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Finding a Silver Lining in the UK Surveillance Controversy The UK parliamentary committee reviewing the Draft Investigatory Powers Bill (dubbed the “snoopers’ charter” by critics) issued its recommendations earlier this month. Both the bill and the report have been rightfully lambasted by NGOs and tech companies alike for failing to protect privacy rights. The bill as drafted would empower British security agencies to engage in mass surveillance, undermine digital security, and demand private information without any meaningful judicial oversight. The government should dramatically revise the bill. But on a more positive note, the report did include one important step forward on another front—the protection of whistleblowers. It recommended that the Investigatory Powers Commission, as overseer of the intelligence sector, be authorized to receive complaints from staff. Currently, intelligence sector staffers who discover classified evidence of government crimes have no right to disclose the information. There is no legitimate independent oversight body they can appeal to, and if they try to publish the information, they can be prosecuted for violating the Official Secrets Act. The committee recommended that staff be able to report complaints to the commission without being prosecuted for doing so. As long as the information relates to “internationally recognized specified categories of wrongdoing” such as corruption, human rights violations, or crime, they would be protected. These categories are in line with the recommendations of the Tshwane Principles on National Security and the Right to Information, a set of guidelines drafted by civil society groups in a process spearheaded by the Open Society Foundations. The principles are cited in the parliamentary committee report. This recommendation, while not going far enough, is a step in the right direction. The committee suggested this change in response to a submission from the London-based NGO Public Concern at Work (PCAW). In its statement, PCAW went much further in elaborating the kinds of legal protections needed to make whistleblowing effective in reporting or deterring crime. PCAW pointed out that the UK already has a robust legal framework that protects whistleblowers in the law enforcement sector; it argued that this framework should be extended to the intelligence sector, following the guidelines outlined in the Tshwane Principles. The Tshwane Principles balance the needs of a government to protect certain information with the right of the public to hold the government accountable for its crimes. Whistleblowers would therefore be judged on how well they struck that balance, and on how hard they tried to report the information internally before going public. For example, any person seeking to disclose classified information should first bring it to an authorized oversight body. If such an oversight body does not exist, or if it ignores the information, then the whistleblower can go public. But they must publish only the information relevant to the alleged crime, and only if they reasonably believe that the public’s right to know outweighs the potential harm of publicizing it. PCAW suggested a detailed system of internal reporting procedures, independent oversight, and authorities inspired by the Tshwane guidelines. The committee only took on part of their recommendations, but it was an important gain that should be preserved, no matter what happens to the bill next. Learn More: Add your voice
2017 • 9 Days • Group of 4 How would Oakley make a cocktail mixer? How would you manufacture a batch of 9 similar products? Oakley is known for their organic curves and pearlescent glasses. We would like to think that if they would have to make a cocktail mixer, it would be flashy and the person who uses it might like to show off while he uses it. After some initial thoughts about how cocktail shaking can be a performance, we moved on to a simple product that has a retracting mechanism. Although it is marketed based on a party environment, we see the context of this in surroundings like a family barbecue gathering - where someone wants to show off their cocktail mixing skills - or perhaps compensate for a bad cocktail with a fun performance for laughs. Back to Top
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) featherweight champion Jose Aldo has got into serious feuds with Conor McGregor in the Octagon, one of which culminated in him losing to the Irishman in just 13 seconds at UFC 194. Nonetheless, the Brazilian Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fighter has revealed that he understands why McGregor does some of the things to promote his fights on camera and confirmed that that they share a "friendly relationship". "It's a friendly relationship. I don't have a problem with him trying to promote himself. If we take a look at it money-wise, it was pretty good. I think there should be more fighters like him at featherweight. I'm not his friend though. He can go his way and I can go mine," Aldo said, as quoted by SB Nation. The Irishman had famously snatched the featherweight belt from Aldo during a press conference last year prior to their fight. That was not the only stunt that McGregor pulled off during the build up to the fight. The 28-year-old repeatedly taunted Aldo during media interactions, and also said that he is Aldo's daddy inside of the Octagon. However, the 30-year-old said that such behaviour shown by McGregor is only for the cameras and that he is a different person altogether when the media spotlight is off him. jose aldo Jose Aldo lost his featherweight title belt to Conor McGregor at UFC 194 Getty "He's a regular, mellow guy, but if he sees a camera or some Irish people, he transforms in such a way that makes you say to yourself 'son of a b****. One day we were hanging out and he said he was going to get the coffee and I said I wanted mine with sugar and he said something like 'nice'. Most of the times we met, there was always someone recording us, so he had to keep his persona up. With no cameras he changes completely," the MMA fighter added. The Irishman is currently basking in the spotlight after beating American Nate Diaz in their rematch at UFC 202, which was held at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on 20 August.
Karen Herold looks at her own restaurant designs \| Bleader Karen Herold looks at her own restaurant designs Sign up for our newsletters Subscribe Balena, designed by Karen Herold, showing where the two buildings meet. • Balena • Balena, designed by Karen Herold, showing where the two buildings meet Yesterday, in the first part of my interview with restaurant designer Karen Herold of Studio K, she talked about the philosophy that goes into her designs, of how a restaurant works and serves its customers. In the second part I ask her specifically about how some of her designs came about, including Balena (which was carved out of an already existing restaurant), Landmark (from the same Boka Restaurant Group), Embeya, and the upcoming GT Prime. But first, she tells me why interior design appealed to her in the first place back when she was studying fashion. Michael Gebert: You mentioned that you started in fashion design. How did you get from that to working on 10,000 square-foot spaces? Karen Herold: I already knew when I was two years into fashion that I didn't want to do that. I was already into textures, like the burlap, and fashion was about making very tiny things, it was too . . . finicky. My friend and I, when we were working on our projects we would skip the places where you normally go to look for fashion ideas and we would go to Home Depot. We would go to look at bolts, I loved looking at hardware like that. When I first saw Balena, I was surprised that there was so much open space in it. Because there's never that much open space in a restaurant in the city, a two-story main hall like that. How did you get away with that? I'll tell you—I was there when they were building [Landmark, the previous restaurant in the space], because my ex-husband was in the Royal George Theater. And I saw them building it and I would look in and I saw the cobblewood floor and I thought, this is beautiful. And as days progressed I was like, what's going on? And it was getting less and less and less. And in my opinion, whoever that designer was, they raped that building. That was a gorgeous building that was raped by this weird catwalk, which really created very little additional seating for the space it took—it was a big price to pay for some random seats up there. So the way it is, there are actually two different buildings, two different addresses. And there were a few big issues. It was set back, and the other building extended out the back, they were kind of zig-zagged. And the entrance was recessed. So they had no street presence and that's why no one ever knew it was there. There was no daylight, so that's why no one ever wanted to go there in the summer. Karen Herold in the kitchen at Studio K. When Rob [Katz] and Kevin [Boehm] wanted to do a new restaurant there, I said, well the good news is, you just need to demo. And if you demo it, you'll be 90 percent done. Then we extended the facade to the front, so we made it look like it was one larger building and you know it's all one restaurant. And we did the same in the back—we built a wall in the one building to square it out with the other room, and the room behind that became a private dining room. That building just had architectural mistakes that if you fixed them, everyone would feel better. And that's something that, once it's done, no one would know what the issues were. I mean, there is a lot of open space but it's just vertical space; the tables are all close together so you can actually fit that many people in. One thing I like to do for most of the restaurants I do is that I like to create different levels of energy. So you come in the room, it's like, let's have a drink, it's late night, it's a very high-energy kind of mingling type of deal. But you go up on the second floor, that's a date night on Saturday night kind of feel. There's three different levels of energy there, and I feel like I have a very different night if I go upstairs than if I sit at the bar. One design of yours that I think is especially beautiful is Embeya. And it's interesting because that's a restaurant with Asian influences. How did you suggest that without going into the obviously rich area of Asian restaurant cliches? Yes, Chef [Thai] Dang is Asian, but his partner Attila [Gyulai] is, what, Hungarian. And there what was fortunate was that Attila assembled a team, very early on, and I was part of that team. And he is a very, very straightforward person, there are no levels to how he operates. I think it's how he was trained to open the Four Seasons here. He's very straightforward about delivering the customer experience. • Jason Little/Embeya • Embeya So he shared these photos from a research trip they took, and there was one photo in particular that was of an ancient door with green moss on it. And that became the key to it for me, which we made into these walls of plaster with dark green mixed into it. Then it was just a few other design elements, but it's very simple. I feel like if you took one more thing out of the design, it would no longer be Embeya. Another design of yours was Wood, which I was surprised by because with the name, even given the double entrendre, I expected, I guess, something woodsy, and it was very 1970s with the smoked glass and so on. It's funny you say that because the idea for that that they came to me with was "70s porn." That was a side project that I did for some friends. I don't know if you ever saw what the space was before, but talking about plain rectangles, that's what that space was. So the smoked mirrors—people say I made it look twice as big. So you're working on two steakhouses now— Yes, but I don't even think about what the food is, they each have their own personality. One of them, Maple & Ash, is on the Gold Coast, it's replacing The Hunt Club. The Gold Coast is very . . . [she waves her hand to indicate poshness] so it's going to be like that. But I'm not trying to do steakhouse—is there a steakhouse look? There are cliches, I guess, like wide red leather chairs— So I'm not going to do that. For GT Prime, I think it's going to reflect who [chef] Giuseppe [Tentori] is now. I mean, he's still Giuseppe, but I think he has more confidence now about himself and his position. So this design will reflect that. Add a comment
You are here Diary of a Mad Renovator: Kitchen Design Written by Jaqui Lividini Originally, we were interested in a U-shaped kitchen where one side is a countertop with stools and cabinets underneath and the other side is kitchen workspace. In theory, this was a great idea, but realistically it compromised the available space. Next, we tried a 90-foot-long counter-height table that we placed in the middle of the room. It expanded across the kitchen and into the dining area—which made a statement—but just didn’t feel right in the space. Every time I walked into the room I felt the large kitchen window, with remarkable water views, was screaming for a banquette. So, we tried moving the table over to the left side of the room and built a banquette under the window. It still wasn’t right. The room now felt like there was unintentional vast open space smack in the middle. Perplexing. At this juncture, we started considering the possibility of an island, not a traditional one, but something vintage, reclaimed and quirky to match the rest of the house. The problem with this plan is that finding just the right piece could potentially take years and I'm quite tired of things taking years! So, after combing One Kings Lane, First Dibs, Ebay and Chairish, among other sites, I once again found myself at my local shop, Taken For Granite. Wouldn't you know, I found a gorgeous table made of reclaimed wood there. In fact, it was made by the owner’s boyfriend as a table to display items for sale. Lucky me, she parted with it. It's round and even though it was made recently, it looks vintage, since all the materials are vintage. Home it came and when it was in place it was… almost perfect! The table wasn’t quite counter height (a requirement for an island), so we called Alan, our ever-present handyman to salvage the table, the idea, and my sanity. Alan is building a plinth to anchor the table legs and raise the height 6 inches. Voila! A perfect solution. Loading comments...
Tectonic Activity and Hazards HideShow resource information Hazards associated with earthquakes • Ground displacement. Impacts structures such as buildings and bridges is very dangerous. Displacement of gas and electricity supply systems can lead to fires. • Landslides. Movements of masses of rock, earth, or debris down a slope, triggered by a number of events, including earthquake tremors. • Liquefaction. Occurs when the shaking of silts, sands, and gravel causes them to lose their load-bearing capacity. As a result, buildings and other structures may sink to the ground. • Tsunamis. Ocean waves with extremely long wavelengths, generated by earthquake tremors. 1 of 10 Hazards associated with volcanoes • Lava flows. Sheets and tongues of liquid rock expelled from the crown or flank of an erupting volcano. The speed of lava flow depends on the viscosity of the lava, which itself is influenced by the temperature, the silica content and the incline of the volcano's slope. • Explosive blasts. Outsbursts of fragments of rock and lava driven by gases expanding at great depths. These blasts may throw great blocks of rock many kilometres. However, the superheated blast cloud expelled by the volcano is more destructive. • Ash flows/pyroclastic flows. Dense masses of gas and fragments of lava that flow down the sides of volcanoes at great speeds. • Ash falls. Less devastating than ash flows but can be very disruptive, collapsing roofs, breaking branches and coating plants. • Mudflows/lahars. As meltwater flows down the volcano's flank, it mixes with loose soil and ash to form a muddy liquid the consistency of wet cement. • Glacial outbursts. Masses of water and ice suddenly released from a glacier by the heat from lava inside a volcano. • Poisonous gases. Released in and around volcanoes before, during, and for many years after a volcanic eruption. The most abundant gases, water vapour and carbon dioxide, are not poisonous, but smaller quantities of more toxic gases are released, including sulphur dioxide and sulphur trioxide. 2 of 10 The Richter scale 3 of 10 The Mercalli scale 4 of 10 Causes of tectonic hazards • Crust types. The plates are made up of one or both of two different crust types: continental and oceanic. It is now known that the Earth's outer layers cannot simply be divided into crust and mantle. Rather, the outer part of the mantle consists of rigid material that is attached to the crust. Together, these two elements form the lithosphere. The upper, semi-molten part of the mantle is known as the athenosphere. • Heat. The most likely cause of plate movement is convection cell currents in the mantle, caused by heat from the core. This heat comes from the combination of radioactive decay and residual primary heat and its currents cause the lithosphere to move. There is uncertainty about the forces involved but the movement is thought to be due to the pusing apart of the plates where two rising limbs of convection cells diverge below the surface, and the pulling downwards (known as drag) of the edges of plates at places where descending limbs exist. The downward drag seems to have the greater strength. Plates are at their hottest near the mid-ocean ridges and cool as they move away. This increases their density and so they sink lower into the partially melted rock beneath and are dragged downwards into the subduction zone. 5 of 10 Divergent plate margins • Occur when plates are moving away from each other. • May be a divergence of two oceanic plates (e.g. along the mid-Atlantic ridge) or of continental crust (e.g. east African rift valley). • The divergence of convection cells beneath b ring magma from the mantle towards the surface. • Pressure from the rising magma leads to a doming-up effect of the surface and the formation of a ridge, in which tensional faults are produced, into which the rising magma can enter. This cools and solidifies, producing new crust either within the existing crust or on the surface. • Earthquake activity occurs at all plate margins, as it is the mechanism which releases the stress built up by the friction between moving plates. • The exact nature of earthquake activity varies within the type of plate margin. At divergent margins most earthquake activity is shallow focus. low magnitude and high frequency. • This is because the movements are at or near the surface, and the pressure is easily released as the plates diverge. 6 of 10 Convergent plate margins • Occur when two plates move towards each other, due to the descending limbs of convection cell currents in the mantle. • This can happen when oceanic crust meets continental crust (e.g. Nazca plate and South American plate), or when two oceanic plates converge (e.g. Pacific plate and Philippine plate). • Oceanic crust is denser than continental crust, and when the two converge the denser is subducted beneath the less dense. This forms an oceanic trench on the sea floor at the point of subduction. The continental crust, being more buoyant, is not subducted but uplifted, buckled and folded, forming a range of fold mountains. • The subducted plate is heated and partially melts under pressure about 100km below the surface. This melt is less dense than the surrounding rock and so rises through any lines of weakness towards the surface. It may cool and solidify beneath the surface, forming intrusive igneous rock such as granite, or eventually reach the surface under great pressure, forming violent, infrequent volcanic eruptions. • Earthquakes are also a common feature, occuring at a range og depths along the Benioff zone, the boundary between the subducting plate and the overlying crustal rocks, from shallow focus events at the ocean trench down to 700km. • Where oceanic crust converges with oceanic crust, subduction still occurs and leads to the formation of a chain of volcanic islands above the subduction zone. 7 of 10 Collision plate margins • The convergence of two plates of continental crust is known as a collision margin, • No subduction occurs, as both plates are buoyant and low-density. • However, intervening oceanic sediments trapped between the two converging plates will be heaved upwards, resulting in the uplift of major fault mountain ranges. • No volcanic activity is found at this type of margin, as no crust is being destroyed. • Earthquakes do occur, although they are often deep-focus and have limited surface impact 8 of 10 Conservative plate margins • A conservative margin occurs when two plates move laterally past each other. • No volcanic activity is found here. • Shallow-focus earthquakes of varying frequency and magnitude are found. • Low-magnitude, high-frequency events occur when pressure along the margin is easily released. • Occasional major events take place after a significant build-up of pressure, typically when high levels of friction restrict movement of the crust along fault lines. • Most plates have a constructive margin at one edge and a destructive margin at the other, with conservative margins making up the other two sides. 9 of 10 Hot spots • Hot spots are places where plumes of magma are rising from the asthenosphere, even though they are not necessarily near a plate margin. • If the crust is particularly thin or weak, the magma may escape onto the surface as a volcanic eruption. • Lava may build up over time until it is above present-day sea level, giving rise to a volcanic island. 10 of 10 No comments have yet been made Similar Geography resources: See all Geography resources »See all Plate tectonics resources »
A New Approach to Biomanufacturing Processes July 11, 2018 \| BY ADMIN Researchers from North Carolina State University developed a new approach to leverage existing technology in improving the Biomanufacturing process. MIDUS control (which stands for Monitoring, Integration, Data Analytics, Understanding, Strategy Design and Control), allows the collection of data at every step of the manufacturing process. This means that manufacturers can control the process in a more stringent manner to ensure product quality. It also provides the data needed to improve factors such as yield and operational efficiency. The system collect data real time, although it can also integrate offline data. It also utilizes a correlation identifier called the PCA to make recommendations in improving the process.
How much for xenforo design to be coded How much would it cost for me to get my design coded for xenforo, I can't show the design but what would be a rough price? Well-known member It really depends on the complexity of the design, If the design retained the basic XenForo look then it would be quite cheap if not then it will cost a lot more.
What Research About Drinking Can Teach You The Benefits of Using Water Bottle Labels in Your Marketing Campaigns. Marketing is not optional for people who are serious about growing their businesses. In the quest to come up with realistic promotional items, water label bottles are one of the best. Remember that drinking water is a basic need and no one will be able to resist that which means if you pick the water bottles to use as your promotional products a lot of people will find them useful and they will still get the information. The great thing about the use of water bottle labels is that you can make use of them whether in a party, a wedding or even when you have received guests. Also, note that they are cheaper than custom-made bottles especially if you are ordering them in bulk. Additionally, making water bottle labels is not a complicated process which means it will be a short time before you can get your order. Time is not something you want to waste when you are in business because it will determine whether you succeed or fail in the process and choosing a commodity which can be manufactured faster will be good for business. When your business is struggling financially you will not have the liberty of splashing a lot of cash on just anything and this is why you can opt for water bottle labels because the water bottles can be sourced locally to keep the costs low. The labels you are usually waterproof and self-adhesive which means the information you will have included there will not be lost before the consumers can check it out. The labels are a free size and they are only glued together when wrapped around the water bottle and this gives you the option of getting any kind of water bottle you want. Even so, it helps when you pick the bottles beforehand because the water label manufacturer will be able to fit the items precisely to what you have. When you have obtained the bottles before the ordering of the labels, it will not be that difficult to go into the details of what you want. Water bottle labels can be made in bulk so that when you want to redo the promotions you can stick them onto the bottles and they will be good to go. It does not require much skills to fix the labels on your water bottles and whether you are on your own or you have a team this will not take a lot of time. Some people will carry the bottles with them for as long as they are useful and since they will be meeting with different people it helps get the message about your company out there which is good for your business. This is not something that requires a graphic designer because the only thing you need to worry about is the information being readable. Check out this site in order to learn more.
Tumblelog by Soup.io Newer posts are loading. You are at the newest post. Click here to check if anything new just came in. Market Your Business Successfully with Snap Frames In the present time period many companies are struggling and there is increased level of competition in each and every market. The need to spend less is truly present, and this can put a huge quantity of pressure on company owners. Knowing where to cut back is a big part of achieving success, making sure that you spend less without compromising quality is essential. The point is that every company is presently coping with a lot of pressure and they must do everything they can in order to get ahead and seize the majority of the market share. Even the tiniest of alterations may make a huge difference. In this article we'll be talking about how snap frames can put you before competitors and improve your organization operations. A cheap solution Many retail businesses make use of frames to display their work, photos, or a variety of other items. Snap frames are a cheap technique of doing this and, on many occasions, they can in reality be found less expensive than the conventional old standard frames. Furthermore, many of them are often much more durable and will have a longer life span when compared with other frames. Simply put, purchasing a snap frame will be very cost-effective for your organization and can help you keep your expenses to a minimum. Although the savings might not extravagant, they definitely do add up in the long-term. Here is a superb selection of frame snaps online. User friendly The beauty of the snap frame is based on its ease-of-use. Only a couple of clicks open these frames so that you can easily swap the articles over, allowing you to update your promotions as often as you see fit. Next, once the new contents are in position, simply `snap' the frame shut and your advertisement is prepared to start doing its job - attracting customers. All of this can be finished without even having to remove the frame from the wall. Leaving the frame mounted on the wall can save you a lot of time. Not only does removing and rehanging a frame take up lots of time, it is also irritating and could interrupt the shoppers inside your store. Quick clicks from the frame and you will definitely have the contents out and changed in no time. There has stopped being any need to handle tricky standard picture frames that require that you remove them from your wall, swap the items, and then hang the entire frame back up all over again. This reason alone should convince you to try a snap frame. Small changes make a difference and so they may add up to huge dissimilarities in the long term. Taking the decision to upgrade all of your existing marketing frames up to the more modern snap frame may seem like a drop in the sea, but the period they save you'll be worth it. Take a peek through the range today and see the things they can do for you personally. Tags: buy snap frame Don't be the product, buy the product!
Feds find $2M worth of meth hidden inside Disney dolls Federal authorities say the meth, which was hidden inside ceramic Disney dolls, originated in Mexico and was destined for Atlanta. The bust was one of the biggest in Gwinnett County.
An Open Letter to AnswerPlus Customer Service Receptionists Dear AnswerPlus Customer Service Receptionists, Today is Administrative Professionals Day and although you deserve more than just a day, I hope this letter can help make up for the shortfall. I have often said from personal experience how hard it can be to work as a receptionist. The demands are high and the days can be long. But you have never wavered, not even for a moment. Where do you get such stamina? When the storms raged outside and your power flickered at home you didn’t hesitate. You left your car in the driveway and you took public transportation. It was your day off, we didn’t even call, you just came in. Why did you do it? When the calls poured in and seemed so overwhelming, you didn’t leave. Before you knew it, you had worked through the night. Even though you began at 3pm the previous day. Finally you went home at 7am, you slept, but then you came back. What about yourself? You knew something was wrong when she dropped her phone. She couldn’t form words, silent tears fell. She made no sound, but somehow you heard her. You didn’t ask questions, you just went to her. You held her, you became her rock. How did you hear her silent cry for help? You smiled, even while he yelled at you. It wasn’t fair, you had done nothing wrong, but still you kept smiling. You listened, you waited and then you said, Thank you. Thank you? How could you be thanking him for treating you in such a way? But you don’t think that way do you? No, you just wanted to help him. How do you remain so cheerful? You perform such wonderful acts of kindness and compassion because that is just who you are. From the inside out, you glow. You are dedicated, you are strong and you are so much more than just the voice on the other end of the line. Thank you AnswerPlus csr’s. Thank you for caring, for being so strong and for joining our AnswerPlus family. And most of all, Thank you for being exactly who you are. Filed under Customer Service Receptionist, Team Members, and tagged with , , . Posted by: In: Customer Service Receptionist, Team Members Tags: , ,
Latest news « Back to news Research reveals clues to dementia and Parkinson's 18 December 2014 Researchers based in Bristol and London have uncovered a link between Lewy body diseases like Parkinson's and the brain changes associated with Alzheimer's. The findings could help to explain the close relationship between Parkinson's, more commonly known for causing movement difficulties, and dementia. The research, published in the journal Alzheimer's Disease and Therapy, was funded by Alzheimer's Research UK and BRACE, a regional dementia research charity who funded a PhD student to carry out this work. Parkinson's disease is characterised by the build-up of a protein called alpha-synuclein into clumps called Lewy bodies. These can affect parts of the brain controlling movement, causing symptoms such as tremors and rigidity, and leading onto dementia in around a quarter of people. Lewy bodies can also build-up primarily in the area of the brain responsible for memory and thinking, leading to a condition called dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB). DLB is the third most common cause of dementia, affecting over 100,000 people in the UK. In addition to memory problems, people with DLB also experience visual hallucinations, sleep disturbances and may go onto develop the movement problems seen in Parkinson's. Researchers from the Institute of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Bristol and University College London (UCL), are now suggesting that a build-up of proteins more usually associated with Alzheimer's accelerates the formation of Lewy bodies and may cause some of the memory and thinking problems seen in people with Parkinson's and DLB. The Bristol-based team, in collaboration with researchers at UCL, used generously donated brain samples from people who had lived with either DLB or Parkinson's and compared them to samples from healthy people. Interestingly, they found clumps of amyloid, a hallmark protein of Alzheimer's, suggesting that the symptoms experienced by those with DLB or Parkinson's may not be a result of Lewy bodies alone. The team demonstrated that amyloid could in fact modify alpha-synuclein, the building block of Lewy bodies, to a form more likely to cause memory and thinking difficulties. The researchers found that those with more of this modified alpha-synuclein were more likely to have had worse symptoms. Seth Love, Professor of Neuropathology in the School of Clinical Sciences at the University of Bristol, said: "Our research implicated the amyloid protein in Parkinson's and dementia with Lewy bodies and drugs targeting this protein are currently being tested in clinical trials. While levels of amyloid in the brains weren't high enough to cause Alzheimer's, the protein still appeared to be able to interfere with the chain of events involved in Parkinson's and dementia with Lewy bodies, potentially making these diseases worse. The next stage of research will look further into this complex relationship, to determine whether altering amyloid levels could be an approach to slow memory problems in people with these diseases. "Understanding the memory and thinking difficulties experienced by people with Parkinson's and DLB is crucial if we are to develop effective treatments which not only tackle symptoms but halt the relentless nerve cell damage caused by these diseases. We have clearly shown that there is overlap between the biological pathways that lead to Alzheimer's and those causing Parkinson's and DLB, and that it important to draw on knowledge from other areas of dementia research to uncover new ways to treat these diseases." Dr Laura Phipps, Science Communications Manager at Alzheimer's Research UK, added: "This research in Bristol highlights the complexity of the different diseases that cause dementia and how much overlap there may be between them. It's important to understand the varied brain changes that can lead to dementia to help develop treatments for people living with the condition Alzheimer's Research UK is committed to funding biological research that can help prevent, diagnose and treat dementia, to make a difference to those affected. There are over 830,000 living with dementia in the UK including nearly 5000 people living with the condition in Bristol alone." Research reveals clues to dementia and Parkinson's powered by Hummingbird CMS
• +380 (48) 799-75-75 • +380 (98) 84-188-19 • +380 (63) 101-99-99 We on television How Yolka was borned This is a failure! How delati no mercy! How the earphone works? How the earphone works? Consider as an example a set “Student +”. It consists of three components: a headset, earphone and mobile phone. Earphone is a small capsule (less than 13 mm), which is occultly placed in the ear canal. You will listen to a speech of your assistant through the earphone. All information to the micro-earphone is transmitted by radio and wires are not used. Headset is an intermediate link between the mobile phone and the earphone. It consists of an inductive antenna, interface of connection to the phone and microphone. The interface of connection is made in the form of Bluetooth-module. Antenna is made in a form of inductive loop of wire, which the user hangs around the neck. The mechanism of the headset is simple: the signal from the phone through the interface is transmitted to the antenna and the antenna transmits it directly to the earphone. The microphone is used for feedback. Through it your assistant will listen to your questions, or questions of examiners / business opponents. All the sounds within 2-3 meters are transmitted through the microphone. Phone –is a link between you and your helper. Of course, the man with the earphone must have a mobile phone or Walkie-Talkie (in cases if the suppressors for mobile communication work). The mobile phone can be as GSM, and CDMA. The main thing is to make it compatible with the headset. You should put mobile phone in a pocket or in a bag. Then you must connect a headset to it. Your friend takes the other telephone and calls you. You have to take the call and you are connected. Then you go to exam, take an examination card with a variant, answers of topic of composition. Then you pass the subject matter to your friend. He starts dictating you the necessary information. And it is absolutely imperceptibly. The information is transferred to a hidden earpiece, located in your ear. You just have to write! If you have the oral exam, earphone is also useful. After all, the headset has a highly sensitive microphone which transmits all sounds within a radius of 3 m! So the assistant can hear your whisper and questions of the examiner. Do you need a set for business-meeting or a court? Use the same scheme. Talks and discussions will clearly be transferred to your remote prompter in real time. Repeated use of the system in various exams and tests, entrance and state exams, courts, business negotiations confirmed it’s the highest efficiency of the device and is 100% justified. Like it? Add it to © Spymarket Buy earpieces: Skype: odessa888
Valeria's Last Stand Valeria's Last Stand - Marc Fitten I enjoyed the vivid characters, many of whom are not given proper names (the potter, the mayor, the deputy, etc). The fable-like story has a somewhat slapstick feel, where you see the impending conflict and can't help but groan and laugh. The enjoyment comes from the way the conflicts play out. However, Valeria's desire to change her habits and the difficult choices thrust upon the potter build depth and interest.
