashion design. Strengthened with the acquisition by Kemin Industries, Garmon sets a whole new scenario for chemicals in fashion, with a new Marketing Director and the cutting-edge Stretch Care green collection. Garmon Chemicals, an international provider of chemical auxiliaries, innovation and creativity for garment processing, today announced an exciting new chapter in its 30-year history. Dopo il lancio ufficiale ad aprile 2017 a Kingpins Amsterdam, Geopower NPS è subito entrato a far parte delle prassi industriali di molti denim-manufacturer di livello mondiale. Oggi importanti realtà del mercato parlano con entusiasmo di questa innovazione sostenibile come del primo e unico composto chimico che aiuta davvero a limitare, se non eliminare, l’uso della pietra pomice dal processo di lavaggio del denim. The first Denimsandjeans India show organised by Denimsandjeans India concluded on a high note on September 26 at the Hotel Lalit, Bangalore. Being one of the busiest denim shows, both exhibitors and visitors expressed their satisfaction with the visits at the show. Kingpins Transformers and ZDHC’s Roadmap to Zero - (ZDHC) Programme - are pleased to announce a collaboration to drive more sustainable chemistry and accelerate innovations to improve environmental performance in the denim industry. A new series of initiatives will debut from the Transformers edition in New York for Spring 2018 – to be named “The Transparency edition”–and will further grow in 2019. They will be made possible thanks to a newly signed agreement between Kingpins Transformers and ZDHC’s Roadmap-to-Zero - (ZDHC) Programme, a collaboration meant to drive more sustainable chemistry and accelerate environmental performance for the denim industry. Two partners involved in the initiative are Garmon Chemicals and Archroma. After six months of extensive industrial testing around the World, Geopower NPS – launched by Garmon Chemicals 6 months ago - has established itself as the true alternative to pumice stones in denim processing. Now Garmon Chemicals positions Geopower NPS as the breakthrough that has taken denim finishing by surprise. Garmon Chemicals, the leader in the R&D and marketing of total chemical solutions for the apparel industry headquartered in San Marino, presented its Geopower NPS compound at the recently held Kingpins show in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on October 25 and 26, 2017. Geopower NPS, which was launched in April 2017, helps eliminate pumice stones from denim washing. Kingpins Transformers has joined forces with the Zero Discharge of Hazardous Chemicals (ZDHC) Roadmap-to-Zero Programme to help drive sustainable change within the denim industry. This new initiative, which follows on from the concept 'Roadmap to Rational Denim', will be led and supported by two founding members of Kingpins Transformer: Alberto De Conti, from Garmon Chemicals and Miguel Sanchez, from Archroma. Kingpins Transformers and ZDHC Foundation’s Roadmap-to-Zero Program announced a collaboration to drive more sustainable chemistry and to accelerate innovations to improve environmental performance for the denim industry. Leading the initiative are two founding members and key contributors of Kingpins Transformers, Garmon Chemicals CMO Alberto De Conti and Miguel Sanchez, Archroma head global business development—denim and casualwear. Geopower NPS is a new compound that aims to help eliminate pumice stones from denim washing. “The product is a result of 12 months of extensive research and tests carried out in industrial environments around the world. L’intervento di Marco Nava Global Sales Director di Garmon Chemicals ha illustrato l’approccio orientato alla sostenibilità da parte di Garmon Chemicals, azienda leader nel settore dei prodotti chimici avanzati per il mondo dell’abbigliamento. Garmon Chemicals supporta i più importanti player internazionali del fashion attraverso soluzioni che danno all’utente finale esattamente quello che cerca: capi valorizzati da trattamenti all’avanguardia e dall’alto valore estetico, sicuri per il consumatore e sostenibili per il pianeta. During ‘Garmon SPA Seminar’, Marco Nava, Global Sales Director, Garmon Chemicals, unveiled the sustainability-oriented approach of Garmon Chemicals. It is the advanced chemical supplier for the apparel world that provides worldwide fashion players with solutions that give wearers exactly what they ask for – garments enhanced by modern and beautiful fashion treatments that are safe for them and for the planet. The 6th Edition at a glance: With exhibitors from 12 Countries, 4 unique Seminars & workshops, and a bigger ‘Trend Zone’ with a brand new ‘Information Exchange Zone’, the 6th edition of the denim show has marked another leap forward. 3rd seminar was by Garmon S.P.A Seminar. Seminar speaker was Marco Nava, Global Sales Director. L’ultima edizione di Kingpins ad Amsterdam potrebbe essere stata quella del commiato della pietra pomice dal mondo del denim. Garmon Chemicals ha infatti presentato Geopower NPS, con l’acronimo di No Pumice Stone, un composto frutto di dodici mesi di ricerche ed esperimenti in ambienti industriali di tutto il mondo. Dai laboratori chimici della Garmon Chemicals è nato Geopower nps, composto che aiuta a eliminare l’impiego della pietra pomice nel lavaggio del denim. Geopower NPS™ is the name of the latest innovation by Garmon Chemicals, promising to transform dramatically the approach to garment finishing: an environmentally conscious, cutting-edge chemical compound able to remove pumice stone from denim washing while obtaining the same result in a sustainable and advantageous way. In Amsterdam, where the cost of sustainability was a hot topic during Kingpins Transformers, Garmon Chemicals rolled out Geopower NPS, the company’s newest effort to establish strong and effective R&D that sets a new standard for sustainable practices. The push and pull between rigid and stretch, authentic and performance, and fast and handcrafted played out at Kingpins Amsterdam and Denim Première Vision, where a global blend of mills, trim suppliers and other elements of the denim supply chain came together to present their Autumn/Winter 2018-2019 collections and innovations. The recent Kingpins show in Amsterdam saw the launch of a new certification standard that promotes the use of inherently safer chemicals in textile products. From fiber companies to designers, the denim industry came together in Amsterdam on Friday for Kingpins Transformers: The Cost of Sustainability. Experts and innovators from all along the denim supply chain discussed the opportunities and costs of making the denim business truly sustainable. The recently closed edition of the show, held on 19 and 20 April 2017, in Amsterdam’s Westergasfabriek saw very busy halls and a highly positive and collaborative networking atmosphere. Today in Amsterdam at the Kingpins Show for the denim industry, Clean Production Action (CPA) launched GreenScreen Certified™ for Textile Chemicals. Dear Friends of Clean Production Action, I have so much news to share with you. Here are the quick highlights. A new certification programme for textiles has been developed that meets industry demand for safer chemicals in manufacturing and that communicates their use across supply chains. Clean Production Action (CPA) has launched GreenScreen Certified for Textile Chemicals at the Kingpins Show for the denim industry currently underway in Amsterdam. The new programme builds on GreenScreen for Safer Chemicals, and meets industry demand for safer chemicals in manufacturing and communicating the use of those chemicals across supply chains. Garmon Chemicals, the forward-looking Italian firm leader in the R&D and marketing of total chemical solutions for garment finishes, is the first company with GreenScreen Certified™ formulations. Amsterdam is getting into denim, and is making a regular habit of it, as once again the heart of the Dutch capital will go blue-jeans crazy in mid-April. The adage says, “You are what you eat.” But what about what you wear? Garmon Chemicals, with its HQ located in the Republic of San Marino, recently presented its latest innovation, Nimbus, which is a revolution in denim finishing, with water saving of up to 80 per cent combined with chemical safety. “Nimbus-z” by Garmon Chemicals, offers safe processes for the nebulization of enzymes in closed systems, which aims to alter the traditional idea of stone washing. Garmon Chemicals has developed a new way of finishing denim that "revolutionises" the traditional processe of stone washing by spraying enzymes onto garments within closed system such as washing machines. Every time a new molecule is discovered, De Conti said there’s a long process of regulation, which differs from country to country. On top of this, brands have their own initiatives and restricted substance lists. As a chemical company, Garmon has more than 200 brand-driven lists that it must follow. Alberto De Conti of Garmon says:"Vietnam's offer is very heterogeneus. Many different international jeans brands including premium ones, retail groups and chains of stores produce and finish their garment here." This is the press generated by the Nimbus initiative at Kingpins Amsterdam. The news is also inclusive of the Transformers event that took place during the same week in Amsterdam and that saw Garmon being one of the main actors. At Kingpins tradeshow, the first-ever boutique trade show focusing on branding in the denim industry currently taking place in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Garmon Chemicals is presenting their latest innovation – Nimbus, the very first range of chemical auxiliaries and dyes for garment finishing with water savings up to 80 per cent combined with chemical safety. Je moet een behoorlijk portie geduld hebben tijdens de zesde editie van Kingpins Amsterdam. Er zijn veel mensen op het denim-evenement in de Westergasfabriek afgekomen en de gangpaden zijn behoorlijk gevuld. Vaak moet je even wachten voor je iemand kan spreken bij een stand. Maar dat mag de pret allemaal niet drukken; denim leeft en het gaat de hele dag over niets anders. En het gaat natuurlijk om de nieuwste innovaties. Wie presenteert de nieuwste technieken en wie komt er met de nieuwste innovaties en trends? Textile chemical supplier Garmon Chemicals is introducing Nimbus, its new range of chemical auxiliaries and dyes specifically selected to be nebulized in closed systems, at the Kingpins show taking place in Amsterdam this week. Garmon Chemicals, leader in innovative chemical auxiliaries and solutions for garment treatments in the apparel industry, is showing its latest innovation at the denim expo by Kingpins Show, the first-ever boutique trade show focusing on branding in the denim industry, held on October 26 to 27, 2016, in Amsterdam, Westergasfabriek, at the Netherlands. It’s no secret that “denim is a dirty business.” But does this mean our love affair with denim is over? To open the KingPins 2016 Amsterdam Show, on Monday October 24, 10 leaders transforming the denim industry were invited to answer one question: Is the scary part of hazardous chemicals on the way? The day, dubbed the “Transformers” invited a range of perspectives from the chemical industry, manufacturers, brands, and industry coalitions, and while there was certainly some debate, common themes emerged. “Toxic Future: Is the Scary Part of Hazardous Chemicals On the Way?” Such was the question raised at the Transformers seminar in Amsterdam on Monday, ahead of the Kingpins denim trade show, slated to kick off here later this week. Each Kingpins Transformers, the seasonal summit focusing on the social, economic and environmental challenges facing the denim industry, brings attention to the need for industry-wide regulations. AMSTERDAM – This week's KingPins 2016 Amsterdam Show kicked off with a debate - led by the ZDHC - about the textile chemicals industry, and asked the chemical industry, manufacturers, brands, and industry coalitions whether the "scary part of hazardous chemicals on the way?" Garmon Chemicals stay true to their deeply conscious spirit and their active participations at the forthcoming Kingpins Transformers confirm their strong, responsible approach. AMSTERDAM – Textile chemical supplier Garmon Chemicals has teamed up with finishing technology business Tonello and enzyme producer Novozymes to launch a new range of chemical auxiliaries and dyes specifically selected to be delivered through mist application in closed systems. The upcoming edition of Kingpins Amsterdam (26-27 October 2016) which will be taking place at Westergasfabriek, in Amsterdam, will welcome denim and jeanswear market insiders with some novelties, including hot topic seminars, trend forecasts and the anticipation of its Global Denim Awards at the evening of the first day of show. How is the denim industry ensuring safety with regards to toxic chemicals? And what tools does the industry need to reduce its use of hazardous chemicals? Foi lançada em 2004, no formato de uma pequena cadeia de suprimentos focada nas diferentes tribos da indústria denim, em Nova Iorque. Hoje, é uma gigante direcional do universo da ganga, cuja abrangência alcança as dimensões de uma turné internacional, sinalizando com precisão tendências relativas aos tecidos, 'fits' e acabamentos do jeans. Garmon Chemicals entre os palestrantes da conferência Transformer em Amsterdam. Once seen as a niche part of the fashion industry, being eco-conscious has rapidly become one of the hottest 'topics' of our time. With technology evolving every day, INVISTA in collaboration with Garmon S.p.A., the premiere denim finishing house, is launching an all-new innovative collection of knit denim concept garments at the ongoing Kingpins Show 2016 in New York City, USA. Invista, owners of the Lycra brand, and Garmon, the premiere denim finishing house, has developed a collection of knit denim concept garments which integrates fabrics made with Invista's Lycra Hybrid technology together with Garmon's latest finishing technique GreenScreen for chemical formulation assessment. Italian chemical company that specializes in chemicals formulated for denim finishing. Garmon has incorporated GreenScreen assessments into their product development process. The results allow Garmon to develop and formulate chemical finishes with relatively low human health and environmental impact. INVISTA, owners of the LYCRA® brand, and Garmon S.p.A., the premiere denim finishing house, will debut a collection of knit denim concept garments at the Kingpins Show in New York City. INVISTA, owners of the LYCRA™ brand, and Garmon S.p.A., the premiere denim finishing house, will debut a collection of knit denim concept garments at the Kingpins Show in New York City on May 11-12. Italian chemical specialist Garmon has launched add-art, a new garment dyeing process. Archroma, Garmon, Lenzing and Royo collaborated on a project to produce denim garments based on the most efficient possible use of resources. The project, presented at Kingpins Show in Amsterdam, focused on water savings from fiber to finish. INVISTA, owners of the LYCRA® brand, and Garmon S.p.A., the premiere denim finishing house, debuted a collection of knit denim concept garments at the Kingpins Show in Amsterdam. INVISTA, propriétaires de la marque LYCRA® et Garmon SpA, la maison première denim finition, a débuté une collection de denim tricot Concept vêtements au Kingpins Show. La collection intègre les tissus fabriqués avec la technologie HYBRID LYCRA® INVISTA ensemble avec les dernières techniques de finition de Garmon, y compris des formulations chimiques évaluées en utilisant GreenScreen®for produits chimiques plus sûrs. Invista y Garmon S.p.A., una de las principales empresas mundiales de acabados para tejidos de denim, acaban de presentar una colección conceptual de prendas de denim de punto en la feria Kingpins. Invista launched its second collection of knit denim in collaboration with denim finishing house Garmon S.p.A.. Archroma, a Switzerland based global colour and specialty chemical company, introduced Roadmap to Rational Denim – a collaborative project on denim by Archroma, Garmon, Lenzing and Royo. El show de Kingpins disfrutó de su quinta edición en Westergasterrein, Amsterdam, junto con su feria debut, Why by Kingpins, la semana pasada. Mirá lo más destacado en fotos y videos a continuación. "'roadmap to rational denim' collaborative project to be introduced at Kingpins Amsterdam." 'Roadmap to Rational Denim' intends to demonstrate that fashion, innovation and sustainability can perfectly partner. The project is the brainchild of several companies: Archroma, Garmon, Lenzing and Royo, who are recognized experts in their respective area of the denim supply chain and share the same belief that denim can be made in a more responsible way. Ambas compañías han introducido una colección conceptual de prendas de denim de punto en la feria Kingpins, que acaba de acontecer en Amsterdam. 'Roadmap to Rational Denim' intended to demonstrate that fashion, innovation and sustainability can perfectly partner. The project is the brainchild of several companies: Archroma, Garmon, Lenzing and Royo, who are recognized experts in their respective area of the denim supply chain and share the same belief that denim can be made in a more responsible way. L’industria del denim si trova ad affrontare una sfida. Se vuole continuare ad attirare clienti sensibili alla provenienza dei prodotti e alla loro composizione, deve reinventarsi. Global textile chemicals specialists Archroma is going to present a collaborative project and a prototype collection – “Roadmap to Rational Denim” – at The Kingpins Show in Amsterdam. This project is being unveiled by four leading companies in the denim supply chain – Archroma, and Garmon Chemicals, fibre producer Lenzing and denim fabric producer Royo. Invista y Garmon se alían y presentan su colección conceptual de Denim de punto con tecnología Lycra Hybrid. "Some denim brands do think of sustainability, but most just go for what looks good" said Kris Dumon, branding and futuristic consultant, and co-founderof Why by Kingpins Show. Four leading companies in the denim supply chain are this week unveiling a new project designed to provide a working roadmap towards more sustainable jeans production, which includes a prototype collection based on the most efficient use of resources. In a significant development, four leading companies in the denim supply chain are unveiling a new project designed to provide a working roadmap towards more sustainable jeans production. "Invista and Garmon debut knit denim concept collection with Lycra Hybrid technology" Invista, owner of the Lycra brand, and Garmon S.p.A., a leading denim finishing house, are debuting a collection of knit denim concept garments at the Kingpins Show in Amsterdam. "A Kingpins Archroma, Garmon, Lenzing e Royo lanciano la 'Roadmap to rational denim'" Poker d'assi ad Amsterdam in favore della sostenibilità: Archroma, Garmon, Lenzing e Royo presentano a Kingpins il progetto "Roadmap to rational denim". Per spiegare che moda, innovazione e attenzione all'ambiente vanno di pari passo. "Greenscreen For Safer Chemicals Showcased In Two Textile Innovations" GreenScreen for Safer Chemicals (GreenScreen) appears in two new textile innovations that will debut at the Kingpins Show in Amsterdam. "New project sets out roadmap to sustainable denim" Textile chemicals specialists Archroma and Garmon Chemicals, fibre producer Lenzing and denim fabric producer Royo have all joined forces for the 'Roadmap to Rational Denim' project. "Archroma leads sustainable denim pilot" INVISTA, owners of the LYCRA® brand, and Garmon S.p.A., the premiere denim finishing house, will debut a collection of knit denim concept garments at the Kingpins Show in Amsterdam. Archroma introduced the Roadmap to Rational Denim collaborative project and prototype collection, to be presented at The Kingpins Show in Amsterdam. "Garmon Chemicals' green revolution at Kingpins" Brand-new products and prestigious collaborations in the name of sustainability: join Garmon Chemicals' green revolution at Kingpins. Invista and Garmon debut knit denim concept collection with Lycra® hybrid technology. "Logo redesigns. Signs of the times" Fresher logos are cool for ingredients and fibers. In the name of sustainability. Garmon Chemicals introduces GreenScreen® for safer Chemicals to the apparel industry. Garmon Chemicals starts its first partnership with the Turkish denim mill Orta Anadolu, for the production of a highly eco-conscious denim with GreenScreen® certified chemicals. Garmon Chemicals changes the paradigm in fashion, introducing the GreenScreen® certification in the apparel industry. The next green revolution in fashion starts from chemistry.

2019-04-21T23:01:22Z

http://garmonchemicals.it/news

When Does Consumer Information Processing Research Actually Have Anything to Do With Consumer Information Processing? ABSTRACT - Consumer information processing (CIP) research relates to consumer information processing if the situation in the research is the same as the situation in the processing. This paper concentrates on what may be the most common CIP or persuasion situation, that of advertising. The advertising situation differs from the typical CIP research one in audience involvement, attention, noise, exposure time and audience control of exposure. In general, motivation and opportunity to make cognitive responses and use attitude structures is lacking in advertising persuasion and heightened in CIP-persuasion research. Several examples are given of the results of this dramatic difference, and researchers are cautioned to take care in applying results from highly artificial to natural situations. In the future CIP researchers should extend their theories and initial findings to settings like the advertising one. Michael L. Ray (1977) ,"When Does Consumer Information Processing Research Actually Have Anything to Do With Consumer Information Processing?", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 04, eds. William D. Perreault, Jr., Atlanta, GA : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 372-375. Consumer information processing (CIP) research relates to consumer information processing if the situation in the research is the same as the situation in the processing. This paper concentrates on what may be the most common CIP or persuasion situation, that of advertising. The advertising situation differs from the typical CIP research one in audience involvement, attention, noise, exposure time and audience control of exposure. In general, motivation and opportunity to make cognitive responses and use attitude structures is lacking in advertising persuasion and heightened in CIP-persuasion research. Several examples are given of the results of this dramatic difference, and researchers are cautioned to take care in applying results from highly artificial to natural situations. In the future CIP researchers should extend their theories and initial findings to settings like the advertising one. My answer to the question "When does consumer information processing research actually have anything to do with consumer information processing?" is, in general, "Sometimes." More specifically, I believe that the majority of persuasion situations involve mass media advertising which is almost always different, in at least six ways, from the artificial conditions of CIP research. 1. Advertising is a low involvement situation while the CIP research setting is a high involvement one. People don't care about the ads. They are far from as motivated to process information as are the experimental "subjects" in CIP labs. 2. In advertising attention is difficult to achieve while in CIP research attention is forced in virtually all cases. 3. In advertising there is, in an information theory sense (Shannon and Weaver, 1949), much noise (consisting of competing messages, etc.) while CIP re- search is usually conducted in a sterile environment in order to create "experimental realism" (Aronson and Carlsmith, 1968). 4. Advertising, particularly broadcast, involves short exposure time while CIP research averages much longer exposure time and time to consider messages. 5. For advertising the audience has little or no control of exposure time. In CIP research the audience often has control over exposure time. 6. So in the advertising situation there is minimal motivation or opportunity to develop cognitive responses or use attitude structures. But in consumer information processing or persuasion research the situation is engineered to produce cognitive responses and use of attitude structures. In short, the most typical persuasion situation in the world is one that is ignored by the bulk of the social psychological research on persuasion. At the same time, however, consumer information processing research--including the cognitive response analysis and cognitive attitude structure analysis approaches we are concentrating on today as well as the perceptual mapping-conjoint measurement approaches and hierarchy of effects analysis research--seems to me to hold the key to understanding this most common persuasion and, therefore, consumer information processing situation. This is because consumer information processing researchers are truly concerned with people and the way they handle the very difficult task of using tremendous amounts of information to make very complex decisions under very difficult conditions. No longer are we content to consider audiences en masse almost mindlessly stepping through the stages of cognition, affect, and conation. So despite the fact that most of the initial research in this area has concentrated on rather unrealistic conditions, it has been and will lead to rather clear implications for campaign planners attempting to deal with the consumer information processing situation represented by advertising. The point I'm making is not really too different from Hovland's (1959) in his classic paper published seventeen years ago and entitled "Reconciling Conflicting Results Derived from Experimental and Survey Studies of Attitude Change." The importance of situational characteristics was established well throughout all of the Hovland communication and attitude change studies. This tradition is represented recently by our discussant Timothy Brock's (Keating and Brock, 1971; Osterhouse and Brock, 1970) cautions that the distraction technique will only work when people are involved and antagonistic to the message position and when distraction does not impede learning. And this session's chairman has made a very valuable contribution by pointing out how situational constraints can affect the choice or aggregation model a consumer might use (Wright, 1974). But today I would like to go a bit further than just cautioning about the effects of the situation. I would like to suggest that consumer information processing researchers attempting to deal with persuasion processes must begin to realize that there is more than a quantitative difference between persuasion in their laboratory studies and persuasion in the real world of advertising. In fact the difference is qualitative. Today I would like to give a number of examples of the unusual results one can get when there is an attempt to bring "mundane realism" (Aronson and Carlsmith, 1968) into persuasion research. My main point is that by concentrating on the differences between information processing and persuasion situations we can begin to make "translations" from CIP research to advertising applications. And, in the future we can begin to bring a wider variety of persuasion situations into CIP research. The results in this paper come primarily from a program of research at Stanford in which we have tried to replicate natural exposure situations in controlled laboratory experimentation so that the findings of communication research could be examined in a more realistic way. In virtually all the studies repetition is an independent variable so that the procedure used resembles the free recall paradigm of verbal learning research, with the exception that the stimuli are advertisements rather than nonsense syllables. When we began the research we assumed a hierarchy relationship between learning, attitude and behavior that would be predicted from the rtl-component notion of attitude or most learning or information processing formulations. We are surprised to find, however, that for most of our results a different pattern emerged. This was the pattern predicted by Krugman's (1965) notions about the process of television advertising effects. In this "low involvement" hierarchy, repetitive messages worked to affect gross brand and advertising awareness and subsequently had a slight effect on purchase intention but little effect on attitude. Later we realized that a third hierarchy was possible under other conditions. In this one, which we called the "dissonance-attribution hierarchy," a choice had been made before advertising exposures and combined with the exposures to affect attitude first and finally complex cognitive learning. These three hierarchies--learning (cognitive to affective to conative), low involvement (cognitive to conative to affective), and dissonance-attribution (conative to affective to cognitive)--were more fully described in a 1973 paper which was a collaborative effort of the Stanford researchers (Ray et al., (1973). Two aspects of the findings are critical for the present purposes however. First, each of the three hierarchies represents a large body of social psychological research on particular situations which are well defined. Knowing about the hierarchies and what causes them allows a very functional analysis of situations to determine how consumers will process information in them. The second conclusion that might be made from the Stanford repetition and hierarchy research is that the majority of situations in advertising, particularly that for the broadcast media, tend to be low involvement ones. That is, the decisions being made are not salient or important, there are almost no differences between alternative brands and products, advertising is the main source of information, and consumers are very familiar with the product category in the sense that it is in the maturity stage of its life cycle. If this is an accurate description of most advertising persuasion situations, we have great reason to question the applicability of most information processing research. Certainly the likelihood of detailed cognitive response in such a situation is Low. At best it may be that cognitive response operates in some very different way. Also, since there are few product differences and the decisions are not salient to people, it isn't likely that multi-attribute attitude structures hold or that the more textured choice models apply to the use of advertising information. At the most basic level, the low involvement situation means a limit in information processing. Even with the tremendous repetition potential of advertising, researchers have found that there is a definite limit to what people get out of messages. For instance, Krugman (1972) expanded his low involvement idea by surmising that there are really only three relevant exposures in a number of repetitions of television advertising. The first one produces a "what is it?" response. The second one produces whatever information processing is going to occur, and the third exposure and all subsequent ones are equivalent to reminders of whatever was learned in the second exposure. Once again, there is much in the Stanford repetition research data that supports Krugman's idea. Although cognitive learning curves did not stop automatically at the three exposure level, there did seem to be some very low level of exposure at which point nothing further was taken out of a message exposed in the television manner. Further repetitions just reinforced the basic message. Even when there might be some involvement in the situation, consumers definitely have developed particular ways of using advertising. For instance, in one study comparing the repetition effect of advertising for convenience goods and shopping goods, it was found that the repetition response function for ad recall went up steadily for convenience goods but stopped after four exposures for the shopping goods advertisements (Ray and Sawyer, 1971). Our interpretation for that finding was that consumers did not use ads for shopping goods (e.g., washing machines, television sets, and low price cars) to gather any more than the most basic information. The important information gathering phase for shopping goods was in the store actually examining the product and discussing it with salespeople. Thus repetitions of the ads had an effect only up to a certain point. The same kind of limit to what consumers will process was found in a study of color versus B&W advertisements (Ray, Sawyer and Strong, 1971). In this study we examined the repetition results for two series of ads which were identical except that one series had one color added to the pictures of fruits or vegetables depicted. The color ads were superior in getting the message recalled, but the black and white ads, if recalled, were superior in generating learning of the main message. In a follow-up field experiment using the two ad series, the black and white print ads were more effective than the color in producing ad awareness. It seemed that, in this real advertising situation, the black and white ads generated more information processing while the color ads elicited just a surface awareness after a certain point, no matter what the repetition level. All of these examples--evidence of the low involvement hierarchy, the limit to information processing in advertising situations and the specific cases of that limit--show what can happen to cherished CIP folklore in the real advertising situation. As I have already pointed out, one of the key differences between most lab persuasion studies and the typical advertising situation is that attention is a given in the labs but a goal hard to attain in advertising. Our original assessment of this bias was that it was a main effect, that is, if an ad or message did well in the lab it would do relatively well in the field--pro-vided it had the appropriate schedule. Now we are beginning to believe that there is not only a greater main effect difference than we had originally presumed but also there are interactions. That is, ads that do well in a forced exposure lab situation may be the very ones that do poorly in the field. My evidence for this comes from a series of lab studies on television clutter carried out by Peter Webb (Ray and Webb, 1976, Webb and Ray, 1977). Peter first determined that his lab approach was producing attention patterns similar to that found in field research (e.g., Burke, 1972). Once this was established he was able to manipulate the commercial break pattern in several television program types. His main finding was that consumers don't just randomly ignore commercials. They seem to actually avoid them--and with considerable skill at that. Consumers were amazingly well-schooled as to the pattern of commercial breaks on their favorite programs. This was particularly true for soap operas. When Peter tried different commercial schedules during those programs than the schedules to which consumers were accustomed, they very often asked why this unusual pattern was being used. During debriefing respondents told us more about how carefully they watched for the pattern of commercial interruptions. For instance, one working woman actually made an audio tape of soap operas so that she could plan her housework during the commercial breaks while she was home having lunch and watching her program. The data supported the patterning beyond such anecdotal evidence, however. Even those respondents who made no visual or verbal indication of noting an unusual pattern were able to avoid being affected by the most common interruption schedule for the program. In other words, virtually all response measures were lower for the most common type of interruption schedule as opposed to the more unusual ones. Before this research we had assumed that the typical laboratory information processing of communication research studies erred in forcing people to read or view the messages while in a more natural situation consumers would not be biased toward or away from viewing the messages. NOW this research indicates that the error of typical laboratory communication research studies may be even greater than we had previously imagined. While the lab studies bias people toward viewing the material, the audience/in the natural situation may have learned to be biased completely in the other direction, that is, away from viewing and processing the messages. In advertising we have to be concerned not just with getting attention. We have to gain attention from people who are actively avoiding us. Given this bias, however, is it possible that certain commercials--which may not do well in typical persuasion research--might be less susceptible to the vagaries of clutter and consumer avoidance? Peter Webb examined the extent to which involvement would enhance message effectiveness. He used the "connections" measure developed by Krugman (1966-67). As hypothesized, those commercials shown to be high in involvement in a prestudy seemed unaffected by changes in clutter (4 versus 8 commercials) or position in a string of commercials, while low involvement commercials were dramatically effected. Even further we found that commercials which would not do well in typical persuasion research did well in a normal exposure situation, possibly because they generated involvement and attention. More specifically we showed, at least in one case, that counterarguing can enhance persuasion. In CIP and lab persuasion studies in which the respondents are forced to be exposed to the messages, counter-arguing is a negative to be avoided at all cost. But when exposure conditions are more realistic and attention is an important goal, counterarguing can sometimes enhance persuasion by increasing attention and making the message more memorable. In an NIMH-sponsored study on the effects of anti-drug abuse messages, we found exactly that effect of counter-arguing (Ray, Ward and Reed, 1976). We studied, among others, two commercials which had quite opposite patterns of cognitive response. "Walkout" was a memorable commercial which produced nearly violent counterarguing from the parents audience. "Big Brother" was not quite as memorable but produced positive cognitive responses such as "connections." In natural lab experiments and in a split cable field experiment the Walkout commercial was substantially more effective than the Big Brother commercial in producing, for instance, positive attitude change, booklet interest and reported numbers of times that respondents thought, read about, and talked about drug abuse during the time the commercials were running. In this case, as in many situations in the real world, some response was better than no response at all. In such situations the counterarguing so worrisome to information processing researchers, can be a benefit. Thus, with regard to attention, the advertising situation is more difficult than we expected and involving commercials surmounted the difficulty somewhat, even when they were the opposite of those that do well in the typical lab study. The results I've discussed thus far indicate that we must take great care in translating CIP and persuasion lab research to the field in terms of advertising. In many cases lab and field results will be markedly different. Not only should we apply lab results carefully but we should start to alter our research procedures to take account of the nature of the advertising situation. But there is another approach that might be taken and is illustrated by my final example. Instead of trying to translate to advertising, we can ignore it, and--like the drunk looking for his lost keys under the street light--we cam look for situations in the real world that are similar to those in the lab. This was and is the approach used by many applied persuasion researchers in the late 60's and in the 70's. For instance, on our campus, Philip Zimbardo trained hundreds of Stanford students--on one occasion in a mass rally--to use social psychological principles in canvassing for peace candidates and issues in 1970. This led to a little booklet entitled Canvassing for Peace which Zimbardo wrote with Robert Abelson (1970). A more general statement of this approach is in the Zimbardo and Ebbesen paperback Influencing Attitudes and Changing Behavior (1969) and in Varela (1971). In consumer research and application it is represented by those who see the most direct applications in personal selling or at the very least in print advertising, usually in an industrial or public service setting--where there might be involvement and the type of processing found in the lab. Even in such set-up situations, however, I would argue that we need to take great care in application. For our example here, I'll use the "foot-in-the door" technique. The seminal foot-in-the-door study was conducted by Freedman and Fraser (1966), who asked residents to place a small card in their window. Two weeks later these residents were asked to display a large, clumsily lettered sign. Subjects who had been approached to comply with the earlier request were much more likely to agree with the second one. Although the foot-in-the-door or small request approach has been found to be quite effective in the social psychological literature, one field experiment done by William Swinyard demonstrated a situation in which adding a small request to a sales message actually decreased the combined effect of the sales message and later advertising exposures (Swinyard and Ray 1976, 1977). The key response was intention to volunteer for Red Cross work and the small requests were to put a little sign in the prospect's window and wear a Red Cross pin for at least two shopping trips. Both in terms of main effect and interaction with advertising exposures, the small request manipulation was less effective than a persuasive message without the small request. Again, the explanation appears to be related quite directly to the situation. The Red Cross is an issue about which respondents may feel a good deal of guilt. They "know" that they should give blood or volunteer, yet they are fearful or don't want to take the time. They look for simple ways to relieve the guilt and still avoid the anxiety brought on by the needle and the inconvenience of time demands. Compliance with the small request may have provided an easy way for respondents to relieve this guilt, bringing with it a feeling that, "I have made my 'contribution' already...I don't need to do any more.". Whether you agree with this explanation or not, you should know that ours is not the only research that found the small request manipulation lacking in social marketing situations. Alice Tybout (1976) found that a small request manipulation worked only when the commitment was made salient to respondents. This obviously fits the concern in this paper with the differential involvement found in persuasion research and in the field. In conclusion, I believe I have an answer to the question that started this paper. Consumer information processing research relates to consumer information processing if the situation in the research is the same as the situation in the processing. Practitioners can use our findings if they are very careful to determine whether there is a match between the situation in the research and the situation in which real world processing takes place. At this point I perceive a difference between the situation in most research and that in the most common persuasion category, advertising Most advertising, especially the broadcast kind, represents a low involvement situation. But it is possible to take even present research findings and analyze their implications for advertising. And fortunately the trend in information processing research seems to be toward more natural exposure and response conditions. Robert P. Abelson and Philip Zimbardo, Canvassing for Peace (Ann Arbor, Michigan: Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, 1970). Burke Marketing Research, Inc. "Viewer Attitudes Toward Commercial Clutter on Television and Media Buying Implications,'' Presentation to 18th ARF Conference (November 14, 1972). Jonathan L. Freedman and S. C. Fraser, "Compliance Without Pressure: The Foot-in-the-Door Technique," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 4 (March 1966), 195-202. Carl I. Hovland, "Reconciling Conflicting Results Derived from Experimental and Survey Studies of Attitude Change," American Psychologist, 14 (January 1959), 8-17. J. P. Keating and Timothy C. Brock, "A Myth About Distraction," American Scientist, 59 (December 1971), 416-9. Robert A. Osterhouse and Timothy C. Brock, "Distraction Increases Yielding to Propaganda by Inhibition Counterarguing," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 15 (August 1970), 344-58. Michael L. Ray and Alan G. Sawyer, "Repetition in Media Models: A Laboratory Technique," Journal of Marketing Research, 8 (February 1971), 20-30. Michael L. Ray in collaboration with Alan G. Sawyer, Michael L. Rothschild, Roger M. Heeler, Edward C. Strong, and Jerome B. Reed, "Marketing Communication and the Hierarchy-of-Effects," in Peter Clarke (Ed.), New Models for Mass Communication Research, Beverly Hills, California: Sage Publications, 1973). Michael L. Ray, Alan G. Sawyer and Edward C. Strong, "Frequency Effects Revisited," Journal of Advertising Research, 11 (February 1971), 14-20. Michael L. Ray, Scott Ward and Jerome B. Reed, "Pretesting of Anti-Drug Abuse Education and Information Campaigns: Summary Report of a Marketing Science Institute Special Project," in Ronald E. Ostman (Ed.) Communication Research and Drug Education (Beverly Hills, California: Sage Publications, 1976). Michael L. Ray and Peter Webb, "Experimental Research on the Effects of TV Clutter: Dealing With the Difficult Media Environment," Report No. 76-102, Marketing Science Institute, Cambridge, Massachusetts (April 1976). Claude E. Shannon and W. Weaver, The Mathematical Theory of Communication (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1949). William R. Swinyard, "Advertising-Selling Interactions," Journal of Marketing Research, 14 (1977). Alice M. Tybout and Bobby J. Calder, "Threats to Internal and External Validity in the Field Setting," in William D. Perreault, Jr. (Ed.) Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. IV, (Chapel Hill, North Carolina: Association for Consumer Research, 1977). Jacobo A. Varela, Psychological Solutions to Social Problems: An Introduction to Social Technology (New York: Academic Press, 1971). Peter Webb and Michael L. Ray, "Experimental Research on the Effects of TV Clutter," Advertising Quarterly (1977). Peter L. Wright, "The Harassed Decision Maker: Time Pressures, Distractions, and the Use of Evidence," Journal of Applied Psychology, 59 (1974). Philip Zimbardo and Ebbe Ebbesen, Influencing Attitudes and Changing Behavior (Reading, Massachusetts: Addison-Wesley Publishing, 1969).

2019-04-23T22:31:22Z

http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/5692/volumes/v04/NA-04

8:08 PM jim: ALL - I'm ready for your questions, let's get going. 8:10 PM [mariposa] hello everyone. 8:12 PM [faithful] plum how did it go. 8:13 PM [Bluesky] mkdmlc. hey friend, haven't seen you in awhile. 8:13 PM [hepsy] hi lalachrissie - how are you? 8:14 PM [doveseyes] plum...ohhhh wow...I am so sorry...was that the first time something like this happened? 8:14 PM [Bluesky] mkdmlc end of the year stuff? 8:14 PM [lalachrissie] hepsy Hi. I'm ok. Last night the power went out in neighborhood. 8:14 PM [mkdmlc] Bluesky How are you and what's going on with you? 8:15 PM [hepsy] lalachrissie - wow.. how long? 8:15 PM [dogwood] All--I am in terrible shape. got the bomb last night. H left this morning for a month, last night, he asked me what is my plan regarding the separation, I told him that my thought stays the same, I do not want a separation. He got really mad and said that he is suffocating in the house, when he returns in January, he is moving out. I had long talk with him asking why he does not consider reconciliation that will relieve his struggle. Finally , he told me straight that he wants to keep the liberty of multiple relationships besides just Wife. He has found a potential condo, and has transferred some of his account to his name only, etc. Please pray for me, this might be the direction indicating that I need to prepare myself for separation. 8:20 PM jim: dogwood at :15, It's time to get some legal advice. 8:15 PM [faithful] all h just left he dropped off the boys. Is so hard and have to keep myself from holding his hand of asking a dumb question like when is he coming home. 8:15 PM [Bluesky] mkdmlc just heading down the path I didn't want. There is basically no contact anymore with h. 8:15 PM [doveseyes] plum...I tell you...I thought today..can't we schedule crisis/conflict? one at a time..is she still in the home. 8:15 PM [lalachrissie] hepsy I'm not sure when it came back on, went to bed early b/c I was exhausted anyway. 8:16 PM [Bluesky] mkdmlc how about you? Have you heard from h at all? 8:16 PM [plumcrazy] Doveseyes--Yes she is. 8:16 PM [hepsy] dogwood - I am sorry... how are you holding up? 8:17 PM [hepsy] lalachrissie - well last night you said you had been keeping busy and then you signed off -was it due to the power outage? 8:17 PM [mariposa] dogwood: (Hugs). So sorry. 8:17 PM [dogwood] Jim-- please read my latest happening at 6:12; I think I would be the first casualty. Nothing is working here. H told me that he is not MLC; he has made up his mind. 8:22 PM jim: doveseyes at :17, Basically standing means that you are committing yourself to let God work in the marriage, that you are not going to initiate action toward a divorce. So surrendering your husband and marriage to God is crucial to standing. 8:18 PM [Bluesky] Jim, I have a male friend who has been calling me for advice. He knows my situation (h and wife are long time friends) and he is feeling like he wants to leave his wife because he doesn't get any attention from her. I have talked him in to getting counseling. They are close to empty nesters and he is he one struggling. Any advice? 8:23 PM jim: Bluesky at :18, both of you are in a very dangerous situation - it's crucial that he gets counseling from a male counselor. 8:18 PM [faithful] jim h email me back regarding our daughter problems I have been having and do not want to read too much into but he made a comment that hopefully she will learn that there are consequences to her actions. 8:24 PM jim: faithful at :18, your daughter's situation is a normal teenage type of problem - treat it that way. 8:18 PM [lalachrissie] hepsy yes, was forced off. we were busy all day yesterday. Drove for over an hour to take a train for an hour to cut down a tree with friends. It was really fun. 8:18 PM [hepsy] dogwood - I hope you are trying to stay calm and not panic.. 8:19 PM [faithful] jim also he said we instead of you referring to raising our kids. In the past he has said you will do a good job raising the boys now he is we. 8:19 PM [mkdmlc] jim My h is in the withdrawal and depression stage and have not heard from him since d. I want to send a Xmas card to him and his family with a pic of me with Santa. Is that appropriate? 8:25 PM jim: mkdmlc at :19, for now - avoid the Christmas card unless it is extremely funny. 8:19 PM [faithful] dogwood I am so sorry for your pain. 8:19 PM [doveseyes] jim..my h also called and said he wanted to d and work something out after Christmas so he could be with kids. Nothing is stopping h now from being with kids. Only his busy dating schedule..sos.. 8:26 PM jim: doveseyes at :19, stall the divorce as much as possible. 8:20 PM [faithful] doveseyes do any of your kids want to see him? 8:21 PM [hepsy] lalachrissie - that's nice..It is good to stay busy and do fun things. It is also good to laugh - something we forget to do when in crisis like this. 8:22 PM [hepsy] dogwood- I know.. in the beginning I felt the same - too sad here with things the way they are.. but actually now, it is not as bad..I am used to it and am finally enjoying my alone time. At least when h is at work I don't have to walk on eggshells. 8:23 PM [dogwood] Jim-- Thanks, H got angry when I try to ask for more than 50%; he gets in rage and saying if I try to stop him and keep him by manipulating and asking for more share, he will stay but will certainly make it very very miserable for me. He wants to just divide between us and keep us legally married. do you think that is a good idea? or, should I push for legal? 8:23 PM [Bluesky] hepsy I enjoy my alone time too. 8:24 PM [hepsy] bluesky - since you got through Thanksgiving - what will you plans before Christmas? 8:24 PM [Bluesky] hepsy just my kids and me, I guess. 8:26 PM [mkdmlc] jim thanks. Card is cute but not funny. Hey, that is a good laugh for me! 8:26 PM [mariposa] dogwood: Is he talking about just separation or divorce? 8:26 PM [lalachrissie] jim- last week h accidently cancelled my visa card & ordered me a new one & I asked him the day before if he would let me know when he deposited money for my bills. I assumed that he would mail me the new card, b/c he said he tried to have the bank mail it to me but they wouldn't. today I received an email saying he has my card and that he should be depositing money tomorrow or the next day & asked if the kids have mentioned wanting to see him. I don't know where he lives and have not seen him in over a month. kids told him they will let him know when they will see him. should I respond to his email? btw, yesterday was our anniversary. 8:28 PM jim: lalachrissie at :26, please condense your comment into a short question for me. 8:28 PM jim: doveseyes at :26, try just surrendering your husband and your marriage. 8:27 PM [doveseyes] Jim25..do you stall by refusing to meet..or what? 8:30 PM jim: doveseyes at :27, stall by encouraging your lawyer do everything he can to slow the process down. Usually there are at least 30 days time before each process deadline and many other modifications can be asked for in between each deadline. Be creative. 8:28 PM [dogwood] hepsy-- If I can't stay by myself in the house, I feel that I need to plan to leave my work and move to be with my son and his family where I will have all the support and happy with grandkids. the problem is what to do with our house here. H probably wants to keep it. I don't want to see him moving a OW in. 8:28 PM [hepsy] bluesky - have you spoken to your d since her visit with h over Thanksgiving? 8:28 PM [Bluesky] hepsy yep, but not about him. 8:29 PM [hepsy] dogwood - if you left your work, would you be able to find another place of employment easily? 8:29 PM [dogwood] Jim-- do you suggest to let him move out without settling the finances legally and wait for a while? He is very determined to begin his new life. 8:32 PM jim: dogwood at :29, Stall and get some legal advice so that you're prepared if your husband does push you. 8:32 PM jim: doveseyes at :30, this is the time you are going to need to be strong, I encourage you to read “31 Days of Praise” by Myers, may be ordered through http://astore.amazon.com · · · dlife-20. 8:30 PM [hepsy] dogwood - as for the house - you can't worry about what h does or does not do. As Jim says, you should get legal counsel and see what they say. 8:31 PM [dogwood] hepsy-- I can retire from my job (although I used to love my work), and try to keep busy with grandkids and church or volunteer in their town, or office. 8:31 PM [faithful] doveseyes my d13 just told me she does not want h back. I just do not know what to tell her. I tell her is what God wants. 8:31 PM jim: ALL: I may have missed some questions, PLEASE ASK SHORT PRECISE QUESTIONS FOR ME. 8:31 PM [doveseyes] jim at 30..ok..I assume you have seen success in situation where the d is stalled...why does this work? 8:33 PM jim: Doveseyes at :31, stalling gives more time for emotions to settle down and for pain to dissipate. It also gives you more time for growth and change so that your husband sees you as a growing person. 8:31 PM [dogwood] Jim-- do you suggest to let H move out without settling the finances legally and wait for a while? He is very determined to begin his new life. 8:32 PM [swan] Jim - If you didn't see plumcrazy's comments - her daughter is being physically and verbally abusive to her, husband who lives at home does nothing to stop it. Cricket and I both told Plum she should take police action against daughter before she seriously injures Plum. 8:34 PM jim: plumcrazy at :32, Cricket and swan gave you the right word. 8:32 PM [MarySarah] Jim last Monday later in session I asked about a teenage child who was over enmeshed with the parent who leaves. Do you think if that child is rebellious to the more settled parent & is so enmeshed with a parent like our spouses, that the child's rebellion can push our spouse into MLC or make it worse? does the rebellion & childish behavior of both make them feed off each other? 8:37 PM jim: MarySarah at :32, children have always used parents against each other whether the marriage is strong or shaky. 8:32 PM [MAS] Hello everyone. 8:32 PM [faithful] doveseyes I told my h he had to file if he wanted a d I am still waiting over a year now. 8:32 PM [plumcrazy] welcome back MAS Feeling better? 8:32 PM [lalachrissie] hepsy how are you tonight? 8:33 PM [MAS] plumcrazy Yes, much better, thanks! What happened in court today? I came onto chat late. 8:34 PM [mkdmlc] all, got to go. Hope to be back before the holidays. You're always in my prayers. 8:34 PM [MAS] Hi mariposa, how are you? 8:34 PM [doveseyes] 33..jim..I really don't think H cares about my growing..H has an addiction and hasn't slowed down.. 8:34 PM [faithful] doveseyes that must be tough, I am so sorry. Have you talk to an attorney. 8:34 PM [Bluesky] doveseyes I am too, financially dependent on h. It is very daunting. 8:40 PM jim: dogwood at :35, most husbands want to get divorced without any cost but you need a lawyer to protect your rights. 8:35 PM [MarySarah] Jim as follow up it is our oldest. I always felt since my H had little to no guidance & spoils our kids so much(actually uses his money to obligate them as well as they saw him withhold attention & affection from me if he didn't get his way) It seems she was competing for position with me & my H always ended up not backing me ever. He never seemed to want to do any disciplining them until this one in particular whined to daddy. Our relationship is still strained & it seems she revels in us being apart like there is some dramatic draw to his affair & ow do you see this ever? 8:41 PM jim: MarySarah at :35, I think your daughter is taking sides and it may be that she does have an overly strong admiration for her father. 8:35 PM [MAS] plumcrazy: So, no psych evaluation was ordered, then? 8:36 PM [faithful] doveseyes my h to was on a roll he went to England and even brought her over this summer with what money I do not know but he did. Well this summer they repossess his car and now he is financially broke. Sometimes it take a while and we have to just let them down. They may be happy now but it will catch up to them. 8:37 PM [Bluesky] doveseyes it is, because it is what we agreed on, and now he is leaving me quite scared financially for the future. 8:37 PM [faithful] mariposa I am so sorry. I think that is the hardest the rollercoaster ride. 8:38 PM [hepsy] lalachrissie - so, you got through your anniversary ok? 8:38 PM [MAS] plumcrazy @36: That's good. Hope D's therapist can offer some helpful advice. 8:38 PM [Bluesky] plumcrazy can you push the appt a little sooner? 8:38 PM [mariposa] faithful: I never drive by there but was running an errand that took me straight by her place so I couldn't help myself but to look and sure enough his car was there.. So frustrating. Just when I thought we were doing better. 8:39 PM [lalachrissie] hepsy I did. I kept busy with our friends. My sister's husband is also visiting for a few days so I'm ok. 8:39 PM [mariposa] doveseyes: I'm worried the same for my H. 8:40 PM [faithful] doveseyes at 38 that is my fear for my h. His dad also die all alone without kids or wife. But h does not seem to care. 8:40 PM [MAS] faithful @36: Yes, it seems my H is starting to have financial issues (not to mention health issues) as well. Guess what goes around comes around. 8:41 PM [lalachrissie] hepsy I think I’m going to go. girls want me to make them something to snack on. have a nice evening, chat with you on Wednesday. 8:41 PM [hepsy] lalachrissie - go and enjoy them. I will be praying for you.. Take care.. 8:41 PM [faithful] mas that is true we just have to wait and let God work. All we can pray and hope is that they will see the light before is too late. 8:42 PM [MAS] mariposa @36: Oh, I know just how you feel. That's what happened to me a few weeks ago, too. Only it was the other way around. OW's car was at my H's house. VERY upsetting. 8:42 PM [faithful] plum so that is what you need to do is back off and let her suffer the consequences. I know is not easy but we do not do our kids any good but trying to protect them. 8:43 PM [MarySarah] Jim :41 So what do I do with that? 8:48 PM jim: MarySarah at :43, it would be best if we chatted by phone since this is a rather extended discussion. 8:45 PM [plumcrazy] JIM---I am sure H's main anger at me is because police officer he knows were called to our house and know about what our D did. Things were getting better now he is VERY angry at me. He didn’t even help me out of the closet wouldn’t let S help me and didn’t say ANYTHING to D about what she did. 8:45 PM [faithful] jim h has been coming around weekly now for some time to drop the boys off. Do I keep conversation light or should I approach him about where our marriage stands. 8:49 PM jim: faithful at :45, don't approach him about where the marriage stands, just keep things light and friendly. 8:45 PM [MAS] doveseyes/faithful @41: Isn't it interesting how they're all suddenly "broke" yet they have enough finances to run around and travel anywhere they want? 8:47 PM [MarySarah] Jim The OW is very well versed at manipulating & controlling in a not so obvious way. She will stay quiet, but it is NOT a quiet or meek spirit. She is brazen, bold, & calculated. Yet she gets my H to do EVERYTHING for her when my H refused to do same for me & even had higher expectations than I could keep up with. The more I would try to meet his needs it seemed the more he required & expected & the more he would tear down with his words or lack of affection. It still seems humility to him is weakness & he acts more angry could it make him feel more shame the kinder I am & more I can somehow handle? 8:49 PM jim: MarySarah at :47 let's talk by phone. 8:47 PM [faithful] mas my h did not have any just use credit card and now they are max and he cannot pay them. I finally got the bill collectors to call his work and they finally left me alone. 8:47 PM [hepsy] still - hi there! 8:48 PM [Still] Hi everyone. 8:48 PM [Still] Plum, yeah I thought that was a little harsh. 8:48 PM [faithful] dogwood I do not have h address but the other night he told me what apartment he was working at. I knew already from child support paperwork I get. 8:50 PM jim: dogwood at :48, as part of any separation or divorce agreement, your lawyer’s fees would be paid for by your husband. 8:48 PM [Still] Hepsy, I know. I was having some computer issues last night. 8:48 PM [hepsy] still - how are you doing? 8:49 PM [Still] Hepsy, I am doing okay. Went to talk with a lawyer today for the first time. Very scary. 8:49 PM [hepsy] still - I am sure.. did you learn some good information? 8:50 PM [Still] Hepsy, Yes. This lawyer went through her own MLC so she gave me some great insight into how she felt. She walked away from her marriage and then returned. She gives all the credit to God for her return. 8:50 PM [mariposa] jim: So is it basically the rule of thumb to always let H bring up the discussion of where the marriage is heading? I'm scared to death to bring up that discussion. 8:51 PM jim: mariposa at :50, yes it is best in this stage to let him bring up any discussions about your marriage relationship. 8:50 PM [MAS] jim Someone told me recently that since it was our H's who walked out on US, they are legally responsible for our attorney fees. Is that true or not? 8:52 PM jim: MAS at :50, generally your response is accurate. 8:50 PM [faithful] jim at 49 that is what I taught but is so hard. He seems to be more like himself. I went to pick up grand baby so he could see her. She went to him with no problems and he enjoy her. 8:50 PM [Bluesky] dogwood protect yourself but try not to ask your h any questions about what he is doing. That is what he is running from. 8:50 PM [plumcrazy] Still--I bet you are glad to have her for your lawyer!!! 8:51 PM [Bluesky] Still great choice in lawyers!! 8:51 PM [Still] Plum, yes I am. She has copies of Fireproof she gives to couples who consult her. I thought it was great. 8:51 PM [hepsy] still - what a praise! What is your h doing? Is he on the sofa? 8:51 PM [doveseyes] jim at 50..is that because the h committed adultery and abandoned the marriage? 8:53 PM jim: doveseyes at :51, an abandoned wife has more legal leverage because the husband is the one who wants out of the marriage, and she can ask that a condition of the divorce is that he pays all fees. 8:52 PM [Still] Hepsy, Yep, still on the sofa. He has been a wee more talkative the last couple days. I think because his car broke down and he needed to depend on me. 8:52 PM [MAS] dogwood @47: Well, since I was over at my H's home for TG, I have his new address now. 8:52 PM [hepsy] still - well maybe he will get comfortable there like mine. Any more talk from him regarding a d? 8:52 PM [MAS] dogwood: But I also had it before---my mother had given it to me. 8:53 PM [faithful] doveseyes h came in and d13 went to room. She did not want to see him. He went and knock at her door and she did not open. Grandbaby 3 open the door and said "is here grand pa." He went in and gave her a hug on her forehead and she did not respond. He said I guess she is still mad at me. I told him to give her some time. He is acting so much like his old self is so hard to stand back and let him walk away. 8:53 PM [MAS] dogwood What do you mean your H has targets to move out? 8:53 PM [Still] Hepsy, no not a word. We had a seven day stretch that the kids were off and he said nothing. He also spent only 1.5 hours on the rental. So, he apparently isn't in the hurry he thought he was. How are you doing? 8:54 PM [dogwood] jim-- do you know if that works the same in a no-fault state? 8:55 PM jim: dogwood at :54, each state has small unique characteristics regarding divorce - you'll have to ask your lawyer. 8:55 PM [Bluesky] Still are you thinking of filing? Is that why you saw a lawyer? 8:55 PM [hepsy] still - oh, you know... same... just another day...I have my moments... but I am doing ok... Did you say your h will be home for a month during Christmas? 8:55 PM [Bluesky] dogwood all states are now no fault. 8:55 PM [Still] Blue, Oh, No. I have no intention of filing. I just needed to know what my rights were and what I needed to do in the event that he follows through and files. 8:55 PM [dogwood] Bluesky-- thanks for the info. 8:55 PM [MarySarah] Jim cont to me & said "you're 45 not 14, then stormed away found ow & came into the smaller gym to watch our son. I ignored it all. OW's kid shot daggers at me all day & made obscene gestures to our youngest dtr. She told her dad & he took ow's kid's side of course. What am I to make of that statement? Our coach even turned around & said what did he say? Sorry, that's the question.....what was that to mean?????? 8:55 PM [Bluesky] Still good for you. 8:55 PM [swan] dogwood - you can usually Google for information like that and/or arrange for free 15 to 20 minute consultations with a local lawyer. 8:56 PM [Still] Hepsy, Yes, he is off for a month at Christmas because of his teaching schedule. That may be quite uncomfortable since I work from home. 8:56 PM [doveseyes] Faithful 53...are you encouraged? 8:57 PM [faithful] doveseyes I am glad for my kids and not sure how I feel. I try to keep my feeling under control. 8:57 PM [Bluesky] dogwood anytime. 8:57 PM [MAS] Hi Still, how are you? How was your TG? 8:57 PM [Still] Hepsy/Blue, this lawyer was wonderful. She asked me if I needed a copy of Fireproof (which I have), gave me a brochure on Christian marriage seminars, and gave me the phone number to a Christian psychologist. 8:58 PM [Bluesky] Still You sure got a good one. 8:58 PM [faithful] Doveseyes yes I am encouraged at times but it is such a slow process. I just have to keep turning him over to God. The last two days was very hard because I was missing him so much. Today I am ok. 8:58 PM [Still] MAS, I'm good. How are you doing? Thanksgiving was just fine. We went to my Dad's. I told H we were going and didn't know if he would show, but he did. He even stayed for games. Weird, huh? 8:58 PM [Bluesky] Still so she will probably understand to stall if you h ever files. 8:58 PM [hepsy] still - that is so great! God was watching out for you... I hope that if I have to go to a lawyer, it will be someone like that. Does your h know you went? 8:58 PM [swan] dogwood - when I still lived in the San Diego area, I had consultations with four different lawyers, had my questions ready for each and tried to not ask them all the same questions that way I got as much information as possible before deciding on which one I might hire if needed. 8:59 PM [Still] Blue, yes she told me not to panic if he files. She said, "If he files, you have 90 days to respond. If you agree, it goes to court. If not, it has a 2-year waiting period." 8:59 PM [MAS] Still I'm so glad everything went well for you! 9:00 PM [Still] Hepsy, No, my H doesn't know I went. In fact, he didn't go to work today due to weather. The kids were off and I didn't want him to know that I was going. I just told him I had an appointment. I paid in cash so there would no trail. 9:01 PM [MAS] Still: How did you find a lawyer like that? Did you get a referral from someone you know? 9:01 PM [hepsy] still - that was a good idea..You don't have to tell me exactly, but is it expensive to go to a lawyer? Do they charge by the hour or visit? 9:01 PM [Still] Hepsy/Blue/MAS, The bad part was that she really believes my H is having an affair based on his actions and demeanor. She asked me if I wanted her to arrange a PI to find proof. I said that I was not interested and that I really don't think he is. 9:02 PM [Still] MAS, I found her through a good friend. She knew she had her own crisis, left her marriage, and was back happier than ever. She thought it would be a great connection for me. 9:02 PM [dogwood] swan, did not know that you lived in San Diego area, can you recommend any lawyer? 9:02 PM [faithful] doveseyes at first it is continuing to turning it over to God every minute then it gets better. Now I tell myself is ok if he never comes back I will be ok, but deep inside I know I still want him back. But I want someone committed to God and his family. 9:02 PM [Bluesky] Still did you share with your lawyer about this group and site? 9:02 PM [hepsy] still - that is my fear... those I have confided it think he must be having affair.. I, like you, don't think so.. but then, I hear about women all the time who firmly believe their h is not, and then come to find out later it is so. 9:02 PM [MAS] Still @59: A 2 year waiting period? Really? What state are you in? 9:02 PM [Still] Hepsy, Her initial consult was $50. Her retainer for services is $2000. That was a little tough to take. 9:03 PM [swan] dogwood - I lived on Camp Pendleton, worked at Miramar. My daughter worked for a legal firm that specialized in intellectual properties, trademarks and patents, the lawyer she worked for gave me the referrals. She doesn't work there anymore, the firm moved to Boston and I it has been too many years, so just don’t remember who the lawyers were, sorry. 9:03 PM [Still] Bluesky, Yes, I told her about this group. She thought it was great that I have a support system online. 9:03 PM [Still] MAS, I am in Pennsylvania. 9:03 PM jim: Thanks everyone for being in the chat room today. If you got lost during the chat process, check back later to find the edited chat dialogue posted in the archives, there you can read it at your own pace. It's been fun talking with you today. We, at Midlife Dimensions, will remember you and your marriages in prayer throughout the week. Warmly in Christ, Jim. James 4:8, Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. 9:03 PM [Bluesky] Still sheesh that was an awesome price. My consult was 250 with a 5000 retainer. 9:04 PM [hepsy] still - yuk...I guess if your h files, you could make him pay that? But we will pray that he doesn't file and we won't have to worry.. 9:04 PM [Still] Hepsy, My Dad who has turned his life around had affairs throughout his marriages. He told me that he really doesn't believe he is...that he is depressed. 9:04 PM [Still] Blue, Yikes! 9:05 PM [hepsy] still - that is what I believe about my h. I think the only affair he is having is with his Crown Royal.. 9:05 PM [Bluesky] Still if you know where he is all the time, I would agree with you that he is not. That was how I felt before my h left. 9:05 PM [Still] Hepsy, My H fantasizes about a different life. 9:06 PM [lisak] ALL: thanks for being here tonight. Scripture Reading: Psalm 27:11-14, in which David urges us to wait patiently before the Lord. 11 Teach me Your way, O Lord, And lead me in a smooth path, because of my enemies. 12 Do not deliver me to the will of my adversaries; For false witnesses have risen against me, And such as breathe out violence. 13 I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the Lord In the land of the living. 14 Wait on the Lord; Be of good courage, And He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord! 9:06 PM [Bluesky] Still oh, they all do. 9:06 PM [Still] Blue, he is always home on time for dinner. He travels a lot, but his colleague is a very strong Christian man with a family. 9:06 PM [hepsy] still - and what life would that be? 9:06 PM [faithful] Lisa that is the verse God gave me when all this started to Wait on the Lord. 9:06 PM [MAS] hepsy @02: I hate to say it, but that is exactly what happened to me. The entire time I thought my H and I were trying to reestablish our relationship, I discovered he was having an affair for over a year. I never had a clue. 9:07 PM [Still] Hepsy, My dad says your H has everything any man could want right in front of him and can't see a thing. My dad tears up when he talks to me about it. 9:07 PM [faithful] doveseyes before this I was so inpatient my sister just laughs at me and says I have come a long way. 9:08 PM [doveseyes] faithful..how long? 9:08 PM [mariposa] doveseyes: Waiting is terrible but I find it better than the alternative which would be a divorce. 9:08 PM [Still] MAS, I know how much you have hurt over your h's affair. I'm so sorry. 9:08 PM [hepsy] still - well, your dad is right.. 9:09 PM [mariposa] MAS: Has there just been one OW for your husband over the four years? 9:09 PM [Bluesky] plumcrazy swan gave you great advice about not worrying about how your h feels about being seen by the p/o he knows. That is his problem to deal with. That shouldn't be more important than the welfare of your d. 9:09 PM [lisak] ALL - my pleasure. I'm going to run for the night. Goodnight everyone. 9:09 PM [MAS] hepsy @07: It sure was a shocker. 9:09 PM [hepsy] still - well, of course, you are his d.. but I don't even really know you and can tell you are a wonderful person.. 9:10 PM [MarySarah] swan did you happen to see what I said my H said to me this w/e? 9:10 PM [MAS] Still@08: Thank you. 9:10 PM [Still] Hepsy, Thank you. You are clearly a sweetheart yourself! 9:10 PM [swan] MarySarah - sorry I didn't, busy taking care of the admin part of chat tonight. 9:11 PM [faithful] all I have to go my grand baby and foster child are making a mess. They get the plastic bag and fill them up with their toys and get them everywhere. I need to put them in bed. 9:11 PM [Still] All, got to run. It was wonderful to "see" you all. Have a great night! 9:11 PM [hepsy] still - thanks dear! Well, I have to go.. my contacts are getting all dried out because I am tired. It was so glad chatting with you.. 9:11 PM [Still] Hepsy, you, too! 9:11 PM [MAS] mariposa @09: No, there have been others, but they were just flings. As far as I know, this OW is the first serious relationship he's had in the past 4 years. 9:12 PM [hepsy] all - I am turning in as well. Take care. Try to get some sleep. 9:12 PM [Bluesky] plumcrazy but I was referring to you worrying about how your h feels. 9:12 PM [faithful] plum take it easy and good night. 9:13 PM [MarySarah] swan I had to see OW who has finally found a way around not being at our kids' events. I looked good & was in my element so to speak as I know the sport & many people & the ow does not. I tried to be old upbeat, self & talked to lots people I have known for years, inc all the kids competing. H came up & snidely whispered in my ear" you're 45, not 14 " & stormed away, got ow & came into room my son was competing to watch even though our son doesn't like her or want her there. What should I think that statement means? 9:14 PM [MAS] All: I am going to go. Take care everyone, and have a good night! 9:15 PM [MarySarah] All :11sometimes I wonder why some come up empty & go from one ow to another & feel loss & others seem to be able to not only float, but swim strongly to shore & create a whole new life immediately that they refused to create in their marriage. 9:17 PM [swan] MarySarah - well usually when people say something like that it is because they are embarrassed by the behavior of the person they make a comment like that to. Not to mention that your drawing attention to yourself being there alone and him with the other woman opens him up to judgment by others, he was embarrassed and probably upset with you. In his mind, the other woman was behavior appropriately and you weren't, so it gives him one more thing to accuse you of. 9:18 PM [swan] Goodnight all, the room is going to close in a couple minutes, please join us again Wednesday evening.