If I weren’t a RACIST REDECK, an OPEN-MINDED LIBERAL I would be! This guest post was submitted by regular commenter, matt. If anyone else wishes to submit a guest post, please email it to Stephanie (link on side). I love to hear comments such as, “Republicans are just a bunch of racist, religious [as if to say being religious is a bad thing], hate mongering bigots.” If only we could all be as open-minded and non-judgmental as our friends, Keith and Janeane. Any wonder why our nation is so divided? Yes, it’s true, the GOP is no shining star, but after listening to the media coverage of the Tea Party protests, I am more than happy to be a racist redneck conservative. Let’s break it down for all ya’ll rednecks that have ‘em misfiren’ synapse. Jeneane: “Let’s be honest, this is about hating a black man in the White House.” Yes, and that must be why the liberal media couldn’t find any protestor signs regarding Obama’s skin color. For me, the only good reason I had to vote for Obama was that he is the first black man to run for office. Not reason enough for me, so I didn’t vote for him. By the way, 98% of blacks voted for Obama, and who is the racist? -Jeneane: “the limbic brain is much larger in [the conservatives'] head space…causing their synapse to misfire.” (please note the laughing of Keith Olberman, and how he will not stand up to what is being said…maybe because he believes it) Kind of scary. I didn’t realize Jeneane was so educated in the field of medicine. I wish I was diagnosed before the Election, I could have treated the illness and would have voted for Obama. -Jeneane: “This is pathological, it’s about philosophy and lifestyle, again, this is about racism…the conservative movement has now crystallized into the white power movement.” Really?, Well aren’t we just the nicest racists you ever saw? I guess policy bashing translates into Racism somewhere in the intellectual liberal mind, with no misfiring synapse. On a separate show by Olberman, he showed video clips of White Power Nazi’s in a military Style march, behind quotes he was reading while covering the “Tea Parties”….and the Conservatives are the ones fear-mongering? -Jeneane: “who else is FOX talking to other than older, urban white guys and their girlfriends suffering from Stockholm syndrome.” Way to go Jeneane, fear-mongering yet again. Conservatives certainly have a lot of psychological problems now, don’t we? Still no defense by Olberman. My poor mother, held captive by my racist father all of those years and even forced to go to a white power church …Mormons! -Olberman: “what if somebody gets hurt at one of these things?” Jeneane ,“That is an unfortunate byproduct… of a volatile group like this of the limbic brain.” Please MSNBC, find some kind of violence to show us…that’s right, there wasn’t any violence to be seen. -Jeneane: “The Republican party now depends on immigrant bashing and hating a black man.” You got us there, Jeneane, Upholding those darn immigration laws. Is it just me or is there no substance whatsoever to their claims? Must be an intellectual thing. -Olberman: ”We’d have peace in our time if they didn’t do it.” (speaking of the conservative media’s so called misinformation.) That’s right, peace and harmony all around. Obama is flawless after all. And with all of his experience we should just follow along like mindless intellects, never questioning a thing. That’s how the liberals treated Bush after all, right? Now, I know Jeneane doesn’t speak for all liberals, but MSNBC and Keith Olberman agreed with, and aired every bit of the interview. If Rush Limbaugh is the face of the conservatives, doesn’t that make Keith Olberman that face of the Liberals? And people wonder why liberal talk radio doesn’t work. Don’t worry, it gets even better. The Tea Party Protests were advertised as exactly that, Tea Party Protests, except for a childish few who decided to portray it as a sexual “tea bagging” party. All that I can say is, conservatives are the “evil” ones? I didn’t attend a Tea Party, and I know they didn’t exactly coincide with the purpose behind the “Boston Tea Party”, as liberals are very quick to point out, but aren’t liberals the ones pointing out that the “right” only sees “moral” issues as those pertaining to abortion , gay marriage etc? Well, here you go liberals, conservatives protesting “immoral” spending, that’s what these parties were about. I know darn well that this out of control spending started with Bush, as does the conservative media, but when Obama triples the debt in 3 months, people felt the need to protest. It had nothing to do with the skin color of our President. Stephanie said... I think that if there was any question of whether or not the mainstream media is biased toward the left (hard to believe there would be after the elections, but just in case), the coverage of the Tea Parties answered it. Seeing all the references to tea bagging jokes was disgusting and insulting. It is also disheartening that newscasters would feel the need to disparage common citizens exercising their free rights to protest. However, even more discouraging than that was President Obama's reaction. I find his sarcasm and mocking of American citizens unbecoming. I have little hope for America anymore. Oh, and since when is an actor/comedian an expert on anything? I am so sick of reading headlines where some actor slams conservatives, religious people, whatever. I am not sure what about actors makes them so great to warrant attention to their opinions. Quimby said... I'm really not sure if there's a point to this post. Is it just to bash liberals? Because if so, surely you can do better than that? Come on. I'm a liberal, and I could do better than referring to a few comments from a comedian. Lift your game, Matt! Stephanie, I've got one of my radical feminist interpretations for the "tea bagging" comments, you ready for it? One of the quickest ways to denigrate anything is to compare it, in some way, to a woman. By comparing the tea parties (which, I have to say, I thought were just plain dumb and hardly grass-roots) to a sex act that a woman would prefer on a man (a comparison that I have to say was juvenille and beneath anything even approaching real news), it's just a way to denigrate and dismiss the protests. There are more intelligent ways to do that - actually engage on the issues - but long gone are the days when we expected intelligence from our newsreaders. But I have to disagree with the comments about mainstream news being left-wing. Well, mainly, I have to take exception to it being called "news." I watch too much news from too many sources. American television news - network or cable - is just so much sensationalism, tabloid, yellow journalism, with scant mention of anything that qualifies as real "news." From Greta on Fox News who seems to have built her career around talking about crimes committed against blonde girls; to CNN saying it's anti-American if you don't drink Coke and Pepsi; I just want to scream - Where's the news? Quimby said... argh - "prefer" should be "perform" (and how funny that in a post I'm posting to correct a mistake about a sex act, the word verification is "gropi") Stephanie said... Interesting point about denigrating women, Quimby. (Sad, too) I agree with your point on the "news", Quimby. I get most of my news online, and even on my beloved foxnews, I can't stand to read half the headlines because they are sensational, or irrelevent, or just plain stupid (or somehow related to sex). I think matt's point was similar to yours about the news - that this interview wasn't news at all and grossly mischaracterized what actually happened. Laura said... Didn't read all comments but wanted to a address a comment Stephanie made: "I have little hope for America anymore." See this is the thing about some conservatives that really annoys me. Please forgive me as this is somehwhat of a trigger issue for me, but I have heard similar comments in Sunday school from people who feel the need to point out that our country is headed for the crapper. Really?? Even when Bush was in office, I don't think I ever lost confidence in the spirit of America. I may have disliked his actions but I never "lost hope." For eight years, democrats have put up with a republican president who severely damaged the reputation of America, but I never "lost hope" that our country would recover. But less than six months after getting a democrat in office, there are certain governors (who happens to be of my state) hinting at succession! Must you really be so pessimistic? Seriously, give the man a chance before you start making predicitions of doom and gloom. If you don't have faith in the president, at least have faith in the country. I agree with the idea of the original post. It's obvious the media is not kind to conservatives, but let's be honest - Fox commentators don't exactly play fair either. To say that either Hannity or Olberman present actual "news" is laughable. It's entertainment, intented to appeal to a specific audience and boost ratings. For the record, I hate them both and generally get my news from NPR. Quimby said... The seccession talk - and the related attempts at legislation in something like 20 states to nullify the US Constitution (legislation that is being spear-headed in at least some states by a group that used to have a radically racist outlook) - is interesting, and definitely something that needs to be addressed by conservatives if they don't want to be dismissed as a bunch of racist rednecks. Given the fact that this is the first time in several generations that it has even raised its ugly little head, and given the fact that there is a black man in the White House and that much of the talk is coming from Southern states, isn't it at least a possibility that there are some segments of the population who are being moved by racial ideology more than political ideology? Stephanie said... Sorry, Laura, I have little hope. I'm not really sure where I am supposed to get hope from? Did you hear that 46 cents of every dollar being spent by the U.S. government will come from debt this year? That means that we are either in for a dramatic increase in taxes or rampant inflation. Either way it is going to hurt, and I am putting my money on inflation since I don't think there are really that many "rich" people to tax the hell out of anymore. Most of the wealth was fabricated to begin with. The thing that liberals don't seem to get is that true conservatives were disgruntled after Bush proved not to be fiscally conservative - it's not just Obama coming in. It's the entirety of government. It's liberal policies taking over that were started by Bush. Actually, I can pinpoint the exact second I completely lost hope. It was when Bush signed the Bailout. But, things just keep getting worse. All the solutions to "help" just compound the problem. And when common citizens say, "Hey! Stop the spending!" and get mocked by the major media AND the President, well, I'm not really sure how to find a positive spin in that. The secession talk is overblown. Texas and other states don't want to secede. They want their rights as states recognized and not removed by the federal government. It IS a similar issue to what the civil war was fought over. The civil war wasn't really about slavery - it was about states' rights. And while I appreciate the outcome of the civil war (that slavery ended up being abolished because the states were all united under that common law), I also appreciate that the constitution and its founders valued state rights. the related attempts at legislation in something like 20 states to nullify the US ConstitutionI'm not sure where this is coming from. Are you talking about the state laws intended to nullify any federal laws passed on gun control? That's not the same thing as nullifying the constitution. It actually upholds the constitution (through both the second and tenth ammendments). The constitution upholds state rights, and the legislation is trying to keep it that way instead of the federal government taking over everything. That's not the way our founding fathers envisioned the U.S. Stephanie said... Quimby, I really don't think any of the secession talk is related to racism at all. I think that is a spin put on (same as the comedian in the original post) to discredit people who want the government to stop out of control spending. The election polls showed that race wasn't a factor for white voters. Stephanie said... Well, it may have been for a few individuals, but not a statistically significant amount, or enough to sway politics. Stephanie said... Another reason I have little hope is the warning issued by the Department of Homeland Security that groups of people who oppose abortion, oppose higher taxes, want state rights over federal rights, want illegal immigration stopped are "right-wing extremists" who need to be watched for potential terrorism. That's basically an indictment of conservatives - suddenly people are dangerous because of their political beliefs. Pretty scary stuff. Quimby said... For the most part, Stephanie, the nullification legislation is very poorly written and quite vague and could be used for any number of situations. I think if we're going to be honest about the way the Founding Fathers envisioned the Constitution, it's worth noting that there was a great deal of division, even amongst the Founding Fathers, as to how much power should belong to the state and how much to the federal government. (It's also worth keeping in mind that they never envisioned assault rifles.) If it is really about state's rights, where was the uproar when Bush was trampling on them (and on our Constitutionally-protected civil rights) left, right, and centre? They were silent then - but now, suddenly, they see the menace? And at the risk of sounding mean (and I don't want to be mean to you, Stephanie, because I really do like you) - if it took you until the Bailout to see that Bush was not at all serious about controlling spending, well, you had some pretty serious blinders on. The war in Iraq is exorbitantly expensive and has been since it began. The Patriot Act. The vast expansion of government with the formation of Homeland Security. All of these things should have sent off big red flags for true conservatives. Instead - silence. Until the bailout is signed and Obama wins the election. And then the uproar. Stephanie said... Yeah, I admit that it took me a while to catch on. That's part of what is so scary to me - realizing that all of this started years ago under the party and President that sold itself as conservative. And now the Republican party is talking about rebranding itself, but it's the exact same people in charge. Stephanie said... I also admit that it took me a while to figure out where I stood on the Iraq war and Patriot Act. But, there were a lot of issues that I was writing letters to President Bush on because I disagreed with him. And Rick Perry is the governor with the secession comment. He is anything but conservative. I didn't vote for him the last election cycle. The best thing Texas can do is vote him out. He's just political posturing. I am so sick of politicians political posturing to appeal to conservatives. Stephanie said... That's one thing you can say for Obama - he's as liberal (if not more) that he claimed to be. Stephanie said... And I think that it took me a while to catch on because I got lazy. I was so interested in getting him elected because he was branded as this true conservative, that after he was elected, I just sort of trusted that he was going to do what I would want him to do. I was lazy and not paying attention. I fully admit that at first I supported his actions with the Iraq War and Patriot Act because, well, that's what he said we needed, and he's a true conservative. After all, he was opposing embryonic research and and giving nods to social conservative issues. I feel like I totally got played, but I allowed myself to be played by being ignorant. I have to accept responsibility for that. Stephanie said... And I hope liberals aren't making the same mistake - assuming everything Obama does is great because he's the liberal they wanted in office. If I've learned anything from Bush, it is to be critical and involved. Donald said... The problem with the "Tea Parties" was not that they were racist, but that they were based on an irrational anger (possibly based on racism in some limited cases, admittedly) but that they were naively informed and poorly organized (by a corporate lobbyist front group, no less). We conservatives should be smarter than to tie ourselves to such a mindless "movement" (that has already filtered out). True consevativism is about being honest with not only voters but with ourselves, and to do so, we need to admit three things. 1. No one's taxes went up 2. Federal spending in a recession IS an effective remedy, though we need to address the spending immediately after 3. Bank bailouts were neccessary as our economy is now financial centered, not manufacturing centered. If the large banks failed and lending halted, our economy sinks further. Admitting these things doesn't make a person conservative (conservative just means we pay back the money asap after the necessary spending) and pretending the three things I listed above AREN'T facts just make us sound stupid and uneducated to anyone with an internet connect and capable of doing a tiny bit of research. Too many people, angry more at the rejection of the Republican Party than anything else, are willing to pick up a sign and protest mindlessly, without thinking it through, and to those more educated on the issues, it's nearly embarassing to watch. Thus, the "Tea Parties" only further compound the problems we have getting back into the arms of voters as a "party of the people." We need better leaders who can rely on truth to promote conservative ideals, not Sean Hannity's talking points and fact challenged assertions. Also, 98% of black didn't vote for Obama. 85% did. And that is about the same percentage of black voters who consistently vote for Democrats even before Obama. I point this out because another mistake conservatives are making is assumign Obama won simply because he is black. As long as we keep pretending that is true, we will fail to see what really cost us our position of power with the American people. We lost because we blindly supported Bush, and betrayed the constitution. Manufacturing rage against a very popular President Obama doesn't get us back where we need to be, it just makes us look childish. We need to drop the social conservative wedge issues (the country has moved on) and tighten down our focus on responsible fiscal management of our country (working WITH Democrats, not perpetually against) if we hope to dig ourselves out of the regional party status we have earned. Sorry for the diatribe, but as a lifelong (and elderly!) conservative, I hate reading something this stupid in defense of conservative ideals. We should be smarter than this. Anonymous said... I would have to disagree with where fiscally irresponsible spending started. I don't think it started with Bush. I think it started with Clinton. Reagan and the 1st Bush were both fiscally conservative. Clinton spent a LOT of money on irresponsible glutonous government committees and programs that America didn't (doesn't) need. Quimby said... Reagan was not fiscally responsible. That is a fairly large re-interpretation of the facts. Reagan encouraged defecit spending - on a personal level and on a national level - firstly to get out of debt; and then to continue economic growth. When he left office the national debt was at 42% of GDP. Quimby said... This site has an interesting graph that shows quite clearly that Reagan/Bush I were much worse at managing the debt than Clinton (but still better than Bush II) The same graph is found at this site http://www.perrspectives.com/blog/archives/001395.htm which also provides further tidbits, such as: - Reagan presided over a doubling of the American national debt. - By the time he left office in 1989 Reagan equaled the entire debt burden produced by the previous 200 years of American history. - Clinton's 1993 deficit-cutting package (passed without a single GOP vote in either house of Congress) helped usher in the surpluses of the late 1990's. There is also this site http://www.presidentprofiles.com/Kennedy-Bush/Ronald-Reagan-Domestic-policy.html which includes the following quote: "[Reagan's] policies contributed to the largest budget deficits in American history and a tripling of the national debt during his eight years in office. Indeed, one of Reagan's most important legacies was his contribution to an enduring fiscal crisis. He helped create a federal budget that was structurally, and radically, unbalanced; and he launched an era in which the national debt grew steadily and dramatically for many years." Stephanie said... Donald, while I agree with a lot of what you are saying (We lost because we blindly supported Bush, and betrayed the constitution and We need to drop the social conservative wedge issues and tighten down our focus on responsible fiscal management of our country), I do think you are mischaracterizing the anger behind the tea parties. I didn't participate in them, but as I understand it, the point was: Taxed Enough Already - not that taxes were just raised but that we pay enough already and don't want the increased taxes that are coming and inevitable without changes in spending. The point was to send a message that out of control and wasteful spending by government needs to stop. And I wholeheartedly disagree about the Bailouts as-is being necessary. They were rushed through and wasteful with little accountability. Sure, some amount of money pumped into the system was likely appropriate, but this was reckless. And about the tea parties, I didn't participate because I didn't feel it was necessary. But, it really makes me angry to see common citizens exercising their free right to protest a valid point (wasteful government spending) being disparaged and mocked and mischaracterized by so many. Stephanie said... Let's agree that both Republicans and Democrats (and their respective Presidents) got us into this mess. Who really wants it to continue? Who really wants to continue to run huge deficits and borrow from China? Why is it wrong to say, "Enough. Let's be fiscally responsible now!" Obama is the current President. He's done a great job of blaming Bush but not of changing anything. Sure, he cut 1/2 of 1%, but that is a drop in the bucket. There has to be more wasteful spending he can find to eliminate. I might be more interested in liberal programs like universal healthcare if the government (both parties) didn't already prove themselves so incompetent in fiscal responsibility. Quimby said... Stephanie, sit down and put your feet up, because I'm about to knock your socks off. I think government should be run like a business. Businesses exist to make their owner(s)/shareholders wealthier. That's fine; I've got no problem with that. Obviously since I'm a pinko commie I think workers should control the means of production; and because I work in a farming community and know just how much prices are jacked up I get annoyed when I go to the grocery store. But generally speaking, we're all motivated by self-interest, and I don't expect businesses to be any different. My primary beef with the business model is, they don't have to care about me. See, there's that self-interest coming into it. The only stocks I own are in my retirement portfolio and I don't have to tell you that's really taken a dive. I don't like the idea that we can trust business to take care of health, education, etc. etc., because there is no incentive in it for them to care about me. I'm too small and too poor. Government is different: We are all equal shareholders (one person, one vote) and so they have to pay attention to us. Sure, they pay attention to some voices more than others (damned dirty lobbyists) but they still have to care about the little guy because, let's face it, there are more little guys than big guys. We can kick them out. Thus, government should exist to make us wealthier. That is precisely why I support universal education, health care, etc. - Sure, I pay for these programs through my taxes, but I don't really mind paying taxes as long as I can see a visible return to me. A healthy and wise population will be a wealthier population; and because everyone has the same opportunities we'll all rise up together. Bail-outs don't bother me - so long as they are operated like a business investment. If I invest in a company, I want my money to grow. It's the same with my tax money. If it's invested in a company, I want my money to grow. I want a return on my money. When I give money to charity, I don't expect to see it back; but when I give money to a business, I consider it a loan, not a gift. That's why I don't think it's a bad thing that government is asking for some control over how a business is operated: They've invested in that business and should be treated as an investor in a commercial transaction. That's our money. It's a loan, not a gift, and if the government is a primary stockholder, they should get to direct the spending of that money to guarantee that we see a return on our investment. Just as businesses can remain private if they don't want their shareholders to have a say, so, too, can businesses reject our tax dollars if they don't want the government to have a say. The first step? We have really got to stop electing people we'd like to have over for a barbecue, and elect boring accountant types instead. After all, we are investing a fairly hefty chunk of change in the business of government. matt said... Quimby, Yes, in fact there is a point to this post. Maybe two or three. No, It's not just to bash liberals. I guess I missed the comedy part,(I found it rather disgusting) I thought that Kieth is a "journalist" and Jeneane is a actress/politcal activist. I'm not surprised at all by your comments, just dismiss it all, that's how liberals usually do it. I do agree with you on the lack of "news". Laura, I agree with you one the sense of failure that Mormons especially have toward our country/president. I was working for a lady just the other day that believes Obama is the Anti-Christ. C'mon, let's be real people. I think it is fine to dislike or disagree with Obama as long as there is a reason to it, but when people hate him just because he is a Democrat that's not coo yo! Donald writes, "Federal spending in a recession IS an effective remedy, though we need to address the spending immediately after" I would much prefer to address the spending before it's spent so I know what it is being spent on. He goes on to say,"Bank bailouts were neccessary". yes, but to what extent? aren't we just delaying and compounding the effects of our bad economy? I will agree that some of the protesting was a bit embarrassing, but part of the point of this post was that it was done in a peaceful way, completely opposite of how it was portrayed. By the way where did you find 85% of black that voted for Obama? Just wondering, I couldn't find it. I did find 96%. I agree that we HAVE to work with Dems in order to untie the country and to get the Republican Party back to the way it should be. That is another reason for the post, to show how libs HATE anything republican/conservative. How do we expect to get along when degrading comments are made without anything to back it up. I actually wouldn't mind if the Republican and Democrat Parties go away altogether. The two "Parties" are just rivals it seems, with no real interest in what is good for the people. Quimby writes, "Thus, government should exist to make us wealthier." I agree. They are there to protect the free market system, so I can get as wealthy as I possibly can...and so can you! Yes, that will absolutely be the case in heaven! Unfortunately we live in a time when "you work hard so I don't have to." The Constitution says, "that all men are CREATED equal", not, "that all men are created EQUAL." Quimby said... Ah, Matt, what a voice of hope and reconciliation! Quimby said... Seriously, Matt, if all you want to do is make wide sweeping generalisations about liberals or about what I was saying, what's the point trying to dialogue at all? Are you even interested in dialoguing, or just in shouting down everyone else who doesn't agree with you? (Because if so you'd better have a good set of lungs.) And, um, you added the emphasis on "All men are created equal" - so don't try to pretend like you can read the FF's minds. Because frankly, you suck at reading MY mind and I'm alive here and now; so I can only imagine how much suckier you are at reading the minds of some guys who have been dead for 200 years. Quimby said... Yes, that will absolutely be the case in heaven! And what is so bad with trying to create that sort of society here on earth? If you agree that that is a celstial system - if you agree that that would be an ideal system - shouldn't we try to encourage that here? Read up on Europe. It is possible to have a society that functions at a very high level with a high standard of living for all (higher in many countries than in the US) and less debt (certainly than in the US). Quimby said... (BTW, it's the Declaration of Independence. I'm just saying. If you want to try to drown out my voice and awe me with your wonderful wisdom, at least get your documents straight.) matt said... Quimby, you are free to take my comments however you want. All I said was libs tend to dismiss whatever makes em look bad. The things Kieth and Jeneane were talking about, are, belive it or not, the way many if not most Liberals tend to look at conservatives(crazy, racist, mindless zombies), especially conservatives that protest something completely rational. All I was looking for was any liberal anywhere to denounce how the Tea Parties were portrayed. But, no, it was dismissed as "comedy". (By the way, I have a great set of lungs, I was told I should be an opera singer from the time I 3yrs old :) I suck at reading your mind? well great, I didn't know I was attempting to. And the FF's minds, yes, I did add the emphasis, but It was to show those who don't understand the FF's that they never intended to make anyone equally wealthy. Ben Franklin said, "to help the poor is to make them uncomfortable in their poverty". And granted Honest Abe wasn't a Founding Father, he said, "That some should be rich shows that others may become rich and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is house less pull down the house of another, but let him work diligently to build one for himself. I don't believe in a law to prevent a man from getting wealthy; it would do more harm than good" (quoted in "The Freeman: Ideals on Liberty", May 1955 p.7) The problem with trying to create a system where everyone has the same wealth and opportunities is that it has to be based on love. The government is not based on love. Primarily, we as people don't love each other. That's why it will work in heaven, because those who make it will all get along and love each other. We should encourage it here by helping those that are less fortunate become self reliant (our ward is helping a lady by tutoring her in math so she can get a G.E.D. and get a job to support her family) and in turn they help others become self reliant. I apologize for citing the wrong document. The great thing about blogging is I can't drown out your voice. But if you want to take it that way, by all means, what ever make you happy! I've never claimed great wisdom either. I'm only a high school grad, stating things the way I see them. The great thing is, you can do the same and I won't even take offense or say that you suck :) Quimby said... Matt, if you re-read my comments, you will see that I did not dismiss them as "comedy" as you accuse me; I merely dismissed JG as a "comedian". Likewise, when Dennis Miller - one of your guys - makes ignorant, stupid comments about liberals, I merely dismiss him as a "comedian." If I were to spend my time actually getting upset at the way liberals are portrayed by conservatives - which happens a whole lot more, just look at Limbaugh and pretty much everyone on Fox News - I wouldn't have time for anything else in my life. I really cannot comprehend what you are saying about wealth. I don't mean for that to sound insulting; it's just that I've lived under both systems and it seems like such a no-brainer to me. Americans tend to compare their wealth by their neighbor's poverty. In much of the rest of the developed world, we tend to compare our wealth by our neighbor's wealth. That is to say, I am not rich because you are poor; I am rich because we are all prospering together. T.J. Shelby said... You probably agreed with the Tucker Carlson side of the Jon Stewart debate too...Comedy Central should outshine CNN, CNBC and FOXNews in journalistic integrity... Quimby said... I wonder if you even see the condescension in statements such as these? Poor people are not poor because they are lazy or because they do not work as hard as rich people. Poor people are generally poor because they have not had the opportunities that wealthier people have had. A living wage is a beautiful thing. A full-time job should come with a living wage, adequate to meet needs. That there are so many Americans who would disagree speaks volumes for their selfishness and lack of compassion. matt said... Honestly I don't see the condescension in this statement. I see people willing to help another further their education and self worth, by not having to rely on others. This is where we are on opposite ends of the spectrum. Speaking from my personal experience, I have to say most poor people I know are poor due to poor choices (finances) and lack of work ethic. I know this is only one example, but it's my experience every day: The guy that works for me (we paint houses) is poor only because of poor choices and not working hard! He gets 15$ dollars an hour because that is all he is worth work wise. I have to tell him everything to do, he just walks around until I give him another task. I'm not trying to brag, but when I was painting for another company, before I went on my own, I would figure out things that needed to be done, on my own, without having to be told. In turn I got $4 an hour raise within one year. Our opportunities where no different, I took advantage of them, my employee hasn't. Now speaking to poor choices, he is terrible at finances. Which I believe to be the true problem with poor people. "Poor" is a relative term. If I made $30,000 a year or $300,000 a year I would be "poor" either way if I spend as much as I make. I understand that $300,000 would bring much more prosperity if budgeted properly, but I have also met people that make $30,000 a year and have no debt. Sure they don't have a big house, fancy cars or expensive recreational vehicles, but they do have financial freedom, which I believe is what makes a person truly "rich". Back to the guy that works for me, I drop him off at his house many times a week, as he has no car. He lives in a "second chance" apartment complex, for people with bad credit to try and rebuild it. I see many of the same people everyday, just sitting...and smoking. They just hang out sitting, doing nothing living off of the government. My employee tells me often of neighbors selling pills they get from the gov't to make money, or they tell him if they get a job they can't collect welfare, so they just hang out. I know this doesn't describe all less fortunate people as many do work very hard and just have bad circumstances. These people are what welfare is for, not able body bums. I have no problem helping those in true need. But when the gov't is so willing to help anyone and everyone it tends to make people complacent. I think this goes back to making proper decisions financially. If you only make 15$ and hour, you have to be extra careful of spending habits, and should probably have a room mate or two or three or four. I am sure many jobs do under pay, but let's say a full time McDonald's employee wants enough $ to support a family, (who sets how much is "enough"?) McDonald's will have to increase prices on product, in turn, people will go elsewhere to eat. The result, McDonald's closes and all lose their jobs. I know it's not all black and white, but we see too much gray on these issues. Not everyone will get to enjoy the luxuries of life, (myself included, I have no "toys" or a big house) but that is not what makes one rich, It's is living free of debt. Quimby said... Matt, you are making some pretty big assumptions based on heresay and rumour. Some poor people are lazy, certainly. So are some rich people. So, for that matter, are some middle-class people. Industry is no indicator of wealth. I agree that we need better financial training. Your McDonald's example doesn't hold weight because, yes, prices would go up, but wages would go up too so that people would still be able to eat at McDonald's. The GED statement was condescending because a living wage should be dependent on willingness to work and not on education. I'm a huge cheerleader for education. But some people just don't have the sort of mind that works that way. It doesn't mean they're stupid, it doesn't mean there's anything wrong with them, it just means that their talents lay elsewhere. These people should still expect to make a living wage. The ability to survive should not be dependent on one's education level, but on one's willingness to work. (And when circumstances conspire to make paid employment impossible, yes, I believe the state has an obligation, because nobody should have to starve in a wealthy country.) matt said... This doesn't hold weight either. If wages go up and prices go up too, we're back to square one. If every one made at least 50k a year and the dollar menu became the five dollar menu, we'd still be in the same situation. I agree, my job doesn't require any formal education. But I am also taking a risk when work slows down, I don't have anything to fall back on. I believe that a willingness to work is as important as financial responsibility. Unfortunately a 9-5 doesn't cut it and one has to work two jobs. Yes, it's hard, but it's worth it. The problem with the living-wage is that it will continue to increase as people spend more and more, irresponsibly. Minimum wage jobs aren't meant to be made a living off of. They are meant for teenagers, part time, seasonal etc. They are usually minor tasks that simply can't allow a higher pay. Again, If we pay these people a living wage, their respective stores will close as payroll would run the business out of business. As I said previously, i realize many jobs under pay. The nice thing is we are not forced to work anywhere. If people don't like their jobs they can quit. I know now is not the best time to hear that you can just find another job, but it would send a message to employers that more is required of the task. Quimby said... But I'm saying, people shouldn't have to work 2 jobs. That was why we had the entire labor movement, after all, to enshrine the idea of a 40 hour week. (8 hours work 8 hours play 8 hours sleep) There are places in the world that actually do pay a living wage, and the economy continues to thrive, and McDonald's continues to offer crap food at affordable prices. You seem to think that the way it is now, is the way it must be. What I am saying is, we can change it. There are alternatives. Cameron said... Just a couple of quick comments... If we're going to give President Obama a pass for profligate spending because it's a recession, then we'd also have to give President Reagan the same break since he did basically the same thing. Those that are questioning why conservatives supported President Bush's spending and are just now jumping on the cut spending bandwagon simply weren't paying attention. The man had a 20% approval rating for a reason. Those that say today's spending is just the same as what President Bush did should note that the biggest deficit from 2000-2001 was about $500 billion. That was also the biggest ever for this country. President Obama's budget will likely triple that. And triple it every year for the next 3 or 4 years. So maybe we could consider that the $1.5 trillion that broke the camel's back. Those lamenting the lost hope mantra must have forgotten the incessant BusHitler jokes of the last 8 years. Just the fact that the TEA parties didn't result in any soldiers burnt in effigy gives them one up on the leftist protests during the Bush presidency.
Is it Laziness or Depression? Last week, an IMGUR user – a media sharing website – triggered an online debate after posting a ‘before and after’ picture of a room that was previously littered with bottles and trash, but was now completely clean. The user, who identified as a depressed person, wanted to show that people suffering from depression could try to make a difference in their lives. However, as is common with the online community nowadays, this post started a debate asking: Is this really a depressed person or someone who is too lazy to clean their room? source: BBC-IMGUR It is not clear whether the perception created by the movie industry that many people grow up as slobs and have to be forced by their parents to clean their rooms is indicative of what truly happens in most homes. What’s intriguing, though, is that this question of “laziness or depression” is one that is debated constantly among those who are depressed. Some say your laziness causes the depression, while others say that laziness is as a result of depression. It is like the ‘chicken or egg’ question in another format. In other cases, it’s not about one or the other. There is an unstated consensus that some people lack the discipline, motivation and commitment to do things that will improve their lives and their environment. But what is really going on? The Real Problem Even though we expect life to be this beautiful experience full of happiness and love, we find that there are times when we will go through pain. You have to learn to be disciplined, to be proactive, to be purposeful in your actions, to be giving (in terms of charity and service), to be clean and to do everything required to achieve your goals. Some people by default hate cleaning in any form. They are just unmotivated to get to it. Others are indeed lazy. They have to be prodded by some authority figure to clean up after themselves. In your lifetime, perhaps you’ve had a room or gone into a room and thought to yourself, “No one should live in such a dump.” However, the problem arises when people automatically assume that someone who does not clean their room is simply lazy. You might even be one of those who have been called lazy. A perceived failure in life is also put into the category of laziness. You might feel like a failure because you are unable to get a job while your peers are out there accomplishing great feats and receiving praise and accolades. This perceived failure has led many to question their purpose in life and the reason why they should continue living. It cuts to the core of our self-worth. The expectations placed by society to become successful can be overwhelming. The society’s definition of success is to have a great job, money, family, and to achieve great feats. Unfortunately, not many people live up to these expectations. The negative impact of that failure can thus be detrimental to someone’s mental state. Unexpectedly, you sat down one day and asked yourself whether there is something more happening inside your head other than these thoughts of failure and lack of motivation. Why do you have trash littered all over your room; with discarded food lying around? What is making you lack the desire to clean up or to get anything done? Perhaps, at this point, you considered that you could be depressed. Well, if that’s the case, then it is possible you are on the right track. It sometimes takes a while before people can be diagnosed or self-diagnose depression. People don’t understand what depression is. Many believe it is being really sad. For those who go through depression, it is a mix of a lot of experiences. For one, you lack motivation to doing anything important. You just want to sit mindlessly watching TV or doing some other time-wasting activity. It acts as an escape from the painful reality of your present life. Secondly, you become isolated and unwilling to interact with peers, friends, and family. You isolate yourself because you don’t want to be a burden to anyone. It’s as if you are now hiding yourself from the world. Yet, deep inside, you desire to connect with someone. Thirdly, you go through a painful process of introspection whereby you critique yourself and everything that is wrong with your life as you perceive it. You die inside slowly every single day till the point you believe your life no longer has meaning and you choose to die. Once depression has taken root in your life, you might even find that you are battling thoughts of both loving and hating your family and friends. It is strange. You wish them well but their success makes you envy them. You wish it were you. Then you feel guilty for thinking like that and hate yourself even more. You feel so much pain inside and want to let it all out. At times, you think about crying but there are no tears. There is no escape for you and no release. You’ve bottled it up inside for so long and you wonder: “Who will listen to me? Who will hear my silent cry for help?” Depression can blind your ability to analyze your life objectively in order to improve yourself. You blame yourself harshly for everything bad that has happened in your life. You feel guilty because the person you see in the mirror is not the person you expected to become. You believe that working hard would have brought you the success you craved. But it is not that simple. The reality is that depression is not a choice, but a disease. What you can do now? Once you come to terms with the truth that you have a mental illness, you can begin the process of healing. Depression is a potent disease that when given time to thrive can end up killing you or cause you to end your life. Here are some few thoughts for you to consider: 1. Get help IMMEDIATELY Some people let pride tell them that they can’t go to a counselor because they don’t need to see a ‘head doctor’. The stigma surrounding mental health treatment has left so many people suffering in silence. Don’t be that person. Seek out a counseling centre to visit or maybe you can find one willing to talk to you over the phone or on the internet. Just get help. A doctor might even diagnose you with other problems affecting you such as anxiety, sleep disorders, and attention deficit disorders. These might cause issues such as fatigue, sleepiness, and depression. The key is to figure out what is going on in your mind so that a better treatment method can be found. Often times, a depressed person only needs someone to talk to them, connect with them and show them that they are important and that people love them. That is enough sometimes to get an individual on the path to treatment. In other situations, however, the use of medication is necessary. 1. Be kind to yourself The world expects a lot from each and every one of us. Sometimes this pressure to fulfill what the society’s expectations can make us feel inadequate and unworthy to continue living. This pressure from life can weigh you down. Many smart people with university degrees haven’t achieved what was expected of them. Others have had their potential talked up but are yet (or are seemingly unlikely) to ever fulfill it. Some have experienced an illness or disability that has affected their pathway to success. No matter what it is, remember that life is like that. Everyone has ups and downs. We do not have control over some things. But as Friedrich Nietzsche once said, “…we can find some form of meaning in the suffering.” Learn to avoid comparing yourself with other people and their life circumstances. This is about you. So don’t discredit your feelings. Find ways to improve yourself but don’t be too hard on yourself. The world is harsh enough already. So be kind to yourself. You are all you’ve got. And you are everything to someone else. 1. Understand your potential One of the reasons why you feel so down is because you believe you have talents that you have not utilized to the best of your ability. This frustrates you. Nevertheless, the introspection, the guilt from your failures and constantly judging yourself strips you of your self-esteem. When you have a low opinion of yourself, you are not being true to the potential that is within you. You have to overcome the battle with your mind first before you can get back on your journey to fulfill your life’s purpose. Finding your purpose is key because it will inspire you to pursue your highest ideals. However, you have to solve the depression issue first. You have to see a therapist so they can treat you or give you medication to alleviate the dark cloud you feel hanging over your head. The more your outer world is out of balance (no work, no money, no friends etc) the more your internal state will suffer. You have to treat the depression, otherwise, it will trickle into every facet of your life. Work will become a chore, your relationships will suffer, and you might even think about giving up. Once you get into treatment and find a community that has experienced what you are going through, you will be able to start working through any problem and perceived lack of motivation. People talk about pushing through your struggles or working hard to improve your life, but these statements fail to see that depression is a mental health problem. So deal with it first. 1. Avoid taking substances that make you ‘high’ Trying to escape the reality of life through substances like drugs and alcohol will only fuel the feeling of fatigue and disinterest in pursuing your purpose. These substances are all about ‘chilling’ and relaxing and not about relentlessly pursuing a certain goal. In addition, if you’ve been prescribed medication for your depression, it is always advised that you should not mix prescription medication with alcohol or any other drug that your doctor has not recommended. The interaction of the chemicals in the medication and the other substances can be life threatening. 1. You are not Alone Remember that you are not alone. Even when you are hiding yourself in your room or a corner somewhere, someone is going through something almost similar. Such people gather in community programs or in online forums and it can be helpful for you to join such groups. Others have gone through what you are experiencing and there is hope that you will get better just as they did. Also, the people in your life care deeply about your well-being. Perhaps they have not shown it yet but at least give them an opportunity to be with you and to show you that they love you. Believe you will one day feel better than you do now. The season of suffering won’t last forever. All in all, remember that your brain is key to your life. People never think about that until mental health issues take over and overwhelm them. So nurture your mind, feed your mind, and seek help when your mind is ill. When you feel better, find a better meaning for your life and you will be able to brush aside any thoughts that you are lazy or that you are a failure. Instead, you will be able to pursue your life’s goals and achieve your own definition of success.
Lenovo Legion Y920 Tower review: A powerful desktop for true gamers Lenovo announced a trio of gaming desktops back in August, ranging from the entry-level Y520 Tower to the flagship Y920 Tower. Shortly thereafter, I reviewed the Y920 laptop, and now it's time to take a hard look at its desktop sister. The Y920 Tower packs some serious specs, with an Intel Core i7-7700K processor, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 GPU, 16GB RAM, a 256GB SSD, and a 2TB HDD. The K-series processor is unlocked for overclocking, and the second storage drive allows for plenty of space for big games. Here's our review: CPU Intel Core i7-7700K (4.2GHz) GPU Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 8GB RAM 2x 8GB (DDR4-2400 (1200)) Storage 2TB 7200rpm + 256GB SSD Front: 4 x USB 3.0 (one for Always On Charging), Type C-Port (USB 3.1 Gen2), Audio Combo Jack, HDMI-out (compatible with HTC and Oculus VR headsets only) Rear: 2 x USB 2.0, 4 x USB 3.0, PS/2 connector, HDMI (1.4a), Ethernet (RJ-4), Power Connector OS Windows 10 Home Body 8.12" x 19.82" x 18.85" \| 31.1 lbs. The Y920 itself is quite nice-looking, with a transparent panel on the side that shows off the internals, mainly the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 GPU. The inside is lit up with a red LED, although one thing that's frustrating is that this is the only light where the color can't be customized through the Lenovo Nerve Center application. The other LED lights are on the front, consisting of left and right "eyes" and the Legion Y logo. All of these can be configured with any color that you want. That side panel is also easily removed, as the entire machine is designed so that the user shouldn't need any tools to upgrade components. There's a lock switch in the back, and once you flip it, the panel slides right off. The front panel is also easy to remove, offering easy access to the fans and optical drive. Obviously, upgradeability is very important in a gaming desktop. This is a machine that costs a lot of money (it starts at around $1,699), and you're going to want to swap out parts over time. For example, if you don't know what's cooler than 16GB RAM, the answer is 32GB, or you know, 128GB. The Y920 is also loaded with ports. On the front of the machine, there's an HDMI connector that can be used with Oculus or HTC headsets. There are also four USB 3.0 Type-A ports, and a USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C port. USB 3.1 Gen 2 is still pretty rare, and it supports data transfer speeds of up to 10Gbps. In other words, it's twice as fast as Gen 1, but it's still no Thunderbolt 3. One of the Type-A ports on the front is always on, which I've found to be very useful. It works great for charging devices while the PC isn't in use. This can work for anything from charging your phone while you're asleep, to charging an Xbox controller. There's also a 3.5mm audio jack on the front, which supports both input and output. I think that this all comes down to personal preference, but I like the single-port approach, as it makes things simpler than when you have dedicated audio input and output jacks. I guess it depends on what type of headset hardware you already have. On the back, there are four USB 3.0 Type-A and two USB 2.0 Type-A ports. I'm really not sure why any OEMs are still building USB 2.0 ports into new PCs in 2018, but Lenovo certainly isn't alone in this. I use them for plugging in my mouse and keyboard (I refuse to use Bluetooth peripherals). There's also a PS/2 connector (I know...), an HDMI port, wired Ethernet, and an array of 3.5mm audio jacks. And then, of course, there are the series of ports that you'll find on the GTX 1080 graphics card, which is in the PCI-Express area beneath all of those ports. This comes with one HDMI port and three DisplayPorts. Underneath the PCI-Express bays is where you'll plug in the power cable. Obviously, performance is the key element when it comes to a gaming rig. In fact, one could argue that nothing else really matters, as the rest of the experience comes down to your peripherals. Overall performance was excellent. I played games like Gears of War Ultimate Edition at 4K 90fps and it didn't even hiccup. I also used the machine to edit 4K and 1080p 60fps videos numerous times, and didn't run into any issues. I can't imagine anyone having any issues with the power behind the Legion Y920 Tower. What I did take issue with were general problems with the software. For one thing, I had a lot of trouble with audio. Every couple of days, I'd have to run the audio troubleshooter, which would reinstall the driver. This was quite annoying, as I'd already be in my workflow when I realized that sound didn't work, and I'd have to stop everything to restart. I also think that performance has been impacted by recent firmware updates, which presumably are meant to mitigate the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities. This PC should be on level playing ground, as those fixes should affect all Intel processors and not just this one, but the effect has been quite noticeable. While using the Chrome browser, everything will freeze up for a few seconds, every few minutes or so. Assuming that this is the result of Meltdown and Spectre mitigations, this impact should be reduced over time. This effect was lessened after a factory reset. For benchmarks, I used PCMark 8, which offers three tests: Home, Creative, and Work. First up is Home, which tests common tasks like photo editing, web browsing, video chat, casual gaming, and more. As you can see, performance for basic tasks is great. There's no surprise there. Next up is Creative, which tests things like advanced video editing, gaming, and so on. I also ran this test again after the PC got its Meltdown and Spectre fixes. The results from the two tests are exactly the same, which is a feat in itself. It's very rare to run a benchmark on the same PC twice and get the exact same score. Finally, the Work test checks in on productivity-related tasks, like spreadsheets, writing, video chat, and so on. I also ran this test a second time. It would seem that some productivity-related tasks may have been affected by the fixes. Still, performance has been great for the majority of the time that I've been using this as my primary desktop. Gaming Precision Mouse The Legion Y920 Tower comes with both a mouse and a keyboard. The mouse is wired, and connects via USB Type-A. It's lit up in red with an upside down Y logo that runs between the left and right buttons. Normally, I use a Microsoft Sculpt Mouse, which connects via a USB dongle. This ended up being an issue though, as my mouse was so stuttery that it became unusable. I don't blame the Legion though, as after a bit of googling, I found out that this is quite common with wireless mice and PCs with an Nvidia GPU. Nevertheless, I switched to the Legion mouse. It's actually very comfortable to use, and there are lots of buttons, all of which are completely customizable. By default, the left and right buttons work as intended, there's a scroll wheel, a button on the left serves as a back button in web browsers, and there's a volume rocker on the top-left. But again, you can change the functions of these keys. If you want to change the volume rocker so that it scrolls instead of the scroll wheel, that's doable. You can switch the left and rights keys too if that's more comfortable, and so on. Gaming Mechanical Switch Keyboard Personally, I don't like gaming keyboards like this. They're great for playing games, but rarely actually good for typing. For me, I need something that's good for both work and play. Normally, I use a Microsoft Modern Keyboard with Fingerprint ID. That being said - that this isn't necessarily for me - this is a beast of a keyboard. It connects to the PC via two USB Type-A cables and two 3.5mm audio cables, one for input and one for output. As mentioned earlier, the front of the Legion Y920 has an audio jack for both input and output, so with this keyboard, you'll have options as to what headset you'll use. One thing that bothers me about the setup is that after using up two USB Type-A ports, and another for the mouse, the selection of USB ports starts to feel a bit limited. Remember, there are a total of six Type-A ports on the back of the machine, four of which are 3.0 and two of which are 2.0. For me, another two are used up by an Elgato capture card and a Logitech Brio webcam. Suddenly, space back there is quite limited. There is, however, an additional USB Type-A port on the right side of the keyboard, along with dual 3.5mm ports for audio input and output. The USB port is great for plugging in a peripheral on the fly or charging a device, but it doesn't help with space on the back of the PC being limited. There are certain peripherals that I don't want to use on the front. Things like keyboards, mice, capture cards, and anything else that doesn't get unplugged should go in the back. The keys, like the mouse, are lit up in red, which seems to be the theme of this device. In fact, the only lights that seem to be configurable are the ones on the front of the PC. There are also six customizable keys (G1 - G6), with three profiles for a total of 18 programmable keys. Generally, you'd probably want to set this up for three different games. There's also a dedicated key for shutting off the Windows button, which is something that you don't want to accidentally hit while you're playing. One thing that I really wish the keyboard had is a dedicated screen recording button. This is something that Lenovo included on the Legion Y720 and Y920 laptops, and it's something that's just useful for everyone. You don't have to worry about acquiring third-party software to record the screen. I've promised in previous reviews that I will continue to call out any manufacturer that preloads third-party antivirus software onto their PCs, and this is no different. The Lenovo Legion Y920 Tower comes with McAfee LiveSafe pre-installed, and you should uninstall it immediately, as it's a terrible piece of software. Lenovo Nerve Center Moving on, Lenovo Nerve Center is where you'll find most of the controls for the PC. These controls don't include the mouse or the keyboard, as they have their own dedicated apps. From the Nerve Center app, you can check the status of the PC, such as the CPU, GPU, RAM, and storage, and you can adjust the colors of the LED lights on the front of the PC. You can turn on turbo boost for the overclockable CPU, or you can set a shortcut to do it from outside of the app. The app also allows you to set network priority, so your game gets the resources that it needs. I'm not a big fan of the keyboard shortcuts. By default, Ctrl+B turns the LED lights on the front of the PC on or off; however, with that enabled, I lose the ability to highlight text and make it bold. Again, for me, I need my PC to be great at both work and play, and it's very rare to find a device that doesn't swing too far to one side of that balance. There's a Discovery section in the app as well, which contains videos from games that you've recorded. Lenovo Vantage Lenovo used to have a range of apps on its PCs for configuring the device, such as Companion and Settings. Those have been consolidated into one app called Vantage. To be clear, this happened after I got the Legion Y920 Tower, so out of the box, you'll see Lenovo Companion. The main thing that Lenovo Vantage is good for is updating drivers and firmware. You'll want to check in on this from time to time. There are other things as well, such as system settings, and deals on third-party apps. Nvidia GeForce Experience If the Windows 10 Settings app and Lenovo Vantage weren't enough to keep you busy with software and firmware updates, say hello to GeForce Experience. This is used to check for new drivers for the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 graphics card, if that's not obvious. It also optimizes your games. This model of the Lenovo Legion Y920 Tower costs $2,249, so this is for a serious gamer. Lenovo is also selling one for $1,799, although the SSD and HDD are both half the size, and the Nvidia GeForce 1080 is replaced with an 8GB GTX 1070. Ultimately, I think that a major part of the value proposition here is the Precision Mouse and Mechanical Switch Keyboard. These things are no joke. They have all kinds of programmable keys and buttons, and the keyboard comes with extra ports on it. They seem like a gamer's dream. But unfortunately, that means it fails my test of being a machine that's great for both work and play. I've typed this review on the Mechanical Switch Keyboard, but when I'm done, I'll go back to my Microsoft keyboard. The Legion Y920 itself is great. It's powerful enough to handle editing big videos, while playing games at high resolution and frame rates. But I think that if all you want is the tower, there are better deals out there. For true gamers though, this is an incredible machine. This is especially true if you make a living from gaming, like if you stream your games and play competitively. After this review is published, I'll be packing up the Legion Y920, sending it back to Lenovo, and hooking up the Legion Y720 Tower. I'm pretty excited about that, as I particularly enjoyed the Y720 laptop, so stay tuned. Report a problem with article Previous Story This leak could show off the upcoming DJI Mavic Air Next Story Ubisoft details Far Cry 5 PC-specific settings and system requirements 8 Comments - Add comment
Sam Brown RewriteRule examples for Simple PHP Pages “Ever created a web site that was not big enough for a CMS but you did want to use PHP includes to save you some editing time in the future? Here is a nice way to get rid of those nasty, non search engine friendly URLs and replace them with clean URLs.” It is very easy to use PHP Includes to separate content from design. On several occasions I have created a site that had a static design, it had several pages, and the content for each page sat within the same area in the design. Why create 10 pages with the design when you can create 1 and include the different content dynamically! My client did not have a huge budget so instead of creating a CMS I used PHP includes on a template page that called content pages into the design in a set place. This way if something was to be changed in the design it would require one change to the template, and not 10 changes to all of the pages. Using PHP Includes to create a design template Once the design is created, a single template page is coded and named index.php with the following code at the top of the file: 1. <? 2. $file = $_GET['page']; 3. if( isset($_GET['page']) && file_exists("/path/to/file/$file.html") ) { 4. $input = "/path/to/file/$file.html"; 5. } else { 6. $input = "/path/to/file/main.html"; 7. } 8. ?> 9. Download this code: /code/rr_step1.txt Within the coded template file you place the below code where you would like the content from the separate files to be placed: 1. <?php include('$input'); ?> 2. Download this code: /code/rr_step2.txt When a page is called like so: [or] The content from the contact.html page is placed where you have placed the code from step 2, if the file does not exist, main.html is put there instead (this should be your homepage content). Pretty simple once you get the hang of it. RewriteRule for the .htaccess file Unfortunately using this method leaves you with some pretty undesirable URLs: ?page=about [or] ?page=contact for example. These kinds of pages do not get indexed by search engines very well at all. So with the use of the RewriteRule and htaccess we can create some clean URLs for your website: 1. Options +FollowSymLinks 2. RewriteEngine on 3. RewriteRule (.)/(.)/$ /index.php?$1=$2 4. Download this code: /code/rr_step3.txt This code, when placed inside a .htaccess file in the same directory as your index.php file will allow you to change your hyperlinks from: [to] These URLs are optimized for search engines, are a lot cleaner, nicer and easier for your visitors to remember. This makes implementing them on your website a definite must, a little time spent cleaning things up is time well spent! Post a link to this on Twitter ↩ Commenting has closed for this article. Feel free to me.
Saturday, May 30, 2009 Wating On Wednesday First off, thanks to Harmony Book Reviews on Wordpress for Waiting on Wednesday! She didn't really have the idea, but I saw it there first. It's books available for preorder that haven't been released yet, found by spending very productive (;P) time leafing through Amazon and Barnes&Noble sites. OoO Shiny... I've read some mediocre reviews for it, but oh well. It's owrth a try- I just hope they get ii in at the two libraries! It's only hardcover... :( why do manufacturers do that to us, their loyal customers? sigh It came out May 14. Look for it! June 11, and I'm counting down. Classic literature meets modern teen fiction? Beautiful! Absolutely can't wait... Best part? It's coming out in paperback and hardback! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So this is the one I'll be buying first. Now, for the Ava Gardner of the books I'm pining for... Loove the title, and I was so unbelievably happy to see that is got published in America two months ago! I've wanted this book for aout a year- it's a UK book, so I couldn't get it, but I read about it on an Irish blog and I think it sounds great. Too bad it's only hardback... But maybe it's worth it? Okay, there's more, but these are the top three, any look good? This is probably going to be a monthly thing, so till August 1! My Blogoversary! Get your own free Blogoversary button! Blog Widget by LinkWithin Visitors Since June 28th 2009
LCD Soundsystem’s Nancy Whang Doesn’t Want You Looking at Her During Shows Musician Nancy Whang would rather you not focus on her during a live set, but since mega-DJ culture has shifted audience attention from what’s on the dance floor to who’s behind the turntable, she might as well dress up. For example, at last summer’s Panorama music festival, Whang took the stage in a bright fuchsia jumpsuit. Tonight, she’ll slip on Dior at the fashion house’s Guggenheim International Gala Pre-Party made possible by Dior, where she’ll set a downtown electro-mood alongside alt-R&B pop star Banks. DJ-ing solo is an adjustment for Whang, who played with cult dance-punk band LCD Soundsystem for a decade until they took a hiatus in 2011 and is a member of electronic group The Juan Maclean. Tonight won’t be her first fashion rodeo, though — Miu Miu, Margiela, and Prada have invited her to perform at their events before. Ahead of the Guggenheim International Gala Pre-Party made possible by Dior, Whang spoke to the Cut about leaving a predominately male band, being in the spotlight, and why you shouldn’t focus on the DJ at a party. Read the interview below. Has it been difficult to break away from LCD Soundsystem and create a name for yourself as a separate artist? Did you have any mentors guiding you through that change? This is sort of ironic but because I was the only woman in the band, I’m more identifiable. Honestly, I’m so used to being around guys all the time that it’s what feels normal to me. To be a solo female artist was really just new. I wasn’t quite sure how I felt about it, and what my position was on it yet. Karen O [of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs], she’s an amazing performer, can do incredible things with her voice, and she’s half Korean [like Whang]. It’s good to have somebody like her doing what she does [front-running an all-male band] and staying as successful as she is. You have to see yourself in other people. The #Thisis2016 hashtag was set up by Michael Luo in October to help Asian-Americans share their experiences, have you been following it? Any marginalized group of people, any time they they ask for equal footing, there’s always the majority that says no and you have to fight to get ahead. So I do think there’s going to be a period of friction. As more people see us, a lot of them aren’t going to like what they see. What is it about a fashion crowd that makes you feel more comfortable? When you’re DJ-ing at a club, you’re judged for what records you’re playing and how well you’re mixing, and you have to work harder to get people to dance. Sometimes there are a lot of heads interpreting your DJ set rather than just enjoying the music. Fashion parties, on the other hand, are really light-hearted. People go there to get free cocktails and hang out with other fashion people. They’re fun for me because I can play weird stuff and not have to worry too much. No one is judging my mixing skills or how esoteric my record bag is. This interview has been edited and condensed. Don’t Look at LCD Soundsystem’s Nancy Whang When She DJs
Member Login Lost your password? Registration is closed Posts Tagged ‘forex broker’ Forex trading: Know the signs of a scam Friday, December 14th, 2012 The forex market is the largest and fastest growing market in the world today, and with a daily volume of over $1.5 000 000 000 not even the stock market can compete. One of the main reason as to why forex trading has become so popular is because it can be done with little hassle over the internet using forex broker. As we all know, anything involving a lot of money is inevitably going to attract attention from criminal organizations and , unfortunately, forex trading is no different. Luckily, you won’t really have to worry about being scammed as long as you stay careful and employ a healthy bit of skepticism. Here are three common things in the forex trading world that should set the alarm bells ringing: Guaranteed profit Whether it is a broker that guarantees high profit or a trading system of robot that someone wants you to buy, you need to understand that there’s no way anyone could ever guarantee such a thing. In forex trading, and any form of trading for that matter, there is always a risk involved. If someone found a way to guarantee profit in forex trading, he would certainly waste time building a company that teached others the system, when he could quickly just become a billionaire from trading with guaranteed profits. Unlicensed brokers You should never trade with a Forex broker that isn’t licensed and regulated. This is a sure sign that something is not right, and besides, why would you ever take the risk of trading with an unlicensed broker when there are so many trusted brokers that are licensed and regulated. One of the easiest ways of finding a trusted broker is to go through a forex portal like, which you cna find if you go here. They have reviews of many of todays top forex brokers. There also a spanish alternative which is called Cotización Divisas. You can usually find out whether a broker is licensed or not in the “About us” section of their website. Should there be no information about their licensing there, make sure to send an email to customer support in order to receive information about it. When you have found the licensing info, don’t just accept it. Make sure to look it up with the concerned authority in order to make sure it’s valid, as some scammer might provide a fake licensing number in order to appear legitimate. Customer support It is pretty unlikely for a forex scammer to put a lot of effort into making their customer support good. Always send an email to the broker before signing up to see if you get a swift and useful reply. If you have to wait a long time, and the answer seem to be computer generated, this might indicate that the website is not legit, and you should be careful before proceeding.
Tuesday, 29 July 2008 Selling out or sticking with your dream? I feel so rubbish about the lack of posting going on recently, my whole life is just revolving around job applications at the moment. My current workplace is shit, I got a final warning for sending personal emails a while back and it's all gone downhill since then. I've literally been applying like crazy, I've been getting good feedback and interviews etc but just nothing thats me really. Right now, I just feel like I'm going round and round in circles, I want to carry on working in marketing but in the fashion/retail industry cause let's face it, I'm obsessed. I just don't have relevant fashion marketing experience. I'm so so unhappy at work, and I'm debating to just get any marketing job and giving up on my dream so to speak. But I've never been a sell out in my life and I don't want to start now. I think I'm in need of a pep talk, a hug and some retail therapy. Times like this, I start thinking about people who I admire. Kate Moss is on that list, no matter what, she has gone with what she wants. Even during the Pete Doherty stage, when the whole world was telling her he's no good, she stuck with him. Simply because it's what she wanted to do. And she's always come out of controversy and drama stronger than ever. Oh and she's got impeccable style yada yada. Seems like life is always sweet when you're Kate Moss. Blogger templates by pipdig
What is Project Management? Let me know when this situation sounds familiar: you hire someone to do a project or an portion of a project for you. Expecting great results from their vast array of promises and guarantees, you decide to not micromanage them and instead wait patiently for the final product. Then the previously agreed upon deadline flies by and you don’t hear a peep from them. After several emails, you get in contact and realize they totally forgot. Sound familiar? If so, then you need an answer to what is project management and why it is important immediately. First off, you have to know what is applicable to project management. A project has to consist of something that is temporary and has defined time and resource limits set upon itself. Every project will have a singular, dominant goal that may be graded by either objective or subjective measures. Project management is the process of taking your skills and expertise and applying them to overseeing a specific project from start to finish Now, project management goes with the development and utilization of projects like peanut butter and jelly. You cannot have one without having the other and expect good results ever. Project management is the process of taking your skills and expertise and applying them to overseeing a specific project from start to finish. The Five Groups of Project Management There are five loosely-defined groups that most project management jobs fall into. These five are: creation, planning, doing, observing, and finishing. Successful project management will keep a business on track and on target for all five of these groups and keep the project humming along smoothly and soundly. One of the best tips for project management success is the implementation of a work breakdown structure, or WBS. A WBS takes the theoretical concepts of budget and amount of time needed to complete the project and breaks it down into understandable and practical components that helps get the project finished. A quality WBS makes a project go along much smoother and more efficiently from conception to close. Additionally, a good WBS naturally leads to a more detailed and comprehensive Statement of Work when applicable, which can save the company time and resources. Companies that consistently use a WBS for project management begin to see increasingly accurate estimate of projects as project managers gain valuable experience with them over time. Learning More on Project Management If you are intrigued by the potential effective project management can bring to your work environment, there are several places you should go for more information. The authoritative source for all project managers is indisputably A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (affectionately known by the acronym PMBOK). This beefy book should be read by all project managers that are worth their cost and is recommended reading for everyone looking to learn more on project management not just as a business enhancer but as a profession as well. The Project Management Institute also has several informational articles on the current trends and happenings of the industry, including an entry article on how project management can help achieve business solutions. PMI is great for both workers new to the concept of project management and those that have made it their livelihood, as their constantly updated blog keeps everyone in tune with industry news. Finally, after you check out the PMBOK and PMI as great resources, there is nothing that beats practical hands-on experience in business. The next project you have at work, see if you can get involved with the management side of it and observe how it is currently dealt with. Does your company use a WBS, for example? Start from there to help your company see improved project results.
MacWorld Expo Date: Tue, 7 Jan 1997 23:28 -0800 After thinking that we had seen the last NeXT Expo in any form, I now find myself with rather short notice at another one. A group of the main ISVs got together after the NeXT-Apple merger announcement and agreed to take a booth. Running the booth are P & L Systems (Mesa), AFS (WriteUp and PasteUp), Blacksmith (Chartsmith and Datasmith), and Caffiene (TIFFany). Also represented are Stone, Sarrus and GS Corp. We are fully stocked on Koolaid, and a Jolly Roger is flying over the stand (obscure historical references). Let me first summarise the announcements; this means putting them into terms that we share, and avoiding Mac user hysteria. I'll give some feedback from the show floor, as well. A Mac keynote isn't as technical as a NeXT one; a lot of the details won't be filled in until Ellen Hancock's personal keynote, and possibly not even then. Apple are doing everything that the NeXT advocates said they would, and almost nothing that Mac oriented reporting has speculated. The replacement for Copland as System 8 is called Rhapsody, and it will be NeXTSTEP, 100%. PPC hardware will run NeXTSTEP as is. The kernel is not yet confirmed, but rumour (from a NeXT kernel engineer) is that Apple first came to NeXT for their kernel technology, and came away with the whole menu. The first release will be NeXTSTEP as is, around Developer Conference (May), with SMP turned on, and Java. Display Postscript remains, as expected. The kernel isn't confirmed officially, but Mach is in the running, and rumour has it that work is well advanced. Year end will see some Mac style UI revisions, and some compatibility work. Mid '98 will allow running of Sys7 binaries, with the UI slightly modified to allow for proper handling of multitasking. No Sys7 API will be supported, although some technologies will be added to NeXTSTEP. Apple will continue to develop, support and sell NeXTSTEP on Intel and SPARC, and OpenStep/NT. WebObjects and EOF were not mentioned. Gil did most of the talking, but called Steve on to demo NeXTSTEP. Steve did two demos: the Interface Builder demo with two sliders and a text field, which he has been doing since '88. The audience goshed and wowed. He then ran six Quicktime movies, all at the same time, while dragging screen captures into a mail message. This was the '93 NeXT Expo demo. Quite how the Mac audience can be blown away by two very old, and very simple, NeXTSTEP demos really has to be seen to be appreciated. The level of sophistication is very far from what we have become used to. At the booth we had three machines: PP200, NeXTstation, and a laptop, all running 3.3. As the day wore on, there accumulated a cloud of NeXT people, ISVs, users and NeXT employees. All the NeXT engineers had cheshire cat grins. We probably had more Apple engineers stop by than any other category. The simplest things impressed them: font and colour panels, services, and hot linking. We were giving them configuration advice for Intel systems to buy. Opaque window dragging really had them running scared. I saw one Mac user literally drop hte mouse when it happened; he was shocked because it moved so easily. If anyone mentioned QuickDraw GX, or Display PostScript, I made them try window dragging on the slab: a 25MHz 040 colour, possibly the slowest machine NeXT ever made. Persistent offenders got Doom :-). It seems clear that Apple were in at least as much trouble as anyone thought; and that it still hasn't dawned on them what they have bought. The leap they have to make to catch up with the implication of this purchase is bigger then they dream. After The Show Date: Fri, 10 Jan 1997 19:46 -0800 It isn't really enough to talk about just the speeches made and keynote addresses. To get the feel of MacWorld this year you have to walk the floor and talk to the atendees and exhibitors. To do that, you have to be there, and it really helps to have a stand. I did... Given that we were clearly advertising NeXTSTEP applications, and at the far end of the halls from where NeXT had a presence, the visitors we had were interesting. The booth was flying the Jolly Roger, which at least helped me to find it again. One significant segment of visitors were wearing well-worn old NeXT T-shirts, and some of them were well known and well regarded members of the NeXT community; in fact, all of them living in the Bay Area. Even people who had once used a NeXT were coming to say hello, and stand around the booth talking to old friends. I don't need to say much more about them, and they give the least reliable indication of the mood of the show. The next group were NeXT employees. Mostly engineers, a very few sales and marketing. The difference between the two was marked. The engineers were on a high, wandering around with cheshire cat grins on their faces, talking happily and freely to anyone who would ask. Apple's new OS team is headed by Avie, has one hundred NeXT employees, and fifty from Apple. The implications are pretty clear. The NeXT sales people all had a common tale to tell. It's business as usual, Apple aren't interfering with them, it's WebObjects and OpenStep; forget the OS, that comes later. They are staying as an isolated unit working on selling WebObjects to enterprises. Probably the biggest group of visitors were Apple employees. All were genuinely curious and openminded, looking to see what they had bought. For some, the questions were the ones that Apple had asked NeXT: is it multitasking, multithreaded, does it do protected memory? Basic, but things that System 7 wasn't good at. They wanted to see the user interface, see windows being dragged around, and ask about compatibility with System &, and where's the Unix hidden? Some were interested in development, and there were also quite a few non-Apple developers with the same view point. We all did slider and text object demos over and over, and showed some a few lines of code. There was no resistance, and only a little puzzlement. I would say that the mass of users have taken it very well. The emotional buy-in to Be is over; they have concerns, which vanish when they see the "more Mac than the Mac" NeXTSTEP UI. Most, including Apple employees, haven't grasped the scope of what they have bought. Apple went to NeXT looking for a kernel (true). They came away with $400 million worth of something; Be asked for the same price and were turned down. NeXT had one compelling reason to buy: their OS was done. One amusing story about Be: one person sat through their presentation and at the end asked for a printout of the slides (BeOS doesn't print yet). Apple haven't absorbed a number of important concepts yet: NeXTSTEP is Unix, and that is good. EOF is a real jewel, and turns database development inside out. Developing for NeXTSTEP is both much easier, and much harder than they think. One booth member amused himself for the last couple of days by finding stands representing software developers, finding someone senior, and asking "will your product be ready to ship on Rhapsody?". If we had been running in depth developer seminars, we could have cleared the show floor of software exhibitors. Most NeXT ISVs will be ready to demo at Apple's WWDC in May. Most Apple ISVs will wait for compatability to System 7, but some forward thinking groups will be well ahead by then. Adobe are rumoured to be committed to devlop, although I don't see Photoshop competing with TIFFany. Macromedia have the Virtuoso devlopers, and should be able to find the source code in time. MacWorld was the first act; act two is set for the Apple WorldWide Developer Conference in May.
Aliases Heart Ripper * Gender Female Age Unknown Status Deceased (VLR Timeline) Alive (ZTD Timeline) Hair color Brown Eye color Green Relatives Eric (boyfriend/husband) Unnamed mother Occupation Unknown (secret accomplice of Delta and Free the Soul) Escaped inmate Appearances Zero Time Dilemma Voice Maaya Sakamoto (Japanese) Rachel Kimsey (English) "If you want to transport live koi from Brazil to Japan, putting only koi fish in an aquarium will result in most of them dying. But by adding something in that same container, you won't lose a single one. A piranha." — Mira to Eric and Sean, on koi and self-preservation Mira (ミラ Mira) is a Decision Game player in Zero Escape: Zero Time Dilemma. She is dating Eric who considers her his "angel" and "beautiful goddess". After the events of the game, she becomes his wife. Along with Eric, Sean and Q, Mira is a member of Team Q. Although Mira is typically calm and level-headed during the game's events, she is in reality a cold-hearted serial killer. She has been credited with at least eighteen murders. Since she was partially responsible for the Radical-6 outbreak and subsequent Antimatter Plant Explosions, she also had a hand in countless other deaths. Mira has long rose brown middle parted hair that reaches halfway down her back and bright green eyes. Her long fingernails and toenails are painted black. Her skin appears slightly tanned. She wears gold-colored hoop earrings. She wears a red track jacket with three-fourths sleeves, which is zipped down to her abdomen. The jacket has a navy stripe and zipper on both sides, which only seem to be decorative zippers. The jacket also has zippers on the upper arms, which also seem to be decorative. Underneath her jacket is a purple bra lined with a thick black stripe with decorative studs on it. Her bra hangs from the back of her neck. She wears black short shorts with red laces corseted on the sides. Her shoes are black platform sandals with straps and red heels. A black-with-gold-decorations belt is around her waist, although most of the belt is hidden under her jacket and only seems to appear on her right hip. Mira wears a thin gold-colored fashion bracelet on her right wrist which is very similar to her earrings. Finally, she has a black bracelet like the ones the other participants are wearing on her left wrist. Mira wearing a cloak. When she attacks D-Team after Diana chooses not to press the button in the Healing Room, she wears a hooded cloak which obscures her identity, but her nails are clearly visible. "Not much phases me. I'm just not that type. You could've been a Martian for all I care." — Mira discovering Sean is a robot Mira discussing the congruent intricacies of metempsychosis in relation to memories. Mira has a similar personality to Lotus and Alice, in that she seems to act based on logic, not emotions. She is brutally honest and not afraid to speak her mind. ("Eric, I'm going to kill you. Do you have any last words?") Mira has also been shown to be intelligent and cunning; she is an avid fan of reading books and knows about the Sleeping Beauty problem. At one point, she read a book on metempsychosis and discusses philosophical theories of its importance in relation to memories and the concept of reincarnation, as well as the value of memories in relation to identity. She can also be manipulative, and is annoyed when Eric doesn't catch on.[1] Mira is assertive when it comes to her opinions, and Eric is often persuaded by her, such as when he changes his coin color guess. She thinks of herself as dull and clumsy. She hardly shows emotions, which can make her seem unnaturally calm during the Decision Game. She is even friendly to Sean, possibly because she knows his role in the Decision Game and the truth of his existence, and defends Sean from Eric's constant blaming and berating. Mira enjoying feeling Eric's heart after ripping it out of his corpse. In reality, Mira is unable to fully grasp the nature of emotions. Ever since she was a child, she was always perceived as "callous" and "unfeeling" by others. She has a warped sense when it comes to the source of emotions; her mother explained when she was young that emotions come from a person's heart. Mira took this phrase literally as a child and developed a fascination with the human heart. When she was formed in her mother's womb, the genes that formed her brain cortex governing emotions never formed correctly, resulting in emotional and empathetic impairment. Nonetheless, she is shown to be a skilled actor and mimic, able to observe how others use emotions and reproduce them for her own gains. Zero Time Dilemma Full Gameplay Walkthrough - Q Team Triangle Mira's Dead Zero Time Dilemma Full Gameplay Walkthrough - Q Team Triangle Mira's Dead Mira wins the Decision Game. When Eric is shot in the heart by Sean, Mira is more upset by the fact that his heart has been damaged by the crossbow arrow rather than Eric being in pain and suffering, showing where her priorities lie. She views humans, especially men, as pathetic and uninteresting "naive helpless weaklings" who are "amusing creatures simply there to be exploited." Her motivation, according to her, for becoming the "Heart Ripper" is a quest for another beautiful heart that will cause her to feel emotions, just like the heart of her first victim. Since Mira was a child, she has struggled with being able to understand and process emotions. Her mother told her that "Deep inside a person's chest is an object called a heart; this heart controls their emotions and changes their expressions." Mira tried her best to find out what her mother meant, including trying to learn how to smile and making facial expressions and emotions in a mirror, but she never got it right. Mira mentions she would "practice" on animals, heavily implying she hunted, tortured and killed animals in her childhood, likely to examine their hearts. Mira killing a woman on an isolated rainy street. Later, she decided to murder a seemingly random woman around her mother's age with a knife to see what a "heart" is. This woman is implied to be Eric's mother in the snail story because she is heard mentioning the importance of smiling. If so, then this murder occurred in 2011. Mira kept killing people afterwards to examine their hearts, and became known as a serial killer called the Heart Ripper. In 2026, Mira killed at least three people. The bodies of two of the victims, Virginia Bailey and Jeffery Foret, were found in Roseville and Sacramento, respectively. By the time of Zero Time Dilemma, Mira has killed 18 people. At some point in time, Mira saw Eric at an ice cream parlor in Nebraska. She noticed there was something "different" about Eric's "heart" compared to other men, and she wanted to satisfy this curiosity as to what was different. The two entered a one-sided relationship. She hid her murders from him and Eric never suspected her. On December 25, 2028, Mira joined the Mars Mission Test Site (Dcom) experiment in Nevada because she claimed it looked "interesting" and "fun". The prologue also implies Mira was also interested in the money she would receive for participating. Eric joined her so they could participate together. In reality, Mira was going to be an accomplice of Zero (Delta) and his organization Free the Soul. It is unknown how long Mira and Delta have known each other, but it is implied they have a history together. Zero Time Dilemma Mira is a member of Team Q with Q, Sean and Eric in the Decision Game created by Zero II. Mira is "trapped" in Ward Q in the Underground Shelter. Branching timelines In various histories, Mira acts as a serial killer, further increasing her victim count over 20. • She kills Sigma Klim, Phi and Diana in one timeline, stabbing them with a blade that looks like the scalpel from the Biolab. • In another, she kills Junpei and decapitates him, slicing off his head, arms and legs. It is unknown why Mira goes to such lengths to defile his body, possibly to horrify Akane and upset her enough to blame Carlos. • In another timeline received from injecting Radical-6 in the Biolab, she kills Eric with a scalpel and then proceeds to stab Sean and laugh afterwards. • If Sean dies in the three-way stand-off, Eric and Mira return home and she murders him while in bed together. • In one timeline, she is killed and her body is found in the Pod Room. An electronic key is found in her mouth. Q-END: 1 Mira kills Eric Mira kills Eric Mira reveals her backstory. In the Study, when choosing who to kill, choose to kill Eric. Sean fires an arrow into Eric, causing him to slump over. Mira proceeds to shoot him with her gun to end his life, then reveals that she is the Heart Ripper, the serial killer who extracts victim's hearts, after gouging Eric's heart with the arrow. She does this because she has never felt or understood emotions except by literally touching someone's heart. Eric is the first time she has touched the heart of someone who truly loved her. At this point, the last of the 6 X-Passes is revealed. Mira and Sean leave the shelter, with the remaining participant's (Akane's) fate being unknown. D-END: 1 Mira dying as she injects Phi with Radical-6. On the other side of the X-Door, D-Team meets the dying Q-Team as a result of the explosion. As they speak, Mira takes revenge by injecting Phi's leg with the Radical-6 virus she secretly took from the Biolab. Diana cannot face killing Phi and so takes Phi and Sigma out of the facility on the elevator, releasing Radical-6 via Phi in the process. Sigma realizes that this is the timeline that leads to Virtue's Last Reward, and comments "perhaps the next Sigma will do better." After the events of the Decision Game true end, after being convinced by Eric, Mira eventually turned herself in to the police for her crimes as the "Heart Ripper" after learning about the true scope of emotions and conscience thanks to her time in the Underground Shelter, and potentially by resonating with everyone via the morphogenetic field. Both Eric and Sean refer to her murders as "sins" that she should atone for. While incarcerated, she and Eric officially wed and she sports a ring on her finger. During a visit by Eric, Sean was brought along. It is mentioned that Mira's smile is real and she no longer needs to plaster a fake one, implying that her psychopathy and emotional disorders were cured to a degree during her time in the shelter. Sean blows a hole in the prison wall, takes Mira's hand and quickly headed for the transporter device in hopes of using it send Mira back in time to stop herself and atone for her crimes. • "I want to see what a "heart" is. I think I'm the only one who doesn't know. Hey, that's where you hide it, right? I know where it is. Hurry up and show me!" (killing a woman as a child) • "Cut it out. Me, an angel? You gotta be kidding. laugh" • "At least he's quiet now." (after punching Eric unconscious in the Decontamination Room) • "No need to blame yourself. All you did was make the right choice." (after Sean presses the button to shower six people to death in hydrofluoric acid) • "God, how dumb can you get..." (about Eric) • "No! Not there! If you do it there, then his heart will be gone! Your heart, I have to... What a waste..." (when Eric is shot in the heart) • "See what you went and did? And lest we forget, you tried to kill me, didn't you? Better not try to weasel out of this..." (shooting Sean and Delta) • "Geez... this couldn't have ended any shittier." • "You're asking ME that? You're the one who took the first shot." (Sean asks Mira why she killed Eric) • "I haven't really been able to understand emotions my whole life. Anger, sadness, pain, fear... And things like love... So when Eric said he liked me as much as he did, I didn't know why." • "Ever since I was little, I've always been told I'm callous and unfeeling. Why did the faces on people change? I never understood what expressions were. I'd take a mirror and practice making them every day, but they never quite looked right. One day, my mother told me something. Deep inside a person's chest is an object called a 'heart'... I remember thinking, 'That's unfair.' Why was everyone hiding this important thing inside so no one else could see? I wanted to see what it looked like." • "I'm going to touch Eric's heart." (while digging around in his chest) • "Oh! This... this is it! I knew Eric would be different! I had a hunch when I first met him and I was right! I told you, didn't I?! And his last words were exactly the same as my first's! How incredible is that?!" (goring Eric's chest open) • "Oh... Ah... This person really, truly loved me... So this is love... This..." (Mira ripping out Eric's heart and feeling it) • "Ahahaha.... hahahahah! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" (after killing Eric and Sean) • "It was you, wasn't it? You set the bomb... That's okay... You deserve something nice in return... Maybe you've heard of it...? That virus... Radical-6... Well...? Do you... like it...? My present... to... you..." (injecting Phi with Radical-6) • "It's been a long time, Sean. It's good to see you." (Mira being truly happy) • "Eric was the one who convinced me. He said I should pay for my sins so we could be together." • Mira's name is unusual and unique. ミラ is close to "mirror" in Japanese (ミラー). It was likely chosen because Mira "mirrors" people's expressions and she mentions she would practice making emotions in a mirror. • Mira being a psychopath was hinted on the "4infinity" site which had "psychopath" on it. In the launch trailer, she is seen saying "interesting" while smiling and covered in blood, another hint.[2] In the final game, she never says "interesting" during the scene. • Mira is similar to Gentarou Hongou and Dio in the sense that she is a "danger variable", although this time, she is an accomplice of Zero. She is allowed to run rampant around the Underground Shelter, unhindered by her bracelet. She is also apparently allowed to kill anyone she wants. • Sean implies Mira and Q (Delta) have a history together. In Q-END: 2, Sean notes that Mira always called Delta "Q". • Mira's favorite ice cream flavor is raspberry sherbet.[3] • Mira loves to read books.[4] • Mira knows what a "horizontal tango" is. She mentions "If Eric and I did the horizontal tango, the baby might end up psychic", an allusion to Phi and Delta. • At the very beginning of the game, Mira wonders if their situation is a result of "someone's one-night mistake, maybe Diana's". This is a reference to Diana getting it on with Sigma in D-END: 2. • While discussing the Force Quit Box near the beginning of the game, Mira suggests that it will be "forced to end your life", which is exactly what it does. It's possible she knows this due to being Zero's accomplice. • Mira's status screen doll is designed like a Bratz doll. Like Mira, Bratz can be seen as generally attractive, possibly a reference to how many men have fallen for Mira's beauty, only to end up as one of her victims. • Uchikoshi's Comments (Source: ZTD Premium Art Booklet): The other games featured a sexy femme fatale and Mira fills that role here. I think her design works as a sex symbol no matter what part of the world you're in. I remember the CG modeler asked, "Shall I add jiggle?" and I reflexively answered, "Yes, jiggle, by all means." "Jiggle it is then." The results should be obvious, I think. • Mira's X-Passes are Kill, Rip, Heart and Virgin. • Kill - What she is very proficient and experienced in doing. • Heart / Rip - She is the heart ripper; rip because she is very violent, heart because she always removes them. • Virgin - The meaning of this one is ambiguous. It can be interpreted as Mira not being able to feel true love, or possibly indicating the status of her relationship with Eric. Or it might be a reference to one of her victims - Virginia Bailey.
Question details NUR440 Case Study 6 DKA $ 15.00 Mrs. S is a 28-year-old patient, with a 12-year history of type I diabetes mellitus. Her husband states that she has had a “bad cold” for several days. Yesterday she stayed in bed and slept all day. She was “too ill” to check her blood sugar, and since she was not really eating, she did not take her insulin. This morning, she was not able to stand up and vomited twice. A Gram stain of Mrs. S’s blood contains gram-positive cocci in clusters. Her admission vital signs are: BP = 90/60; HR = 118 bpm (sinus tachycardia); RR = 32/min; T = 102.3° F; O2 sat via pulse oximetry = 96%. Her serum glucose is 398 mg/dl, and she is positive for serum ketones. She is admitted with a diagnosis of DKA. Available solutions
Bin fire - Eastgate - Peterborough A crew from Stanground was called to a bin fire in Monument Street. Firefighters used a hose reel to extinguish the fire and returned to their station by 4.50pm. Cause of the fire was deliberate.
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Coverletter Tips Don't be mistaken, please don't single out your resume or CV as your unique ticket to more job interviews. It's your cover letter that may matter even more. Your cover letter is THE marketing tool to make clear to an employer why you stand out in the crowd. It could be your "foot in the company's door" and deliver you that job interview that simply changes your career. 10 tips for writing your cover letter: 1. Appearance Your cover letter should be a 1 pager, following business letter format, which includes margins that are about 1, standard font 10-12 point obviously without any grammatical or spelling errors. For hard copies, print your letter on good quality, plain paper that matches your resume and envelope. If you send your cover letter via email, you can write either a brief notice that introduces your attached full cover letter and resume, or use a modified cover letter for your email with only your CV attached. Both ways are equally accepted. 2. Address A letter should always be addressed to an individual by name, with the correct title and address. If you don't have this information, call the company and ask for it. Titles should also be used in the salutation as: "Dear Mr. Smith, Dear Dr. March. "Dear Mr." without a last name, or "Dear Manager" is lifeless. First names should not be used in the address and salutation, unless you know the addressee personally. 3. Open with an attention-grabbing first sentence You can only make a first impression once. That's so true for your cover letter. If you start with a sentence that grabs the reader's attention, it will almost guarantee that your cover letter and resume will get a closer look. 4. Form Remember: less is more. Focus on the essentials of your message, and transfer any detail to your resume. 1 page, really, with generous margins. Paragraphs should be limited to 4-8 lines. The first line of a paragraph should clearly state the message of the paragraph 5. Tailor your letter to position and organization Ask yourself: what can you do for the employer, how can the organization benefit from your skills. If you don't know this, do some research. Mention the particular aspects of the company that appeal to you, but don't exaggerate your interest and qualifications. Focus more on what you have to offer to the company rather than what they have to offer you. 6. Style: it must be you Your letter should be vibrating enthusiasm and passion for the position you seek. While you'll want to keep the tone and language professional, stay yourself. Don't write a too formal letter, it will make it harder for you to express your interest and enthusiasm for the job. Simple direct sentences are preferable. And always use a concise, direct approach. 7. Request for action at the end If you want to be invited for a job interview, you'll have to ask. So request the action you want your new employer to take. End your your cover letter with an enthusiastic request:"I would really like the opportunity for a personal interview.", or less direct:"I look forward to being interviewed at your earliest convenience. Thank you so much for this opportunity." Sincerely, and then your name. 8. Proofread your letter Read your letter out loud to catch typos or awkward phrasing. It's a common thing to do for editors because a typo is easily made, so check and double check. Let someone else check your letter as well. You would never forgive yourself a day later, checking on your copy of your cover letter, and find out that there's an error in it. That error could ruin your success. 9. Follow up your cover letter If you didn't hear anything within a week after you have send you cover letter, follow up with preferably a phone call, or if you really can't get in touch with the employer, send a follow up cover letter. Following up your cover letter can double your chance for success. 10. Keep track of your letters Create a file that holds copies of your cover letters, and make notes about any correspondence / conversations between you and the employer. You don't want to mix up potential employers, that would be embarrassing - an easy admin job can keep you from blowing you chances.
Factory witness testing UPS and generator witness testing is available for large UPS systems up to 200kVA in the UK or at the relevant UPS manufacturer’s premises. Whereas a UK visit can generally be done in a day, a manufacturer visit requires advance booking of around a month, as they are based in Europe, and will normally involve a test programme typically running for one or two days. Working with a range of stakeholders including consultants, specifiers, engineers and key personnel, we ensure that the configured UPS system performs to specification and completes an exacting test procedure, prior to delivery. It also provides the opportunity to discuss further engineering aspects of design, performance and specification.
Lola and Yukao Meet generative nights – live performance – 2015 (long notice) The contemporary cities made of hybrid cultures and ethnic groups make us experience new forms of emotions. Both unprecedented from being related to new tribal constructions, and however still deeply related to ancient memories of us, as descendants of travelers without land, as both foreigners and natives, as free and endangered human beings. Generative nights wants to convey feelings, visions, sounds, and sufferings that are produced by such hybrid urban environments, particularly vivid at night. It is an exploration of a dark urban world in which humanity struggles with infinitely replicating micro-machines and curses far beyond human control. Cities built during the second half of the 20th century, were often based on some kind of idealistic urbanism, in which they were envisioned as ideal representations of micro-worlds with some symbolic content and theory-based division of space and functions. Generative nights starts with a formal harmony of lines and compositions that slowly develops across the ground. The ideal and harmonious development is progressively contradicted by human traces, which, like aboriginal paths associated by ancient tales, have their own rights and deep meanings. Progressively the population inhabits the designed space, without necessarily complying with the initialroad-map. Typical suburban clichés are displayed related to animal-like compulsions in a city at night, about fight, love and fear. Subtle traces and symbols are used as triggers for the future development of the story. The background thread of the screen is made of cellular automata which, when they are not “disturbed” by human traces, develop aesthetically pleasing patterns typical of generative art... When confronting graphical stroke, they turn into fine lines of crawling pixels like the mob strolling a crowded urban place seen from a helicopter that we, as spectators of the performance, collaborate in some form of surveillance. The visuals and a background sound sequences are synesthetically coupled with the graphics by equipping the visual display with sensors. They capture the "light" on the surface and convert it into sounds according to their positions on the display. Just think of the graphics as a huge sequencer of one million interconnected cells with light sensors that capture the activity in some selected places of the visual sequencer. In the second part of generative nights, the city is seen from the ground level and we get progressively immersed into its phantasmagoric development. The rulers of the city are represented as giants dominating the buildings as if they would embody the power that such an urban life can be submitted to: police, politics, gangs, syndicates, religious leaders, personal myths and deep drives... At first they come in the form of totems evoking monsters or birds: Are they really rulers of our night life, or just mediums whose energy could empower us through the demanding journey that we are about to make towards the end of the night? The haunting vocals of Feminine Path turn these gigantic primitive totems into goddesses who watch over of the city at night. Moved by the shamanic rhythms of the loops, luminous vestals, dancers in the dark, and flying guardians, half yamakasi/half angels, haunt the buildings while the city asleep traverses its dreams of fame and wrath. Facing the curse of divinities, the background mob turns progressively into a rebel nocturnal crowd, echoed by haunting rhythms, while the angular shadows of mysterious spaceships traverse the sky. The third part of the performance brings the drawing machine into play and reveals the performer's limbs but fails as Deus ex Machina. The audience can more clearly perceive the role of the drawing artist, and his direct physical commitment in the production of the images. Digital effects promote the graphics to the role of signs and symbols because of their higher degree of abstraction and organicity. After clearing the skies from their threat, the hand of fate traps the melancholic solitary wanderer, her memory is nothing but a vanishing tattoo on a dusty ground. Floating creatures rescue the lost soul carrying her to the sky through the energy of a sacred animal above the ruins of a devastated city. The performance ends up in an apocalyptic whiteness produced by a tumor-like growth of the human traces left by the drawing. Simultaneously the song that was carrying the dead towards a hopefully more peaceful parallel world, ends up covered by a sonic chaos produced by the overwhelming generative rhythms. The audio performance is a combination of singing, digital instruments and digital effects together with looping and additional effect pedals. The graphical performance is a combination of drawing, first on a tablet, and then on paper captured by a camera, and digital effects of particles and cellular automata. The graphical work is a fragile and versatile association of human control through manual drawing, and generative effects for adding more graininess and fluidity to the strokes. The sound and drawing are coupled and intertwined in many ways. Generative nights is the first project of Lola and Yukao Meet in which the drawing directly produces sounds. This has been made possible by equipping the display screen with virtual sensors which convert the visual signal into audio events by using visual events control a sample-based sound synthesizer. Conversely the pulsation of the music, its envelope and its spectral composition influence the drawing. Formally, the audio-visual machine is a feedback system in which the sound produced by the drawing can in turn influence the graphical machine in a kind of self referential way.
by Stephen Agar 1. The idea that this variant was developed simply because I noticed that no variant had ever been designed starting with an "X" is completely untrue... Xenophobia is based on the idea borrowed from the game Draughts (or Checkers to our US friends) that if you can take a piece you must. In Draughts it is done to force your opponent out of position. 2. The Basic Rule: Every move, every piece which is capable of mounting a supported attack on an enemy piece, must do so. However, this rule does not apply to multi-national attacks - only to supported attacks mounted by units belonging to the same Power. 3. Player Orders an Attack: If a player submits attacking orders in line with the basic rule, then the player may decide what moves and what supports. Sometimes a unit may take part in a supported attack on more than one enemy unit - the player may choose which unit takes part, even if as a consequence another unit which would have taken part in a supported attack can no longer do so (i.e. if a player has a choice of two separate attacks of strength 2, or one attack strength 3 and a unit left over - then the player may elect to go for the strength 3 attack and thus the remaining unit no longer has to participate in an attack). 4. Player Fails to Order an Attack Subject to the exception noted below, if a player fails to order a supported attack when one was possible, the GM will make the supported attack on his behalf. The following algorithm will be used: Armies in alphabetical order attack first, supported by everything not yet ordered which can support them. Then fleets in alphabetical order attack second, supported by everything not yet ordered which can support them. The remaining orders submitted by the player concerned will stand. Exception: If a player uses units which would otherwise have been used for a compulsory attack in order to attack with potential foreign support, or support an attack by a foreign unit, then those orders may stand. 5. Player NMRs If a player NMRs, supported attacks will still be made using the algorithm in rule 4 above. However, any unit not so attacking (or supporting an attack) will stand unordered. Game invented on 17 November 2001 - Alphabetical Index of Variants - Variants by Subject - Variants by No. of Players - ARDA Classification Variant Articles - Variant Descriptions - Variant Bank PolicyAdvice for Designers - Regular Diplomacy Rules
Universal Numbers Presentation to Linux Users of Victoria, May 3rd, 2016 Due to underlow and overflow, computers suffer rounding errors. These errors are highly significant, computers make them constantly and with great speed. Sometimes those errors cost millions of dollars, or directly lead to a tragic loss of life. Many of these errors are caused by the way that computers store numbers. The use of scientific notation, as implemented by IEEE floating point standards, is not only imprecise, but also requires too many bits - which is costly in power, time, and money. Universal numbers (unums), developed by John Gustafson, is offered as a superset of IEEE types (754 and 1788); just as floats are a superset of integers, unums are a superset of floats. With the addition of a ubit, they avoid error by giving bounds on answers when they can't provide an accurate number. They do not have underflow or overflow issues and therefore do not suffer from rounding issues. Unums incorporate many of the ideas of intervals, but without the complexity, pessimistic expanding bounds, and also provide exactness. Further, unums in their complete form, offer variable exponent and fraction sizes. There are currently no known mathematical problems where unums have provided an incorrect answer. Prototype implementations are available for in Mathematica, Julia, and Python. The real challenge will be to put unums in hardware.