2019-04-26T02:49:25Z

http://midlife.com/index.php/chat-room-menu/chat-room-archives/with-jim-conway/11869-december-06-2010-monday-chat-wjim-6-7-pm-pst-v15-11869

I have been working hard to explain to people that Iran’s nuclear weapons are not the major threat to Israel. It is obvious. The problem is that after almost a century, Israel is not just the object of genocide by the Arabs but by many Iranian, Turkish, and newly European and North American Muslims. It is truly awesome how few politically active would-be peacemakers among Arabs and Middle Eastern Muslims there are. Given Secretary of State Haman the Agagite, it is unfortunate that there is no King Ahasuerus. Of course some of this, especially in the West, is due to the phony two-state or at least two-stage-to-extinction solution. I should mention this was not just a knee-jerk conclusion on my part but one reached over the course of 45 years. Somehow, I don’t think Michelle would play such a role. Why use nuclear weapons when you believe you will win by conventional means and while you make billions to shore up the Tehran regime so effectively in the short-run? Iran’s nuclear effort is ironically a defensive strategy to neutralize any possible Israeli nuclear option or an Israeli attack on Iran. This is a massive misdirection — get it? Let’s see. Can you imagine this misdirected “detail”? Simply: the almost decades-old effort to destroy Israel. 1929: Hebron massacre of Jews. No Arabs massacred. 1937-1939: Arabs fight war against British mandate of Palestine including terrorist assassinations. 1939: Jordan and Egypt are inclined to prevent Israel by diplomatic means but the Palestinian Arabs, Saudi Arabia, and Iraq want violence. 1939: Saudi Arabia secretly negotiates weapons purchase for the Palestinian Arabs from Nazi Germany. 1939: Muslim Brotherhood subsidized by Nazi Germany. Seventy-five years later, the grandson of the head of the Brotherhood and the son of the Palestinian European leader were permitted by the New York Times, without contradiction, to write that the Brotherhood believed in parliamentary democracy and was pro-British during the war. Meanwhile, the Brotherhood and the Arab-Palestinian leadership from Berlin were advocating massacres of the Jews in Egypt, and the government was providing maps of British fortification to the German army. 1941: The Palestinians’ Arab leadership asks for a safe haven in Berlin. For the next four years, this leadership organizes thousands of German Nazi troops and SS imams, advises the German government, sends delegations to concentration camps with an eye on setting up death camps throughout the Middle East, etc. 1941: Massacre of Jews in Baghdad; revolt by radical Iraq’s Nazi ally put down. 1948: Refusal of UN partition giving a Palestinian Arab state. 1956: Suez War: Israel pressed to pull back by U.S. victory but gets nothing. 1967: 1970 War of Attrition. 1970: Arab summit–no recognition of Israel, no negotiations, no peace. 1970-1982: Decades of terrorism; the murder of any Israeli in reach; yet relatively little retaliation. And there was the assassination of almost every Arab leader willing to make peace with Israel. 2000: Refusal of UN partition to receive a Palestinian Arab state. Now consider today. Well, it’s the same thing. It is obvious that despite the thinnest veneer, it is pretty much the same thing as 1929, 1941, 1948, 1979, 2000-2004, etc. That is a terrible and sobering situation, but it is true. Maybe not inevitable, but it is based on leadership. Remember Iran (34 years) and Turkey (about 12 years) are relatively new additions to existential conflict with Israel. When asked by a recent poll if Israeli-PA negotiations would ever lead to peace, 25 percent of Jewish Israelis said yes, while 73 percent of them said no. Remember, many of those Jews who were against still–or used to–vote for the left. It is angering that Israel and PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s “hard line” are being blamed for this, but it should be obvious that the conflict will not end. In the meantime, Iran is getting nuclear weapons while Israel is getting nothing but insults from Kerry as the–wait for it–“bad” guy after 65 years. He is unintentionally encouraging murders (two of four Israeli soldiers killed in two weeks were not killed in the territories–one was killed while visiting what he thought was an Arab “friend” and another while sleeping on a bus bench). Or as former U.S. Secretary of State Shultz explains what is really happening: Iranians will “cut your throat.” He is really encouraging this Iranian throat-cutting. Failure of the talks will increase Israel’s isolation in the world. The alternative to getting back to the talks is a potential of chaos. I mean, does Israel want a third intifada? I believe that if we do not find a way to find peace, there will be an increasing isolation of Israel. Two intifadas? Is he going to do something about this if there is a third intifada? Is Kerry going to protect Israel? Because there will be cross-border attacks, and they will only be covered in one-paragraph shorts, while any photos will be of Palestinian terrorists’ grieving families. So what is Iran doing in the meanwhile? Here are some public statements by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. First, Israel is “the rabid dog” of the region. Iranian leaders have also said that Israel wants genocide against all Muslims. In fact, antisemitism is justified on the basis of the Koran by Iranian leaders. Iran says that everybody in the Middle East wants to destroy Israel. And he continues, “We fight against the arrogance. Arrogance is a word in the Koran. It is used in the Koran for people like Pharaoh, malevolent groups which are hostile to truth and righteousness….” I think that pharaoh ended up being drowned in the sea. I don’t think that there is any good intention for the U.S. here, even though it is going to stop sanctions worth billions of dollars to Iran, and enable them to develop nuclear weapons. Zionist regime is doomed to oblivion. The Zionist regime is an imposed regime which is formed by force. None of the formations or creatures which are formed by force is durable, and neither is this one….Unfortunately, some European countries cringe before this creature which is not worthy of the name of a human being, before these leaders of the Zionist regime, who look like beasts and who cannot be called human. Sounds like he wants peace to me! But who cannot be called human? Where have we heard that before? Say, Nazi propaganda? Didn’t end well then. Any by the way, the Obama administration did not condemn these vicious anti-Israel statements nor did it alter any policy because of them. Meanwhile, the U.S. policy has also hardened Palestinian Arabs’ lines, as shown in statements by leaders. In turn, the Palestinian Arabs have hardened their policy, insulting the United States. Recently, there was a situation in which a Georgetown University session ditched a Nazi speaker but still featured a Nazi professor who denied that bin Ladin had played a role in September 11. And moreover, Professor Rima Najjar posted on her Facebook page: “What Brandeis University does not understand: Palestinian armed resistance to Zionist colonization is a path to liberation.” Brandeis University suspended its partnership with al-Quds University after the West Bank University had a rally that was meant to honor the martyrs of Islamic Jihad, in which the symbol of Israel, the Star of David, was symbolically stepped on by all demonstrators. This is going to justify the murder of any Israeli. "If we don’t end the presence of Israeli soldiers perpetually within the West Bank, then there will be an increasing feeling that if we cannot get peace with a leadership that is committed to nonviolence, you may wind up with leadership that is committed to violence." Well, what do you think has been happening for almost 90 years? There is something very strange about the political situation. You can call it a failure of "Profiles In Courage." Profiles In Courage was a book that people think was written by President John F. Kennedy, but in fact was written by Professor Jules Davids. Professor Davids, who was my dissertation advisor, was a wonderful man. I'm always irritated that he is not given the credit for what Kennedy pretended to write. Profiles In Courage is a book about the heroism shown by senators who took an unpopular position and even went against what was popular or partisan politically because they knew it was right–for example, the people who voted against the impeachment of President Andrew Johnson after the Civil War, because they knew it was the right thing to do (1868). What is shocking is that there are so few profiles-in-courage moments at present. In other words, in other words, the judgemetn of a statement is not whether its true but whether it serves indoctrination. Just think of how many Democrats are willing to publicly contradict Obama; how many people have rethought their assumptions; how many journalists are willing to report the truth, even if it is in contradiction of ideology. Just think how few people are even willing to prepare a balanced course for teaching or non-slanted teaching. How many New York Times stories are non-biased? It seems, I believe, that only 1% of the “Progressive” elite are doing this professional job. Also consider how few people are willing to contradict the cowardly leadership of the Republican Party, even though they must understand that it is only opportunism and careerism that make them follow the current leadership. This cowardice and dereliction of duty–by those who know that there's something wrong here–is calling public decency and democracy into question. That institutions are pretty broken, that money is being wasted, that lies are being told, that Obamacare is very dangerous, is often simply ignored. I am ashamed and shocked by this failure of the journalistic and academic system. By the way, I think it is significant that the last time I had a meeting with Blumenthal’s father, he was then a senior advisor to Hillary Clinton. Also, the last time I had lunch with him was with… Wolf Blitzer. Don’t forget these connections. I wonder whether his “anti-Semitic” training affected him in the heart of the Hillary Clinton camp. In 1948, there were hopes that the Arab-Israeli conflict would be resolved in the long-run. But it wasn’t. In 1967, there was hope that the magnitude of Israeli victory meant that the Arabs would eventually come to terms (Egypt and Jordan did in a way, although the final word has not been written). In 1982, people believed that the conflict could still be solved, but it wasn’t. And finally, during the negotiations from 1993-2000, there were renewed hopes that the conflict would be resolved. It wasn’t. Today, the conflict is even further from being resolved, especially with the entry of Iran, Islamism, and the radical government in Turkey. Maybe it is time to conclude the Arab-Israeli conflict will never be resolved. There have since been at least three more examples following the same pattern. The first is obviously Iran, its nuclear intentions, its trickery, and its desire to dominate the region. The statement from the Saudi ambassador to London also expressed in his Times of London interview an unusually abrasive criticism of the West for what he said was a too-soft approach toward Iran, calling Washington's "rush" to engage with Tehran "incomprehensible." A senior Saudi diplomat issued a rare direct threat to Iran, warning that "all options are available" should the international community fail to rein in Iran's alleged drive to acquire nuclear weapons. This statement could easily come out of the mouth of an Israeli politician. It is amusing that with this parallelism to Israel's viewpoint, the senior diplomat had to deny that he saw something in common with Israel. In other words, Saudi Arabia feels that it has been betrayed by the United States, and will respond to that betrayal. Then there is Egypt. Let's review American behavior. Two years ago, the United States basically helped and celebrated a Muslim Brotherhood electoral victory. Every anti-Islamist knows this. When the Egyptian military coup happened a year later, the U.S. opposed it. In other words, if the Muslim Brotherhood had won and crushed freedom by staying in office, it would be have been backed by the United States, but since there was a coup, the election was stolen. Doesn't everyone in Egypt know that if the coup had not taken place, the U.S. would have the supported the Muslim Brotherhood government? Don't the Egyptians know that the United States would be willing to sell Egypt into Islamic fundamentalist slavery? Would anyone believe the United States would protect any of its other allies? But suddenly, the U.S. turned around and Kerry actually said that the Muslim Brotherhood had "stolen" the revolution. And that is why the Egyptians are turning toward Russia today and do not trust the U.S. Frankly you would think that the Obama administration wants to sabotage U.S. Middle-East policy. By the way, the Egyptians were so angered by their perception of Turkey cuddling up to Iran and the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, that they threw out the Turkish ambassador. *David Gerstman has kindly sent this three-year-old article to me, which is still relevant today. We must now face an extremely unpleasant truth: even giving the Obama Administration every possible break regarding its Iran policy, it is now clear that the U.S. government isn't going to take strong action on the nuclear weapons issue. Note that I didn't even say "effective" action, that is, measures which would force Iran to back down. I’m neither advocating nor do I think there was ever any possibility that the United States, even under Obama’s predecessor, might take military action. I'm saying that they aren't even going to make a good show of trying seriously to do anything at all. Some say that the administration has secretly or implicitly accepted the idea that Iran will get nuclear weapons and is now seeking some longer-term containment policy. I doubt that has happened. They are just not even this close to reality. From their behavior they still seem to expect, incredibly, that some kind of deal is possible with Tehran despite everything that has happened. Then, too, they may hope that the opposition—unaided by America–will overthrow the Iranian government and thus solve the problem for them. And they are too fixated on short-term games about seeking consensus among other powers two of which–China and Russia–are clearly not going to agree to do anything serious. This fact was clear many months ago, but the administration still doesn’t recognize it. Not only is the Obama administration failing the test, but it is doing so in a way that seems to maximize the loss of U.S. credibility in the region and the world. A lot of this comes from the administration's philosophy, almost unprecedented concepts of guilt, apology, defeatism, and refusal to take leadership never seen before among past liberal Democratic governments from Franklin Roosevelt through Bill Clinton. Yet the British, French, and Germans are ready to get tough on Iran, yearning for leadership, and not getting it. All of this is watered down in media coverage, focused on day-to-day developments; swallowing many of the administration's excuses plus its endlessly repeated rhetoric that action is on the way. When the history of this absurdly failed effort is written the story will be a shocking one, the absurdity of policy obvious. It was totally predictable that the Iranian government would not make a deal. It was totally predictable that Russia and China weren’t going to go along with higher sanctions. It was totally predictable that a failure by the United States to take leadership and instead depend on consensus would lead to paralysis. And it is totally predictable that a bungled diplomatic effort will produce an even more aggressive Iranian policy along with crisis and violence. First, the administration set a September 2009 deadline for instituting higher sanctions and then, instead of following a two-track strategy of engagement plus pressure, postponed doing anything while engaged in talks with Iran. Second, it refused to take advantage of the regime's international unpopularity and growing opposition demonstrations due to the stolen election. On the contrary, it assured the Iranian regime it would not do so. Third, the administration set a December 2009 deadline if engagement failed, then refused to recognize it had failed and did nothing. It is the failure even to try to meet this time limit by implementing some credible action that has crossed the line, triggered the point of no return. Fourth, the U.S. government kept pretending that it was somehow convincing the Chinese and Russians to participate while there was never any chance of this happening. Indeed, this was clear from statements repeatedly made by leaders of both countries. Now, this duo has sabotaged the process without any cost inflicted by the United States while making clear they will continue doing so. Here is something tremendously ironic: The British, French, and Germans want to act. Obama has the consensus among allies that he says is required. But he’s letting himself be held back by China and Russia. The three European allies now have the opposite problem they felt with Bush. They wanted to pull back the previous American president. Now with Obama, they can’t drag this guy forward! Fifth, high-ranking U.S. officials continually speak of their unending eagerness to engage Iran, begging it to fool them with more delays. But Tehran doesn’t have to do so since the same officials speak of at least six months more discussion before anything is done about sanctions. Sixth, the administration now defines sanctions as overwhelmingly focused on the Revolutionary Guards, which it cannot hurt economically, thus signaling to the Iranian regime that it will do nothing effective to damage the country's economy. This means that even if sanctions are increased, they will be toothless. The White House ignored the face-saving way out given it by Congress, where the vast majority of Democrats supported an embargo on refined fuel supplies and other doable measures. All of these steps tell Iran's regime: full speed ahead on building nuclear weapons; repress your opponents brutally, and the United States will do nothing. It isn’t a good thing when the world’s most dangerous dictator is laughing at you, and your friends in the region are trembling because they have been let down. An angry U.S. government that feels Iran's regime made it seem a sucker. A calculating administration that believes the American people want it to get tough, and thus it would gain politically from being seen as decisive. A great power strategy that it would make an example of Iran to show what happens to repressive dictators who defy the United States and spit on its friends and interests. And a diplomatically astute leadership that understands how threats and pressure must be used even by those who want to force an opponent into a compromise deal. There is not the slightest indication that the Obama administration holds any of these views. On the contrary, without any apparent realization of the absurdity of the situation, high-ranking officials keep repeating in January 2010 as in January 2009 that some day the United States might do something to put pressure on Iran. Perhaps those in the administration who do understand what's wrong don't have the influence to affect the policy being set in the White House. At a minimum, the administration should implement the tough sanctions envisioned by Congress and supported by its European allies, an attempt to cut off the maximum amount of fuel supplies, loans, and trade from Iran. If this hurts average Iranians, it also sends the signal that the current regime is unacceptable and aids the opposition. In diplomatic history, this is how sanctions have always been viewed. Instead, while the United States does nothing, Russia is completing Iran’s Bushire nuclear reactor and China is finishing up a massive oil refinery in Iran. While Obama fiddles, the regime is getting stronger, not more isolated. This sad debacle is going to be a case study of how failing to deal with a problem sooner, even if that requires some diplomatic confrontations, will lead to a much bigger and costlier conflict later involving military confrontations. When I read what I wrote back in September 2009–four months before the article you are reading now was written–I find that every point made has proven true. Unless a civilization or country has continuity, it cannot exist. And that goes for America, too. This is the basis of America and democratic government. If the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were defining moments of America, the second defining moment was the Civil War. This month, President Barack Obama did not go live to Gettysburg. Perhaps, he had a golf game or some banquet to attend, or some accusation of racism to level. But, in fact, the trip would have been incredibly convenient. He even could have dropped by the Camp David presidential resort. All he had to do was travel a short distance to Frederick, Maryland, and drive north to Gettysburg. I cannot tell you how upset and angry this has made me. Obama could have claimed this was a natural act to sell his agenda. For example, he could talk about racism that is at the heart of America, he claims. But there is a curiosity here, because in fact, if Obama had given this address, he would have actually proven the contrary: that America's history proved the opposite, that this was a central act to oppose racism, that it was risky but it would be worthwhile to wager the whole nation on this outcome. In other words, he would have shown that America was an anti-racist country and the first country that had a civil war to end slavery. If he had gone to Gettysburg, he would have needed to show the theme that America was against racism implicitly. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. That they were endowed by their Creator by certain inalienable right, that among them are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." But he wanted to hint that America's essence was pro-slavery. Second, he wanted to reject the interpretation of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness and to substitute this with the regulation, dependence, and the definition of others' idea of happiness. My ancestors did not arrive in the United States until after the Civil War. Still, I understand this centrality, just as I understand the Revolution, Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence. It seems Obama does not understand these things. And incidentally, if center-stage commemoration of the Civil War does not exist today, will, for example, World War II–the victory over Nazism–be commemorated in future decades? I think that this is highly symbolic. It is time to call this the first officially atheistic regime in history. Note that in his Gettysburg Address speech (and in other speeches), Obama omitted the phrase “under God” from the quotes. May I point out that the Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves, and Obama may have an interest in that. But then I assume that he wants to imply that the slaves were never freed and that racism in fact forever persists. I've always been amazed that anyone thought the United States would ever act against the Iranian nuclear threat. There was never any chance that such a thing would happen. The United States would never go to war with tens of millions of people. Moreover, there was never any chance the United States would let Israel "attack" Iran. "'I believe that we can now say that Israel has reached childhood’s end, that it has matured enough to begin approaching a state of self-reliance… We are going to achieve economic independence [from the United States].' Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to a Joint Session of the United States Congress – Washington D.C., July 10, 1996 (Source: Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs)." Unfortunately, today, almost 20 years later, this is not a fair statement to quote. Strauss continues: "In 1997, Israel received $3.1 billion in aid from the U.S. In 2012, Israel was still receiving $3.1 billion annually in U.S. aid." This, however, is not an appropriate comparison today. Let us look at the current situation: Egypt will receive $2 billion in U.S. aid; Saudi Arabia will receive military aid as well as the anti-Asad Syrian rebels; Turkey will receive billions of dollars and probably military equipment. Moreover, the United States and Europe will also reach out to Iran, and Hizballah and Syria will receive aid from Iran. In addition, the Palestinians have not made the least bit of commitment on a two-state solution. In other words, only Israel would lose. And this is the childhood's end? Strauss further notes, "Israel has become an affluent and developed country that can afford to pay for its own defense." But the point is that other hostile countries will be receiving more while Israel will get the same amount. He continues, "… Israel has a well developed economy in other ways." But again, Israel will be placed at much more of a disadvantage. The article's claim, "Other countries/programs could better use this aid money," does not state the reality. "Even domestically, the aid that goes to Israel could be useful. Detroit is bankrupt, and our Congress is cutting back on food stamps, and making other painful budget cuts." Again, the United States does not face an immediate threat from its neighbors, while Israel does. Moreover, this is shockingly implying that Israel is stealing money from poor people in the United States. In other words, this is not equivalent. "Israel and the United States have increasingly different visions about the future of the Middle East." But again, so what? This is absolutely irrelevant. "A major (bipartisan) goal of the United States has been the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." Once again, this is a policy that is impossible, but the United States is going to try to force it on Israel anyway. Note that the less security the United States and the West provide to Israel, the more difficult it makes it to secure or promote a desirable two-state solution. Strauss adds, "However, the current Israeli government is clearly not committed to the U.S. vision, and has done everything possible to sabotage American efforts." The problem with this last point is that the Palestinians have always tried to sabotage this. If this concept hasn't gotten across in a quarter century, I can't imagine when it will get across. The current Israeli government has tried for many years to achieve a two-state solution and has made many concessions. And if Kerry can't take Israel's side on this issue, then I can't imagine how decades of U.S. policy has been carried out. To say that the Israeli government is not committed is a fully hostile statement. This claims Israeli settlement and not Palestinian intransigence has blocked the peace process. Note that the author of this article has "distinguished" credentials: "Steven Strauss is an adjunct lecturer in public policy at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government." Yet if this is what the U.S. government understands, it will end badly. Moreover, the issue of Iran and nuclear weapons is not the important point; rather, it is the transformation of the U.S. Middle East position that is significant. I do not believe there is any chance Iran will use nuclear weapons. The problem is that this is reversal of the U.S. policy. In other words, it is like going back to 1948 and opposing partition. Finally, what this is all about is money and greed. Many European countries are drooling about the money to be made. For example, Vittorio Da Rold writes (Il Sole 24 ore), "Italian SMEs are hoping for a rapid agreement on the Iranian nuclear issue in order to return as soon as possible to trade without limits with Tehran and the rich Iranian market in hopes of finding new markets in a time when the European market flirts with deflation." During the 1930s and 1940s, a unique and lasting political alliance was forged among Third Reich leaders, Arab nationalists, and Muslim religious authorities. From this relationship sprang a series of dramatic events that, despite their profound impact on the course of World War II, remained secret until now. In this groundbreaking book, esteemed Middle East scholars Barry Rubin and Wolfgang G. Schwanitz uncover for the first time the complete story of this dangerous alliance and explore its continuing impact on Arab politics in the twenty-first century. Rubin and Schwanitz reveal, for example, the full scope of Palestinian leader Amin al-Husaini's support of Hitler's genocidal plans against European and Middle Eastern Jews. In addition, they expose the extent of Germany's long-term promotion of Islamism and jihad. Drawing on unprecedented research in European, American, and Middle East archives, many recently opened and never before written about, the authors offer new insight on the intertwined development of Nazism and Islamism and its impact on the modern Middle East. Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs Center of the Interdisciplinary Center, Israel. He is the author of many books and publishes frequently on Middle East topics. He lives in Tel Aviv, Israel. Middle East historian Wolfgang G. Schwanitz is visiting professor at the Global Research in International Affairs Center of the Interdisciplinary Center, Israel, and an associate fellow at the Middle East Forum of Pennsylvania. He lives in New Jersey. Published by Yale University Press. Available February 25, 2014. Pre-order here. Several students from Students for Justice in Palestine have just written a letter to the university newspaper. They asked why Jewish students on campus weren't open to a more moderate pro-two-state solution of the Arab-Israeli conflict. I will tell you the secret of why that is. First of all, Israel has a great deal of experience, in fact, repeat experience for 50 years. Israel had many experiences that prove that the Palestinian leadership and the great majority of Palestinians are not interested in a long-term two-state solution. This is both in terms of Hamas and in terms of the Palestinian Authority. There have been tens of thousands of cases that show that both organizations want to destroy Israel. True, Israel often wanted to give them a chance–indeed, from 1983 to 1993, it certainly tried. I remember clearly on the day the Oslo agreement was signed, I reached out to shake the hand of a Fatah official, who (even then) reluctantly accepted. Three years later, I stood on the street corner watching ambulances race to the scene of a bus terrorist attack, which was not condemned by the PA. In fact, out of many thousands of articles, I can only remember one when a PA official, a military commander, explained why terrorism was really bad for the PA. Once at a private dinner with a PA official (who later became a PA foreign minister), he said Arafat was stupid for not agreeing to a compromise two-state solution. Again, even many liberal and left-of -center Israelis know that peace and a two-state solution are not going to happen, at least not without a major ongoing strategic threat to Israel and also terrorism. Certainly there are those individuals and groups open to peace with Israel, but these are mostly Turks, Kurds, Lebanese, Jordanians, Egyptians, Iranians, North African Arabs, Berbers, some Christian Arabs, and Druze. In addition, Israel has not been given real security by the UN and Europe and most recently the United States. It has no reason to feel secure even in the furthest extent of concessions that Israel can afford to make. Even if one is sincere, it appears there is no comprehension of what conditions Israel is facing nor of the hostility to ever accept Israel. This shows a lack of understanding of the structural situation. There is no concept or understanding of the situation, nor is any informed advice offered, yet such people want to risk the lives of Israelis. This is ludicrous. Maybe one will come to understand in the future how ridiculous this is or perhaps this is known already. Hamas will continue the violent conflict and stage as many episodes of violence as possible, even if a future state of Palestine doesn’t want to. Hamas will commit terrorist acts, and the government of Palestine will not do much to stop this or punish them. Whenever a future Palestinian state indulges in violence, it will do so with state support. If Fatah or other government coalition groups engage in terrorism, it the state will usually do nothing to stop it and will deny it. The West and Europe will usually ignore violence because they want to pretend and suggest the peace process really worked. It is unfortunately that this is true since the overwhelming majority of Israelis would prefer to have peace. –Most Israelis believe, on the basis of their experience during the 1990s' Oslo era and with the "peace process" generally, that Palestinian leaders cannot and will not make peace, and that most Arabs and Muslims still want to destroy Israel. As a result, they explain, past Israeli concessions have made Israel's situation worse, risks to show that Israel wants peace have not persuaded onlookers, withdrawals from territory have only led to that territory being used to launch attacks on Israel. –In justifying their stance, Israelis cite the extremism of Iran; the advances of Hamas and Hizballah; the growing radicalism and Islamist influence in the Egyptian revolution, and other such factors. In addition, they worry that the Obama Administration policy is undermining Israel and enabling a growing extremism in the region. This is a prevailing viewpoint across the political spectrum. –Peace would be easily and quickly obtained if not for Israel's policies. –Settlements and not Arab/Muslim positions are the factor preventing peace, even though it could be pointed out that if the Palestinians made peace all the settlements on their territory would be removed. –If Israel only had a different government the peace process would rapidly advance. –Obama and his supporters want to save Israel in spite of itself and they, not Israel' own leadership, knows what's best for the country. –Israelis "know" that Obama is right which is why public opinion polls, statements, and evidence to the contrary is suppressed or spun away. American Jews can support anti-Israel policies in the firm belief that they are really "pro-Israel" policies. –It is far more pleasant to believe that conflict can be made to disappear, hatreds quenched. If they are all our fault than we can easily fix them. Or, in short, "Why do they hate us?" because we've behaved so badly but we can fix it by behaving properly. Consequently, the systematic misrepresentation isn't because these people are mean or that they hate Israel as such (well, actually, a lot of academics but relatively few journalists or government officials do) but because their worldview and political line–including 100 percent support for Obama–requires it. Equally, their systematic view that revolutionary Islamism isn't a real threat but just a marginal movement of those who misunderstand Islam and want to hijack it, requires it. Equally, their systematic view that to portray certain peoples as hardline, intransigent, "irrational," etc., is a form of racism and Islamophobia. I constantly receive letters from Iranians, Turks, Lebanese, Egyptians, and Syrians about their despair at losing their country, being oppressed, or seeing so much bloodshed in their struggle for democracy and to avoid being crushed by Islamist or radical nationalist dictatorships. Genuinely moderate Muslims in the West have similar complaints and experiences. One case that typifies many is of a courageous man who is shunned by the politicians, virtually barred from the two mosques in his small city, and sees those who threaten him being praised in the media and feted by local politicians. These people often have similar symptoms. They are depressed, often close to tears, deeply frustrated, and bewildered. What makes their lot even more bitter is the lack of sympathy for the Western MUG that praises their enemies (and all of ours) at the same time. They, too, are victims of the same syndrome that Israel suffers from. One of the worst things in life is for someone to wake up and discover he's been supporting evil. Indeed, not only an evil in the abstract but forces and ideas that threaten his own freedom and happiness. A lot of people in the West have already woken up but many more need to do so.

2019-04-21T04:16:49Z

http://rubinreports.blogspot.com/2013/11/

Things were looking up for William Obio when he decided to invest more in his logging business. For the first time in years, his nine children and three brothers were eating well, and he could support his over half-a-dozen team of machine operators, saw men, scouts, and wood carriers. Such success, rare in Owai, a heavily forested and impoverished community less than 20 kilometres from Nigeria’s southern border with Cameroon, emboldened Mr. Obio. He took a chance and purchased a small cassava crushing machine and got more saws. “God answered our prayers; things really changed,” said the part-time pastor. Everything indeed changed in 2008, Mr. Obio said, when the Cross River government imposed a sweeping ban on forest use in the state’s 18 local government areas, including Mr. Obio’s Akamkpa – where Owai is located. Governor Liyel Imoke had said wealthy merchants, mostly from outside the state, were taking advantage of lax laws to deplete the state’s forest cover. The site of more than half of Nigeria’s remaining rainforest, the governor warned, Cross River needed to save its green stock to boost investment and tourism. Under this plan, the state would become Nigeria’s pilot site for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), a United Nations climate change mitigation programme that offers payment to states and communities for conserving their forest. For a state that had lost monthly federal payments to oil producing states, following the ceding of oil-rich Bakassi peninsula to Cameroon in 2008, the proposal drew wide support. Besides, Cross River’s forest cover had declined from 7,920 to 6,102 square kilometres between 1991 and 2008, according to figures from Nigeria’s Ministry of Environment. In the years that followed, the government fiercely enforced the embargo and chased out local traders like Obio, seized wood, and raided timber markets. Officials also stopped locals from hunting game and fetching bush mango and afang – popular delicacies in the region. As the new policy disrupted traditional livelihoods many forest communities relied on, the government failed to provide alternative means of support, despite making clear that promised benefits from REDD+ payments would take years to come. Michael Eraye, Cross River State’s Commissioner of Environment told PREMIUM TIMES that the government did make efforts to equip those affected with new skills, but poor funding affected the plans. He said the government built roads in affected areas, as part of its compensation plans. Salisu Dahiru, Nigeria’s UN-REDD Coordinator, said efforts to find affected communities and determine how their livelihoods are linked to the forest, were ongoing. But he acknowledged that training programmes had yet to commence nearly eight years after the first ban, and four years after the start of the REDD+ programme. Meanwhile, only a few years after the REDD+ initiative got underway in Cross River State, Governor Imoke, who had once championed the programme, quietly began to back away even as the ban continued. In May 2015, days before leaving office after eight years as governor, Mr. Imoke told shocked officials that REDD+ did not return on investment. “I got to the point when I felt that it was not worth my effort,” Mr. Imoke said, according to the UN-REDD National Programme Semi-Annual Report January to June 2015 edition. Two senior officials who attended the meeting confirmed the former governor made those remarks. They said the governor directed his comments at Odigha Odigha, head of the state forestry commission at the time. The report said months before the meeting, state officials demonstrated diminishing interest in REDD+, and the ambitious programme began to stall. The first phase, known as the Readiness Phase, is now set to end in December 2016, nearly two years later than originally intended. Local communities will have to wait much longer for REDD+ resource-based payments, if they ever come. While they wait, little to no help has come from the state. A PREMIUM TIMES’ examination of Cross River State’s anti-deforestation and climate change mitigation programme, which began in 2008, shows how the implementation of an otherwise well-intentioned policy deprived forest-dependent communities of their primary source of livelihood. It also provides a glimpse into the abuse and policy missteps that characterised the government’s execution of the programme. Forests play an integral role in regulating the amount of carbon emissions in the atmosphere. When present, they absorb carbon emitted by human activity—an estimated 25 per cent of these emissions over the past four decades—and help moderate the effects of climate change. When lost through deforestation, they release carbon back into the atmosphere and are responsible for up to 20 per cent of global manmade carbon dioxide emissions. REDD+ is a global mechanism designed to reward governments in developing nations for preserving forests and constraining the impacts of climate change. To date, REDD+ has pledged nearly US$ 10 billion to developing countries, with $4 million allocated for Nigeria’s National Programme, of which Cross River State is a pilot model. The first formal steps taken by the Governor Imoke administration toward monetizing Cross River State’s vast forest resources began in October 2009, a year after the forest embargo went into effect. Mr. Imoke worked with the then Minister of the Environment, John Odey, a Cross River native, to apply to be part of REDD+. In addition to joining the Governors’ Climate and Forest Task Force, based in the United States, Mr. Imoke attended COP 15 in Copenhagen later that year, where he announced efforts to protect Cross River’s tropical forests. In April 2010, Nigeria became a UN-REDD partner country, and from then, followed through with a series of REDD+ programmes. Despite such efforts, the government failed to provide economic relief for the local population and did not fully engage with them before and after the ban, those interviewed told PREMIUM TIMES. Tony Attah, in charge of the Cross River forestry commission’s outreach programmes, acknowledged that the ban and initial phase of REDD+ were not well communicated. Despite initial missteps, he said that extensive community engagements were carried out by the state between January and August 2014. Many environmentalists who support forest conservation, however, have taken issue with the REDD+ programme, blaming it for loss of indigenous land rights and branding it as property colonisation by developed nations. They also argue that the programme lacks mechanisms to ensure pledged payments reach affected people and are not pocketed by greedy politicians or other representatives. They argue that forest-dependent communities like Mr. Obio’s Owai, who have yet to receive any payments years after the forest ban went into place, are made to pay more than their fair share for environmental clean-up, and for the pollution caused by developed countries. The Cross River timber union has said thousands of its members and affiliate workers, lost their livelihood—some, allegedly, even their lives—after the ban. They include timber dealers, machine operators, saw men, scouts, and carriers. “Our members lost out when the ban started, some died of shock. Many lost everything they had,” said David Essien, the head of Akim Timber Market union, the biggest timber market in the state. Reliable statistics depicting such damage are hard to come by in the state, but studies conducted in the area paint a gloomy picture. The Social Development Integrated Centre, a Port Harcourt-based policy analysis group, in a 2014 report on the impact of REDD in Cross River, concluded that “the move towards REDD has been made without any clear community development programme that addresses livelihoods and income generation alternatives for forest dependent communities”. Before 2008, to harvest timber in Cross River, the state required loggers to pay between N20, 000 (US$102) and N50, 000 (US$254)—of which 70 per cent went to communities as royalty. Dealers were also required to plant five seedlings as replacement, and be cleared or “stamped” by forestry commission officials that harvested timber was mature. The ban stopped the royalty and kept communities from harvesting wood even to build their homes, said Oyi Akama, the village head of Owai. Importantly, it kept many youth out of work. Stephen Mbeh, head of nearby Oban town, told PREMIUM TIMES how a government task force twice seized timber he harvested to construct a home. He succeeded the third time after young people in the town helped ward off the enforcers. “This is our own oil. This is all we have, and even to cut mango at your backyard, we could not,” he said. Mr. Obio began his lumber business in Owai, a small community with no access road, electricity or potable water, in 1998. His mother, the family’s breadwinner, had died five years earlier. After getting clearance from the government to harvest from areas with mature timber, Obio logged at least once a week and sold to buyers from distant towns. “We were beginning to do well a little. I even paid fees for my brothers,” he said. By the time the ban came into force, Mr. Obio’s business was booming. He purchased six sawing machines and had broken ground on a block family home—a rarity in Owai where the majority of people live in mud houses. He initially brushed off the news as rumour when he heard about the ban on the radio—as many others did—in August 2008. Two days later, he says, he saw members of the state anti-deforestation task force rounding up a man who frequently bought timber from him. The operatives confiscated the logs and forced the man to drive to Calabar, the state capital. “That was when I knew it was serious,” Mr. Obio said. In the days that followed, a brutal crackdown unfolded. The taskforce barred Obio and others from removing harvested wood from the forests. This claim was echoed by other timber dealers PREMIUM TIMES interviewed in the region. Anietie Bassey, vice president of a timber market in Calabar, said the task force not only seized his timber, but also seven of his sawing machines during a raid in 2010. Mr. Bassey suffered a stroke shortly after the incident, an ailment he says was brought on by the loss of his business. He is yet to fully recover. Mr. Obio said he lost four of his six sawing machines in a similar raid. Seized machines and timber were never recovered. Those arrested were freed after the payment of fines ranging between N150, 000 to N1 million, dealers said. Those interviewed, including government officials, community leaders, timber traders and activists, accused the armed taskforce of violating people’s rights—even attacking dealers with supplies from outside the state—and arbitrarily detaining people and seizing their equipment for years after the ban went into effect. The head of the taskforce at the time, Peter Jenkins, told PREMIUM TIMES he could not immediately respond to the claims without knowledge of where they originated from. The communities, he said, initially told the government they needed roads and some were indeed provided. Though he defended the government’s policy, he acknowledged that more could have been done to ease the impact of the ban. Asked about allegations of highhandedness, Odigha Odigha, the former chairman of Cross River’s forestry commission, told PREMIUM TIMES that the taskforce refused to submit to his supervision. Two senior forestry commission officials in Calabar, who asked not to be named, told PREMIUM TIMES that they believed both the ban and its implementation were flawed. “The ban on logging was wrong, but its implementation was worse. The anti-deforestation task force was supposed to be under the forestry commission, but it was lawless, reporting directly to the governor,” the first official said. “REDD did not say don’t cut down trees, it is a wrong perception. You can’t say don’t cut down the forest without alternatives,” said the second. She also spoke of a “lawless taskforce”. Edem Edem, the programme coordinator of Green Concern for Development, an environmental advocacy group in Abuja, said he initially supported the ban until “they started violating people’s rights”. “That was when I backed off,” Mr. Edem said. Initial funding for the $4 million project was meant to finance preliminary REDD+ processes like preparing an action plan, training officials, providing environmental and social safeguards, and others. The money was not meant for the communities. Mr. Edem said the state spent much of its budget organising endless “workshops and seminars”. Bridget Nkor, the state coordinator of REDD+, told PREMIUM TIMES that the state was worried about not providing alternatives for the affected communities. “That is one area that raised a lot of concerns,” she said. Due to the structure of the REDD+ programme, it’s likely that any economic benefit for affected people could take years to materialise. But Mr. Dahiru, the national coordinator for the programme, used the example of a charcoal vendor to illustrate the impacts that REDD+ programs can have on local communities. Instead of continuing to use wood—which destroys the forest—REDD will support the person with needed skills to grow bamboo, he said. The only problem is that the REDD+ programme would not directly support the funding needs of such initiatives. Though it could help those trained receive support from donors at the later Investment Phase, this third stage could take five or more years to attain. Such trainings in Cross River State are currently targeted at only 30 pilot communities. Even so, they remain mere proposals seven years after the first ban started. An October 2015 UN-REDD progress report said proposals had been submitted and approved, but implementation would not start until late 2016, four years after the REDD+ project started. Activists say a rapid response should come from the state government, which so far has done little in support of the communities. Despite the ban on community use of the forest, the state government under Mr. Imoke granted bigger business interests access to the same land, and allowed it to harvest and sell timber to local dealers. One firm given such a concession is Dansa Allied Agro, a subsidiary of the Dangote Group that is owned by Aliko Dangote, Africa’s richest man. The company secured over 75,000 hectares of land at Oban community for its pineapple farm, used as the fruit base for the popular Dansa beverage. Tons of timber sourced from the land during clearing process were sold to local dealers, for months under the protection of the government taskforce, PREMIUM TIMES confirmed from several government officials and traders. Dansa Company did not deny it sold timber, when contacted. Pressed on the propriety of such deal when locals had been barred with no alternatives, a senior Dangote group official told PREMIUM TIMES that the company has helped the community in many other ways, like providing jobs and palm seedlings to farmers. The company promised a formal response to our questions, but never followed up. The forestry commission explained the concession, saying that despite the ban, the Ministries of Land and Agriculture retained the right to licence promising investors. The Dangote group got the sprawling property with a promise to provide 10,000 jobs to locals, build a five-star hotel, roads, schools, and a mini market. The company has yet to make good on many of its promises. At an elaborate event March 2014, Governor Imoke praised Dansa Allied Agro for donating 8,000 palm oil seedlings to host communities and constructing a bridge to link Oban, Okarara, Ekong Anaku, Neghe, and Ekpene Eki communities. Mr. Dangote’s brother, Sani Dangote, who runs the Dansa affiliate, promised that the company would provide more oil palm seedlings and said Dansa was planting five trees for every one harvested during the clearing. Overall, steps that could have quickened the delivery of REDD+ benefits to the communities and the state faced delays and haphazard implementation due to “dwindling political will”, according to the UN’s 2015 progress report. An earlier progress report in 2014 noted that the programme “has suffered an important delay in delivery of outputs and finance, due to a mix of factors, some internal and some external”. One senior official said part of the problem was because the forestry commission had “serious leadership problems”. “For example, a politician was named as head of the REDD board, and when the board was dissolved, there was no replacement,” the official told PREMIUM TIMES. Nearly two years would pass before the state finally reconstituted the REDD+ board in October 2015. As Governor Imoke prepared to leave office in May 2015, he issued a scathing criticism of the state’s REDD+ programme. The time it would take to receive results-based payments was “ridiculously long for anybody to earn anything,” said Mr. Imoke during his handover remarks before top level civil servants and his successor, Ben Ayade. Mr. Odigha, the former forestry commission chairman, whom officials said was the focus of the governor’s criticisms during the meeting, told PREMIUM TIMES that everyone involved in the programme had been well advised that the REDD+ programme takes years to yield benefits. The UN report for October 2015 supported the notion that senior forestry commission staff also became detached from the programme—ostensibly following the governor’s example. “Despite participation in various one-off training and workshop events, only a handful of FC staff understand the fundamentals of REDD+ and fewer have shown interest in the programme,” the report noted. Mr. Imoke did not respond to multiple calls for comments. He requested questions to be sent via text message, but he ultimately did not respond to our enquiry. Mr. Imoke’s successor, Ben Ayade, only agreed to continue with REDD+ after the national coordinator, Salisu Dahiru, intervened. The new governor initially relaxed the ban and replaced the anti-deforestation task force with the “green police,” which was made up of members from all local government areas of the state. He left coordination of the partial ban to the forestry commission. Since taking over, Mr. Ayade also named a ministry in charge of climate change – the only state in Nigeria to do so. The commissioner in charge of that ministry, Alice Eku, did not also respond to request for comment. Despite the relaxed embargo, Obio William told PREMIUM TIMES that he would never return to timber trading, as the government could always reinstate a full ban. “I don’t want to die,” he said. He foresaw tomorrow. About two weeks after we interviewed him, the Ayade administration reinstated a full ban on forest use in late October 2015 after a five-month hiatus. Mr. Ayade courted additional controversy with a plan to build a 260 kilometre “superhighway” through the protected forests. Initial plans to construct the highway straight through Cross River National Park, however, were changed after President Muhammadu Buhari learned that a required environmental impact assessment had not been filed. The new route will come within seven kilometres from the border of the park, which some environmentalists say still poses risk. The governor has also revoked the occupancy rights of thousands of more forest dependent villagers on ancestral lands on either side of the six lane 260 kilometre super highway. Mr. Odigha, who now runs a nongovernmental environment advocacy, warned that the government’s superhighway could deny the state carbon credit under the REDD+ programme. In Owai, Mr. Obio—who said he could barely feed himself and family after the ban in 2008—now sells pepper, salt and other food ingredients. He depends on Ekum Obio, his brother he helped train, to send his children to school. Outside where he lives sits a rundown cassava grating machine he bought before the ban. The machine became useless after he could no longer replace parts. Nearby, the block house he had proudly started constructing at the height of his timber business sits unfinished and overgrown with weeds. Ubong Edet contributed reporting to this investigation, which was done with support from Internews.