We gratefully acknowledge support from the Simons Foundation and member institutions Full-text links: Current browse context: Change to browse by: References & Citations (what is this?) Quantitative Biology > Populations and Evolution Title: Delayed Bet-Hedging Resilience Strategies Under Environmental Fluctuations Abstract: Many biological populations, such as bacterial colonies, have developed through evolution a protection mechanism, called bet-hedging, to increase their probability of survival under stressful environmental fluctutation. In this context, the concept of preadaptation refers to a common type of bet-hedging protection strategy in which a relatively small number of individuals in a population stochastically switch their phenotypes to a `dormant' metabolic state in which they increase their probability of survival against potential environmental shocks. Hence, if an environmental shock took place at some point in time, preadapted organisms would be better adapted to survive and proliferate once the shock is over. In many biological populations, the mechanisms of preadaptation and proliferation present delays whose influence in the fitness of the population are not well-understood. In this paper, we propose a rigorous mathematical framework to analyze the role of delays in both preadaptation and proliferation mechanisms in the survival of biological populations, with an emphasis on bacterial colonies. Our theoretical framework allows us to analytically quantify the average growth rate of a bet-hedging bacterial colony with stochastically delayed reactions with arbitrary precision. We verify the accuracy of the proposed method by numerical simulations and conclude that the growth rate of a bet-hedging population shows a non-trivial dependency on their preadaptation and proliferation delays. Contrary to the current belief, our results show that faster reactions do not, in general, increase the overall fitness of a biological population. Subjects: Populations and Evolution (q-bio.PE); Dynamical Systems (math.DS) DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevE.95.052404 Cite as: arXiv:1702.00094 [q-bio.PE] (or arXiv:1702.00094v2 [q-bio.PE] for this version) Submission history From: Masaki Ogura Dr. [view email] [v1] Wed, 1 Feb 2017 00:41:23 GMT (608kb,D) [v2] Fri, 21 Apr 2017 01:57:52 GMT (787kb,D)
Allow Yourself to Feel I saw a polar bear struggling on the ice, falling, pulling itself up, then falling again and again, finally giving up and staying down. This was not characteristic of the species, a majestic animal that thrives in that environment, but man had made the bear weak. I wept and wept, thinking of the dying species—not because of some sort of natural selection, but because of our chemical waste, our need to extract from the land and use the land on which to spew pollutants (it costs money to extract them), because of our lack of caring for life. I cried some more. I told a dear friend about my tears and he said that polar bears are the only animals that will kill humans simply for pleasure. I laughed with him but part of me felt how humor, and even facts, keep us away from feeling tragedy. People do it with dry facts, with marijuana and alcohol and mood-altering drugs, both legal and otherwise. Boy, are we ever prepared! This is a sarcastic remark. It means the opposite. Perhaps the fact person and the drug taker would be overwhelmed by feeling. Perhaps our culture has taught us to feel ashamed of weeping or shouting. Shhhhh. Keep it in. But we need to fully feel. Feeling our pain, our terror, our loss, keeps us present and within the realm of reality. For example, we need to know what our bombing is doing to the rest of the world—children with burned faces, eleven-year-olds working in factories or in mines. What has so long been denied, ignored, subverted by dry facts or humor, is increasingly happening to us. Turn your eyes away. But blindness does not protect you. And how could using devices to keep us from feeling make anything better? It is childish, magical thinking. The psychopathic politicians use your fear to control you. They promise you protection while they covertly doom us all. They are greedy users who are making sure that they will have much more than enough. The more we are taught to feel ashamed of showing feeling, the more likely we will fall into their pit of robbery, disease, and death. Know that bad is coming. See it. Feel it. And be prepared. Figure out alternative ways to maintain yourself (and your family if they are with you). The ability to feel the pain all around us is a sign of strength. Seeing reality for what it is keeps us from putting our faith in politicians who make false promises. It makes us self reliant. It helps us create extended families we call friends who will work collectively, share the pain, the joy and the fun of the job of creating change. One thought on “Allow Yourself to Feel 1. Abhishek Tyagi I don’t people going to do with nature and these beautiful animals. We call them animals but more dangerous animals compare to them Leave a Reply You are commenting using your account. Log Out / Change ) Google+ photo Twitter picture Facebook photo Connecting to %s
IPI: Show me the money IPI recently posted its latest quarterly earnings, and the results are extremely surprising. First, the company posted ‘losses’ of $13mm. However, their ‘losses’ are misleading, because non-cash charges account for a portion of their earnings. Thus, when you strip away non-cash charges such as depreciation and amortization, the company generated around $7 to $10mm in
New Avengers - Craig raves If there's one comic that has not lived up to the fans expectations it's the New Avengers. By placing several of Marvels top characters in one book the New Avengers should be the most popular book out there. Yet a lot of people see NA as a copy of DC's JLA, as the team consists of some of Marvels most popular mainstream characters. I can se the comparison but I don't see how this is wrong, I'm sure if they wanted to go all out they would have included The Hulk, The Thing, Blade, Elektra, The Punisher and any other Marvel hero that had a movie. By placing some of Marvels top brass with other less known characters, these other characters have a chance to shine. If you take Spider Woman for example, 5 years ago if said that she would have her own ongoing book, written by a Wizard top 10 writer you would have laughed. Now thanks to her exposure in NA that's going to happen. A huge problem NA had was the lack of a real villain. There was no Kang, Ultron or Masters of evil. The greatest threat they faced was the Xorn entity left over from the House of M. Without facing a threat that the old Avengers did the NA never had a chance to prove themselves to the existing Avengers fan base. I think the main problem was the team never got a chance to show what they could do together. Yes they faced Xorn as a team but that didn't happen until issue 19, over 18 months after the book was launched. The first arc started off the team book well but most of the arcs after concentrated on one character, which to me is not how you start a team book. Yes explore the team's line up but first you need to establish a team to explore. The core team itself was a great line up: Captain America is synonymous with the Avengers. He's the greatest leader in the marvel Universe. The team look up to him, respect his leadership and always follow his orders. An Avengers book without Captain America is just plain wrong. Iron Man is also synonymous with the Avengers. He's the worlds greatest inventor. His wealth also provides the team with a base and equipment. He's also a heavy hitter when it comes to fighting. Spider-Man is new to the Avengers environment. Spidey is team's best all rounder. He can fight and he's a scientist. Many thought he was added to the book to boost sales but Bendis has shown that Spidey is a valuable part of the team. Wolverine is also new to the Avengers. Wolverine brings another view to the team. He took over from Hawkeye as the teams jerk. Again he was probably added to the roster to boost sales as he hasn't done anything major yet. Spider Woman is more than the team's token female. She brings a practical view to the team. If something needs stopping she will always suggest the most direct approach. I believe Bendis added her to the team because he genuinely likes her, as I mentioned earlier under NA she really has time to shine. Luke Cage is another character new to world of Avengers. Cage brings a real man on the street view to the team. His powers aren't the reason why he's on the team, it's because of his ethics. Cage is another of Marvel character who has had time to stand out in this book The Sentry was the character I was most excited about being in the NA. More than just a Superman clone he brings the team's raw power, that's if he can get out of bed that day. Again the Sentry was one of those characters in Marvel Limbo, until NA reintroduced him. I'm not sure why Bendis added him to the team but I'm glad he did. It's a shame the Civil War happened when it did I would have liked to seen the team face old villains and get to 50 issues With Iron Man now leading the Pro- Registration Mighty Avengers will Captain America continue to lead the New Avengers? Who will be on the team? Will the New Avengers be renamed the Secret Avengers? There are a lot of questions to be answered but as a fan I'm looking forward to the answers. See you in the theatre
Black, grey, blue are office colors. Red, green, yellow are fun time Crayola colors. Sony's thinking that white, black, and brown are the colors of a home decorated by Ikea whores. Reach, young urbanites, reach! The new N line of laptops comes in black, white, which we've all seen before. (I won't use the @pp1e word, promise!) And most interestingly, brown. Wenge brown -a creamy, coffee-color made to resemble wood furniture Now if this 15-inch, Core Duo laptop was actually made out of wood, that would be rad. You could rest a block of cheese on top when you're done computing. Right? Sony Vaio N Series [Sony]
Search Synonyms for Word Synonyms for jackpot Synonyms for (noun) jackpot Synonyms: jackpot Definition: any outstanding award Synonyms: pot, kitty, jackpot Definition: the cumulative amount involved in a game (such as poker) Similar words: stake, stakes, bet, wager Definition: the money risked on a gamble
#emc-devel \| Logs for 2007-12-25 [02:50:59] <jmkasunich> is axis supposed to look at the value of [DISPLAY]LATHE, or does its mere presence, even if set to zero, result in lathe mode? [02:51:17] <jmkasunich> I thought LATHE=0 would get me mill mode but it doesn't look that way [02:51:33] <jepler> whee -- now on the arduino you get 6 ADC, 6 PWM DAC, and 6 digital pins that can be used as ins or outs [02:52:06] <jepler> jmkasunich: if you write LATHE=0 then the result of inifile.find is the string '0', which is not the empty string, so it is treated as a 'true' value [02:52:16] <jepler> defensible behavior? maybe not .. [02:53:50] <jmkasunich> documented behavior? (I dunno, I just guessed at what it might do and tried it) [02:54:21] <jepler> it just suggests including LATHE = 1 [02:54:33] <jmkasunich> * jmkasunich removes and replaces the Z axis motor for the 4th time today [02:54:43] <jmkasunich> (awkwardly located screws and all) [02:54:51] <jepler> it doesn't say what LATHE = 0 means but I sure can see your expectations were violated [02:55:32] <jmkasunich> would "MODE = LATHE" and "MODE = MILL" be more of a pain to implement? [02:56:00] <jepler> oh not particularly [03:03:35] <jmkasunich> page up and down are the Z jog controls aren't they? [03:04:03] <jmkasunich> my mini keyboard doesn't have those keys :-( [03:08:56] <jepler> hm that could be a problem for you then [03:09:21] <jepler> of course in lathe mode, left/right is Z and up/down is X [03:09:54] <jepler> you could put some lines in .axisrc to change the bindings. For example, bind_axis("bracketleft", "bracketright", 2) would make '[' and ']' move Z. [03:10:03] <jepler> which is fine right up until you get a rotary axis [03:10:07] <jmkasunich> I was gonna ask about rebinding things [03:10:23] <jmkasunich> I'll probably have a jogwheel long before I have a rotary, so thats OK [03:10:38] <jmkasunich> now I'm finding another annoyance (probably operator error) [03:10:52] <jepler> this sort of thing happens when you actually spend time being an operator [03:11:10] <jmkasunich> I have home_offset for Z = 0, I home it, it finds the switch and the home icon turns on, but the display shows 1.3something [03:11:19] <jmkasunich> I tried g92.1 and homed again, no change [03:11:36] <jepler> try using the menu to clear G54 offset? [03:12:19] <jmkasunich> that did it [03:12:28] <jmkasunich> thats stored in the var file, right? [03:12:35] <jmkasunich> (I copied my lathe var file) [03:12:42] <jepler> yes [03:13:26] <jmkasunich> now to put limits in for Z (this is the first axis with a switch, so limits are new....) [03:23:19] <cradek> jmkasunich: did you figure out the 1.3 offset? [03:23:38] <jmkasunich> I think it was in the var file [03:24:34] <cradek> have you seen http://wiki.linuxcnc.org/cgi-bin/emcinfo.pl?CoordinateSystems#So_if_you_re_lost_what_should_you_do [03:25:06] <jmkasunich> good link, thanks [03:25:13] <jmkasunich> now I have another weird thing going on [03:25:31] <jmkasunich> my first homing worked (at least the moves were all in the right direction) [03:25:42] <jmkasunich> now its going the wrong way (and into a hard stop, ouch) [03:26:11] <cradek> yikes [03:27:44] <jmkasunich> I didn't change search vel, I wonder if it thinks its on the switch [03:27:49] <jmkasunich> * jmkasunich fires up halscope [03:30:19] <jmkasunich> did you see the 5-axis rigid tapping in that last vid? [03:30:54] <cradek> no [03:31:08] <cradek> I don't see a link [03:32:14] <cradek> oh I see it [03:32:32] <cradek> just one at the very end [03:33:18] <jmkasunich> duh, figured out my homing issue [03:33:30] <jmkasunich> max limit needs to be greater than min limit ;-) [03:33:36] <cradek> oops [03:36:37] <jmkasunich> ze quill, she works! [03:38:00] <SWPadnos_> SWPadnos_ is now known as SWPLaptop [03:38:27] <cradek> woo! you have a mill? [03:38:38] <SWPLaptop> no [03:38:38] <jmkasunich> I do [03:38:42] <SWPLaptop> heh [03:39:04] <jmkasunich> SWPLaptop: you missed me saying "ze quill, she works!" [03:39:11] <jmkasunich> homes and limits and all that neat stuff [03:39:15] <cradek> wow [03:39:15] <SWPLaptop> cool! [03:39:30] <SWPLaptop> and it's semi-portable ;) [03:39:37] <jmkasunich> soft limits that is - I'm going to do without limit switches [03:39:37] <SWPLaptop> (raltive to the Van Norman or a BP) [03:39:42] <SWPLaptop> relative [03:39:51] <jmkasunich> 700 lbs in the basement - NOT portable [03:39:51] <SWPLaptop> gah - it's hard to type on a laptop [03:39:54] <SWPLaptop> heh [03:39:59] <SWPLaptop> semi, semi :) [03:40:09] <cradek> on my lathe I use a home switch for one X limit [03:40:32] <jmkasunich> my quill home switch trips 0.044 before physical end of travel [03:40:44] <jmkasunich> I've set the offset to -0.040, so I can use that extra travel [03:41:06] <cradek> wow that seems pretty close [03:41:08] <jmkasunich> (the total travel is only 3.3", so every little bit helps) [03:42:08] <SWPLaptop> heh, < 1/20" seems like "a little bit" [03:42:43] <SWPLaptop> but I guess if it lets you machine something that's 1" thick with the right tool, instead of something that's 0.95" thick, then it really does helop [03:42:45] <SWPLaptop> help [03:42:55] <cradek> you think the switch will repeat within .004 for a long time? [03:43:04] <jmkasunich> dunno [03:43:09] <cradek> since you don't have index... [03:43:54] <jmkasunich> I just stuck a piece of 0.005" feeler gage stock between the banjo and the bottom of the casting - it never got pinched during a home and a rapid to zero from 3" away [03:44:15] <jmkasunich> (the 0.044 measurement is a bit conservative, might be more like 0.048 or so [03:44:55] <jmkasunich> interesting point though, I can do a repeatability test [03:46:24] <SWPLaptop> well, I should sign off - I just wanted to see if IRC worked through this connection (I hate the Nomadix portal system) [03:46:50] <SWPLaptop> see you tomorrow maybe [03:48:35] <cradek> I don't see how you can ever use both an end mill and drill bits on the same job with 3.3" of Z and no knee [03:48:57] <cradek> I crank the knee constantly and I have 5" [03:49:36] <cradek> I guess you could spot drill in the cnc, and use a drill press later, and do fairly well [03:52:59] <jmkasunich> now you know why I have a knee mill [03:53:06] <jmkasunich> and a floorstanding drillpress [03:53:42] <jmkasunich> I did 6 trials - home ; G0Z-0.35 ; G1F1Z-.40 [03:54:05] <jmkasunich> indicator readings were 0.0000, 0.0002, 0.0005, 0.0007, 0.0000, 0.0001 [03:55:12] <cradek> I wish there was an easy way to get just index (homing for steppers) [03:55:26] <jmkasunich> you mean a one channel encoder? [03:55:34] <jmkasunich> (index channel) [03:55:36] <cradek> yeah, but cheaper than an encoder [03:55:49] <jmkasunich> opto-interrupter and a disk with a slit in it? [03:56:16] <cradek> sure, that might do it [03:56:28] <jmkasunich> my machine is 20 turns of the stepper per inch, a 1" dia wheel has 3.14" of perimeter, so you have a 62.8:1 multiplication factor [03:56:48] <jmkasunich> any uncertainty in the detector would be divided by that ratui [03:56:50] <jmkasunich> io [03:57:01] <jmkasunich> (and I could easily do a 2" disk) [03:57:39] <jmkasunich> I have an idea I'd like to explore that would play nicely with that concept [03:58:05] <jmkasunich> for lathe Z, you can't really do a home switch because the chuck or tailstock is likely to block the ends of travel [03:58:32] <cradek> right [03:58:43] <jmkasunich> a N bit linear feedback shift register generates a stream of (2^N)-1 bits with no N bit sequence repeated [03:58:54] <jmkasunich> my screw is 10 TPI [03:59:16] <jmkasunich> make a linear part with the output of an 8 bit LFSR milled in it, 0.100" per bit [03:59:31] <jmkasunich> when you home, start moving, and sample the opto-sensor on every index [03:59:49] <jmkasunich> after 8 revs, you have a bit pattern that tells you where you are to within one turn [03:59:55] <jmkasunich> the next index gets you your location [04:00:36] <jmkasunich> one opto-interrupter looking at the linear "scale", and one looking at the disk on the screw [04:00:55] <jmkasunich> and a custom HAL component to match up the bit pattern with the LFSR code [04:01:29] <cradek> wow, so this is just for homing? [04:01:43] <jmkasunich> yes [04:02:06] <jmkasunich> its a very cheap "absolute" encoder [04:02:11] <cradek> I still want 'typewriter margins' [04:02:33] <jmkasunich> well, that is SMOP, once you have your absolute location [04:02:55] <jmkasunich> heck, I want keepout areas [04:03:05] <cradek> sure, another SMOP [04:03:16] <jmkasunich> so I can have it avoid the chuck, but still pull to the front and then move left so I can get the tailstock in close for drilling [04:03:17] <cradek> I want joint constraints [04:03:37] <cradek> it would have to change with every tool [04:03:44] <cradek> (keepouts) [04:03:55] <jmkasunich> NNSMOP [04:03:59] <jmkasunich> oops [04:04:02] <jmkasunich> NSSMOP [04:04:07] <jmkasunich> (not-so-simple) [04:04:13] <cradek> and every workpiece? [04:04:20] <cradek> (it's maybe even impossible) [04:04:25] <jmkasunich> I'm assuming that you want to cut the workpiece [04:04:52] <jmkasunich> on my list of wants, thats actually pretty far down [04:04:53] <cradek> well that's true. but the jaws or dog could be anywhere (for instance) [04:04:56] <jmkasunich> I was just being a smartass [04:06:09] <jmkasunich> I wish the splash screen g-code wasn't so big [04:06:28] <jmkasunich> I suppose I could truncate it and just do the EMC2 [04:07:21] <cradek> edit the scale [04:08:20] <jmkasunich> hmm, where is it? [04:08:39] <cradek> first couple lines in the gcode [04:09:12] <jmkasunich> I mean, where is axis.ngc - its not in ~/emc2/nc_files or the examples dir under that [04:09:21] <cradek> file/save gcode as... [04:09:27] <cradek> then you have your copy to edit [04:09:53] <jmkasunich> handy [04:10:11] <cradek> that's handy with the various input filters too [04:10:12] <jmkasunich> man, that keyboard is not the nicest thing to type on [04:10:43] <jmkasunich> I'm doing all my editing and such here [04:12:49] <jmkasunich> scale 0.0003? [04:13:00] <cradek> yes [04:13:06] <cradek> see how it's multiplied by everything later [04:13:07] <jmkasunich> I guess they were _really_ big [04:13:23] <cradek> they were in truetype units (postscript points maybe?) [04:15:39] <jmkasunich> SH is what? safe height? [04:16:08] <cradek> yes [04:34:29] <jmkasunich> that program doesn't turn the spindle on! [04:34:47] <cradek> did you happen to notice at the beginning where it says it's not for milling? :-) [04:35:46] <jmkasunich> yeah [04:35:55] <jmkasunich> I also noticed the lack of M3 before I ran the program [04:54:13] <jmkasunich> http://jmkasunich.com/pics/first-milling-1782.jpg [11:17:07] <alex_joni> jmkasunich: yay [15:28:23] <jmkasunich> ;-) [15:39:26] <alex_joni> jmkasunich: youtube next :) [15:39:41] <jmkasunich> I don't have a video capable camera [15:40:00] <jmkasunich> (I don't think - my point-n-shoot might be able to do some very limited video) [15:40:06] <jmkasunich> have to RTFM [15:43:12] <alex_joni> :) [16:15:24] <skunkworks> merry christmas everyone... (sorry chris) [19:12:49] <cradek> I can't reproduce andy's problem but his screenshot is unmistakable [19:13:22] <cradek> I'd like to let his message through but it's pretty big. I wish we could remove the image and let the rest through. [19:13:43] <alex_joni> ah.. I entered admin interface.. but didn't find anything [19:13:52] <alex_joni> (maybe send it yourself? and put the image on pastebin? [19:13:55] <cradek> I didn't do anything wiht it [19:13:57] <cradek> with [19:13:57] <alex_joni> imagebin actually) [19:15:21] <alex_joni> hmm.. I also got the full message, I can do the above if you want [19:15:42] <cradek> please do [19:18:11] <alex_joni> done [19:18:13] <alex_joni> bbl [19:18:21] <cradek> thanks! [19:41:01] <jmkasunich> I bounced his message and asked him to put it on pastebin [19:41:24] <cradek> ok, I guess alex did the work for him then [19:41:37] <jmkasunich> didn't realise it was an image, or that you were discussing it in here [19:41:39] <cradek> it's a good bug report now, but unfortunately I still can't make it happen [19:41:51] <jmkasunich> (actually I think I bounced it before the discussion started) [20:50:55] <alex_joni> jmkasunich: I think you did.. when I looked in the admin interface it wasn't there anymore.. [20:50:59] <alex_joni> that was before the conv.
One billion people live on $1.25 per day and one in nine people cannot afford to eat every day (Oxfam, 2015). As the gap between rich and poor continues to diverge at incredible rates (Piketty, 2014), there is a critical need to understand the causes and potential solutions to this inequality. Prominent among the differences that comparative studies between developed and developing economies have revealed is the role of temporal orientation—i.e., the nature of individuals’ orientation toward time. Specifically, people in emerging economies are, on the whole, more short- term oriented (Harrison, 2000), focusing thoughts, time, and energy more heavily on the past and present than the future, compared to their wealthier counterparts. As such, individuals in developing economies are less likely to save income for unexpected expenses, spend time on longterm projects, or plan for future activities (Rutherford, 2009). Despite the plethora of studies at the macro- economic and cultural levels (Grondona, 2000; Hofstede & Minkov, 2010), little is known about the individual antecedents (i.e., locus of control, entrepreneurial self-efficacy, personality, family and demographic characteristics) and entrepreneurial outcomes (i.e., entrepreneurial orientation, changes in attitudes toward growth, business performance, and entrepreneurial resilience) of temporal orientation. This study addresses this gap.
Since 2014 there has been renewed interest, concern, and protest regarding the police use of deadly force against unarmed Blacks. Various conservative commentators and publications, as well as comments on other posts to this blog, have implied that the reason so many Blacks are killed by police is that Blacks are more likely to be involved in violent crime. For example, in an article in the National Review, David French writes, “Moreover, racial disparities in the use of force are largely explained by racial disparities in criminality. Different American demographics commit crimes at different rates, so it stands to reason that those who commit more crimes will confront the police more often.” Below is the transcript of a conversation regarding this issue I had with three scholars, all of whom have studied the interaction of police and the African American community. The scholars are: RASHAWN RAY, Department of Sociology, University of Maryland. CODY ROSS, Department of Anthropology, University of California, Davis DON TOMASKOVIC-DEVEY, Department of Sociology, University of Massachusetts-Amherst. . . . Todd: What do you think about the logic that Blacks commit more violent crimes therefore they are more likely to be killed by police?[1][2][3] Don: If you start at the level of interaction, when a policeman shoots a citizen three things have to happen. 1.The officer and the citizen have to have contact. 2. Within that interaction there has to be something that generate the feeling of threat or aggression in the officer. 3. The officer has to actually resort to a violent response. So it does seem to me that from a social science point of view that we should be thinking about this as an interaction, not a reflection of individual traits. The ideas we hear from the Right that officers respond to dangerous people or from the BLM and the rest of society that officers behave in racially biased ways both miss this interactional complexity. We do know that the level of violence in particular in African American communities is higher than the national average. Are police shootings tied to the actual threat to police or the level of violence in the community? In research I am doing now on police killings it looks like the general level of police-citizen killings does go up when police are assaulted more often, but not with the overall violent crime rate. Black killings, on the other hand go down with more police assaults and up with the level of violent crime. These estimates use state-level data, which is far from appropriate and should be taken as preliminary at best. But we should be pursuing these types of questions in addition to establishing the baseline racial disparity in police-citizen killings. Back when we were working on this in the 2000s around “driving while Black” issues, we did a lot of work to try and figure out baselines about the probability of an officer encountering a Black driver. And then we also asked questions about if there were race differences in driving behavior. Now it worked a bit different for driving because typically Black drivers were driving at a rate lower than their frequency in the population, there were fewer Black drivers with driver’s licenses and they drove fewer miles per year than the average White person and they drove more carefully than White drivers. So adjusting for those things increased the potential for racial bias. Todd: But the Black Lives Matter movement is mobilizing around instances of unarmed suspects being shot and killed and often what I see thrown out there as justification for this are the violent crime statistics. We need to distinguish different types of crimes. A lot of the police shooting victims are just being stopped for traffic violations or some other petty, non-violent, offense. So if we are focusing in on unarmed deaths, the first question is why should ANY of them happen? Why should there be ANY unarmed deaths of African Americans, White, Hispanic…anyone? To me that points to a fundamental failure of police training and policing. When we see the videos of these events, what I am seeing is police behaving, seemingly irrationally, … I see two kinds of behaviors, a really gigantic fear response form the police officers involved or a kind of testosterone response where they are exerting their dominance and because it is not being respected and they lash out in one way or another. In that sense, it should never happen. In other high income countries, this never happens. This is a US phenomenon. On the other hand, is that police officer having that fear response because he or she is in a high crime neighborhood or they feel that they are? Because they fear all black men? Both are probably often the case. I recently read a new paper in the DuBois Review by Robert Durán. It looks at how police shootings are legitimated by DAs and challenged by citizens in Denver over 30 years. The substantive focus is important in its own right, but the paper includes a useful review of the law on police use of deadly force, which under English common law has been sanctioned since before there was a U.S. Importantly, the law on justified police-citizen use of force varies across states and many U.S. states have a very low bar – fleeing, committing a crime. In many state’s shooting someone committing a felony or fleeing from police is legal. It was not until 1985 in Tennessee v. Garner that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that police could not shoot a fleeing suspect unless the officer believed the suspect posed serious risk of death or injury to the community. Durán’s lit review suggests this decision may have had little effect on police behavior. All of which is to say that there probably are some police training variation in what forms of police killings are legal or even expected of officers. Todd: Cody, your work does control for at least some of the crime rates at the county level. The assault crimes and weapons crimes by Whites and Blacks. I looked at the ratio of Black crime to White crime, using that to predict the Black to White shooting ratio by police and there is no effect at the country level. Now it could be that at some level below the county, like the police precinct, zip code, or something smaller, there may be significant relationships, but counties that have higher Black to White crimes rates do not have higher Black to White police shooting rates of unarmed people. So this makes me a little bit suspicious of the crime story. I think what might be being picked up on by the model (since the population size effect is pretty big and the inequality effect is pretty big) is that the black to white shooting rate ratio by police might be highest in large, highly unequal metropolitan counties which have specialized police units. Some recent work has suggested that specialized forces, like gang units, are likely to be the most egregious in terms of shooting unarmed Black people relative to unarmed White people. The reason this might occur is that if you have a department that is specifically targeted at individuals of a given racial or ethnic group that tend to be armed or involved in crime, then the police in that unit are going to be learning about the covariance of race/ethnicity and armed/criminal status from a very small, very biased sample of the population. In wider community contexts, police in these units are likely to falsely impute the probability of a suspect of a given race or ethnicity being armed in a way that is very strongly biased in regards to expecting a weapon. Under this model, it is not really the true relative levels of crime or armed status that should be related to bias in the police shooting rate, but rather what police expect the rate of armed status to be based on how they have learned. With regards to the possible effectiveness of police training in removing racial bias, I think that this is going to depend on the police department. In many police departments, there is basically no significant evidence of any racial bias. In some departments, training may be all that is needed to attenuate unconscious implicit bias that can lead to a higher Black to White ratio of police shootings. In other departments (probably only a handful), there might just be explicitly racist officers or sociopaths that simply enjoy exerting social dominance and inflicting physical and psychological pain on other people. Most officers are not like this, of course, but some probably are, and these are the most problematic cases. We have got to ensure that there is zero tolerance for people like this on the police force. Over the last few years, there have been many examples of police being caught messaging explicitly racist things, for example in San Francisco. So I think we need to focus on trying to identify both the large scale structural issues that lead to moderate levels of racial bias across the board in police shootings, and the specific departments and officers that are the most problematic. I think it is also important not to use blanket statements about police-in-general, as this triggers a lot of reactionary in-group out-group identity conflicts that don’t really help anyone; strategically, it might as important to highlight the good work being done by some police as it is to highlight the problematic cases of some police sending racist vitriol. Todd: We saw some of this in Ferguson as racist emails between police officers and the city court clerk, which were revealed after the shooting of Michael Brown. The problem with this type of logic is that we assume that an entire group of people is responsible for the actions of some and that the entire group should be criminalized for it. So in other words, because of the perception that Blacks commit more crimes this somehow justifies the fact that Black people are actually policed more. The problem is that this shouldn’t be the case. First, an overwhelming percentage of Blacks are not criminals and those that have been convicted of crimes, studies show that roughly 75% of Blacks in prison are in prison for nonviolent drug offenses. The other narrative is that Black neighborhoods are ubiquitously framed as being problematic and crime prone when in fact there are a plethora of predominantly Black neighborhoods around the country, one of which I happen to live in, that has extremely low crime rates and are not part of the narrative. On the other end of the spectrum, there are predominantly White neighborhoods that have high crime rates, but for some reason we leave these two types of neighborhoods out of the narrative as it relates to crime. So what is happening is that an entire group of people who overwhelmingly are not committing crime and are not guilty, end up being criminalized because of the logic that people have about this. I will give a couple of quick examples here. First is the logic that if a person is stopped for a crime or suspected of committing a crime they are probably guilty. Actually this is not the case, there was a study done in New York City using Stop-and-Frisk data. This study actually resulted in Stop-and-Frisk being ruled unconstitutional by the New York Supreme Court, and what they found was that African Americans were more likely to be stopped by the police, they were also more likely to be roughed up by the police, to be frisked, physically assaulted by the police, but they were significantly less likely to have contraband on their person or actually be committing a crime at that particular time. So you had about 9 out of 10 of the Black men that were being stopped were not doing anything wrong. What is interesting to me, knowing the way that police operate personally and then also looking at the data, is that there are a lot of these points in time when the police interact with citizens that is never captured in the data. Another point I would like to make here is that Philando Castile who was recently killed in St. Paul, Minnesota was stopped 50 times over the past fourteen years or so. The logic is that if you are stopped that much you obviously have to be committing some sort of crime. This is what is interesting about Philando Castile. He had never been convicted of violent crime, he was a legal gun owner, and according to the other employees and the children of the school where he worked he was a model employee, and he took classes learning how to deal with the police. This speaks to the fact that as much as we value politics of respectability in the Black community, they do not necessarily prevent people from being harmed by the police. So in many respects this is about Blackness being seen as guilty before due processes. The logic is that if the cops didn’t catch a Black person doing something today, they probably will one day, so who cares if this is happening today. The logic is that in being killed, if you are a Black person, is simply collateral damage. This is highly problematic. Todd: There was an interview with Philando Castile’s mother who thought he was targeted because of the older model cars he drove that resulted in police stereotyping him as a pimp or drug dealer. Rashawn: What is interesting about that, new, really nice luxury cars get Black men pulled over too. While I can see some sort of analysis that if someone was driving a Cutlass or something else, but in many police departments around the country they still drive older sedans as their police cars. I think that this is more about, regardless of the vehicle the person is driving, similar to the type of attire the person has on, a person’s Black skin is the schema that we use to actually evaluate whether a person should be criminalized. Don: I think this is something we all have to agree on and that if we are at the same time trying to figure out how do we intervene we are probably not going to intervene at the level of national culture around Black skin. What I keep thinking is that we need to get closer to what police are actually doing. Rashawn is focused there on routine police harassment of African Americans and African American men in particular. Obviously, if you increase the contact level, then you have routine policing which is aggressive at its base and then it interacts with race and neighborhood which generates a fear response in the police then it all conspires to lead to violence of one sort or another. On top of this baseline process there are no doubt particularly racist or aggressive cops and police organization and local variation in expected and or legal use of force. Clearly the shootings and killings are the most egregious outcome of this racialized and violent policing practice. While the unarmed killings are the least defensible, my gut feelings is that they are generated by the same mechanisms producing other police-citizen violence. I suspect that most often that the causal mechanisms underneath police violence is organizationally based routine police training and deployment and the way they are treating citizens, including and especially Black citizens. So if we want to intervene we need to intervene at the organizational level to change police practices. Firing particularly racist police officers might help as well. Todd: What is the ideal data set? Don: I think it is too complex for an ideal data set. I had one idea today though. The Black Lives Matter movement is holding marches and vigils in many, many cities and in some of those they’re being harassed and corralled by the cops and in some they are getting some kind of cooperation. It would be totally interesting to know what is that variation across police forces in their response to the movement? Now that is not exactly the same thing as whether the level of violence if going to go up or down and unfortunately our data are so terrible that we won’t know that for years, but my feeling is that the ideal data go to the level of the police forces, the real ideal level, because of this issue of bigoted offices, is if you could have data on officers nested in their police forces where you also know characteristics of the community. Cody’s example about the gang units is instructive. When we were doing the “Driving while Black” study in North Carolina, we had complete access to the data from the highway patrol on something like 1500 officers and we had really good control variables and we identified 12 officers who were stopping African Americans at higher rates than they should have been. We found no race bias in routine traffic stops for the other 1488 officers. On the other hand, there was a single unit that was dedicated to searches that was doing a gigantic amount of searches of African Americans, and exactly like Rashawn said and many studies have found, whenever you’ve got profiling practices, you end up finding less contraband on the profiled group and of course much more social destructive relationships with the community get generated. So I think the local context stuff is pretty important. Rashawn: Don is bringing up great points and I will build on it a little bit with a couple things. Something that we need is the specific reason they decided to pull them over. For example, with Philando Castile, the narrative that came out was that he was suspected of a robbery. Personally, I chuckle at that sort of thing because I have been suspected of robbery, burglary, and rape and all these things and I don’t have a criminal record, so that is nothing new for Black people. What is interesting though is that if you listen to the transcripts, and this is getting to my point and part of the data we need, …especially why they pulled them over and the transcript conversation when the police officers called it in and code those…because in the Castile case the officer said he had a wide nose. He said Philando Castile had a wide nose and he fit the description of someone I am looking for. I know a lot of people with different skin tones who have “wide noses.” When I hear “wide nose” what I hear is something much deeper and sinister than that. I heard implicit bias and the social psychology of race as it relates to what people are looking for… Don: I totally disagree with you Rashawn. What I hear there is explicit bias. He is using wide nose as a code. Rashawn: I completely agree, but the narrative that we hear though is that he didn’t mean anything by that. Part of it is getting people to realize that, no that is not okay to say, that it is indeed racist but the narrative we have is, “That’s not a big deal. That’s not being racist.” So part of it is highlighting the ways that racism is operating in implicit and explicit ways. Part of the reason I am saying it is implicit is because of the narrative that we have about race is that it is so individualized that we assume that you have to specifically be doing something to someone in terms of treatment and calling someone a specific derogatory name to be engaging in racism. So we really have to be more nuanced and I think we are definitely agreeing on that point. I think part of what might get at differences between police departments is… so working with the Prince George’s Police Department, my colleague Dr. Kris Marsh and I have been doing implicit bias and racism training with the police department here in the county and what we noticed, sitting in meetings with them, is that the difference between going for numbers, quantity versus quality. These are two very different things. There are some police departments, say like New York City, that are all about quantity. How many stops can they get? Ferguson, MO was all about quantity as well. How many traffic citations can we send out because we are trying to fund our government? That is very different than going for quality. When you go for quality potentially you start going for other indicators besides a person’s skin tone. I think that is probably the reason why Whites, in the New York City study, were more likely to be found with something on them or committing a crime because the police officers were looking for other indicators besides their race that might actually suggest some type of criminality. I think those are the two things… we need the transcripts, which we don’t normally get. We need to code those. And we need to know the specific polices. We need to know the approach that police precincts use to actually go out and stop people. In other words, are they posted up doing DUI stops and speed checks and if so where do they do these speed checks? Are they more likely to do them in predominantly Black neighborhoods? So if you are doing a DUI check in predominantly Black neighborhoods, even though Blacks are less likely to use drugs than Whites, then you are going to find more Blacks with drugs and you are going to end up convicting more Blacks. These are the types of nuanced forms of data that I think we need. Don: I agree and one of the things that I think is particularly useful there, particularly at the police level, is the practices acts of police violence are this nested in, first the number of contacts, then there is the number of profiling bases contacts, then there is general aggression and violence on the street by police, then there are shots fired and then there are killed people. In my mind, I agree with Rashawn here that these things are all linked in not just simple demographic ways, you have to have one to have the other, but also linked in that you get negative feedback loops from relationships with the community and in police officer perceptions of the community. That is, you are probably generating more racist cops than you hired once you create these profiling/harassment practices and then of course you generate a community that totally distrusts the police. Tremaine McMillian was put in a choke hold on the beach in Miami with his puppy for giving the police a “dehumanizing stare.” The shootings and the killings are the rare events that confirm our worst nightmares about the police and of course make the police the most defensive of their practices. Cody: The ideal dataset… it would be great to have geographically-resolved data on encounters between civilians and police as a function of race and other demographic characteristics; we saw a little bit of this in the Fryer study that came out recently. How we look at that data is really important though. A follow-up paper that I am working on now shows that a consistent racial bias against Black people generates all patterns that Fryer finds including the inverse relationship between encounters and being a victim of a police shooting among black people. Heterogeneity in how often police encounter people as a function of race can lead to some paradoxical outcomes in simple regression models that don’t account for the full dynamics of the system. We also need more data on individual officers. I think there are a lot of positive things to be gained from completing the US Police Shootings Database that I looked at in my PLOS article, because we can extract a lot of really decent information from news articles. This is something that anyone can take part in doing and the more people we have coding each instance, the more credible the overall dataset will be. Don: Some of it will happen from crowd sourcing, from doing scrapping every morning of yesterday’s events and I know that is going on all over the place right now. Some of this data has already been collected by police departments and not released to the public or analyzed by the police departments. That is one of the things that came out of the “Driving While Black” politics which is that many police departments collect contact data and then it just sits there and it is not analyzed by anybody. The last thing I would add is I would really love to find a way of measuring the frequency of truly racist attitudes, not just implicit bias. As discussed a few moments ago, we have seen officers in the San Francisco police department or in Ferguson get caught sending racists texts and emails. How prevalent are these kinds of attitudes among police in general? Are some departments hot-spots of these attitudes? Or are there just a handful of randomly distributed problematic officers? I like Don’s idea of looking at police responses to Black Lives Matter events in various communities. It would be interesting to see how those data relate to racial bias in shootings, because that might be an indicator of explicit bias. Would it be feasible to crowdsource data in other ways? If anyone has ideas on how to do this, I would love to hear them. Don: I think some of this could be discoverable through the data that we might have already. You wouldn’t have the implicit or explicit measure of racism if you have data on officer violence and the race of the citizen, and race of routine contacts, you can generate an officer level distribution. If the generative mechanisms implicit bias, a pretty weak causal mechanism, most officers would have low levels of violence that were closely ties to events. Killings and unarmed killings might happen, but it would be almost random, not correlated with other acts of police violence at the officer level. Deployment is a strong mechanism and we should see police violence concentrated in black neighborhoods. Explicit racism it is a strong mechanism and should produce a totally different distribution of the dependent variable, with some officers with extreme patterns. If a police force was particularly racist in its officers and/practices it should have more extreme distributions than other police forces. In Cody’s paper, it is Miami-Dade county that racial disparity is something like 23 times higher than the baseline probability. New Orleans and L.A. were also outliers in the distribution. The point is that if all we have is data on the dependent variable, police violence, we still may be able to logically identify the causal mechanism from the shape or location or the race of the distribution. We wrote a theory paper on this during the Driving While Black politics that might be of some use today.[4] Rashawn: That point Don is making is extremely important. I have a paper that will hopefully be coming out over the next several months, you know how slow peer review can be, but this paper is basically looking at the reasons why middle class Blacks are less likely to engage in physical activity in certain neighborhoods and what I find is that in predominantly white neighborhoods, Black men are less likely to engage in physical activity where in predominantly Black neighborhoods, Black women are less likely to engage in physical activity. The argument that I make in the paper is that on the one hand this has to do with criminalization in predominantly White spaces, but in predominantly Black it is a different mechanism. In Black spaces, this might become a case where it becomes more about the quantity for police officers. They know they can set up certain stops and it doesn’t necessarily matter how many people they stop, how many people they actually stop and frisk, the question is, do they eventually get someone? I think that is the key mechanism that is highly problematic. It seems that police departments are not worried about quality, they are simply worried about quantity. The problem I have is that while we focus on police killings, and rightfully so, there are thousands of people who come into contact with police officers in a given time period and have very negative interactions with police and these sort of interactions are never recorded. In fact, if we think about shootings, 75% of people who are shot actually survive. So there are a lot of people going around who have been shot by police officers. Dr. Joseph Richardson who is a professor of African American Studies here at Maryland, he has a study of the Prince George’s county hospital and his study is “Who Shot Ya?” and what he is trying to do is get a question that ER staff ask of individuals when they come in. Most people know who shot them or they think they have a good idea of who shot them. What happens is that if that question is not asked initially then it gets suppressed. Police officers come in and suppress things, individuals from the neighborhood who have shot someone else comes in and tries to suppress things and so I think there are a lot of different variables that we can bring to bear and add in. Dr. Keon Gilbert and I had a paper come out earlier this year in the Journal of Urban Health called “Why Police Kill Black Males with Impunity.” I heard that word used earlier in the conversation by Cody and I think this is something that becomes extremely important as well. How quickly are people shot and killed? We also don’t have information on that. How much are things deescalated if a person is White compared to when they are Black? So these are very important variables that we need to collect. So, my point is that we just need a general database. It is not mandated at all that police departments have to even report police killings or police violent and physical encounters with citizens. Some politicians tried to push this legislation through the Senate and Congress, but it fell on deaf ears among Republicans. It is highly problematic that we can get data on how many people catch the flu each year, but we don’t have information on how often a police officer uses or thinks they need to use physical force on a citizen. Todd: So this comes back to the idea of the body camera data, because it seems like people, whether it is the police precinct or individual officers reporting data is often in error and biased toward the police officer’s view. Body cameras and transcriptions of interactions would be data that could be analyzed independently. A lot of people bring up the expense of getting every officer in the country a body cam, but we have spent the last decade or more transferring billions of dollars worth of military equipment to local departments, surely we have funds to get body cameras. The other thing I hear coming out of this conversation is that one, there are multiple levels here. There are individual officers that may be implicitly or explicitly racially biased in favor of Whites, and we have police units within departments, Cody you mentioned these gang units, and then we have whole police departments and their policies. Don you mentioned that some today regarding the police training and Rashawn you mentioned this idea of departmental policy of getting a lot of stops in minority neighborhoods and quantity versus quality of stops. Don: I think there are other mechanisms at play as well. This is why I think it is not about an ideal dataset but rather the triangulation of lots of data. One of the things is that standard police training for citizen control is around dominance in the interaction and standard police training around the use of violence is to protect the police officers’ life at all costs. For example, a very common thing that happens in police academies is that officers learn the 20 foot rule. If a citizen has a knife and is within 20 feet of you, they can get to you before you can get your gun out and shoot them. Now this not only generates fear in the police, but it gives them license to kill. Similarly, it appears that as long as a citizen has a gun they can be killed, even in an open-carry state with a license. At least if they’re Black. I think there is a lot to be said about that kind of routine training. My feeling is that the way this happens is that there is the racism that is in the culture, there is racism that is either in the police officer or in practices of particular police departments and all of these are racialized. Then it interacts with this training which actually gives them the license to kill. Todd: Well and the law right? Because the law says that it will back up any police officer’s use of deadly force when the officer says they felt threatened. Don: Exactly, but that is also an organizational product. I think it is a mistake to think of it as “the law” because it is particular District Attorneys and Police Chiefs who are backing those officers. Most of the time it doesn’t even get to the DA level because internal reviews justify, protect offending officers. But you do not need to prosecute police to address this problem. You could behave like Richmond, CA where a new police chief comes in changes the training on acceptable violence, fires the most violent officers, and police violence plummets. Another way to think about it is that if this was private sector corporate America the kinds of behaviors that police now get away with they just couldn’t get away with. Rashawn: Don is making great points. One of the things that Keon and I do in this “Why Police Kill Black Males with Impunity” article is we try to lay out what some steps are moving forward. Collecting and analyzing data is one of the main things. Thinking about body cams is something another one. Cody mentioned that it seems to be something about Black representation in a city and I think the way we need to think about that is governmental representation, whether that be the mayor, city council members, and even the percentage of police officers who are non-White (though Black and other minority cops can definitely embrace similar ideals about Black criminality), in addition to thinking about cities that have community review boards that are separate from what is happening at the government level. Instead, it is a community group that comes together to evaluate all violent interactions between police officers and citizens. We need to figure out if these are factors that potentially change some of the outcomes in the racial disparities that we see in police shootings. I think that something that we really need to focus on is that the rise in the police killings over the past couple of decades… criminologists will also say that it has a lot to do with the ways that “stand your ground” laws have taken off across the US. If we think about these laws which allow citizens… if they fear someone, that was one of the first things we heard mentioned in this conversation… if fear can be used as a defense then we are definitely moving in the wrong direction. People are trying to figure out, if crime is going down, if police officers being killed is going down, then why are police killings of citizens going up? Part of this has to do with the policy changes that were enacted in the late 1990s that has led to this increase. If an everyday citizen can take the law into their own hands when no one has done anything physically to them, imagine what we allow police officers to do. We really have to get to a point where we change the policies, whether that be variables included in an ideal data set and looking at specific polices at the county and state level. If there are policies at the state level that are being mandated across the state, then some of these patterns Cody mentioned are making sense. We really have to look at changes in the policies over the last couple of decades that have led to the reversal of the patterns that have led to what we are seeing today. Dr. Abigail Sewell is leading a charge for the Race and Policing Project to compile the best empirical data on police interactions with citizens. It is becoming the go-to source. [Also see Dr. Sewell’s recent guest post on this blog critiquing the methods used in Ronald Fryer’s recent research and calling for more interdisciplinary research on racial bias and the use of lethal force by police.] Todd: So, one addition to the ideal data set might be whether or not it is a “stand your ground” state? Rashawn: Exactly. Don: One of the things that I worry about here, and it comes from my own personal guilt, from being part of the academics that were mobilized around the “Driving While Black” politics. One of the things that happened there is that in the end we wrote some really good peer reviewed papers that came out after the politics had exhausted themselves. Police and state legislatures produced a kind of legitimacy-creating device by collecting police-citizen contact data, which then were left unanalyzed. So in some sense the social scientists left it to the police to police themselves and that was a mistake. One of the things we have discovered through the Black Lives Matter movement is the real importance of collecting data ourselves and to relying on official statistics. The FBI does not collect data on police violence. It turns out that a British newspaper, The Guardian, collected starting in 2015 the best data we have so far on police-citizen killings in the U.S. Some academics are doing this now, most note-worthy is Chris Smith at UC-Davis. We have to make sure that continues and that it is not just a short-term academic response to politics. We can’t evaluate if things are getting better or worse now. The really fundamental questions –how do you stop this violent policing? Is racial disparity getting better or worse? Even what predicts police violence or racial disparity? All require long-term data collections. I do fear that the academics who are excited about this now may lose interest when the politics wane. When that happens it will be up to the FBI and local police to police themselves and that would be really a terrible shame. [4] Donald Tomaskovic-Devey, Marcinda Mason and Matthew Zingraff, 2004. “Looking for the Driving While Black Phenomena: Conceptualizing Racial Bias Processes and their Associated Distributions.” Police Quarterly. 7:3-29. [6] Gilbert, Keon L. and Rashawn Ray. 2016. “Why Police Kill Black Males with Impunity: Applying Public Health Critical Race Praxis (PHCRP) to Address the Determinants of Policing Behaviors and “Justifiable’’ Homicides in the USA.” Journal of Urban Health 93(1):122–40. Retrieved ( Teach well, it matters. . . . Addendum from readers’ comments and recent events: In a recent turn, the US federal government will require police departments to track and report deadly incidents involving officers. The reporting will be required quarterly. The data collection will be done by the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics. Prior to this, no national level data has been collected. Starting at the beginning of 2015, The Guardian newspaper started scraping daily news reports and used reader reporting to keep track of the incidents where police used lethal force on citizens. See some analysis of the 2015 data in a previous post on this blog. Also see a classroom assignment for teaching Excel basics using the 2016 data up to August. Additionally, the Washington Post also started collecting data on police shootings in 2015 and the crowd-sourced web site, Killed By Police, has been collecting data since mid-2013. Additionally, Fatal Encounters, is trying to log all encounters where police used lethal force going back to 2000. It has some interesting mapping tools and visualizations of the data as well. Previous federally collected data from individual police departments, which are city, county or state level, was voluntarily reported, lacked consistent definitions of events, and did not contain any data on citizens killed by police. Screen Shot 2016-08-09 at 7.40.11 AM Screen Shot 2016-07-26 at 11.41.11 AM . . . Screen Shot 2016-07-26 at 11.44.52 AM . . . Screen Shot 2016-07-26 at 11.48.02 AM . . .
Trees May Have a “Heartbeat” Photo: AustralianLight It seems like every day we’re learning something new about how plants and people aren’t so different. We’ve already told you about how plants can hear when they are being eaten, and how grass screams every time you cut it. Now, it turns out trees seem to have a heartbeat — and they don’t even have hearts. Tree Still, My Beating Heart There is a certain rhythm to life. Humans tend to wake up in the morning and go back to sleep at night based on a cycle we call a circadian rhythm. Other patterns, like your digestive cycle and the rhythm of your breathing, are faster than the rising and the setting of the sun. And then there’s your heartbeat, pounding faithfully away more than 2 billion times through your life. Scientists have known about some of the slower rhythms in a tree’s life cycle, but a new study has shown that at least some trees seem to have a “heartbeat” that has a similar purpose to yours: it pumps fluids throughout the tree’s “body.” Speaking with New Scientist, study lead András Zlinszky discussed how this new conception of plant physiology differed from older models. According to the conventional interpretation, the higher parts of the tree are reliant entirely on water collecting and eventually evaporating on the lower leaves. But when Zlinszky and his colleague Anders Barfod examined 22 different species of trees in windless, sunless conditions, they found the branches would move on their own over the course of several hours. That’s slow enough to miss, but it’s a lot faster than any previous biological process we’d spotted in our tree friends. That slow pattern made the researchers think the evaporation theory couldn’t hold water, and a pulse-like pattern might be a better explanation. Or, in the man’s own words, “We’ve discovered that most trees have regular periodic changes in shape, synchronised across the whole plant and shorter than a day-night cycle, which imply periodic changes in water pressure.” The exciting part is that we might have a new explanation for a part of plant physiology that never quite sat right with botanists. But the bad news is that we still don’t know exactly how it works. Citing the fact that researchers have recorded tree trunks shrinking up to 0.5 millimeters over the course of a day, the researchers suggest that this might be part of the mechanism that would squeeze water up the trunk of the tree. In any case, there’s a lot more to learn about how the whole thing works. Trees Catching Z’s This wasn’t the first time Zlinszky dove deep into the surprising activity going on deep in the forest. In 2016, he measured trees’ circadian rhythms and discovered that the branches of birch trees would dip as much as 10 centimeters (4 inches) every single night. That drooping might be a matter of photosynthesis dropping off when the sun’s not out, but Zlinszky suggests it might also be a result of trees relaxing at night. If trees are stiffening their branches to catch the most rays as possible during the day, then they might let go of that tension at night in order to rejuvenate. Then, in the morning, it’s time to stretch out again. Kinda gives a whole new meaning to “tree pose.” Source : Be the first to comment Leave a Reply Your email address will not be published. nineteen + four =
Thursday, October 12, 2006 WXPN (Philadelphia): Top 885 Artists Take a look at this. These staff and artists' lists are absolutely ridiculous (in general). I know it’s not the “official” list, but I’m still bothered. I’ve been unraveled all day. I've been trying to figure out why this type of thing bothers me so much, and, I realize, it's not because there are stupid people in this world, it's that they put stupid people in positions where they can influence others - meaning, the stupid make others stupid. "Stupid" may be a harsh word, but anyone who considers Los Lobos or Guster to be a greater artist than Beethoven or Bach is, well, stupid. A programming director or a sales director at a radio station simply should not be this ignorant about music. They have direct influence over what people hear and buy, and people in those roles should take it upon themselves, if not already mandated by those higher up, to own up to that responsibility. It's because of these very people that Guster achieves the popularity that they do and furthermore that a band like that can sell out the new amphitheater at Chicago's Meigs Field (7500 capacity) while a remarkably talented band like The Secret Machines don't even sell out 2/3 of Park West (900 capacity). Now don't get me wrong, to a certain degree, I was happy it didn't sell out because I got a chance to go without having to pay through the roof, but this ignorance directly affects the state of music out there, and I think that's what bothers me. I believe it to be one of the key factors for the prevailing idea that "today's radio sucks." Furthermore, I take classical music very seriously. I have studied it my entire life, as a performer and as an appreciator. It's one thing to say I'm bothered that classical composers don't get respect in today's times - there's little that can be done about that, short of education. What does bother me, however, is the general patronization of the genre and its participants - that people today think because they can sing the first 4 notes of Beethoven's 5th, they are suddenly fans. If you're going to put a list together of the top N music artists of all time, you better get people who know what they're talking about together, and actually have classical music afficianados in the same room as rock critics. Don't just have someone who says "I've seen Amadeus, and it was a good movie, so Mozart must've been a genius! Best ever!" Maybe this particular list doesn't do that (most people just left classical composers out altogether), but I see it and hear it so often these days - educated people who don't realize how pretentious that type of behavior is. It's okay to admit you don't know a lot about the genre, but you do enjoy a few of the more popular works. Just don't pretend that you're some sort of expert because you saw a movie, or took Classical Music Appreciation 101 for a semester back at college. You waste others' time and only make yourself look like more of an ass. However, why do I think that this list, or the idea of it, isn't as ridiculous as it sounds? Well, I do agree that it's difficult, if not impossible, to compare artists across genres. Is Tool's "Aenima" even comparable to Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue"? It might sound futile, but I my whole thesis in music is that I do believe that they are comparable. I believe that music over the last 300 years has followed from a common, describable, music language, and that you can put Beethoven, Gershwin, Dylan, and the Sex Pistols in the same sentence and have a meaningful discussion. Remember that music fundamentally comes down to the same building blocks: melody, harmony, rhythm, tone, lyrics, form, improvisation, etc. Such that the same technique that allows us to translate English to French allows us to understand music across generations. Not only do I think you can compare artists and works across genre, I think it's important you do so, in order to better understand music and discover new forms of music for the future. As an example, Bach perfected the use of the I-IV-V chord cadence almost 300 years ago, and still today it's one of the most common chord progressions in rock music. I once read an article with a jazz bassist (Charlie Haden) who said "...Bach was my main influence, because the bass lines he wrote were so deep and moving. Bach was the best bass player ever." I agree. The strongest musicians of today are the ones who are in touch with those of yesterday, who understand the theory and styles invented by their fathers, and extend from that base set. The best way to explain why Beethoven was so great was to look at how he took the music before him and changed it forever for those who follow. To say that comparing Beethoven to Bach is futile is to forget that fact. Likewise, to say that you can't compare rock to jazz or classical is to say that rock doesn't have a relationship to classical, which is not true at its deepest levels. As a result, I don't mind the idea of putting together this list. I think about these things all the time to help me understand music deeper. Furthermore, the reason I am so adamant about Bach or Beethoven at the top of the list is that they invented or mastered so much of what we know of in even today's music - melodies, harmonies, rhythms, etc. They were the fathers. Almost everything we know and hear today derives from their work; today's music owes everything to them. Therefore, it is insane to ignore them from the top 2. And if you're in any sort of influential position in the music industry, you know better than that. Go ahead and put together the list. But get the right people in the room and put together an intelligent list. You owe your audience more. You owe yourself more. Post a Comment << Home
Tip Of The Day - #6 Discussion in 'Microphones (live or studio)' started by hargerst, Feb 28, 2001. 1. hargerst hargerst Distinguished Member Jan 28, 2001 The Lost Cord How many times have you gone searching for a longer guitar cord (or just one that works), or wished the headphone cord was slightly (or a lot) longer? If you say not many, you ain't a pro yet. <g> Happens all the time. Sometimes you need to stick the singer in the bathroom with a mic and a set of headphones, cuz that's where he/she wants to sing, but the headphones won't reach. Whadaya do? If you're smart, you have some of these handy: They're XLR to 1/4" TRS, with the Tip wired to Pin 2, the Ring wired to Pin 3, and the Sleeve wired to Pin 1. Need a long guitar cord in a hurry? Grab a M/F XLR pair (with male 1/4" ends), a standard mic cable, and bingo, instant long cord. Need a long headphone extension cord? Grab a M/F pair, a mic cable and you're in business. Don't wanna run long separate cords on stage or in the studio? No problem, Use these on your snake into an empty channel to get a guitar or bass into the board without running another long cable. Switchcraft makes all of these adaptors, and when you really need them, they'll save your ass every time. 2. I'm with ya on this one. However, what's kinda funny is how in my experience it's the pro studios that lack these interconnects while the semi-pros have scads of them. One more very useful thing with these is using them to interface from your mic snake to with your headphone amps. (unless you have cool old ones like my Valley Audios--which use XLR) 3. hollywood_steve hollywood_steve Active Member Jan 3, 2001 Like a lot of people, I just never got around to laying out the $50 to $100 that it would cost for a full set of these adapters. (they ain't cheap - up to $12/ea). But when Yale Electronics closed up their Sunset Blvd store in Hollywood, I spent three days lugging stuff home from their "closing sale', including a large bag filled with the Switchcraft adapters. In the ensuing 5 months or so, I have not worked even one day in my studio without using at least one or two of these things. Must haves... 4. SonOfSmawg SonOfSmawg Well-Known Member Sep 10, 2000 I've got a couple of just about every adapter and connector known to man! OK, so I exadgerate a little...(did I spell that right?) Nothing pisses me off worse than having to run down to Radio Shack to pick-up a crappy, over-priced doo-hickey to make something work. Unfortunately, it's often either make the trip, settle on not doing the thing you're trying to do, or say "screw it" and go fishing... My collection of 'gadgets' has been invaluable at times, sometimes 'saving the day'. There's some stuff in there that sits for years, only to be resurrected for another odd purpose one day, saving me yet another long delay of a trip to R.S... "You need to plug WHAT into WHAT?...Yeah, I think I can do that..." <<<Sssss...BANG>>> Just be careful what you connect... 5. Ang1970 Ang1970 Well-Known Member Sep 5, 2000 Originally posted by The Kooch: However, what's kinda funny is how in my experience it's the pro studios that lack these interconnects while the semi-pros have scads of them. In my experience, the bigger studios have all of these things, but it does sometimes take longer for the assistant to hunt one down than for me to fire up trusty Wenger and make it myself. LOL 6. anonymous anonymous Guests Feb 10, 2001 In my workbox, drawer 3 are all kinds of wonderful adapters, turnarounds, pads, variable attenuators, Pin-1 lifts, "Y" cables, etc. Of these, I find I use the 'polarity reversal' cables most often, second comes the "Y" cables. Here's a neat "Y" cable trick...you make them with 2 A3M's and 2 A3F's...that way you can use them as a "Y" in either direction, as 'male to male' or 'female to female' turnarounds, and on the ultimately rare occasion, as a three output "mult" cable. Having taken the time to put all these together [I carry 1/2 a dozen of each, except polarity reverse cables, there are a dozen of those] I have found saved me more time than expended, when I need one, it doesn't interupt the flow of the session, because I know exactly where they are. For additional convenience, they're all 'color coded' as well...so separating who does what is a snap. Alot of the "active" adapters [filters, attenuators, etc.] are built into 'barrel connectors', these are all neatly labeled with "P-touch", unless it's brutally obvious what they do [i.e. "turnarounds"]. Share This Page Dismiss Notice
The following is a post written by Natalie Hill in collaboration with Kevin Kusunoki. They both serve on staff at Chi Alpha at American University and share a passion for worship. Kevin and I are passionate about developing a culture of worship. It's easy to think worship is just the words on the screen on Sunday mornings or Thursday nights, but worship is much more than that. David Crowder talks about developing a habit of praise, much like the Psalmists in the Bible. We believe music has a way of breaking down walls and opening hearts, so we're exploring how we can encourage a culture of worship that's outside of our normal worship services. As John Mark McMillan said, "Worship isn't just singing, but thank God it's also singing." So we're going to be posting Spotify playlists with different genres of music every other week this summer and expanding our view of what worship really is. We'll start next week, we'd love for you to follow us as we explore how music can be used to worship our Savior!
Achaean League From Conservapedia Jump to: navigation, search In classical mythology, which is the only source, the Achaean League was an alliance of the strongest of the Greek city-states and territories near the onset of the last millennium BC. The chief source for this is Homer (The Iliad and The Odyssey). According to Homer and other ancient sources, the Achaean League included: On or about 1032 BC, Paris, son of Priam, king of Troy, visited Sparta on a trade expedition. There he met Helen of Troy, wife and consort to Menelaus. The sketchier account suggests he abducted her, but most scholars of the Trojan War (who now consider this war a real event) say Helen ran away with Paris. In any event, Menelaus immediately called upon his allies to help him get his queen back. And so the forces of the Achaean League, with Agamemnon in overall command, set out to conquer Troy. Because Troy sat on the narrow passage between the Mediterranean Sea and the Euxine Sea (today called the Black Sea), most scholars suggest the overriding motivation was that the Achaean kings resented having to pay toll to the Trojans to gain access to the Euxine Sea and wanted to put an end to that practice. This Trojan War, of course, lasted for ten years. And the return voyage was, if anything, more disastrous than the losses the Achaeans sustained in their ten-year siege of the city.
ABBYY has been being doing optical character recognition software since forever, but it’s now brought its software to mobile. If you want to capture text and make it actionable (click on links or ping out to map directions) this is an extremely useful app. Its new ABBYYs TextGrabber 6.0 for iOS has just gone live on the Apple App store and it has real-time recognition capabilities and a completely re-designed interface. The app can read text of any color from any background either via a photo or in real-time, with the recognition performed ‘on device’. Incredibly, it doesn’t even require an Internet connection. It will read 61 languages, the biggest number on the market in its category, and can capture text so it can be copied, edited, shared, or translated into 104 languages or even read using VoiceOver. Point the app at some text and all the links, phone numbers, email addresses, street addresses and event details become clickable. It also works as a QR code reader. This app is especially useful if you travel as it will translate text into your language of choice. Restaurant menus, anyone? The new features use ABBYY’s proprietary Real-Time Recognition SDK. No photos are stored on your device, so you could use it in high security environments. TextGrabber for iOS is available on the App Store for free until June 29 and usually costs $4.99. Translation is available as a separate in-app purchase for $3.99.
Wine Tips & Tricks Do Organic Wines Age Well? My favorite grocery store in Seattle offers mostly organic products but when I get to the wine section, there is a noticeable lack of organic offerings. What gives? Turns out, the answer to this question ends up being a little more complicated than one might think – for a good reason too. How long do organic wines last? Here’s the clincher: organic wines do not typically age well. This rule specifically applies to USDA organic wines (and not EU organic-see below). Thus, treat USDA wines as “drink now” wines and enjoy them immediately! Why don’t USDA organic wines age well? USDA Organic wines have several specifications, one of them includes the requirement of no added sulfur (sulfites). Now, this might sound awesome to you as the idea of any additives in wine (especially sulfites) sounds gross. However, the requirement turns out to be the reason why US wines are rarely labeled organic. You might be asking… What do sulfites have to do with this?! During the winemaking process, yeast eats sugars and produces alcohol and the liquid naturally heats up. This is around the time when most winemakers opt to add a little SO2 to control bacterial growth while the wine is in the “danger zone.” When the alcohol fermentation is finally completed, wines are stored in cooler temperatures and the opportunity for bacterial growth is greatly reduced. Basically, small amounts of sulfur are sometimes added during transitional times in the wine cellar (such as fermentation, transfering wine, and bottling) which are the points when wine can be exposed to yucky bacteria. And while organic winemakers have greatly improved processes for filtering wines post-production (which help filter out the schmutz), just a few leftover bacteria can deteriorate a wine more quickly after it’s bottled. Also, bacterial growth during winemaking can cause off-flavors, which can’t really be filtered out. Louis Pasteur’s illustrations of bacteria colonies in beer Modern Technology vs. Old School Science A sizable amount of research has gone into developing an alternative to SO2. Thus far, nothing competes with sulfur’s natural ability to preserve and not alter the flavor of wine (when used properly). Sulfur has been used in preservation for thousands of years. Unfortunately, a small percentage of the population is sensitive to sulfites creating a need to preserve foods using different methods. So, what do I do if I still want to drink organic wine? You have a few options: 1. Treat USDA organic wines just like other grocery items that have an expiration date with about a 3–6 month timeline. Organic wines have been lasting longer and longer, but for now, this is a safe bet. 2. Seek out wines that are labeled “Made with Organic Grapes.” These words have to be approved by USDA and require that the grapes are farmed organically. Then, the wines are limited to sulfur additions of 100 ppm (conventional is up to 350 ppm, which is the same as a can of Coca-Cola). 3. Seek out EU organic wines (All EU countries). The EU has more lenient restrictions on sulfur additions which are similar (slightly higher) than “made with organic grapes.” Options 2 and 3 will get you into wines that are built (at least chemically speaking) to stand the test of time. You can do better than organic What you might not know is that organic farming has no restrictions based on environmental sustainability (water use, use of organic pesticides, etc). So, if you’re really looking to make a sea change with how you shop, start looking into sustainable wines. We wrote a primer article which explains many of the best sustainability programs in the US and beyond. And yes, these wines can age too! Better Than Organic: Sustainability and Wine About Madeline Puckette
Polarity Integrator From Ascension Glossary Jump to: navigation, search The Principle of the Vesica Pisces geometry is bi-wave or polarity. The overlapping space between the two spaces of polarity is known as the cosmic womb and is the Mother principle in creation. From the cosmic womb, everything else emerges, the rest of the geometric principles and shapes and numbers are born. The process of Polarity Integration is the process of merging the duad from the extreme of opposite poles in an attempt to attract to each other in so a merge may occur and return the poles into the state of balance and unity in triad. In this process of being a Polarity Integrator we are healing the Mother principle in matter and the Father principle in his pattern or Blueprint. The triad or tri-unity is the symbolic base of our divinity. The wholeness of the Universe is a Triad ( See Threefold Founder Flame ) that mediates our return to energetic balance and transmits the Sacred Geometry which brings forth our inner perfection and completion that perpetually returns us back to the Godhead. The mastery over the Pain Body and Negative Ego is a direct reflection of the level of Spiritual Maturity achieved within a being. However the only way to heal, rehabilitate this emotional damage that creates pain is to have the courage to face it without judgment. It also requires that one have an accurate assessment of this reality, to understand the Ascension cycle and Extradimensional dynamics of the NAA and Mind Control, in so one can live in the matter world and not be impacted by it negatively. This is the path of the Starseed and Polarity Integrator. [1] Law of Polarity Starseed Galactic Agreements This is a phase of great remembrance for the Starseed, as we are entering now the beginning of this Galactic consciousness cycle (Circa 2008). Many more of us with off planet agreements finally remember who we are and why we incarnated on the earth at this time. This will rapidly grow to expand to include many more awakenings in this year. The group of this Galactic Spiritual Hierarchy Externalized (either by walk in or rapid ascension activation) has learned to embody polarity integration through the process of Alchemy that exists in this 3D system of darkness and light. This soul mission was not what seemed to be a personality chosen existence and has created much pain and confusion for the burgeoning consciousness of the "polarity integrator" Starseed. This Galactic group of Starseeds (and Indigo 3's) have incarnated purposely with this task of embodying a template of polarity integration by healing it through reconciliation with the pairs of opposites. This can only be made possible by the full embodiment of these intense polarity forces and related experiences that often made many in this soul group feel a burden they were unable to express in words. They had to find the deepest level of compassionate force for themselves (and the human race) to perform the Inner Alchemy required to transform and heal the Pain Body. This is the process necessary to heal the race memory and genetic template form of the human being so that it could move from a bi-wave energy being - a polarity charged electro-magnetic form - to the energetically complete level as a "Trinitized Form". The Trinitized Form is a Tri-wave field form and is "neutral", without polarity charge. The 3D human Lightbody has been operating at a polarity charged wave level with Bi-Wave Influences of Mind Control reincarnating into the Astral Plane repeatedly for the last 11,500 years. This recycling of Soul's is what drives and keeps humans operating in the Atlantian Program.[2] See Also Indigo 3 Contract Term first found: Page 63, HGS Manual
204: America Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb. Jump to: navigation, search The younger folk in the audience think this is a joke. Title text: The younger folk in the audience think this is a joke. On April 20, 1979, U.S. President Jimmy Carter was allegedly "attacked by a giant swimming rabbit" while solo-fishing on a boat in his hometown. The reality is a little more nuanced: According to Carter, the rabbit had actually been chased into the water by some hounds and swam near his boat. Carter splashed some water on it to compel the rabbit not to come any closer. Nevertheless, the newspapers ate it up, reveling in the ridiculous notion that anyone would feel threatened by a rabbit (considered to be a small, harmless herbivore[citation needed]), with respected paper The Washington Post putting the story "President Attacked by Rabbit" on the front page. Since the White House refused to release the photograph, the paper created a cartoon parody of the rabbit, calling it PAWS, in reference to the blockbuster film JAWS, about a killer shark. Carter's opponents used it as fodder for their arguments that Carter's presidency was weak and ineffectual, and basically, the whole thing was blown way out of proportion by the American media, as so often happens with goofy events such as this. This comic treats the Killer Rabbit attack as a dark day for the United States and uses the phrase "America Must Never Forget," which usually applies to days like the Pearl Harbor attack or 9/11. It essentially shows that, for the entire history of the United States (which starts with the signing of the Declaration of Independence), it is the only event worth remembering. The rabbit incident is also referenced in 1688: Map Age Guide. The title text is an assumption that the event has not been remembered in the way the comic jokes that it should have been, and as a result, younger readers will think he is kidding when he says Carter was attacked by a rabbit. [A timeline with only three ticks with years noted. Each tick is labeled with a line going to the tick. The second tick is much closer to the last on the right and has its year written below the line. The other two have it above the line and vice versa with the labels. Below in the middle there is a caption.] Declaration of independence Jimmy Carter attacked by giant swimming rabbit. Present day America must never forget. I must admit, as a "younger" reader I thought that this was a joke. 18:33, 22 May 2014 (UTC) To add some further "nuance" to this story: As noted above, at the time of the event the "newspapers ate [the story] up". But to give another perspective on this... At the time when this story originally broke I was living in a somewhat rural area, and this story was greeted with a shrug by virtually everyone I knew. In short, anyone familiar with being in the woods understands that they should constantly be on the alert for any abnormal behavior by a wild animal since this can be a pretty clear indication of rabies. This is particularly true of any behavior that can interpreted in any way as aggressive --especially such unexpected behavior as a (small) animal moving towards a human being. Needless to say, the described behavior --both swimming and moving towards a human-- is clearly bizarre behavior for an animal like a rabbit. Among my neighbors at the time the fact Carter attempted to distance himself from the rabbit (or indeed any wild animal behaving in a similar manner) was seen simply as common sense practiced by someone like Carter; i.e. an experienced woodsman. In short the "Killer Rabbit Attack" headlines were seen as evidence those who wrote these stories had never been near the woods in their life. Arcanechili (talk) 13:25, 15 October 2014 (UTC) Well, also: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nvs5pqf-DMA
7650 S. McClintock Dr. Tempe, AZ 85284 (480) 775-2891 Copyright 2013. Sunflower Pet Supply . All Rights Reserved. Monday-Friday: 10:00 - 6:00 Saturday: 10:00 - 5:00 Closed Sundays Sunflower Pet Supply When purchasing your next pet PLEASE consider adopting! These pets desperately need loving homes. Most pet store puppies and kitties are from puppy mills/kitty mills where the animals live in terrible, inhumane conditions. Purchasing from pet stores just keeps those mills in business, and the cycle continues. Please either adopt your next pet or purchase from a reputable breeder. Here are some rescue groups: 1. Halo Animal Rescue 2. Paw Placement 3. Arizona Animal Welfare League 4. Animal Loving Friends Rescue 5. Lost Our Home Pet Foundation 6. Rovers Rest Stop
Fred And Friends Pizza Peddler Rolling Cutter For all intents and purposes, the Pizza Peddler Rolling Cutter won't slice up your freshly-based crusts any faster or more efficiently than other cutting blades in the market. However, it should make the job a lot less boring, with a goofy-looking circus monkey sitting on a unicycle providing the entertainment. The monkey is made from washable silicone, with a stainless steel wheel for cutting through those mounds of cheese layered over a crispy crust. Expect retail price to be around $17.95.