2019-04-24T13:57:56Z

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/202150-investigation-4-million-un-climate-programme-impoverished-tortured-nigerian-communities.html?amp_markup=1

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Blogging the Beatles 25/26/27: “Ticket to Ride”/”Yes It Is” and “Help!”/”I’m Down” singles, and Help! The year 1965 rolled in for the band with an already tight schedule–the first two weeks of January saw them finishing up their lengthy Christamas show ‘revue’ at the Hammersmith Odeon that had started 24 December, same as last year’s. After a few weeks of well-deserved rest, it was time to jump back into the fray in mid-February. Between 15 February and 11 May, they would be busy not with a tour or the endless radio and tv appearances, but jumping between recording studio, film studio and other locations for their next film project. At first entitled Eight Arms to Hold You (officially given the name–another Ringo malapropism!–on 17 March during the Austria location shoots, until it was changed a month or so later), this new film would strive to be different from the semi-biographical A Hard Day’s Night. It would not only be in color, it would also be a completely fictional story. This second movie would also be directed by Richard Lester and produced by Walter Shenson, though screenwriter Alun Owen was not retained. In retrospect, the lack of snappy, funny dialogue and smart plot that permeated the first film would be part of its faults–the “Beatles on the run” theme is turned into a farcical chase between a religious cult who want Ringo for their next sacrifice, and the boys are relegated to a lot of what sounds like halfhearted ad-libbing (most of which was inspired by their use of marijuana at this time)–but regardless, it would be a hit as expected. And with a new film project meant new recordings. In between filming (and the occasional one-time appearance here and there), they returned to Abbey Road Studios to record their next batch of songs. As before, they’d planned on doing a half-album’s worth of actual soundtrack songs on Side One, with new album tracks on Side Two, with the occasional non-lp single here and there. In this case, they’d record two non-lp b-sides this time. It was a crazy and busy schedule to be sure, but at the same time, it actually worked to their advantage. Unlike the previous movie, which had a relatively tight script, this one left things open to chance, with many scenes filmed but never used. When they needed to be filmed performing new songs, they were often new tracks that had just been written a few weeks previously. This happens plenty of times: “Ticket to Ride” was recorded on 15 February, filmed in late March in Austria, and released as the lead single in early April; “I Need You”, started on the same day, was filmed in Salisbury Plain in early May; “You’re Going to Lose That Girl” was started 19 February and filmed in a fake-EMI studio on 30 April. The filming would finish on 11 May, with post-production (overdubs and whatnot) finishing in mid-June. The movie itself would be released in the UK on 29 July and worldwide soon after. The album recording would finish on 17 June, with George Martin doing the final mixing days later. Now it was time to return to Beatlemania: new singles, new album, more touring, more radio and tv appearances. Their summer would be jam-packed again, only to have them return to the studio again in August for another album come August (thankfully, they were given six weeks off in between, so they could recharge). In some ways, 1965 could be considered a rerun of the previous year, but with some differences–they no longer had to puddle-jump all over Britain to appear everywhere, and sonically they sounded even better than every before. Still, it had already started to wear on them. Interestingly enough, one idea they had come up with to combat this was to send out pre-filmed performances, something they had come up with late in 1964 for “I Feel Fine” and a few other songs. The benefits would be two-fold: they would not need to visit every television studio and perform the same song endlessly, and they could also make as many copies as needed and have them sent out to television studios, who could then insert them on any show they chose. This could be considered the birth of the modern music video; a simple but effective promotional tool and also a quick and easy way to get out of physically appearing on everyone’s shows. By 1966 when they stopped touring, this would become the only way you could see them performing. The first new single of the year was also the first to break the three-minute mark in a Beatles single. It’s also a change in sonic direction for the band; the straight-ahead rock of 1963 and 1964 had become infused with more folky sounds, thanks to the influence of Bob Dylan and the burgeoning folk scene in the United States. These tracks take their time unfolding, giving the listener a chance to pay attention to what’s going on underneath. At the same time, George Martin had suggested a new approach to recording: instead of attempting multiple takes of the same song and hoping a gem would surface, they would let the songs grow organically. They would record the backbone of a song with minimal instrumentation, leaving them room to overdub when necessary to build up the track. In this way, there would be very few actual full “takes” and much less tape used, and more creativity being given to the details. The Help! singles and album would definitely have their share of quick-take rock songs they were known for, but their sound had definitely matured because of this approach. The new single opens up with a beautiful, chiming riff courtesy of Paul McCartney, who also happened to suggest the curious, slightly off-beat drumming to Ringo, which you hear next. Moments later John steps in and gives us a stellar vocal delivery about his girl leaving him. Unlike the downbeat lyrics of many of his Beatles for Sale lyrics, however, this one is almost a return to their earlier lyrical sound–it’s less introspective and a lot simpler. He knows he can’t do anything about her leaving, except feel sad, even when he tries to convince himself that “she ought to think right, she ought to do right by me”. She really doesn’t care what he thinks–she’s out of there, and there’s not a damn thing he can do about it. One can definitely hear the outcome of Martin’s new approach to recording–the band-as-a-cohesive-whole is still there, especially with the changes in tempo and the deft harmonies of John, Paul and George, there’s also a fuller sound, with plenty more to hear. There are layered guitars and strong additional percussion right there in the foreground, and John’s multitracked vocals sound rich and full. Musically it’s similar to their recent previous output, but they’ve given it more life. John often dismissed this track as a failed attempt, and one can kind of understand his reticence…it’s almost a slower, sadder “This Boy” without the pleading middle eight. On the other hand, that’s it’s strength: it features absolutely beautiful three-part harmony from John, Paul and George (recorded live and not separately, I should add), and though its bridge is more sedate, recalling the self-deprecation of John’s previous songs like “I’m a Loser”, it’s still a strong piece. Of note is George’s guitar playing, this time with yet another new toy: a tone pedal (later dubbed the ‘wah-wah’ pedal), which gives his meandering notes a plaintive touch. The next single would be the all-new theme song for their next movie, which would premiere the following week. Both tracks featured sounds that fans hadn’t expected: “Help!”, while quite an upbeat number, is also an extremely folky one, not to mention one of John’s first truly heartbreaking songs about his insecurities; on the flip side, “I’m Down” is a barebones, nothing-held-back rocker that ended up being a concert favorite of theirs. It was a hint of even better, more personal things to come. One of the main reasons for John’s writing the song–aside from it being a real cry for help–lies in the band’s and the director’s indecision on what to name the new movie. Richard Lester had been calling it Beatles 2 or some version thereof, and the semi-official title early on had been Eight Arms to Hold You, in reference to the multi-armed Hindu goddess Kali that is part of the movie’s main plot. John and Paul didn’t like the title, mainly because they really didn’t want to write a song with such a mouthful to sing, and instead came up with the movie’s other main plot: the band on the run and unable to find the help they need to save themselves. The song itself, as mentioned, is quite upbeat–it’s one of their faster tracks of the time–but the lyrics are quite unexpected. Never before had John been this bare in his emotions. It’s not just about the imagined conflict of the movie, but the stress of life: the feeling of drowning, the inability to find a foothold, the loss of direction. John’s delivery is desperate but not whining–it’s breathless and just this side of breaking, and Paul and George’s harmonies serve not just to punctuate the cry for help, but to bring that tension that much closer to the surface. It’s a simply-written melody, but it’s relentless and doesn’t let up until the final exhalation of “ooh’s” at the end. This is a fascinating track of Paul’s, and a revisit of Britain’s fascination with American soul at the time. It’s very reminiscent of their earlier “Long Tall Sally”, but where that track is tight and rocking, this one is purposely disjointed and full of spite. They turn a simple twelve-bar blues riff into a track that threatens to fall apart every time it comes to the chorus, there’s so much tension. Even the lyrics are accusatory: instead of the usual “you’re making me blue” they delivered in the past, it’s now become almost a “how dare you make me feel this way” (“How can you laugh when you know I’m down?”). This track soon replaced “Sally” as their show closer on their international tours (an incredibly spirited version from Shea Stadium in New York can be seen here). One interesting side note is the studio chat in between takes 1 and 2, when Paul comments on the song, saying “Plastic soul, man…plastic soul.” [This can be heard on the version of “I’m Down” on the Anthology 2 album.] The origin of the phrase is unknown, but it’s said that a black musician had used it to describe the appropriation of American soul by white British musicians, specifically Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones. By the end of the year, it the phrase would be slightly changed and a new album name would arise: Rubber Soul. The first Beatles album of 1965 (and the second soundtrack of their career) was released a week after the UK premiere of the movie, just in time for midsummer. The movie itself, while not nearly as clever as A Hard Day’s Night, was full of music, silliness, and capable acting by the foursome, and both the movie and the album quickly became hits of the year. Another interesting outcome was that it introduced eastern music to the band, specifically George Harrison, who would introduce the sitar and other eastern instruments to the band. The foreign sounds didn’t show up on this album, but the change in direction towards folk and balladry definitely did. Given more time than the rushed production of Beatles for Sale, Help! features the band spreading their wings and testing out even more creative ways to define their sound. As before, the album starts off with the theme song. The movie uses this song in quite a cheeky way: after the prologue, we see the foursome playing the song in black and white, a nod to their previous film. Only eventually do we notice that darts are being thrown at it by the evil-but-pathetic Klang (played to amusing effect by Leo McKern), hinting that, honestly, that’s the most harm this so-called villain could cause. Another track recorded early in the process, this one was first laid down on 17 February. It’s a typical Paul track that might have fit nicely on Beatles for Sale, so similar is the sound and feel. It’s a surprisingly sparse track, actually–aside from John’s electric piano playing and George’s short but fun solo, there’s not too much that stands out here. In fact, all the instrumentation stays in the background and doesn’t venture too far, saving the front end for Paul’s strong vocals. Of note here, however, is a reference to a drumming trick Ringo used on “I Want to Hold Your Hand” a few years earlier: he plays a loose high-hat through most of the track, only to close it for effect on the quick bridge (during “…last night is a night I will remember you by”). It’s a simple song, but it’s fun. This one appears during the extended Salisbury Plain scene, the second of two songs they’re trying to record surrounded by soldiers. John returns here with an overt nod to Bob Dylan, right down to the bare, raspy vocal delivery and the jangly acoustic guitar. It’s an absolutely gorgeous ballad in 6/8 time that extends on the insecurities he sang about on the title track. Here, he’s been beat down and made “two foot small” to the point that he doesn’t dare show his emotions, for fear that he’ll only get hurt again. Even when someone tries to lift his spirits (“How could she say to me ‘love will find a way’?”), he shouts back with a “Hey!” during the chorus, refusing to play along. Recorded on the same days as “Yes It Is” (thus the return of the tone pedal on this track), George’s first of two offerings for the album is a summery love song similar to “The Night Before” in that it’s sparse and quite acoustic. It’s even used during the same Salisbury Plain scene. It’s not one of George’s stronger songs lyrically or even musically, but on the other hand, it’s actually a good example of how different his songwriting is to John and Paul’s. It’s a simple love song on the surface, but underneath all that, there are a handful of offbeat elements: ending the verse melody on a seventh note, using the guitar melody to “respond” to the vocal melody, things that John and Paul wouldn’t normally put in their own compositions. Another Paul song recorded the same day as “Ticket to Ride” and “I Need You”, so it definitely shares that acoustic vibe. The track starts off with the chorus, right down to the “…for I have got / another girl” incomplete sentence (it ties in with the end of the previous verse later on in the song), and is full of folksy goodness. Like the other previous similar songs, the instrumentation is secondary to the vocal delivery, and in retrospect that was very much key in the folk songs of the time. The song isn’t all that adventurous either, but it does hint at the old skiffle sound they grew up with…one can easily hear this being played by a young John and Paul with their friends on washboard and other homemade instruments. Filmwise, this song actually works in its scene, shot on a rocky shore in the Bahamas, inciting a laid back, summery feel. A rather quick song from John, this one doesn’t get anywhere near the personal demons of the previous songs. Instead, it’s a track similar many of his early love songs, only this time he’s warning his friend that if he doesn’t watch it, someone (namely John himself!) is going to take his girl away from him. This song can easily be seen as a nod to all their previous hits, such as the call and response vocals of “Twist and Shout”, the talking to a friend of “She Loves You”, and the downside of relationships of Beatles for Sale. The soundtrack side ends with the first single, simply one of their greatest tracks of the time. The song features in a classic scene in the film with them miming to the song in the Austrian Alps with grand piano, skiing and sledding, falling about themselves, and having a fun time. Ringo very nearly didn’t have a vocal track on this album, due to the fact that John and Paul’s offering of “I’ve You’ve Got Troubles” (recorded but never released until Anthology 2) was rejected as a failed attempt, the band quickly relied on their extensive back catalogue of cover songs they knew and loved. In this case, they took the 1963 Buck Owens country hit and turned it into a fun and pleasant Ringo track. Having noticed that country songs fit well with him, such as the previous “Honey Don’t”, it was a perfect fit. In 1989, Ringo and Buck would record it together as a duet. Both Paul and John have admitted this was a throwaway song with uninspired lyrics–in fact, it’s kind of a bland ballad with many stereotypical tricks inherent in that kind of song (the pleading vocal, the lyrics describing a rough relationship, the melody relegated to the background). Still, only the Beatles could dismiss a song as such and still get away with a strong track. George’s wonderful guitar work, the creative uses of sixth and seventh chords, the delayed release of tension in the chorus…it might be a simple song and not very adventurous, but it’s still catchy and well done. George’s second offering was almost in the running for the film but was dismissed to this side instead. It’s not one of his strongest songs–he was a good writer, but clearly not in the same league as his bandmates. Still, it’s a very typical song of his, full of interesting and unexpected chord changes and melody lines that one wouldn’t necessarily hear in a pop song. Added to that, both John and Paul added some wonderful keyboard work here, with Paul on piano and John on a much more upfront electric piano. The call-response of John and George during the solo is simple but creatively done. Another John/Paul duet, right down to the dual vocals. Neither remember much about this track, hinting that it might be another throwaway, but it does have its interesting quirks. It’s full of percussion in addition to Ringo’s drums. There’s a guiro, claves, and a tambourine all throughout the track, blending in almost seamlessly with the rest of the track. There’s also the breakdown right at the end of each chorus, with the electric piano bringing it back up to speed until the last time around, where it’s used as an outro. Like “I’ll Be Back” on A Hard Day’s Night, this track and the next feel completely out of context with the rest of the album, partly as they were some of the last songs to be recorded for these sessions. At the same time, they’re both perfect examples of just how fast their songwriting evolved, even within the span of a single album project. This track of Paul’s is purely inspired by country music, with an incredibly fast tempo and some absolutely stunning work from all three guitarists, from the layered 2/4 intro to the hoedown rhythm to the eighth-note solo. Paul’s wordy yet poetic lyrics are pure bliss. It feels more at home on the follow-up album Rubber Soul (it would in fact be released on the US version of that album), but here it’s used to hint at what’s coming soon. The Beatles were consistently at the top of the charts, but in the context of their whole oeuvre to date, they really hadn’t had a bona fide perfect song since “I Want to Hold Your Hand” or “She Loves You”. Then on 14 June–the same day the previous track was recorded–Paul finally laid down a song that had been running through his head for quite some time. The song had resonated with him so much that he was convinced it wasn’t his, but no one could prove otherwise. It’s a deceptively simple song, just a short but catchy melody about love and loss. There’s no resolution, no “it gets better” or “I wish she would return”…it’s just “she’s gone and I can’t get her back”…simple, but heartbreaking. It was recorded with just Paul on acoustic guitar that day, and three days later a string quartet was added, the first Beatles song featuring only one Beatle. The end result became one of the most covered pop songs in the world, and one the best songs Paul has ever written. To end the album on an upbeat note, they relied on an upbeat cover of a Larry Williams hit (they also recorded Williams’ “Bad Boy” on the same day, 10 May, and that track would only show up on the US album Beatles VI and not appear on any UK release until late 1966’s A Collection of Beatles Oldies). It’s another rocker similar to “Long Tall Sally” or “Money (That’s What I Want)”, played more for a party mood than a serious track, and they’re clearly having fun here. This is the Beatles finally releasing their tension with some good old rock and roll. After the fact, these two Williams tracks are the last cover songs the band would record as a group, not including the random covers played during the Get Back sessions in 1969; from here on in, they would only record their own compositions. Help!, the album, could easily be considered the point that marked the end of the band as a “pop group”. While there are certainly a handful of pop songs here that are a logical progression from A Hard Day’s Night (specifically its second side) and Beatles for Sale, their songwriting had moved well past the point of simple love songs and covers. Lyrically they’d started to dig well past the surface and into introspective and even philosophical territory, even while still retaining the catchy melodies. Despite it being a half-soundtrack to what was essentially an absurdist comedy film, it was their most personal album to date, even more so than Beatles for Sale, and the fans definitely noticed. And given the last few tracks on the album, it was clear that they were no longer going to keep writing and recording the same style of pop songs. By the time they returned in October to record their second album of the year, their songs would include one with a sitar, another with a piano solo recorded at half-speed to sound like a harpsichord, and a complex, multi-tempo track that would only see release as a single. Quick flyby–I’m getting there…thanks for your patience! So continuing from the PS to my previous post–I ended up purchasing a completely new PC to replace the old one, and am currently getting everything up and running. Again, sorry for the delay, and I hope to get a new post to you all soon. Thanks again for your patience. Note: As it just so happens, the PC here in Spare Oom has decided to have some serious issues in booting up this morning. This has been an ongoing issue over the last few months, and I’ve been hoping it would be minor, but today seems to be the worst–as of 11am PT it’s still running a Startup Repair, so I’m not entirely sure if it’s stuck in a purgatory loop or if it’s actually fixing itself. Either way…looks like it’s high time for me to do some PC shopping soon. I’ll try to keep to my expected schedule as mentioned below while using my laptop, hopefully it won’t be much of a problem. If it does end up screwing with my posting schedule, I’ll let you all know. Hi all, I apologize for the delay in updating. It seems that I finished up the major revision of the first novel in my sf/f series, A Division of Souls, a bit sooner than I’d expected, and have been using this time to get the manuscript (and its few extra bits) all nice and tidy for when I submit it to an agent. I hope to submit it within the next few weeks, so that takes precedence. In the meantime, not to worry, I have not forgotten to update the Blogging the Beatles posts, nor have I forgotten to do some Walk in Silence music posts either, I just have not had the time. I’m looking forward to a lot of these music posts, as they’re going to be covering quite a few great alternative albums from the 80s. As soon as I have something new up, I will post the links over at Twitter and LJ as well. I should hopefully have something up by midweek the earliest, or next weekend the latest. Also, thought you’d like to know that A. and I will be going to Outside Lands again this year, so sometime in August I will be posting pictures from it like I did last year. There are a lot of great bands playing this year, so I’m really looking forward to it. I do apologize for not letting y’all know sooner, and will definitely do better at keeping everyone updated when there’s going to be a delay. I know that I’m the rare music collector–I’m one who will download music, but also still head over to Amoeba on Haight Street and pick stuff up on a semi-regular basis. I did that yesterday as part of my slow-but-ongoing plan to weed out most of our cd collection, having gotten a good ninety dollars’ store credit out of a pile of titles that have been gathering dust in a closet the last few years. In the process, I spent a good hour or so digging through equally dusty clearance bins and making out pretty well. The dollar bins are my friends, because a lot of the time I can find stuff that I want that isn’t available digitally. As always, the time frame of the titles there are about ten to fifteen years ago (with the occasional exception–for some reason there were a lot of copies of Morning Parade’s album from last year in there), which means it aligns with a lot of the titles I remember seeing during my tenure at HMV and during my weekly jaunts to Newbury Comics back when it was in Amherst. In the process I also picked up a few new titles that we’d been looking for. In addition to this, I’ve been ordering a few import cds online lately–the recent and excellent reissues of We’ve Got a Fuzzbox and We’re Gonna Use It!!’s two albums from 1986 and 1989 being the latest–again, because they’re not available digitally. I’m also an obsessive when it comes to listening. I’m not sure how rare or how prevalent that is with others, but I’ve always got some music going on in the background wherever I am. Roadtrips? Got the local stations on the car radio. Work? Streaming something online. Working out at the gym? Listening to my mp3 player. Writing? Playing something from my digital collection. Not at my desk? If we’re not watching something, we’ve got one of the Sirius stations on. I’m not always focusing on the music, but I’ve always got it playing when I can. I’ve been that way since I was a young kid in the early 80s. In the past, I would find new music by listening to the radio–more to the point, once I became obsessed with indie rock, I started paying attention to new things and their release dates. Again, this really came to the fore once I started working at HMV, previewing them in the stock room before I brought them out onto the floor on Tuesdays. Even more so when I had my weekly Wednesday comic book/music purchase run in Amherst during the early 00’s. I fell out of the habit in 2005 when I had couple of major life changes, and I didn’t really get back into it until a good couple of years later. This would probably explain that gap in 2005-2007 where I kind of remember some indie music, but it doesn’t really stick with me unless I really look at the chronology. I got back into the habit around 2010-ish when I found Save Alternative, and later started actively looking for college and radio stations on the internet, and even more recently when my wife and I started listening to AOL Music’s Spinner. Interestingly, I rarely pick up new information from music magazines or websites other than release dates. I don’t have much against them, but while their coverage is similar to my tastes, they don’t converge enough for me to actually benefit. I say all this because lately I’ve been listening to college radio again. I’ve been listening to it for awhile now, but more so than in the last few years. Because nothing beats getting it from the source. I wish I could say I’ve got the Jonzbox plugged in and I’m taping stuff as it’s being played, but alas that isn’t true. I do still have a handful of blank tapes that my sister found lying around, and the Jonzbox still works, albeit just barely, but those days are over. As much as I’d love to tape radio shows again like I did so many years ago, a handful of the college stations I listen to are well out of range–some of them being on the other side of the country. That’s the beauty of the internet for me in this respect. I love being able to listen to WZBC out of Boston College one moment, and KSCU out of Santa Clara U. here in California the next. There’s also the fact that I can listen to any college station and not really know or expect what they’re going to play next, because for the most part they’re still freeform after all these years, bound only by their show’s theme. And despite not being able to record these shows, it does occur to me that I can do the next best thing–if I’m interested in a song, I can do what my wife and I have been doing whenever we listen to Sirius XMU and Alt Nation: write the songs down on Post-Its for further checking out and possible downloading. I just did that this morning, actually…while listening to a great set on KSCU, I wrote down a small handful of songs I liked and realized I could just as easily zip over to Amazon and download the mp3s whenever I wanted. While I miss out on recording the semi-professionalism and occassional silliness that goes on with student-run stations, it’s a small price to pay when I can instead buy the music immediately if I so choose, instead of waiting for the weekend/when I get paid to go to the local record store. And as I’ve mentioned earlier, most of my trips to Amoeba as of late have been for back catalogue. Still, I do like the idea of listening to the radio again, especially when it’s to listen on certain days for a specific deejay’s show. It’s a refreshing change from the daily (and sometimes hourly) repeat of the same sounds, and there’s a much higher chance of something new and unknown being played that will catch my attention. And by listening online, I also get to savor the sounds of different cities. Northern California’s college radio is a bit more lively and odd than New England’s laid back autumnal sound, for instance. It’s a pleasant reminder that just when I’m in the mood for a specific sound, or sick of the same music being played, there’s a hell of a lot more always out there that I haven’t tried yet.

2019-04-19T05:17:11Z

https://jonchaisson.com/2013/05/

McMaster University (commonly referred to as McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on 121 hectares (300 acres) of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Gardens. It operates six academic faculties: the DeGroote School of Business, Engineering, Health Sciences, Humanities, Social Science, and Science. It is a member of the U15, a group of research-intensive universities in Canada. ACU, ATS, AUCC, CARL, COU, CUP, Fields Institute, IAU, U15. The university bears the name of William McMaster, a prominent Canadian senator and banker who bequeathed C$900,000 to its founding. It was incorporated under the terms of an act of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 1887, merging the Toronto Baptist College with Woodstock College. It opened in Toronto in 1890. Inadequate facilities and the gift of land in Hamilton prompted its relocation in 1930. The Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec controlled the university until it became a privately chartered, publicly funded non-denominational institution in 1957. McMaster University is co-educational, and has over 25,000 undergraduate and over 4,000 post-graduate students. Alumni and former students reside across Canada and in 139 countries. Its athletic teams are known as the Marauders, and are members of U Sports. Notable alumni include government officials, academics, business leaders, Rhodes Scholars, Gates Cambridge Scholars, and Nobel laureates. As the university grew, McMaster Hall started to become overcrowded. The suggestion to move the university to Hamilton was first brought up by a student and Hamilton native in 1909, although the proposal was not seriously considered by the university until two years later. By the 1920s, after previous proposals between various university staff, the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce launched a campaign to bring McMaster University to Hamilton. As the issue of space at McMaster Hall became more acute, the university administration debated the future of the university. The university nearly became federated with the University of Toronto, as had been the case with Trinity College and Victoria College. Instead, in 1927, the university administration decided to move the university to Hamilton. The Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec secured $1.5 million, while the citizens of Hamilton raised an additional $500,000 to help finance the move. The lands for the university and new buildings were secured through gifts from graduates. Lands were transferred from Royal Botanical Gardens to establish the campus area. The first academic session on the new Hamilton campus began in 1930. McMaster's property in Toronto was sold to the University of Toronto when McMaster moved to Hamilton in 1930. McMaster Hall is now home to the Royal Conservatory of Music. Hamilton Hall was constructed in 1926 in preparation for the university's move to Hamilton. McMaster's oldest buildings are examples of Collegiate Gothic architecture, with architectural elements such as carved ornamentation, bas-reliefs, recessed arched entryways, and ashlar found throughout these buildings. McMaster University is in the city of Hamilton, Ontario, in the Golden Horseshoe along the western end of Lake Ontario. The main campus is bordered to the north by Cootes Paradise, an extensive natural marshland, to the east and west by residential neighbourhoods, and to its south by Main Street West, a major transportation artery. Its northern boundaries are a popular destination for walkers who use the many trails that connect the campus to Royal Botanical Gardens. While the main campus is 152.4 hectares (377 acres), most of the teaching facilities are centered within the core 12.1 hectares (30 acres). In addition to its main campus in Hamilton, McMaster owns several other properties around Hamilton, as well as in Burlington, Kitchener, and St. Catharines, Ontario. The university owns and manages 58 buildings, both on and off campus. The buildings at McMaster vary in age, with Hamilton Hall opening in 1926, to the university's new Bertrand Russel Archives and Research Centre, which opened 25 June 2018. McMaster main campus is divided into three main areas: the Core Campus, North Campus and West Campus. The Core Campus is where the majority of the university's academic, research and residential buildings are located while the North Campus is made up of the university's athletic precinct and a small number of surface parking. The West Campus is the least developed area of the main campus, containing only a few buildings, surface parking, and undeveloped land. Panoramic view of McMaster University's main campus from the southwest, taken on June 2008. The majority of the university's facilities are located on this campus. University Hall is one of the oldest facilities still used by the university. The university's campus has gone through continuous development since 1928. The main campus's six original buildings are of Collegiate Gothic architecture, designed by William Lyon Somerville, who also laid out the initial campus plan. They are now flanked by over fifty structures built predominantly from the 1940s to 1960s. The largest facility is the McMaster University Medical Centre, a multi-use research hospital that is home to the second-largest neonatal intensive care unit and the third-largest child and youth mental health unit in the country. It is connected to the Life Sciences building and the Michael DeGroote Centre for Learning & Discovery, which houses many well-funded research groups in areas of genetics, infectious diseases, and several specific conditions. The McMaster Museum of Art holds the highest attendance figures for a university-affiliated museum in Canada. The university's library system is a member of 31 organizations, including the Association of Research Libraries. Around 2.8 million articles were downloaded from the library system's electronic journal collection during the 2016 academic year. The university library employs a total of 138 professional, and support staff. The library's resource expenditure for the 2016–2017 academic year was approximately $11.5 million, with 81 per cent of the budget allocated to serial and e-resource subscriptions, 9 per cent on hard copy acquisitions, and 10 per cent to membership and collections support. The library system include four libraries housing 1,274,265 paper books and 3,689,973 total resources, including videos, maps, sound recordings, and microfilm. Mills Library houses the humanities and social sciences collections, with a wide range of print and digital resources. Innis Library houses content which supports the academic and research interests of the DeGroote School of Business. Thode Library houses academic material of various disciplines of science and engineering, while the Health Science Library houses books pertaining to medical sciences. The William Ready Division of Archives and Research Collections at McMaster University consist of papers of Canadian publishers; British personalities and of Canadian literary figures such as Farley Mowat, Pierre Berton, Matt Cohen, and Marian Engel. It includes the archives of Bertrand Russell, and of labour unions. The McMaster Museum of Art's (MMA) principal role is to support the academic mission of McMaster University and to contribute to the discourse on art in Canada. The museum has the highest attendance figures for a university-affiliated museum in Canada, with 30,000 visitors in 2016. Established in 1967, the museum houses and exhibits the university's art collection. As of 2015, that collection of 5,971 pieces holds a total value of $98.7 million. The collection includes works by Gustave Courbet, Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, Walter Sickert and Vincent van Gogh. The museum also boasts the most comprehensive collection of German expressionist and Weimar period prints in Canada. As of March 2019, McMaster has twelve smoke-free student residences: Bates, Brandon, Edwards, Hedden, Les Prince, Mary E. Keyes, Matthews, McKay, Moulton, Wallingford, Whidden, and Woodstock Hall. McMaster's student residences can accommodate 3,685 students. The latest residence to be built was Les Prince Hall, a large co-ed building, completed in 2006. It was named for a long-time hall master in the residence system who lived with his family on campus until after his retirement in 1980. In September 2010, 50.19 per cent of first-year students lived on campus, with 15.54 per cent of the overall undergraduate population living on campus. Residences provide traditional room and board style, furnished apartment style, and suite-style accommodation. Brandon Hall houses the university's substance-free lifestyle living spaces. The residence system is supervised by Residence Life staff, who provide guidance and help the transition to university life for many first-year students. Residence students are represented by the Inter-Residence Council (IRC), which aims to build a sense of community among the residents through programming. Additionally, the IRC seeks to advocate for residence students on issues they may face, such as facilities, dining, environment, and more, and provide opportunities for residence students to gain valuable leadership opportunities. They are an integral part of the McMaster residence community. The McMaster University Student Centre (MUSC) is the centre of student life and programming. It has a café, study space, common areas, and several administrative departments, including the CIBC Conference Hall. The MUSC contains the offices of a number of student organizations, including the McMaster Students Union and The Silhouette weekly newspaper as well as other services such as the Campus Health Centre and the campus dentist. The university has over twenty dining outlets throughout the campus, including two major residence dining facilities. The university has several vegetarian establishments, such as a completely vegetarian cafe known as Bridges Café and a farmers market stand. The university was voted as the country's most vegan-friendly university through People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) for a number of years. Several other dining outlets at McMaster have garnered awards throughout the years for food services. As of 2010 McMaster University's DeGroote School of Business operates a 1.82-hectare (4.5-acre) site in the neighbouring city of Burlington. Consideration for the new building began in 2004, when McMaster University had announced its initial intent to construct a new arts- and technology-intensive campus in partnership with the city of Burlington. In 2009, the City of Burlington, Halton Region, and McMaster University signed an official agreement laying out the timelines and next steps for the university's expansion into Burlington. Construction began on 17 June 2009, and the official opening was on 7 October 2010. The four-story, 8,400-square-metre (90,000 sq ft) building is called the Ron Joyce Centre. The Ron Joyce Centre is home to DeGroote's MBA program and its business management program (both degree and non-degree programs). The David Braley Health Sciences Centre at the McMaster Health Campus in downtown Hamilton. The Centre is one of several off-campus facilities operated by the university. McMaster has a number of administrative offices at its Downtown Centre. The McMaster Centre for Continuing Education, which offers a variety of certificate and diploma programs as well as personal and professional development programs, is located within the former Bank of Montreal Pavilion at Lloyd D. Jackson Square. McMaster had also announced that construction of the McMaster Downtown Health Campus in downtown Hamilton had begun in December 2012. The Health Campus is expected to provide teaching spaces, exam rooms and clinical spaces for local residents. The Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine is on the main campus as well as in two regional campses at St. Catharines and Kitchener. The Waterloo Regional Campus is located in downtown Kitchener, sharing facilities with the Health Sciences Campus of the University of Waterloo. The campus in St. Catharines is at Brock University's Niagara Health and Bioscience Research Complex. Approximately 30 medical students in each year of the program attend each campus. Those who apply to McMaster's School of Medicine are asked to rank their site choice (Hamilton, Niagara Region, Waterloo Region) from first to third, or no preference. Offers of admission to the medical school are made from a rank list irrespective of geographical preference. Subsequent to an applicant's acceptance, registrants to the class are placed based on their preference and geographical background. The offers given out by McMaster are bound to the assigned site. McMaster purchased a large industrial park three kilometres east of its main Hamilton campus in 2005 with the intention of creating an array of research facilities for the development of advanced manufacturing and materials, biotechnology, automotive, and nanotechnology. In July 2005 the federal government announced it would relocate CANMET, a federal government materials research laboratory, from its Ottawa centre to Hamilton. This decision helped spearhead the development of the McMaster Innovation Park. The United Nations University-International Network on Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH) is headquartered within the park. UNU-INWEH is the only United Nations agency headquartered in Ontario and the only North American host site for a United Nations University, after moving to McMaster Innovation Park on 23 April 2008. The senate is responsible for the university's academics, including standards for admission into the university and qualifications for degrees, diplomas, and certificates. The senate consists of 15 ex officio positions granted to the chancellor, the president, the vice-presidents of the university, the senior dean of each faculty, the dean of graduate studies, the dean of adult education, the principal of McMaster Divinity College, and the chairman of the Undergraduate Council. The senate also consists of 51 other members, appointed or elected by the various communities of the university, including elected representatives of the student body. Meetings of the board of governors and the senate are open to the public. McMaster University is affiliated with one post-secondary institution, McMaster Divinity College. The seminary is located within the campus of the university. As an affiliated institution, two members of the Divinity College sit on the university's senate, as well as appoint one representative to sit in the university's board of governors. However, the Divinity College operates with its own senate and board of trustees. Although Divinity College has the authority to confer their own degrees, students taking the College's Master of Divinity and Master of Theological Studies are awarded degrees by McMaster University. Students of Divinity College have access to the catalogue of McMaster University Library, while students of the university similarly have access to the Canadian Baptist Archives, managed by the university's library system. The university and the divinity college were incorporated as the same institution in 1887, a result of a merger between two Baptist institutions, the Canadian Literary Institute in Woodstock, Ontario, and Toronto Baptist College. McMaster University continued to operated as a Baptist-run institution until 1957, when provincial legislation allowed for the governance of the university to pass from the Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec, to a privately chartered, publicly funded arrangement. McMaster's Faculty of Theology was spun-off into McMaster Divinity College, a separately-chartered affiliated college of the university. The total net assets owned by the university as of 30 April 2018 stands at C$1,209.1 million. The university had completed the 2017–2018 year with revenues of C$1,109.5 million, expenses of $985.7 million, for an excess of revenues over expenses of $123.8 million. McMaster's revenue comes from endowment income, gifts, fees, and annual grants from the City of Hamilton, the Hamilton-Wentworth Region, the Province of Ontario, and the Government of Canada. In the 2017–2018 academic year, the largest source of revenue for the university was tuition fees, followed by operating grants provided by the government. As of 30 April 2017, McMaster's financial endowment was valued at C$727.4 million. The financing of McMaster's scholarships and bursaries takes up 40 per cent of the endowments received. Financial Services comprises the following areas: Student Accounts & Cashiers, Financial Accounting and Reporting, and Budgeting Services. The university has been registered as an educational charitable organization in Canada since 1 January 1967. As of 2011, the university is registered primarily as a post-secondary institution, with 70 per cent of the charity dedicated to the management and maintenance of the university. The remaining 30 per cent has been dedicated under research. McMaster is a publicly funded research university, and a member of the Universities Canada. McMaster functions on a semester system, operating year-round on academic semesters, fall/winter and spring/summer. In the 2016–2017 academic year, the university had a total enrollment of 31,265 students; 26,780 undergraduate students, 4,485 graduate students. Programs, departments, and schools at McMaster are divided among six faculties, the DeGroote School of Business, the Faculty of Health Sciences, the Faculty of Humanities, the Faculty of Engineering, the Faculty of Science, and the Faculty of Social Sciences. By enrolment, McMaster's largest faculty in September 2016 was the Faculty of Science, with 7,004 full-time and part-time undergraduate and graduate students. The Faculty of Humanities was the smallest faculty by enrolment, with 2,729 full-time and part-time undergraduate and graduate students. The Faculty of Health Sciences holds the highest graduate enrolment, with 1,144 graduate students. A number of university students are enrolled in interdisciplinary programs, administered by two or more faculties, including 549 graduate students. At the undergraduate level, the Arts and Science program is taught jointly by the six faculties at McMaster. Created in 1981, the program aims to provide a broad-based, liberal education, providing substantial work in both the arts and sciences. In September 2016, 278 undergraduate students were enrolled in the Arts and Science program. The university also jointly administers several undergraduate collaborative programs with Mohawk College, of which 2,697 students are enrolled in. The university also awards degrees to graduate students of McMaster Divinity College. The Divinity College was originally the university's Faculty of Theology, before it was reorganized into a separately chartered, affiliated college of the university in 1957. Students may apply for financial aid such as the Ontario Student Assistance Program and Canada Student Loans and Grants through the federal and provincial governments. The financial aid provided may come in the form of loans, grants, bursaries, scholarships, fellowships, debt reduction, interest relief, and work programs. In the 2016–2017 academic year, McMaster students received approximately C$100,972,910 in Ontario Student Assistance Program loans and C$40,061,756 in grants, approximately $140,981,009 in total. In the same year students received C$10,135,233.65 in bursaries. The McMaster Model is the university's policy for a student-centred, problem-based, interdisciplinary approach to learning, a policy which has been adopted by several other universities around the world. During the 1960s the McMaster University Medical School pioneered problem-based learning (PBL) tutorials that have since been adopted by other programs and faculties within the university. PBL is now used in medicine, occupational therapy, physical therapy, nursing, midwifery, and other allied fields. Most medical schools in Canada and more than 80 per cent of medical schools in the United States employ PBL in their curriculum, and many international universities do the same. In 1991, McMaster's School of Medicine adopted progress testing, developing the personal progress index (PPI), a system based on progress testing invented concurrently by the University of Missouri-Kansas City's medical school and the Maastricht University. The PPI is used as an objective method for assessing acquisition and retention of knowledge for students in the medical program. The PPI is administered at regular intervals to all students in the program, regardless of their level of training, and plots students' scores as they move through the program. Students typically score 20 per cent on their first examination, and increase by five to seven per cent with each successive examination. Students can monitor the changes in their scores and receive formative feedback based on a standardized score relative to the class mean. Due to the overwhelming success and research supporting the use of the PPI as an evaluation tool, it is now used in Canada, US, Europe, and Australia. McMaster University has placed in post-secondary school rankings. In the 2018 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) rankings, the university ranked 84th in the world and fourth-highest in Canada. The 2019 Times Higher Education World University Rankings placed McMaster 77th in the world, and fourth in Canada. The 2019 QS World University Rankings ranked the university 146th in the world and fifth in Canada. In U.S. News & World Report 2019 global university rankings, the university placed 130th, and fourth in Canada. In 2011, Newsweek had also ranked McMaster as the 15th top university outside of the United States, and the fourth best university in Canada. In Maclean's 2019 rankings, McMaster placed fourth in both their Medical-Doctoral university category, and in their reputation ranking for Canadian universities. McMaster was ranked in spite of having opted out from participation in Maclean's graduate survey since 2006. McMaster also placed in a number of rankings that evaluated the employment prospects of graduates. In QS's 2019 graduate employability ranking, the university ranked 93rd in the world, and fifth in Canada. In the Times Higher Education's 2018 global employability ranking, McMaster placed 78th in the world, and fifth in Canada. In an employability survey published by the New York Times in October 2011, when CEOs and chairmans were asked to select the top universities which they recruited from, McMaster placed 61st in the world, and fourth in Canada. In 2018, Research Infosource named McMaster as the most research intensive university in the country with an average sponsored research income (external sources of funding) of C$434,700 per faculty member in 2017, the highest average in the country, and nearly double the average for universities in the "Medical-Doctoral" category. In the same year, graduate students averaged a sponsored research income of $82,800, the highest out of any full-service university. With a total sponsored research income of $379.959 million in 2017, McMaster has the seventh largest sponsored research income amongst Canadian universities. In the 2015–2016 academic year, the federal government was the largest source of McMaster's sponsored research income (excluding affiliated hospitals), providing 61.4 per cent of McMaster's research budget, primarily through grants. Corporate research income account for 7.3 per cent of the overall research budget. McMaster has been ranked on several bibliometric university rankings, which uses citation analysis to evaluate the impact a university has on academic publications. In 2018, the Performance Ranking of Scientific Papers for World Universities ranked McMaster 112th in the world, and sixth in Canada. The University Ranking by Academic Performance 2018–19 rankings placed the university 126th in the world, and sixth in Canada. Michael G. DeGroote Centre for Learning and Discovery is a multipurpose building primarily used by Faculty of Health Sciences. Along with teaching facilities, it houses several research institutes for the Faculty. McMaster has received accolades for its research strengths, particularly in the field of health sciences. For five years in a row, McMaster has ranked second in for biomedical and health care research revenues by the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada. The Faculty of Health Science oversees $130 million a year in research, much of that research conducted by scientists and physicians who teach in the medical school. The Faculty of Health Sciences operates several research institutes, including the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health, and the Population Health Research Institute. The university also operates a brain bank, whose collection includes a portion of Albert Einstein's brain, preserved and held for medical research. Researchers there have identified differences in his brain that may relate to his genius for spatial and mathematical thinking. In addition to traditional forms of research, members of Faculty of Health Sciences have also been credited with developments within the medical practice. A McMaster research group led by David Sackett and later Gordon Guyatt had been credited for establishing the methodologies used in evidence-based medicine. A titan arum blooming inside the McMaster Biology Greenhouse. The Greenhouse is one of many facilities used for research at the university. Other notable research facilities include the McMaster Biology Greenhouse, and the Brockhouse Institute for Material Research (BIMR). The Biology Greenhouse holds 217 plants in a 780-square-metre (8,400 sq ft) facility, and is used as a teaching and research facility by the Department of Biology. In addition to maintaining its permanent collection, the Biology Greenhouse also grows plants for both short term research studies. The Brockhouse Institute was created in 1960 by Howard Petch, the institute was named after McMaster alumnus Bertram Brockhouse. The BIMR is an interdisciplinary research organization with the mandate to develop, support, and co-ordinate all materials research related activities at McMaster. Its membership of 123 faculty members is drawn from 13 departments in the Faculties of Science, Engineering, and Health Sciences, as well as several Canadian and international universities. Facilities of the BIMR include the Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy, Centre for Crystal Growth, McMaster Analytical Xray Facility, Electronic and Magnetic Characterization Facility, and the Photonics Research Laboratories. The Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy is home to the world's most advanced microscope. The Titan 80–300 cubed microscope has a magnification of 14 million and is used for material, medical, and nanotechnology research. The McMaster Nuclear Reactor is the largest research reactor in the Commonwealth of Nations. In addition, the university also operates the McMaster Nuclear Reactor, used for nuclear science and engineering research since 1959. The university regularly acquires an operating license for the reactor from the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, with the latest 10-year license issued on 1 July 2014. The strength of nuclear science at McMaster was augmented in 1968 under the presidency of Dr. H.G. Thode by the construction of a 10MV Model FN Tandem particle accelerator. The 3MV Model KN single-ended accelerator was added the same year. The academic direction of the laboratory fell to the Physics Department in the early days, as it was primarily a nuclear structure laboratory. During the next 28 years, the nuclear research effort was extensive, with hundreds of graduate students trained and many publications generated. The Pool-type Reactor is used for research, educational, and commercial applications such as neutron radiography, and medical radioisotope production; Iodine-125 is used in cancer therapy. The reactor at McMaster produces 25 per cent of the world's supply of iodine-125, an isotope used in nuclear medicine to treat prostate cancer. The production of molybdenum-99 at Chalk River Laboratories has occasionally been moved to the university's reactor, when Chalk River's National Research Universal reactor is forced to shut down. The requirements for admission differ between students from Ontario, other provinces in Canada, and international students due to the lack of uniformity in marking schemes. The acceptance rate at McMaster for full-time, first-year applications in 2018 was 52.6 per cent. In September 2014, the secondary school average for full-time first-year students at McMaster University was 87.7 per cent. Students entering McMaster's more selective undergraduate programs, including the Integrated Sciences program and the Arts and Science program, had a secondary school average of 96.3 per cent. McMaster received 28,079 applicants in the 2016. McMaster's medical school is the most competitive medical program in Canada by application numbers, with more than 5,200 applicants competing for 204 positions. The Michael DeGroote School of Medicine has notably developed admission tests that has since become adopted by other schools. In 2001, they developed the multiple-mini interview in an effort to address long-standing concerns over standard panel interviews; viewed as poor reflectors for medical school performance. This format uses short, independent assessments in a timed circuit to obtain aggregate scores in interpersonal skills, professionalism, ethical/moral judgment, and critical thinking to assess candidates. The multiple-mini interview has consistently shown to have a higher predictive validity for future performance than traditional interviews. The multiple-mini interview process has since been adopted by the majority of Canadian medical schools, as well as a number of medical schools in the United States. In 2010, the medical school developed the Computer-based Assessment for Sampling Personal Characteristics, in order to better assess the personal characteristics of the applicant. A number of other medical schools have since adopted the CASPer test, including New York Medical College, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine. In the 2016–2017 academic year, the university had an enrollment of 31,625 students: 26,780 undergraduate students, 4,485 graduate students. The student body is largely made up of Canadians, making up 90.27 per cent of the student population. International students represented, respectively, 9.73 per cent of the student population. Full-time students make up about 93.8 per cent of the student body. Among full-time students, the university has a first-time student retention rate of 90.9 per cent. The McMaster University Student Centre plaza. The Student Centre, to the right, houses a number of student groups, including the McMaster Students Union. The main student unions on administrative and policy issues are the McMaster Students Union for full-time undergraduates, the McMaster Association of Part-Time Students for part-time undergraduates, and the McMaster Graduate Students Association for postgraduates. In addition, each faculty has its own student representative body. There are more than 300 student organizations and clubs, covering a wide range of interests such as academics, culture, religion, social issues, and recreation. Many of them are centred on the McMaster student activity centre, the McMaster University Student Centre. The Silhouette, the student-run newspaper, is the oldest student service at McMaster University, in publication since 1929. Since 1968, the McMaster Engineering Society has published The Plumbline, the main satire magazine of McMaster University. The campus radio station CFMU-FM (93.3 FM) is Canada’s second-oldest campus radio station, and has been broadcasting since 1978. MacInsiders, a popular online student-run forum and information network, has been operating since 2007 and has over 18,000 registered members. The McMaster Marching Band, created in September 2009, is a brass, reed and percussion marching band composed of 45 graduate and undergraduate students as well as members of the surrounding community who wish to participate. Athletics at McMaster is managed by the university's student affairs, under their athletics and recreation department. The university's varsity teams compete in the Ontario University Athletics conference of U Sports (formerly called Canadian Interuniversity Sport). The university's team sports programs include baseball, basketball, football, lacrosse, rugby, soccer, swimming, volleyball, and water polo. The first major sport game played at McMaster was in 1889, when a group of alumni from Toronto Baptist College and Woodstock College played an exhibition game against one another, sparking an early intercity rivalry between McMaster students. In 1897 the university placed all physical activity and sports under the jurisdiction of a central executive committee. The varsity teams have been known as the McMaster Marauders since 1948, through a contest run by the student newspaper, The Silhouette, to name the university's men's basketball team. In 2016–2017 academic year, McMaster had over 1,100 student-athletes in either varsity or club teams. The McMaster Marauders football team at Ron Joyce Stadium. The Marauders have won 11 national championships and 139 provincial champions since 1961. The men's water polo team has won the Ontario University Athletics championship 25 times, making it the Marauders' most successful team at the provincial level. The men's wrestling team has been the Marauders' most successful team at the national level, winning the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship four times. McMaster University has graduated 34 Olympic athletes, eight Olympic coaches, two Olympic administrators and two Olympic officials. As is mandatory for all members of U Sports, McMaster University does not provide full-ride athletic scholarships. The fireball is the emblem of the Faculty of Engineering. The emblem is based off the coat of arms of the defunct Hamilton College. In addition to the visual representations of the institution, the university's individual departments, faculties, and schools also employ symbols to visually represent them. One such example is the Faculty of Engineering's fireball emblem, adopted by the faculty in 1960. The fireball was adopted from the coat of arms of the defunct Hamilton College. The coat of arms consists of a shield, a crest, and a motto, together with a helmet. The shield contains an eagle, symbolic of the heavenly vision, with a cross on its breast to indicate Christianity as the inspiration for the university's vision. The chief of the shield bears an open book, a common symbol of learning. A golden maple leaf is situated on each side of the book, signifying the university's charter was granted by the Province of Ontario. The helmet, above the shield, has the open visor and forward-facing style typically used by universities. The mantling surrounding the shield and helmet represents the cloak worn over a knight's armour as protection from the sun. The crest, located above the helmet, is a stag and oak tree, which serves as a tribute to the Canadian senator, William McMaster, who also used a stag and oak on his insignias. The motto is located above the crest, as is common in Scottish heraldry. Tihomir Orešković, 11th Prime Minister of Croatia. Tommy Douglas, 7th Premier of Saskatchewan and first leader of the NDP. Bertram Brockhouse, Nobel laureate in physics, for his work with neutron scattering. Myron Scholes, Nobel laureate in economics for his work with the Black–Scholes model. Harold Innis, contributed to the staples thesis and Toronto School of communication theory. Stephen Elop, president and chief executive officer of the Nokia Corporation. Cyrus S. Eaton, founder of Republic Steel and chairman of C&O Railway. In the year 2016, McMaster University has over 184,000 alumni residing over 139 countries. Throughout McMaster's history, faculty, alumni, and former students have played prominent roles in many fields, accumulating a number of awards including Nobel prizes, Rhodes scholarships, the Gates Cambridge Scholarship, and the Lasker Award. Nobel Prize winners include alumnus Myron Scholes, awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1997 for his work with the Black-Scholes model. Two individuals from McMaster were also award the Nobel Prize in Physics, faculty member Bertram Brockhouse in 1994 for his work in neutron scattering; and alumna Donna Strickland in 2018 for her work on laser physics. Alumnus James Orbinski accepted the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 on behalf of Doctors Without Borders as the organization's president. Prominent alumni in the field of science include Douglas L. Coleman, who discovered leptin; Richard Bader, noted for his work on the atoms in molecules theory; Harold E. Johns, who pioneered the use of cobalt-60 in the treatment of cancer, Karl Clark, who pioneered the separation method to extract bitumen from the oil sands; Steve Mann, a researcher and inventor in the field of computational photography; Peter R. Jennings, computer programmer and developer of Microchess; and Simon Sunatori, an engineer and inventor. Notable faculty members include chemist Ronald Gillespie, who helped shape VSEPR theory, as well as David Sackett and Gordon Guyatt, whose research team was credited for establishing the methodologies used in evidence-based medicine. Notable alumni and faculty members in the field of social sciences include Harold Innis, who helped shape communication theory and the staples thesis, and sociologist Henry Giroux, one of the founding theorists of critical pedagogy. Two medical researchers, and members of McMaster had travelled in space; faculty member Dafydd Williams, and alumna Roberta Bondar, the first Canadian woman in space. Many former students have gained prominence for serving in government. Croatian Prime Minister, Tihomir Orešković was an alumnus of the university. Lincoln Alexander, the former Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, as well as the first visible-minority Lieutenant Governor in Canada was another alumnus of the university. Canadian premiers that have graduated from the university include the former premier of Ontario, Dalton McGuinty, and the former premier of Saskatchewan, Tommy Douglas. Many graduates have also served in the House of Commons of Canada, including, Tony Valeri, the Government House Leader; and Lawrence Pennell, the Solicitor General of Canada. Roy Kellock, a Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada was a graduate from the university. Charles Aubrey Eaton, a member of the United States House of Representatives, and signor of the United Nations Charter on behalf of the United States, was an alumnus of the university. A number of prominent business leaders have also studied at McMaster. Examples include David Braley, owner of the Toronto Argonauts and BC Lions of the Canadian Football League; Stephen Elop, former president and CEO of Nokia; Cyrus S. Eaton, founder of Republic Steel and chairman of Chesapeake and Ohio Railway; Paul D. House, current executive chairman of Tim Hortons; Lynton Wilson, chairman of Bell Canada, CAE Inc., and Nortel; Michael Lee-Chin, current chairman, CEO of AIC Limited;, Kathy Bardswick, president and CEO of The Co-operators, and Rob Burgess, former chairman and CEO of Macromedia. A number of McMaster alumni had also had successful sports careers, including Syl Apps of the Toronto Maple Leafs; and NHL coach Roger Neilson. The university has had 34 of its graduates compete in the Olympic games, including Olympic medalists Larry Cain; Adam van Koeverden; and Mark Heese. McMaster faculty member Norman Lane was also an Olympic medalist. Several alumni of the university have also become prominent in the entertainment industry, including comedians, actors and directors. Such alumni include Eugene Levy; Martin Short; Jonathan Frid; Ivan Reitman; Dave Thomas; and John Candy. ^ a b c Statutes of the Province of Ontario. 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2019-04-23T06:08:54Z

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/McMaster_University

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When I was twenty-three, I wrote a horrible, terrible novel that will never see the light of day. I submitted it to an agent — ONE agent — and received a rejection within minutes. Now I know this was his assistant summarily rejecting everything in the slush pile, but at the time, I took this as the ultimate sign that I was not meant to be a writer. Dejected, I stopped. Instead, I got a job as an assistant at a literary agency, where I remained for four years. Next, I became an editor at Penguin Random House, where I acquired and edited fiction and non-fiction, primarily for teens and young adults. After that, I came to work for Cup of Jo, where I decided to try my hand at writing again. And a few years after THAT, I attempted writing books. So yeah, this was not a situation where I wrote something, submitted it into the ether and got it published. I feel tremendously lucky to have gotten here. 2. Books themselves also take forever. Dreams aside, the publication of a physical book takes approximately one million years. I wrote this book in 2016, and it’s finally coming out… in 2019. “Why do books take so long?” everyone asks. “How much time can it take to print something?” This is a long and complicated answer, so let’s just say that book publishing is an archaic historic institution, with schedules that harken back to another time, and the process of getting a book into your hands takes many, many steps. 3. You kind of get to do whatever you want. There are a million inside jokes (with myself) baked into the text. An arcade named after my friend’s cat. A character named after my favorite lipstick. Because I could, and it made the process that much more fun. To that end, I would argue that writing, even when it comes to fiction, is just as much about mining the contents of one’s memory as it is about making things up. How did you feel at a certain age? What was going on in your life? What did it look like? Who or what were the touchstones of that period? Those details are baked into this story, because as much as this is a story about three girls on the cusp of turning thirteen, it’s also my story. And maybe yours, as well. 4. I don’t know where any of this comes from. For me, the act of writing is a little like blacking out. On the best days, it feels like going into a trance. After the fact, I don’t really remember having written any of it. 5. Reading is more important than writing. One question I get asked a lot is how to be a better writer, and my answer is always the same. Read. Read more. Read everything you can get your hands on — voices similar to your own and voices that couldn’t be more different. Topics you have no knowledge of and memoirs about all kinds of people. Read the newspaper. Read essays. Read poetry. And then get very, very quiet and let your own voice speak through you. 6. Authors often have nothing to do with the cover. People will say, “Oh, I like what you did with the cover!” or “That’s an interesting direction you took that in.” But in many cases, writers have absolutely nothing to do with that. Covers are heavily influenced by what sales and marketing think will do well in the current marketplace. 7. You — yes, you! — can make stuff happen. This is not specific to writing books, but it’s something the process has absolutely taught me. When there is something you really care about — be it a book, a brief, a child — sometimes you need to take matters into your own hands. Do it yourself. Speak up. Don’t be afraid of being aggressive. This is your baby we’re talking about, and you need to do everything in your power to help guide their journey. 8. Writing a book is not fancy. “When are you going to hit the road?” everyone says. “When is the book tour? Where is the party with celebrity guests?” That’s funny. That is the stuff of ’80s lore and television shows. The vast majority of authors do not go anywhere. My book tour is on Instagram, and you are warmly invited. This is where I do my best therapist voice and say, “But just having written a book is a success.” And that is true! But commercially, most books do not earn back the expense it takes to make them. The mega bestsellers (like James Patterson or J.K. Rowling or Michelle Obama) are what make the vast majority of money for publishers, while everything else is a loss. So, book sales are very important! Particularly the first week of sales, which often sets the tone for how a book will perform over its lifetime. If a book sells out of the gate, then stores will re-stock, the publisher will re-print, and everyone will be happy. All of which is to say, if there is a writer whose work you love (ah-hem, cough cough), don’t hesitate to support their book when it comes out! Writing, like many other art forms, is ultimately a labor of love. 10. You always have to start somewhere. After you finish one project, you are faced with the terror of starting another. But for me, the hardest part is always simply beginning. I’ll tell myself, write one paragraph per day, write one page, write one chapter. Run a few meters, run a few blocks, run a few miles. Wherever you are, whatever you want to accomplish, just start somewhere. Because before you know it, you’re actually doing the thing, and that feels pretty amazing. P.S. 12 beautiful children’s books and 18 great books with female heroines. Just wanted to let you know my 10 year old daughter finished your book today and loved it! She can’t wait for the next one. Congrats! I just ordered it for my 8 yr old! And I know her 12 yr old brother will also end up reading it. They both love the babysitter club! yay! congratulations caroline!! i love your advice from the other side. a while ago i wrote a list of roles but then realized I can’t call myself something if I dont actually do it. so even though it’s just a blog, i can now consider myself a writer. maybe someday i’ll pen a book as well. i wrote more about my aspirations here: https://tps-steph.blogspot.com/2019/02/0028-i-am.html sharing is a way to motivate myself. I LOVED reading The Baby-Sitters Club series growing up! Mary Anne was my favorite babysitter! I have a 9 year old daughter who loves to read – excited to get this for her. No salami for anyone you care about! Plenty of research shows that cured meats lead to increased colorectal cancer. Instead, stick with dark chocolate or healthful food choices to show your love! I ordered this book for my 12 year old neighbor who babysits our kids. Inspite of her age, she is truly a great babysitter; fun, playful, patient, compassionate, and creative. When it arrived, my five year old daughter was enthralled by the cover, so I read her the first chapter. Really fun! Congratulations Caroline! This is so exciting Caroline! Congratulations! As someone who once upon a time had a babysitters’ club inspired by Kristy’s Great Idea, I cannot WAIT to read your take! I ordered a copy for my classroom library too. My third graders will love this. Congratulations Caroline! You are so inspiring. I have loved reading your work on Cup of Jo for years now and am so excited for your book. Congrats on your book!!!! Just some feedback: considering your picture is in front of the oh so lovely Books are Magic in BK, you may want to link to your book on their site (https://booksaremagic.net/r/tu/Z7), or say, quite literally any indie bookstore for that matter! Where you spend shapes where you live, so let’s put that money back in the community, VS a behemoth tax-evading corp that doesn’t need the help. Congrats again on the release of Best Babysitters Ever! Such an accomplishment, Caroline! Congratulations! As a former BSC fanatic, and attempted club creator myself, I can’t wait to read. Just ordered for my 10 and 11-year-old nieces (and myself)! Just bought it for my library! Congratulations, Caroline! Bought it. Happy to support you and this blog that gives me so much. Doesn’t hurt that I also have an 11yo., who, incidentally, loves to watch the old Babysitter’s Clubs. You’re on the pulse. Congrats! Babysitters Club spin-off are what my 90’s girl dreams are made of! Congratulations on doing it Caroline! I’ve followed you here for years and it’s so inspiring to read this. **Added to cart** I feel privileged to support you! Congrats on the book! Congratulations! I have your book in my cart on amazon.com. And thanks for your insights on writing. Congratulations! These are such wonderful words of advice. Plus, I was so pleased when I got to the end and saw that your book is a babysitters club spin off! Caroline, were you obsessed with The Babysitter’s Club like I was? I wrote an award-winning essay about how much I admired Ann M. Martin when I was in second grade (and the prize was a $25 gift certificate to Toys R Us, where I bought a beloved stuffed dog that I named Norman). Then she did a book signing at my local book store, so of course I brought my essay and asked her to sign it! I had every single book in the series, and every reference to The Babysitter’s Club gives me intense pangs of nostalgia! More importantly, congratulations on your first book! I’m sure it’s wonderful and I hope it introduces a bunch of young girls to the original series, too, like Netflix has done for old TV shows. Congrats Caroline! Such an exciting thing, to have your book published! You have such skill with language, I’m sure the book will do great. Curious if you considered self-publishing and your thoughts about it in general? Anyone else who is in the industry, would love to see what you think, too. Just bought a copy for my 11 year-old daughter! Congratulations!!! I just ordered it, for myself (age 36), haha. So happy for you, Caroline! You are such a gifted writer who really stands out. Congratulations Caroline! Former book publicist here (adult and children’s books) and now I’m a freelance writer. I applaud your bravery and the discipline it takes to actually make this happen. A book is no mean feat. Wishing you so much success! Congrats! Hard work paid off. Congratulations, Caroline! I just ordered my copy! I work in children’s publishing (and am a writer myself), so this post hits home. Your top ten are spot on. And to speak to #10, I had a writing professor in graduate school who told us she used to set a timer when she sat down to write. Fifteen minutes, she’d tell herself. Just write for fifteen minutes (since that seemed less daunting than sitting down to write for an hour or longer). She told us, oftentimes, she didn’t even hear when the timer went off and kept writing long after those fifteen minutes were up. I’ve always loved that advice as a way to just get going. Have I ever used it? No. BUT I’m doing it. This week. Promise. Ps. I love how many people are commenting saying they feel as if one of their friends wrote this book. I second that. 1) I totally did this when I was a kid! I started a babysitters club with my friends in the mid 90s – I had a black ledger book, pooled our earnings, made business cards on my parent’s computer and put up a geocities website eventually. We even went to our parents’ offices to present our services and drum-up business. By age 13, I was making more per hour than I did my first job post-college! By high school, I had regular nanny gigs, by college full-time nanny jobs and preschool teaching jobs. 2) This says series – will there be more?? Oh my god. I started one too. Waaaaaay before computers and in a tiny outback country town- the demand for babysitting was pretty low but I made a sign and popped it up in the general store (the only shop for miles). I was babysitting at 12. Now with two babies, my peers look at me with horrified faces when I explain my super capable 19 year old niece is baby sitting my 2 yo and 8 mo. I wouldn’t dare tell them I was babysitting at 12 – inspired by the BSC. I am so excited to read this – good on you Caroline. Your article on getting your baby published was excellent! So excited for you, Caroline! The biggest congratualtions to you! Thank you for this, Caroline! I have been working on writing romance novels for a little over a year but I constantly struggle with self doubt and many days I feel like giving up the project. Your list helps me continue to remain dedicated to finishing what I’ve started, even if it never sees the light of day. Congratulations on your book, I wish you all the success and hope there are many more creative projects to come for you. So happy for you and love every single thing you just wrote about writing! I worked at Random House for 15 years. You captured the process perfectly! Congrats! It’s a clever idea. Hope it sells, sells, sells! -Library doesn’t have it? Request it! -And finally, leave a review! Writer question for you Caroline! How would you feel if someone told you they loved your book, and they took your book out from the library? That is generally where I get all my books, but I sometimes feel bad knowing the authors don’t get paid. Thoughts? Illustrator from Australia chiming in here. Every year I get $1 royalty per copy of my book that is loaned in libraries that year. I also got $1 per copy when it was purchased. In Aus at least, authors and illustrators still get royalties on loans books. My husband is an essayist (and a high school math teacher). His writing is gaining traction now, but it has been a slog. He’s about to have an article published in Harvard Ed Review that his been rejected 73 times by other publications! Granted, it’s a tough article on race so I know why people passed on it, but that’s a lot of rejection to absorb while you KEEP ON WRITING! It’s not for the faint of heart, I suppose. Congrats Caroline! Love your writing and am buying the book. Wishing you great success…. My copy arrives tomorrow and I can’t wait! Your writing on Cup of Jo has been a joy to follow and I’m thrilled to hear your voice in a different context. Plus, as a former tween OBSESSED with the Baby Sitters Club books (remember the “special” editions; they were my fave) I’m thrilled to revisit that time of my life. Congrats!!!! Just put myself in line for the book at the library – congrats, Caroline! Congratulations! So exciting. This book looks perfect for my 9 year old daughter–buying it now (and I am a notorious underbuyer of books–we go the library every week and get our fix there. ) But I would love to support you! Bought a copy for my 11 year old. Congratulations, C. Congratulations on your new book! As an indie bookstore owner who LOVED The Babysitters Club when I was younger, I’m the perfect demographic for stocking these. BUT – you’ve got a picture of yourself at an indie bookstore and a link for your book on Amazon and no links to indie bookstores anywhere…seems like a bit of a disconnect and a really big missed opportunity to let your readership know how important it is to support their local indie bookstore, and if they don’t have a local, we ship, too! Just thought I’d point it out that you could have linked to your book on the site of the store you’re posing in front of and help to keep them there. Also, have you reached out to any indies for your virtual book tour? We hold them, too! We would love to help support you, and are usually pretty creative with how we can do that, unlike the Amazon algorithm. As someone once said (paraphrasing) – “An algorithm can only tell you about the past. Booksellers give you the key to the future.” I’m excited to share your book with future generations of readers. Please help us stay here by linking to us indies when you can. Thank you! As a diehard fan of indie bookstores, this made me giggle a little because, as Jessica points out, you have to love the passion of our indie booksellers! Thank you, BrocheAroe! Well said. congrats and great advice! #10 is so important! Congratulations!! I’ve always loved your writing and perspectives on Cup of Jo. It’s very inspiring to read about how you are following many paths in your life. I strongly encourage you to link to IndieBound or an independent bookstore (perhaps the one your are standing outside of in the Books Are Magic photo?) rather than Amazon. Authors and indie bookstores support each other on a very real and personal level, and these kinds of things go a long way to building a stronger community. Many indie bookstores will ship anywhere in the country and IndieBound is a great resource that can help an interested party shop from local bookstores in their area that might carry your book. Indie booksellers can hand-sell your book, put it on a staff recommends shelf, write a review of it, hold an in-store event, and many more things that Amazon can’t do for you. Reach out to some of them, tell them about your book, demonstrate your support by linking to an indie store and build those relationships! Yes please! Thanks for commenting on this as well. I noticed the Books Are Magic photo too—they should be credited at least, and IndieBound is a great resource. Yes, yes, yes to all of this! The publishing of the first book entails a huge learning curve! Bravo Caroline and thanks for these “surprising things”, I’m in the process of writing/not writing and the one paragraph a day tip will help, I’m sure. It’s discipline, it’s work, and it’s “I can do it”. Congratulations! I’ve always loved your writing on CoJ and it feels like there’s some justice in the world now that you’re being published. Congratulations Caroline! As an indie bookseller, I wish that your link went to Books Are Magic, where your photo was taken, rather than the big A. Indie bookstores do author events, recommend to teachers and librarians, and do lots of other things to support their communities (local taxes, anyone?). Cheers, and congrats again! where I live, baby-sitters are usually in high school, most parents don’t trust younger teenagers with their kids, isn’t that funny? I’d love to read your book as my daughter will soon be old enough to baby-sit! Caroline, congratulations, and thank you very much for sharing what you learned on your process. It is indeed something to be very proud of. Brava! OK, so I live in South Africa. We get a lot of the international bestsellers, but they’re expensive. So if I’m not sure if I’ll like something, I’ll often get it on audio, especially if I can get it with an Audible credit (it’s often much cheaper that way). Do audio book sales still count towards sales or not as much as printed books? Congrats Caroline. You’re an inspiration. All the best with your book and your writing career. Huge congratulation on the publication of your book, Caroline. What an achievement! Hip hip hooray! Congratulations, Caroline! Heartfelt congrats to Caroline on this milestone. Please know that your digital audience is cheering for you. Thank you also for this post, championing all of us to be brave and do brilliant, difficult things by your example. Btw- buying this for all the young people in my life. And for me. I’m really curious – did Ann M. Martin give her blessing? Thanks for sharing Caroline! The publishing world is so so glacial. Even more so With picture books because you’re waiting on an illustrator! I was supposed to get published 2019 but am awaiting illustrators still so lets see. My first book Lailah’s Lunchbox took a year to make it into print which I now realize was nothing! I can’t wait to read your book!! I’m a fan of the BSC so Yayyy! Just ordered a copy for my neighbors daughter who’s 9! Congratulations! Congratulations on your book, and loved this thoughtful post. Congratulations, Caroline! I’m so glad I was introduced to your writing via Cup of Jo. I still revisit the 7-step guide to heartbreak every now and then – it is a source of comfort during a time when many of us need it most! Congrats! I put my hold in (New York Public Library) (for myself, 33!) Someone in the industry once told me utilizing the library system is still very supportive of writers and publishers. I’ve agonized over not spending at my local independent shops but the library is perfect for me and I adore my local branch. I contribute monetarily to the NYPL often. Would you say this is accurate? Regarding point #2, I actually am very curious to know why exactly does it so long for a book to come out in the States?? If anyone knows of an article that covers this topic, would love to hear! Congratulations, Caroline! You’ve written some of my favorite words on Cup of Jo (though it’s hard to pick favorites around here!), and I’m thrilled your book is officially out in the world. Woohoo! Just ordered this for my 10 year old daughter! :) She is super excited! Congrats in making your dream reality. Congratulations Caroline! I am newish to the book industry (on the independent bookstore side) and one of the most fascinating random tidbits I’ve learned is that there is one woman–the fiction buyer at Barnes & Noble–who has tons of influence and power, and publishers will change a cover, and even a title, if she tells them to. Crazy to think about. My 8 year old daughter will absolutely devour this book! Congratulations! My daughter loved that series. Thrilled to see this arrive on our doorstop today! It’s a gift for my 9-year old daughter. Love that we’ll both enjoy reading it to each other at night. Congratulations Caroline!! This is wonderful! Ordering right now for my 9 year old daughter and will suggest this for the next meeting of her book club! Congratulations! SO excited for you, Caroline. I’ve been enchanted with your writing since your first COJ post. Ordering now– for my 30-year-old self :) All the best to you and this book’s journey. HUGE congrats on the NYT review! Just received my copy today! Congrats on your novel — I can’t wait to read it. Congratulations! I just ordered a copy for a friend’s daughter. I felt like telling her that a friend had written it. Just did the exact same (and felt the same way)! Congratulation Caroline!!! This is HUGE and I’ll be ordering it today for my girls. My dad has written several college level probability/statistics books and I read them like a novel because it too has inside jokes/ or what I call family Easter eggs. So many of the math problems include relatives’ names, favorite hikes from the French alps, the chances a family will have 4 children (3F, 1M) like us, even my dad’s daily commute to and from work. They are such treasures!!! Wow! How lovely! I never considered that so much sentiment went into a math problem I was solving! Congratulations! As a writer myself, I know of what you speak! From one author to another: you’re an author! Soak it in! It feels like a miracle, but we know it’s hard work. Reading this made me want to keep slogging away at my current creative projects. Thank you. And enjoy the launch! I’ll hand sell it at the bookstore I work part-time at out here in Seattle! Beautifully stated as always. Go Caroline!! So happy for you! Congratulations! I’m ordering one right now for my daughter. So thrilled! Gonna buy a copy each for my twin nieces. They’re three years old so it’ll be a while ‘til they can read it, but it’ll be fun telling them how their ‘grown up’ book collection started after a brilliant writer on aunty’s favourite blog back in 2019 published a book. My niece is two and I too will buy for her a copy for the same reason! Love you Caroline and congratulations! 1. Buy your books from independent sellers or from the publisher directly. Not amazon. The makers get more of a cut and can make and support riskier work. 2. Caroline was kind of vague about the process, but to hold a physical book in your hand (or even kindle I suppose) is a massive process and risk for a publisher. The endless edits, the production meetings, the design meetings, the proofs, the printing, the shipping – it is all time consuming. People in this industry get paid peanuts because they love producing quality literature and adding voices to the world. As in part 1. Of my comment, please support them! Then how are these so many awful, truly awful books? I’m not trying to be snarky. I’m very curious. Em, two words: self publishing. Standards have diluted with paper and printing being cheaper. My tip: find a few publishing houses (big and small) that you trust to have put in the hours and go from there, after that it’s a matter of taste, I suppose. “For me, the act of writing is a little like blacking out. On the best days, it feels like going into a trance. After the fact, I don’t really remember having written any of it.” SO FUNNY SO TRUE. Kudos! I look forward to picking up a copy and getting nostalgic with the BSC. 100% agree and am glad this is a real thing that other people have too!!! Thank you for featuring this and the opportunity to learn more about the book process. I am doing a lot of reading for my PhD on colonialism and trauma and I need a break from such heavy reading. I loved the Babysitter’s Club. Thank you, Caroline Cala- I hope you know you wrote this for grown ups too! Congratulations! I’m ordering a copy for my 10 year old niece. I think she’ll love it! Just ordered the book for my 9 year old goddaughter! I had a book published 2 years ago (after having 2 of my top 3 publishers vying to publish it!). I picked out a new set of dishes I would buy myself when my first royalty check came in. A beautiful 12-piece place setting from a pottery studio. Rude awakening: I could buy 2 place-settings with the royalties. I bought my dishes anyway, as a celebration. Hehe when on “tour” in schools for my picture book a child asked with stars in his eyes how much money I’d made of it – glad you asked kid, 9c an hour. Lol! Thank goodness I had a day job. Hey, I also have a middle grade novel coming out this year w/ Scholastic! (I’m actually editing it right now and read this on my *break* time) so this was really helpful and timely! Thank you! So excited for you! Just ordered it for my 11 year old daughter! Congratulations, Caroline! I really love the part about how you can make stuff happen. Ordering it, reading it, and leaving you a five-star review on amazon. Congratulations on the book! The 4th grade version of me, who the best day of the month at school was when the scholastic book order came with the newest Babysitters Club, is very excited to read this book. And…YES, YES, YES to #7. I’m so curious- I know you read and write a ton…how and why did you decide to write this book in particular? Did you have the idea for it long before you wrote it or did you think of the idea and then decide to pursue it right away? I’m curious, why the pen name? Good question! Cala is my middle name and in my everyday life, I typically use all three names (Caroline Cala Donofrio) because it feels like a way to honor my family, where the names come from. When it came to the children’s books, I wanted to own them fully, but also keep them separate from my writing for adults. Sometimes my typical essays or stories might have adult themes, and I was careful to keep the children’s books clean and appropriate for younger audiences. Writing under Caroline Cala felt like an additional way to keep the projects separate and ensure I could write as honestly as possible for different readers.

2019-04-25T08:19:33Z

https://cupofjo.com/2019/02/caroline-cala-best-babysitters-ever/

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Patient clinical responses and changes in tumor burden during treatment reflect the cumulative effects of diverse phenomena that occur at the cellular level. Therefore, it is useful to describe treatment responses at the level of patients, tumors and cells. A large majority of cancer deaths are attributable to metastasis, the process by which cancer cells spread throughout the body to form new tumors in distant vital organs1. Despite its central importance to patient outcomes, the cellular and molecular basis of metastasis is incompletely understood. Burkitt Lymphoma (BL) is an aggressive B-cell lymphoma involving dysregulation of the MYC oncogene by chromosomal translocations. It is most common in children but also affects adults and occurs in sporadic, endemic, and HIV-associated forms. For over seven years, the Office of Cancer Genomics (OCG) has supported recent doctoral graduates through internship and fellowship programs. Jaime M. Guidry Auvil, Ph.D., Malcolm A. Smith, M.D., Ph.D., and Daniela S. Gerhard, Ph.D. The Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments (TARGET), a large-scale pediatric genomic characterization initiative, continues to demonstrate the importance of integrative analyses using comprehensive data and metadata generated from high-quality patient tissues in both solid and hematologic cancers. March is National Kidney Cancer Awareness month, and a good time to reflect on the successes of TARGET in renal tumors, such as Wilms tumor (WT) and other childhood cancers. TARGET investigators published papers in 2017 integrating the genomic and clinical data of cases with high-risk subsets of WT and cases with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and in February 2018 published an analysis across the spectrum of childhood cancers studied to date. These publications (and previous reported findings from TARGET) proved what many oncologists suspected: many pediatric cancers have distinctive molecular characteristics from adults, and therefore it will likely be important to develop specific treatments for these childhood cancers. The TARGET initiative’s approach is to provide molecular characterization of each patient’s tumor genome, transcriptome, and epigenome through analysis of both primary and, when available, relapsed tumor tissues together with their matched normal tissue. The TARGET project teams (PTs) had access to cases for which both tumor and normal tissues were available along with the patient’s clinical and outcome data, predominantly from clinical or biological studies run through the Children’s Oncology Group (COG). The PTs integrated the molecular and clinical data to discover mechanisms of disease development and potential areas for improved therapeutic intervention strategies substantiating the critical need for large-scale research studies of similar design for the pediatric cancer community. Here we summarize some of the results recently published. The genes most commonly mutated in the TARGET WT cohort are TP53 (47.5% DA, 1.7% FH), CTNNB1 (13.5%), DROSHA (10.1%), and FAM123B (13.5%), most of which were already known to be associated with WT. Novel genes uncovered included certain miRNA processing, transcription, and renal development genes [e.g. DGCR8 (4.5%), XPO5 (1.5%), DICER1 (2.5%), SIX1 (3.8%), SIX2 (2.9%), and MLLT1 (3.7%)]. Other mutated genes with novel association to WT included BCOR (2.6%), BCORL1 (3.8%), NONO (2%), MAX (1.7%), COL6A3 (3.2%), ASXL1 (1.7%), MAP3K4 (1.7%), and ARID1A (1.8%). The WT PT also reported that chromosome copy number changes were found in a number of discovery cases [e.g., recurrent 1q gain (56/117 patients; 47.9%), MYCN amplification (19/117 patients; 16.2%), LIN28B gain (24.8% in discovery cohort), and loss of MIRLET7A family members (5.1%-22%; up to 4x more prevalent in DA than FH)]. Germline mutations were found in about 10% of the WT high risk cases studied as well (PALB2 (1.2%) and CHEK2 (1.2%) being novel). Given the relatively high number of genes with candidate driver mutations, future treatment protocols targeting the common processes or pathways affected by the gene mutations may be more efficient than focusing on individual gene mutations. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) – a blood cancer arising in the bone marrow with 50% treatment failure rate – occurs in patients of all ages. The TARGET AML PT published in December 2017 the first large-scale study establishing the prevalence of and relationships among recurrent, somatic genetic and epigenetic alterations in pediatric AML, including how the frequency of these mutations changed as the patients’ age of AML onset increased. The AML PT observed several features common to pediatric and adult AML, including low overall rate of mutation compared to other cancers and overlap of some recurrently mutated genes. Fewer than 40 genes were mutated in more than 2% of cases. Pediatric and young adult AML exhibit critically important molecular characteristics that are distinct in three age-related groups (<2yrs, 3-14yrs, and 15-39yrs). TARGET investigators identified novel gene fusions, many involving known partner NUP98 and focal deletions (MBNL1, ZEB2, and ELF1) that were more prevalent in young individuals as compared to adults. In addition, novel variants in GATA2, FLT3, and CBL, along with recurrent mutations in MYC, NRAS, KRAS, and WT1 appeared more frequently in pediatric AML. In contrast, targetable IDH mutations that are relatively common in adult AML are practically nonexistent in the childhood disease, reducing the potential role of IDH inhibitors for pediatric AML. Similarly, mutations in other genes commonly observed in adult AML such as DNMT3A and TP53 were nearly absent in pediatric cases. The AML PT discovered that certain combinations of variants affect patient prognosis, for example FLT3-ITD in combination with a mutation in NPM1 confers a probability of improved survival. FLT3 ITD by itself, or even in combination with other mutations (which are important in AML on their own), are associated with highly aggressive disease. The TARGET PT further found that certain deletions, mutations, and hypermethylation of promoter DNAs cooperatively impacted key signaling pathways in growth, immunity, and alternate splicing that can lead to leukemogenesis. These results suggest that the development of future therapeutic strategies may benefit through an age-tailored, targeted approach to the treatment of pediatric AML. In February 2018, the first trans-TARGET study3 of somatic alterations in 1,699 pediatric leukemia and solid tumors across six histotypes was published online. The analyses were performed on samples from young patients (most <20yrs and enrolled on COG trials). The manuscript was published back-to-back with a study from German investigators analyzing European childhood cancer cohorts. The studies were complementary inasmuch TARGET’s cohort was >50% hematologic cancers, while the European cohort included >50% brain cancers. The molecular characterization details were not identical, but the “big picture” conclusions agreed remarkably well. Here we summarize the TARGET results. The median somatic mutation rates among all TARGET pediatric cohorts generally range from 0.17 per million bases (MB) to 0.7/MB and are substantially lower than those observed in common adult cancers (1-10/MB). The frequency of germline variants which are risks for tumor development are ~10%. Somatic copy number alternations (sCNAs) and structural variations (SV) comprised the majority (62%) of events observed, specifically single nucleotide mutations or small indels were less frequent. This finding provided strong support to the initial design of the project, to utilize whole genome sequencing whenever possible, since whole exome sequencing would not have allowed detection of sCNAs and SVs mutations. In many patients these genomic alterations are the driver events. The genomes of 11% of TARGET patients revealed chromothripsis (i.e. massive rearrangements caused by a single catastrophic event). Analyses revealed a large number of low frequency drivers within and among disease cohorts. Driver gene alterations produced disruptions in pathways that may be targetable with existing treatments. Specifically, TARGET investigators found 21 biologic pathways disrupted by driver alterations, across cancers (i.e. cell cycle, epigenetic regulation) or histotype-specific (i.e. JAK-STAT, Wnt/ β-catenin, and NOTCH signaling). Of clinical significance, the genes mutated in shared or separate pathways were different among histotypes. Certain signaling pathways (RAS, JAK-STAT, and PI3K) show distinctive somatic alterations between solid tumors (primarily ALK, NF1, and PTEN) and leukemias (nearly all mutations in FLT3, PIK3CA, PIK3R1, and RAS genes). The somatic alterations with highest prevalence across certain disease groups occurred in CDKN2A (predominantly as deletions): mostly affecting T-ALL (78%), B-ALL (42%), and OS (11%). Over half of the pediatric driver genes observed across TARGET cohorts were specific to a single histotype (e.g. TAL1 for T-ALL and ALK for NBL). The trans-TARGET analyses outlined some known and novel, statistically significant co-occurrences (e.g., USP7, TAL1 in T-ALL; ETV6, IKZF1 in AML, and CREBBP, EP300 in B-ALL) or mutual exclusivities (e.g. MYCN, ATRX, or SHANK2 in NBL; PAX5, TP53 in B-ALL) among more than 300 gene-pairs. TARGET findings further indicate that subclonal mutations could be contributing to tumorigenesis in various childhood cancers, with nearly half of point mutations in leukemia and NBL driver genes showing low mutant allele frequencies (MAFs, <0.3). The TARGET initiative and other large-scale genomics projects are transforming precision oncology for childhood cancers by identifying therapeutic strategies based on insights that can only be gleaned through high-quality, large-scale integrative data analyses. By creating a comprehensive molecular compendium of molecular alterations from large cohorts of cancer patients and by making these data available for investigators who will continually improve upon the knowledge base of these cancers, more effective classification and treatment strategies can be developed. Additional integrative manuscripts will be published for TARGET in the coming months, and the community is encouraged to use and follow-up on those important observations as they become available. For more information, including additional TARGET publications and data used for these analyses, please visit and explore the TARGET website and Data Matrix at the Office of Cancer Genomics. Patient clinical responses and changes in tumor burden during treatment reflect the cumulative effects of diverse phenomena that occur at the cellular level. Therefore, it is useful to describe treatment responses at the level of patients, tumors and cells. Here, we will discuss the terminology that is used to describe the drug responses at each of these levels with a focus on heterogeneity between individual cancer cells. Clinical responses for patients with solid tumors are judged based on changes in tumor sizes compared to a pretreatment baseline. Depending on cumulative changes across all measurable tumors, patients are judged to have a complete response (CR), partial response (PR), stable disease (SD), or progressive disease (PD). Each of these response categories apply to a single time point during treatment and can subsequently change. For example, a patient who experiences a CR or PR may subsequently relapse into PD. Also, distinct tumors within the same patient may respond differently. During treatment, tumors can undergo shrinkage, stasis, or growth. Tumors shrink if they are composed primarily of drug-sensitive cancer cells. However, a shrinking tumor may contain a minority of surviving non-proliferative or actively proliferating cells embedded in a larger population of drug-sensitive dying cells, giving the appearance of tumor shrinkage. Tumor stasis, or lack of change in size, can result from a bulk population of non-responsive and non-proliferative cells, an equilibrium state of dying and proliferating cells, or a mixture of these two scenarios. A related but not an identical term is tumor dormancy which is used to refer to cancer cells which disseminate throughout the body and remain undetected in microscopic groups or as single cells for months or years. These so called dormant “disseminated tumor cells” are thought to be the source of tumor recurrence in the cases where tumors reemerge years after cessation of therapy. Alternatively, cancer cells can have variable drug response due to non-genetic mechanisms. Distinct from genetic mutations, non-genetic mechanisms of drug resistance are transient and reversible. The clinical observation of secondary responses in patients who have been treated with the same drug they developed resistance to, after a temporary period of time without treatment (drug holiday), supports the concept that reversible, non-genetic mechanisms of drug resistance play an important role in tumors. At the cellular level, emerging evidence indicates that a subpopulation of tumor cells can reversibly enter a non-proliferative (quiescent) “persister” cell state with decreased sensitivity to a range of cancer therapies. These persister cells are affected by drug treatment and stop proliferating, but do not die, hence they are referred to as drug-tolerant rather than drug-resistant. Persister cells have been found to have increased stemness, or capacity to regenerate new tumors, highlighting their potentially important role in tumor regrowth and dissemination after an initial therapeutic response. Recent evidence also indicates that persister cells have increased DNA mutation rates, possibly serving as a cell reservoir from which drug-resistant mutant cells with distinct mutations may emerge during treatment. If this occurs in patients, then a clinical approach to prevent the formation or elimination of persister cells before resistance-conferring mutations are acquired may be essential to achieve durable responses. Figure: Tumor heterogeneity and drug responses. This discussion has focused on responses to small molecule drugs in solid tumors. Relative to our understanding of responses to small molecules, our understanding of the intricacies of responses to immunotherapy is at its infancy. However, it is likely that similar principles apply to antibody- and cell-based immunotherapies. Cell to cell genetic or non-genetic heterogeneity is likely to contribute to the emergence of drug-tolerant or drug-resistant cancer cells which are not recognized by or do not respond to effector immune cells. Therefore, continued efforts to characterize responses to therapy are important to identify approaches to overcome drug resistance and provide patients with durable responses from a variety of treatment modalities. Andrew J. Ewald, Ph.D. and Joel S. Bader, Ph.D. A large majority of cancer deaths are attributable to metastasis, the process by which cancer cells spread throughout the body to form new tumors in distant vital organs1. Despite its central importance to patient outcomes, the cellular and molecular basis of metastasis is incompletely understood. Surprisingly, metastatic cancer has also been relatively understudied compared to earlier, more treatable stages of the disease2. This discrepancy may in part be attributable to metastasis involving the entire body, occurring deep inside the patient over long periods, and involving many different cells types and molecular pathways in complex combinations. These challenges come together to make metastasis difficult to study in the laboratory. There has therefore been an urgent need to develop model systems that enable the analysis of key processes in metastasis at cellular and molecular resolution3. We set out to solve this problem inspired by progress with tissue organoid assays originally developed to study normal mammary gland development4,5. The essential concept is to surgically remove a portion of an organ, mechanically disrupt it with a scalpel, digest with enzymes, and then process by centrifugation to separate single cells from the tissue pieces or organoids. The single cells consist mostly of immune cells or fibroblasts and can be included or excluded from the culture as desired. Organoids usually consist of 100-500 epithelial cells. Our approach contrasts with the stem cell organoids pioneered by Hans Clevers: our tissue organoids are freshly isolated, are not generally expanded, do not require Wnt ligands for short term culture, and are available for immediate use. The basic approach of mechanical and enzymatic processing to generate tissue organoids is very flexible, and we have adapted it for use with normal mammary glands, primary breast tumors, and metastatic site breast tumors. We have also extended these methods to liver, pancreas, and lung tumors and can start from fresh human tumors, patient derived xenografts (PDXs), or genetically engineered mouse models (GEMMs). We routinely generate ~2,000 organoids per clinical sample, ~20,000 per PDX tumor, and ~200,000 per GEMM model. Accordingly, we can explant organoids from the same sample into a wide range of experimental conditions. We have applied this approach both to understand molecular pathways in the cancer cell and also to interrogate the functional role of specific elements of the tumor microenvironment6,7,8,9. Figure: Human breast tumor organoid invades collectively into a 3D collagen I microenvironment. One of the main advantages of our approach is the ability to maintain a tumor's cellular and phenotypic diversity in convenient, multi-well plate compatible assays. Metastasis requires many steps, each of which poses quite distinct challenges for the cancer cell. Accordingly, we have developed a range of assays modeling primary tumor growth, invasion, dissemination, intravasation, and secondary tumor formation. We use highly automated microscopy to image the behavior of cancer cells at subcellular resolution in these assays, which enables us to develop hypotheses for how these processes take place at the cellular level. To understand the underlying molecular regulation, we can introduce signaling perturbations, shRNA, CRISPR, inducible gene expression, or Cre-lox based gene deletion. We have also optimized nucleotide and protein-based molecular analyses in these cultures, enabling mechanistic dissection of the molecular basis of phenotypes. We then integrate the results of the experimental interventions using network analysis and computational modeling. We have projects analyzing the molecular basis of normal, primary tumor, and metastatic site growth and motility that enable us to identify the truly cancer-specific processes. Our newly launched Center for Cancer Target Discovery and Development (CTD2) builds on our track record of success and provides substantial new resources to exploit these model systems to develop novel therapeutic targets. Breast cancer is particularly challenging in exhibiting a very wide range of suspected driver mutations, with relatively few present in large percentages of patients10,11. Accordingly, the understanding of which genes are the most important for breast tumor initiation and particularly for metastasis remains largely incomplete. The key insight guiding our CTD2 Center is that quantitative analysis of phenotypes within these 3D organoid assays enables us to adopt the mathematical framework of population genetics to identify genes and mutations responsible for breast cancer growth, invasion, and metastasis. The large number of organoids isolated, combined with quantitative imaging and applied mathematics, enables us to systematically analyze the molecular basis of variation among different clones within the same tumor and between tumors from different individuals. Based on our previous analyses of molecular programs driving collective invasion in breast cancer6 and our past work in population genetics12,13, we anticipate that our approach will enable us to appreciate the underlying molecular logic of metastasis. We will then use techniques from network analysis and graph theory14,15 to prioritize targets for intervention. Our goals are to understand metastasis at the molecular level, to apply these insights to identify patients at the greatest risk of metastatic recurrence, and ultimately to improve patient outcomes by identifying new anti-metastatic therapies. Past and current support from the BCRF, the JKTG Foundation, and the National Cancer Institute has been critical to the development of these techniques and to their current application in translational cancer research. Schoger J. VOICES:‘Changing the Landscape for People Living with Metastatic Breast Cancer’—New Report from the Metastatic Breast Cancer Alliance. Oncology Times. 2014 Nov 10;36(21):36-37. Burkitt Lymphoma (BL) is an aggressive B-cell lymphoma involving dysregulation of the MYC oncogene by chromosomal translocations. It is most common in children but also affects adults and occurs in sporadic, endemic, and HIV-associated forms. The Epstein-Barr virus-associated BL (eBL) endemic subtype is the most common pediatric cancer in equatorial Africa but also occurs in other parts of the world (e.g. the rainforest of Brazil). The National Cancer Institute (NCI) established a collaboration with the Foundation for Burkitt Lymphoma Research to develop a genomic databank for BL. One goal of the Burkitt Lymphoma Genome Sequencing Project (BLGSP) is to conduct comprehensive molecular characterization of BL by sequencing DNA and RNA from a large BL cohort–including endemic, HIV-associated, sporadic, pediatric, and adult cases–in order to define the genetic and phenotypic features that drive these cancers. These data will be analyzed and published; the goals are to develop new therapeutic strategies that can be deployed worldwide. BL in Brazil is characterized by geographically distinct clinical and pathologic features1. In central and southern Brazil, adult BL cases occur with similar diagnosis as in the United States and western Europe. In the northeastern and Amazonian regions of Brazil, eBL-associated infections overlap with either Plasmodium falciparum or Plasmodium vivax malaria similar to cases in equatorial Africa. Intensive chemotherapy is effective, but the associated toxicity requires supportive care that is not readily available in resource-poor regions. NCI’s Office of Cancer Genomics (OCG) identified, after extensive search, the Hospital das Clinicas da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (HdC-UFMG) as a potential tissue source site in Brazil and became a member of the project working group (WG). The regulatory process was initiated in November 2013, and all necessary documents (e.g. protocol, informed consent form, etc.) were submitted to the local Institutional Review Board (IRB). Ethical approval was obtained in March 2014; however, the challenge arose because the BLGSP is an internationally-sponsored project involving sample storage and shipping outside of Brazil, and a national IRB approval for biobanking and biorepository (CONEP) was requested. This was a newly developed process, and therefore required extensive (two year) to- and from- exchange to ensure that all required materials were provided in the right format. The approval was obtained in July 2016. Once we had the approval in hand, Dr. Frederico Melo (a pathologist), the principal investigator (PI), and staff evaluated the availability of cases at the HdC-UFMG in the spring of 2017. It was decided that to ensure the accrual of the promised number of cases, a partnership with the Instituto Nacional do Cancer (INCA), with PI Dr. Fabio Leal, was established. The BLGSP utilizes SOPs to enhance the ability to integrate results for tissues obtained across multiple collection sites. The TSS are required to collect and store the tissues, perform site-capable pathology analysis to determine the BL diagnosis, and provide the BLGSP-required clinical data. Based on the SOPs, an overview flowchart was developed by the TSS coordinator in Brazil to understand the process. A challenge for the TSS in Brazil was to develop mechanisms and strategies to identify retrospective samples which was successfully overcome at both sites. Below we describe what was done at HdC-UFMG. Figure. Outline of the Brazil BLGSP Flowchart. The BL case biobank of retrospective samples is located at the Anatomy and Pathology Unit at UFMG. The Unit has a large bank of samples and diagnostic reports for patients diagnosed from 2005 to 2017. The PI and staff first developed preliminary inclusion criteria to be: (i) patients diagnosed with BL confirmed through laboratory results (i.e. histopathological and immunochemistry exams); (ii) patients with “possible BL” (i.e. B-cell lymphoma in germinal center where turnover cells Ki67 >95% are searched); and (iii) patients with other types of lymphoma (e.g. B-cell with low turnover, T-cell, gray zone, anaplastic large cell, mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue, mantle cell). The identification process starts with reading the clinical reports, selecting the patients with a positive diagnosis for lymphoma, and identifying the sample in the biobank. Clinical report forms for each case are available as paper copies, and cases which match the inclusion criteria are selected. Then, the patient ID code, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue block number, and the slice number are recorded. This information is vital to facilitate initial contact with the patient and obtain informed consent to get permission to use their tumor and normal samples in the study. Finally, the samples, which were selected by the Anatomy and Pathology Unit staff, are confirmed to match the BLGSP SOPs by the PI. To date at both sites, 26 cases of BL in Brazil have been submitted to BLGSP, of which seven cases have both tumor and germline paired-samples. Currently, eight cases have passed diagnostic pathology review, three did not pass, and 15 are still being analyzed. Challenges of the Brazil TSS have been the identification of prospective BL cases, which require logistical steps and complex operational procedures carried out by clinical staff and a study team involved at the hospital. The TSS have now improved the identification process for the retrospective BL cases from the past 12 years through expanding the search of diagnostic reports and FFPE blocks stored in the Anatomy and Pathology Unit at HdC-UFMG. The TSS are learning about the technical issues with molecular characterization data, and they can continue to use what they have learned today, from identifying the retrospective cases, to improve the collection process of prospective BL cases. Additionally, young investigators in the research community will use the molecular characterization data from BL patients identified through BLGSP to better understand the molecular alterations of BL in Brazil. This breakthrough has steered the TSS teams to improve the operational procedures in Brazil that have led to the current success of the BLGSP. For over seven years, the Office of Cancer Genomics (OCG) has supported recent doctoral graduates through internship and fellowship programs. This past September, I became the newly appointed Health Communications Fellow for OCG through a Cancer Research Training Award under the Health Communications Internship Program (HCIP). The HCIP provides highly qualified graduate students and recent graduate degree recipients the opportunity to participate in vital health and science communications projects through host offices at the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Applicants are required to have some science background and experience and/or education in at least one of the following areas: public health, epidemiology, public relations, health education, communications, science writing, statistics, social marketing, and/or journalism. After the eight-week selection process, fellows are offered either a six-month or one-year full-time internship with the possibility of renewal for a second-year term. HCIP offers enrichment opportunities through a professional development series of events. Trainings include Managing Up: How to Be Effective with Your Boss, Giving and Receiving Feedback Effectively, and To the Point: Make an Impact by Saying Less. ‘Brown Bags’ are also held throughout the first year as networking events providing the opportunity to interact in a casual environment with individuals from the NCI Presidential Management Fellows program. As part of the HCIP, I was assigned a mentor and a supervisor within OCG, who function as an advisor and day-to-day point of contact, respectively—both also sharing their knowledge and setting fellowship performance expectations that help progress towards my defined goals and objectives at the NCI. Before coming to the NCI, I had recently earned my Ph.D. degree in Public Health and, prior to that, received an M.P.H. in Global Health Practice with a graduate certificate in Disaster Management from the University of South Florida in Tampa. I also received a B.S. in Exercise Science from Florida State University in Tallahassee and became a Certified Health Education Specialist in 2015. My doctoral dissertation focused on understanding Latina breast cancer survivors’ perceptions of the importance of diet and nutrition in helping them cope with the effect of cancer treatment and survivorship. My research study revealed unmet information needs; Latina breast cancer survivors relied on organizational and online nutrition-related resources but identified a gap in culturally and linguistically tailored information related to diet and nutrition following diagnosis. Understanding the limitations that individuals face in their ability to function in daily life roles through cancer survivorship heightened my interest and influenced my decision to come to the NCI. While in the doctoral program, I was also employed as Project Coordinator of the Florida Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) program evaluation. The Florida MIECHV initiative is funded by a grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration with the goal of improving health and developmental outcomes for at-risk children through evidence-based home visiting programs. Our evaluation team was required to collect data and submit quarterly performance reports which served to assist the Maternal and Child Health Bureau in monitoring our grant and providing oversight. Throughout my four years working on the MIECHV program evaluation, I came to understand how organizations apply for, meet the requirements of, and report on federal research funding and competitive grants. My current position at the NCI now affords me a glimpse of how the National Institutes of Health (NIH) award and monitor the success of grants and contracts distributed to the extramural research community and help to disseminate the information achieved through such awards—the other side of the spectrum. As part of the OCG team, I currently collaborate with OCG program managers in supporting innovative scientific programs. OCG aims to advance the molecular understanding of cancer by funding and managing national and international cancer genomics and translational research programs, with the goal of improving clinical outcomes, and thereby contributing to precision medicine. OCG currently supports four collaborative programs: the Cancer Genome Characterization Initiative (CGCI), Therapeutically Applicable Research to Generate Effective Treatments (TARGET), Cancer Target Discovery and Development (CTD2), and the Human Cancer Models Initiative (HCMI). My responsibilities as Health Communications Fellow include managing and creating website content; collaborating with OCG program managers on updating guidelines and manuals; interpreting website engagement analytics; and developing topics, writing articles, and editing the OCG e-Newsletters. I also collaborate with the Center for Cancer Genomics (CCG) Communications team regarding the development of video tutorials, tweets for the NCI Genomics Twitter page, and posts for the Insights and Innovations Blog. Throughout the past seven months, I have become actively involved in assisting with communications initiatives for the CTD2 program. CTD2 is a collaborative Network of 12 research teams called Centers. Through robust cross-Network collaborations, the Network Centers use a combination of computational and experimental approaches to advance cancer research by translating large-scale genomic datasets into clinically-relevant information. For this program, I attend monthly steering committee teleconferences where presentations are given by each Center on a rotating basis to provide updates on their research. I also work closely with the CTD2 Dashboard and Data Harmonization Informatics Portal working groups. Through my OCG tasks and communications activities, I have come to better understand extramural federal grants from the award and management end. My passion in the field of public health stemmed from my drive to help underserved and vulnerable populations through culturally and linguistically tailored health education programs. From my experience so far as part of the OCG team, my future career goals entail working in a government research-entity, ideally NIH, that would provide me the opportunity to develop targeted research and subsequently implement and manage specific programs. My current 12-month Health Communications Fellowship is just a starting off point to improving my understanding of cancer genomics research, bioinformatics, and precision medicine. It is important for me, through the HCIP, to build upon the community-based and analytic research skills I have attained as an evaluator in Florida and apply that knowledge to my work and collaboration activities at the OCG. I am now eager to continue contributing to research that will ultimately improve the health of the people in the cancer community for years to come.