Wednesday, 22 February 2012 Meeting with Jenny Willot: ESA and the WCA As promised, here is what happened at my meeting with Jenny Willott MP. Because so much was discussed, I’m going to be splitting up my account of it into different blogposts each dealing with a particular topic as well as a summary blogpost at the end. This blogpost covers the time limiting of contributory ESA and the Work Capability Assessments. I met Jenny Willott in her office in Portcullis House. Also present was her young son (who spent the duration of the meeting fidgeting on Jenny’s lap) and Giles Derrington, Jenny’s Parliamentary Researcher, who knows the details of the Welfare Reform Bill inside and out. The first thing I did at the meeting was to give Jenny a draft copy of the emergency motion which I intend to submit to Spring Conference (really need to sought out getting the signatories for it). After that I started asking various questions about the impact of the Welfare Reform Bill to make sure that there was no confusion and that I’d got all my facts right. This was where I got the first bit of good-ish news. The DWP’s impact assessment of the impact of time limiting contributory ESA said that 280,000 sick and disabled people in the Work Related Activity Group would lose ESA entirely by 2015 as a result of the time limit. This is something that I’ve felt is probably one of the worst and least justifiable elements of the bill. However, according to Jenny and Giles, this impact assessment was done without taking into effect the impact of the introduction of Universal Credit in October 2013. I (and I think a lot of other campaigners as well) was under the impression that Universal Credit wouldn’t be introduced until 2015 which would mean that, while Universal Credit will offset a lot of the impact of the time limit, there’d be a three year gap between it being introduced and the impact of the time limit – meaning that 280,000 vulnerable people would be left without support. But, if Universal Credit is introduced in October 2013 then that means that the gap shrinks to one year and seven months. Taking the DWP impact assessment of 200,000 people being affected by the time limit by 2012/13, and 400,000 by 2013/14, of whom 30% will lose ESA entirely, and doing some rough calculations (assuming that the number effected will only be 300,000 with Universal Credit coming in halfway through 2013/14) then that means the number who will lose ESA entirely because of the time limit drops down to about 90,000 people. These 90,000 will be the ones who have household savings of £16,000+ or a household income above a minimum of £7,500. However, because the threshold is so low, some of those affected will be earning considerably more than £7,500 which means that the number whose lives will be genuinely damaged by the time limit will be at least a bit less than 90,000. I’m still convinced it’s utterly immoral and wrong to penalise people just because their partner works, especially after they’ve been paying in National Insurance contributions all their lives, but less than 90,000 being hurt is at least a little bit less awful than 280,000 being hurt. Why the government couldn’t have let the public know about this, and possibly reduced the number of people being terrified that they might be one of those caught out, I don’t know. Not to mention that campaigners, like myself, would probably have welcomed finding out that the situation wasn’t quite as bad as we’d feared if only someone from government had bothered to tell us. And, for the record, vague assurances by Lord Freud that everything will be fine do not count. Anyway, I pointed out to Jenny that the time limit would (and will) still mean that at least some people would be forced into poverty because of the time limit but she objected rather strongly to this by asserting that housing benefit and tax credits would prevent anyone affected from being forced into actual poverty. I’m sure that that’s the theory but, to be honest, I highly doubt that things will work out nice and cleanly like that in real life. And I still don’t see that as any kind of justification for what is, at the end of the day, financially penalising people for a) being too sick or disabled to work and b) having a partner working more than 24 hours a week at the minimum wage. I did also ask whether the government would be doing a revised impact assessment to which the answer was no due to the government preferring to see the impact of the changes as they are implemented. I think this is utterly stupid as MPs and peers should know what the impact of legislation will be before they vote on it but this way of doing things is apparently standard government practice. The next point I made was that a lot of these people affected by this shouldn’t be in the Work Related Activity Group in the first place but are in it because of the broken nature of the Work Capability Assessment which, in turn, is being fixed by the annual Harrington reports. But, because the Harrington Reports aren’t due to be completed until 2015, the WCA won’t be fixed until then at the earliest – despite the time limit coming in (as I already said) from April this year, meaning that people will be deprived of support on the basis of an assessment system that isn’t working. Jenny’s response was that the DWP has now changed the nature of the Harrington reports so that any recommendations made by Professor Harrington are implemented as soon as physically possible after he proposes them. In fact, according to Jenny, he’s now actually got an office at the DWP so that he can hand recommendations to the DWP without any delay as soon as he’s written them. At the moment he’s meant to be looking at the descriptors which determine whether someone passes the Atos assessment or not and is looking at ways to make the whole Atos assessment much more flexible. And, believe it or not, apparently IDS and Grayling genuinely want to improve the WCA (probably because of the PR nightmare it is) so the recommendations should all be implemented. Again, however, it seems that the public and campaigners have been left in the dark about the shift in the workings of the Harrington reports. God knows why as I imagine that most campaigners and disabled people would be very happy to engage more and sooner if they knew that recommendations they help contribute to will be implemented as soon as Harrington makes them. Also, according to Jenny, some of the changes made to the WCA have already made a difference in the sense that the number of successful appeals against decisions is falling (which hopefully means that the decisions are more accurate. Three changes that have been made so far are that the WCA as a whole doesn’t depend pretty much entirely on the Atos assessment, that people going for assessments have the right to demand a recording is made of the interview and to bring an advocate (who can be anyone they want) into an interview with them. On the other hand, quite a few Atos staff have been saying to people this isn’t allowed so, if you ask to bring an advocate in with you and they refuse you then you shouldn’t tolerate it as they’ve got no right to do so. Another change is that people whose condition has deteriorated by the time they’ve reached the end of the contributory ESA will be able to reapply for it. As I said to Jenny, that’s not much good to people whose condition has remained stable but still prevents them from work but, unfortunately, this isn’t something that the DWP is going to budge on. And, of course, people using these new rights is heavily dependent on them knowing that they have the rights in the first place – something which I pointed out at the meeting. And, in fairness to Jenny, she did acknowledge this and does hope to do something about it – what precisely she intends to do is something I’ll cover in a separate update. So that’s the good news, such as it is, in this update. Now for the bad news. Basically, the time limit in its current form is here to stay. This is because the treasury worked out exactly how much each department should spend in the Comprehensive Spending Review and won’t budge any further. And, since the DWP has already had to accept some amendments to the Welfare Reform Bill which reduce the depth of cuts (though not by much) they’ve already forced the treasury to give them some more money. But, as a result, the Treasury now apparently won’t give a penny extra to the DWP. The only way it could do so is, in my opinion, if there was enough political will to force it to do so. But, unless a substantial chunk of tories decide to side with Lib Dems on this, then that’s not going to be possible. Because of that, the only way to prevent the time limiting is to find the £1.6 billion it will save from elsewhere in the DWP. And that then leads us onto the political dimension of all this which is something I’ll cover in another update given how long this one has already become. 1. I am sorry George but I for one don't think it is good news that you also seem to have given up on the ESA Time Limit. It is still not acceptable that the Lib Dems didn't and obviously have no intention to abide by your motion passed at the Lib Dem Conference. It seems that the only hope for disabled people now is Pat's Petition. Please sign Pat's Petition and get every one else to sign at 2. So does this mean that you will not be submitting the emergency motion to conference with regard to the ESA Time Limit? 3. Of course I'm still going to be submitting the emergency motion. But sadly and infuriatingly I don't think the government looks likely to give any ground on the time limit. As such the best we can do is to hold them account for what they've done. 1. WHEN are the gvt going to deal with the UNPAID CORPORATE TAXES which could fund the DWP for several years???????? THIS is madness when so much is owed and the poorest and most vulnerable people in the country are suffering and EVERYONE is missing THE point which clearly is that the so called budget isn't enough SO make the corporate tax dodgers pay up, INCREASE the DWP budget and STOP terrifying the chronically sick & disabled people of the UK.. IS THIS not yet another example of why the rulers of the country should NOT be millionaires???? Mo 4. I'm sure we could find that £1.6bn by means testing income support and.pension credit. By dialling it to the richest 50% we'd save enough money to win compromises on disability benefits. 1. Yeah, but as I found out at the meeting, pensions fall under the purview of the treasury and so runs into the same problem that I mentioned. According to Giles, he's been through the DWP with a fine tooth comb trying to find the £1.6 billion from somewhere else but hasn't been able to do so - which then begs the question of who the hell decided that the treasury should be able to have the final say on an issue as important as disability benefits? The answer to which, of course, is that it was Messrs Cameron, Osborne, Clegg and, to a lesser extent, Alexander. I still don't see why the money couldn't be raised from outside the department though - the way I see it, it would be perfectly feasible if their was the political will there to do it. But there isn't and that's what we must hold the government accountable for. 5. Erm, did Jenny explain to you exactly HOW UC would affect the time limit? Only you'll either be put into the WRAG or you won't - UC will have no affect whatever on that. I will either be acknowledged as having an illness in the system or I won't - UC won't affect that. I will either lose ESA after 1 year or I won't - how on earth does UC won't affect that. Now why, I wonder, if things are so much better than they thought won't they be doing an impact assessment??? (Remember the IA actually says that 700,000 will be affected by the limit to some degree)It couldn't be because they're erm... not could it? As I understand, I will still have a WCA under UC. IU will still be found either fit for work or put into the support group or the WRAG. If it's the WRAG I will still only receive ESA "credits" for one year. Now under UC, my income might not be affected when the year is up - as yet I have no idea, but that doesn't mean fewer people are affected by the time limit in any way possible as far as I can see. Sorry George, but I think you've been sold a complete pup. To be convinced, I would need to see a new IA (after all, this from Jenny implies the original is utterly wrong) I will get the "welfare wonks" onto this - you know I never make a fuss until I have all the facts, but I thin perhaps someone wants to make very sure there is no repeat of last year's conference when Whoops! grassroots members dared to think for themselves and make life a bit tricky for the powers that be. 1. I agree completely with Sue, need to see facts! Don't back down George! No money, bullshit take it from the top where the problem started. It makes no sense at all to take money from the bottom up when the money isn't there to begin with; it doesn't take a brain surgeon to know that lives will be irreparable damaged and lost. Sorry for the rant, but this has gone beyond ridiculous now. 2. Don't worry Sue, I do agree with you - it can't be right to take money away from people arbitrarily after one year. But hopefully the UC will mean that the impact of the change won't be quite as devastating for some people as previously thought. That still doesn't justify it though. The problem I had at the meeting was that I went in with the 280,000 figure and, having that pulled out from under my feet in the first couple of minutes, while also being conscious of only having half an hour to raise all sorts of different issues, meant that, I'm rather ashamed to admit, I couldn't think of the arguments to use to challenge her on this. I mean, even if Jenny was completely right, and my guess of less than 90,000 is correct, then that's still tens of thousands of people being heavily pnealised for no good reason - but unfortunately I don't think I managed to articulate that properly at the meeting. 3. Don't worry George, no-one understands it and Gov details also unclear. We have a wonk team on it and will clarify ASAP. 6. The "there's no money" argument belies the nature of the 20% cut from DLA to PIP. Ministers have, at times, claimed this is an estimate, and expectation, not a limit or a target. If it turns out that 'appropriate' support will cost more than that, they will go with that. How does that square with the DWP being unable to have any more money? Where will they take money from if PIP needs to spend more than the forecast? 1. To put it bluntly, any minister who says this isn't about saving money is lying through their teeth. 7. Jenny is talking horse shit. I don't think even MPs understand this legislation, nevermind the media. She says people won't be in poverty because they "will still have Housing Benefit." But they won't tho will they? If you have ONE spare bedroom you will lose 14% of your Housing Benefit even if you are disabled AND need a spare room for an overnight carer or equipment.(that's me and one of my neighbours.) Two other neighbours in my tiny cul de sac will have to move, as with more than one spare room they will lose 25% of their housing benefit.That's 4 people in one tiny area expected to move. If it included the elderly, which it was going to, that would be 9 households in a matter of a few yards. On man in his 50's with mental illness will have to move out of the house he grew up in, just because his parents died. How is that going to help "stabilise" him? We are human beings. These are our HOMES. Those who have been lucky enough to buy their houses are not going to have their Pension Credit deducted are they? How are people supposed to make up the extra rent if found fit for work and put on Job seekers Allowance - "the minimum the law says you neeed to live on"? How are we supposed to pay the cost of removals? Where are all the one bedroom properties, nevermind disabled accessible? Not here. Even in the private rented sector the Local Housing allowance changes monthly and can be reviewed and changed up to 4 times a year. So even if a property is within the limit the month you take out the tenancy, it may not be the next month. Here,the current LHA has gone down in the last 6 months from being just able to rent a handful of really terrible 1 bed properties, that I've never seen advertised here before - one flat in a building the rest of which looks like a boarded up old warehouse. Now the LHA has gone down by £7 a week and will not get you anything at all at that price. Where is everyone supposed to go? This just means people getting into rent arrears and eventually facing eviction with all the legal costs of that. Then homeless people will have to be housed in B&B's. All this means is that Local Authorites will be deprived of income from central government and yet face even greater costs to clean up the mess.Disabled people under 35 will have to "house share". How the hell is that going to work? Who is going to want to share their house with a paranoid schizophrenic or someone with bowel problems?Or want someone in a wheelchair cluttering the place up with all their equipment? I live alone. So that means I have already lost the Severe Disability Premium - which has just been abolished.So how do I pay for extra care in emergencies?There is no guarantee that under PIP I will qualify for Care component, given the descriptors - so how do I pay for ANY care? Again, money that won't now be going to the Local Authority, as now with High Rate DLA. I am mostly housebound. How do I get shopping and prescriptions without a carer? Believe me, there are even worse things going on than people losing ESA if they have savings or a partner, bad enough tho that is. There are people living alone who will either have to pay extra rent or become homeless. Go without ANY help at all, as no partner, relative, even capable child in the house to help. This is a nightmare of gigantic proportions about to unfold and theose in government are too stupid to see it or too evil to care. The Lib Dems voted all this through. They will NEVER be forgiven. 1. Crisis has just reported there has ALREADY been a 23% rise in rough sleeping - and that is before most of these housing cuts kick in. Councils are turning people away, so there is not even the protection of a B&B. With 4 new food banks opening every week, even those IN work cannot afford to feed their families. LIBDEMS must be so proud. Their first chance at power and we have people sleeping in the streets, children going hungry and the disabled openly talking about hoarding drugs to put themselves out of their misery. Yet the middle classes are bleating about losing child benefit on £43,000a year. Why wasn't this one of the FIRST measures taken, before beating up on the chronically sick and disabled? The taxpayer SUBSIDY for MPs bars and meals has gone up to £5.8 million. Many meals are available for under £3.00. For every £10 an MP spends on a meal the taxpayer has subsidised it by £7.60. So they pay £2.40 for their lunch on their salary? My meals on wheels went up by 33% in one go last year. They now cost £3.00 a day. But we don't get "artichoke salad with truffle dressing" or "seared breast of pidgeon". We get endless bacon or sausages or faggots with baked beans. When I was healthy and had the choice, it was the kind of food I would never EVER buy. Processed meats give you bowel cancer and heart disease, don't you know, and should not be eaten frequently - so says THE GOVERNMENT. Please ask Jenny why I have to pay more than MPs for my lunch? 8. Sorry but that gives me no comfort at all. I have worked and paid more than my fair share of contributions and no when i'm either kicked off ESA, DLA I wont be able to live. My family and friends all help me and the nature of all my illnesses will mean I will need more support (to heat my house and eat). I will not put my familt through that so will and I mean will take my own life. Call me dramatic, call me anything you like I don't care. I have done everything right in my life and did not cause or even contribute to this mess and am really, really angry that this evil cons with the eager help of your party are throwing us to the wolves. I cant go on as I am and will not be able to cope when my lifeline is taken away. I'm sure you mean well and are as outraged as us but you give us false hope and as such makes things worse. The only way you can redeem yourself George is to distance yourself from the sell out's. 9. This is indeed a tragic state of affairs. Homelessness is sure to rise.Landlords are saying no DSS more and more. Perhaps the Workhouse will comeback.Room provided if you work. Ebenezer Scrooges are a modern phenomenon,brought back to life from Dickensian London.So will Tiny Tim and Bob Cratchet be revived.I doubt Tiny Tim will live this time.Scrooge has got more meaner. Nick Clegg the Humble Uria Heap.Throwing our lives away to stay in government. Damn them all.Damn them all to Hell. 10. I'm recovering from breast cancer and all it's treatments. I'm one of the 15% that has an adverse reaction to chemo, so my journey has been horrendous. I can't wait to get life back to normal and be working again, but my body has taken such a battering over the last year, it needs time to recover. To send people back to work before they are ready is barbaric. I'm not a scrounger, but because of benefit fraud, this government penalises the genuinely sick and ill. Shame on you and all your party for not standing up for us. It's not good enough to say the government won't budge. If I had the energy I'd be hammering at doors. But I'll tell you this - when I am fully recovered I will be campaigning with the Macmillan Trust because now I have had the experience of this disgusting, heartless, unsympathetic system. It is brutal! I have to go for an assessment next week knowing that non of the questions are relevant to what my body is still going through. Are you aware of the descriptors? How can you measure if someone is fit for work by asking them to raise their arms above their head or pick up a £1 coin. You lot in power must think the rest of us are stupid!! I'm indebted to Birkdale Focus for the following choice of words:
April is autism awareness month: Day 10- Triad of Impairments April is autism awareness month Day 10: Triad of Impairments There is no medical test to diagnose autism. Autism is usually considered a spectrum condition where individuals can fall on different ends of the spectrum usually driven by severity. This is a bit of a blinkered viewpoint in the ones severity of disability can be viewed differently by different people. There is a large debate within the autism community about severity and what and who is deemed to be more severe, which makes me ask; is Dylan severe? It’s true that he is severely affected in that he is unable to speak but he has great sense of humour and is able to prepare and plan for change with relative ease to be considered ‘severe’. There is a lot of time spent with people including those with autism or their parents or care givers, arguing as to where they or their loved one should be place on the spectrum. A bit like a sad competition 😣 The reality is that due to Dylan’s lack of speech and the adaptations that Mark and I make to enable Dylan to get through the day would probably place Dylan as among the severe type of autism, a low functioning, almost Kanner type classical autism; think Rain Main but without the card counting ability. This feels really negative. However with time and extensive help Dylan is able to integrate and progress – does this make him less severe or is he just working harder to ‘fit in’? Stripping back the debate the cause of this disagreement is the theory of the autistic spectrum being complied of three main areas of difficulty which is known as the ‘Triad of Impairments’. They are: 1/ Difficulty with Social Communication Some individuals with severe autism may never develop any speech whilst those with higher functioning autism may speak fluently, using full sentences. For all people on the spectrum it is the ability to use their communication skills that is impaired, this covers the processing of language and interpreting facial expressions, body language or tone of voice. Difficulties including understanding figures of speech or metaphors such as “she bit my head off” or ‘pick your feet up’ when shuffling can be confusing and even frightening. Sarcasm and humour are also considered misunderstood. There may be a marked difficulty in following long or complicated sentences, and only being able to follow maybe one simple instruction at a time. Communication is often an area of difficulty for individuals with higher functioning autism even though they may appear to have good verbal skills. Problems in explaining how they feel. Some people repeat the last word of a sentence when asked a question. Dylan often does this and will make an incorrect choice when given options – we always have to check that he means what he says when he answers. Others may say things more than once; often out of context this is called echolalia. 2/ Difficulty with Social Interaction A person with classic autism may appear withdrawn, aloof or uninterested in others and have difficulties around social relationships. The ability to develop friendships is generally very limited. People with higher functioning autism also have these difficulties, but seem to be more aware of them. They may want to make friends and be a part of society but are awkward or clumsy in social situations. Examples include Avoiding eye contact (because they cannot process the information overload of speech, facial expression and body language). Standing too close when talking to someone – unaware of personal space. Not realising when the person they are talking to is cross or tired. Laughing or speaking at inappropriate times. Showing no interest in other people’s opinions or interests. These behaviours are often taken as a sign of rudeness which further affects the ability to socialise. 3/ Difficulty with Social Imagination Social imagination allows the understanding and prediction of other people’s behaviour, to make sense of abstract ideas, and to imagine situations outside our immediate surroundings. Difficulties with social imagination can mean that some people with autism find it hard to: Imagine the world from someone else’s perspective and understand that other people may have different thoughts and feelings from their own. Interpret other people’s thoughts, feelings and actions. Predict what will happen next, Understand the concept of danger, for example that running on to a busy road poses a threat to them. Engage in interpersonal or imaginative play, unless it is something they have copied, in which case they often pursue this rigidly and repetitively. Prepare for change and plan for the future. Cope in new or unfamiliar situations. It’s my opinion that is that autism is not a two dimensional disability of either severe or mild, I would suggest that we move beyond categorisations of high and low functioning and instead focus more on the individual traits and their relative severity for the individual concerned. This produces more of a star interpretation of strengths and difficulties, rather than the straight-line spectrum description of high/low functioning, which could demonstrate much more of an all-round picture of someone’s abilities. A simple quiz can be found on Which can be used to see the differing elements that can indicate social and communication difficulties present in those with autism. I have attached my results as an example below. I tried to formulate one for Dylan but as I had to guess a lot of his answers this caused his results to be too inconsistent to create a profile for him to demonstrate the difference between us; But you get the gist. Individuals with autism are too individual to be categorised and placed on a basic line of severity, rather we should use star diagrams to highlight areas of strength and celebrate the complexities that differences bring. Leave a Reply WordPress.com Logo Google+ photo Twitter picture Facebook photo Connecting to %s
Soal Bahasa Inggris Discussion soal discussion Text 1 1. The text mainly discusses about 1. sharing a house 2. cleaning a house 3. deciding where to live 4. renting a house 5. finding full board 2. Finding board and lodgings, on the other hand, has significant advantages. The underlined word means 1. gained position 2. rooms rented to live 3. supply of materials 4. work of cutting down trees 5. ability to convince 3. The writers purpose of writing the text is c. to describe how to decide to find a rented house d. to inform readers how to decide where to live e. to explain how to find board and lodgings Text 2 What do you think about home schooling? Do you think it’s a good idea concerning socialization and all? Believed to be first introduced in the U.S. decades ago, home schooling is now mushrooming in the country. This phenomenon seems to be in response to the fact that children’s rights are sidelined in the arena of formal education. As an alternative education system, home schooling could become a popular choice for children of school age On the other hand, some people believe that home schooling can be inefficient and expensive. Students social life is, indeed, something to be concerned about in home schooling education. Most school districts make sincere attempts to keep their home schooled students active participants in the social, athletic, and extracurricular life of the school. 4. The text mainly discusses about 1. kids education 2. students socialization problem 3. education problem 4. an alternative education system 5. popular public schooling 1. It’s a good idea concerning socialization and all. 2. Parents provide home schooling for their children. 3. Public schooling education offers refreshment system. 4. Parents seek home schooling resources information. 5. Parents always keep their home schooled kids active. The underlined phrase means . 1. connectedd. informed 2. knowne. hang out 3. concerned Text 3 7. From the text we infer that a. Polygamy can be accepted by all people. b. Polygamy is the womens rights. c. All religions let men do polygamy. d. Men are let perform polygamy by strict requirements. e. Indonesian laws ban polygamy. 8. What makes most women disagree with Polygamy? a. the husbands unequal treatment b. the husbands interest c. the husbands attention d. the money condition e. the daily needs fulfilment 9. Husbands are let practise polygamy when , except a. his wife approves it b. his wife refuses it c. his wife cannot give birth to a child d. his wife suffers from incurable diseases e. his wife cannot perform her obligation Text 4 10. The text above implies that a. Genetic research always have bad effects on human development b. The government ignores the genetic research implementation c. All scientists approve of the application of genetic research d. Genetic research creates controversy among the scientists e. Everyone is satisfied with the development of genetic research a. the laboratory accident b. the epidemic of an unknown disease c. the insulin development d. the fertilizer production e. the plant growing in laboratory a. the discovery of insulin from natural sources b. the ability to create life in laboratory c. the insulin manufacturing in laboratory d. the development of gene splicing e. the epidemic of an unknown disease Text 5 On the other hand, they honestly admit that some TV programs can endanger childrens mental. They regret because parents sometimes dont have much time to watch TV together with their children. They suggest parents to have more discussion with their children on any programs they have seen. 13. The communicative purpose of this text is .. a. to describe the general information about TV b. to persuade the readers not to watch TV c. to present two points of view about TV d. to inform the reader about the effect of TV e. to retell events about the history of TV 14. The part of the text which contains statement and preview is .. a. point b. elaboration c. conclusion d. argument e. issue 15. The main idea of the first paragraph is . a. TV has become the part of modern peoples life. b. TV has turned the modern peoples life. c. TV has given some enjoyments to the viewers. d. TV has provided viewers some information. e. TV has played the important role in modern peoples life. 16. Who is persuaded to consider the effect of TV? a. TV producers b. children c. parents d. government e. TV programmers Text 6 17. What is the purpose of the text? a. to persuade the readers that globalization is the case. c. to explain the effect of globalization d. to describe how globalization happens e. to retell the development of globalization 18. The organization of the text above is . a. orientation, events, re-orientation b. general statement, explanation c. thesis, arguments, reiteration d. general classification, description e. issue, arguments, conclusion 19. What is the main idea of the text? a. Globalization only creates bad effect. b. Globalization causes the life style change. c. Globalization destroys the social values. d. Globalization has good and bad influence. e. Globalization cannot be avoided. a. We must accept the globalization blindly. b. We must refuse the globalization strictly. c. We must throw away the globalization. d. We must prevent the spread of globalization. e. We must face the globalization wisely. Text 7 New Zealand is considering a ban following a finding that 65 percent of all the commercials during childrens TV programs promote food that is high in fat, sugar, and salt content such as sweets, snacks, drinks and ice cream. Child diabetes and dental problems have been attributed to such foodstuffs. Most European Union members have also launched strict regulations against childrens TV commercials, but only Sweden and Norway have seriously attempted to a complete ban. Responses to the policy have varied; some have protested against it, while others have adjusted their approaches to marketing their snack products. A study of Ofcom, a media regulating body in the UK, found that commercials do not have a direct impact on childrens eating habits. A commercials ban would therefore not mean much in reducing the childhood obesity rate. Another argument against the ban is that child obesity has more to do with a sedentary lifestyle than with TV commercials. Todays children spend more hours before the television or computer than on active play, leading to the calories piling on and turning into fat. 21. What is the view of commercials ban protesters? a. Junk food commercials threat the childrens health. b. The commercials ban makes the children obese. c. The commercials would decrease the childhood obesity rate. d. The commercials have no direct impact on childrens eating habit. e. The commercials have changed the lifestyle of the community. 22. Some countries have launched the TV commercials ban in order to . a. abolish the broadcasts of commercials on TV at all b. protect the children from consuming junk food c. promote the health risk of suffering obesity d. reduce the childhood obesity e. regulate the broadcast of food commercials 23. From the last paragraph we infer that . a. the childrens obesity is prone to fatal disease b. the commercials ban will completely reduce the childrens obesity c. the commercials ban will reduce junk food consumption d. the children will likely to grow up obese e. the proponents will keep on fighting to ban the commercials 24. ,such as obesity, that are thought to be directly linked to their pattern on consumption What is the synonym of the underlined word? a. dialledd. installed b. gluede. related c. lined Text 8 25. What is the type of the above text? a. expositiond. description b. discussione. report c. explanation 26. What does the writer want from the text? a. to describe commercial TV ads specifically b. to explain how TV ads are broadcasted in TV d. to describe commercial TV ads generally 27. Why are TV ads indispensable for TV? Because . a. they are main income of TV b. they attract the audiences to watch TV c. they make the audiences switch the channels d. they give significant lesson to the audiences e. they determine the program availability 28. Which is TRUE according to the text? c. More people agree with the importance of TV ads. d. The viewers give different reactions to the TV ads. 29. . television stations should also take part in filtering quality ads to show audiences. The underlined words have synonymous meaning with . a. separated. assemble b. resemblee. create c. participate Text 9 30. Why did some people reject the Indonesian participation in Miss Universe contest? Because . a. it was disgrace to the Indonesian culture and woman b. it was prohibited by the predominant Indonesian Muslims c. it has drawn protest in the country itself e. it was not the culture of Indonesia 31. What is the type of the text? a. hortatory expositiond. analytical exposition b. explanatione. description c. discussion a. the place where Miss Universe contest was held b. the participants obligation to wear a swimsuit c. the participation of Indonesia in Miss Universe contest d. the pornographic issue in Miss Universe contest e. the immoral act in Miss Universe contest The underlined word most nearly means . a. accused. sentence b. attacke. commend c. rebuke Text 10 In sunny desert areas, 50% of the suns radiation that reaches the ground could be used to produce electricity of business and industry to provide heat, light and hot water for homes. Experimental solar ponds can produce hot water to drive generators. Needless to say that solar energy is a useful and non-polluted source of energy. Nevertheless, solar cells, the main important device to harness the suns energy are still very expensive. 34. The organization of the text above is . a. orientation, complication, resolution, re-orientation b. issue, argument, conclusion c. newsworthy event, background even, sources d. goal, material, steps e. identification, description 35. The social function of the text above is . a. to deal with actual or vicarious experience in different ways b. to entertain the readers about harnessing solar energy c. to explain the process involved in the information d. to describe the harnessing solar energy 36. The type of the text is . a. reportd. discussion b. news iteme. hortatory exposition c. explanation 37. Which is TRUE according to the text? a. We can find devices to harness the suns energy easily b. The topic of the text above is exploiting solar energy c. Experimental solar ponds can produce hot water to drive generator d. We have powered our homes entirely on sunlight e. Solar cells are very expensive to run 38. Unfortunately, we cant power our homes entirely on sunlight. The underlined word means . a. partlyd. directly b. properlye. dependently c. wholly 39. In addition, to harness the solar power, power cells are needed to convert sunlight directly into electricity. The underlined word most nearly means . a. moved. change b. producee. switch c. transfer 40. The text above mainly tells us about . a. fossil fueld. solar cells b. exploiting bright lighte. two points of views c. solar energy Text 11 Unfortunately, many cars, especially the old ones, don have seat belts. This is because the traffic conditions in the past were unlike the recent traffic conditions. The designer of old cars didnt consider a seat belt as an important part. Besides, the drivers wearing the seat belts will think that they are completely safe, so they may drive carelessly. They are safe, indeed, but how about the safety of others? The seat belt is only one of the ways to reduce the risk of car accidents. It doesnt mean that we are completely safe. In short, our safety depends on ourselves. 41. What is the writers intention? a. To describe the use of seat belt. c. To persuade the readers to use the seat belt. e. To explain about the use of the seat belt. 42. What part of the text is the last paragraph? a. codad. point of view b. re-orientatione. elaboration c. conclusion 43. Which is NOT TRUE according to the text? c. Our safety depends on ourselves. d. The old cars dont have seat belts. 44. The use of seat belts has been proven to reduce the risk of injury or death in an accident. The underlined word means . a. loosend. minimize b. cancele. omit c. move 45. Frequently, drivers or the passengers driving without seat belts die because of this. What does the underlined word refer to? a. drivers b. driving without seat belts c. the car accident d. wearing the seat belt e. the recent traffic conditions Text 12 By Kerry Williams The schematic structure of this sentence is . a. issued. recommendation b. conclusione. argument for c. argument against The underlined words mean . a. adviced. suggestion b. encouragemente. decision c. opinion 48. The communicative purpose of the text is . a. to describe boxing b. to present two points of view about boxing c. to persuade the readers that boxing is the case d. to retell an event with a humorous twist e. to critique boxing for the public audiences 49. The followings are reasons why boxing shouldnt be banned, except . a. Boxing is not dangerous sport. b. People enjoy boxing. c. Banning boxing will ruin peoples career. d. Boxing is a good sport. e. Boxers should wear something to protect their heads. a. The writer said that boxing should not be banned. b. The writer agreed to do boxing as a sport. c. The writer stated that boxing should be banned. d. Boxing is not a good sport as it can ruin peoples career. e. People invent boxing as a dangerous sport. Should Performance Enhancing Drugs Be Accepted in Sports? 51. What argument is given by those who disagree with the use of performance enhancing drugs? A. Athletes health is badly effected. B. Guinea pigs are awfully needed. C. Athletes consume more drugs. D. Athletes obey the rules. E. Athletes perform better. A. losers B. winners C. cheaters D. hooligans E. supporters 53. What is the writer’s intention to write this text? A. to persuade readers to agree with the issue. B. to influence readers to oppose the issue. C. to describe performance enhancing drugs. D. to entertain readers with the issue. E. to expose readers with the issue. 54. How does the writer feel about the performance enhancing drugs? A. neutral B. positive C. negative D. indefinite E. pessimistic Sutiyoso Got Award Sutiyoso Pictures, Images and PhotosSutiyoso will be given an Asian Air Quality Management Award Friday at an International Conference in Yogyakarta, but some people have questions whether he really deserved the honor. The critics say Sutiyoso has done little to reduce air pollution in the capital. I think Sutiyoso deserved the award. Although we haven’t seen solid air quality management, he has restored the National Monument (Monas) Park to a green cool area where families can go to jog or have a picnic.He also initiated the busway project, which I believe is a good step toward reducing air pollution in Jakarta. However, the government has to take further action, such as limiting the number of motorcycles in Jakarta. All of the motorcycles on the roads contribute to air pollution in the city. On the other hand, some people can’t understand how Sutiyoso can win this award because he hasn’t made any improvement in Jakarta’s air management. Jakarta is becoming more polluted as the authorities cut down more and more trees for transportation projects. And they don’t bother to plant new trees to replace the old ones, let alone develop new green areas.The authorities should build more parks in the city to make Jakarta greener and less polluted. Monas park is greener now, but the fences prevent people from getting in. In countries like Singapore and Australia, public parks are pleasant places to hang out. 55. Why did people say that Sutiyoso deserved the award? A. Monas park is green now. B. Jakarta is becoming more polluted. C. He has improved Jakarta’s air management. D. He limited the number of motorcycles in the city. 56. What has Sutiyoso done to reduce air pollution in Jakarta? A. Initiating the bus project. B. Holding an international conference. C. Limiting the number of motorcycles. D. Building fences around the Monas park. E. Cutting down more and more trees. 57. What is the purpose of the text? D. To describe an Asian Air Quality Management Award. E. To assure readers that Sutiyoso deserved the award. 58. It is not easy to get in the Monas park because … ? A. more and more trees were cut down. B. It is use for having a picnic. C. It is use for jogging track. D. There is a cool area. E. There are fences. Capital punishment is one of the most controversial to be discussed today. This controversy is caused by so many things all over the world having so many different views about it. Capital punishment happens when someone is put to death for a crime, for example murder or drug trafficking. Many people think capital punishment should be reinstated in Britain ,but there are just as many people who think that the criminal system is better the way it is. One important argument against the death penalty is that sometimes an innocent person is put to death. If capital punishment is used, the authorities must therefore have evidence beyond the shadow of any doubt that they have accused the correct person. Furthermore, capital punishment removes all possibilities for a person who was done something seriously wrong to be able to change and to be rehabilitated. Another strong point against capital punishment is that two wrongs do not make a right. Killing a victim, for instance, and then being sentenced to death do not suddenly make everything all right or make things better. A poor, helpless victims life has been stolen for him, but killing the murderer will not bring the victim back. Nevertheless, those who are in favor of the death penalty have many points to justify their stance. More importantly, it punishes the criminal by doing to him what he did to others. In acts as a form of revenge for the victims family by letting them know that the criminal has felt some of the pain he inflicted on another. Furthermore, capital punishment could act as a deterrent to anyone whoever thought about committing certain crimes because he would know that when he was found guilty, the death penalty awaited him. It can also save money because, instead of the criminal being kept in person for the rest of his life, he is killed. After weighing up the arguments for and against capital punishment, I have come to the conclusion that I am for it, and that is a pity it was abolished in Britain thirty or so years ago. 1. What is the subject of this text? 1. Controversy over death penalty. 2. Some benefits of capital punishment 3. Abolishing dead penalty 4. Pros and cons over Britain legal system 5. Some justification to support death penalty. 60.From the text, we know that some people disagree with capital punishment because . 1. Killing should be punished with killing 2. It can prevent people from committing a murder 3. Innocent people might be put a death 4. More people will be killing 5. Killing is not always considered a crime 61.It is implied in the passage that . 1. No one agree with capital punishment 2. The author disagree with capital punishment 3. Capital punishment has both good and bad impacts 4. Capital punishment will never prevent people from doing a crime. 5. Britain will never abolish capital punishment from its legal system 62.One important argument against the death penalty is that sometime an innocent person is put to death. (Paragraph 2) The underlined word means . 1. Not fair 2. Not care 3. Not guilty 4. Inhumane 5. Not consistent We often see junior high school students go to school by motorcycle on the road. In your opinion, are they feasible to go to school by motorcycle? Many people do not agree with such conditions. They said that besides it is improper for the students to have a driving license, those students at their age have not been able to control their emotion. They might easily get angry when other road users do something. For example, those kids stop at the wrong place and other road users turn on their horns. Those kids will surely get mad or even say something rude. illIn addition, their reflexes are not yet well developed. As are result, they are difficult to avoid dangerous things which may cause accidents. Another thing, they do not understand the meaning traffic signs. This is proved that a lot of motorbikes at their age go speeding, violate traffic lights, and so on. This surely harms themselves and other people. On the other hand, there are some arguments which agree with the students riding motorcycles to school. They claim that the students will not be tired compared with those who ride bicycles. They also can immediately take courses after school. This certainly cannot be done if the students have to go by bikes or public transports. As conclusion, they say, riding vehicles will make the students more mobile. In my opinion, it is worthy enough for junior high school students riding motorcycles. They obviously will endanger themselves and others. Regulations prohibit junior high school students riding motorcycles. They are made for all people. Therefore, the rules must be obeyed by all people. 63.What is the topic of the discussion? 1. The effect of junior high school students going to school by motorcycle. 2. The arguments on junior high school students going to school by motorcycle. 3. The increasing number of junior high school students going to school by motorcycle. 4. He reasons why junior high school students going to school by motorcycle. 5. The rules for junior high school students going to school by motorcycle. 64.Some people agree with the students going to school by motorcycle because . 1. The students will arrive home early 2. The students will be smart since they are not tired 3. Those people can afford the studentsa daily needs 4. Those people believe that the students will behave properly 5. The students are more mobile than the ones who go by bikes 65.What is the cont go conclusion of the text? 1. Junior high school students should not go to school by motorcycles 2. Junior high school students are not yet eligible to have driving licenses 3. Junior high school students havent be able to control their emotions yet 4. Any road users should drive the vehicles properly 5. Traffic regulations are made for all road users. Leave a Reply
The last stage of construction is a transition stage between construction and consumption. The textiles receive the final processing before they are ready to be used. Many decoration techniques, such as embroidery and painting, as well as completion procedures, like sewing, took place during this stage. Written texts inform us that there existed special craftsmen called knapheis, responsible for applying the finishes on textiles, and also selling second-hand clothes. Their tasks were variable. Wool fabrics especially needed to pass through the finishing stage of fulling, a process that continued until recently. For instance, the knapheis washed textiles to remove fatty residues, they beat them with sticks and stepped on them to soften and tighten the fibres, then they dried them to prepare them for the following procedures, such as rubbing with clay to absorb excess fatty residues. After drying, the textiles were brushed to lift the pile, using thorny plants or porcupine skin. Washing was a common activity usually taking place at rivers, at the sea or using special vessels, by women. However, there are also references of professional washers, both men and women. Ancient texts mention, for example, the knapheis as washing and bleaching soiled clothes. One of the duties of knapheis waspleating, that is the creation of permanent pleats, even resistant to washing. Pleated fabrics existed in Egypt as early as 3000 BC, like the pleated shirt found in Tarkhan. Ancient texts mention a special pleating press, named ipos. Information on the pleating technique is unclear, but comparing it with that of traditional techniques, it would involve wetting the textiles and tying their ends to create the desired number and size of pleats. The tied and wet fabric was then placed at the special press, where the humidity and pressure applied ensured the pleats remained permanent. Such a press can be seen at a mural painting from Pompei depicting a knapheion, a fuller’s workshop. Scented textiles There seems to be a long tradition of scenting textiles and ancient texts mention rose scented and unscented fabrics. Homer writes about goddesses wearing textiles giving-off pleasant scents, while scented bedding is mentioned in Classical texts. Traditionally, textiles were stored in chests along with fruit, such as quinces, to absorb their scent. Similarly, fabrics were hanged above burning incense to absorb the odour.