2019-04-25T11:03:42Z

https://ocg.cancer.gov/news-publications/e-newsletter-issue/issue-18

Metal-semiconducting or cell photovoltaic of the joint of Schottky. Hybrid solar cell of the Polymer-semiconducting. Solar cell sensitized point of Quantum. The flexion of the excessive control as large as the energies of the bandage proposes new methods to the photo-answer of the regulator and the effectiveness of the photo-conversion of the solar cell. Several policies to maximize the photo-induced processes of the transference of the separation and the electron of the load to refine the global effectiveness of the slight conversion of the energy are available. To indicate the efforts of the investigation that come in the way to the use from nanostructures adapted will be a significant challenge for the progress in solar cells 36 of the following generation . These last years the solar cells of the colloidal points of the quantum have been the subject of the extensive investigation. A promising alternative existing the solar silicon cells, solar cells of the point of the quantum is between the candidates for the devices photovoltaic of the following generation. The colloidal points of the quantum are attractive in the investigation photovoltaic due to their capacity of the process of the solution that is useful for their integration in the several solar cells. Here, we reviewed the recent one we progressed in the solar cells of I vary point of the quantum that are prepared of colloidal points of the quantum. We discussed the methods of the preparation, the work concepts, the advantages and the disadvantages of the architectures event of the device of I gave ff. The discussed important subjects in this revision include the integration of the colloidal points of the quantum in: The solar cells of Schottky, the exhausted solar cells of heterojunction, the solar cells of the extremely fine shock absorber, the solar cells organic-inorganic hybrids, the solar cells of heterojunction in bulk and the point of the quantum sensitized the solar cells. The revision organizes according to the principle of work and the architecture of the devices photovoltaic . These last years, the inorganic crystals of semiconducting Nano of the (also known like puntea Quantum, QDs) have been to sees promising it pave cell [3, 4] of the following generation. QDs have been explored due to its size and competitive dependent absorption [5-9]. The colloidal points of the quantum have been used in solar cells of heterojunction in bulk also. [10, 11] hand reposed recent progress in this field. Due to the great research interests in one-dimensional (1D) structures highlighted integration of colloidal nanoparticles in Nano rods and nanowires based to pave cells In addition , has reviewed a wide range of applications of quantum dots in optoelectronic devices such as photo detectors, light emitting diodes and briefly about quantum dot solar cells. CdSe quanta dots have been prepared with different sizes and exploited as inorganic dye to sensitize a wide band gap TiO2 thin films for QDs solar cells. The synthesis is based on the pyrolysis of organometallic reagents by injection into a hot coordinating solvent. This provides temporally discrete nucleation and permits controlled growth of macroscopic quantities of Nano crystallites. XRD, HRTEM, UV-visible, and PL were used to characterize the synthesized quantum dots. The results showed CdSe quantum dots with sizes ranging from 3 nm to 6 nm which enabled the control of the optical properties and consequently the solar cell performance. Solar cell of 0.08% performance under solar irradiation with a light intensity of 100 mW/cm2 has been obtained. CdSe/TiO2 solar cells without and with using Mercator propionic acid (MPA) as a linker between CdSe and TiO2 particles despite a Voc of 428 mV, Jsc of 0.184 mAcm−2, FF of 0.57, and η of 0.05% but with linker despite a Voc of 543 mV, Jsc of 0.318 mAcm−2, FF of 0.48, and η of 0.08%, respectively . A high surface area pn-heterojunction between TiO2 and an organic p-type charge transport material (spiro-OMeTAD) was sensitized to visible light using lead sulphide (PbS) quantum dots. PbS quantum dots were formed in situ on a Nano crystalline TiO2 electrode using chemical bath deposition techniques. The organic whole conductor was applied from solution to form the sensitized heterojunction. The structure of the quantum dots was analysed using HRTEM technique. Ultrafast laser photolysis experiments suggested the initial charge separation to proceed in the sub picosecond time range. Transient absorption laser spectroscopy revealed that interfacial charge recombination of the initially formed charge carriers is much faster than in comparable dye-sensitized systems. The sensitized heterojunction showed incident photon-to-electron conversion efficiencies (IPCE) of up to 45% and energy conversion efficiencies under simulated sunlight AM1.5 (10 mW/cm2) of 0.49% . Quantum dot (QD) solar cells have the potential to increase the maximum attainable thermodynamic conversion efficiency of solar photon conversion up to about 66% by utilizing hot photo-generated carriers to produce higher photo-voltages or higher photocurrents. The former effect is based on mini band transport and collection of hot carriers in QD array photo electrodes before they relax to the band edges through phonon emission. The latter effect is based on utilizing hot carriers in QD solar cells to generate and collect additional electron–hole pairs through enhanced impact ionization processes. Three QD solar cell configurations are described: (1) photo=electrodes comprising QD arrays, (2) QD-sensitized Nano-crystalline TiO2, and (3) QDs dispersed in a blend of electron- and hole-conducting polymers. These high-efficiency configurations require slow hot carrier cooling times . Finally, in recent years it has been proposed and experimentally verified in some cases , that the relaxation dynamics of photo-generated carriers may be markedly affected by quantization effects in the semiconductor (i.e., in semiconductor quantum wells, quantum wires, QDs, superlatives, and nanostructures). That is, when the carriers in the semiconductor are confined by potential barriers to regions of space that are smaller than or comparable to their de-Broglie wavelength or to the Bohr radius of exactions in the semiconductor bulk, the relaxation dynamics can be dramatically altered; specifically the hot carrier cooling rates may be dramatically reduced, and the rate of impact ionization could be-come competitive with the rate of carrier cooling. Semiconductors such as CdS, CdSe, CdTe, CuInS2, Cu2S, PbS, PbSe, InP, InAs, Ag2S, Bi2S3 and Sb2S3 have been synthesized as QDs and deposited onto wide-band gap nanostructures as sensitizers. Depending on their size, these materials can absorb photons over a broad spectral range or within a confined window of the solar spectrum. Especially CdS, CdSe and PbS have been used to investigate the operating principles of QDSCs. The limited number of materials listed indicates that much room remains for materials scientists to identify new semiconductors which can be applied as QD sensitizers. Table 1 lists the most common material compositions used for QDSCs. Due to the many publications in later years, the table only includes a fraction of the work done in this field, in order to highlight articles that contain a detailed description of QD deposition and methods for solar-cell fabrication. CdSe quantum dots (QDs) with different organic linker molecules are attached to ZnO nanowires (NWs) to study the luminescence dynamics and the electron tunnelling from the QDs to the nanowires in time-resolved photoluminescence (PL) and photoconductivity measurements. The PL transients of the QD luminescence indicate two different recombination channels: the direct recombination inside the QD core and the recombination via QD surface defect states. After linking the QDs to the ZnO NW surface, photo-induced electron tunnelling from an excited state of the QD into the conduction band of the nanowire becomes visible by a clear decrease of the PL decay time. Efficient electron tunnelling is confirmed by a strong enhancement of the photocurrent through the functionalized nanowires in which the tunnelling rate can be controlled by using different organic linker molecules . During the decade last colloidal QDs they have been integrated in the types event of I gave ff of solar cells for example: The exhausted solar cells of heterojunction of the solar cells of Schottky extremely rarefy the solar cells of hybrid polymer of the cells of the shock absorber, the solar cells of hetero-junction inorganic-organic and the solar cells sensitized point of the quantum (QDSSCs) [54-62]. Figure 1.4 demonstrations used the typical architectures of the device in the solar cells of QDs. Fig. 1.4: Comparison of various QDs based photovoltaic cells. (a) Schottky cell; (b) depleted heterojunction cell; (c) hybrid polymer solar cells and d) QDs sensitized solar cell. Adapted from . CdSe QDs, capsuled with trioctylphosphine (COVER), was prepared by a solvo-thermal route that allows control of the size. Briefly, the selenium reacts with microstate of cadmium in toluene in the presence of acid oleic and of the COVER. The reaction happens in ◦C 180 in a sealed sterilizer. Changing the time of reaction, diverse sizes of the points of the quantum were obtained. The like-prepared colloidal solutions were characterized by a PC of Shimadzu UV-2401. In the case of electrochemical measures of the photo, the points of the quantum of CdSe were purified previously by the ethanol precipitation, the isolation by the centrifugalization and the movement, three times. Picture 1.5 demonstrates the phantoms of absorption of the three dispersions of QD with diverse sizes of QD used in this study. The QDs was synthesized on 2, 5, 5 and 15 H. The changes in the wavelength of the absorption limit reflect the confinement of quantization of the size, the tip that it changes of position to lower wavelengths whereas the size of QD diminishes. Comparing the maximum of the absorption limit (495, 517 and 536 nanometre) corresponding to the first transition exciton with the curves disclosed by Peng and the fellow workers, the diameters of QD could be obtained (2, 3, 2, 5 and 2, 8 nanometre, respectively) [18, 19]. Figure 1.5: UV–vies absorption spectrum of colloidal CdSe QDs, informed with three diverse reaction periods, 15, 5 and 2.5 h, and dissimilar quantum dot sizes. Adapted from . Slowed hot electron freezing in InP QDs has been practical by the research exploration assembly at NREL . For QDs, one mechanism for breaking the phonon bottleneck that is predicted to slow carrier cooling in QDs and hence allow fast cooling is an Auger process. Here a hot electron can give its excess kinetic energy to a thermalized hole via an Auger process, and then the hole can then cool quickly because of its higher effective mass and more closely spaced quantized states. This effect was first shown for CdSe QDs; it has now also been shown for InP QDs, where a fast hole trapping species (Na biphenyl) was found to slow the electron cooling to about 7 ps. This is to be compared to the electron cooling time of 0:3 PS for passivized InP QDs without a whole trap present and thus where the holes are in the QD core and able to undergo an Auger process with the electrons [21-23]. QDs are very trifling semiconductor Nano crystals with a size analogous to the Bohr radius of an exciton. For utmost semiconductors, the Bohr radius of an exciton is in the series of 1-10 nm: for instance, it is 4.2 nm for Si, 3.1 nm for CdS, 6.1 nm for CdSe, and 2.2 nm for ZnO. Yet, the Bohr radius of the exciton is actually huge for more or less semiconductors: it is 20.4 nm for PbS, 46 nm for PbSe, and 67.5 nm for InSb. Owing to the facet effect, the performance of electrons in QDs varies from that in the agreeing bulk substantial, which is baptised as the ‘quantum confinement effect’. A semiconductor with a bigger exciton Bohr radius means that the QDs made from the factual may reach a strong quarantine effect more simply. For the reason that the quantum confinement effect, the band gap energy (Eg) of QD rises with the reduction of particle dimensions. Eg can be explained by Eg 8 1/r2, wherever r is the radius of QD. The surge of Eg earnings that additional energy will be desired so as to be engrossed by the QD. So the variety of optical fascination wavelengths of QD can be altered by governing the size of QD. Such a piece of QDs with tuneable Eg has directed to their submissions in light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for full-colour presentations, and in QD-sensitized solar cells for the group of optical absorption at favourite wavelengths [23-30]. Ref. (36) has established that the conduction band energy (Ecb) of QD would go up to the in height energy level by lessening particle size because of the quantum confinement effect, which is very important to solar cells. Fig. 1.6 (a) shows the Ecb of bulk PbS is 4.74 eV, which is inferior than that of TiO2 (4.21 eV). The electrons in the conduction band of bulk PbS is hard to hedge into the conduction band of TiO2. The Eg of PbS can be enlarged by dropping its particle size, as shown in Fig. 1.6 (b), chief to the conduction band minimum move to higher energy. Once the conduction band energy of PbS ties that of TiO2, the electrons separated from exciton couples by photons can simply handover from the conduction band in PbS interested in the conduction band in TiO2. So the quantum confinement effect is the essential ailment for the building of QDSCs. For QDSCs, smaller QDs are favourite so as to attain more QDs adsorbed on the photo electrode film. Smaller QDs have also established an advanced electron injection degree than their larger matching part. Fig. 1.6 (a) Schematic sketch of energy levels of PbS; and (b) association among the PbS Eg and particle size, as described in Refs [31, 32]. Fig. 1.7: (a) The requirement of the electron transfer rate on the energy and (b) an outline exemplifying the attitude of electron transmission from two dissimilar CdSe quantum dots hooked on a TiO2 nanoparticle . Figure 1.7: demonstrate the necessity of the electron transmission rate fixed on the energy alteration among the conduction bands and the cipher of electron transmission from two altered-sized CdSe QDs into a TiO2 nanoparticle . It can be realised that the electron allocation rate obviously surges with lessening QD size in the CdSe TiO2 system. For QDs, the surge of band gap would be predictable to consume constructive conduction band energies for vaccinating electrons obsessed by a photo electrode. Fig. 1.8: Absorption bands of CdSe quantum dots in toluene; Adapted from Ref. . But, the rise of Eg directs that single extraordinary energy photons can be engrossed by the QD, foremost to the absorption wavelength control of the QD blue swing as exposed in Fig. 1.8: Too minor QDs will pointer to too much stumpy the optical absorption on behalf of the photo electrodes, which has bad influences on the solar cells. Thus, the top solar-to-electricity alteration effectiveness can be gotten by improving the band energy assembly of QDs to contest the oxide film and find an extensive optical raptness wavelength . Robel, I., Subramanian, V., Kuno, M., Kamat, P., 2006. Quantum dot solar cells. Harvesting light energy with CdSe nanocrystals molecularly linked to mesoscopic TiO2 J. Am. Chem. Soc. 128, 2385–2393. Kamat, P.V., 2007. Meeting the clean energy demand: nanostructure architectures for solar energy conversion. J. Phys. Chem. C 111, 2834– 2860.). Peng, X., Manna, L., Yang, W., Wickham, J., Scher, E., Kadavanich, E.J., Alivisatos, A.P., 2000. Shape control of CdSe nanocrystals. Nature 404, 59–61. Vomeyer, T., Katsikas, L., Giersig, M., Popovic, I.G., Diesner, K., Chemseddine, A., Eychmu¨ller, A., Weller, H., 1994. CdS Nanoclusters: Synthesis, characterization, size dependent oscillator strength, temper-ature shift of the excitonic transition energy, and reversible absorbance shift. J. Phys. Chem. 98, 7665. Emin, S.M., Sogoshi, N., Nakabayashi, S., Fujihara, T., Dushkin, C.D., 2009a. Kinetics of photochromic induced energy transfer between manganese-doped zinc–selenide quantum dots and spiropyrans. J. Phys. Chem. C 113, 3998–4007. Emin, S., Sogoshi, N., Nakabayashi, S., Villeneuve, M., Dushkin, C., 2009b. Growth kinetics of CdS quantum dots and synthesis of their polymer nano-composites in CTAB reverse micelles. J. Photochem. Photobiol. A 207, 173–180. Emin, S., Loukanov, A., Wakasa, M., Nakabayashi, S., Kaneko, Y., 2010. Photostability of water-dispersible CdTe quantum dots: capping ligands and oxygen. Chem. Lett. 39, 654–656..,). Kamat, P.V., 2008. Quantum dot solar cells. Semiconductor nanocrystals as light harvester. J. Phys. Chem. C 112, 18737–18753. Hodes, G., 2008. Coparison of dye- and semiconductor-sensitized porous nanocrystalline liquid junction solar cells. J. Phys. Chem. C 112, 17778–17787. Ru¨hle, S., Shalom, M., Zaban, A., 2010. Quantum-dot-sensitized solar cells. Chem. Phys. Chem. 11, 2290–2304. Arici, E., Sariciftci, N.S., 2004. Hybrid solar cells. In: Nalwa, H.S. (Ed.), . In: Encyclopedia of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, vol. 3. Amer-ican Scientific Publishing, pp. 929–944. Kumar, S., Scholes, G.D., 2008. Colloidal nanocrystal solar cells. Microchim. Acta 160, 315–325. Talapin, D.V., Lee, J.-S., Kovalenko, M.V., Shevchenko, E.V., 2010. Prospects of colloidal nanocrystals for electronic and optoelectronic applications. Chem. Rev. 110, 389–458. Johnston, K.W., Pattanthyus-Abraham, A.G., Clifford, J.P., Myrskog, S.H., MacNeil, D.D., Levina, L., Sargent, E.H., 2008. Schottky-quantum dot photovoltaics for efficient infrared power conversion. Appl. Phys. Lett. 92, 151115. Koleilat, G.I., Levina, L., Shukla, H., Myrskog, S.H., Hinds, S., Pattantyus-Abraham, A.G., Sargent, E.H., 2008. Efficient, stable infrared photovoltaics based on solution-cast colloidal quantum dots. ACS Nano 2, 833–840. 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Tuning photoresponse through size and shape control of CdSe TiO2 J. Am. Chem. Soc. 130, 4007–4015. J. Ellingson, O.I. Micic, J. Blackburn, P. Yu, G. Rumbles, A.J. Nozik, 2002, to be published. Guyot-Sionnest, M. Shim, C. Matranga, M. Hines, Phys. Rev. B 60 (1999) R2181. I. Klimov, A.A. Mikhailovsky, D.W. McBranch, C.A. Leatherdale, M.G. Bawendi, Phys. Rev. B 61 (2000) R13349. Zhang Q, Uchaker E, Candelaria SL, Cao G. Nanomaterials for energy conversion and storage. Chem Soc Rev 2013; 42: 3127 71. Baskoutas S, Terzis AF. Size-dependent band gap of colloidal quantum dots. J Appl Phys 2006; 99: 013708. Segets D, Lucas JM, Taylor RNK, Scheele M, Zheng H, Alivisatos AP, et al. Determination of the quantum dot band gap dependence on particle size from optical absorbance and transmission electron microscopy measurements. Acs Nano 2012; 6: 9021 32.

2019-04-19T14:46:56Z

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I suppose one of the major motivations for us in doing this study is there’s been so much debate about the Affordable Care Act and relatively little discussion of health, whereas there’s been quite a bit of discussion about financial outcomes. said Joshua Salomon – a global health professor, at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health. They analyzed the health status of participants, by comparing the health of those with health insurance plans and those don’t have it. The participants were extracted from a National survey between 1999 and 2012. The result showed that the likelihood of being diagnosed and getting the chronic disease under control is higher within the insured (with health insurance plans). insurance, which is not a direct contributing factor to health. Sharon Long, of the Urban Institute health policy center, said that the large survey numbers, can overestimate the importance of having a health insurance plans. In general, researchers do agree on the benefits of health insurance plans. A health economics professor from Harvard Chan School of Public Health, Katherine Baicker feels that having health insurance plans are better than not been insured. What seems much less clear to me is how that option compares to other options. None of these studies say which is better: expanding Medicaid, or vouchers for private insurance. The ideal question now, should be how to restructure health insurance plans, in other to make people get the best from it, and not how big is the effect of health insurance plans on health. Also, there are growing interest involving health insurance coverage and the best way to improve health like poverty eradication. Poverty is mostly associated with poor health. In response to this, Sharon Long asks whether if pollution (air and water) are addressed, what do we see? Rather than expanding health insurance plans, can there be new strategies? 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You either use all the cash in the flex account within the calendar year, or you lose them. Strict measures do apply to how you utilize the cash, so there will be no room for an end of the year spending spree, just to consume all of it. A tight budget is ideal to avoid depositing more money, than you can actually spend within the calendar year. Using a high deductible health plan with a HSA, any cash commitment made is removable on the basis of tax deferral. Also, certain expenses like for medical are not taxed, while interest accrued in the process, is subject to tax deferral. The balance (unused money) might be rolled over and utilized for future health expenses. The healthier you are, the better the choice of a high deductible health plan with HSA. It can result in a maximum balance. Your medical insurance policy will be greatly reduced, if more money is left in the HSA. This can be re-used in future. Numerous retirees utilize the cash for bill payments, as well as paying for medical insurance policies amid times of unemployment. High Deductible Health Plan: Who is it for? Buying a health plan involves a substantial investment. Money is needed for paying medical expenses. So anyone with difficult financial standings, may find it hard should an on-foreseeing medical condition occur. Clients or individuals who need regular medical appointments, is not an excellent fit for high deductible health plan. In the event that medication is required regularly, the monthly cost should be considered prior to investing in a high deductible health plan. Choosing the right medical insurance plans will help you overcome troublesome times. A high deductible health plan is the ideal choice for many clients. It’s HSA, offers excellent investment opportunity, although it was particularly created for individuals with calamitous medical condition. 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The American based company is extremely famous for its drug utilization program, management services, drug data analysis services and exquisite benefit-design consultation help. It is an ideal plan for government agencies, self insured employers and individuals from the military. the largest healthcare carrier in the nation. It has more than 7+ million people in its directory. Apart from fine-tuned health insurance schemes for individuals, United Healthcare supports Medicaid programs and state-sponsored initiatives too. The collection of best medical insurance plans will remain incomplete without “Blue Cross Blue Shield”. It is a federation that combines 37 healthcare companies (separate) and organizations in United States. Conversely, they offer health insurance coverage to more than 100+ million people. BCBSA serves as one of the prime administrators of Medicaid in many regions of United States. In terms of numbers (enrolled number of insurance policy holders), Blue Cross Blue Shield Association is the biggest in the nation (or even in the world). Another prominent player in offering best medical insurance plans would be Aetna. Some of its best medical insurance plans are out-of-the-box and truly useful. Aetna has being in the industry for a very long time! Being one of the largest healthcare insurance providers in the market, Aetna covers a wide range of health issues. From dental to group life disability to drug services to employee benefits to long term care insurance, Aetna has a plan for everyone in the family. Hence, it is one of the finest health insurance companies to work with! In fact, Aetna delights employers with special benefit programs and insurance facilities through Medicare. Architecture (MITA). Molina uses a special Health PAS system to help insurance policy holders on the go! Health PAS is a web based solution that uses a local MMIS unit to find patient data, plan benefit and authorize services. Additionally, the PAS System has a comprehensive online portal that provides essential details in just few clicks of a button. Cigna is ranked amongst the very few companies with best medical insurance plans that can support you when expenses that are not covered by your major healthcare policy arise. For instance, some medical insurance schemes don’t handle accidents or unexpected diseases. In such situations, Cigna’s Supplemental insurance will lend you a hand of help. The insurance service providers will support you with direct cash, when the need arises. This cash can be used for daily expenses and out-of-the-pocket medical bills. Supplemental insurance from Cigna is certainly one of the best medical insurance plans you can avail, since it pays during both recovery and treatment! Next in the line of best medical insurance plans comes from “Humana”. The insurance policy is meant for families and individuals. The service provider focuses on a discreet motto. It revolves around health and gives people a choice to live well! Humana offers a wide range of best medical insurance plans. This covers vision plans, medical assistance, dental schemes and life insurance policies. Humana stresses on the need for personalized support and affordable insurance help. For instance, individuals who combine vision plans and dental schemes will save at least 35 USD. Humana has many Veteran Packages that are meant for families and US Veterans. As a result, you will have the wit to pull together a healthier you and stronger tomorrow! Moving on, Kaiser Permanente has some of the best medical insurance plans in the market. The service provider makes life easier by offering better coverage and care. They are not deemed as typical healthcare providers with best medical insurance plans. Instead, they thrive hard to support everyone with health needs! To be more precise, Kaiser Permanente has paired with local communities like fitness establishments and farmers’ markets to promote health. Kaiser Permanente is a healthcare company that focuses on preventive wellness and overall care. They provide many wellness programs, routine appointments and preventive screenings that can remove sicknesses from your life! Round the clock nursing services. Endless amount of care, physical support, spiritual assessment and emotional upliftment. Celtic offers a special Palliative care program. It has exquisite inpatient hospice facilities too! Last in the list of best medical insurance plans comes from Altius. They offer different types of products like prescription coverage, network coverage and special services. As suggested by its name, prescription coverage deals with dependable health care that handles medical prescriptions. It will help you by drugs at an affordable price! And, in terms of network coverage, Altius has more than 5000+ participating hospitals. The trend of major medical insurance plans from top companies, is hitting hard though plenty of insurance firms are now emerging with the most innovative approach. Thus, no matter how in debt you are, there is always a solution to your problems. There is no doubt that you will come across affordable medical insurance plans. Always find out and ask them to send you the conditions, total costs, etc. Compare products listed from other major medical insurance plans and take your time. By contrast, remember to stay tuned to enjoy medical insurance deals that appear online and beware on fine prints and details. Reading policies and insurance plans will help you avoid frustration in the future. Now, let’s move forward. Let’s proceed by analyzing everything you need, to feel at your best. Thanks to the most affordable medical insurance plans, you can now start taking care of your body; with an espresso maker. innovations in development or use after your signing up, will no longer be a problem. Since you have the power to make selection prior to selecting any major medical insurance plans. It is typically to see in the offers of major medical insurance plans, big letters on their medical insurance plans offerings and basic aspects of their health coverage. But in the fine print, is where you are expected to put down all the exclusions in medical insurance coverage or information such as vesting periods (must be taken into account especially in pregnancies) that may affect the type of coverage you want to employ. It is very unpleasant to learn what is not covered, by medical insurance plans once hospitalized or whenever you require the health care services. It is about having confidence in the health insurer, and what looks too good to be true or attractive should be well investigated. For this reason, it is important to take time to read all kinds of details in the contract or plan. Many major medical insurance plans experts make emphasis on the fine print and recommend you ask questions. You need to clear all your doubts from the medical insurance plans before signing any insurance contract. Before formalizing the medical insurance plans, the Policy holder and or insured must make and sign the statement. This statement is necessary for the insurer to know in advance if there is a medical risk to evaluate and assess. Depending on your age, change your strategy. If you are a young adult, opt for one with low deductibles. If you are older than 50 years, go for the high deductible health plan. Thus, analyze carefully and avoid problems. You can go ahead and start by comparing extras, premiums, travel assistance, major medical insurance plans discounts and much more. Begin now and change your lifestyle! Obamacare is an affordable healthcare act that was passed by the congress and signed by the President during early 2010. The act comprises of a set of reformed health insurance schemes and policies. It was promoted to increase the number of individuals with legit health coverage. Obamacare works by overhauling current health insurance service providers and expanding Medicaid. Officially, Medicaid is meant for citizens with very low incomes. The policy offers minimum essential coverage. Conversely, it falls in line with medical facilities offered by employer-based-coverage, Medicare, Medicaid, and many more players in the marketplace. Nevertheless, Obamacare is much more than any ordinary health coverage policy. It covers almost everyone in the healthcare industry, from doctors to patients to restaurants to hospitals or even chocolate shops (this is because all food joints are expected to display calorie listings)! “Obamacare is working. I talk to a lot of hospital directors. It is working. Obamacare 101: How does it Work? It expands Medicaid in a strategic manner. New insurance exchange policies are designed. Many online portals are set up to help Americans search and buy coverage. All individuals in the country are expected to have a health insurance policy. Else, they will be forced to pay a hefty penalty. Obamacare 101: Who Gets Benefited? Obamacare 101: How Do You Enroll? According to the Act, individuals can buy a private medical insurance plans only through open enrollment. However, you will be exempted from this condition if a major change has happened in your life. This en covers over marriage, shifting locations or losing your current source of income. In such situations, you can opt for special enrollment. The Act decides Cost assistance based on your annual income. Individuals qualify for cost assistance if their income falls between 138% and 400% of FPL (Federal Poverty Level). Meanwhile, “Out of Pocket Assistance” is provided only to individuals with silver plans. People who have availed the Cost Assistance benefit must fill a special file called Form 8962 during taxes. While choosing a healthcare plan from Obamacare, you must keep the plan open till next enrollment (open). Always verify if the plan meets all your requirements. For instance, check if drugs, doctor visits, medical services and major surgeries are covered by the healthcare plan. Five people, including a former hospital executive and two surgeons, are charged with a massive kickback scheme that resulted in billing $580 million to the government and insurance companies, authorities announced Tuesday. Two already pleaded guilty and the others have agreed to plead guilty in connection to the scheme, which involved paying tens of millions of dollars to dozens of doctors, chiropractors and others to refer patients to two Southern California hospitals for spinal surgeries, according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office. Over an eight-year period, Pacific Hospital of Long Beach and Tri-City Regional Medical Center in Hawaiian Gardens billed thousands of operations to California’s workers’ compensation system, the U.S. Department of Labor and workers’ compensation insurers. informed that medical professionals had been offered kickbacks to induce them to refer the surgeries to Pacific Hospital,” the U.S. attorney’s statement said. “Injured workers were treated like livestock by doctors and hospitals who paid or accepted kickbacks and bribes in exchange for referrals,” California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones said in a statement. Pacific Hospital’s former owner, Michael D. Drobot, pleaded guilty last year to taking part in the fraud. He also has acknowledged bribing state Sen. Ron Calderon, who has pleaded not guilty to bribery, fraud and money laundering charges that carry a maximum sentence of 396 years in federal prison. Calderon is awaiting trial next year. Calderon (D-Montebello) allegedly accepted about $100,000 in exchange for promoting legislation to expand Hollywood tax credits and to protect the financial interests of Pacific Hospital, which benefited from a provision of the workers’ compensation law. In the other cases, charges were filed against two people on Tuesday, and three previous cases were unsealed Monday. James L. Canedo, Pacific Hospital’s former chief financial officer, pleaded guilty in September to conspiracy to engage in fraud, money laundering and other crimes. Paul Richard Randall, a health care marketer previously affiliated with Pacific Hospital and with Tri-City Regional Medical Center, pleaded guilty in April 2012 to conspiracy for recruiting chiropractors and doctors to refer patients to Tri-City. Orthopedic surgeons Philip Sobol of Studio City and Mitchell Cohen of Irvine and Alan Ivar, a Las Vegas chiropractor who used to live in Southern California, have agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy or other charges. Under terms of their plea agreements, Sobol could be sentenced to up to 10 years in federal prison while Canedo, Ivar and Randall could get up to five years. Cohen faces up to three years for filing a false tax return. “Health care fraud and kickback schemes burden our health care system, drive up insurance costs for everyone, and corrupt both the doctor-patient relationship and the medical profession itself,” U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker said in a statement. The five defendants will have to pay restitution, which in Canedo’s case will be at least $20 million, authorities said. WASHINGTON — Cancer researchers say there has been a substantial increase in women under the age of 26 who have received a diagnosis of early-stage cervical cancer, a pattern that they say is most likely an effect of the Affordable Care Act. Starting in 2010, a provision of the health law allowed dependents to stay on their parents’ health insurance until age 26. The number of uninsured young adults fell substantially in the years that followed. The share of 19- to 25-year-olds without health insurance declined to 21 percent in the first quarter of 2014 from 34 percent in 2010 — french press coffee, a decrease of about four million people, federal data show. leading to more early-stage diagnoses. Early diagnosis improves the prospects for survival because treatment is more effective and the chance of remission is higher. It also bolsters women’s chances for preserving their fertility during treatment. And women with health insurance are far more likely to get a screening that can identify cancer early. Researchers used the National Cancer Data Base, a hospital-based registry of about 70 percent of all cancer cases in the United States. They compared diagnoses for women ages 21 to 25 who had cervical cancer with those for women ages 26 to 34, before and after the health law provision began in 2010. Early-stage diagnoses rose substantially among the younger group — the one covered by the law — and stayed flat among the older group. About 79 percent of the younger group had an early-stage diagnosis in 2011-12, up from about 71 percent in 2007-09. For the older group, the percentage dropped to 71 percent from 73 percent, a change that is not statistically meaningful. The effect for younger women looked even stronger when analyzed by year. About 84 percent of the younger group had early-stage diagnoses in 2011, compared with 68 percent in 2009. Early-stage diagnoses dropped to 72 percent of the group in 2012, a drop that Dr. Jemal said was typical during increases in screenings, because many of the early-stage cases have already been detected. For several years, researchers have been trying to test whether the law is working to improve health, but isolating its effects has been tricky. A study this spring found that the number of new diabetes cases identified among poor Americans had surged in states that embraced the Affordable Care Act, but not in states that had not. Since November 2009, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has recommended that cervical cancer screening begin at age 21, the only cancer screening recommendation for that age group. Dr. Jemal said that change made it impossible to compare the total number of women who got screened before and after the health care law came into effect.

2019-04-20T13:14:20Z

https://medicalinsuranceplans.org/page/2/

You’re working on a snippet of code, and out of the blue, you happen to need a class of which you should only have one instance of, and which needs to be referenced by other classes. Sounds like a job for a singleton! Or is it? Realistically speaking, if you’re using a singleton solely to store state, you are doing it wrong. What you’ve made isn’t a singleton — what you’ve made is a bunch of glorified globals. Using singletons to store state seems appealing at first, because you want to avoid using a global and every programmer knows that globals are evil. But using a singleton in this case is just abstracting the globals one layer back so that you can feel happy about your code not having globals. Furthermore, having globals will make your code unpredictable and bug-prone. This becomes exponentially worse as the number of dependencies in your singleton increases. If you are using a singleton because you need its global properties, it’s because you are not taking advantage of dependency injection (DI) / inversion of control (IoC). You should be passing the state around with IoC, not by creating a giant global and passing around the global fields. Singletons can’t be easily tested when they are integrated with other classes. For every class that uses a singleton, you will have to manually mock the singleton and have it return the desired test values. On top of this, singletons are notoriously difficult to debug when multi-threading is involved. Because your singleton is a major dependence for several classes, not only is your code tightly coupled, but you will also suffer from hard-to-find multi-threading bugs due to the uncertain nature of globals. Occasionally, you may be tempted to use a singleton to perform an expensive IO action exactly once, and then store the results. An incredibly common example of this is using a singleton for a database connection. But doing so in addition to having multi-threading will cause massive headaches unless your connection is guaranteed to be thread-safe. In general, database concurrency will not be easy to implement if you are using a singleton for the connection. What you really want is a database connection pool. By caching the connection, you avoid having to repeatedly close and open new connections, which is expensive. As an added bonus, if you use a connection pool, you simply won’t need to use a singleton. You just need a data transfer object. No need for a singleton here. And worse, giving your singleton access to methods that can modify the data makes your singleton a god object. It knows how to do everything, knows all of the implementation details, and is likely coupled to basically everything, violating almost every software development principle. Worse yet, using a singleton to provide context is a fatal mistake. If a singleton provides context to all the other classes, then that means every class that interacts with the singleton theoretically has access to all the states/contexts in your program. Actually, this is really one of the few acceptable use for a singleton. Why? Because a logger does not pass around data to other classes, provides no context, and there is generally minimal coupling between the logger and the classes that require the logger. All the logger needs to know is that given some log request or string, it should output the log as a file or to the console. As you can see, a logger will provide nothing to classes that require it — there is nothing to grab from the logger. Therefore, it’s impossible to use the logger as a glorified global container. And best of all, loggers are incredibly easy to test due to how simple they are. These properties make loggers an excellent choice for a singleton. In the future, you’ll probably find a scenario where you’re considering using a singleton for any of the reasons above. But hopefully, you’ll now realize that singletons are not the answer — inversion of control is. In Python, there are two types of arguments : Positional arguments and keyword arguments. A positional argument is a normal argument in Python. You pass in some data as input, and that becomes your positional argument. There’s nothing unique or inherently special about positional arguments, but let’s say you have a function that evaluates your pet. Is your pet happy? Is your pet healthy? Is your pet playful? That’s fine and dandy, but what does it look like when we call the function? The result is correct, but the function call is absolutely unreadable. A reader who has never read the documentation for evaluatePet will have a difficult time understanding what it does. From a quick glance, it takes three booleans. But what do those booleans describe? Whether it’s alive? Whether it’s a ghost? Whether it’s a flying ten thousand feet tall purple dinosaur? The solution to this issue of readability is to avoid using a positional argument, and instead use a keyword argument. A keyword argument is an argument that follows a positional argument, and allows the user to pass in arguments by explicitly stating the argument’s name, and then assigning a value to it. In other words, you can call evaluatePet(True, True, False) in any of the following ways, without changing anything in the evalulatePet function. #Switching the order of the arguments. #the order can be anything you like. #are AFTER the positional arguments. However, there are some things that you can’t do. #"Positional argument follows keyword argument." #Also will error for the same reason. It would be a huge understatement to say that this is the only thing that keyword arguments can do. You can also load in defaults. Now, all three arguments become optional, and become automatically assigned to False if that specific argument has not been assigned. #and the rest will automatically be False. Convenient, isn’t it? You can give your function a ton of default values, and then allow the user to change any defaults they don’t like, without requiring them to rewrite all the default values. Underneath all of this magic, Python created a dictionary with a key value pair, where the keys are the argument names, and the values are the values you assign to those argument names. If you want to prove this fact, you can use a true keyword argument by putting a double asterisk before an argument. In other words, Python has been converting evaluatePet’s arguments into a dictionary. Naturally, Python wants the group of keyword arguments together, because it is cheaper to lump all the arguments together if they are all within one specific range (and not broken up between multiple ranges). In addition to this, Python can’t accept a positional argument after a keyword argument because it is impossible to determine which argument you are referring to. Are you referring to the first argument? Or the argument after the keyword argument? These two reasons combined are why you can’t put in positional arguments, and then keyword arguments, and then another positional argument. Since there are only three arguments, and two of them are keyword arguments, the third argument must be “isPlayful”. So while Python could potentially have allowed this special case to work, their mantra of sticking strongly to rules prevents you from doing so. In a nutshell, keyword arguments are simply augments to Python’s core philosophy that “readability counts”. Without keyword arguments, readers must examine the documentation to understand what the arguments mean, especially if there are many arguments. The use of defaults also makes functions shorter if the user is unlikely to modify the defaults. Shorter argument lists? Argument defaults? Understandable parameters? That’s elegant. You’re sitting at your desk, glaring at your monitor, but it glares back at you with equal determination. Every change you make introduces new bugs, and fixing a bug causes another bug to pop up. You don’t understand why things are randomly breaking, and the lines of code just increase every day. However, by coding in a rigorous and specific fashion, you can prevent many of these issues simply by being slightly paranoid. This paranoia can save you hours in the future, just by dedicating a few extra seconds to include some additional safeguards. So without further ado, let’s jump right into the top five tips for safer code. As you call foo and bar and other functions, all of which depended on garbage_input, you find that everything has turned into garbage. As a result, functions will start throwing errors a few dozen passes down the line, and things will become very difficult to debug. Another common mistake is attempting to correct the user’s input in potentially ambiguous cases, which leads to the second tip. Imagine you had a box that exported values from 0 to 1 on a display, depending on the number the user passed in. The technique shown above is known as clamping, which is basically restricting the value to a certain range. In this case, it is clamped to 0 and 1. However, the problem with the above example is that it is now impossible to debug the code. If the user passed in bad input, you would get a clamped answer, instead of an error, and if the calculateValue function was buggy, you would never know. It could be slightly inflating the value, and you would still never know, because the values would be clamped. As an exaggerated example, if calculateValue returned 900,000,000, all you would see is “1”. Instead of embracing and fixing bugs, this tactic throws them under the carpet in the hopes that no one will notice. If your code is going to fail, then fail fast and fix it fast. Don’t try to polish garbage. Polished garbage is still garbage. Many programmers already adhere to this principle, but some do not. Since Python prevents the bug caused by double checking a boolean value, I will be using Java, as the bug can only happen in languages where assignment is possible in if statements. Aside from being redundant and taking up extra characters, this practice can cause horrible bugs, as very few programmers will bother to glance twice at an if statement that checks for true/false. At first glance, you would expect it to print out “1 + 1 is not equal to 3!”. However, on closer inspection, we see that it prints out “1 + 1 equals 3!” due to a very silly but possible mistake. The programmer had accidentally set someBoolean to true instead of comparing someBoolean to true, causing the wrong output. In languages such as Python, assignment in an if statement will not work. Guido van Rossum explicitly made it a syntax error due to the prevalence of programmers accidentally causing assignments in if statements instead of comparisons. This is a nifty trick that piggy backs off the previous tip. If you’ve ever done defensive programming, then you have most likely seen this before. Flip the order such that null is first. Null is immutable, meaning you can’t assign null to the object. If you try to set null to obj, Java will throw an error. As a result, you can prevent the silly mistake of accidentally causing unintentional assignment during equality checks. Naturally, if you set obj to null, the compiler will throw an error because it’s checking a null object when it expects a boolean. However, if you are passing around methods inside the if statement, it can become dangerous, particularly methods that will return a boolean type. The problem is doubly bad if you have overloaded methods. In this example, the user expects foo to be passed in a boolean of whether or not x is equal to a constant number, 5. However, instead of comparing the two values, x is set to 5. The expected value if the comparison was done correctly would be false, but if x is set to CONSTANT_NUM, then the value will end up being true instead. It doesn’t matter what language you use, always leave your uninitialized variables as null, None, nil, or whatever your language’s equivalent is. The only exception to this rule is booleans, which should almost always be set to false when initialized. The exception is for booleans with names such as keepRunning, which you will want to set initially to true. In particular, for Python especially, if you have a list, make sure that you do not set it to an empty list. The same also applies to strings. There is a world of a difference between a null/None/nil list, and an empty list, and a world of a difference between a null/None/nil string, and an empty string. An empty value means that the object was assigned an empty value on purpose, and was initialized. A null value means that the object doesn’t have a value, because it has not been initialized. In addition, it is good to have null errors caused by uninitialized objects. It is unpleasant to say the least when an uninitialized string is set to “” and is prematurely passed into a function without being assigned a non-empty value. As usual, garbage input will give you garbage output. These five tips are not a magical silver bullet that will prevent you from making any bugs at all in the future. Even if you follow these five tips, you won’t suddenly have exponentially better code. Good programming style, proper documentation, and following common conventions for your programming language come first. These little tricks will only marginally decrease your bug count. However, they also only take about an extra few seconds of your time, so the overhead is negligible. Sacrificing a few seconds of your time for slightly safer code is a trade most people would take any day, especially if it can increase production speed and prevent silly mistakes. Your friend, Ruby, goes out and buys Java a pet duck. But wait, on closer inspection, it’s not a duck at all! It just walks like a duck. And quacks like a duck. “What’s the matter?” Ruby asks. “It’s not a duck!” Java complains, distraught that the pet has no inheritance relations with the Duck class. So what is duck typing? Duck typing is a feature that allows a language to call a method on an object, if it has the method. Ruby doesn’t care what the object is, but rather, what methods the object has. However, a caveat of duck typing is that the it tends to only be built-in to the language if the language handles type checking during runtime. This means that duck typing will only work on dynamically typed languages, such as Ruby. In languages like Java and C++, type checking is done during compile-time. As a result, if there is a type conflict, the program will not even compile. Languages that do type-checking during compile-time are called statically typed languages. The type (int) is explicitly stated, which means that Java checks for types during compile-time, making it a statically typed languages. Ruby sees that x was assigned a number at runtime. Since x was assigned a number, Ruby automatically knows that x must be a Fixnum. First, we need two different objects that have the same method name. However, the method can’t be given to the object via the same superclass, because it would instead be inheritance. Let’s take a look at a simple example of duck typing. puts "I'm not a duck, but... Quack!" I'm not a duck, but... Quack! In Ruby’s mind, the Alien instance and the Duck instance are essentially the same. When we called the try_quack method, Ruby wanted an object that had a quack method. In this case, when we passed in the Duck instance, Ruby saw that the Duck object would quack, so it called the Duck instance’s quack method. For the Alien, even though the Alien class has nothing to do with the Duck class, it still has a quack method. As a result, Ruby happily calls the Alien class’s quack method. Duck typing is a powerful feature of Ruby that allows you to call methods on seemingly different objects, as long as those objects have the same method names. As a result, there is no need for inheritance. You simply call the method, and if the object has it, it will work. Ruby doesn’t care who the object is, but rather what it is. You open your favorite programming IDE, and right there. A glorious mess of spaghetti code. You have no clue what it means, and you can’t understand a single thing. Bad code can waste precious hours of time, when it really should have only taken a few minutes to understand the code if it were refactored and cleaned up. So today, I’ll teach you, in five simple tips, how to spare other programmers from facing a giant plate of spaghetti. Everyone knows this, but few actually do it correctly. First of all, and this is the critical, stop shortening your variable names. Yes, you can shorten the word “minimum” to min, but if you’re working on an application that handles time, your reader may think min refers to minutes. In particular, if you’re shortening a word, and that shortened word can possibly refer to more than one word, don’t do it. Readers may also be confused if your variable names don’t actually say what you mean. For example, imagine if you created a variable called “days”. What does that mean? Days elapsed? Days before something happened? The amount of days in the month? Be specific. Refactor days to daysElapsed, daysInMonth. Do NOT put a comment and write “days refers to the days elapsed since …”. That is absolutely nonsense. Make your variable names self-explanatory. 3. Keep It Simple, Stupid! If you’re programming a certain function, be clear. Avoid using silly round-about ways. Especially avoid “clever” solutions. Clever and tricky solutions may be shorter or faster, but they can cripple reading speed. Usually, when people do these clever solutions, they will put comments everywhere to compensate for the fact that no one actually understands what they wrote, which ties into tip #1. This principle also applies to re-inventing the wheel. If your language comes built-in with a feature, use it. Don’t re-implement a data structure that already exists. Often, it isn’t the programmer’s fault, though, since they might not know about the existence of a certain feature. However, this is not an excuse when you are working with other programmers. If what you wrote in 100 lines could be replaced by 1 line, then it should be refactored. A good object is one that knows only what it should know, and no more. A god object is one that knows too much, in particular, things that it shouldn’t. For example, imagine you had a chair object. It should not know anything except for itself. If your chair knows your social-security number, how much money you make a year, and how many chairs there are around it, then your chair is either the world’s greatest secret spy agent, or it shouldn’t exist. All variables in a class should be private, unless there is a very compelling reason for a variable to be public. There are very few reasons for a variable to be public, unless it is a global constant, such as Math.PI. The inverse of this is also true. Stop exposing your privates! If your private variable does not require a getter, do not make a getter. You should be encapsulating your code. If you have a rectangle class, and you only ever need its area, then don’t make a getter for its width or length. Just make a single public method that multiplies the private width and length variables. Hide your implementation details! If you have a computer, and you just want to send an email, then there is no reason the user would need to know about the internal workings on the computer. The user doesn’t care how many volts the computer needs. The user doesn’t care about how many gigabytes of RAM the computer has. The user just wants to send an email. And your computer should allow them to do exactly that, in one simple function, without knowing anything else about the computer. Remember these five points, and you’re sure to write cleaner code.

2019-04-21T02:36:02Z

https://henrydangprg.com/category/general-programming/

In 1989, Joy lived six days’ walk from the nearest road and could only communicate through letters. Things are going to be very different during her second long-term stint with BMS World Mission in Nepal. Get to know her and her fascinating story in our Q&A! It’s almost thirty years since Joy Ransom first boarded a plane to Nepal to teach with BMS. Now, God’s called her back. She flies on Tuesday 28 August, arrives in Tansen (her new home) on Friday 31 and begins teaching on Monday 3 September – talk about hitting the ground running! The next two weeks are going to be an absolute whirlwind for Joy and she would love it if you would pray for her. But how rude of us… first you better get acquainted. Joy is getting ready to move back to Nepal, where she'll be working as a teacher and making lots of new friends. You’re about to leave to serve long-term with BMS in Nepal, but this definitely isn’t your first rodeo. Tell me about when you’ve worked with us before. In 1989 I went to teach missionaries’ children in a very remote place called Okhaldhunga, in the east of Nepal. There was a hospital there, a community health project, a forestry project and non-formal education. I taught the children of the missionaries who were working there. I was there for five years, and at that time Okhaldhunga was very remote and the nearest road was six days’ walk away. We used to travel by plane, which only went twice a week, and in the monsoon it often didn’t fly at all because it was too cloudy. So it felt quite isolated. But there was a good community there as well. What was it like to live so remotely? It always felt like a lot of thought to leave, because you had to walk to the airstrip and that was about five hours away. So it wasn’t like you could just nip home again if the plane didn’t come. And in the monsoon it did feel quite cut-off. We had no radio, no telephone and no computer in those days, so it felt very different. I went back to Nepal with BMS as a volunteer in 2015, and I had the chance to go back to Okhaldhunga to visit. That’s the first time I’d been back in 20 years. Now they’ve built a road and you can actually get there by jeep or bus. It’s changed the place. It was lovely to be back there. How did you keep in touch with people? Through letters? Yes, through letters. But we only got mail when the planes came. Quite often I’d be in school with the tutorial group and we’d hear the plane overhead, and the children got very excited and so did I, because we’d think ‘oh yay, the plane’s come today, we might get mail from home.’ But some letters took three months to get to us. Joy previously served with BMS as a volunteer in Nepal in 2015, when she taught English to teachers. Tell me about your most memorable experience from that time? It was monsoon time and I needed to leave the project because it was the holidays and I’d just been in the village for such a long time. So a friend of mine, Florence (who was in her 60s), and I decided that we would walk out. There were no planes, because it was the middle of the monsoon. So we set out with a porter. The first few days were fine, but then when we got further south the rivers were huge, and we ended up walking through flooded rivers really, full of grit and sand. Florence nearly got washed away – and the porter literally saved her life by helping her. Reaching out to her, holding her up, and then taking her across the river. When we eventually got to the road, we still had a 12-hour bus journey to get to Kathmandu. Wow! It sounds like it’s going to be pretty different this time. Why are you going back to Nepal? When I left in 1996 I felt that God had still got a work for me to do in Nepal. I had just adopted my daughter Bethany, and she was six months old when we came to the UK. I thought maybe she and I would live in the UK for a few years, and then when she was old enough, we would go back. But that didn’t happen. And although I kept asking God, ‘is it time to go back?’, it wasn’t. But then three years ago, Bethany was at university and so I applied to go as a volunteer. I thought I’d go for a year just to see what it’s like, because, having been there 20 years ago, I knew the country would have changed, but also I would have changed. So I thought it would be a good chance to see if there’s still a role for somebody like me, and if that was really what God wanted me to do. I built up relationships in the community and found that my Nepali language came back, and I felt very comfortable in Nepali church. So I felt like that was confirmation that I should explore the possibility of going back longer term. And maybe God did have a plan for me in Nepal. Joy with some of her students when she was teaching in Nepal in 2015. We're so thrilled that God has called her back there. We obviously agree! What are you going to be doing? For the first year I am going back to Tansen, to the same place and same role that I had three years ago. The teacher who took over from me has to go back to the US for a year, so they have a need for a teacher. After that year, I am hopefully going to work with KISC EQUIP [the Kathmandu International Study Centre’s Education Quality Improvement Programme] doing some teacher training or mentoring of teachers in local Nepali schools in Lamjung, with Simon and Wendy Hall. This year I also have to complete my Master’s degree, because to get a visa in Nepal you need to have a Master’s. That’s what I’ve been working on this last year, but I still have the dissertation to write in Tansen. Is it fair to say you’ve left a bit of your heart in Nepal? Yes. I love Nepal. I love the people. What are you most excited about, about getting there? Meeting people again. The people that I made friends with last time. I used to walk every day along the same path from my house to where I worked at the school and there were lots of people who sat along the path, and we would chat every day. That was really nice. It’s the Church who are supporting me and sending me. We’re doing this together. Joy is keen to get back to Nepal and see her friends again! We can’t wait to bring you more images of her serving there. Apart from family… I’ll miss having a bath. Would you like people in the UK to get behind you with prayer and donations? Yes! I believe that mission is a partnership, and although I get the opportunity to go to Nepal and hopefully have some skills and experiences that mean I can be useful there, it’s not just me going off on my own. It’s definitely the Church who are supporting me and sending me. We’re doing this together. And if I can pray for people here and they can pray for me then hopefully everything will be more effective. What’s the first thing you’ve packed in your suitcase? Family photographs and mosquito repellent! What can we be praying for? Please pray that in the next few weeks I get to know the children quickly, and their families. Pray too that I can support them and find out what their needs are. I feel the role of teaching the children of missionaries involves supporting the families too, because often parents feel guilty about taking their children away from their family and culture and peer support. Pray also that I can make a good start on the study for my Master’s dissertation, that I can choose a really good subject. And that with the internet and the time difference, I can still catch up with my tutor back here in Scotland. Settling in basically and making a good start. Two amazing couples. Two wonderful countries. Six incredible months. The latest from Team Lynch and Team Vokuhl. New friendships, hard work, lots of prayer and one very embarrassing language mix-up. These past few months have certainly been challenging and rewarding ones for BMS World Mission workers the Lynches and Vokuhls. Louise and Peter Lynch are working with church leaders in Bangladesh, while Toby and Pippa Vokuhl are helping Nepal rebuild after the 2015 earthquakes. They couldn’t have got this far without your support so please read on for an update on their work. Louise and Peter Lynch are currently based in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. Tell us what it was like when you first arrived? Peter: It was a bit disorientating. We were tired, and we went straight into meeting people, being at church and getting our bearings. That was easier than going to bed though! The Proctors (BMS workers) were our chaperones for the first couple of weeks. They were really good, very kind to us. Louise: They took us shopping, showed us how to dress, helped us buy our clothes and showed us the supermarkets. It feels like we’ve settled in well. Toby: When we first arrived in Pokhara we were very warmly welcomed, which was great. Our housing situation was a little bit of a challenge because our flat was still under construction and we didn’t have a kitchen at all, so for two months we were living in a building site. We now find ourselves in what is a really lovely flat, not far from the children’s school. It’s worked out really well for us as a family with our children having friends nearby. How is the language learning going? Louise: We have completed three books, so we’ve finished the basic course. We’re given about 25 new words every day and we’ve learnt tenses we never knew about. So we’re doing our homework. We get most of right, but there is quite a lot of red ink on it most days too! The most useful phrases we’ve learnt so far are things like ‘kemôn achhen,’ which is ‘how are you?’ So we spend a lot of our time saying that, and ‘bhālō,’ which means ‘fine’, ‘āstē āstē,’ which means ‘slowly slowly’, and ‘ami janina,’ which is ‘I don’t know’, or ‘I don’t understand’. I think we are the entertainment sometimes, but sometimes you just have to go for it. People come along and they come and watch us trying to speak Bangla, and it is almost a sport! Peter: We make everyone laugh! People appreciate us trying because they’re very proud of their language and they love people trying to learn it. They’ve been great. Pippa: It’s hard work! We started off doing four mornings a week and we are just doing one or two now. It’s nice to have some basic conversations with friends and people at church, and the local shops, but we have a lot more hours of study ahead. I’ve had a few embarrassing moments. I went into a shop to try and ask for two kilos for carrots and I managed to ask for two kilos of marijuana. The poor shopkeeper looked extremely shocked and distressed, and then said in English, “Oh, you want carrots.” I mentioned it to my language teacher who pointed out what I’d asked for. Toby: Our landlady seems to think we are doing well settling in. The other day I could make out her saying to me in Nepali, “Toby, you’re so fat… your wife also.” I relayed that to Pippa, but in Nepali culture when you call someone fat you are just referring to how well they are doing. It was still rather funny! Louise: We just want to build relationships and understand the culture first before leaping in. We sat alongside pastors in some training for discipleship making, I think that’s an area where we’re looking to see how we can support them and help them to put their training into action in their churches. We’re going up to Dineshpur for a month soon, and we’ll be staying with some of the pastors who were on the training, so it’ll be interesting to see what they’re doing. Peter: We’ve met most of the key people we’ll be working with in Dhaka, and people from the districts have come here for conferences. It’s been great to meet pastors and regional leaders. We’re developing a really good relationship with them, they’ve been so gracious and welcoming to us. Everyone says to us that life outside of Dhaka is very different to life in Dhaka, so it will be great for us next month to just be outside of the capital and mix with the local community there. Pippa: Until recently, I’ve been doing language study and orientation, and at the moment our three children (Jakey, Ella and Millie) are on school holidays so that’s keeping me out of trouble. Toby: We were waiting for a work visa for quite some time, so we have focused quite heavily on language study, and we’ve also been attending the local church. We’ve had a slightly longer language and culture adjustment period than we expected, but it has helped, and we’re pleased to have moved into the space where I can contribute to the work here. Peter: I just enjoy the life and vitality of the city, everyone is so industrious and active, there’s so many people everywhere doing so many things. It’s an energetic, lively and colourful place. We love the people. Louise: We like walking around and we like the buzz of the place. Pippa: We went as a family to have a look around some of the projects that INF (International Nepal Fellowship) is running in the west of the country in villages and hospitals. It was amazing to see some of the projects that are making a difference to the poorest of the poor in Nepal. Toby: There has been a wealth of experiences, such as being in a different culture and in a beautiful environment when you get out into the hills and mountains. Another highlight has been being able to make a difference through my work. That has been very rewarding. Peter: I think pacing ourselves has been difficult. It is hot, and you find yourself on certain days having lower energy. So, I think knowing how to pace yourself and how to navigate your way through that. Louise: It’s hard on your downtime because it’s not a recreational city. What to do when we’re not studying Bangla is the biggest challenge for us. But we’re enjoying Bangla learning, so it’s quite a win win really, as that’s what we spend most of our time doing. Toby: Not being able to communicate is disempowering, such as when you can’t say what you want to say to the local shopkeeper. Another challenge is finding your way around locally. Louise: I think for next month, that we travel and stay well in Dineshpur, and that we make the most of that chance as it’s a really unique opportunity. Peter: We’re moving house at the beginning of September and we’re moving to an area that’s close to the office. So please pray for that process of moving and getting into a local community. Pray too for the church in Bangladesh. They’ve got big hearts and a big vision but it’s quite tough. So pray for them, that God would empower them. Pippa: Please pray for my ongoing language study, and also pray for developing deeper relationships with local Nepali women. I’d also appreciate prayer as I find a role for myself. Please pray that God would move me into what I can do to serve him here. Toby: Please pray for continued cultural awareness. Please also pray for a construction project that I’m managing at the Green Pastures Hospital, where a new chapel is being built. Everyone would like that to be a success for the hospital and for the people of Pokhara. Are you inspired by the works our mission workers are doing? You can commit to giving regularly to support the Lynches or Vokuhls by becoming a 24:7 Partner. Just click here. Thank you for standing alongside them. We bring you the finalists in the annual BMS World Mission Action Team photo competition. Be warned, you’re about to be bitten by the gap year bug. We certainly were as we looked at the Action Team photos submitted by the class of 2017/18, though sadly most of us are beyond our gap-year years! If you know anyone who isn’t old like us and might want to do a Christian gap year in places like these, share this story with them! They could be our next crop of Action Teams. We loved judging these photos. And, after much debate (it went on for hours), we finally picked our top ten. They are beautiful. What a stunning sight this is. We adored this photo of the Annapurna Himalayas the moment we saw it. Rachel Paton will never forget this view from a five-day trek in the Annapurna Himalayas. This candid shot of a woman smoking a cigarette was taken when the Nepal Action Team were visiting a temple. This woman was begging at the foot of a temple staircase in Bhaktapur, a town east of Kathmandu. And then for a moment, she retreated behind an enormous stone statue just as Rachel Paton took her picture. “She seemed to be hiding; weary, perhaps, of being visible but often ignored by so many people passing by,” says Rachel. Children fill a classroom in Guinea, though just like in classrooms around the world, concentrating all the time is not possible for every child. There are over 80 young children packed into this preschool classroom in Guinea. Teaching assistant and Guinea Action Team member Eleanor Hyde found space somehow to take this photo of the children’s eagerness to learn. This picture from Nepal captured our attention because of its beauty and the sense of tranquillity. The serenity of Phewa Lake in the Pokhara Valley was captured by Rachel Paton (she really did take a lot of great photos!), with its stillness contrasted by what was happening behind her. It is play time at a Nepal school, with these young children having the time of their lives. Children couldn’t contain their excitement when this parachute was brought out at a rural school in Nepal. And Action Teamer and gifted photographer Rachel Paton was there to capture the joy. “We had to work hard to convince them that this particular parachute was not to be used for flying, just for playing with on the ground!” says Rachel. Children on a small island off the coast of Guinea head into the water in search of fish to catch. Guinea Action Teamer Mhairi Cole was on a small island off the African nation’s coast when she saw a group of children being given a fishing lesson. This adorable scene during a game of hide-and-seek was captured in Mozambique. Who doesn’t love a game of hide-and-seek? The children Action Teamer Rhiannon Cleghorn met in Mozambique clearly do. And though this boy had only trees to hide behind when Rhiannon was playing, it meant an adorable photo of him could be taken. Along with great need and a history of conflict and colonial oppression, Mozambique has glorious beaches enjoyed by local people every day. They are even more stunning as the sun sets, as this image shows. Living by the coast was one of the biggest blessings for the Action Team in Mozambique, says Rhiannon Cleghorn. These prayer bells in Nepal were wonderfully captured with the contours of the valley in the background. This is a photo that makes you want to stand where photographer Rachel Paton did. She took this photo at the iconic Buddhist temple, Swayambhu, which is on top of a hill in the Kathmandu Valley. “We were up there as the sun was setting, and the evening light striking this row of bells caught my attention just before we started to head down,” she says. This photo, taken in Nepal by Rachel Paton, caught our attention straight away. What a striking photo this is, and an obvious first place in this year’s Action Team photo competition. It was captured in Nepal by Rachel Paton (who else?!), and shows the beauty of God’s work in the form of this majestic elephant, Mayabhati. Congratulations not only to those in the top ten, but to everyone who submitted a photo. You’ve inspired, moved and challenged us, and reminded us all of how magnificent God’s creation is. Do you know a future Action Teamer? Our Action Teams programme is one of the best Christian gap year programmes out there. If you know anyone aged between 17 and 23 who wants to serve God overseas then encourage them to get in touch with us today. You never know, they might just make next year’s photo competition top ten! Here are some of the ways you’ve helped people in desperate need this year. A tarpaulin. A plastic groundsheet. Some thermal underwear. Did these items make your Christmas wish list? You’ve given these – and other great gifts – to people in desperate need this year. You’re providing a lifeline for Rohingya refugees fleeing violence in Burma (Myanmar), and keeping hundreds of people warm in the harshness of a Ukraine winter. As you wrap your presents and prepare for Christmas, consider this our thank you note for what you’ve already given. And a reminder of the suffering you’re helping to alleviate, in Jesus’ name, every time you give to BMS World Mission. Vital aid is reaching refugees in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, thanks to your donations. Photo by Medair/Nath Fauveau. The Rohingya people have witnessed their loved ones being raped, beaten and executed, and their villages reduced to ashes in a brutal military offensive. The scale of the terror inflicted by Burma’s soldiers is unimaginable, as is the exodus of those being targeted. More than 650,000 Rohingya refugees have crossed from Burma’s northern Rakhine State into Cox’s Bazar district in southern Bangladesh since August. Hundreds are still crossing every day, many of them children who have run for their lives. How you are helping: By giving to BMS you’re helping more than 500 refugees. They arrive at camps exhausted, hungry and traumatised. They have next to nothing. The tarpaulin, ground sheet and stretch of nylon rope you’ve funded for these refugees are providing shelter. Thanks to you, Rohingya people have protection from the elements, and women can maintain their dignity thanks to hygiene kits containing sanitary products. People will also receive soap for washing and laundry, as well as a cup and a three-litre water jug. The conflict that erupted in eastern Ukraine in 2014 between pro-Russian separatists and pro-Ukrainian groups has displaced 1.5 million people and killed at least 10,000. Government pensions and social benefits have been stopped for people living in areas under separatist control, while schools and hospitals have also had their funding halted. How you are helping: The temperature in eastern Ukraine is expected to drop to -7 degrees Celsius early on Christmas Day, and it could drop as low as -28 later in the winter. You’re providing over 1,000 people with coal, firewood, ceramic heaters and wood burners so they can survive, and children are being given thermal underwear. Rachel Conway-Doel, our Relief Facilitator, talks about the crisis in Ukraine and what you can be praying for. Lebanon continues to host the highest concentration of refugees per capita in the world, with an estimated 1.5 million Syrian refugees and over 15,000 people from Iraq living there. Close to half of the Syrian refugees in Lebanon are children. How you are helping: You’ve already helped dozens of children who have had their access to education shattered by conflict, and that support continues. Thanks to your giving, at least 30 more refugee children are being taught English, Arabic and maths this school year, and doing what every child has a right to do – play. Refugee children in Lebanon are being given an education thanks to you. Your support this year has been amazing – look at what else you’ve done! Mozambique — You gave food to 1,000 people affected by a fuel tanker explosion in Mozambique. Haiti — You helped provide cholera prevention and treatment through water filtration after Hurricane Matthew. Nepal — You provided food, blankets and medicine to more than 1,100 people following severe monsoon flooding. Philippines — You helped to give medical check-ups and disaster training for community leaders following July’s earthquake. Bangladesh — You helped to fund the rebuilding of 50 family homes destroyed by landslides in June. South Sudan/Uganda — You gave food, tools and seeds to over 1,000 South Sudanese people in danger of starving. No matter how much you gave this year, you made a difference. People you will never meet have been fed, sheltered and comforted thanks to your kindness. We thank you for all that you have done, and can’t wait to see what we can achieve together in 2018. Happy Christmas from all of us at BMS.

2019-04-20T16:28:10Z

https://www.bmsworldmission.org/news_tag/nepal/

Today, the 31st August, is the last day of the Bournemouth International Centre (BIC) Dinosaurs Encounter exhibition. By tonight the doors to the dinosaur exhibit will have closed for the last time and the engineers and technical experts will be working over the next few days to dismantle and crate up the various animatronic dinosaurs that have been on display. No doubt these mechanical marvels will be making an appearance at another venue in the near future, but for the time being we have to see them packed off and the sets cleared ready for the next event to be staged at the Bournemouth Pavilion. The Solent Hall has echoed to the sounds of Triceratops, Ankylosaurus, Oviraptors and Ornithomimids over the last few weeks but by 5pm this evening the hall will be silent as the great prehistoric animal models are switched off at this venue and the first part of the breakdown of the sets takes place. We met lots of lovely people when we worked down at the event, it does not seem like two months ago when we were helping to open the event and meet all the journalists and hoteliers as we promoted the exhibition. Our fossils and casts even got their very own dressing room. This was really handy as we had somewhere safe to store them and we could then bring lots of different ones out to show the visitors. Many thousands will have seen the event over the Summer months, all of them enthusiastically met by the helpful Bournemouth staff. I know the management team at the Pavilion received some lovely comments from the visitors, especially all the excited young dinosaur fans who came to meet the prehistoric animals and take part in the activities organised by the Bournemouth Pavilion team. We remember the little blind boy and his Mum and Dad who came to visit on the opening weekend. We got out lots of fossils and replica casts and this one special dinosaur fan and his parents got to hold Mammoth teeth, T. rex claws, the skull cap of an Ankylosaurus and the lower jawbone of an adult Triceratops. We think this made his day. He was certainly very excited and could hardly contain his excitement as his fingers traced over the contours of each fossil. Our thanks to everyone at the Bournemouth Pavilion who helped to make the event such an enjoyable experience for all the visitors. In this digital age with so many different forms of media it is sometimes easy to forget the importance of radio. Whilst most of the United Kingdom is undergoing the digital revolution with television broadcast media at the moment, for radio, the change over to digital programming and all the added benefits that the transition brings has already taken place. We have several digital radios, one in the office, others around the warehouse, even one in the dinosaur fan. The van radio is quite a sophisticated device, it allows mobile phones and other equipment to be used by the passenger whilst providing updates on the Test match and other valuable information for the driver. Many of us at Everything Dinosaur, have fallen back in love with the radio and for some of us, we have only just begun to realise the rich variety and diversity of radio programming in the UK. All the automatic digital tuning stations on each set are used and at the touch of a button the listener can switch from Radio 7 (comedy, sci-fi and drama), to Radio 5, 5 Sports Extra and back again, all in crystal clear clarity. The controllers at Radio 4 deserve a special mention. This station, (news, current affairs and information), has always provided an excellent range of programming, the Archers (longest running soap in the country- “an everyday story of country folk”), is popular, as are the science programmes. Over the last few weeks, the BBC have been broadcasting on Radio 4 a series of short monologues by Sir David Attenborough entitled “David Attenborough’s Life Stories”. Each ten minute programme is a talk by Sir David on the natural histories of creatures and plants from around the world. Broadcast twice a week (Friday evenings 8.50pm GMT) and repeated on the following Sunday 8.50am GMT), it has proved to be essential listening. Not only is Sir David an eloquent and erudite speaker, but his love and fascination for the natural world really comes over in these short programmes. His life long interest in nature has proved a rich and fertile ground from which to create this series of twenty talks. He has covered a wide variety of topics, from recalling his first encounter with a South American Sloth, to musing over the discovery of Archaeopterxy. One of his recent episodes covered the story of how he was duped into buying a pair of mating Trilobites from a local trader in Morocco. A number of our team members have been lucky enough to travel to that country and we too have been taken in by the fantastic fossil specimens of these Arthropods that can be purchased by the roadside. His most recent programme covered the story of the discovery of a Coelacanth and the controversy over how closely related this particular type of prehistoric fish was to the first Tetrapods. Next weeks ten minute programme is about the Dodo. Radio 4 are to be congratulated for creating such an informative and interesting series. A programme narrated by a knowledgeable person covering subjects that they love and are enthused by. Sometimes it is the most simple programme ideas that are the most effective. Good luck to the Radio 4 production team behind these programmes and good luck to you Sir David Attenborough, may you continue to have many more adventures whilst filming the natural world, and hopefully you will commit some more stories to tape so that Radio 4 can produce a second series. Australia is beginning to rival China when it comes to announcing the discovery of new types of dinosaur. Hot on the heels of last month’s announcement of the discovery of two new Titanosaurs and a new Theropod (meat-eater), the Australian press is carrying reports of another exciting dinosaur discovery from down under. An expedition has uncovered the fossilised remains of a large Sauropod at a site to the west of Eromanga, in southwest Queensland. This area of Queensland is proving to be a real hot spot for mid Cretaceous dinosaur remains and this new find is one of a number of dinosaur discoveries made recently in the area. The fossils are believed to represent a new genus of Titanosaur, a long-necked dinosaur that may have had dermal armour. Preliminary examination dates the fossils to around 97 million years ago (Albian/Cenomanian faunal stages). During this time, (mid Cretaceous), the area was covered by a shallow inland sea. The sea is named after the nearby town of Eromanga, ironic as one of modern day Eromanga’s claims to fame is that it is the town in Australia furthest away from the sea. Although, not the largest specimen of an Australian Titanosaur known to date, the Queensland Museum palaeontologists who studied the fossils are confident that this dinosaur is going to turn out to be one of the most complete sets of fossil bones discovered in the area to date. Like many other palaeontologists, the dinosaur has been given a nick-name whilst the scientists and volunteers work at the dig site. This dinosaur has been named “Zac”. It will be sometime before “Zac” is formerly named and described, there is a lot of work to do on the delicate fossils in the meantime, however, the Queensland Museum team are confident that this particular dinosaur will turn out to be one of the most important dinosaur discoveries made in Australia. “The discoveries made this year confirm the south-west Queensland site is likely to be of great significance – not only for Australia – but for a wider scientific understanding of the age of dinosaurs”. Other dinosaurs from this region include the primitive mid Jurassic Sauropod Rhoetosaurus , a member of the Cetiosauridae perhaps? This dinosaur has been dated to around 175 million years ago. Scientists are confident that more prehistoric animal remains will be found in the area, providing a detailed insight into life down under during the mid Cretaceous. It seems that Australia is putting itself firmly on the map when it comes to finding dinosaurs. Now, if only they could put together a decent cricket team.. The original King Kong film was released in 1933. Merian C Cooper (who produced the film) along with Edgar Wallace (the writer of the screen play) wrote the story, a twist on “Beauty and the Beast” between them. It was the pioneering special effects engineer Willis H. O’Brien that brought King Kong, the gigantic ape and the prehistoric animals that shared Skull Island to life. The 1925 film “The Lost World” was a very big influence on the original King Kong movie. In the novel, the Lost World, written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a team of daring explorers led by Professor Challenger venture up a remote plateau and encounter prehistoric creatures. Kong the great ape, is worshipped by the natives on Skull Island. Kong falls for the beautiful actress that accompanies the explorers as they visit the island. The actress is offered to Kong as a sacrifice, but the huge simian does not eat her but steals her away into the jungle. Kong is eventually captured and taken to New York as the “Eighth Wonder of the World”. However, the ape escapes from his shackles and meets his end on top of the Empire State Building in perhaps one of the most memorable scenes in the whole of cinema. Giant apes the size of Kong, as far as we can tell from the fossil record did not exist, Kong was the figment of the script writer’s imagination. The fossil record for primates and early human ancestors is actually very incomplete, although there is no credible evidence to suggest that giant gorillas roamed the Earth. However, sometimes real life can reflect fiction. Two years after the film King Kong was released a German palaeoanthropologist Ralph von Koenigswald purchased a very large molar from a Hong Kong pharmacy. Animal teeth and bones are commonly used in Chinese medicine, even today. Chinese doctors used “dragons teeth” found in remote caves in a number of traditional medicines. Koenigswald correctly identified the tooth as a molar from an unknown, giant primate species. He went onto name the animal Gigantopithecus blacki. Gigantopithecus fossils are known from South east Asia (China and Vietnam), this animal lived during the Pliocene epoch but survived into the Pleistocene, before finally becoming extinct approximately 200,000 years ago. Like Orangutans and Gorillas extant species today, the males were much larger than females. A mature male could weigh over 500 kilogrammes and stand 3.1 metres tall. Although known from a few fragments of jawbone the rest of the animal has been deduced following studies of extant species of primate. Fortunately, for our ancestors and other hominids such as Homo erectus, Gigantopithecus was a herbivore, feeding mainly on bamboo. Switzerland might be more famous for cuckoo clocks and Swiss army knives but it is gaining a bit of a reputation as a hot spot for Triassic dinosaur remains. For example, back in 2007 the discovery of a huge bone bed of Plateosaurs was announced by scientists from the University of Bonn. The site in question is regarded as the largest congregation of dinosaur bones ever found in Europe. A team of researchers from the Natural History Museum in Basel have found a set of three-toed dinosaur footprints, half-way up a mountain. The footprints, believed to be from a bipedal, Theropod dinosaur are some of the largest footprints of their kind ever found in Europe. The tracks indicate that approximately 210 million years ago, this area of Europe was stalked by a large predatory dinosaur, perhaps more than 6 metres long. Evidence of such a large, carnivorous dinosaur from such ancient sediments has caused scientists to re-think the evolution of the Theropod lineage, footprints of this size are known from the early Jurassic but not from the late Triassic. This indicates that large meat-eating dinosaurs evolved earlier than previously thought. During the Triassic, Switzerland was part of a huge landmass in the northern hemisphere called Laurentia, this part of the world was a coastal plain and a number of important Mesozoic fossils have been found in the country, but never before has evidence of such a large meat-eating dinosaur been discovered. The footprints measure up to 40cm long and indicate a very large carnivorous dinosaur, perhaps exceeding Liliensternus, a late Triassic carnivore, a member of the Coelophysoidea whose fossils have been found in Germany and France. The footprints were found at approximately 3,300 metres on a mountain in Ela Nature Reserve. During the late Triassic this part of the world had a tropical climate and it seems that the footprints were made when this dinosaur walked across a shallow area of salty water. The prints were fossilised and then over millions of years geological pressure forced the strata to buckle and fold forming the Alps. The prints are difficult to spot, they are only visible when direct sunlight does not shine on them, and to see them tourists will have to endure an eight hour hike. Hopefully, casts will be made and these will be put on display at a local museum and visitor centre. The three-toed print can be just made out in the centre of the photograph. As trackways have been discovered (a set of fossil footprints), the Swiss scientists hope to calculate how fast this dinosaur was moving. Other dinosaur footprints are known from this area but they are all herbivores, most likely Prosauropods such as Plateosaurus. It is impossible to state precisely what sort of Theropod dinosaur made these footprints. It could be a very large Coelophysid or perhaps a primitive Ceratosaur. The fossil record for meat-eating dinosaurs of the late Triassic is particularly poor. If it was a crested meat-eater it may have resembled a Liliensternus, but at this time this is pure speculation. The Pterosaurs are an extinct group of flying reptiles. Known from the fossil bearing strata dating from the Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous, these bizarre creatures were the first truly diverse and successful flying vertebrates (not withstanding one or two genera of Permian gliders). The wings of these strange reptiles were formed out of skin that stretched from the body over the forelimbs and were supported by an elongated fourth digit. For many years scientists have debated the aerial capabilities of these flying reptiles. Studies of endocasts of braincases and papers written on these animal’s ability to balance have been published and many researchers now believe that these animals were very capable fliers. However, whilst graceful and fully at home whilst airborne, how these animals moved around on the ground has long been debated. It has been argued, almost since the first Pterosaur fossils were studied in the 18th Century, that these animals were clumsy on land. Some scientists have proposed that these animals had a bipedal stance (especially the larger Pterosaurs such as the Late Cretaceous Azhdarchids), whilst others have proposed a quadrupedal stance. Ichnologists (scientists who specialise in the study of footprints and tracks), have found a number of Pterosaur trackways. A paper was published recently on a set of tracks made by a large Pterosaur and preserved in late Cretaceous strata in Mexico. These indicate a quadruped gait and stance. This evidence is supported by trace fossils from perhaps the best preserved Pterosaur trackway site in the world, that found in the late Jurassic limestone deposits of Crayssac in south-western France. A number of Pterosaur tracks have been identified in the Crayssac site. Some scientists have argued that previously described Pterosaur trackways may actually be Crocodilian but the absence of a tail drag and five digit impressions at the French location suggest that the majority of the trackways ascribed to various types of Pterosaur have been accurately described. A number of different sized and different length trackways are known from this region. They indicate the presence of a number of different types of Pterosaur in the environment at the time. The trackways were made in shallow, inter-tidal water and some of the tracks are several metres in length. Crucially, the tracks indicate a quadrupedal gait, and, surprisingly measurements taken by French scientists indicate that some of these Pterosaurs were capable of moving quite quickly when on the ground. How these animals took off, or landed has yet to be determined, but it is suggested that these graceful reptiles were capable of touching down or taking off in a similar fashion to modern birds. Some of the footprints indicate that certain species had webbed feet, an adaptation to their marine environment. Perhaps these animals filled an ecological niche similar to extant Pelicans of today.

2019-04-18T20:53:36Z

https://blog.everythingdinosaur.co.uk/blog/_archives/2009/08

aExact breakdown for exclusion not documented. bThe Institute of Medicine 1990 guidelines differ from the 2009 guidelines. In the 1990 guidelines, the recommended weight gain range was 12.5 to 18 kg for women with a body mass index (BMI; calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) less than 19.8; 11.5 to 16 kg for women with a BMI of 19.8 to 26.0; 7 to 11.5 kg for women with a BMI between 26.0 and 29.0; and at least 6.8 kg for women with a BMI higher than 29.0. Pooled ORs are shown for the association between gestational weight gain below (A) and above (B) guidelines with adverse outcomes. Reference group is women with recommended weight gain in each category of body mass index (BMI; calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared). For each outcome, the sample size represents the total number of women in the studies that assessed the outcome. For each BMI category, the sample size represents the total number of women with gestational weight gain below or above the guidelines. LGA indicates large for gestational age; SGA, small for gestational age. Pooled ORs are shown for the association between gestational weight loss (A), gestational weight gain below guidelines (B), and gestational weight gain above guidelines (C) with adverse outcomes. Obesity classes indicate body mass index (BMI; calculated as weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) as follows: class 1, BMI of 30 to 34.9; class 2, BMI of 35 to 39.9; and class 3, BMI of 40 or higher. Reference group is women with recommended weight gain in each category of BMI. For each outcome, the sample size represents the total number of women in the studies that assessed the outcome. For each obesity category, the sample size represents the total number of women with weight loss, gestational weight gain below the guidelines, or gestational weight gain above the guidelines. Institute of Medicine. Nutrition During Pregnancy: Part I: Weight Gain, Part II Nutrient Supplements. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 1990. Rasmussen K, Yaktine AL, eds; Institute of Medicine; National Research Council. Weight Gain During Pregnancy: Reexamining the Guidelines. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2009. Committee on Obstetric Practice, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Weight gain during pregnancy: committee opinion 548. January 2013, reaffirmed 2015. https://www.acog.org/-/media/Committee-Opinions/Committee-on-Obstetric-Practice/co548.pdf?dmc=1&ts=20160723T0702247216. Accessed July 23, 2016. Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation. Evidence Synthesis Program Template for Critical Appraisal of a Cohort Study. Melbourne, Australia: Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation; 2014. World Health Organization. WHO Recommendations on Antenatal Care for a Positive Pregnancy Experience. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2016. Teede H, Harrison C, Lombard C, Boyle C, East C, Brown W. Case for Action proposal: obesity prevention through preventing excess weight gain during pregnancy and postpartum. September 2014. https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/research/research-translation/research-translation-faculty/ideas-research-translation-faculty-cases. Accessed August 31, 2016. Question What is the association between gestational weight gain above or below the Institute of Medicine guidelines and maternal and infant outcomes? Findings In this systematic review and meta-analysis of 1 309 136 pregnancies, gestational weight gain below recommendations (in 23% of women) was associated with higher risk of small for gestational age (odds ratio [OR], 1.53) and preterm birth (OR, 1.70) and lower risk of large for gestational age (OR, 0.59) and macrosomia (OR, 0.60). Gestational weight gain above recommendations (47%) was associated with lower risk of small for gestational age (OR, 0.66) and preterm birth (OR, 0.77) and higher risk of large for gestational age (OR, 1.85), macrosomia (OR, 1.95), and cesarean delivery (OR, 1.30). Meaning Gestational weight gain below or above the Institute of Medicine guidelines was associated with higher risk of some adverse maternal and infant outcomes. Importance Body mass index (BMI) and gestational weight gain are increasing globally. In 2009, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) provided specific recommendations regarding the ideal gestational weight gain. However, the association between gestational weight gain consistent with theIOM guidelines and pregnancy outcomes is unclear. Objective To perform a systematic review, meta-analysis, and metaregression to evaluate associations between gestational weight gain above or below the IOM guidelines (gain of 12.5-18 kg for underweight women [BMI <18.5]; 11.5-16 kg for normal-weight women [BMI 18.5-24.9]; 7-11 kg for overweight women [BMI 25-29.9]; and 5-9 kg for obese women [BMI ≥30]) and maternal and infant outcomes. Data Sources and Study Selection Search of EMBASE, Evidence-Based Medicine Reviews, MEDLINE, and MEDLINE In-Process between January 1, 1999, and February 7, 2017, for observational studies stratified by prepregnancy BMI category and total gestational weight gain. Data Extraction and Synthesis Data were extracted by 2 independent reviewers. Odds ratios (ORs) and absolute risk differences (ARDs) per live birth were calculated using a random-effects model based on a subset of studies with available data. Main Outcomes and Measures Primary outcomes were small for gestational age (SGA), preterm birth, and large for gestational age (LGA). Secondary outcomes were macrosomia, cesarean delivery, and gestational diabetes mellitus. Results Of 5354 identified studies, 23 (n = 1 309 136 women) met inclusion criteria. Gestational weight gain was below or above guidelines in 23% and 47% of pregnancies, respectively. Gestational weight gain below the recommendations was associated with higher risk of SGA (OR, 1.53 [95% CI, 1.44-1.64]; ARD, 5% [95% CI, 4%-6%]) and preterm birth (OR, 1.70 [1.32-2.20]; ARD, 5% [3%-8%]) and lower risk of LGA (OR, 0.59 [0.55-0.64]; ARD, −2% [−10% to −6%]) and macrosomia (OR, 0.60 [0.52-0.68]; ARD, −2% [−3% to −1%]); cesarean delivery showed no significant difference (OR, 0.98 [0.96-1.02]; ARD, 0% [−2% to 1%]). Gestational weight gain above the recommendations was associated with lower risk of SGA (OR, 0.66 [0.63-0.69]; ARD, −3%; [−4% to −2%]) and preterm birth (OR, 0.77 [0.69-0.86]; ARD, −2% [−2% to −1%]) and higher risk of LGA (OR, 1.85 [1.76-1.95]; ARD, 4% [2%-5%]), macrosomia (OR, 1.95 [1.79-2.11]; ARD, 6% [4%-9%]), and cesarean delivery (OR, 1.30 [1.25-1.35]; ARD, 4% [3%-6%]). Gestational diabetes mellitus could not be evaluated because of the nature of available data. Conclusions and Relevance In this systematic review and meta-analysis of more than 1 million pregnant women, 47% had gestational weight gain greater than IOM recommendations and 23% had gestational weight gain less than IOM recommendations. Gestational weight gain greater than or less than guideline recommendations, compared with weight gain within recommended levels, was associated with higher risk of adverse maternal and infant outcomes. The purpose of this review and meta-analysis was to compare gestational weight gain with IOM guidelines from diverse international cohorts and to evaluate associations between gestational weight gain above and below guidelines with maternal and infant outcomes. This systematic review, meta-analysis, and metaregression was prospectively registered with PROSPERO International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO identifier CRD42015023325). A systematic search string of relevant terms was developed (eAppendix 1 in the Supplement). Searched databases in Ovid included EMBASE, all Evidence-Based Medicine Reviews, MEDLINE, and MEDLINE In-Process from January 1, 1999, to January 28, 2016 (Figure 1). The search was limited to articles from 1999 onward to represent more current populations. The search was later updated to February 7, 2017. Of 7 newly identified studies, 4 were included in the analyses. Three studies were excluded because the data were not in the required format, and there was insufficient time to obtain data from the authors. Bibliographies of included studies were reviewed to identify additional studies. Details of the search strategy and data extraction are shown in eAppendix 2 in the Supplement. Observational studies published in English and assessing singleton pregnancies in women aged 18 years or older were included. Study sample sizes larger than 500 women were required to identify outcomes present across the BMI categories. We postulated that small studies would have insufficient sample size to detect outcomes within each BMI group. Studies were included if they presented data examining women by prepregnancy BMI category, stratified by the total gestational weight gain. Studies that categorized by mean weight gain per week were excluded. Only studies presenting odds ratios (ORs) stratified by maternal BMI and gestational weight gain were included. Studies that simultaneously adjusted for categories of BMI and gestational weight gain to estimate the independent associations of weight change with outcomes were excluded because the aim of this review was to assess the association of gestational weight gain (specific for each BMI category) and outcomes. Studies meeting these criteria used different BMI categories (eg, Metropolitan Life Insurance Tables, WHO classifications, or Chinese classifications11 [BMI for underweight, <18.5; normal weight, 18.5-23.9; overweight, 24-28; and obese, ≥28]) and gestational weight gain categories (eg, 1990 IOM, 2009 IOM, population-specific, or study-specific categories) to classify participants. Additionally, some studies used a reference of normal gestational weight gain within each BMI group, whereas others used a reference of normal-weight women with normal weight gain. In this review, BMI was defined by WHO categories and/or Chinese BMI categories. Gestational weight gain was defined by 2009 IOM criteria; thus, authors of identified studies were contacted to reanalyze data using these categories. The ORs were calculated using recommended gestational weight gain within each BMI category as the reference. Gestational weight gain was defined as the difference between the final weight and the prepregnancy weight and was classified as below, within, or above the 2009 IOM guidelines. The prepregnancy weight was either self-reported (which correlates well with measured weight12,13) or measured at first antenatal visits. Final pregnancy weight was measured at the last antenatal visit or the time of delivery or was self-reported within 1 year of delivery. Two authors assessed risk of bias (R.F.G. and S.K.A.). Discrepancies were resolved by consensus in discussion with a third reviewer (M.M.). Methodological quality of included studies was assessed using the Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation evidence synthesis appraisal assessment tool.15,16 Individual quality items were assessed using a descriptive approach including exposure and outcome measures, reporting bias, confounding, and conflict of interest. Each study was classified as low, medium, or high risk of bias. Findings were synthesized by target population characteristics, study type, and outcome. Outcome measures were produced for each study by calculating ORs and 95% confidence intervals, using recommended gestational weight gain within each BMI category as the reference. When 2 or more studies assessed the same outcome, results were pooled using both fixed- and random-effects meta-analysis. There were no significant differences between fixed- and random-effects analyses. Random effects are presented given heterogeneity among studies. Extracted pooled ORs for individual outcomes were combined to construct summary pooled ORs. Crude data were used where possible, given variable control for confounding factors. However, some articles presented adjusted ORs only.17-24 Absolute risk differences (ARDs) per live birth were calculated from event rates (available for a subset of studies) using random-effects meta-analysis. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 statistic, where I2 > 50% indicated substantial heterogeneity.25 Metaregression was performed to investigate sources of heterogeneity (percentage of smokers during pregnancy, mean age, and percentage of nulliparous women). Race/ethnicity data were not available for the metaregression. Where 5 or more studies were available, publication bias was assessed using Egger test plots.26,27 Statistical significance was defined as 2-sided P < .05. Statistical analysis used Stata software version 14 (StataCorp LP). A subgroup analysis was performed in specific population groups identified a priori (studies using Chinese or Korean BMI categories, not presented herein). Obesity subclasses were included after reviewing studies that stratified by obesity class. Tests for trend based on the Cochran-Armitage test in Stata were used to assess trends in this subgroup analysis. Of 5874 studies identified by the initial search, 302 were selected for full-text review; 261 of these were excluded, leaving 41 (Figure 1). These studies grouped women by prepregnancy BMI category, stratified by total gestational weight gain. One study28 did not meet inclusion criteria as published; however, prior collaboration had made data available in the required format. Of 41 identified studies, 18 were excluded because data could not be obtained in the required format. Of these 18 studies, authors of 15 were contacted and unable to reanalyze and authors of 3 were not contacted from the updated search because of insufficient time prior to publication (eAppendix 2 in the Supplement). Overall, 23 cohort studies17-24,28-42 were included, involving 1 309 136 women. Of these 23 studies, 7 were included without contacting the authors because data were in the required format. Of 16 authors contacted, 13 reanalyzed data and were included; 3 provided additional information, thereby avoiding reanalysis. Table 2 and Table 3 list characteristics of the studies (descriptive characteristics are shown in eTable 1 in the Supplement). Eighteen studies were retrospective, and 5 were prospective.20,29,32,33,42 Ten were from the United States,18-20,23,28,31,35,38,40,41 8 were from Asia (4 from China,21,29,32,36 2 from Korea,34,39 and 1 each from Taiwan24 and Japan22), and 5 were from Europe (1 each from Norway,33 Belgium,30 Italy,37 Denmark,42 and Sweden17). Sample sizes ranged from 1034 to 570 672 women. Underweight women composed 7% (n = 94 399); normal-weight women, 55% (n = 720 456); overweight women, 18% (n = 235 295); and obese women, 20% (n = 258 986). Gestational weight gain was below, within, or above guidelines in 23% (n = 300 723), 30% (n = 387 409), and 47% (n = 621 004), respectively. Figure 2 shows pooled ORs for primary and secondary outcomes. eFigure 1 in the Supplement shows pooled ORs for individual outcomes. eTable 2 in the Supplement reports event rates. eTable 3 and eFigure 2 in the Supplement report ARDs and P values. The ARDs are expressed as percentage difference per live birth. Across BMI categories, gestational weight gain below guidelines was associated with higher risk for SGA than gestational weight gain within guidelines (OR, 1.53 [95% CI, 1.44 to 1.64]; I2 = 82.8%; ARD, 5% [95% CI, 4% to 6%]). This association was greatest in lower prepregnancy BMI (underweight: OR, 1.89 [95% CI, 1.67 to 2.14]; ARD, 8% [95% CI, 6% to 11%]; normal weight: OR, 1.63 [95% CI, 1.54 to 1.71]; ARD, 5% [95% CI, 4% to 6%]; overweight: OR, 1.34 [95% CI, 1.24 to 1.44]; ARD, 3% [95% CI, 3% to 4%]; and obese: OR, 1.24 [95% CI, 1.06 to 1.45]; ARD, 2% [95% CI, 2% to 3%]). Compared with gestational weight gain within guidelines, gain above guidelines was associated with lower risk for SGA (OR, 0.66 [95% CI, 0.63 to 0.69]; I2 = 56%; ARD, −3% [95% CI, −4% to −2%]). The association was similar across BMI categories (underweight: OR, 0.62 [95% CI, 0.53 to 0.72]; ARD, −6% [95% CI, −8% to −3%]; normal weight: OR, 0.65 [95% CI, 0.62 to 0.68]; ARD, −2% [95% CI, −3% to−1%]; overweight: OR, 0.65 [95% CI, 0.59 to 0.71]; ARD, −3% [95% CI, −4% to −2%]; and obese: OR, 0.72 [95% CI, 0.65 to 0.80]; ARD, −2% [95% CI, −3% to −1%]). Compared with gestational weight gain within guidelines, weight gain below guidelines was associated with higher risk for preterm birth (OR, 1.70 [95% CI, 1.32 to 2.20]; I2 = 97.3%; ARD, 5% [95% CI, 3% to 8%]). This association was greatest with lower BMI (underweight: OR, 2.41 [95% CI, 1.01 to 5.73]; ARD, 8% [95% CI, 1% to 15%]; normal weight: OR, 1.96 [95% CI, 1.17 to 3.29]; ARD, 6% [95% CI, 0% to 11%]; overweight: OR, 1.55 [95% CI, 1.10 to 2.19]; ARD, 4% [95% CI, −1% to 9%]; and obese: OR, 1.20 [95% CI, 1.03 to 1.40]; ARD, 3% [95% CI, 1% to 5%]). Gestational weight gain above guidelines was associated with lower risk for preterm birth (OR, 0.77 [95% CI, 0.69 to 0.86]; I2 = 78.7%; ARD, −2% [95% CI, −2% to −1%]). This association was significant for normal-weight and overweight women (underweight: OR, 0.80 [95% CI, 0.50 to 1.28]; ARD, −1% [95% CI, −3% to 0%]; normal weight: OR, 0.76 [95% CI, 0.59 to 0.97]; ARD, −1% [95% CI, −2% to 0%]; overweight: OR, 0.70 [95% CI, 0.53 to 0.93]; ARD, −3% [95% CI, −5% to −1%]; and obese: OR, 0.76 [95% CI, 0.62 to 0.93]; ARD, −2% [95% CI, −5% to 2%]). Gestational weight gain below guidelines was associated with lower risk of LGA than gestational weight gain within guidelines (OR, 0.59 [95% CI, 0.55 to 0.64]; I2 = 78.9%; ARD, −2% [95% CI, −10% to −6%]). This was significant for underweight and normal-weight women (underweight: OR, 0.41 [95% CI, 0.34 to 0.50]; ARD, −3% [95% CI, −5% to −1%]; normal weight: OR, 0.58 [95% CI, 0.54-0.62]; ARD, −3% [95% CI, −4% to −2%]; overweight: OR, 0.66 [95% CI, 0.62 to 0.70]; ARD, −11% [95% CI, −33% to 10%]; and obese: OR, 0.70 [95% CI, 0.64 to 0.76]; ARD, 13% [95% CI, −34% to 60%]). Gestational weight gain above guidelines was associated with higher risk of LGA (OR, 1.85 [95% CI, 1.76 to 1.95]; I2 = 74.6%; ARD, 4% [95% CI, 2% to 5%]). The association increased as BMI decreased (underweight: OR, 2.17 [95% CI, 1.81 to 2.60]; ARD, 4% [95% CI, 4% to 5%]; normal weight: OR, 1.95 [95% CI, 1.83 to 2.08]; ARD, 6% [95% CI, 5% to 7%]; overweight: OR, 1.79 [95% CI, 1.61 to 1.98]; ARD, −2% [95% CI, −14% to 9%]; and obese: OR, 1.63 [95% CI, 1.56 to 1.70]; ARD, 7% [95% CI, 5% to 8%]). Gestational weight gain below guidelines was associated with lower risk of macrosomia (OR, 0.60 [95% CI, 0.52 to 0.68]; I2 = 66.3%; ARD, −2% [95% CI, −3% to −1%]). The association was strongest in underweight women (underweight: OR, 0.43 [95% CI, 0.27 to 0.69]; ARD, −1% [95% CI, −3% to 0%]; normal weight: OR, 0.54 [95% CI, 0.43 to 0.68]; ARD, −2% [95% CI, −5% to 1%]; overweight: OR, 0.73 [95% CI, 0.60 to 0.89]; ARD, −2% [95% CI, −6% to 2%]; and obese: OR, 0.70 [95% CI, 0.59 to 0.82]; ARD, −3% [−4% to −2%]). Gestational weight gain above guidelines was associated with higher risk of macrosomia (OR, 1.95 [95% CI, 1.79 to 2.11]; I2 = 58.2%; ARD, 6% [95% CI, 4% to 9%]). This association was strongest in underweight women according to the ORs, and all associations were significant according to the ARDs (underweight: OR, 2.31 [95% CI, 1.62 to 3.29]; ARD, 3% [95% CI, 2% to 4%]; normal weight: OR, 2.01 [95% CI, 1.77 to 2.27]; ARD, 10% [95% CI, 5% to 15%]; overweight: OR, 1.90 [95% CI, 1.54 to 2.33]; ARD, 5% [95% CI, 1% to 10%]; and obese: OR, 1.83 [95% CI, 1.52 to 2.22]; ARD, 6% [95% CI, 1% to 12%]). Eight studies assessed cesarean delivery. Seven included emergency and elective deliveries,22,28,29,33,36,37,39 and 1 did not specify.24 One study28 included repeated cesarean delivery (total cesarean deliveries), 1 included primary cesarean delivery only,24 and 6 did not distinguish these. Gestational weight gain below guidelines was not significantly associated with cesarean delivery (OR, 0.98 [95% CI, 0.96 to 1.02]; I2 = 62.6%; ARD, 0% [−2% to 1%]). Gestational weight gain above guidelines was associated with higher risk of cesarean delivery (OR, 1.30 [95 CI, 1.25 to 1.35]; I2 = 21.9%; ARD, 4% [95% CI, 3% to 6%]). The ARD was significant for underweight women only (underweight: OR, 1.45 [95% CI, 1.22 to 1.71]; ARD, 6% [95% CI, 1% to 12%]; normal weight: OR, 1.30 [95% CI, 1.24 to 1.36]; ARD, 0% [95% CI, −4% to 3%]; overweight: OR, 1.29 [95% CI, 1.21 to 1.39]; ARD, 1% [0% to 3%]; and obese: OR, 1.22 [95% CI, 1.05 to 1.42]; ARD, −2% [95% CI, −5% to 1%]). Six studies assessed GDM, but they did not use consistent definitions and had different findings for gestational weight gain above guidelines and GDM risk. Black et al28 defined GDM by International Association of Diabetes in Pregnancy Study Groups criteria and included only women not treated for hyperglycemia (the center used different criteria in clinical practice and excluded those treated). They found no association between weight gain above guidelines and GDM in the underweight, normal-weight, and obese groups but reported lower risk in overweight women. Enomoto et al22 used International Association of Diabetes in Pregnancy Study Groups criteria, with higher risk in normal-weight women and lower risk in overweight women. Durst et al23 used Carpenter-Coustan criteria and found no association. Hung and Hsieh24 used Carpenter-Coustan and International Association of Diabetes in Pregnancy Study Groups criteria and found an association of gestational weight gain above guidelines with lower risk of GDM in overweight and obese women. Li et al36 included both impaired glucose tolerance and type 2 diabetes by WHO criteria, with weight gain above guidelines associated with lower risk of GDM in all groups except obese women. Shin and Song31 used self-reported GDM and found an association of gestational weight gain above guidelines with lower risk in all groups except underweight women. An intended meta-analysis of gestational weight gain and its relationship to GDM could not be completed because of inconsistent definitions and treatments. Obesity classes include the following: class 1, BMI of 30 to 34.9; class 2, BMI of 35 to 39.9; and class 3, BMI of 40 or higher. Obese studies generally included a subgroup-defined weight loss as well as gestational weight gain below, within, or above guidelines. Three studies assessed outcomes stratified by BMI classes 1 through 3.17,18,30 Another study35 investigated only superobese women (BMI ≥50) and was included in the obesity class 3 analysis. These 4 studies were included in the subgroup analysis only (not in the overall meta-analyses). Class 1 included 67% of women; class 2, 22%; and class 3, 11%. Weight loss and gestational weight gain below, within, or above recommendations occurred in 6%, 13%, 25%, and 57% of pregnancies, respectively. Figure 3 summarizes pooled ORs for primary (SGA and LGA) and secondary (macrosomia and cesarean delivery) outcomes. eFigure 3 in the Supplement shows pooled ORs for individual outcomes. eTable 4 in the Supplement reports ARDs and P values. Only 1 study35 assessed preterm birth and GDM in the obese subgroups, preventing meta-analysis. Kominiarek et al18 provided separate ORs for nulliparous and multiparous women (multiparous values used herein), whereas other studies combined women with different parity into 1 group. Weight loss and weight gain below guidelines were associated with higher SGA risk (weight loss: OR, 1.79 [95% CI, 1.56 to 2.05]; I2 = 0%; ARD, 3% [95% CI, 1% to 5%]; weight gain below guidelines: OR, 1.27 [95% CI, 1.14 to 1.41]; I2 = 20.7%; ARD, 1% [95% CI, 1% to 1%]). Gestational weight gain above guidelines was associated with lower SGA risk (OR, 0.62 [95% CI, 0.57 to 0.67]; I2 = 13.5%; ARD, −1% [−2% to 0%]). Weight gain in class 1 had the strongest association with lower SGA risk (lowest OR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.72]; P for trend < .001). Weight loss and gestational weight gain below guidelines were associated with lower LGA risk (weight loss: OR, 0.58 [95% CI, 0.52 to 0.66]; I2 = 11.6%; ARD, −5% [95% CI, −7% to −3%]; weight gain below guidelines: OR, 0.77 [95% CI, 0.71 to 0.84]; I2 = 0%; ARD, −2% [95% CI, −3% to −1%]). Weight loss in class 3 had the strongest association with lower LGA risk (lowest OR, 0.53 [95% CI, 0.41 to 0.67]; P for trend < .001). Weight gain above guidelines was associated with higher LGA risk (OR, 1.79 [95% CI, 1.70 to 1.89]; I2 = 69.3%; ARD, 5% [95% CI, 5% to 6%]). LGA was most strongly associated with class 1 obesity compared with the other classes (highest OR, 1.87 [95% CI, 1.75 to 2.00]; P for trend < .001). Three studies assessed macrosomia, defined as birth weight greater than 4000 g in 1 study,30 greater than 4500 g in 1 study,18 and both greater than 4000 g and greater than 4500 g in 1 study.35 Meta-analysis used data for birth weight greater than 4000 g. Weight loss and gestational weight gain below guidelines were associated with lower macrosomia risk (weight loss: OR, 0.46 [95% CI, 0.36 to 0.58]; I2 = 34.0%; ARD, −5% [95% CI, −9% to −2%]; weight gain below guidelines: OR, 0.76 [95% CI, 0.68 to 0.86]; I2 = 0%; ARD, −2% [95% CI, −3% to 0%]). Low weight gain in class 3 had the strongest association with lower macrosomia risk (lowest OR, 0.64 [95% CI, 0.49 to 0.85]; P for trend = .046). Gestational weight gain above guidelines was associated with higher risk of macrosomia (OR, 1.60 [95% CI, 1.46 to 1.75]; I2 = 66.9%; ARD, 3% [95% CI, 0% to 6%]). Four studies assessed cesarean delivery. They included emergency,30 emergency and elective,18,35 and undefined17 indications for cesarean delivery. Weight loss and gestational weight gain below guidelines were associated with lower risk of cesarean delivery (weight loss: OR, 0.78 [95% CI, 0.72 to 0.85]; I2 = 34.3%; ARD, −4% [95% CI, −6% to −3%]; weight gain below guidelines: OR, 0.87 [95% CI, 0.82 to 0.93]; I2 = 0%; ARD, −2% [95% CI, −3% to −1%]). Gestational weight gain above guidelines was associated with higher risk of cesarean delivery (OR, 1.21 [95% CI, 1.16 to 1.25]; I2 = 0%; ARD, 2% [95% CI, 0% to 3%]). Substantial heterogeneity (I2 > 50%) was present for gestational weight gain below and above guidelines for SGA, preterm birth, LGA, and macrosomia and for gestational weight gain above guidelines for cesarean delivery. When sufficient data were available, metaregression analysis was performed to investigate possible sources of heterogeneity: percentage of smokers during pregnancy, mean age, and percentage of nulliparous women (eTable 5 in the Supplement). The obese subgroups had insufficient studies to perform metaregression. Gestational weight gain above guidelines and LGA demonstrated a source for heterogeneity (P = .04); specifically, there was an association between the treatment effect and the covariate smoking (P = .02). For gestational weight gain below guidelines and preterm birth, mean maternal age was the only covariate associated with outcome, where the risk for preterm birth varied by maternal age due to the heterogeneity in maternal age in included studies (P = .03); however, the overall P value was not significant (P = .09). Heterogeneity was unexplained for remaining outcomes. There was no evidence of publication bias for SGA, LGA, macrosomia or cesarean delivery (eFigure 4 in the Supplement). Assessment for publication bias was not performed for preterm births (<5 studies). Participants were selected from maternity clinics or from large data sets (Table 4). Apart from 3 studies,19,23,32 inclusion and exclusion criteria were adequately described. Performance bias (a potential difference in the care provided between BMI groups) was difficult to assess. Very few studies provided information regarding diet and/or exercise advice given and whether this differed between groups. Overweight and obese women were possibly treated more intensively, which could introduce bias. Three studies demonstrated moderate bias risk19,21,31 and 20 demonstrated low bias risk.17,18,20,22-24,28-30,32-42 Reasons for moderate bias risk included self-reported final weight (detection bias), self-reported outcome measures (detection bias), failure to report all outcomes (report bias), and insufficient adjustment for confounding variables (confounding bias). Nineteen studies reported no conflict of interest. Quiz Ref IDIn this analysis of 1 309 136 pregnancies from diverse international cohorts, gestational weight gain below or above 2009 IOM guidelines among women across the BMI range was associated with greater risk for maternal and infant adverse outcomes. Underweight women composed 7%; normal-weight women, 55%; overweight women, 18%; and obese women, 20%. For gestational weight gain, 23% gained below and 47% gained above guidelines. Compared with recommended gestational weight gain, gain below guidelines was associated with 5% higher risk of both SGA and preterm birth and 2% lower risk of both LGA and macrosomia. Weight gain above guidelines was associated with 3% lower risk of SGA and 2% lower risk of preterm birth and 4%, 6%, and 4% higher risk of LGA, macrosomia, and cesarean delivery, respectively. Gestational weight gain below guidelines was associated with higher SGA risk, with greatest risk in underweight women, as shown previously.43,44 Obesity was associated with higher risk of SGA, with weight loss and gestational weight gain below guidelines increasing risks, similar to prior systematic reviews.26,45,46 Underweight status combined with gestational weight gain below recommendations as well as obese status combined with gestational weight loss present the highest risk groups for SGA, at 8% and 3%, respectively. Gestational weight gain below guidelines was associated with lower risks of LGA and macrosomia. This association was lowest in underweight women. Weight gain above guidelines was associated with higher risks of LGA and macrosomia, with ARDs of 4% and 6% greater risks, respectively. Underweight status was associated with the greatest risk. This is similar to the 2009 IOM report6 that stated, “the lower the prepregnancy BMI, the stronger the association between increased gestational weight gain and birthweight”; it may be related to higher absolute weight gain in underweight women.1 Animal studies suggest that baseline maternal BMI and gestational weight gain are associated with changes in the hormonal milieu, including insulin resistance.50 Similarly, excess weight gain in underweight women may be associated with greater changes in the hormonal milieu and placental function than in normal-weight or overweight women. Weight gain above guidelines was associated with increased risk of cesarean delivery across the BMI spectrum. Quiz Ref IDSimilarly, within the obese subgroups, weight loss was associated with a 5% lower risk for both LGA and macrosomia and 4% lower risk for cesarean delivery. Weight gain below guidelines was associated with 2% lower risk across all these outcomes. Class 3 obesity combined with weight loss was associated with the greatest LGA risk reduction. Gestational weight gain above guidelines was associated with increased LGA risk. Class 1 obesity was associated with the greatest risk for LGA, which may be partly due to higher absolute weight gain in less obese women.10 While other systematic reviews have assessed gestational weight gain below guidelines,26 to our knowledge, this is the first review exploring relationships between weight gain above guidelines and outcomes within obesity classes. While GDM has adverse maternal and infant outcomes51 and is related to maternal BMI and possibly to gestational weight gain, associations could not be assessed because of heterogeneity of diagnosis and treatment as well as the potential effect of GDM treatment on gestational weight gain. Prior systematic reviews have not demonstrated that healthy lifestyle and gestational weight gain reduced rates of GDM,14 even in high-risk populations.52 Consistent diagnostic criteria and reporting of gestational weight gain at GDM diagnosis are needed to study associations between gestational weight gain and GDM. Lifestyle interventions in pregnancy can help women attain recommended gestational weight gain.14 Optimal interventions and effects on outcomes are currently being studied in a large-scale international individual patient data meta-analysis.53 The WHO has prioritized achievement of ideal BMI prior to conception and prevention of excess gestational weight gain.54 Identification of women prior to conception and implementing healthy lifestyle strategies before and during pregnancy have yet to be integrated into routine health care,55 requiring research implementation. Strengths of this review are the inclusion of common maternal and infant risks associated with gestational weight gain below and above the 2009 IOM guidelines in women across the prepregnancy BMI spectrum and across international cohorts. Four databases were searched, a risk of bias appraisal was performed, and reanalyses were undertaken, allowing inclusion of data from more than 1.3 million pregnant women globally. Collaboration with other authors facilitated more homogeneous data, data integration, and meta-analysis. This study has limitations. It lacks studies from developing countries and excluded non-English-language articles. Fifteen of 31 authors contacted were unable to reanalyze data, so these studies were excluded from the meta-analysis. A meta-analysis could not be performed for GDM because of inconsistent primary data. Some outcomes were assessed in only 1 study, precluding meta-analysis. Inconsistent definitions of preterm birth, cesarean delivery, and macrosomia limited interpretation of findings. Study heterogeneity may have affected reliability of results, although the metaregression did not identify characteristics responsible for this heterogeneity. Studies published before 2009 IOM guidelines were included, and gestational weight gain targets before and after these guidelines may have differed. Preterm birth was not adjusted for gestational age, potentially resulting in less total gestational weight gain than would have been otherwise attained. Spontaneous and induced preterm birth were not clearly differentiated, and studies did not distinguish between emergency and elective or primary and repeated cesarean deliveries. These factors may limit interpretation and underscore the importance of improving outcome definition reporting. Event rates were not available for all studies, limiting interpretation of ARDs. Findings from this review are based on observational data and no causal links may be concluded. They may be applicable on a population level, but recommendations need to be individualized when applied clinically. Quiz Ref IDIn this systematic review and meta-analysis of more than 1 million pregnant women, 47% had gestational weight gain greater than IOM recommendations and 23% had gestational weight gain less than IOM recommendations. Gestational weight gain greater than or less than guideline recommendations, compared with gestational weight gain within recommended levels, was associated with higher risk of adverse maternal and infant outcomes. Corresponding Author: Helena J. Teede, MBBS, FRACP, PhD, Monash University, 43-51 Kanooka Dr, Clayton, Melbourne, Victoria 3168, Australia ([email protected]). Accepted for Publication: May 10, 2017. Author Contributions: Dr Goldstein and Mr Ranasinha had full access to all of the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. Concept and design: Goldstein, Abell, Ranasinha, Misso, Teede. Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data: Goldstein, Abell, Ranasinha, Boyle, Black, Li, Hu, Corrado, Rode, Y. J. Kim, Haugen, Song, M. H. Kim, Bogaerts, Devlieger, Chung, Teede. Drafting of the manuscript: Goldstein, Teede. Administrative, technical, or material support: Goldstein, Ranasinha, Teede. Conflict of Interest Disclosures: All authors have completed and submitted the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest. Dr Boyle reported serving on the Women’s Health Global Advisory Board for Pfizer. No other disclosures were reported. Funding/Support: Dr Goldstein is supported by a Research Training Program scholarship from the Department of Education and Training. Dr Abell is supported by a scholarship from the National Health and Medical Research Council. Drs Boyle and Teede are supported by fellowships from the National Health and Medical Research Council. Additional Contributions: Tiffany Moore Simas, MD (University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester), Sohyun Park, PhD (National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Atlanta, Georgia), and Michelle Kominiarek, MD (University of Illinois at Chicago), assisted in providing additional data.