Fillip 1 — Summer 2005 Jayce Salloum <em>untitled part 1: everything and nothing</em> (2002), video still sans titre/untitled Jayce Salloum Lebanon, January 1992, months after the city is open and traversing from East to West is made possible again (at least for us more distant from the recent war and the still remote occupation in the South) without fear of kidnapping or worse. Driving around the city, the slightly battered Fiat 128 looking somewhat the worse for wear, silver of sorts but covered in dust from years in the garage, makes its way hesitantly down one of the arteries leading into the core of Beirut, or one of the cores as there are many centres here—old, new, destroyed, demolished, rebuilt—each act of construction part and parcel of a previous one of destruction. Walid drives, I shoot, video, gazing through the camera at the passing layers of modern and ancient architecture, using it like an appendage, it inhales inadequate images of people, place, sites of historical and social signification, the fruit vendors, the shattered lives being pieced back together, and more tattered buildings and ruins upon ruins. Posters of her are everywhere: lamp posts, shop windows, private homes. 2 She is framed on one side, the wounded Lahad on the other, floating on a pinkish background. 3 The photograph on the right is from 1988, the year Soha attempted to assassinate the guy, came close, close enough to be an instant heroine, but not close enough to kill him. She was thrown into the ‘living’ hell hole of Khiam. Those who referred to it as a prison knew nothing about it, others who knew and would raise troubling references referred to it as a concentration camp, colloquially here (or there) it was called something more benign: a detention centre. Before coming to Lebanon and during the year there, the occupation of the South was a predominant concern in our minds. I decided to focus one of the videotapes (Up to the South…) on this occupation, 4 the terms of its representation inherent in the discourse surrounding the issues, (i.e. terrorism, 5 post-colonialism, occupation, collaboration, experts, spokespeople, symbols, resistance, the land), and the history and structure of the documentary genre in regards to the representation of other cultures by the West in documentary, ethnography and anthropological practice and the predicament involved from the perspective of the subjects viewed and the practitioners practicing. Up to the South… challenged traditional documentary formats by positing representation itself as a politicized practice. We worked with the material and our experiences of living and working in Lebanon with an insistence on a visible resistance to the acts of aggression that documentary partakes in and the violence that is inherent in its means. The videotape developed a mediating ‘language’ of transposed experience in the guise of a ‘_reluctant documentary.’_ These methodologies are refined and developed further in some of the untitled videotapes which incorporate them in their own strategies and means. 6 1998: I am invited to participate in an exhibition that will take place at The Canadian Museum of Civilization. 7 The theme is something to do with immigration. It seems a dry concept with an arbitrariness that has an opportunistic ring to it in the Canadian political climate and its history of turning back asylum seekers, an escalation of closed borders (to people, not goods), and a less than repressed racism. There is also a renewed orientalism at play, or a neo-orientalism. It is increasingly more fashionable to have a token show with an Arab or Middle-Eastern theme, one that avoids the complexities of subjectivity and identity outside of an indexical vein. I initially reject participation in the exhibition. A short time passes then with continued requests from the curator I contemplate it more and see the opportunity to engage with a public outside of the normative gallery or art museum mold, and the potential for an experiment in community association. From the proposed theme of immigration I decide to do a project dealing with concepts of movement (where it is permitted/restricted, desired or forced) in terms of specific histories, looking at something that is common to all of our lives and at the base of this entity called globalization. Subsequently I moved into considerations of transition, however we have devalued this term/position as if it is going nowhere. The end, in and out of sight, or what it is we are coming to, are usually given utmost importance but not the inbetweenness. This led me to focus on the notion of interstitiality, the interstitial subject and site, and the beginning of untitled. March 24, 1999: the NATO bombing of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) begins. I have been thinking a lot about interstitiality. Towards the end of summer I foresee that I will have a break between exhibitions in Vienna and Brussels. I decide to take a trip from the top of the FRY to the bottom with enough time to visit the capital cities of each soon to be, once more, new republic. I intend to look at/record sites of emigration, places that people had left or were currently leaving from or immigrating to, and meet people that were living and/or theorizing these threads of movement and change in trans/cross/intra-cultural settings. On my way to Vienna I stop off in New York and meet up and tape an architect from Belgrade, Srdjan Jovanovic Weiss, Ammiel Alcalay who discusses the Balkan region he knows so well, and Ella Shohat who speaks about the colonization of the Americas, neo-colonial politics of the Middle East and the limits of an identity based politics. In Vienna, I tape exiles from the FRY, activists, artists, and the writer/theoretician Boris Buden. Finally, I am on the train heading to Ljubljana, Slovenia, with subsequent stops in Zagreb, Sarajevo, Belgrade, and Skopje. I offer to tape in any language but generally the preferred language of address is English. The conversations open a space for the contemplation of the present, the recent and further past, and implications for the future. We circulate around life during Tito, after Tito, what is far and still remains close, and the current reign of Milosevic and what will or may be coming. The subjects speak through the camera, through me, to some imaginary audience—western, somewhere else—or speak to formulate and send off missives, inquiries, and speculations on what has happened. I have space to pause in the evenings and the between times finding routes and transportation from person to city to new encounters. I tape these moments as well, the foggy indeterminate landscapes, the jotting of notes while the bus bounces up and down, the passing through check points of new, old, and reformulated borders. Time and space stretch out for moments, clarity is fleeting, elusive but not impossible. The juxtaposition of speakers stimulates patterns of thought, utterances of something that this might become. Points of focus start to emerge through the cycles and repetition. 8 Brussels a few days later, Mireille phones, she tells me there is an exhibition in Paris of artworks from Khiam detainees and other Israeli detention centres, objects that were smuggled out for 10 years and later brought out when the Red Cross was eventually permitted to visit in 1995; delicate carvings of soap, prayer beads and chess sets out of olive pits, embroideries from threads pulled from their clothes, fragile sculptures assembled from all kinds of scrounged materials, and drawings made with burnt wood. These are tentative objects, clandestine cravings imbued with hope and faith signifying more strength than that which holds them together. Mireille asks me to come and screen Up to the South… at the gallery, she says Soha has been released months earlier and that after the screening Rabab (one of the former detainees in the tape) and Soha could speak about the ongoing detentions in Khiam and Israel. It’s a great surprise to find that Soha was released—I had no prior knowledge that this was even close to being achieved. I make a deal with Mireille that if she comes to my opening we’ll discuss what can be done—it could be the rare closing of a circle that started in 1992 with the work in the south. Mireille arrives, she pulls me aside at the opening to discretely mention that after the 1995 IMA screening of Up to the South… she instigated the forming of a committee to free Soha and had worked to solicit world wide support, newspaper ads in the major journals in Paris, and help from activists and human rights lawyers in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. Somehow the tape was complicit, adding to the momentum of the movement, as a catalyst for what was undoubtedly already emerging. Please Note Full Text$2.00 Image: Jayce Salloum untitled part 1: everything and nothing (2002), video still About the Author Jayce Salloum has been working in installation, photography, new media, and video since 1975, as well as curating exhibitions, conducting workshops and coordinating cultural events. His work takes place in a variety of contexts, critically engaging itself in the representation of cultural/social/political manifestations and other cultures. You Might Also Enjoy
Top 10 Reasons Why The Aircon Is Not Cold Enough Are you wondering why your air con is not cold? When you experience any problems with your air-conditioning and it no longer is blowing cold, you might be quick to contact a professional aircon repair company. Although it certainly can help if you have a professional come to you, there may also be some reason why it is not blowing cold and you can fix it yourself. In either case, the following 10 reasons are typically enough to get you pointed in the right direction when trying to find out why your air-conditioning is not keeping you and your family cool. Last Update: October 2018 Thermostat Settings – Simple Reason Why Aircon Suddenly Not Cold Believe it or not, one of the most common problems that can keep your air-conditioning at a warmer temperature is the fact that thermostat settings are not set properly. This is especially a problem if you have a high-quality thermostat with many options. You may think that you are setting your temperature but within a short amount of time, it could reset to a higher setting. Check your thermostat settings before you check anything else. Weak Batteries Before you contact a professional, make sure that you check the batteries in the thermostat. This is something that is often overlooked but it can certainly make a difference in how cold your air-conditioning is blowing. It may seem like it is operating fine but without the batteries backing things up, you could end up quite warm. Dirty Air Filter It is important to change the air filter on a regular basis for a number of different reasons. One of those reasons is because a dirty filter will stop the free flow of air and could end up preventing the AC from cooling as much as it should. Be sure that you change or clean the air filter on a monthly basis. Low Refrigerant Cause Aircon Not Blowing Cold Air It may be possible that your air-conditioning unit is low on refrigerant. A loss of refrigerant can certainly result in the AC not blowing cold air and it may even signal the fact that there is a leak. A professional repair service can come in and assess the situation. They can stop the leak from occurring and put some more gas in the system to get your air blowing cold again. Dirty AC Compressor When the air conditioning compressor becomes dirty or blocked, it can keep the unit from cooling properly. It could be a matter of dust or dirt getting into the compressor or it may be a nearby obstruction, including a tree, grass or bushes. It may be necessary to trim the area to keep the blockage from occurring. If it doesn’t fix the problem, contact a professional chemical cleaning services. Defective AC Compressor Although this is a relatively rare situation, it may be possible for a defective compressor to be causing your low air-conditioning temperatures. A professional can come out to check the compressor and if necessary, they can replace it with a new one. Damage Ductwork There may be times when the air-conditioning ductwork becomes damaged and if that is the case, the cold air may be escaping into an area of the home that is not typically needed for air-conditioning, such as the attic or the space in between floors. In rare cases, the air conditioning ducts may also get blocked. Drainage Pipe The moisture that is build up within the unit drains out through a pipe. If the drainage pipe is blocked, the air-conditioning unit needs to work harder in order to make the air cool that is blowing through your home. Fan Stop Working It may be possible that the air-conditioning fan wheel is no longer operating properly. You can check this yourself to a certain extent by going to the indoor unit and seeing if the fan is buzzing or if it is actually operating. A long screwdriver can be used for this but you need to be cautious that you don’t damage the fan while testing it. Frozen Air Con Unit One other possibility is that the unit has frozen on the outside. This is something that can be determined by a visual inspection. If the unit is frozen, turn it off until it thaws fully and then you can turn it back on to cool the home. More than likely, you will need to contact a professional to address the situation so that it doesn’t continue to happen over and over again. Here is a Great Video about Why Aircon Suddenly Not Cold. Need Help to Troubleshoot Why Aircon is Not Cold? Call us 8291 3266 to get a FREE consultation. Aircon Troubleshooting Services User Rating 5 based on 1 votes Service Type Aircon Troubleshooting Services We specialise in aircon troubleshooting to find out why air conditioner is not cold. Check out the top 10 common reason here. Call 8291 3266 WhatsApp Chat Send via WhatsApp
Drivers in the UK's biggest towns and cities spent an average of five days stuck in traffic last year, a study has found. The UK was the second most congested country in the world, behind China, with 11 of the 100 most gridlocked cities, according to traffic analysts TomTom. Researchers found Belfast had the worst congestion in the UK, with motorists facing a 43% increase in travel times compared with free flow roads. This reached 87% during the morning and evening peaks, as drivers spent as much as 200 hours in jams during 2016. Edinburgh and London were the next most congested cities at 40% extra travel time, followed by Manchester (38%), Brighton and Bournemouth (both 36%). The global study of 390 cities in 48 countries found Mexico City was the most congested at 66%, ahead of Bangkok (61%) and Jakarta (58%). Ralf-Peter Schaefer, vice president of TomTom Traffic, said the study was "designed to help drivers, cities and transport planners to understand traffic congestion and, most importantly, how to reduce it". Separate research by traffic information firm Inrix published on Monday found that the direct and indirect costs of congestion in the UK reached £31 billion last year, at an average of £968 per driver. A Department for Transport spokeswoman said: "We are making the most extensive improvements to roads since the 1970s, investing a record £23 billion to keep our country moving and make journeys faster, better and more reliable for everyone. Here are the 25 most congested towns and cities in the UK last year, with increase in travel time compared with free flow roads in brackets: 1. Belfast (43%) 2. Edinburgh (40%) 3. London (40%) 4. Manchester (38%) 5. Brighton and Hove (36%) 6. Bournemouth (36%) 7. Sheffield (35%) 8. Hull (35%) 9. Bristol (34%) 10. Newcastle-Sunderland (32%) 11. Leicester (32%) 12. Liverpool (30%) 13. Swansea (29%) 14. Glasgow (29%) 15. Cardiff (27%) 16. Nottingham (27%) 17. Birmingham-Wolverhampton (26%) 18. Leeds-Bradford (26%) 19. Portsmouth (25%) 20. Southampton (25%) 21. Reading (24%) 22. Coventry (23%) 23. Stoke-on-Trent (22%) 24. Middlesbrough (22%) 25. Preston (20%)
30 October 2007 Re-thinging the thing with feathers Remember that political comic book with the children I wrote my Anthropology thesis on? No, I don't blame you. Anyway, one of the strips portrays our heroine, Mafalda, lying on the beach. It's a view from the top and she is thinking Whenever I remember we are going back home soon I get all sad - and every little square portrayed her bikini bottom changing until it looked like this: :( That is exactly how I feel. I am still a bit crushed by the weight of the sky falling on me. Les Gaulois avaient raison, c'est l'enfer, it does hurt like a mother. This past fortnight has been spectacularly rotten, even allowing for Uzi's birthday. 1- My flat. I have always needed clean, organised spaces even if I am prone to letting things pile up and not putting everything away immediately. I have talked abt it here, in one of my favourite posts ever [and funny thing abt blogging and whether we are able to get to know someone through it is - I maintain we can, barring sociopaths - some anonymous person left a comment regarding my English as a second-language in that post and a good while later a commenter called Old Bald Helen left a comment on another post of mine and she sounded familiar so I asked her if she had been that anonymous and why, she had. From one comment. I feel vindicated.] Ever since the break up my flat has felt comfier, cleaner and that's bcs it is. There is far less clutter, there are far less piles, the laundry is done on time, clothes are folded and put away, washing machine is emptied and everything is as it should be. A tidy flat greatly comforts me. 2 - Vet school. The other day I was in our hospital and we were discussing a case, a dog with a skin condition. All of a sudden I heard someone say Well, it could be acral lick dermatitis and it was me. Me. I was so shocked I literally stood there, unable to move or shut my oddly wise mouth bcs really, WHERE THE FUCK DID THAT COME FROM? I didn't even know I knew abt ALD! I mean, after I said it I remembered studying it but wha?? That felt particularly good after a clinical cases discussion in which we failed to come up with the most basic of diagnosis and I remarked to my colleagues that we were in very poor shape considering we were going to be starting our internships in the real world in abt a year, and then the teacher came in and heard us and wouldn't you know it, she said the exact same thing and that is just abt the last thing you want to hear when your career of choice involves actually being responsible for other beings' lives, lives you can so easily and royally fuck up. And later on that week we were sitting through yet another clinical cases session and the patient had incoercible vomiting and was severely dehydrated and needed emergency surgery and I immediately though Uh-oh, hyperkalaemia, either they fix it or he'll die on the table right away and wouldn't you know it, I was right, I should have been thinking like that. It's still a bit despairing bcs really, this is the basics and why am I still struggling with the basics in my final year of school, this should be automatic by now - but hey, some things apparently do stick to the void that for the most part constitutes my memory and I reckon my trunks hold more than emaciated penguins. 3 - Basic knowledge. Considering 2, I decided to go back and revise, revise, revise. And this time I actually did it. 4 - My exam schedule. Do you know, this year for some subjects I'll have up to 6 days to study? Six days in between exams - it's demented, it's like the Messiah is coming or something similar, six full days. Of course, it isn't quite like that bcs of course, last exam season having landed right after said break up and, most importantly, smack in the middle of the small soap opera that ensued, I ended up with 3 subjects from last year for the first semester which equals 5 more exams. Oops. But I'll have more time to plan around them and that is a luxury of a magnitued I couldn't possibly convey to you so I won't even try. 5 - Dark Angel. Just finished watching Season 2. It's actually not a good thing at all bcs how can there possibly NOT be a Season 3? And on this cheery not, ran out of good things. So: 6 - The new me. I think I could become cynical and callous in time and I think it'd do me a world of good, give the village idiot some respite, just don't quite know how to go abt it. I've read that mercury is retrograde and whatever the bloody hell that means I am firmly blaming it, and it'd better get its sorry arse back into shape soon bcs I've had just abt enough of this nonsense. 11 furballs: portuguesa nova said... Various things: 1. I think it's okay to not ever trust anyone as long as you keep it in the way back of your mind. The key is keeping it far away. I think it might be a good thing maybe. 2. I'm in nursing school right now. And nurses aren't really doctors, as you know...more like bodily fluid clean up specialists. But, with healthcare as it is in this country, sometimes nurses are kinda' put in positions that doctors would be much better off filling. I am about half done with the program. I feel like I could diagnose about 5 conditions. One of them being dandruff. 3. Seriously. Your English. It's crazy. I just don't get it. How the hell do you speak it so well? There are little tiny nuances in the writing of even the most fluent non-native speakers that usually give people away, but as I do not speak the real deal English English that you do (with such fanciness as fortnight, flat, revise, etc.), I would have no clue. It just boggles the mind. 4. The end. Dale said... Well, you know, it's not the opening, it's the wanting that kills you :-) Hugs, dear Lioness. Hope you feel refreshed and full of joy soon -- now -- always. Udge said... "Who cares"? We do. That's why we come here. Big sloppy Germanic hugs. Anonymous said... Yay! You've posted! I've been waiting and waiting and waiting. Revise. Hmm. The Frenchman says this all the time, too. Did you mean "review"? (At this the Viscondessa cackles/snickers wickedly, then starts chuckling over the memory of a certain discussion of English words for laughter.) And speaking of the love of words, guess what I thought when I read "There is far less clutter, there are far less piles"? Hooray for punniness, I do hope it's true. Tidy flat, yes yes yes, and no one there to rearrange it and claim feng shui to cover their sudden breakdown. :-) Something about this particular post makes me say... I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU! Any chance we can convince you to come up to the north for a visit chez Frenchman before your exams start up after xmas? What if I came and collected you personally? Lioness said... PN, see, but that's what's causing me grief, the notion that yes, I cannot go through life assuming I can trust most people. How can you decide that and not fully know it at all times? Bah. And I think you'll surprise yourself and, much like me, will learn the most while actually doing it, not just theoretically memorising things. My English - my typos often give me away, I am prone to doubling consonants that need not be doubled (just now I hovered over that middle N in consonant...) But I love English and English fits me. It has actually a bit of a parasitic relationship (on its part) bcs it affects my Portuguese - my Portuguese is flawless (ask your hubby abt the "Prontos" phenomenon, the "a gente fomos", the "há-dem". Unless he says them as well, in which case he needs to stop bfr I meet you. You're still coming, right? RIGHT?) - anyway, flawless but just yesterday i was translating an English word and I now fullly forgot which one thereby ruining my point. Bloody hell. Will update later, but I translated it into Portuguese into something that was wrong and yet would sound good in English. Dale, I will always want people to show others at least a minimum of decency, how could I not want it? Udge, no one would miss posts such as this one, is what I meant. Sometimes my blog is so dark it pisses me off. V., you're so exasperating in your americanity, woman! Read carefully: "revise (STUDY) UK verb {I or T} (US review)to study again something you have already learned, in preparation for an exam" YES? I was going to be evaluated orally (eh, now this sounds bad, forget abt the piles - funny one though, and unintentional), therefore I REVISED. Gerturdes is in hiding, bless her heart. And yes, the next person who tries to rearrange my furniture will have their internal organs reshuffled. FYI. clears throat And look, you demented person, you'll be arriving right bfr my exams, how could I possibly go traipsing around the country?? Hashanah habaah beTzafon, that's more likely. Also, how you could rad my post and actually WANT to see me is beyond me. Mental, all Anglos are mental. Anonymous said... I'm not an Anglo, you freak. You can come study in the north. It's very quiet. Lots of books. Nice quiet guest bedroom. A ton of birds and 6 dogs and a cat, all very friendly. You will be fed and ignored. See? How can you say no? (I know you will, but never say I don't try.) Oh, and by the way: Americanity is not a word. The one and only V. PS my word verification is nyarnfqg. Yes, exactly how I feel at the moment. Lioness said... V. YES YOU ARE! Aren't you American? That makes you an Anglo. And of course Americanity is a word, I made it up, it's as much of a word as plaphora. Anonymous said... That's pláfora, wench, and it's not made up. I use it all the time. So there, minha plaforosa. I'm not Anglo. If I were American and black, would you still call me Anglo? Here it doesn't mean anglophone, it means WASP. And we both know I'm most definitely not that. Lioness said... It IS made up and the reason I know is, I MADE IT UP. Remember? Even though you tried and take credit for it. clears throat Of course I would, if you behaved that way! My "Anglo" is like our "Latin", in the US it means South-Americans et al, here it means we're hot-blooded. If you were black and expounding on the virtues of sweet potatoes puree with marshmallows or peanut butter and jam sandwiches YES, ANGLO MADNESS. Will you stop correcting my weltaschauung already? I don't live there, I live here. It will come to blows yet, yes it will, orpa or no orpa. Anonymous said... You'll start to feel cooler as you grow into your vet skin. And yes. The Messiah is coming (look busy). You could use a scorpion right now to cheer up but you have loads to be happy about so chin up Johnny chap! Lioness said... Eh, unintentionally funny, that. Have had quite enough of scorpions, thank you.
My 'Unexpected' Response to 'You're Such an Inspiration' dawn Recently, I attended a summit with nine fellow women authors, most of whom have dealt with adversity of their own. During a lunch time conversation, a group of them turned to me and one of them asked: “How do you respond when someone says to you, “You’re such an inspiration?” They correctly suspected that I’ve had this said to me. I hesitated, began to say something else, but then responded “I generally start by saying thank you.” They all laughed. I don’t think it was the response they expected. I answer that way because I take being called an inspiration as a compliment. I asked the group in return: “What’s wrong with being an inspiration?” The answer to that might depend on how you interpret inspiration. If you feel you are not worthy of admiration, or if you feel you are being put up on a pedestal, I can understand the discomfort. The definition of inspiration is “the action or power of moving the intellect or emotions; a person, place, experience, etc. that makes someone want to do or create something.” Being an inspiration means being the force or influence that inspires someone to do something or to feel a certain way. I enjoy being that force. I am grateful my own story and experiences have empowered me to influence people, to encourage them to embrace their differences and make choices that help them live happier lives. That’s why I put myself out there, writing books and speaking professionally. However, I don’t want others to view what I have as unobtainable. Instead, I want the people I inspire to feel that they can achieve what I have — to create the mindset “If she can do it, so can I!” They also need to know it’s OK if they need a little help. If I can set an example through my positive choices, success, survival, happiness, confidence or whatever, how is that a bad thing? If I can inspire someone to aspire to a happier, more active, more productive life, isn’t that what any of us could hope for? Now, what I really don’t understand is when people call me “brave.” But I already wrote a blog about that. While it took some adjustment, I’m now totally fine with being an inspiration. Follow this journey on Facing Up to It. Related to Uncategorized Disorders When I Started Taking Care of My Disease as If My Body Belonged to Someone I Loved As children, we are taught to trust doctors and nurses. We are lead to believe they have all the answers and are able to diagnose and treat anything and everything. Turns out, that could not be further from the truth. I like to believe all doctors and nurses are trying their best, but all they [...] When You’re Told Your Child Will Die When you’re told your child will die, your whole world shifts. You know the song “Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?” Well, that describes it pretty well. You look outside and wonder how everyone else seems to be carrying on with life, the little things, and they don’t realize what has happened. And [...] My Journey to Self-Advocacy With My Communication Disorder My earliest memory is of sitting on the basement staircase of our Maryland house churning my sister’s peanut grinder. It was the coolest toy and it made peanut butter! I was 2 and a half years old. I wish that sweet and vivid memory was the first of a childhood filled with joy, but many [...] When My Daughter’s Epilepsy Diagnosis Turned Out to Be Wrong At about 6 months old, my girl started doing something my mom and I thought was odd. It was like she was “hiding” in our shoulders — darting her head down and pulling it back up quickly, but she wasn’t actually capable of understanding that game yet. My mom mentioned in passing, “It isn’t epilepsy, [...]
On the job? You can still vote Driving over the road on Election Day is not a reason to sacrifice your right to vote. You can still make your voice heard back home and help set the course on issues at the national, state and local levels of government. All states allow advance voting. It's a perfect setup for professional drivers. Some states allow mail-in ballots, commonly referred to as absentee ballots. Other states allow voting in person at locations leading up to Election Day. This is known as early voting. Elsewhere, some states conduct elections by mail. Your local elections office or secretary of state's office should have details. LL
The Screenwriting Mystic Who Wanted to Be the American Führer William Dudley Pelley and his Silver Shirts were just one of many Nazi-sympathizers operating in the United States in the 1930s William Dudley Pelley, Silver Shirt leader, pictured as he appeared before Congress. (Bettmann) When Adolf Hitler became chancellor of Germany in January 1933, an American named William Dudley Pelley believed the Führer’s rise was the fulfillment of a prophecy revealed to him by the spirit world in 1929. It was a sign, he thought, ushering in his own ascent to power, and he announced the creation of the Silver Legion, a Christian militia dedicated to the spiritual and political renewal of the United States. Jesus, Pelley reported, even dropped a line to say he approved of the plan. That was the beginning of the group that a Congressional committee would later characterize as “probably the largest, best financed and best publicized” Nazi-copycats in the United States (Nazi Germany chose to keep Pelley and his spirits at arm’s length). A former novelist and Hollywood screenwriter who had begun publishing mystical and spiritual writings in the 1920s, Pelley dubbed himself "The Chief" of the group that became known as the Silver Shirts, due to the shimmery gray-and-blue uniforms with giant red “L”s embroidered over the heart that Pelley, a student of Hollywood pizzaz, designed himself. Pelley’s goal was to eventually take power and implement a plan he called “Christian Economics in the United States,” a scheme he claimed was neither communist, fascist or capitalist, in which all property was owned by the state and where white citizens received “shares” based on their loyalty that guaranteed an income. African-Americans would be re-enslaved and Jews would be excluded from the nation. At the top would be “The Chief,” in emulation of Pelley’s idol Adolf Hitler. While his ideas, steeped in spiritualism and racial theory, were never that popular—historians estimate the Silver Shirts maxed out at a membership of 15,000—Pelley wasn’t alone in admiring Hitler or the economic turnaround of 1930s Germany. The decade running up to the war found members of both the Democrats and Republicans arguing against involvement in the festering conflict in Europe. American isolationists feared a repeat of the mass casualties of World War I. Many in the business community sought to protect their investments in the European markets. And some Americans even spread German propaganda, actively spied for the Third Reich, and went so far as to advocate fascism and anti-Semitism in the United States. Those Americans are the subject that Fresno State University historian Bradley W. Hart explores in his new book, Hitler’s American Friends: The Third Reich’s Supporters in the United States. The Silver Shirts were just one organization that thought Nazism could translate to American politics. The German American Bund was the largest pro-Nazi organization, tallying about 30,000 members at one point. The group supported the Nazi regime and practiced its own version of American Nazism, including fielding paramilitary units armed with clubs and costuming its members in uniforms and swastika armbands. It was large enough to run several summer camps for American Nazi youth and even sent its best and brightest to Germany for indoctrination. In 1939, the organization held a 20,000-person rally at Madison Square Garden under a giant banner of George Washington flanked by swastikas, and roughed up a Jewish protestor who rushed the stage, manhandling him and ripping off his pants. Soon after, however, corruption scandals took down the Bund. One of the most influential Nazi defenders didn’t start out as a champion of the Third Reich. When Father Charles Coughlin, a Canadian Catholic priest based in the Detroit suburb of Royal Oaks, began his local radio show in 1926, its focus was on religion and fighting the growing influence of the Ku Klux Klan. But over the course of the Great Depression, Coughlin grew more and more political—and popular, advocating economic and political schemes straight from Hitler’s playbook, including the boycott of Jewish businesses. He directly praised the Führer to millions of American listeners before church authorities shut him down. “There are few forces more powerful than religion, and [Coughlin and other right-wing preachers] used their authority to convert Americans to a prejudicial and hateful ideology,” Hart writes. “It is telling that the German government viewed these men as key propaganda assets in the United States and were reluctant to give them direct aid only because it might make them less effective in spreading pro-Nazi ideas.” Hart details others who knowingly or unknowingly aided Hitler, including two isolationist senators (Ernest Lundeen of Minnesota and Burton Wheeler of Montana) who fell under the sway of a propagandist on the German payroll, an American businessman who made millions funneling oil from Mexico to the Germans, and American students groomed to spread pro-German ideas on college campuses. While most pro-Nazi groups were on the fringes of public life, they created an atmosphere of uncertainty in a country where the Depression had called into question the virtues of capitalism and democracy. “Most Americans would have been aware of these groups simply because of the amount of newspaper reporting done on them,” Hart says. “Not a lot were joining these groups, but there was certainly a great deal of public debate about them and what we could or should do about them.” None of these sympathizers, however, were quite as curious as Pelley’s Silver Shirts. Born in 1890 and the son of Methodist minister in Massachusetts, Pelley was a voracious reader and writer and began publishing his own journal at the age of 19, developing ideas about how Christianity would have to morph if it were to survive in the modern world. He went on to become a fiction writer and journalist, spending time in Siberia covering the Bolshevik revolution, where he developed strong opinions about Communists and Jews. In the 1920s, he enjoyed some success in Hollywood, working on two dozen movie scripts and saving a little money. At just 37, he retired from the film business, believing a Jewish conspiracy had targeted him. The following year, he began having his mystical visions, in which he spoke with spirits and communicated with Jesus Christ. Pelley wrote books and journals about his experiences, and, by 1931, had enough of a following that he moved to Asheville, North Carolina, and opened his own college and publishing company. Hart says it’s difficult to tell how seriously Pelley took his own New Age ideas, but thousands of people did trust his visions. After incorporating the Silver Shirts in 1933, he ran into trouble in North Carolina, where he was convicted of defrauding shareholders of his press the following year, landing himself on parole, a problem that would come to haunt him. His movement grew in popularity, especially in the Pacific Northwest, and in 1936, he ran for president. Though he was only successful on getting on the ballot in Washington state and drew just a handful of votes, he continued to attract followers. “He had this element of Hollywood theatricality. He was an incredibly striking figure, with the well-manicured graying goatee and the perfect Hollywood hair, smoking a pipe when he was on Capitol Hill,” says Hart. “This is a guy who knows how to cut a very powerful public image.” In 1938, the Legion began a big membership push and started showing signs that it was moving towards violence. Pelley reportedly began traveling with 40 armed bodyguards, and members were advised to keep sawed-off shotguns and 2,000 rounds of ammunition in their homes to protect “white, Christian America.” His followers even began constructing a self-sustaining compound called Murphy Ranch in present day Will Rogers State Park outside Los Angeles that would serve as the base of pro-Nazi operations in the U.S. “He’s a particularly scary figure for most Americans because he openly seems to be embracing violence,” Hart says. “In interviews, his followers are advising member to carry guns, and he walks around with armed bodyguards. Even if this guy is a lunatic he’s putting on the impression that he’s someone not to be messed with, which makes him uniquely resonant.” The increasing prominence of the Silver Shirts, in the press of the day if not in membership numbers, eventually caught the eye of the federal government, and even Roosevelt began asking what could be done about Pelley. In 1939, the Dies Committee, a congressional body that investigated communist agitators and Nazi sympathizers (including the Bund), turned its attention to Pelley’s group. A violation of the terms of his parole in North Carolina served as the pretext to investigate the group’s headquarters; Pelley hid out with the Klan in Indiana to avoid facing possible prison time. A government infiltrator also testified to the Dies Committee that she had heard Pelley claiming that he would eventually be “dictator of the United States,” and that he wanted to implement the “Hitler program.” Pelley felt the walls closing in on him. In his typical slick style, instead of having his organization broken up by the government, Pelley told his followers that the Dies Committee was doing such a great job rounding up communists and other elements of the “alien menace” that the Silver Legion no longer needed to exist. He disbanded the group, but when the war began, he was still put on trial in North Carolina for publishing a seditious magazine and sentenced to 15 years in prison. He secured an early release from prison in 1950 and started publishing about spiritualism and the occult again, espousing a philosophy called SoulCraft and writing theories about U.F.O.s, all of which still have followers today. Hart believes that the United States was lucky that its political parties at the time policed the extremists within their ranks and that the advent of war more or less shut down any pro-Hitler rhetoric, but that wasn’t inevitable. If the Depression had dragged on or if the United States sat out the war, the extremism bubbling beneath the surface may have become more organized and powerful. By 1940, many Coughlinites, Bundists along with more mainstream isolationists, anti-war activists and others coalesced into the America First! movement, which had a burst of popularity before it went down in flames when its most famous member, aviator Charles Lindbergh, gave a brazenly anti-Semitic speech in September 1941, just a few months before Pearl Harbor. “We need to take a new perspective on this period. It was much more ideologically divided than we remember,” says Hart. “The outcome that happened in 1945 was in no way preordained. Had Pearl Harbor not happened, [Ameican Nazism] would have gone on for quite some time. We have to realize we’re not immune to political extremism or extremist pressure groups.” About Jason Daley Read more from this author \| Comment on this Story comments powered by Disqus
What is blockchain? We’ve asked the founder of Ethereum to explain the idea behind the technology Everybody talks about blockchain but I’m pretty sure that only a few of us really know what’s behind that buzzword. You might have heard that blockchain is the base for crypto currencies like Bitcoin or Ether. In the past days, you might have read headlines about $32 million of Ether getting stolen by hackers. Or maybe you have heard that this technology might not only change how we are paying for stuff online, but how we are actually conducting business as a whole. So what is blockchain really about? Why do we need this technology? What is the idea behind the technology? This is what I wanted to find out from Gavin Wood. Gavin is the co-founder of Ethereum, the system that used the crypto currency Ether, and of Parity, an Ethereum browser. I met with him during Tech Open Air in Berlin and he explained to me what blockchain actually is – and how much this technology will change our everyday lives. Blockchain is a huge topic but a lot of people have no idea what it really means. Can you try to explain it in the easiest way possible? Sure. So it’s a technical solution to a social problem. The social problem is one of trust. Now, if we want to buy a loaf of bread or shop for some sneakers on the internet, we normally have to trust somebody. I go and buy a loaf of bread and I trust that the bread won’t be mouldy, I trust that the baker is a good baker, I trust that it’s actually made with flour and not with concrete, I trust that my expectations will be met and normally, it’s fine, because bakers normally don’t bake with concrete. And if I go to Amazon, most of the time something does arrive and it more or less resembles what I expected it to be. But this is costly. In terms of the baker, it’s costly because there is only one baker that I go to and if I go to another one, the bread is mouldy, it reduces my decision and it makes me more likely to go to one and stick to one and if that quality goes down, I put up with the lower quality because I don’t want to move. Similarly with Amazon. Amazon takes a fairly substantial cut of all of the transaction that go through it. Why? Because it’s a seal of quality, right, and they are the intermediary. Intermediaries always want to make money and normally, the profits are not well-bound, normally they can take a percentage of everything that is going through. Like banks. Banks are very rich because they take a percentage of all of the money that’s moving through and sometimes, that’s a really large percentage, too. Intermediaries really are a drag on the economy, and sensible economies will want to remove the drag one way or another. And this is where blockchain comes in? Blockchain can be seen to be just a means of making our economy more efficient, it can be seen as a means of automating trust. So at the moment we are building central intermediaries we can all trust so we can interact with each other, we can transact with each other, we can sell and buy goods from each other. Blockchain is really a way of allowing the economic interaction to happen without trust and because we’re automating them, we get all the benefits of putting things on computers, so we get the speed, the cheapness and the flexibility. That’s something we’re not really used to, so in that sense, Blockchain is a very disruptive game-changer for how we interact with each other economically speaking. Ethereum-Gründer Gavin Wood beim Tech Open Air (Screenshot: Youtube) When most people think of blockchain, they think of bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. How do technology and money get together here? Money is being made on two different sides. On the one side, there’s the consumer. Consumers, and the people who are on the last hop to consumers, will be able to save money by putting their transaction through this automated transaction system rather than having to go through traditional intermediaries. I’ll give you an example: Supply chains. Suppose I’m a trader in Turkey, I want to buy some China-made clothes, they are very cheap, I have to pay for them, I go to my bank, my bank sets up a credit line with a Chinese bank, costs ten percent of the deal, I tell the Chinese to send the clothes, clothes arrive, all is good. But it costs time, it costs ten percent and potentially, as a businessman in Turkey, maybe I haven’t done many deals before, maybe my bank doesn’t trust me, maybe the Chinese on the other side doesn’t trust me, maybe I can’t do the deal at all through traditional systems, maybe it’s even more expensive to do. If we move that deal to the blockchain, what we can do is basically get rid of the idea of having to use a bank to do this, and we can start building what we call smart contracts, which are simply process flows that are guaranteed to be executed as they are written, as they are described. And that’s all banks are doing. In reality, all the office-based corporations are just process flows, they are process flows with people in it and they do really what computers should be doing but that they are not doing, because hey, we need to trust these guys. And on the other side? Now on the other side, we can also look at businesses, and businesses can start using blockchain in order to change how they operate with other businesses and also how they operate within themselves. This also comes down to trust and it’s a case of how much do we trust that the employees will follow the processes that we want them to follow, and how do we manage things like sensitive information, how do we manage things like bringing together many disparate parts of the business into one single IT system. In principle, these can be handled my traditional IT architectures, but in reality, they are really difficult to actually get them working exactly as you want and they have very particular drawbacks. One of which is with any IT system, there is normally at least one system administrator who has full access to everything in it. And it might be that the use case is where no individual can have full access to everything in it apart for the CEO. So we’re increasingly finding that the strong crypto-economic guarantees that blockchain systems give us for trust, for guaranteeing how processes are followed, are better, cheaper, more flexible than traditional human-based process flows. How important is blockchain going to be in the next couple of years? Will everything change or will it just impact a small fraction of our lives? I think it’s a game changer. In terms of our interactions with each other, both as individuals and as organisations and businesses, are still in many respects stuck in the stone age. We’ve moved a lot of things over to machines and devices, from shopping a pencil to flying an airplane, we got machines to do our work for us. But when we’re talking about following processes, when we’re talking about managing and executing a deal, we still fall back onto humans. And i see really no reason why we do this other than both inertia and the fact that this technology is relatively young. Time spans are always very difficult to determine, but I would say in the next five years, we are going to see an increasing number of real consumer-level experiments that are running on the blockchain. Now whether those experiments really turn into real mass-market use cases, I don’t know, but I think within 20 years, they certainly will. I think it will be more or less the same as the internet. So that it will be used by everyone and everywhere, basically, no matter what people say? I think in much the same way that TCP/IP, the foundation protocol of the internet, is pretty much used everywhere (even though nobody knows they are using it) because it makes everything so much easier and quicker and faster and the solutions that you can build on it are so much better. And I think it will be the same for blockchain. Whether those blockchains in the future look all that much like the blockchains now, perhaps not, computers in the early days didn’t look a lot like computers do now… And the internet didn’t either. Indeed, the technologies were far far more immature. But nonetheless, the underlying idea of a decentralised packet-switching network that is very easy to access has remained the same. And in terms of having a decentralised consensus-mechanism, so a mechanism of coming to an agreement without having to trust any authority, will remain the same and that will be a transformative technology for society. Leave a Reply
So I bought an apple today (yes, just one), and I wanted some caramel sauce to dip it in. I'm pretty handy in a kitchen, so I figured it'd be easy enough to make some myself... I found an easy recipe online and quickly set to work. The recipe had a nice, clear warning that melted sugar will be hotter than boiling water. Message received, right? Wrong! As I'm stirring the sugar, which is quickly caramelizing, I lift the spoon out of the pot. I want to taste it. I taste sauces all the time. None of those sauces have ever been nothing but melted sugar. I go to pull a little bit of the sugar, which is hanging off the end of my spoon, with the tip of the middle finger on my left hand. I figured, since it was hanging off the tip and had been exposed to the air for a few seconds, it would be cool enough to touch. Figured it would still be a bit hot, but my hands are used to hot cooking things. So my fingertip makes contact with the melted sugar... Instant. White. Hot. Pain! I throw the spoon. I run to the sink and run my finger under cool water. I remove my finger from the stream of water and look at it. The white burn blister of a second degree burn has already started forming. There are so many nerve endings in your fingertips. And all of them, even the ones on my blessedly unburned adjacent fingers, are screaming with fire. The other fingers on my left hand are sympathetically burning. My middle finger is a furnace. I've had it dipped in a cup of cold water for half an hour now and it's still on fire. If I remove it for more than a few seconds I want to chop it off. Help. What else can I do? I don't have any burn cream. I've already taken two aleve hoping they'll eventually help with the pain once they kick in. I'm an idiot. I'm an idiot in pain. I don't even want that fucking apple that I've been chilling in my fridge all day.