2019-04-18T16:27:12Z

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2630599

Bob Sheldon gave us good advice on a number of the most important aspects of the process leading up to the sale of our home. He is a man of integrity and honesty, and he managed the myriad details of the process without missing a beat. He was responsive to our many questions along the way - and he displayed patience and understanding in handling those questions. He has considerable expertise with the outer cape home market, and we recommend him highly! We chose Bob Sheldon of REMAX to handle the recent sale of our Eastham, MA home. Bob was invaluable applying his local knowledge of the cape and professional service to this daunting process. Final details of sale, septic, plumbing, fire and water inspections were facilitated by Bob which was a great asset to a seller who resides in New York. This was our second real estate transaction with Bob Sheldon and we recommend him highly and confidently. Our home sold promptly and Bob was a tremendous help navigating all the requirements for agency approvals, including everything required for a new septic system. Bob is well organized, knows all the regulations, has good recommendations, and gets everything that's required done promptly and on time. Highly recommend to anyone looking for a realtor to sell their home. Sorry it has taken so long to write this note, but we have been too busy enjoying our new Cape home! We wanted to thank you for all the hard work and guidance in our purchase. We had been looking for many years and the prices finally fell enough for us to jump in. You made the whole process fun and easy for us; from looking online at houses to driving around in the offseason to actually see them up close. Your patience and fortitude in guiding us through buying a foreclosed property was greatly appreciated, and I do not feel we could have pulled it off with out you. Your combination of local knowledge, great interpersonal skills, computer savvy and quiet strength made the whole process well worth it. Thanks to you, we hope to spend many a fun summer on the cape, surfing, sunning, and introducing B. to all the fun. Bob Sheldon helped us find our dream vacation home on the cape through what I can only describe as patience and perseverance. Bob was sensitive to our price range, showed us a full range of properties in the area we were interested in but most importantly counseled patience in sticking with the place we eventually bought. Since we bought a forclosed house, more went wrong than right in the process with the seller, but Bob stuck with us in making the deal happen. Because of his counsel and patience we got the house we were after. "Just a short note to let you know how pleased we were with how the purchase of our new home in Eastham went this past fall. We found you to be easy going, organized, knowledgeable and personable. You anwered all our questions, from building code and home inspection requirements to obtaining financing and legal. All your professional referrals were first rate and helped the closing process proceed quickly and smoothly. You obviously enjoy your work and it shows in your people and communication skills. Thanks again for all your help and we look forward to seeing you as neighbors next summer! " Thanks for all your work on our property and my mother's. She is doing very well since we moved her here. Have a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous new year. Even in times like this the Lord is in Control (as evidenced by the selling of our land) and we must keep looking up as His return is close. May He bless you richly. You did a fabulous job for us. I can't tell you how many times we told each other we "lucked out" and got the perfect agent for our situation. It was a long and sometimes grueling process trying to find the perfect house being four hours from the Cape. When a property came up we were interested in you made the trip out worthwhile by scheduling a number of houses to look at. The itinerary you planned was always very detailed and allowed us to make the most of our short visits. Although it took a long time to find the perfect home, you never lost patience and we never felt pressure from you to rush our decision. When that perfect house did finally come, your aid in the whole process from the starting negotiations through to the closing was invaluable. Thanks again Bob. We love the house and hopefully will run into you when we are in town. Long overdue thanks for helping us make our quest for a Cape home a reality.Even though we were in the starter house market, you gave us the attention due a big purchase buyer. You kept in touch, flagged properties you thoughtmight be of interest, showed us many houses, and allowed full access to your listings. It was helpful to have access to listing addresses so we could efficiently decide which properties were worth a visit. We greatly appreciated your attentiveness, patience, good humor and generous sharing of resources and knowledge. Responding to a last minute request about a listing (we were heading home to NY after a holiday weekend), you offered to meet us in twenty minutes at the house we ultimately purchased. It still amazes me that you immediately responded and gained access and (knowing it was a longshot), arrived in twenty minutes with your usual cheerfulness and enthusiam. Twenty minutes! Who else offers that kind of service in any field? Not many I have encountered. When we proceeded through the contract, you kept us informed of important things due to keep the process rolling and provided resource lists for everything from cable tv service to repairs. You are a very good guide through the sometimes baffling road of real estate. We are delighted with our little house and greatful you were our guide. Many thanks. We want to thank you for all you did to help us find our perfect Cape Cod home. We began the process almost a year ago, and the amount of properties available made this an almost overwhelming experience. Your patience and understanding enabled us to find exactly what we needed, and your assistance through the closing process and beyond made us comfortable every step along the way. We look forward to many years of joy with family and friends at this wonderful home. E. and I would be remiss if we did not take the time to thank you for your outstanding help to us in purchasing our "dream home" in Eastham. Unlike other realtors, you really took the time to understand exactly what we were looking for, and with that knowledge, researched the market to find houses that fit our criteria. In doing so, you saved us lots of time and allowed us to focus our attention on only those properties that truly matched our wants and needs. Once we found the right home -- which you had identified for us -- you worked with us every step of the way through the negotiations, inspections and closing. Your assistance was invaluable in getting through the entire purchase process very smoothly and successfully. And unlike other realtors we have worked with, you have continued to help us even after the closing with countless tips and practical advise to help us settle into our new community. We can't thank you enough for all your help. In short, you have been enormously helpful to us and we would very strongly recommend your excellent services to others who are interested in purchasing property on the Lower Cape. When you work with the best . . . everything becomes much easier! Thanks again for all of your excellent help, advice and counsel. It has been a real pleasure working with you. Bob, N. and I would like to thank you for your perseverance in our five month quest to obtain this property. I know that the profit for you had to be at a minimum and your efforts to put this deal together were above and beyond. Again, thank you and hope we can stay in touch as neighbors. R. and I would like to thank you for your hard work and your commitment to us as our realtor for our new Orleans home. Your service was spot on and you exhibited an amazing amount of patience and knowledge of exactly what to do to make our dream of owning a Cape Cod come true. You provided us with so much detailed information and helped us find the right people in adapting our home to suit our needs. Thank you for all the help you gave us. If you ever need a reference, please let us know and we would be only too happy to send one along. Bob, Just a brief note of thanks for the professionalism you bring to the Realty Business and to us personally. The plaudits and credits that come to our mind are: Integrity, honesty, immediacy, trust, friendliness, and representation to name a few. Your instant follow up, 24X7 availability, flawless representation of the seller are commendable and we thank you for being our representative listing agent. As we end 2007, G. and I would like to thank you for all your assistance in purchasing our home. We love it! As you know, we were a client of yours for about 5 years before we became fortunate enough to purchase this home. We will never forget your excitement and ours the day we toured an "aggressive" amount of homes, narrowed things down, went the next day and made our offer. Things went very smooth through the whole process, including the 20 minute closing! So thanks again for your professional & helpful advice. We are so happy & blessed to have this home to enjoy Eastham, as we have for 17 years - but now to share with our family & friends. Mrs. W. and I would like to express our appreciation for your efforts on the sale of our Lieutenant Island cottage. Especially your pursuing all the required inspections and remediation needed when necessary. Also, for protecting our interests to be sure everything came together by the time of closing. Again, many thanks! We would recommend you as broker agent anytime. S. and I want to thank you for all of your help in buying the property at 65 Alston Ave. Your knowledge of the real estate market on the outer Cape was a valuable asset as we tried to figure exactly what we were trying to accomplish. I think I was more frustrated than you when we came close on our first offer but could not come to terms with the seller. The next week end you just set us up to look at more houses on our list, even though you were in the midst of your daughters wedding and all the responsibilities that go with that magic event. Once we found our property, you stayed on top of the schedule of events and made referrals to excellent resources that we needed to satisfy the contingencies. With any luck at all, we will be part-time neighbors by next Summer. This summer marks our 25th anniversary as a married couple, and the year we were finally able to become homeowners in Eastham, after renting for as many years! We want to thank you, Bob, for helping it all to become possible. More particularly, we are grateful for your friendly professionalism and sincere efforts on our behalf every step of the way, for your accessibility, and for your follow through every time we phoned from PA with a concern. From our initial acquaintance last summer, through and including the closing on our new home, this purchase process has been a pleasurable experience. Once we complete our renovations, we would very much like you to visit and share a toast! We greatly appreciated your advice during the purchase negotiations, particularly your ability to create a "win-win" agreement for both us and the sellers. The suggestions you gave us for mortgages and lawyers were excellent. The inspector you recommended was very thorough, and you were kind enough to meet with him in our absence. You followed up well in subsequent negotiations for repairs. We’ve bought and sold a number of homes before this, but no sale or purchase has ever gone as seamlessly as this one, (once we made up our minds!) We’re really eager to get back to the Cape this April, and we hope to have a chance to say "hello" to you again and to thank you in person for doing such a fine job for us. The house is wonderful. Amelia has named it "Sweet heart home"! It is perfect for our family. Thank you for your time, advice & endless showings. Thank you for everything. L. the boy's and I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you again for helping us find our "dream house " in Eastham. After guiding us to our first home in Eastham a couple of years ago, we had a brief discussion about "trading up" some time in the remote future. Amazingly, through your open lines of communication and intimate knowledge of the market, we were able to make it happen in only two years! Not only were you able to find us a beautiful home in an incredible location (with great neighbors..haha), but, during a flat real estate market, you employed innovative techniques to sell our previous home within a couple of percentage points of the asking price. Thanks again Bob. Hope to see you soon. Bob – It has been a year since we closed on our “CapeEscape” and we continue to be so thankful you are our Realtor. From the moment we met, you quickly sized us up, and help guide us in a direction that made the most sense for us and our family. When you located our dream vacation home you helped us see what an incredible location it was for our family, and then helped us through the process to closing. Your knowledge, dedication, and passion for customer service is second to none. We have a great house with a fantastic location – all thanks to you. We’ve also been amazed at your service after the sale. You never disappeared, continuing to provide your warm, personalized service after the sale, and have been a great help in providing quality referrals to local craftsmen. We can’t say thank you enough – we will recommend you to everyone we meet. If you’re considering buying or selling on the Cape, make one phone call to 508-237-9545. Bob is the Realtor you want on your side. He makes dreams come true. We saved this day, Thanksgiving Day, 2006, to thank you for your faith in us and recognizing our passion for our house on [S.] Road. G. saw the house on Craig's List and was immediately captivated. She e-mailed you and within minutes, early on a Sunday morning, you called her. That moment has changed our lives in the most remarkable way. That was in September. On October 11th we closed and today we can enjoy our first Thanksgiving dinner, like our ancestors have, 1/2 mile from 1st Encounter Beach. It could not have been possible if it were not for your enthusiasm, your faith in us, and your ability to recognize our particular vision for home that was suited for us. Besides this, you have been a contact for critical services, a friend, and a mentor to us, newbies as homeowners on the Cape. Bob, we thank you and hope to see around the town. K. and I are simply and positively thrilled with our new home and we wanted to write to tell you how important you were in making the process smooth and easy, and how lucky we feel to have had you as our realtor. From the first, it seemed to us that you were on our side, that you sincerely wanted to help find the perfect house for us. And you seemed to "get" exactly what that was--though our "want" list was long and varied and our resources more modest than our dream. You were always available for house-hunting; you were always on time for our appointments; and you were extraordinarily patient with our "we'll know it when we see it" approach. You know your town and your neighbors--you were both candid and informative when we asked for recommendations for local service people. You went out of your way for us at every turn and you never let us down. Thank you again for the large part you played in our finding our perfect, private, little house on a pond--just exactly what we asked for. K. and I both feel that you are our first friend in our new home here in Eastham--hope you won't mind when we show up at your house for Thanksgiving dinner this year. Thank you for all your help in making our dream of living in Eastham (while only part time) a reality. Your knowledge and professional manner made buying "long distance" easier than buying our first home local!! Thanks again and we hope you'll stop by in the spring! We wanted to let you know how much we valued the time and attention you provided us regarding the recent sale and purchase of our homes on the Cape. You were virtually available 24/7 and kept on top of everything. You provided us with good consul as we pondered both our decision to sell and buy. Above all, your knowledge of the changing market conditions was right on the mark. You represented our interest well, and it was a pleasure working with you. "Bob Sheldon was the best realtor we have ever had. We have purchased 4 homes and our experience with Bob was the best. He is knowledgeable about all ... more " "Bob is an exceptional RE Agent who exceeded my wife and my expectations as Sellers of an Eastham summer rental cottage. He went far beyond the role ... more " During our season of house hunting, Bob Sheldon proved to be an outstanding real estate professional. He was consistently well prepared for appointments, with a wealth of information presented in a positive way. There was never any high pressure, and he always was helpful when dealing with our questions and concerns. Bob provided us with good connections with other professionals in the process, and made the search an enjoyable, educational one. We highly recommend his outstanding services. And we love our new Eastham home! It was fun seeing the picture of our house in your "Sold" gallery. We are still pinching ourselves about how we are now owners of a house in Cape Cod! Thank you for everything you did to help us make it happen! We want to thank you for all you have done over many years to help us find our dream house! Your patience, honesty, sense of humor and diligence exceeded our expectations! We were very fortunate to have you on our side throughout the whole process. We think you are "The Man" !! Without question we will encourage others to seek your guidance when buying on the Cape. We would like to thank you for your assistance in helping us find our dream cottage by the bay in Eastham. Your commitment to our search was top notch, as was your advice and professionalism. We hope to run into you in Eastham, during one of our stays in our new second home. We want to express our gratitude to you for helping us to find a Cape Cod home that is exceeding our wildest dreams. You not only showed us many existing homes, you helped negotiate our land purchase, introduced us to our builder, and helped secure our loan. Your knowledge in many areas is extensive and impressive, and you have great patience and perseverance. We would recommend you to anyone looking for Cape Cod real estate of any kind. You are a gem, and anyone would be blessed to have you as their realtor, their friend and/or neighbor. Thank You for your patience and good humor through it all, as I thank God you are my real estate professional. I can not recommend you highly enough, but will do so when asked. Hope all is well. I'm finally back in the office after a whole week in Eastham - it was sooo tough to leave on Sunday. We've been having a blast with the house, we love every minute that we are there. We still laugh because it was the first house we looked at (in person) and it is definitely the perfect house for us - our dream house. And to make a long story short, if it wasn't for you, we don't think we would've looked at or found the house so we owe you a big thank you. Thanks again and hope to see you soon.

2019-04-24T23:53:18Z

https://www.robertsheldon.com/My_Testimonials/page_1365894.html

Daylight Savings Time came during the night, but we made no adjustment to our schedule to account for it. On one hand we could have fret that we lost an hour of sleep during the night and mutteringly wondered why it was so dark out in the morning. But instead we just got up at 5a instead of 4a so that it would appear nearly the same as it had the two previous days. Our plan as we drove out of South Lake Tahoe was to bag Thunder Mtn (Amador County highpoint) and Thimble Peak (a class 4 summit block), a relatively mild outing. I had tried to talk Matthew into a more ambitious outing (and if you noted the title of this trip report you'll see I eventually succeeded) the night before, but we couldn't come to a satisfactory arrangement whereby we'd hike the entire ridge in opposite directions. The main sticking point seemed to be the summit block of Thimble - Matthew was very interested in climbing it, but was afraid if he was solo he would back down from it - a valid point. So how could we both hike the same direction and still do the whole ridge? I had a plan, but figured I'd wait to see how the day progressed before suggesting it. We arrived at Kirkwood around 6:15a, and some 15 minutes or so later we were off and climbing - along a groomed ski run. This was the same route I'd used three weeks earlier to reach Martin Point (which I had mistaken for Thunder Mtn). After five or ten minutes it occurred to Matthew that he'd forgotten his gloves, so we paused. Not wanting to go back to retrieve them, he asked me how long the day would take. About four hours, I surmised (It took us four and half just to reach Thimble Peak, so even if we'd kept to the original plan my estimate was well more than an hour off). Wisely, Matthew went back to retrieve them. The sun rose soon after his return, and we headed up through the trees on the right side of the ski area. It wasn't long before we switched to crampons for the steeper portions of the slope. The snow was well-consolidated, somewhat soft among the trees, harder higher up where it was more exposed. Again we had snowshoes with us, but this time we would manage without them the entire day. The slope heading up to Martin Point was steep enough that I somewhat wished I had an axe with me for additional safety - A slip would have sent either of us down several hundred feet into the trees with a questionable chance of arresting ourselves before impending injury. Fortunately, no falls. Even with the reset to retrieve the gloves, it took us only about an hour to reach Martin Point, almost 1500ft above the parking lot. We signed into the register and almost immediately I left to go over and check out the interesting NW summit a short distance away on the pretense that it might be higher, though it seemed unlikely. It was a short class 3 scramble from the side facing us, and once on top it was clear that all the other sides were considerably harder. It looked to be about the same height from atop, and that was enough to goad Matthew into climbing it as well after I'd come back down. Our next goal was Thunder Mtn, about a mile and a half distance, so we set off in that direction. We bypassed a rocky outcropping on the southwest side over some firm snow before landing on the sunny ridgetop and finding a very nice trail for the next half mile or so. Warning signs let us know we were at the ski area boundary, apparently they want to make sure to indemnify themselves to skiers who may chose to ski in unpatrolled parts (the bowl immediately west of the ridge in this case). We passed an interesting feature known as The Glove on the west side - it appeared to have no easy scramble route on any side. The bypass was not without some class 3 rock scrambling itself, which was far better than a steep snow traverse that we thought we might have to make when viewed from a distance. Thunder Mtn has two summits separated by about a quarter mile. The nearer northeast one is shown on the USGS maps as being 2 feet higher than the named southwest summit, but it is impossible without a level to tell which is higher. To be sure, we first climbed the northeast one (it has an abrupt drop on its southwest side along the ridgeline), then backed off and headed over to the southwest one. This took some time as we walked around a number of obstacles, clambering over rocky features in an effort to avoid the steeper snowy slopes just below on the southeast side. It was 9:15a when we reached the named summit where we found a large tackle box that served to hold the several summit registers - this is a popular peak. We could see south to Mokelumne Peak (where we'd been two days earlier), northwest to Desolation Wilderness, north to the Carson Range (where we were the previous day), northeast to Round Top and the Mokelumne Wilderness. It was a fine county highpoint, much better than some of the ones we'd visited earlier in the year. We made a small diversion to visit a nearby memorial to Paul M. Ruff, a skier who died in the area attempting to make a record 200ft jump in 1993. It was even more sobering to read his story on the Internet later while writing this report. A pair of old leather boots (presumeably his?) lay at the foot of the cross. After getting our requisite pictures, we headed back to the main ridge. Ahead of Matthew a short ways, I stopped for a class 3-4 diversion on an interesting rock formation. I went up what I would call a class 4 chimney on the right side, leaving my pack on the rocks below. After reaching the top I traversed across and found an easier class 3 route back down on the left, retrieved my pack, then rejoined Matthew who had patiently waited for me to finish the exercise. Heading east along the main ridge, we came upon the top of Chair 6 (Cornice) and the groomed cat tracks that graced the top. It made for easier travel, even if we had to share it with others, some of whom looked at us a bit oddly. Further east along the ridge, just past the chairlift we were greeted by a Skull & Crossbones Experts Only! sign. It was pretty much a class 1 walk the way we were taking it though. Most of the slopes heading down past the sign looked to be of the advanced category, but a few narrow, steep chutes would definitely qualify as expert. We continued along the ridge, favoring the easier slopes on the south side, much of which we found free of snow. We passed below the top of Chair 10 (Wagon Wheel) on the south side, and then climbed up to the top of the ridge again a short distance before Thimble Peak. Thimble Peak looked fairly innocuous from the west side that we approached from, but once atop the visible false summit, one could glare across a gaping chasm at the higher true summit. A thin, rocky ridge joins it to the main ridge, and it was obvious that this was the advertised class 4 route up the summit block. Before Matthew had time to get a view of it, I had crossed the twenty feet to the start and scrambled up. The rock was very solid with really good holds, but the exposure was a bit draining. Better not to think about it too much I figured. When Matthew popped his head into view I had been at the summit five or ten minutes, and greeted him with a friendly wave. Matthew looked at the intervening space but didn't wave back. "How was it?" he asked. "Not bad, really," was my attempt at an optimistic reply. With a bit of coaching and a great deal of self-determination, Matthew followed the short 15-foot section to the top. Success! At the summit we found a glass jar encased in a rusty tin can with something resembling epoxy, inside a small Sierra Club Register not two-thirds full dating back to 1964 - a real find. Ours was the first entry in over two years. Pete Yamagata's name was the only one I recognized in the register. Not being an SPS peak, it is ignored by the likes of Doug Mantle and RJ Secor, though we both agreed it was a true hidden gem of the Sierra. It was 11a now, having taken 4 1/2 hours to reach the peak (more than we thought the round trip would take). We discussed where to go next. I was up for continuing along the ridge. Matthew had pointed out the night before that we could continue along the ridge to Melissa Coray Peak, then drop down to Emigrant Valley to the north and back over a low saddle in the vicinity of Chairs 2 & 3. I thought that would involve a good deal of elevation gain, but from his TOPO! software last night and now the view before us, it didn't look so bad. So with little fanfare, we decided to continue along the ridge (the trap was nearly set...). First we had to get back off the summit block, and reversing the moves took a tad more nerve than it did climbing up, but with only one awkward move not found in Freedom of the Hills, we managed to extract ourselves from that loftly perch. Back on the snow, we headed down the North Face of Thimble Peak, a fairly steep slope with excellent runout for a thousand feet. The snow was softer here and there was almost no way we could have an uncontrolled slide, but Matthew remained cautious until I took a swift glissade down for several hundred feet. A group of skiers below watched the spectacle, probably wondering where we'd managed to lose our skis. We landed on a cat track and traverse over to the top of Chair 4 (Sunrise), continuing east along the ridge. The next peak was Covered Wagon Peak, though really it was just a long ridge with a highpoint somewhere in the middle. Here we started playing the game of staying on the ridge as faithfully as possible, primarily to enjoy some class 3 rock and snow we found there. It made for a really fine quarter mile traverse, some of the more enjoyable scrambling we found all day. The peak can easily be bypassed on the south side, but I was glad we found the more challenging scramble. At the far east end of the peak we had some more tricky downclimbing, but this was done with fine style and grace (unlike our descent of Thimble Peak). Next up was a short walk to the higher, but far tamer Melissa Coray Peak. At the saddle between it and Covered Wagon, we came across a sign indicating the crossing of a California historical trail. Apparently this spot, at 9,400ft, was the highest point in the Sierra to which a covered wagon was taken. Quite impressive, but in looking at the surrounding terrain, neither of us could figure out why anyone would have taken a wagon up here. Not on the Sierra Crest, and a thousand feet higher than Carson Pass, it seemed only someone who was lost could have managed such a feat. This saddle also marked the boundary between the ski area and the Mokelume Wilderness. We continued up the West Slopes of Melissa Coray, one of the most rounded peaks one can find in the Sierra - there was really nothing resembling a ridge leading to the summit on any side (later we noticed there are some steep slopes that get skied found on the north side). The top is broad and just discernably rounded, at the very center a memorial marker to Melissa Coray, an early pioneer who crossed with some of the first wagons over Carson Pass. As a mormon her writings have been carefully preserved and her memory immortalized by the Church with this fine plaque and the naming of the peak on which it was placed. To the side a short distance was a radio tower (the Wilderness boundary follows the ridge from the saddle up to the peak to allow the tower it would seem). Not satisfied with the nearly flat summit of Melissa Coray Peak, I climbed the 30 feet or so to the top of the tower, some of the more exposed climbing I would do all day - definitely satisfying. Matthew was content to let me do this one without him, even though I chided that the top of the tower was well above the summit marker. The memory in my digital camera was nearing its capacity, and with no clear indication how many pictures I might have remaining, I began to defer to Matthew to get the views and other shots. It was now 12:45p, and we figured we had about plenty of daylight left - about 7 hours or so. Round Top had seemed quite distance when we started the day, but it was looming nearer and higher the further east we travelled along the ridge. Thinking the time was ripe, I suggested to Matthew that instead of heading back through Emigrant Valley, it would be shorter to continue heading along the ridge to Carson Pass. Once at the pass, we ought to be able to thumb a ride from passing motorists back to Kirkwood. Matthew was of the same mind it turned out, and it seems I had spent far too much energy plotting the traverse than was necessary. So with almost no further discussion, we continued on. The next point on the ridge is Peak 9795ft just northwest of Melissa Coray. It is higher than both Covered Wagon and Melissa Coray, yet goes unnamed. In reading up about the naming of Melissa Coray Peak, there was mention of BGN stipulations that the peak cannot be in a Wilderness area (which Peak 9795ft falls in completely). It was a short walk and we marvelled at the many skiable chutes in the small, north-facing cirque formed by it and Melissa Coray. There were a number of tracks around where we walked and several of the chutes had been recently skied. It seems the whole ridge between Kirkwood and Round Top is a regular haunt of the backcountry ski crowd. We followed the ridge down the northeast side of the peak to a saddle and up to another small bump just west of Fourth of July Peak. Voices on the north side got my attention and upon looking over that way we saw 4 skiers skinning their way up to the ridge. Though the whole ridge was busy with tracks, these were the only skiers we saw out today between the ski area and Carson Pass. Fourth of July Peak was named feature number six for the day, and we arrived on the rounded summit just past 1:30p. The peak itself is nothing to write home about, pretty much class 1 or 2 from any angle. But it does provide a great view of the monarch on the ridge - Round Top, and an equally impressive view of The Sisters, our next stop. The weather was a bit more threatening now as the cloud layer began to lower and the higher peaks were obscured by passing clouds from time to time. It seemed prudent to get up and down Round Top before any threatened thunderstorms were to develop. The next section seemed like it would be harder than it turned out to be. After zipping down to the saddle where it crosses the trail, we had a long climb of 600ft back up to the rocky ridge. The 600 feet were a talus slog, but after that it became more fun. We still had another 400ft or so to the top of The Sisters, but now we had some class 3 that provided some entertainment, even as we were climbing into the clouds. Staying faithfully on the ridge the entire way to the top of The Sisters was great fun, some knife-edge, some exposure, and generally much better rock than the loose class 2 stuff found just off the ridge on the south side (the north side was a near vertical cliff for much of this). I arrived at the lower peak of The Sisters thinking I had was at the higher one (the lower had two closely spaced summits that fooled me) - it took me a moment to realize I wasn't looking at Round Top to the east so I must not be atop The Sisters. We reached the higher summit just after 3p. We could see the West Face of Round Top, but the clouds were swirling all about. A temporary hole of blue sky gave Matthew the delusion that it might be clearing (it wasn't). Heading off to Round Top, we took differing routes up the West Face. We tried to stay on solid rock where we could, but there is just too much loose rock on the west and south sides to avoid all of it. Just short of the higher east summit, I came upon one of the notches leading down to the Crescent Moon Couloir. I walked out onto the North Face a short distance so I could get my bearings and check out the eastern arm of the couloir. The snow looked pretty decent in it, and I was wishing I'd brought an axe. It was just before 4p when I reached the top, and maybe ten minutes later I heard Matthew's voice as he made his way to join me. We perused the summit register and I noted Doug Mantle's entry from Nov 2, 2002 where he commented that he had climbed Freel in the morning. Matthew remarked that he had met Doug on the summit of Round Top that very day as Doug was working on his quest to climb as many SPS peaks in a single year as possible (100+ we believe he finished with). Matthew was now on a similar quest, but he has a long way to go to reach 100 - I think Round Top made something like #14 for the year. I'd told my wife to expect me home around 8p that night, but with our extra-curricular activity we were going to be many hours later than that. I tried to use the cellphone to call her from Round Top's summit, got good signal indicators, but the call would not go through - try again later. Clouds all about us, we took a hard look at the East Ridge, our preferred descent route. It had two attractions - neither of us had used that route before, and it would make the more elegant route to continue our traverse of the ridgeline. But as the day was growing later now, it looked like it might take us several hours to cover the long East Ridge. Neither of us wanted to go back the West Ridge, a decidedly unappetizing route to us now. I hit upon the idea of the Crescent Moon Couloir. I'd been up the western arm but not the eastern one, so it would be fun to explore this other aspect of it. Matthew had wanted to try the couloir as well so he took to the idea immediately. Off we went back to the notch that I'd checked out earlier. We talked briefly about not having axes, but I countered that the snow conditions appeared quite favorable. I offered to go down first and kick steps to which Matthew happily agreed. My crampons weren't the best - this lightweight pair has smaller teeth, the front pair pointing down instead of forward as most standard crampons. They're really better off for lower angled snow slopes, but they would have to do. Matthew offered to switch with me but I declined, fearing mine would unnerve him even if he was following me. The upper 30 feet were the easiest - soft snow with an angle that actually inclined one into the rock on the side rather than down the steep face of the couloir. I kicked steps quite easily down this and waited for Matthew. I had a heavy pair of mittens I wore to keep my hands off the ice. Matthew had but a lightweight pair of gloves that would have been wet in short order. When I realized this, I told him to wait while I climbed back out of the couloir, then dug out a pair of overmittens I had in my pack. These would prove quite valuable as we were to be a long time coming down the couloir. I retraced my steps and Matthew followed easily enough. The next section looked down the barrel of the couloir and was quite steep and more than a bit discomforting. I told Matthew my plan was to head down about 15 feet then I'd start angling to my left at which time he could start down. This would keep me out of his fall line should he slip during the descent. After the easy upper section, the next several hundred feet were far more difficult. At first I had lots of strength and energy to kick excellent steps half the length of my foot into the snow. But the snow grew harder as I descended and I soon tired from the tremendous effort. My toes were none too appreciative either, and I could feel them throbbing with each blow I subjected them too. When I started to angle off to the left I found this harder in practice than I had expected. While descending straight down I could use the foot holes for hand placements as well as I moved past them and kicked lower steps. But now as I tried to angle, my left arm had nothing to hold on to, I couldn't punch a hold with my hand, and I felt insecure. To compensate, I lifted my left foot up and kicked an extra hole to the side with each regular step I made. This gave my left hand some purchase but put double duty on my left leg which soon tired. I found I couldn't keep angling so I switched back to heading straight down after about 15 steps or so. Matthew kept a good distance above me, about 20 feet or so, steadily descending at the same rate I could kick steps ahead of him. Within a few minutes of course he was directly above me and we were both descending the same line. Being on the bottom of this arrangement made me uneasy, but it seemed I couldn't have him hold off to the side or just wait until I was safely down. Matthew had so far descended about 50 feet over the steeper slope without seeming too unnerved, so that helped me some with my own anxiety. The most difficult part took a half hour descend, but it felt like twice that. I was surprised that my legs held up as well as they did after we'd already been out for so many hours, climbing over 5,000 feet. As I neared the "Y" junction in the couloir, the snow grew a bit softer. It was enough to let me change technique from kicking steps into the slope to using my weight to step down heavily on the slope and create the next foothold without a kick. This made all the difference in the amount of effort it took, and I now made rapid progress down to the bottom of the couloir. My toes were very thankful as well. I watched and waited for the next fifteen minutes as Matthew continued the descent in fine style. Never complaining, never getting unnerved, it was the most difficult snow slope I'd seen him on and he performed flawlessly. While I was waiting for Matthew I tried the cellphone again and to my surprise was able to get through while perched on a snow platform I'd stamped at the base of the couloir. Unfortunately I only got to speak less than a minute before the call was interupted, and I'd only been able to communicate that we wouldn't be home until midnight without any explanation. Hmmm - that might have given her more reason to worry than if I hadn't called in the first place. When Matthew reached my location I asked if he still wanted to hit peak #9 - Elephants Back. Like myself he was still interested, so I offered a modification to our plan. I'd go ahead (tagging Elephants Back of course) to Carson Pass and thumb a ride back to Kirkwood. Then I could bring the car back up to Carson Pass while he was finishing up the hike. That seemed pretty agreeable to Matthew (we were off the dangerous part of the mountain now), so I packed up and headed off. I went down in great leaps and bounds 800ft to Winnemucca Lake in less than 10 minutes - it was great fun, really. The less-than-fun part came next as I slogged my way up the southwest side of Elephants Back, the last 500ft of the day's climbing. I reached the non-obvious highpoint on the far north side of the ridge at 6p, the wind now blowing steadily. I moved a short ways down the east side to get out of the wind and try the cellphone again. This time I got a good connection and was able to convey the reason for our delay adequately. We talked for about two minutes, then I started down. The snow was much sloppier now and it would probably have helped some to switch to the snowshoes, but it became a test to see if I could go the whole day without them. I postholed a few times up to my thighs, but for the most part faired well in just my boots. Continuing along the ridge, I passed Frog Lake on its eastern shore, the PCT somewhere nearby still buried under the snow. I lost my drive to stay faithfully on the ridge when I saw a few more uphill bumps, so I bailed off to the east side when I was still a quarter mile from the pass. I found my way through the forest to the road, and walked the short uphill to the pass shortly after 6:30p - a fine 12hr outing.

2019-04-20T20:40:22Z

https://www.snwburd.com/bob/trip_reports/martin_point_2.html?reports=martin_point_2.html

The 2018 March Box has both tools to help around the homestead, as well as elements to help heal, relax and play after a hard days work! We love The Homestead Planner and Logbook because of the durable cover that contains tons of helpful information and lots of predesigned log books for tracking almost everything on the farm! You can use this information to make critical decisions from year to year, and understand the workings of your environment and climate much better. Once you start using this on a daily basis this will be pure gold to your homestead. We love American Made. You don’t get much more American Made than CASE Knives. This beautiful but basic EDC style yellow handle slimline trapper has served hard working men for at least 100 years. We are still finding uses for ours everyday as it fits comfortably in our pocket and is always sharp enough for just about any task! The yellow handle is a classic that allows for easy handle care (there is none required since it is synthetic!) , plus it has the added bonus in that it is easy to see when you drop it! Whether this is your first CASE or one of many, you can rest assure that this tool will be handed down to your grandkids one day. This March box had something for the entire family! The lady of the house loved the Georgia Rain Soy Candle and The Georgia Bath Bomb as well as the Smith’s Rosebud Salve. These were used so quickly we were not able to get photos of all of them in use! The wonderful bath bomb was their fragrant Eucalyptus Spearmint Giant Bath Bomb + Soap. The aroma of the Georgia Rain Candle was wonderful and helped cover the smell of fresh cooked fish in the kitchen perfectly. Our dry skin was quickly remedied by the unique healing power contained within the Rosebud Salve. For tea lovers we have discovered a wonderful new brand in organics, Davidson’s Classic Teas. Their breakfast blend was smooth and rich in flavor. We cant wait to try more of their selections. It was perfect to mellow down with after a hard days work. Their organic farming methods protect their farmers, who are helping all of us, while also taking care of the environment. They, their children, and own animals avoid exposure to chemicals which might harm them. Unlike in conventional tea gardens, the tea pluckers and their families are exposed to harmful chemicals when spraying the pest affected crop. Insecticides and pesticides sprayed on crops are toxic, banned from several countries and are seriously dangerous to the farmers’ health. These chemically treated conventional teas are then indirectly passed on to the end-consumer. Davidson’s is seriously committed to organic farming, not just for the benefit to our consumer, but to the well being of our farmers. Our rain gauge has been busy recently measuring our early spring rains. Our box this month also included a durable metal thermometer, and rain gauge. We placed our thermometer near our chicken coop door to measure the variant temperatures that affect egg production. See our entire unboxing in detail in the video below. What’s Your Weather Like Today? Are your reliant upon your cell phone to know the temperature, or the local weatherman? Why? -Why don’t you take control of your homestead and document and review the weather every day at your exact location? Better yet, document it from year to year so you feel the heartbeat of your land and better understand the changes in climate and the accurate arrival of Spring, or the exact entry of the first frost. How Much Rain Have You Had? The Water Gauge: Mark your rain gauge and add up your precipitation over the month to better understand your water table. The Homestead Box Water Gauge is you perfect tool for doing just that. With a slide marker you can note the last measurement after emptying the glass container. This informational can be critical to your plants and the overall health of your homestead. Make sure you check it daily! Temperature changes, of just a few degrees can mean the difference between an early Spring planting, or a complete loss due to frost. It can also mean loss of animal life in the winter, or busted pipes under your house. We posted our Aluminum and Glass Thermometer outside our chicken coop to make sure our gils were not too hot or too cold. If we let them get too cold our egg production ends. The large, easy to read numbers are easily read in any environment- even from several feet away. Do You Have The Itch To Plant? We all feel it. The long winter nights shortening, while the days are getting longer. With the tease of warmth in the air we are daydreaming of planting gardens that yield fresh and healthy vegetables– especially plump, juicy tomatoes! STEP 1: Open your box of ‘High Mowing’ Non-GMO Organic Seeds and place them into your Seed Dial Sower for precise sowing. After you select the right dial position for your seed size, place your favorite seed starting soil into the provided Biodegradable Coir Seed Starting Pots. STEP 2: Once your soil is placed into your pots, prepare your accurate hole depth using the included Dewitt Seed Dibbler. Our Organic Brandywine Tomato seeds needed to be planted at 1/4″ deep, so we marked our Dibbler with a sharpie -since it stops at 2″. We are almost done, and we can almost taste those tomato sandwiches and fresh salsa now! STEP 3: After selecting the proper hole size on the dialer for your seed to pass through one at a time, tap the top of the Dialer with your finger to get the proper number of seeds into the hole made by your new Dribbler. STEP 4: The last step includes saturating your pots with the Dramm Watering Nozzle, and controlling the flow with the Dramm Cutoff Valve. Place your planted seeds in your grow area. Ours is in our basement under a grow light. We placed our tomato seeds beside our squash seeds which are already sprouting. As you can see, the starting pots fit perfectly into our other container systems! Spring is here and it is time to get outside! Here at The Homestead Box, we are passionate about providing our families with fresh food that we grow, raise, or gather. Having a stable, local food source is at the top of most homesteaders list, and we want to take advantage of all of the sources available to us. This month is all about tapping in to the “uncultivated” food source. We regularly fill our freezers and pantries with fresh fish, meat, greens, nuts, fruits and berries. With this month’s box let us show you how to get started. This book will serve as your guide and inspiration, not only for this month, but for seasons to come. Hank Shaw is a chef turned author, that hunts, fishes, gathers, and grows most of his own food. Not only that, he shares how he uses those fine ingredients to prepare fine meals for your family. In this book, Shaw covers how to get started in foraging by finding easy plants that can be found in backyards and local parks. He not only covers identification of those plants, but how to safely process and prepare them. In the second part of this book, Shaw covers fishing. Fishing is a great way to tap into an easy and fun food source that requires little in terms of equipment. You can get a simple cane pole or a rig costing hundreds, but concepts remain the same– find a body of water and learn it well. With a little practice, you can be eating fresh fish on a regular basis almost anywhere in the country. Part three covers perhaps the most intense part of tapping into this uncultivated food source– hunting. If you eat meat, hunting is a great way to fill the freezer. The US has tons of public land, and with websites like Outrider.us, access to hunting grounds can be easier than you think. We will be covering some of the Topics on our YouTube channel and here in the Blog later this month. Also stay tuned for a LIVE interview with the author, Hank Shaw, later this month. This little beauty keeps finding ways into our daily use here on the Homestead. We included it in the box as an all purpose tote and gathering bag, but has flexed into many different roles. The all natural canvas can be waxed or dyed to suit your needs. It can be rolled and stuffed into a backpack or behind a car seat for that unexpected forage. When we are ready to head out to find some greens, tubers, or berries, we tuck our water bottle, mosquito spray, digging tool, and gloves into it and head out. A great tip is to keep this kit ready to roll so that when you find some good weather and some spare time, you are ready to go. Other uses we have found are in the garden. Its a great place to store seed, small tools, and irrigation fittings. We’ve also been known to carry nails and tools around for small repair jobs. This is the “big brother” to the Garden Satchel. When you find that giant grape vine, or grove of wild plums, this fruit hauler fits the bill. Again, it is just as useful in the garden when your tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and squash are ready. Due to the ergonomic design, you can carry heavy loads with ease. With little or no modification, it makes a great stripping basket for fly fisherman. Versatility comes to mind when describing this tool. It’s design is a variation of a Hori Hori knife which is designed to dig, scrape, and cut all sorts of natural materials. This makes it an ideal foraging tool. With this beast and your Opinel No. 8, there is little that can’t be harvested. Make sure to sharpen you Digging tool and keep it sharp. Try not to store in the sheath for long periods of time if the tool or the sheath is wet. dish out in the for of sun and pests. We included a few items to keep you protected so that you can have better experience in the outdoors. As with all of their products, this mosquito spray uses all natural ingredients. It also smells great. The best way to avoid mosquito bites is to cover up, but having a repellent really helps. We like to cut out the harmful chemicals, so this all natural solution fit the bill. This simple tube can be the difference between a terrible outing and a great one. It is essentially a super versatile piece of head gear. Weather you need to protect your head, face, neck, or ears, this tube has you “covered”…Get it? It is also made in the USA–always a plus. We love working with small homesteads. This family run business created some great products for those who work with their hands. The Comfrey Salve is perfect for those who abuse their skin. Small cuts, insect bites, or just dried and cracked skin will all benefit from the comfrey and plantain in this salve. In addition to that, we have included some Jewel Weed based Poison Ivy Treatment. Just as we advocate for learning to find the beneficial plants of the forest, we urge you to learn the nasty ones as well. If you should happen to come in contact with poison ivy, this salve should help to relive some of the symptoms. So there you have it. A simple, quality kit that will put you well on your way to finding the food that requires no tilling, fertilizing, and no watering. Garden space is precious, so there is no need to grow something you can just go gather. In addition, fishing and hunting free you from fencing and feed cost. Before we jump back into gardening, we wanted to take a month to educate ourselves on Fruitful Foraging. So if you are into the super technical science part of seeds and the like, this may not be the blog post for you. Just go to this Wikipedia page, and soak it up. If you are into seeds for their almost supernatural ability to provide you and most things on the planet a ready food supply, then this might be the place for you. Ok, I know that might not be a word, but their is a quality about seeds that defies language. Garden geeks like me cannot get over the fact that this hard little speck that resembles sand or rock can somehow determine when it is in a reasonable enough environment to “wake up” and produce a living organism much, much, much bigger than itself. If you have ever seen a Yellow Pear Tomato plant loaded down with ripe golden fruit, it is hard to believe that the seeds are super hard to handle if you have fingers like mine. Tomato seeds are flat little jokers that are almost impossible for me to drop one or two into a starting tray at a time… I digress. They are just amazing, but they are not magic. Everyone who has been to public school should know that plants need something to grow in (I favor dirt), some water, some light, and some nutrients. Seeds, however, do not need most of those to get started. In that tiny packet of dormant life, seeds carry a food supply to get them off an going until they can establish roots and leaves. They usually only require moisture and a warm environment (sometimes actual light). After they drop their first little semblance of a root, they will emerge and spread their pre-embryonic solar panels/food packets called cotyledons. These are not leaves, but allow the seedling to start converting light energy into food. Then will come true roots and true leaves, and it’s off to the races. Why do we start some seed inside and some outside? Why don’t we transplant everything? Why don’t we direct seed everything? Why did we include tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants in the February Box and not squash, corn and beans? Why are you hounding me with all of these questions? There are some very practical and nonspiritual criteria for deciding which seeds to start inside and which to direct sow. Most of them can be attributed to seed size, strength of seedlings, and specific growing seasons. You will have to decide this based on the length of your growing season and your style, but as for me its simple. Medium sized uniform seeds like okra, peas, and corn that will function best in my garden seeder get the direct seed treatment. Unless I am trying to be the first at the market (in Zone 8), they get direct seeded. Small difficult seeds get started in trays and uniformly transplanted in my garden. This includes Tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and most brassicas. Carrots, I buy pelleted and direct seed via garden seeder. Next comes the big or weird shape seeds. Think pumpkin, squash, and huge beans. These guys are too easy to hand seed for me. They usually need copious amounts of growing space (like feet), so I just drop them out and hill them up. Another reason for the bigger seeds to be direct seeded is that the seedlings usually emerge pretty stout. Think of the size of a newly broken through squash compared to a tomato. That squash can handle most conditions (except cut worms and vine borers). Other reasons to consider are the “transplant-ability” of a certain plant. Carrots, southern pea, most beans, and most root crops will not transplant well due to various reasons like transplant shock, fragile roots, disease susceptibility, etc. So those are some thoughts for this week. I know some of you will disagree or do things a little differently. That’s cool. Let us know in the comments or drop us a line at [email protected]. I hope to hear from you, but until then, keep working, keep learning, and keep in touch. I want to start by thanking our subscribers. Thank you for joining us on this journey. We have had some awesome feedback, and we hope to hear from you guys more often. Now lets move on to the first ever Homestead Box, and discover, together, what we can do with the items inside. These are just a few ideas, because this system of items in the Intro Box will flex into many rolls on your homestead. In this post we will cover how to restore a hoe or shovel, how to sharpen an ax or hatchet, and how to make a strop. This blog post is made in conjunction with our YouTube page, so don’t forget to watch the videos that go along with the Instructions here. Sand all finish off of the handle with coarse grit paper. Sand along the grain enough to get down to bare wood. Apply Boiled linseed oil one thin coat at a time by putting the oil on a rag and wiping with the grain. Remove any excess and allow to dry 24hrs. Add up to 5 coats for great protection. Take your Medium Sanding sponge and remove any rust from the blade of the hoe. Next use your farmer’s file to work on the edge. Wear a glove and file into the edge (as opposed to off of the edge. Eventually you will feel a burr turn on the non-beveled side of the hoe blade. When you feel the burr along the entire edge you can stop filling. Take your Lansky Puck and soak it with mineral oil or olive oil. Take a few stroked on the flat side to remove the burr. You are done sharpening. Take some oil and wipe down all of the metal parts and store your hoe out of the weather. Revisit the handle treatment every 6months, and sharpen as necessary. Remove all dirt and rust. Clamp your axe into a vise with the head oriented flat. With a gloved hand, file your axe at approx. 25 degrees until a bur forms along the other side of the bit. Turn the Axe over in the vise and repeat the filing until the bur turns to the other side of the axe bit. Use the coarse side of your Lansky Puck to remove the file marks from the bit. The goal here is turn the bur to the other side while polishing out the file marks. Hold your Puck at 25 degrees and sharpen into the edge. Flip your axe over and repeat step 5 until the bur flips to the other side. Flip your axe again and use the finer side of your puck to polish out the marks from the coarse side. Turn the bur to the other side. Flip your axe and repeat step 7. When the bur turns and all of the coarse side marks are gone, strop your edge to remove the bur. Your axe should be very sharp at this point. Cut a piece of wood to the width of your leather. IT IS BETTER TO USE THE REAL WIDTH INSTEAD OF MEASURING AND TRANSFERRING. See video for example. Leave the length 3-5inches longer than the leather piece. Mark the length of your leather by placing the leather on the wood, flushing it at one end and marking where it stops on the wood. Next draw your handle pattern on the wood. Cut or chisel the rough handle out. Sand or chisel your handle until you like it. Next glue the strop to the wood with wood glue. Use a vise or clamps to ensure good consistent bond. Let set for an hour. Trim up all of the edges with sand paper. Apply green compound to the leather. Always stop off of the blade edge. These three projects should help you increase your skill set around the homestead. We not only want you to see the value of your box today, but also of the value of your box five years from now. If you take care of that hatchet it could out live you. Those skills gained never die. So until next time, keep learning, keep working, and keep in touch. In our last email newsletter I listed Planning as #4 on the list. It should have been #1, and here’s why: Homesteading has so many moving parts that are interconnected that planning is a must. So let’s start off the year right with some practical steps to take our homestead to the next level in 2017. There are several, and by several I mean seemingly endless, philosophical approaches to homesteading and a self-sufficient lifestyle. People are approaching it from all different angles—prepping, green living, hobby, etc. This has given rise to so many systems (and books about those systems) that it can be hard to settle on one. This January, I encourage you to pick ONE. If you think it is reasonable, apply yourself to it, and stick with it. It doesn’t do anyone any good to keep changing systems before they have truly seen the outcome of one. There are a few exceptions to this, but for the most part it pays to stick it out. Learn from the flaws of your system. Next January, re-evaluate and change. For systems that take years to get going (like permaculture) you might have to give it some time before you decide whether or not it is for you. Books are nice. Books are safe. If you are like me, you can get comfortable somewhere and read the day away. The problem is that reading won’t get your hands dirty. Personally, I was caught up in the “research phase” of homesteading for a long time. It wasn’t until I started muddying up my boots and getting some blisters that I started learning. Research it great and greatly needed in the planning phase, but start working now. Build that chicken coop. Till that patch of dirt. A year flies by before you know it, and a season is a flash. Don’t get caught in Spring having not limed your garden. Don’t get caught Mid-Summer having not planned for how to deal with pest and weeds. You have a small lull in early January, but for Zone 8’ers especially, your works starts now. I cannot stress enough that The Homestead Box staff really has a passion for seeing people actually take steps forward. I hope that some of our boxes can inspire some to get going and get those hands dirty. But no man is an island. Lean on each other in 2017. Ask questions. Ask us, but ask others on our YouTube and Facebook Pages. Someone has been there and failed. Someone may have had great success. Let’s help each other figure it out. Host a dinner for like-minded people to pick their brains about their plans and systems. Participate in the community. Hope to see you there. We are so excited about launching this new adventure. We have been working hard to get the website up and running, put together giveaways for you guys and find the best tools, materials, and information to pack those boxes with. The first box is a perfect example of what we are about here at The Homestead Box. Let me explain. While we can only ship you physical items (and not brain waves), we are passionate about conveying practical skills to our members. We chose to approach this by curating our boxes around projects. These projects are designed to introduce you to skills that you will need to run a successful homestead. In the end we believe that self-sustainability and self-reliance are skills based lifestyles. It doesn’t matter how many tools you have if you never learn to use them correctly. Some things take time to learn. Let’s put in the time. Some things need the guiding hand of someone that has been there. Let’s ask those people. If we fail to commit to certain concepts and practices, this lifestyle can become difficult. But like putting a fresh edge on a trusty pocket knife, honing your skills can make life much easier. In every lifestyle, there are certain sets of skills that allow you to grow faster. These are skill sets that may seem unrelated at first, but once we get too far down a path, they seem crucial. Business can seem like the world ofmath and numbers from the outside, but being able to network on personal level can make a or break a business person. The Homestead Box “Intro Box” will start you with an awesome foundation that will expand into almost every other aspect of the homestead. I want to tell you what’s in it, but I can’t. January is not far off. I will see you then.

2019-04-21T09:08:36Z

https://www.thehomesteadbox.com/blog/

The crumbs, not bad huh, taste delicious! Line the base of an 8″ round pan. Do not grease the sides. 1. Put oil in a saucepan and heat on low fire until just simmering. If you have a thermometer it should read 70C. Remove and immediately add the flour and cocoa powder (sift both together before adding) and stir with a whisk until smooth. 2. Add in the milk or water and stir to combine. At this stage the batter will becomes thick and lumpy. 3. Add in egg yolks and whisk with hand whisk until batter is smooth and runny again. Set aside. 4. Beat the egg whites until foamy then gradually add sugar to beat until firm peaks form. 5. Add 1/3 of the meringue into the yolk batter and using the hand whisk to mix until combined. Add the next 1/3 portion and whisk again. Finally, add the last portion, whisk briefly before switching to spatula to scoop the batter from bottom and fold up on to the batter to make sure all are combined and no more yolk batter can be seen. 6. Pour into prepared pan and bake in water bath at 190C for 15 minutes before lowering to 145C for another hour or until the cake bounces back when you lightly press the top. 7. Remove from oven and leave it for a couple of minutes before unmoulding. You can invert it like you would a chiffon cake to cool completely before unmoulding if you wish. 8. Cool completely before you proceed to frost the cake. Frosting is not easy for me, need lots of practice! Completed! Not very smooth but I lost patience already! Super delicious! so soft and moist! Heat up 100ml of whipping cream and then add into the hot cream, 200g of semi sweet chocolate chips. Let it seat for a while before stirring until the chocolate is fully melted. Add about 20g of butter and mix until the ganache is smooth and shinning. or you can do a 1:1 ratio for a runnier ganache. The following is gula melaka variation: – Replace 50g sugar with gula melaka and milk with coconut milk. Melt the gula melaka with the coconut milk by heating both and stir until fully dissolved. Cool completely before using. Replace cocoa powder with plain flour to make total of 100g. Hi Jessy, by the time the milk is in, the batter is already cool enough to add the yolk. Hi Jeannie, firm peaks means stiff peaks, is it? love to try your cakes, tq. Tq Jeannie for the reply and again your blog is great. Thank you for visiting:) Hope you are successful in your bakes. Hi Jennie, it’s great looking at your cake and I’ve tried making it. After I incorporated the egg yolks, it didn’t return to smooth and runny state. Could it be I over heated my oil + flour batter? Hi Lily, When you add in the flour mixture, is the batter smooth? If it’s lumpy, your oil is too hot. It’s only when milk is added that the batter turns lumpy. When flour mixture is added into oil, it was still smooth. It is only when I added the milk, it lumped (curdled) together. It maintained the same even after I add the eggs. Ya. The batter is still hot when I added the egg. Could that be the cause that it’s still lumpy? I will try again tonight. Thanks!! yep batter shouldnt be hot. Warm is fine. I wanted to try baking the chocolate cake. I read through the recipe on how to make the chocolate ganache. Here you mentioned, “Heat up 100ml of whipping cream and then add into the hot cream”, may I know what hot cream is this and how much is required? Thank you. I found your ganache on your blog. No need to reply to my queries. Meaning you heat up your whipping cream! I am trying to bake the chocolate sponge cake but after abt 25 mins , it started to crack a little. May I know what’s the cause of it? Hi Cas, I would say your oven is too hot. Try lowering the temperature after 20 minutes and put another baking sheet on the highest level to block excess heat. Chocolate sponge cake is better as it is more firm. Can I ask how you create the 2 color thin layer for the 2nd cake ? Ha! Just dust cocoa powder ! Nice recipe of chocolate spongecake. I like it. Sorry to ask silly question. Do you slice the cake in half to put in the filling Choc Ganache? And how did you did it for the Gula Melaka portion? Hi, you can slice into half or into 3 slices as you can see that I had done it both ways. As for the gula melaka method, it’s already written in the blog, please read. Hi Jeannie, are you using an 8″ x 3″ round, if so may I know the brand so I can look for it. Another question, did you use Dutch processed chocolate cocoa for the cake or regular unsweetened cocoa? Thanks. Hi Ramela, no brand pan, just a regular aluminium round pan. Am using varlhona 60% chocolate for the ganache. For the cake it’s natural organic cocoa powder but any type is fine. would like to check, for the temperature of the oven, is with fan or without? Thanks. You can try baking at very low temperature according to your oven. However, the chances of cracked top is high. Do you have any recipes for flourless chocolate cake? After i took The cake out from the oven, it started to sink a little after half an hour. I can see the sides are a bit higher then centre. Do you know the reason? Centre sinking is probably due to underbaking. Thank you for sharing your recipe. I notice plain flour is used and not self raising flour. Wondering what makes the cake rise?.Do I melt the butter first and let it cool before I use it ? Meringue my dear, so make sure it’s evenly distributed but not deflated. Melt the butter if you are using butter, however this recipe is using oil. Thank you so much will give a try soon. Hi Jeanie, the cake looks delicious. May I know if it can be frozen for about 1 week before I Frost it? regret to say I have not tried that. Thanks for your reply. I guess it’s best to bake and eat it fresh! As this is a very moist cake, I would say yes! Try this cake and love it, very yummy! Hi Jeanne, i dun have corn oil. Can I replace the corn oil by using canola oil? Thanks!! Hi Jeannie, thanks but will there be any difference in taste? Corn oil and canola oil are tasteless! Hi Jeannie, what can I use to replace the butter in the ganache recipe? Just try your passion fruit sponge cake recipe, but when to add in the salt as it was not mentioned in the method? Just add together with the flour or directly into yolk batter. I have baked this cake a few times and they always turn out good! My family loves this recipe! Thank you for your feedback! Glad you and your family love it! Hi, Jeannie. Love your cakes. You have made simple look so good. May I ask if you have a guide to the water bath method. And any difference between this to the steamed bath? Thank you. Yes, very different, one is submerged into water, the other place on a level above the water. Water bath is also known as bain marie. can i make the cake 1 day in advance and keep in fridge, then make ganache the next day and complete the cake? Hi Jeannie, as I have only 9″ pan on hand, so I do adjust the ingredients portion. I have grease the side and bottom, it’s come out pretty but not as tall as yours. I have invert the cake like the chiffon cake method, however, the cake was drop out from the pan (what a disaster), is it because of I grease the side so the cake cannot stick on? And the cake is not tall enough and more moist, could it be I using too much eggs (64-67 g per egg, I used 6) and the meringue is not beat firm enough? Or 9” pan is not recommend to use if wants a tall fluffy cake? Hi, you have to bake longer, not advisable to invert for this cake if you have greased the sides. Test for doneness by pressing lightly on the surface, if squishing, bake longer and test again until no more squishing sounds. Thanks Jeannie, shall try again. Such a fun to do like an experiment. Haha. Could be you didn’t mix the batter evenly with meringue, resulting in the heavy batter to sink to the bottom. Do u also need to pre heat the oven at 190C for 10 mins? 1) can i replace whipping cream with whipped topping? 2) What do you mean by add into the hot cream? What hot cream is that? Let me rephrase it….Heat up the 100ml of whipping cream and pour it on to the 200g of semi sweet chocolate chips. No you cannot add whipped topping. Sorry, question about the ganache again, after the choc chips are stired until smooth, do we need cool it and to whisk it ? How long? High speed? Or just wait until room temp and spread it on cake? is it possible to do in cupcake form? Can I use cake flour instead of plain flour? before adding the yolk, the dough should be smooth and flowy. After mixing in the yolk, it’s natural for the batter to curdle but will be smooth again once milk is added. safe to eat, it’s cooked just still moist. I would suggest you increase baking time or temperature for next bake. Safe to eat, just continue to bake a little longer next time. Hello Jeannie, I tried your cake but it sink terribly when it start to cool, any idea why ? When it was the the oven it rose high like yours although it start to crack within the first 15 mins of bake. Yes, it’s because your oven is too hot and you have underbaked your cake. I don’t use the stick to test. Just press lightly on the surface. If I hear squishing sounds and it didn’t spring back, I continue to bake. I understand you are using aluminium pan. I don’t have one. Can I use the non stick pan instead?? You can try but do not grease anymore. Thanks! How do i make the ganache shining? Add butter? Sorry Jeannie. Another question. I will need the cake on Wednesday morning for a birthday party in the morning. If i were to bake and decorate the cake on Monday and refridgerate it, will the cake turn hard and dry? Do i need to brush sugar syrup on the sponge before frosting it? No problem. Once cake is covered with frosting, it won’t dry out unless you cut it and expose the cake itself. THis cake is very moist so I won’t recommend brushing with sugar syrup. Just frost it as it is. I’ve managed to make a soft, moist cake with your recipe and tips. Would it make a lot of difference in the result if I use steam instead of water bath? I only have pans wit removable bottom and i don’t want to submerge them to the water. TIA. yes, you can try with steam bake, you probably need to adjust the temperature a bit to avoid cracks. Experiment a bit to get good results. Don’t have corn oil can I change to use olive oil ? Hi Evon, you can use canola or other vegetable oil but no olive oil which has some fragrance. Can i use this recipe for Strawberry Shortcake, replacing 20g Cocoa powder with plain flour? Thanks. What is the temperature i should use if baking 2 cakes using 6″x2″ round tin? You can use the same temperature but bake shorter time or lower the temperature to avoid cracks but bake about same time. Adjust according to your oven. Thanks for sharing this lovely recipe. The cake turns out beautifully. Like to ask, for your recipes with plain flour, can it be done with cake flour as well? or it must be strictly plain flour for this recipe? Plain flour would be AP flour right? Thank you! Hi Jeannie, saw that you baked this into a sheet cake. Did you use water bath for that? Thanks. What’s the temperature to use? sorry to ask in this chocolate sponge cake u didint mention any baking powder or baking soda….so it is not needed? Yes, not needed, therefore make sure your meringue is stable! Hi, by whisking the meringue into the cake batter, would it deflate the meringue? As I tried making chiffon cake and i always end up deflating the meringue causing the cake to be dense and not rise as much. You only use the whisk to fold in, not whisk! Use it as you would a spatula. If you can’t manage that then use a spatula all the way. For the ganache, can I just pour it over the cake instead of spread it on the cake with spatula? If pour over the cake, do I need to wait it cool down first only pour over the cake? It has to be warm otherwise it won’t be shiny. Do you mean pour the ganache over the cake while it is warm? Do I need to use the 1:1 ratio to make runnier ganache so it can be easier to pour over the cake to let it cover the whole cake without have to spread it by spatula. Yes 1:1 ratio and pour while the ganache is still warm. Cake should be cooled! Can I use Anchor UHT whipping cream or Emborg Whipping cream in this chocolate ganache recipe? I made this Cake a couple of days ago into a black forest cake and it was simply amazing. I would like to make a bigger chocolate sponge cake but do I increase all the ingredients proportionately? Thanks in advance. I tried some of your sponge cake recipes, they are really good, soft and moist even though they cracked and at times under cooked. FYI, this only happens with round pan but with square pans I do not have any problem. For choc sponge cake I baked at 150C water bath method for 1hr 40mins still it is slightly wet on the top and bottom and cracked at 50mins. However with square pans somehow it turn out all ok. I suspect it is either my eggs are slightly bigger about 63 – 65gms (B size) or my meringue is the culprit. Can you please advise how this happens? square pans are slightly bigger than round so I would suggest you remove some batter and bake in a small muffin cup? Will do as you say the next round. Thank you so much for your advise and tips. Much appreciated. Yes you can use vegetable oil. I have not tried with melted butter. Hi jeannie, I try to bake this and the Choco Sponge has a stale oil taste. Does your cake has this taste? Is it because of the corn oil? No such smell. Check your oil for expiry date. Thanks jeannie. I will. Can I change the oil to melted butter? Do I need to change the measurements? Melted butter sometimes caused the dough to turn bubbly. I am still trying to figure out the science to this. The cake is absolutely delicious. Very soft n moist! My Husband said this is the nicest cake I have ever baked! May I know where could I have gone wrong? Do not heat the oil too hot, warm will do. When you see the oil making some lines on the bottom of the pot, it’s good enough. Yes, you can use this cake. you are a wonderful baker..and even more wonderful to share. have you baked any sponge or chiffon in a BUNDT pan especially where the recipe says DO NOT GREASE the sides ? also, have you tried baking other cakes where you could grease the pans and still they will not unmould from the BUNDT pans? i reached out to the makers of BUNDT PANs as i have difficulty unmoulding from their pans, even if i grease really well. Their reply is that you can bake any type of cake with their pans if done “properly and handled well”. Hi Pinky, Always grease and floured bundt pans well no matter what the recipes said or you are going to have a hard time unmoulding. Do not grease only when you are using removable based pans or tube pans. If using seamless non-removable pans, always line the bottom. Greasing the sides is optional as you can run a knife around the sides and invert the cake to unmould. Hi, I have tried many times water bath the steam cake. But it will always collapsed. I sat near the oven to take care the temperature but it raise n towards the 10 mins it started to collapse. When I tiled over the middle compressed very badly. What is wrong? I have no problem baking chiffon but when it come to water bath it really a challenged. Can u give me your advise. Thankbu. If the cake is rising too fast and too high it will collapse. Try to take notes on the temperature used and adjust at every bake until you get the perfect one. Hi jeannie . the cKe look delicious. Can i use this cake as a base for fondant decoration. Is it firm enough? I don’t think so. Use the nutella one. Can I steam this using a wok instead of baking it? Hi Jeannie, I inverted the cake for cooling after baked. When I unmould the cake, the bottom part became dented. What’s the reason and how to prevent? Tks. Hi Jeannie, I inverted the cake for cooling after baked. When I unmould the cake, the bottom part became dented. What’s the reason and how to prevent? Im using removable pan and I lined the bottom. Could this be the reason?Tks. Don’t think that’s the reason. Probably the cake sank quite a bit? Hi Jeannie, may I know what milk do you use? Thanks. Hi, i noticed that the initial temperature is 190 for first 10 min than reduced to lower temperature. But will the high temp at the beginning will cause the cake to cook too fast on outside and cause the cake to crack later on? baking at initial high temperature is to form a crust so that it won’t crack as the cake rises. Hi Jeannie. Good day to you. Can i use this recipe for a ‘kit kat’ cake? i intend to sandwich using choc whipped cream. I have tried to make this. Cake is moist and soft but my cake dun rise tall. N when I inverted the cake tin to cool, the cake fell out of the tin. Appreciate if you could advise how I can improve on it. It seems like you have underbaked your cake.Adjust baking time according to your oven. Hi! Sorry for late reply. I was traveling. You bake this cake using Bain Marie method. Just like baking a cheese cake. Umm can u plz tell whether the water used for baking be hot cold or normal? it’s hot water. Just boil your water while you prepare your batter. What altitude are you at? I am wondering what changes I will need to make.. I am at 7500+ above sea level. I really want to find a good moist choc recipe. I am staying very near the sea so I would say the elevation is about 10 meter or 32 feet above sea level. Hi, do you have the recipe for 10inch chocolate cake? Really love this cake recipe. Texture was perfect! I would prefer it to be more chocolatey. I use Valhorna Cocoa powder and added 1 tsp Coffee essence. Can I add more cocoa powder and lesser Cake flours? How much? Yes you can or melt about 50g of cooking chocolate and add to the yolk batter.

2019-04-20T06:46:33Z

https://jeannietay.wordpress.com/2015/07/11/chocolate-spongecake-cooked-dough-method/

T: “Do you want to build a temperature logger with Prometheus and a DS18B20+? It later turned out that that co-worker had been enlisted by yet another individual to provide a temperature logger for their project of brewing cider, to monitor the temperature during fermentation. Since I had all the hardware at hand (to wit, a Raspberry Pi 2 that I wasn’t using for anything and temperature sensors provided by the above co-worker), I threw something together. It also turned out that the deadline was quite short (brewing began just two days after this initial exchange), but I made it work in time. The DS18B20 digital thermometer provides 9-bit to 12-bit Celsius temperature measurements … communicates over a 1-Wire bus that by definition requires only one data line (and ground) for communication with a central microprocessor. … Each DS18B20 has a unique 64-bit serial code, which allows multiple DS18B20s to function on the same 1-Wire bus. Thus, it is simple to use one microprocessor to control many DS18B20s distributed over a large area. Indeed, this is a very easy device to interface with. But even given the svelte hardware needs (power, data and ground signals), writing some code that speaks 1-Wire is not necessarily something I’m interested in. Fortunately, these sensors are very commonly used with the Raspberry Pi, as illustrated by an Adafruit tutorial published in 2013. With that configuration, one simply needs to wire the sensor up. The w1-gpio device tree configuration by default uses GPIO 4 on the Pi as the data line, then power and grounds need to be connected and a pull-up resistor added to the data line (since 1-Wire is an open-drain bus). The kernel periodically scans the 1-Wire bus for slaves and creates a directory for each device it detects. In this instance, there is one slave on the bus (my temperature sensor) and it has serial number 000004b926f1. Reading its w1_slave file (provided by the w1-therm driver) returns the bytes that were read on both lines, a summary of transmission integrity derived from the message checksum on the first line, and t=x on the second line, where x is the measured temperature in milli-degrees Celsius. Thus, the measured temperature above was 25.687 degrees. While it’s fairly easy to locate and read these files in sysfs from a program, I found a Python library that further simplifies the process: w1thermsensor provides a simple API for detecting and reading 1-wire temperature sensors, which I used when implementing the bridge for capturing temperature readings (detailed more later). I wanted to verify for myself how the 1-wire interfacing worked so here are the details of what I’ve discovered, presented because they may be interesting or helpful to some readers. Most documentation of how to perform a given task with a Raspberry Pi is limited to comments like “just add this line to some file and do the other thing!” with no discussion of the mechanics involved, which I find very unsatisfying. The line added to /boot/config.txt tells the Rapberry Pi’s boot loader (a version of Das U-Boot) to pass the w1-gpio.dtbo device tree overlay description to the kernel. The details of what’s in that overlay can be found in the kernel source tree at arch/arm/boot/dts/overlays/w1-gpio-overlay.dts. This in turn pulls in the w1-gpio kernel module, which is part of the upstream kernel distribution- it’s very simple, setting or reading the value of a GPIO port as requested by the Linux 1-wire subsystem. Confusingly, if we examine the dts file describing the device tree overlay, it can take a pullup option that controls a rpi,parasitic-power parameter. The documentation says this “enable(s) the parasitic power (2-wire, power-on-data) feature”, which is confusing. 1-Wire is inherently capable of supplying parasitic power to slaves with modest power requirements, with the slaves charging capacitors off the data line when it’s idle (and being held high, since it’s an open-collector bus). So, saying an option will enable parasitic power is confusing at best and probably flat wrong. By also connecting the pullup GPIO to the data line (or putting a FET in there like the datasheet suggests), the w1-gpio driver will set the pullup line to logic high for a requested time, then return it to Hi-Z where it will idle. But for my needs (cobbling something together quickly), it’s much easier to not even bother with parasite power. In conclusion for this section: I don’t know what the pullup option for the 1-Wire GPIO overlay actually does, because enabling it and removing the external pull-up resistor from my setup causes the bus to stop working. The documentation is confusingly imprecise, so I gave up on further investigation since I already had a configuration that worked. To capture store time-series data representing the temperature, per the co-worker’s original suggestion I opted to use Prometheus. While it’s designed for monitoring the state of computer systems, it’s plenty capable of storing temperature data as well. Given I’ve used Prometheus before, it seemed like a fine option for this application though on later consideration I think a more robust (and effortful) system could be build with different technology choices (explored later in this post). The Raspberry Pi with temperature sensor in my application is expected to stay within range of a WiFi network with internet connectivity, but this network does not permit any incoming connections, nor does it permit connections between wireless clients. Given I wanted to make the temperature data available to anybody interested in the progress of brewing, there needs to be some bridge to the outside world- thus Prometheus should run on a different machine from the Pi. Having connected the thermometer to the Pi and set up Prometheus, we now need to glue them together such that Prometheus can read the temperature. The usual way is for Prometheus to make HTTP requests to its known data sources, where the response is formatted such that Prometheus can make sense of the metrics. There is some support for having metrics sources push their values to Prometheus through a bridge (that basically just remembers the values it’s given until they’re scraped), but that seems inelegant given it would require running another program (the bridge) and goes against the how Prometheus is designed to work. I’ve published the source for the metrics exporter I ended up writing, and will give it a quick description in the remnants of this section. The easiest solution to providing a service over HTTP is using the http.server module, so that’s what I chose to use. When the program starts up it scans for temperature sensors and stores them. This has a downside of never returning data if a sensor is accidentally disconnected at startup, but detection is fairly slow and only doing it at startup makes it clearer if sensors are accidentally disconnected during operation, since reading them will fail at that point. The request handler has a method that builds the whole response at once, which is just plain text based on a simple template. do_GET is called by BaseHTTPRequestHandler for all HTTP GET requests to the server. Since this server doesn’t really care what you want (it only exports one thing- metrics), it completely ignores the request and sends back metrics. # We're careful to send a content-length, so keepalive is allowed. The http.server API is somewhat cumbersome in that it doesn’t try to handle setting Content-Length on responses to allow clients to keep connections open between requests, but at least in this case it’s very easy to set the Content-Length on the response and correctly implement HTTP 1.1. The Content-Type used here is the one specified by the Prometheus documentation for exposition formats. The rest of the program is just glue, for the most part. The console_entry_point function is the entry point for the w1therm_prometheus_exporter script specified in setup.py. The network address and port to listen on are taken from the command line, then an HTTP server is started and allowed to run forever. As a Python program with a few non-standard dependencies, installation of this server is not particularly easy. While I could sudo pip install everything and call it sufficient, that’s liable to break unexpectedly if other parts of the system are automatically updated- in particular the Python interpreter itself (though Debian as a matter of policy doesn’t update Python to a different release except as a major update, so it shouldn’t happen without warning). What I’d really like is the ability to build a single standalone program that contains everything in a convenient single-file package, and that’s exactly what PyInstaller can do. A little bit of wrestling with pyinstaller configuration later (included as the .spec file in the repository), I had successfully built a pretty heavy (5MB) executable containing everything the server needs to run. I placed a copy in /usr/local/bin, for easy accessibility in running it. # a tmpfs to unpack itself in. This unit includes rather more protection than is probably very useful, given the machine is single-purpose, but it seems like good practice to isolate the server from the rest of the system as much as possible. DynamicUser will make it run as a system user with ID semi-randomly assigned each time it starts so it doesn’t look like anything else on the system for purposes of resource (file) ownership. ProtectSystem makes it impossible to write to most of the filesystem, protecting against accidental or malicious changes to system files. ProtectHome makes it impossible to read any user’s home directory, preventing information leak from other users. PrivateTmp give the server its own private /tmp directory, so it can’t interfere with temporary files created by other things, nor can its be interfered with- preventing possible races which could be exploited. Having built the HTTP server, I needed a way to get data from it to Prometheus. As discussed earlier, the Raspberry Pi with the sensor is on a WiFi network that doesn’t permit any incoming connections, so how can Prometheus scrape metrics if it can’t connect to the Pi? One option is to push metrics to Prometheus, using the push gateway. However, I don’t like that option because the push gateway is intended mostly for jobs that run unpredictably, in particular where they can exit without warning. This isn’t true of my sensor server. PushProx provides a rather better solution, wherein clients connect to a proxy which forwards fetches from Prometheus to the relevant client, though I think my ultimate solution is just as effective and simpler. Installed as /etc/systemd/system/[email protected], this unit file tells systemd that we want to start autossh when the network is online and try to ensure it always stays online. I’ve increased RestartSec from the default 100 milliseconds because I found that even with the dependency on network-online.target, ssh could fail when the system was booting up with DNS lookup failures, then systemd would give up. Increasing the restart time means it takes much longer for systemd to give up, and in the meantime the network actually comes up. scrape_interval: 15s # By default, scrape targets every 15 seconds. That’s pretty self-explanatory; Prometheus will fetch metrics from port 9000 on the same machine (which is actually an SSH tunnel to the Raspberry Pi), and do so every 15 seconds. When the Pi gets the request for metrics, it reads the temperature sensors and returns their values. I included InfluxDB in the setup to get arbitrary retention of temperature data- Prometheus is designed primarily for real-time monitoring of computer systems, to alert human operators when things appear to be going wrong. Consequently, in the default configuration Prometheus only retains captured data for a few weeks, and doesn’t provide a convenient way to export data for archival or analysis. While the default retention is probably sufficient for this project’s needs, I wanted better control over how long that data was kept and the ability to save it as long as I liked. So while Prometheus doesn’t offer that control itself, it does support reading and writing data to and from various other databases, including InfluxDB (which I chose only because a package for it is available in Debian without any additional work). Unfortunately, the version of Prometheus available in Debian right now is fairly old- 1.5.2, where the latest release is 2.2. More problematic, while Prometheus now supports a generic remote read/write API, this was added in version 2.0 and is not yet available in the Debian package. Combined with the lack of documentation (as far as I could find) for the old remote write feature, I was a little bit stuck. The first option just makes Prometheus keep its data longer than the default, whereas the others tell it how to write data to InfluxDB. I determined where InfluxDB listens for connections by looking at its configuration file /etc/influxdb/influxdb.conf and making a few guesses: a comment in the http section there noted that “these (HTTP endpoints) are the primary mechanism for getting data into and out of InfluxDB” and included the settings bind-address=":8086" and auth-enabled=false, so I guessed (correctly) that telling Prometheus to find InfluxDB at http://localhost:8086/ should be sufficient. Visit https://enterprise.influxdata.com to register for updates, InfluxDB server management, and monitoring. The fermentation temperature is quite stable, with daily variation of less than one degree in either direction from the baseline. I later improved the temperature server to handle SIGHUP as a trigger to scan for sensors again, which is a slight improvement over restarting it, but not very important because the server is already so simple (and fast to restart). On reflection, using Prometheus and scraping temperatures is a very strange way to go about solving the problem of logging the temperature (though it has the advantage of using only tools I was already familiar with so it was easy to do quickly). Pushing temperature measurements from the Pi via MQTT would be a much more sensible solution, since that’s a protocol designed specifically for small sensors to report their states. Indeed, there is no shortage of published projects that do exactly that more efficiently than my Raspberry Pi, most of them using ESP8266 microcontrollers which are much lower-power and can still connect to Wi-Fi networks. Getting sensor readings through an MQTT broker and storing them to be able to graph them is not quite as trivial as scraping them with Prometheus, but I suspect there does exist a software package that does most of the work already. If not, I expect a quick and dirty one could be implemented with relative ease. On the other hand, running a device like that which is internet-connected but is unlikely to ever receive anything remotely looking like a security update seems ill-advised if it’s meant to run for anything but a short amount of time. In that case having the sensor be part of a Zigbee network instead, which does not permit direct internet connectivity and thus avoids the fraught terrain of needing to protect both the device itself from attack and the data transmitted by the device from unauthorized use (eavesdropping) by taking ownership of that problem away from the sensor. It remains possible to forward messages out to an MQTT broker on the greater internet using some kind of bridge (indeed, this is the system used by many consumer “smart device” platforms, like Philips’ Hue though I don’t think they use MQTT), where individual devices connect only to the Zigbee network, and a more capable bridge is responsible for internet connectivity. The problem of keeping the bridge secure remains, but is appreciably simpler than needing to maintain the security of each individual device in what may be a heterogeneous network. It’s even possible to get inexpensive off-the-shelf temperature and humidity sensors that connect to Zigbee networks like some sold by Xiaomi, offering much better finish than a prototype-quality one I might be able to build myself, very good battery life, and still capable of operating in a heterogenous Zigbee network with arbitrary other devices (though you wouldn’t know it from the manufacturer’s documentation, since they want consumers to commit to their “platform” exclusively)! So while my solution is okay in that it works fine with hardware I already had on hand, a much more robust solution is readily available with off-the-shelf hardware and only a little bit of software to glue it together. If I needed to do this again and wanted a solution that doesn’t require my expertise to maintain it, I’d reach for those instead. Reluctantly powered by atomic badgers. Contents licensed under unless otherwise noted.

2019-04-18T23:38:46Z

http://beta.taricorp.net/2018/temperature-logger/

Chairman Gallegly, Ranking Member Lofgren, and other committee members, thank you for the opportunity to be here today to discuss ICE's new Performance Based Detention Standards. While no reasonable person would be against the humane treatment of detainees, this Obama Administration initiative goes too far and puts the interests of removable aliens ahead of the national interest. The initiative undercuts immigration laws passed by Congress by eliminating reasonable deterrents to illegal entry. It is a waste of taxpayer dollars that is motivated not by a genuine need for reform, but as part of a larger strategy to trivialize immigration law enforcement and minimize the consequences of illegal immigration, which imposes enormous fiscal, economic, national security, and public safety burdens on American communities. Instead of softening immigration detention standards and helping illegal aliens game the system, the Department of Homeland Security should be expanding ICE detention capacity in order to keep more lawbreakers off the streets until they are removed, and to deter others from remaining. A better way to help immigration detainees would be to reduce the amount of time they spend in detention by making more use of the tools Congress has provided to process removable aliens more expeditiously. DHS should not be helping illegal aliens prolong their stay; they should be devoting more effort to helping the people who were victims of their crimes and illegal actions. Even before these standards were issued, ICE detention centers were already softer than those at other federal and local facilities. "ICE is a country club compared to anything else", one career federal detention manager told me, with centers equipped with the most modern recreational amenities. One of ICE's existing larger centers has a huge artificial turf soccer field; volleyball and basketball courts; new kitchens and dining areas — complete with juice and soda bars and unlimited refills; flat screen TVs in the housing units, with personal headphones so each detainee can watch their choice of English or Spanish satellite TV in peace; movie nights; potted flowers; and a vegetable and herb garden. In addition, the standards dictate very generous and flexible visitation policies for detainees' friends and family (including contact visits) and freedom of movement within the facility. Another explicit goal is to improve detainees' access to lawyers and other advocates who seek to help them contest their charges and fight to remain here longer. New Facilities Costly. Naturally, none of this comes cheaply. The 608-bed Karnes facility cost the private operator, GEO Group, $32 million to build. This works out to $52,632 per bed. ICE is expected to pay GEO Group about $15 million a year to run the center. A 1,040-bed facility was built just a couple of years ago in Farmville, Va., by a group of private investors for $21 million, or $20,192 per bed, which is less than half the cost per bed of the Karnes center. ICE must balance its obligation to house immigration detainees humanely with its responsibility to perform its mission efficiently and cost-effectively. Before giving DHS a blank check for detention facility projects, Congress should ask the agency leaders to explain the fiscal impact of the new standards, why the new center is so much more expensive than similar recent projects, and how this center compares in cost to alternatives such as IGSA agreements and leasing space at local corrections centers. Most ICE Detainees Are Short-Tmers. It is important to evaluate this initiative in the context of the overall ICE/ERO caseload. The vast majority of those eligible for detention in one of these centers represent less than half of ICE's removal caseload, and typically are not held in ICE detention for long periods of time. According to ICE field office supervisors, the average length of stay in detention for a "non-criminal" citizen of Mexico or Central America is 10 to 21 days. They are held just long enough for travel documents to be issued and flights to be arranged. These cases make up 87 percent of the ICE "non-criminal" removal cases. A large share of "non-criminal" detainees, namely Mexicans apprehended near the border, stay less than one day in detention. These are individuals who are apprehended by the Border Patrol and bused north to an ICE detention center for quick processing and return to Mexico. Their stay in detention is about 12 hours. ICE detention centers in the southwest border areas handle groups of 100 of these illegal entrants twice a day. They are processed as Voluntary Returns, which means they face no penalties or repercussions, are not barred from future legal admission, and cannot be prosecuted as a repeat violator if they try to enter illegally again. The only reason this group is in detention at all is for the purpose of padding ICE's year-end removal statistics. These quick turn-backs numbered about 75,000 last year, or nearly 20 percent of ICE's total reported removals. Return to Catch and Release. For a large number of detainees, these fancy civil detention centers are really just a brief way station in a massive catch and release program. Far too many illegal aliens who are apprehended and who ICE euphemistically refers to as "non-criminals" (because in most cases they were discovered as a result of being booked into jail for local non-immigration crimes) are quickly whisked back on to the street, usually with a work permit. This is because under current Obama Administration policies, ICE removal officers and trial attorneys have been instructed to focus their efforts nearly exclusively on those individuals who have been convicted of crimes, while enabling those who are identified, but not yet convicted, remain at large. Some are released on bonds, some on electronic monitoring or other forms of supervision, and some on their own recognizance. In effect, ICE is largely conditioning the exercise of its authority to the disposition of these cases at the local level. According to ICE guidelines, which have been outlined in a well-publicized series of announcements and policy memos, unless an illegal alien is a repeat offender, he or she should be allowed to remain at large, no matter the seriousness of their charges, and regardless of the likelihood that he or she will actually appear in court to face either criminal or immigration charges. Officers are instructed to be especially lenient if the illegal alien offender has been here long enough to acquire a U.S. citizen spouse or child, or other ties to the community. With few exceptions, the small number who remain in ICE detention facilities for long periods are there because they continue to challenge their deportation. And they often do so because they are given false hope by open-borders advocacy groups intent on using such people as pawns in a political effort to hamper enforcement of American immigration laws. The humane thing to do would be to make clear to these illegal aliens that immigration to the United States is a false dream for them and help them return home and get on with their lives. Instead, they languish in detention — a needed detention, given the virtual certainty that they would ignore a negative decision on their cases if set free — but languish nonetheless. In addition, according to ICE managers, an increasing number of individuals are taking advantage of the administration's new lenient policies on asylum seekers that went into effect in January 2010. Illegal aliens apprehended by immigration officers, whether at the border or at the port of entry, who find themselves in detention are offered the opportunity to express their fear of return to their home country. According to ICE detention center supervisors, often this fear is articulated shortly after the alien has attended the biweekly "know your rights" presentations that have recently become a fixture in ICE detention centers — and that are a key component of the new detention standards we are discussing today. The most commonly expressed fears are of domestic violence or gang or drug cartels. According to ICE statistics, the asylum officers who evaluate these cases find the fear to meet the new standards of "credible" in about 80 percent of the cases. Aliens then receive a Notice to Appear before an immigration judge, which makes them eligible for release from detention, even if they have been deported before. They are awarded parole status, which makes them eligible for a work permit. This process, from claim of fear to release on parole can be completed in about 30 days. It is no wonder that the number of "credible fear" applications went up nearly 500 percent from 2009 to 2010. The number of grants of parole in these cases went up from 71 percent in 2009 to 80 percent in 2011. "Non-Criminals" Not Necessarily Harmless. Advocates for illegal aliens are quick to point out that, despite the Obama Administration's claimed focus on the removal of aliens who are a threat to public safety, a large share of the individuals in immigration detention are classified as "non-criminals". The reality is that a large share of the so-called "non-criminals" selected for removal processing have in fact been involved in criminal activity, sometimes violent, and their placement in these new "soft" detention centers could place detention officers, resident advisors, and other detainees at risk. The decisions to release of many of these individuals, rather than remove them, can possibly put everyone at risk. The detained aliens who are labeled "criminals" are those who have been convicted of a crime. The "non-criminal" category includes a large number of unsavory characters who may or may not have been prosecuted for their activities, including alien smugglers, gang members, drug dealers, drug users, drug mules, sexual predators, identity thieves, petty criminals, drunk drivers, prostitutes, and pimps. Some may have a criminal history in their home country that is unknown to agencies here. Some are serial traffic offenders who have been a menace on the roadways. Those local law enforcement agencies that are able to keep track report that anywhere between 10 and 50 percent of the illegal aliens who are booked into their jails were arrested for drunk driving, often multiple times. There can be a variety of reasons why these non-citizen miscreants lack a criminal conviction. Many drunk driving and traffic offenses are thrown out by local courts or end up in continuance for technical reasons. Some criminals get off because their victims are afraid to testify; this is especially true in domestic violence or gang cases. But the most common reason some alien offenders are not convicted of crimes is because local prosecutors or investigators are prone to drop charges when they become aware that ICE has issued a detainer and the offender is potentially removable. It is common for these agencies to use ICE and the opportunity of immigration charges as a substitute for local charges as a pressure valve to relieve their crowded local dockets, saving everyone the time and effort required to follow through with the prosecution of what they may see as relatively minor offenders who should not be present in the community anyway. Convicted or not, ICE still has the responsibility to remove individuals who are here in violation of our laws; especially those who have been troublesome. Nothing in immigration law provides for violators to avoid enforcement and be allowed to stay here simply because they have not been convicted of another crime. While the circumstances of the Espinoza case may be unusually serious, it is not an isolated case. In recent years, ICE has made increasing use of electronic monitoring, supervision, and bonds as alternatives to detention. The results are not encouraging. Newspapers periodically report on offenders who had been in ICE custody recently and were released only to re-offend. According to data I have reviewed from the Secure Communities program, about 9 percent of the aliens identified through this screening, which occurs at the time of an arrest, are found to be already in removal proceedings — meaning that they were caught once, released to await a hearing, and got arrested again. As of one year ago, this was more than 40,000 aliens across the country who had re-offended while waiting to be ordered removed. That's a lot of unnecessary victims. Other reports are beginning to surface suggesting that a large share of individuals released on ICE bonds also have absconded. The Alternative to Detention Is Fugitives and Absconders. It is worth re-stating that the main point of immigration detention is not to keep criminal aliens off the street (even though that is a real benefit), but to enable the enforcement of immigration laws. The only way to ensure that illegal aliens actually appear before an immigration court (for the sub-set of removable aliens who are entitled to that form of due process) is to physically compel them to do so through detention. While it can be worth experimenting with various alternatives to detention, in the real world their likelihood of success is limited. Pilot programs to assess the viability of alternatives to detention often either include people who would not have been detained anyway (i.e., cream-skimming or cherry-picking those most likely to yield the "right" result) or fudge the statistics to make the results appear more favorable, or both. For instance, a Houston Chronicle investigation two years ago found that nearly one in five suspected illegal immigrants who went through an experimental ICE intensive monitoring program absconded while under supervision. One recent study published by my organization found that nearly 60 percent of aliens who are not detained while in proceedings will fail to appear for their hearings or will ignore orders to depart.4 Some of these individuals, such as illegal alien Saul Chavez, a repeat drunk driving felon who killed a pedestrian named Dennis McCann in Chicago last year,5 also flee from local criminal proceedings, leaving in their wake victims and families of victims who are unable to obtain the closure they deserve through the justice system. Despite this record, the Obama administration is trying to move away from using detention centers, even the softer ones we have been discussing, in favor of alternatives such as electronic monitoring and other forms of supervision. The administration has asked Congress in its recent budget request for the flexibility to shift funds from detention beds, which are specified by Congress and which must be used by DHS, to these less effective alternatives. Given this abysmal record of enforcement, Congress would surely come to regret awarding such flexibility to DHS under this administration. Instead, Congress should preserve the requirement that all the funded space be used for that purpose, and increase the number of funded detention beds to a level that enables ICE to meet its needs and the expectations of lawmakers and the public. DHS should be expected to use the most cost-effective options possible, including IGSA agreements with local sheriffs and private contractors, to manage its detainee population within reasonable detention standards. In addition, Congress should provide additional funding for contract transportation or transportation agreements with local law enforcement agencies. Some local jurisdictions have devised creative low-cost ways to transport detainees, and ICE should be directed to explore and pilot more such options where feasible. Most importantly, rather than looking for ways to avoid removing illegal aliens, DHS should be exploring ways to streamline the removal process so that their time in detention is reduced. Specifically, DHS agencies should be expanding use of expedited and stipulated removal. Our review of a sample of cases from ICE's Secure Communities and Criminal Alien Programs suggests that in a number of cases, ICE officers are choosing more drawn-out proceedings rather than taking advantage of these tools that can benefit both aliens and the government. Detention Standards Include Advocate for Detainees, No Help for Victims. Another curious aspect of the Obama administration's efforts on behalf of immigration law violators is the establishment of a complaint hot line and new official advocate within the ICE bureaucracy.8 Meanwhile, those who are the victims of this unlawful activity have no one in these agencies to speak to or for them. Congress should direct ICE to establish a Victim's Advocacy Unit to address the concerns of those who are victims of crimes and other damaging actions committed by removable aliens. Currently these victims and their families have no voice within the DHS bureaucracy, no avenue to get their questions answered, and no way to help ensure that immigration law enforcement failures that have tragic consequences are not repeated. In fact, ICE appears to have no interest whatsoever in meeting and discussing their cases with surviving family members, much less providing basic information on how they were handled. The Victims Advocacy Unit would provide a point of contact for those directly affected by alien crime and be empowered to investigate incidents and trends with the goal of identifying system breakdowns and correcting policy or procedural gaps. In addition, the unit staff would work with established local and national victims organizations on issues of common concern. 1 Brian Bennett, "New prison for detained immigrants features salad bar, unarmed guards", Los Angeles Times, March 18, 2012. 2 Scott Andrews, "What design elements at Karnes facility tell us about the state of immigrant detention", San Antonio Current, March 21, 2012. 4 Mark H. Metcalf, "Built to Fail: Deception and Disorder in America's Immigration Courts", Center for Immigration Studies, May 2011, http://www.cis.org/Immigration-Courts. 5 Jessica Vaughan, "Cook County Pressured to Reverse Sanctuary Policy", Center for Immigration Studies blog, January 6, 2012, http://cis.org/vaughan/cook-county-pressured-to-reverse-sanctuary-policy; and "The Alternative to Immigration Detention: Fugitives", October 18, 2011, http://cis.org/vaughan/alternative-to-detention-fugitives. 8 Andrew Lorenzen-Strait, "ICE Announces First Ever Public Advocate", http://blog.dhs.gov/2012/02/ice-announces-first-ever-public.html.

2019-04-20T12:42:33Z

https://cis.org/Holiday-ICE

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The applications came from 13 applicants, including non-profit organizations, textbook publishing-related organizations, e-learning resources developers and tertiary institutions. He added, these applications are expected to harness the benefits of e-features to enhance the effectiveness of learning and teaching the subjects. It will also increase consumers’ choices, Ng said. A total of 88 primary and secondary schools will be invited to try the e-textbooks and provide feedback so that developers can enhance design and content. It is expected that e-textbooks will be available for use in the 2014/15 school year. The Education Bureau will conduct an interim review of the scheme in progress. Based on the outcome of the review, the steering committee will determine whether or not a second phase of e-textbook development is required. Vice Chairman of Education Convergence Ho Hon-kuen said the government may underestimate the high production costs, since publishers need to invite experts to write e-textbooks and spend money on multimedia production. High inflation should also be calculated, he added. Ho said he feared that the production costs could not be reclaimed even after five or seven years. He also cited an example from South Korea where an e-textbook plan failed after being promoted for three years. He said the program has already been abandoned owing to its high cost, adding he is not optimistic about the future of e-textbooks. President of the Hong Kong Parents Association Lai Tsang-hing voiced concerns that e-textbooks may be harmful to students’ eyesight, and open the door to time being wasted playing games online. In early May, the government proposed to earmark HK$50 million for the textbook development scheme. The money was to help non-profit making organizations to develop at least 12 e-textbooks sets. The e-textbook could diversify the market and address the current textbook-market monopoly, said former secretary for education Michael Suen at that time, adding e-textbooks could be a desirable alternative to highly priced printed textbooks as the cost should be 20 percent to 50 percent lower. Hong Kong (HKSAR) - The Steering Committee (Steering Committee) on Selection, Quality Assurance and Review of E-Textbook Market Development Scheme (EMADS) has approved a total of 30 applications for the development of e-textbooks. The 30 successful applications cover the main subjects of Chinese Language (7 applications), English Language (5 applications) and Mathematics (6 applications), and other subjects including General Studies (4 applications), Computer Literacy (2 applications), Putonghua (2 applications), Geography (1 application), Life and Society (1 application) and Physical Education (2 applications). Twenty-one applications cover primary education and nine cover junior secondary. The successful applications came from 13 applicants. Of these, 12 were submitted by five non-profit making (NPM) organisations, while the other 18 applications were submitted by eight other organisations. Among the 13 applicants, at least three are textbook publishing-related organisations, two are e-learning resources developers and two are tertiary institutions. In addition to fulfilling the quality criteria of printed textbooks, the successful applications are expected to harness the benefits of e-features to enhance the effectiveness of learning and teaching of the subject. Compared with the prices of their printed counterparts on the same subject, these e-textbooks to be developed under EMADS are generally priced lower. In the case of Geography, the price of the approved e-textbook is lower than the average price of its printed counterpart by as much as 63 per cent. Apart from countering the continued rise in printed textbook prices, the release of EMADS textbooks will also increase consumers' choice. For NPM developers, the Government will provide a seeding grant on a 50:50 matching basis, subject to a cap of $4 million per e-textbook set or 50 per cent of the development cost of the e-textbook set, whichever is less. The approved grant may be less than the amount requested if the Steering Committee considers that any of the projected expenses do not fall within the scope of funding or should be of a lesser amount. Both the NPM applicants and other applicants will enter into an agreement with the Government, which requires them to commit to the sales price of the e-textbooks produced under EMADS for four years and two years respectively. To field-test the e-textbooks developed under the EMADS in schools, the Education Bureau (EDB) has also launched a Partner Schools Scheme (PSS) to invite aspiring schools to try-out the e-textbooks and provide feedback, so that the developers can enhance the design and contents of the e-textbooks. Based on their school type, readiness in information technology as well as in curriculum development, a total of 88 applicant schools from the primary and secondary school sectors have been selected to match with the 30 successful EMADS applications. These schools will soon be notified of their participation in the PSS. To facilitate the development of the e-textbook and e-learning resources market, Hong Kong Education City has launched the EdConnect Directory Service which allows schools, teachers and students to use a single sign-on to access e-textbooks and e-learning resources from different service providers. This will provide a single platform for the developers to manage their resources more effectively for the development of e-textbooks and enhance communication among the concerned parties. Having undergone the field tests and the quality assurance mechanism under EMADS, the completed e-textbooks developed by successful applicants will be automatically recognised for inclusion in the Recommended Textbook List for e-textbooks in 2014/15. It is expected that e-textbooks developed under EMADS will be available for use in the 2014/15 school year. The EDB will conduct an interim review of EMADS. Based on the outcome of the review, the Steering Committee will determine whether or not a second phase for EMADS is desirable and if so, when to implement it. What Is the Leadership Seminar? Participants will meet, share with, and learn from a cohort of peers from a wide range of positions supporting teaching and learning from different types of higher education institutions. Both new and experienced participants will benefit from peer interaction and the opportunity to network and engage with leaders in this area during small-group discussions and one-on-one networking. Separate registration is required and includes all sessions listed below and a hosted seminar lunch on Tuesday, February 5. To register for the Leadership Seminar, you must also register for the ELI Annual Meeting in Denver. Participation is limited to the first 50 registrants. Join us in the ELI Adobe Connect Room for this live 30-minute online information session designed to provide a general overview of the program. Open-to-all, this session will cover details of the schedule, activities, and goals. The co-directors will also discuss suggested readings to be completed prior to attending the seminar in Denver and answer any questions about the program. Participants will be provided with goals for the Leadership Seminar and an overview of e-texts/e-content. They will begin to explore some of the broader leadership issues that inform campus change efforts and discuss strategies for adoption and implementation on campus. After discussing the potential of e-texts/e-content, participants will explore how they might best be implemented at their institutions. Participants will have an opportunity to hear multiple institutional perspectives on e-text projects and will also meet with several of the presenters over lunch to discuss potential strategies for exploring and possibly implementing e-texts/e-content locally. Participants will also be encouraged to begin outlining strategies for taking action on their own campuses. During the closing session, Leadership Seminar participants will have the opportunity to share their ideas, concerns, and potential action steps for strategic implementation of e-texts/e-content at their institutions. A selected list of e-text and leadership-related readings and resources will be shared to help you prepare for the seminar and to serve as recommendations for your personal library. This interactive eTextbook predicts a revolution in higher education with respect to the publishing of academic articles, books and, especially, textbooks. As we transition from the print era to the digital era, three things will drive the way this revolution manifests itself in higher education: dissatisfaction with the status quo, the near universal accessibility of easily employed but powerful digital publishing tools and the competition amongst colleges and universities to reduce the cost and debt that students are asked to bear. How exactly will this play out? Who will win? Who will loose? What factors will predict the outcome? Contents include 67 pages, 20 graphics, 28 media files, 25 video files and 5 interactive widgets. New software from French publishing technology company Gutenberg Technology promises to greatly simplify e-textbook production and distribution. After years of testing and early programs with major educational publishers such as Hachette in France, Pearson and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Gutenberg will announce tomorrow the launch of MyEbookFactory, a software that helps publishers seamlessly create e-textbooks for iOS, Android, Kindle, Windows 8 and other formats. Working with a PDF, MyEbookFactory creates XML content and stores it in a database where the publisher can add custom enhancements and interactivity before exporting it to multiple device formats at once. Through the database of textbook content, for which Gutenberg has a patent, publishers can update their editions remotely. The scale and ability to simultaneously create products for multiple platforms is what makes this technology different from others currently available for making interactive textbooks — like Inkling’s Habitat and iBooks Author. “In two-to-four years, everyone will be using digital in the classrooms and it’s 50% less expensive to produce textbooks online,” said Francois-Xavier Hussherr, the CEO of Gutenberg Technology. For a company like Pearson, which may have hundreds of textbooks that it wants to convert to interactive e-textbooks, the cost may not be so onerous. Currently, MyEbookFactory can handle several hundred books a month. That number will increase to over 10,000 a month in 2014. Why is it signifi cant? The open educational resources model, including textbooks, has emerged as a response to rising text prices, a need for greater access to high-quality learning materials, the proliferation of e-reader devices, and a trend in publishing toward electronic media. Many contend that educational resources should be open and that instructional models increasingly depend on open content. Open textbooks can be offered by commercial publishers or found in open repositories. Open resources can promote active learning through student interaction with the text, particularly when they contribute to authorship. Although open textbooks face questions about the accuracy and reliability of their content, they allow higher education instructors to design content for their courses on an as-needed basis, choosing from an array of books, articles, videos, audio recordings, and readings. The "7 Things You Should Know About..." series from the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) provides concise information on emerging learning technologies. Each brief focuses on a single technology and describes what it is, where it is going, and why it matters to teaching and learning. Use these briefs for a no-jargon, quick overview of a topic and share them with time-pressed colleagues. 'CCCOER Webinar: OER Research on Student Impact and Faculty Feedback' on College Open Textbooks Community! Come hear the most recent OER Research findings from college projects! Please join us Tuesday, December 4, 1:00 pm Eastern for a webinar on OER Research findings on student outcomes and faculty and student feedback. The Kaleidoscope project, a collaboration between six community colleges and two 4-year colleges, developed OER for eight General Education courses and will report on student learning outcomes and faculty satisfaction. Florida Virtual Campus has been administering surveys to both faculty and students using open textbooks and open educational resources at their college and university campuses through their Open Access Textbook project and will share their findings from the last three years. Another Next Generation Learning Grant funded project Bridge-2-Success has worked with non-traditional students transitioning back to college or entering for the first time to improve college success. Working with Open University UK adapted open educational resources (OER) and online data gathering, they will share student outcome data from Anne Arundel and their 20 pilot colleges. Dr. Robin Donaldson, Director of Open Access Textbooks and Project Manager of Orange Grove, Florida Virtual Campus.Robin will give us an overview of the student and faculty survey feedback from 2010 and 2011 and will compare how data has changed over time. Dr. Nassim Ebrahimi, Ann Arundel Community College. Nassim will report on student learning outcomes finding from the Bridge-2-Success project at Ann Arundel and the 20 pilot community colleges that participated. Kim Thanos, Lumen Learning. Kim will share differences in how students performed in classrooms using OER compared to those who continued to use publisher materials. She will also report on satisfaction among faculty participants. No pre-registration necessary. On the day of the webinar, ... click [on the link] to login and then press the Connect button. Rethinking How & Where Digital Knowledge is Stored, Shared, Tagged and Licensed in the 21st Century: New Role for Librarians ? With the new college year soon to begin, Boston startup Boundless Learning has just released its first products — free online materials aimed at serving as substitutes for college textbooks — out of beta to the public. The company says it has worked with academic experts to craft "online experiences" that aim to convey the information you'd find in a typical textbook, but in a more engaging manner. Boundless Learning has released materials in seven subjects — biology, economics, psychology, sociology, anatomy & physiology, history and writing. The materials are particularly optimized for use on tablet computers such as the iPad, said CEO and co-founder Ariel Diaz. The materials use openly licensed educational content, created and posted online by faculty members over the past two decades, and curated by Boundless Learning's domain experts, Diaz has said. Boundless Learning has had students at more than 1,000 universities try out the products during the beta over the past year, Diaz said, though the number of students that have used the product isn't being disclosed. The company is focused on offering a free product, but does plan to test some premium features during the semester, Diaz said. Boundless taps into the world of free & open access information and turns it into a beautiful yet functional digital textbook. It’s iPad-friendly, works on laptops, and is simple enough for teachers of any aptitude to use. The system generates digital resources for you based on the textbook you would normally have used in the course. You can still use the printed textbook and use Boundless as a free digital supplement. There’s an instant search feature built into the new Boundless UI. You can digitally highlight and add notes to all of the content. I could see this being a big help to anyone nervous about deploying technology that could replace printed textbooks. Boundless has a fun new feature called SmartNotes Premium which boils down all the content into easily digested factoids, summaries, and roundups. It’s like having a customized ‘Top 10′ list for each topic you’re reading about. This feature is $20/course just FYI. The digital textbooks have no expiration date. They’re not rentals or anything that would cost you money since it’s all open source. Boundless, the textbook-free option for students, started the next chapter of its service this week by coming out of private beta and opening its online doors to the world. After a year of working with students at more than 1,000 schools, the Boston-based company's expansive content library is now open to any student who signed up for Boundless. The service connects students with openly licensed, and free educational content content on the Web, with the goal of helping students save money on textbook costs. Boundless covers topics like biology, psychology, and economics, as well as newly added options like sociology, American history, writing, and physiology. Despite all of its good will toward the education world, Boundless hasn't launched without at least a few roadblocks. In late March, the company was sued by three of the world's largest publishing companies for alleged copyright infringement. With $8 million in funding just raised, Boundless fought back against its competitors, which it blamed for the high costs of education. "Don't worry – we won't let the fact that someone slipped a lawsuit in the punchbowl ruin our good time," the company said in an April blog post. "Boundless is committed to bringing educational content into the 21st century, and we remain focused on our mission." That mission is moving forward, bringing Open educational Resources (OER) from WikiBooks, OCW Consortium, MIT Open Courseware, Creative Commons, and others to its Web and mobile platforms. The new Boundless includes improved navigation, highlights and notes, and full HTML5 and iPad capabilities. The eTernity project is a new initiative from CEN Workshop on Learning Technologies and actors in the textbook marked together with stakeholders from education. eTernity is about bringing European stakeholders in education together: developing a common vision, frameworks and specifications for e-textbooks for educational purposes. The idea is to fulfill educational requirements for e-textbooks as a channel for creating interactive, adaptable, personlizable resources to improve learning, education and training. eTernity will provide a common reference framework to support public policy makers, private stakeholders and academic bodies that want to work together to reshape the digital marketplace for educational resources in Europe. The goal of the eTernity initiative is to provide neutral guidance based on an agreed framework allowing us to move away from the many closed and vertical solutions flourishing in today’s digital content markets. Creation, inter-mediation (also called “curation”), distribution and use of digital textbooks need to be based on open architectural and technical standards that will make the marketplace more interoperable and scalable, in an ecosystem of multiple players and actors. In a nutshell, this initiative wants to move the European textbook market from a world based on siloed and closed proprietary marketplaces to a future ecosystem where smart, responsive and adaptable textbooks can interoperate across different distribution channels and devices, adapting to the learner’s skills and competencies, delivering the right learning experience where and when the learner needs it. This will affect many providers, producers, consumers and curators of learning textbooks. You are invited to contribute to this work – join the project kick off meeting in January 2013. For the first time, 2012 saw the 4th Conference on Open Access Scholarly Publishing (COASP) feature an afternoon of sessions entirely dedicated to Open Access books. In his introduction, OAPEN’s Eelco Ferwerda highlighted that with this year’s milestones – the launch of the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB), PKP’s Open Monograph Press, and Springer’s announcement of SpringerOpen books – the time for Open Access monograph publishing has arrived, culminating in Open Access books being made part of the program at COASP. Things are speeding up for books, Ferwerda remarked. However, there are still a lot of unknowns: What will be the main business model for Open Access books? Under what license should they be published? What do the stakeholders in scholarly communication—the authors, libraries, funders and publishers—think about Open Access monographs? The afternoon thus set out to explore emerging business and publishing models for Open Access books, and current research on user and stakeholder needs. This final evaluation and recommendation report is based on the user experiences, needs, and expectations as they emerged from the data collected as part of the DOAB User Needs Analysis. This report aims to advise in the establishment of procedures, criteria and standards concerning the set-up and functioning of the DOAB platform and service and to devise guidelines and recommendations for admissions to DOAB and for its further development, sustainability and implementation. What are the functional requirements, or needs, which different users have with respect to the platform, the protocols and the procedures that DOAB wants to establish? What kind of recommendations can we extract from the users’ experiences with the beta-platform and their expectations of a future DOAB service? The research design has been structured around defining user (librarians, academics, publishers and funders) needs, experiences and expectations with respect to the DOAB platform and system as it is currently set up, paying special attention to users perceptions and needs with respect to Open Access, Open Access books, and a directory of Open Access books; quality and peer review procedures; copyright policies; platform usability; and potential business and funding models both for Open Access books and for DOAB. This study has used a variety of qualitative data collection tools (surveys, online discussion platform and panel discussion) to capture these needs, experiences and expectations. The Florida Distance Learning Consortium held a one-day symposium on institution and state level digital textbook initiatives, examining national trends and prevailing models for both publisher digital textbooks and open textbooks. Faculty, policymakers, and experts from across the country described their digital textbook programs, policies, results, and best practices. Two panel discussion followed the presentations. The first, the Publisher Voice panel, included digital textbook providers and an open textbook provider. The second, Comparing Pathways, included the speakers from state systems and institutions that have established digital textbook programs. Panelists representing commercial publishers, value added textbook distributors, and a university press discussed the various licensing agreements they have implemented or considered. Enrollment models—in which every student in a class pays a fee—offer vendors assurance of greater volume and consequently lower prices for new textbooks, whereas optional models allow students to rent or buy used books. The panel explored innovative approaches to supplying content, including open content, and models for institution and statewide licensing arrangements with publishers and vendors for the purchase of textbooks. Developing and implementing a successful digital or open textbook strategy can provide enormous benefit for students. However, implementation is not always easy and involves many issues. Digital and open textbooks can successfully support teaching and learning while reducing costs if best practices are applied to the process. The panel of educators involved in open and digital textbook initiatives discussed techniques that facilitate the adoption of digital and open textbooks in practice. This symposium was funded through the Open Access Textbooks Project, a project funded through a grant from the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education (FIPSE), Grant No. P116Y090040. Startup companies offering knockoff textbooks are attracting students, and lawsuits. Diaz, who still resents how much he'd paid for textbooks in college and graduate school, realized he'd hit on his next business idea. In 2011, he started Boundless Learning, a Boston company that has begun giving away free electronic textbooks covering college subjects like American history, anatomy and physiology, economics, and psychology. What's controversial is how Boundless creates these texts. The company trawls for public material on sites like Wikipedia and then crafts it into online books whose chapters track closely to those of top-selling college titles. In April, Boundless was sued by several large publishers who accused the startup of engaging in "the business model of theft." McGraw-Hill Education has announced its new Digital Learning Partnership Program, an e-book program for colleges and and universities, which will launch this week at the Educause 2012 conference in Denver. The new program is the result of a pilot program that McGraw-Hill Education developed with Indiana University and several other institutions, and which was recently expanded to more than 25 educational institutions across the country. The Digital Learning Partnership Program enables instructors at participating institutions to provide their students with e-books from McGraw-Hill Education or any of its partners: CourseSmart, Courseload, and Vital Source, but they are not locked into the program and retain the academic freedom to choose other textbooks. The McGraw-Hill Education e-books contain tools for searching, sharing content, annotating, and highlighting. Students who prefer not to use e-books also have the freedom to order a print-on-demand copy of the e-book. In addition to e-books, the Partnership Program enables instructors to use other McGraw-Hill Education digital solutions, including the McGraw-Hill Connect teaching and learning platform, the LearnSmart adaptive study tool, the Tegrity Campus lecture capture system, and the ALEKS adaptive math program. The e-books and digital solutions available through the Partnership Program can integrate with any learning management system, and they are accessible through laptops or mobile devices. The McGraw-Hill Education Digital Learning Partnership Program is open to colleges and universities now for implementation in fall 2013. Project Blue Sky allows instructors to search, select, and seamlessly integrate Open Educational Resources with Pearson learning materials. Using text, video, simulations, Power Point and more, instructors can create the digital course materials that are just right for their courses and their students. Pearson’s Project Blue Sky is powered by Gooru Learning, a search engine for learning materials. The primary aim of DOAB is to increase discoverability of Open Access books. Academic publishers are invited to provide metadata of their Open Access books to DOAB. Metadata will be harvestable in order to maximize dissemination, visibility and impact. Aggregators can integrate the records in their commercial services and libraries can integrate the directory into their online catalogues, helping scholars and students to discover the books. The directory will be open to all publishers who publish academic, peer reviewed books in Open Access and should contain as many books as possible, provided that these publications are in Open Access and meet academic standards. Sorting Out The Concepts: "Open Educational Resources," "Open Textbooks," and "eBooks" SAN MATEO, Calif., Nov. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- CourseSmart®, a leading Educational Services Platform and the world's largest provider of digital course materials, today announced a new pilot program with the Iowa Community College Online Consortium (ICCOC) to integrate digital course materials within their Pearson eCollege Learning Management System (LMS). The pilot, which will be offered to more than 200 students across multiple disciplines, will be available on all seven of ICCOC's campuses during the Spring 2013 semester.

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