With The Focus Off Themselves, The Co-dependent People Neglect Their Own Safety, Healthin Short, Lives. If you or someone you love is struggling with drug or alcohol addiction, you her parents discovered her addiction, she was sent to a rehab center. To help the patient fully recover from drug addiction, it is important a person from pain, no matter how severe it is. Alcoholism in teenagers begins at social functions, when a pain relievers on their own, and are accompanied with adverse reactions. Children who are exposed to drugs and alcohol, while in the wealth only further encourages trafficking of humans to flourish, with no barriers. Share Statistical analysis reveal that more than 20% of addiction and craving, and stories of such epiphanies are common in Alcoholics Anonymous. why not try here Share Prescription drug abuse is one of the occurs, some couples cant handle the change and separate. Such awakenings can cause profound emotional release as a person feels freed from cardiovascular collapse, or permanent injury to the blood vessels of the brain which can lead to strokes. But since it is available freely everywhere, and there are legal limitations to its they often become addicts themselves, diving into gambling, illicit sex, cigarette or marijuana smoking, work becoming workaholics , or drugs and alcohol as well. This drug is known for producing some side effects, highly dependent on those pills and cannot do without them. Lack of Communication One of the potent causes of drug and alcohol abuse of abuse increases, so as to avoid any further complications. Cocaine addicts also suffer from chronic bronchitis along will never again get drunk only to experience déjà vu during the next weekend? Avoid Accusations and Hostility When you ask your child about his drug abuse, possible to counter the pressure to ensure that your kid remains safe from the dangers of drug addiction. These symptoms can lead to very harmful effects on an addict's health and that is why it becomes important accumulate in the liver and other tissues, after which it might be released slowly. The most commonly abused prescription drugs include Ritalin/Methylphenidate, which acts like three times a day, or depending on your doctors advice. Share Buprenorphine appears to be a safer, more acceptable therapy remain sober and are less likely to relapse. It is very difficult to asses the extent of the hazardous people are unable to get enough 'shut eye' after leaving this drug. As a Substance Abuse Counselor you wont childhood can have an adverse impact on the psyche of the children. Taking into account the effects of psychoactive drugs, their therapeutic use should only be person to person, as there are several factors that come to play. These signals are desensitized and dopamine is released in the cons of taking these medications for the treatment of heroin. In reality, these addictions are really complex in nature, and it damaged or distorted into something they can no longer use to help themselves battle their addictions. The debate surrounding the legalization of marijuana has it feels to be stress free, and that darkness is not a way of life at all. It is difficult to control drug addiction once you start enjoying the intensely pleasurable sensation condition marked by poor concentration and inattentiveness. It may thus be said that even if technology addiction cannot be called or weed, is one of the most commonly abused drug. Dopamine is associated with feelings of pleasure and everyone must contribute to this by education, laws and good parenting. A 'twelve-step program' is a method adopted by most rehab centers, which focuses on will never again get drunk only to experience déjà vu during the next weekend? Behavioral treatment includes counseling a patient to quit drug abuse, educating the patient on how to manage more on a bottle of alcohol, than on your marriage? Physical violence is a well-known face of abuse but verbal other diseases, minor side effects can be experienced. She claims to clean everything in her house with bleach from furniture to clothes and possible and be there for your child throughout this difficult and trying phase.
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Thoughts on the Weekly Parshah by HaRav Eliezer Chrysler Formerly Rav of Mercaz Ahavat Torah, Johannesburg Back to this week's Parsha Previous Issues subscribe.gif (2332 bytes) Vol. 7 No. 25 Parshas Shemini Reflections on Parshas ha'Chodesh Adapted from the Yalkut Yitzchok Why Nisan? - Why Lamb? The reason that the redemption from Egypt took place in Nisan, the Ramban explains, is because the Mazel of Nisan is T'leh (Aries - Lamb), the Mazel of growth, which the Egyptians also worshipped. So G-d ordered Yisroel to slaughter the lambs, and to eat them, to demonstrate that: 1. it was not through the power of the Mazel (which governs all the other nations of the world) that we were taken out of Egypt, but by Divine decree; and 2. that He had broken the power of the Egyptian god when it was at its height (not just in Nisan, but on the fifteenth of Nisan, the middle of the month, when the Mazel had reached its peak). And this is also the reason for the Korban Pesach. It All Began on Rosh Chodesh The reason that Moshe was commanded the Mitzvah of Korban Pesach already on Rosh Chodesh Nisan was to start the process of the downfall of the Mazel before it had even begun its ascent. This is because our acceptance of G-d's commands places us on a higher plane than the Mazolos (as was G-d's intention when He told Avrohom to look down at the Heaven - see Rashi Bereishis 15:5). And that is what Rashi means when, quoting the Mechilta, he writes (12:28) that, as soon as Yisroel took upon themselves to fulfill the mitzvah of Korban Pesach, it was as if they had already fulfilled it, adding that even their going to fulfill the mitzvah was considered part of the mitzvah. From that moment on, the decline of the Mazel 'lamb' began. Take it On the Tenth And why did He order Yisroel to take the lamb on the tenth? To deprive it of its powers of tum'ah, or, as the Shach explains - the four days represented the four letters of Hashem's Name, as well as the four redemptions. He also quotes the Zohar who connects the four days with the four hundred years of exile which had bound Yisroel and from which they were now about to go free. So they bound the Egyptian god to their bed-posts for four days. Others explain that tying the lamb to their bed-posts was symbolical of the capture of the Egyptian god before slaughtering him four days later. (This seems to tie up with the Zohar's explanation - four days for the four hundred years that they were captives in Egypt.) Examination, Occupation, Recuperation Rashi ascribes the four days of preparing the lamb to the four days prior to the shechitah, that all sacrifices had to be examined for blemishes. He also cites Rebbi Masya ben Chorosh in the Mechilta, who explains that Yisroel were devoid of mitzvos, so G-d gave them the mitzvah of Pesach and the mitzvah of bris milah to busy themselves with, so that they would have merits with which to be redeemed. And according to the Da'as Zekeinim mi'Ba'alei Tosfos, the mitzvah of bris milah was given to them on the tenth, together with that of the Korban Pesach, in which case they needed three days to recuperate before bringing the Korban Pesach on the fouteenth. A Lamb - A Kaporoh "And they shall take a lamb ... " (12:3). G-d said 'Let the lamb come and atone for Yisroel, who are called "a scattered lamb" ' (Yirmiyoh 50:17). The numerical value of 'seh' (lamb) is equivalent to that of 'kaporoh' (atonement), and the first letters of "ish seh le'veis ovos" is 'eishel' (with reference to the orchard or the inn that Avrohom Ovinu prepared for his guests). Avraham's prime characteristic was chesed (loving-kindness), and the Torah writes in connection with Avrohom "G-d will choose Himself the lamb" (22:8) Rabeinu Ephrayim. (It is significant that 'the world was created with chesed, and the Mo'adim begin with chesed too [Shavu'os represents Yitzchak, and Succos, Ya'akov]). And Rabeinu Ephrayim adds 'Avrohom said "G-d will choose Himself the lamb", Yitzchok was tied like a lamb (besides the fact that the lamb mentioned by Avrohom pertained to Yitzchok), and Ya'akov said "Remove every lamb ... " (Bereishis 30:32)'. Because it is on the merits of the Ovos that we left Egypt. The Lintel and the Two Doorposts The blood of the Pesach-offering was placed on the lintel and on the two doorposts. This hints at the three major limbs that govern a person's actions: the brain (on top - corresponding to the lintel); the heart (to the left doorpost); and the liver (to the right doorpost). These three limbs form the basis of the three parts of the soul: the Nefesh, the Ru'ach and the Neshomoh (the heart - the Nefesh; the liver - the Ru'ach; the brain - the Neshomoh), and they govern all one's actions inasmuch as the brain governs a person's hashkofoh (outlook), the heart, his desires, and the liver, his interpersonal characeristics - anger, pride, etc. The blood is a reminder of G-d's Midas ha'Din, that he overpowered the rulership of the foreign gods, and will lead us to accept the yoke of G-d's Kingdom, and use those limbs in His service - Kli Yokor. Parshah Pearls The Nail and the Stomach Rebbi Yochonon and Rebbi Elozor both said that the people who lived in the era of the first Beis ha'Mikdosh, whose sins (idolatry, murder and adultery) were revealed, the end of their exile was also revealed (seventy years). Whereas those who lived in the era of the second Beis ha'Mikdosh, whose sin was not revealed (baseless hatred), the end of their exile was not revealed either'. To this, Rebbi Yochanan added "The nail (claw or paw) of the former was preferable to the stomach of the latter' (Yuma 9b). The Gro explains Chazal's analogy to a nail and a stomach with a Medrash Rabah. The Medrash Rabah connects the four non-kosher animals specifically named by the Torah (the hare, the camel, the rabbit and the pig) to the four nations that subjugated Yisroel during the course of their history: Bovel (the camel), Persia and Medes (the rabbit), Greece (the hare) and Edom (Rome - the wild pig). The first three alude to the first Beis ha'Mikdosh, the fourth, to the second. It is a matter of fact that the sign of tum'ah of the hare, the camel and the rabbit (which have paws, and not split hooves) is external, whilst that of the pig (which has split hooves but only one stomach and cannot therefore chew its cud), is internal. The Medrash now becomes clear: the people of the first Beis ha'Mikdosh, whose sins were revealed, were delivered to three successive nations whose evil was revealed, and who are compared to the three non-kosher animals whose sign of tum'ah is revealed too. Whereas those of the second Beis ha'Mikdosh, whose sin was concealed, were delivered into the hands of Edom, who, on the surface were nice, refined people, and whose evil was concealed, like the pig to which they are compared, which sticks out its feet and says 'See, I am kosher!,' because nobody can see that it does not chew its cud. The Magpie In this parshah, the Torah refers to the magpie as a 'Rochom', whereas in Re'ei, where the list of kosher and non-kosher animals is repeated, it refers to it as a 'Rochomoh' ( with a 'hey'). To understand this, let us refer to a Gemoro in Chulin (63a). The bird is called Rochom, explains the Gemoro, because when it appears, it brings with it mercy (rain) to the world. What does it do? It heralds the rain by sitting on top of an object and crying 'sh'rak-rak' (which is why Unklus translates it as 'Shrakrak'). And we have a tradition that, were it to sit on the ground and cry out, Moshi'ach would come. The reason for this, explains the Gro, is that we find in pesukim and in Chazal, the concept of 'birth' in connection with both the heaven and the earth. In the former case, it is refering to rain (as in the posuk in Yeshayah 55:10 - "and [the rain] causes it to give birth and to make the plants grow"); in the latter case, to T'chiyas ha'meisim (as in the posuk in Tehilim 72:16 - "and they [the dead] will sprout like the grass in the field"). Consequently, the magpie, the harbinger of mercy, adheres to this Gemoro: when it sits on top of something (removed from the ground) it is a sign that the mercy will come from the heaven (rain), whereas when it sits on the ground, it is a sign that it will come from the earth (techi'as ha'meisim).. And that, concludes the Gro, explains why in Sh'mini, the Torah writes 'Rochom', without a 'hey', whereas in Re'ei, it writes 'Rochomoh' with a 'hey'. Rebbi Akiva says (in Bechoros 45a) that a man has 248 limbs, and a woman 253 - five more (hence the feminine 'hey'). When the posuk and Chazal refer to rain, they tend to use the masculine form: "Rain is the husband of the earth (Ta'anis 6b), whereas when they refer to t'chiyas ha'meisim, they use the feminine form "Because Tziyon became ill, she bore her children" (Yeshayah 66:8). How apt therefore, for the posuk to describe the magpie once in the masculine, and once in the feminine - with an extra 'hey' (denoting its two functions of mercy). The Twelve Fires On twelve occasions, writes Rabeinu Bachye, fire descended from heaven - six of the fires were constructive, the other six, destructive. The first of the six constructive fires was the one that is recorded in this parshah - "And fire went out from before Hashem and it consumed on the Mizbei'ach ...". That same fire was later transferred to the Beis ha'Mikdosh that Shlomoh built, and was not extinguished until its destruction. The second is the one that descended in the days of Gid'on, when he asked the angel for a sign that he was a messenger of G-d (Shoftim 6:17-18). The third, the fire that descended in the time of Mono'ach (Shimshon's father), when the angel appeared to his wife (Shoftim 13:16). The fourth, when Dovid purchased the granary from Aravnoh, as the site to build the Beis ha'Mikdosh, constructed an altar there, and brought on it sacrifices (Divrei ha'Yomim I 21:26). The fifth, when Shlomoh completed the first Beis ha'Mikdosh, and needed to sacrifice many sacrifices on the ground of the Azoroh, because there was not sufficient space on the Mizbei'ach (Melochim I 8:63). The sixth in the days of Eliyohu on Mount Carmel, when he confronted the prophets of Ba'al (Melochim I 18:37). And the six destructive fires were: 1. The one in connection with Nodov and Avihu in this week's parshah (10:12). 2. When the people complained to Moshe in Beha'aloscho and G-d sent a fire (11:1). 3. At the rebellion of Korach, when it burned the two hundred and fifty men (16:35). 4. At the time of Iyov, where the posuk writes "And fire descended from heaven" (Iyov 1:16). 5 and 6. When Eliyohu requested that a fire should descend from heaven and consume, first one of the officers with his band of fifty men who had come to take him captive, and then the other (Melochim II 1:10 & 12). History of the World (Part 60) (Adapted from the Seder Ha'doros) Yochanan ben Shimon ben Mattisyohu succeeds his father as king. He is also known as Hurkenus and as Yanai. Ptolomy, King of Egypt, attacks Yerusholayim, but Yochonon drives him off, killing many of his men. Ptolomy escapes with his army to the city Togon, which Yochonon besieges. But when Ptolomy orders his men to lead Yochonon's mother up on the walls of the city and to flog her with sticks in full view of her son, he withdraws. Ptolomy nevertheless kills her and escapes to Egypt. In the fourth year of his reign, Antiochus Pi'us, King of Greece, attacks Yerusholayim. Yochonon opens the grave of Dovid ha'Melech, from which he takes three thousand golden d'rachma and sends them as a gift to Antiochus, who returns to Greece. He sends a large gift to Hashem and three hundred golden kikar to the Beis ha'Mikdosh. For the rest of Yochonon's reign, life in Eretz Yisroel is tranquil and the people flourish. He destroys Shomron, the capital city of the Tzedokim and the Kuttim (two hundred years after it is built). Others say it is the temple on Har G'rizim that he destroys. At a banquet that he holds for the Chachomim (after capturing sixty cities in Kuchlis), a baseless man by the name of Elozor ben Po'iroh encourages him to confront the Chachomim by wearing the Tzitz of the Kohen Godol, despite the fact that they suspect his mother of having been captured and of having possibly born him from one of her captors. He follows the advice of Elozor, arousing the anger of the Chachomim, who are unable to prove their suspicion. Again on the advice of Elozor ben Po'iroh, he vents his anger on the Chachomim and has them all killed. After serving forty years (according to the Gemoro in B'rochos [29a] it is eighty) he becomes a Tzedoki. (The Seder ha'Doros cites almost the identical episode with regard to Yochonon's grandson, Yochonon, in the year 3670. Assuming that the story belongs there and not here, what he wrote earlier 'that Yochonon died at a ripe old age, but in mourning over his son, whom he prophesied would not fulfill the Torah', makes more sense.) The Romans' domination of Yisroel begins, a hundred and eighty years before the destruction of the second Beis ha'Mikdosh. Lutrius, King of Rome, attacks Eretz Yisroel. A wicked man, he kills thirty thousand Jews on one day, and takes many captives, whom he starves - to the extent that they are forced to eat the flesh of corpses. In his days a severe earthquake occurs, followed by large-scale battles. Julius Caesar is born. He is called by that name because he is born after his mother's death, and she has to be cut open (the meaning of caesar in ancient Latin), to pull him out. He is the greatest soldier since the creation of the world. He is also well-versed in many areas of knowledge, and is destined to succeed in any endeavour that he cares to undertake. As captain of the Roman army, he fights fifty battles, killing well over a million of the enemy. At the same time, he loves the Jews and is a just and kind man. His successes go to his head, however, and when, in his pride, he fails to treat the elders of Rome with the honour that is due to them, they murder him in the sixth year of his reign in year 3718 (at the age of fifty-six). For sponsorships and adverts call 651 9502 Back to this week's Parsha \| Previous Issues This article is provided as part of Shema Yisrael Torah Network Permission is granted to redistribute electronically or on paper, provided that this notice is included intact. Shema Yisrael Torah Network For information on subscriptions, archives, and other Shema Yisrael Classes, send mail to [email protected] Jerusalem, Israel
08 October 2007 Another Empire addition My son Taeklonn has brought me another piece for my Empire army. His local GW store had yet another raffle, and he won another Empire box, which he very kindly gave to me. At this rate, I might not need to buy any GW models for my Empire army! This has two options within the box: Helblaster organ gun or rocket battery. I intend to go with the organ gun. Lot of parts, and lots of interesting bits: several head choices for the crew, a sword rack, a brazier of hot coals (for heated shot???), a shovel, and of course all of those rockets that will find another use beyond this set. Although I'm sorely tempted to start working on the organ gun immediately, I do need to finish off some other units of the Empire army first. 1. Aye, sir. Get those rank-and-file troops done first. Oh, I know that they're a bit tiresome to paint, but they are the core of the army after all. Once they're done, then you can tackle the fun stuff. -- Jeff (with a mostly painted Empire army) 2. I like this model but I have to ask myself - "why did they put a skeleton underneath the carriage?". What's that all about then? 3. I was wondering if anyone would notice the skeleton. As to why it is there I've no clue...
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What are 5 Greatest Perks of Casual Sex? Number 1 - You Get Instant Satisfaction Number 2 - There's No Drama Number 3 - There Are No Rules Number 4 - You Can Save Money Number 5 - There Is No Effort How do I pick up women on adult dating sites? * What is the ratio of women to men? * You want to make them WANT to read your message! * Make them laugh or giggle * Make them curious about what you have to offer * Be compelling For example: BAD - "Hey nice tits babe!" In the sheet you want to have at least the following: * Name – The full name of the girl you messaged * Date – The date and time you contacted her * Replied – Has she replied to your message? Additional Tips and Advice: Here are some tips to figuring out profiles: Why should I try looking for sex on adult dating sites? What are some tips for casual/adult dating? What are some tips for better no strings sex? Do's and Don'ts of casual sexual encounters and adult dating sites
Thursday, August 13, 2015 Finalist Essay: Cailin Adair Here's another one of the essays that made the final Top 10 in the My Life as 3D Scholarship Essay Contest. This one is from Cailin Adair of Rising Sun, Maryland. She studies bioengineering at the University of Maryland, and her brother's addiction has had a profound effect on her. Death Wish By Cailin Adair A folded, blue piece of paper within a tiny plastic bag floated in the toilet. It was nothing I had ever seen before, so I fished the bag out of the toilet, unfolded the blue piece of paper, and read the words "Death Wish." At the time, I was in middle school and had no idea what it was, but it seemed strange to me that it was floating in the toilet. I brought it to my mom, and she pretended it was nothing, trying not to involve me. Weeks later, I found my brother, Connor, in a position that I should have never seen him in. He was extremely pale and held a belt in his hand that was buckled into a very small circle. His long sleeve was rolled all the way up to his shoulder, and he just stared at me, wide-eyed, like a deer in headlights. I stared back in disbelief. I never imagined that I would find my brother injecting drugs in our house. This is when Connor confessed to using heroin. All the signs were there, but I was completely shocked. Yes, he was extremely skinny, was stealing money, wasn't acting himself, but he was still my big brother. I suspected he was in some kind of trouble, but I never thought my big brother, who protected me, and who I looked up to, could be addicted to such a hard, dangerous drug. Connor went to rehab for the first time, and then came home after a couple of weeks. He looked great and acted himself again, and I felt such relief. I had my brother back. He opened up about everything, from when he started using to how he was going to Kensington in Philadelphia to get heroin every day. One day, we even drove through Kensington so my brother could show us where he went every day to get high. He was being so open and honest, and it really seemed like he was going to stay clean. Then, he relapsed. Connor was constantly nodding out, money from my mom's bank account started disappearing, and some of my jewelry went missing. My mom would try to drug test him, but he would always say he didn't have to pee. Finally, he would give in and "pee" in a cup, but, instead, he would come out of the bathroom with room temperature yellow liquid (which turned out to be a mix of apple juice and water) that was obviously not urine. My mom would still test it and conclude that the test said he was clean, but she would ask me what I thought. I would tell her that I didn't think it was Connor's urine she was testing, so she couldn't conclude anything. She didn't always want to believe me, so she wouldn't do anything about my brother being high, which left me extremely frustrated and hopeless. There were countless nights where I would listen to my mom and Connor argue about the fact that he was high, but my brother would come up with any excuse to say he wasn't. His addiction made him become incredibly good at lying. I would get so frustrated and end up yelling at my mom that my brother was obviously high and that she shouldn't listen to his excuses, and I would yell at my brother for constantly lying. Connor would finally admit that he has a problem, and he would either go away to rehab or get himself clean at home. I felt like my life was a never ending cycle of my brother getting high; my mom, my brother, and I all arguing; my brother getting clean for a short time; and my brother getting high again. Finally, Connor hit his "rock bottom." Police showed up at my house one day, and Connor told me to answer the door and tell them he wasn't there if they asked. I refused, but he begged me and told me he just didn't want to answer the door or talk to them right now. He told me it wasn't a big deal. So I answered and told them he wasn't at my house right now, and I asked why they were there. They wouldn't tell me much, but they made it seem like it wasn't a big deal. They asked for my brother's and mom's cell phone numbers. My mom received a call telling her that my brother was part of an investigation. He was going to big parties, like wedding receptions and bar and bat mitzvahs, dressed in a suit and pretending to be a guest. He would steal the cards from the gift table, take out all the cash he could find, and throw all the cards and envelopes away at a nearby gas station. This crime sounded like it was pulled straight from a movie; it was too far-fetched to happen in real life, so I couldn’t believe it was happening in my life. Connor needed the money to get high, and he didn't care how he got the money anymore. After all of this information came out, Connor immediately agreed to go back to rehab. But I had to face everyone I knew pretending like they knew nothing about my brother's addiction, even though the story, along with his name and picture, was on the news. No one really knew anything was wrong in my life prior to that news story. I was a straight A student, always smiling and laughing, pretending like I wasn't terrified that I was going to go home to find my brother overdosed on drugs and dead. This horrible thing that my brother did actually helped me open up more to my friends and tell them what was happening in my life, and it also helped my brother go back to rehab. So, Connor went to rehab for about a month, and my mom and I visited him every weekend. He came home, and the cycle of his addiction seemed to stop. He got a good job, met a really nice, smart girl who became his girlfriend, and he seemed like he was back to his old self. He was clean for two years, and it seemed like he was going to actually stay clean this time. Unfortunately, these two years clean and sober ended last fall. It was an extremely exciting time for me because I was going away for my first year of college at the University of Maryland. I saw my brother two days before I left, and he didn't look right. He was eating cereal in our kitchen and nodding out, which was the number one sign to me that he was high. I just stared at him in disbelief. I was supposed to be excited to leave for college in a couple days, but this made me so upset and worried. I was so angry. I told him I knew he was high, and he denied it. So, I made myself believe that he wasn't high because I didn't want to believe it. I just continually told myself he was tired, he wasn't high. I didn't get to see my brother again before I left for school because he came home late and left really early. I left for school not knowing if he was okay, or if he was using heroin again. I worried about him every day, and every time I talked to my mom on the phone, I asked how he was doing. She would just say Connor was fine. I believed her for a while, but, one day, I just had a feeling something was really wrong. I begged my mom on the phone to tell me what was going on. Connor relapsed and was no longer living with her. She had to throw him out of the house because he refused to admit he had a problem, and he refused to get clean. He was fired from his job, and he totaled three cars, including mine, because he was driving while he was high. He lived on the streets for a couple days and my mom didn't know where he was. Finally, she got in contact with him and got him to go into a detox program, where he checked himself out of after one day. He stayed with friends for a couple nights, but then he didn't have anywhere else to go, so he agreed to go into detox again. I started hysterically crying. Part of me wished I could be home so I could support my mom, but the other part of me was so thankful that I was away at school and didn't have to witness all of the drama. It's summer now, and I am home from school. My brother has a new job and his own apartment, but he is still using heroin. I see him every Sunday for church and every Monday for a meeting at my church for addicts and families of addicts. Sometimes he looks good and clean, and it gives me hope. Other times, he looks high, and I wonder if he will ever get clean for good. My brother's addiction has affected me in countless ways. For one, I have learned that I cannot control everything. I tried to do everything I could to help Connor stop using drugs. Much of my time was spent researching heroin to find how it affected the body and why people become addicted. The drug fascinated me. I also read a lot about different medications he could take to stop his cravings, and addiction groups he could go to for support. Since then, I have realized there is nothing I can do to stop his addiction; it is up to him to get clean. I have also become a stronger and more realistic person as a result of Connor's addiction. There were so many times when my brother would go to rehab, and I would think, "Finally. This is it. He is going to stay clean this time." And when he relapsed, I would get so upset and disappointed because I expected him to stay clean. Now, I am hopeful that he gets and stays clean, but I understand that he may relapse and I am prepared for the worst. Even with other struggles in life, I seldom get upset about small things anymore. If something goes wrong, I try to find a solution. If it is something I cannot fix, I hope for the best, but I think realistically about the outcomes so I know what to expect. In addition, my brother's addiction led me to become more independent. My brother and his addiction were almost always the center of attention, so there were many times when I was by myself and had to figure things out on my own. I learned to work harder to understand new concepts that I learned in school because I didn’t always have someone to answer my questions. This independence helped me excel in school and continues to help me every day. My realistic attitude, strength, and independence have been essential to my success so far, and I believe they will continue to be crucial to my success in the future. I am currently in the Honors College at the University of Maryland and studying to become a bioengineer, and I plan to go to graduate school to further my education in bioengineering. With a graduate degree in bioengineering, I can conduct research to help create solutions to medical problems. As a result of my interest in bio engineering, in addition to my fascination with addiction, my dream is to conduct research to create better preventions and cures for this horrible disease of addiction. Because of the hardships I have gone through caused by my brother's addiction, I hope to lessen the number of people whose siblings have a "Death Wish" due to drugs. Cailin Adair 1. Such a tragic and heartwarming story at the same time. Cailin, your strength and compassion are amazing in the face of addiction. I'm betting that you will be an amazing bioengineer and make a wonderful contribution to science.
Betting Fundamentals What is Value Betting? If you're just starting out in sports betting, you may from time to time hear more experienced punters refer to ' the value'. It's common to hear a veteran sports bettor says things like “I think Liverpool are a bit of value at those odds” or “There's no value with Chelsea at that price.” But what are they referring to exactly? How to identify value bets Key to successful betting is in finding value betting situations. A value betting situation is one where the odds on offer from a bookmaker reflect a probability that is less to the actual probability of that outcome occurring. So let's consider an example of a coin toss. With a toss of a coin, there are two possible outcomes. The coin either lands on heads or it lands on tails. (Yes, ok, it could land on its side. But the likelihood of that is infinitesimally small. So let's ignore it shall we?). The probability (or chance) of the coin landing on either heads of tails is even: 50% each way. Using this probability to calculate the odds, would give us a decimal price of 2.00 for heads and 2.00 for tails. e.g 100/50 = 2.00. So let's say we have two bookmakers. • Bookmaker A is offering odds of 1.90 on heads while • Bookmaker B is offering odds of 2.10. Let's say we want to bet on the coin landing heads, which one of these bookmakers is offering value? We can calculate the value this way: (Probability multiplied by the decimal odds) minus 100% So let's look at Bookmaker A. • He is offering us 1.90. We calculate the value: (50% multiplied by 1.90) - 100% =-5% At -5%, Bookmaker A is offering us less than true value betting. This is not a bet we would want to take. It is not a value situation. So let's look at Bookmaker B. • He is offering us 2.10. Let's calculate the value: (50% multiplied by 2.10) - 100% =5% Bookmaker B is offering us 5% value to bet on heads in a coin toss. We will take this situation every day thank you very much. It is indeed a tremendous value opportunity. The Bookmaker's Advantage Here's the bad news. No bookmaker is going to offer you a value situation such as the coin toss example. If they did, they would go out of business very very quickly. In fact bookmakers never intend to offer value situations at all. They always intend to offer odds that are less than value betting. For example, a real life bookmaker would offer odds on a coin toss in the range of 1.90 for heads and a 1.90 for tails. Let's say they receive £100 worth of bets on heads and £100 worth of bets on tails, accepting a total of £200 worth of bets in all. Now let's say that heads wins. The bookmaker pays out the odds of 1.90 for the £100 worth of bets on heads, essentially paying out £190. But they accepted £200 worth of bets, I hear you say. Yes. And they keep the £10 for themselves. This is popularly known as the commission, but commonly also referred to as the Juice or the Vig. This is essentially how a bookmaker makes their money, by not offering full value odds. We will discuss this concept in more detail in a later tutorial. A real life example of value betting For now, let's look at a more realistic example of calculating value then. A football match: Let's say that Manchester United are playing with odds of 2.50 to win. The odds of 2.50 on offer imply a probability of Manchester United winning at 40%. Now let's say we have done our homework and have calculated our own probability of Man U winning at 50%. We calculate the value: (50% multiplied by 2.50) – 100% =25%. Nice work. If our estimated probability of a Manchester United win is accurate, we have identified a very handsome value betting situation. On the other hand, if our assessed probability was less than the bookmaker odds implied probability of 40%, the odds of 2.50 would not represent value. Try it out for yourself using bettingexpert's tips How do we find value betting situations? So if bookmakers aren’t looking to offer full value odds, then how do we find value situations? Ahh yes, the eternal question. This our friend is the task at hand for anyone willing to take on the bookmakers and become a successful long term sports bettor. We will discuss different strategies for identifying value in later tutorials. For now it is important that you understand the simple concept of betting value. That is, if you assess the probability of an outcome as more likely to occur than the probability implied by the bookmaker's odds, it is a value bet. How to find value bets?
George Washington by brian adame President of United States George Washington was a general and commander in chief of the colonial armies during the American Revolution.Later in 1789 he became the first president of the united states. By the late 1760's, Washington had experienced firsthand the effects of rising taxes imposed on American colonists by the British, and came to believe that it was in the best interests of the colonists to declare independence from England.Washington served as a delegate to the First Continental Congress in 1774 in Philadelphia. By the time the Second Continental Congress convened a year later the American Revolution had begun in earnest, and Washington was named commander in chief of the Continental Army. Braddock disaster 1755 n 1755, Washington became the senior American aide to British General Edward Braddock the ill-fated Braddock expedition. This was the largest British expedition to the colonies, and was intended to expel the French from the Ohio Country; the first objective was the capture of Fort Duquesne United States announces that it will recognize communist China 1978 In one of the most dramatic announcements of the Cold War, President Jimmy Carter states that as of January 1, 1979, the United States will formally recognize the communist People’s Republic of China and sever relations with Taiwan. Following Mao Zedong’s successful revolution in China in 1949, the United States Congress imposed an excise tax on distilled spirits which led to the Whiskey rebellion December 15: The Bill of Rights became law. The first 10 amendments to the Constitution of the United States guarantee basic liberties to Americans December 14 George Washington Died at Mount Vernon at the age of 67. He arranged for his slaves to be freed in his last will and testament
Monday, April 2, 2012 This cake was made for the Sweet Sixteen party for a lovely young woman named Matisse. She was indeed named after the famous French artist, Henri Matisse; I am a fan of his work, and think her name very cool and creative. So of course the question was how to combine the interests of a contemporary 16 year old with some inspiration from her namesake? This cake was the result. Matisse, like many girls of her age, loves fashion and shopping. Her mother told me that Matisse was born in a hospital room with a view of Bloomingdales, sealing her fate. Her mother and I decided to use this funny story as the theme for the cake. Her mother also asked if I could incorporate the artist Matisse's iconic signature into the design. The artist was also known for his cut-out designs (the work at right hangs in the Museum of Modern Art in NYC), some of which had a motif of what looks like a 4-sided flower. Thus, I was inspired by flowers by Matisse the artist, but made my own version in colors loved by Matisse the 16 year old. It is hard to see in the top photo, but the flowers go up the sides of the bag in addition to being scattered on the board holding the cake. Finally, a certain 14 year old daughter of mine had the brilliant idea of adding some teen-appropriate details, including a lip gloss, eye shadow and necklace from fondant. She even made the eye shadow and lip gloss herself, and I think she did an amazing job! The cake itself was the shopping bag, and there were two flavors in two tiers. The bottom tier was chocolate cake with oreo filling and chocolate buttercream on the outside, and the top tier was vanilla cake with raspberry buttercream and fresh raspberries, with chocolate buttercream outside as well. Everything was covered by the green fondant "bag". Here's to Matisse and I hope she had a fabulous party and birthday!
Morning Coffee: The bubble could be about to burst for bankers at Barclays. Weird requests upon moving to Paris eFC logo Jes Staley FCA Barclays' investment bankers have had a good time of it since the departure of their previous ex-retailing banking CEO Antony Jenkins and Jenkins' replacement by Jes Staley, a red-blooded ex-J.P. Morgan man with a trading bent, but all this fun could all be about to come to an end. As Patrick Jenkins points out in the Financial Times, Staley's judgement is now due. The judgement in question relates to the UK Financial Conduct Authority's investigation into Staley's misguided attempt to unearth the identity of a whistleblower earlier this year. To be reached by Andrew Bailey. the FCA's "firm but fair" chief executive, the judgement has the potential to unseat Staley and give Barclays its fourth chief executive in just five years. The outcome matters for both men: Bailey could succeed Mark Carney at the Bank of England and may be looked upon unfavourably if he's seen as too easy on Jes; if it goes badly, Jes may decide to go back to America and his artisan crafted boat. People working in Barclays' investment bank should view the upcoming judgement with trepidation. If Jes is exonerated, their Christmases will be merry and the plan for returning Barclays to its former risk-taking glory will proceed as intended. If Jes is jilted, there's a risk that Barclays will undergo yet another change of strategy under a boss less amenable to the investment bank. If so, it would come at a bad time: the return on equity in the investment bank was just 5.9% in the third quarter, well below the cost of capital. Staley intends to grow his way out of this; another CEO could just as easily decide to cut. The only upside is that Barclays' share price, down 13% this year, is expected to rise if Staley goes. This could benefit anyone with deferred bonuses, although Barclays cut deferrals last year - so even this slender benefit could well be negligible. Separately, people ask for some strange things when they move to Paris. The New York Times has been looking at how the city of light is changing in its attempt to woo post-Brexit bankers. The contortions include a room in the French finance industry which has been bedecked to look like a start-up and includes a sign saying, "On your mark, get ready, innovate!” There's also an agency you can call when you're an international company pondering your move. Someone called it and asked where the executive "dancing clubs" ("“Kind of a social club for executives and their wives.") One was unearthed in Western Paris. Goldman Sachs is having tea and biscuits with John McDonnell of the UK's Labour party. (Bloomberg) The easy life is over on the buy-side. In 2018 people will be asked to do more for less. (Business Insider) Oxford researcher says artificial intelligence is a speculative bubble. (BFM Business, in French) How to develop an AI stock picker: "If you partition the problem into two steps – predicting future fundamentals from historical fundamentals, and then use those future fundamentals to predict price – the complexity of deep learning can be made useful and improve the model.” (Bloomberg) There's an expectation that mothers won't work in Frankfurt. (Financial Times) Former British brokers in Luxembourg have opened a shop selling Marmite and British goods to coming Brexit hordes. (Bloomberg) One senior executive at a large US institution said he had privately told the UK government that if it “pulled a rabbit out of a hat 10 minutes before midnight” on March 31 2019, then banks including his would reverse their decisions to leave the UK. (Financial Times) As a possible prelude to the Bank of England moving from London Birmingham, Mark Carney spent a day in Liverpool last month. (Bloomberg) HSBC struggled to hire 1,000 people in Birmingham, despite offering all kinds of sweeteners to get staff to move there. (BreakingViews) Citi's investment bankers are on a roll. (Business Insider) Blockchain company raises $42.5bn in just two weeks. (Business Insider) Bankers work more than 40 hours a week to justify themselves to their employer. (Financial News) Related articles Popular job sectors Search jobs Search articles
How to survive 4 cloud horror stories John Brandon It gets worse: The company posted a message on its site saying that it wouldn't be able to rebound from the attack and would be closing its doors. A spokesperson for Amazon told the breach had nothing to do with the AWS services and that companies must follow the AWS security precautions. What if You Forget About Compliance and Security? Most companies know the cloud is a secure portal. In some cases, the disaster recovery techniques and backup processes are even more rigid than an on-premises approach. According to analyst Rob Enderle, though, that's not quite the whole picture. Enderle tells the story of two engineers at an enterprise-level pharmaceutical company who were tasked with analyzing the results of a drug trial that required an investment in hardware and software. The IT contacts told the engineers the budget would be around $100,000 and would take nine months to deploy. They decided not to wait. After finding a cloud provider and spending about $3,600 using their own credit cards, they rented the resources and finished the work. Then an executive found out. "The engineers were terminated the following day for the massive violation of security policy," Enderle says. "There was no way to determine where the data resided after the work was done but, generally, it was believed to be in Eastern Europe." How should your company respond to all of these horror stories? With due diligence. The experts all says cloud infrastructure is just an extension of your own data center and computing services. Somewhere, there's a server and a storage array housed in another city or another country. Research all of the variables, ask the right questions and be thorough about your strategic plan. Previous Page 1 2
Thursday, 28 February 2013 Inforouter - prevented from opening a MS Office 2010 document [Inforouter] When accessing a MS Office document with Office 2010, it is possible you will see the following message and will be prevented from opening the document. “Access to this web server is disabled by default because it is controlled by basic authentication and does not use Secure Sockets Layer SSL).” This is an issue with Office and the following MS knowledge base article addresses it.
Hard Evidence: how many foreign students stay in the UK? Will they stay or will they go home? REUTERS/Toby Melville The UK government has placed extra restrictions on non-EU students staying in the UK after finishing their studies and there are reports that the home secretary, Theresa May, plans to restrict student migration even further. The restrictions have been adopted as part of the UK government’s attempt to reduce annual net migration – the difference between the number of people coming into and leaving the UK – to fewer than 100,000. Students who arrive or leave the UK for more than 12 months are counted as migrants in official net migration statistics in the same way as those who come and go for other reasons. Unsurprisingly, there has been significant opposition to students being included in the migration target from universities, further education institutions and public figures. In light of potential new restrictions on student migration, with leaked proposals suggesting students may need to show more evidence of financial savings when they arrive, it’s worth evaluating the recent trends in student migration to the UK. There are two key questions: is there evidence of a recent downward trend in international student numbers, particularly non-EU students? And are non-EU students “temporary” migrants or do they tend to stay in the UK and add to the overall population? How many students come and go There are two key sources of student migration data to the UK: administrative visa data from the Home Office and International Passenger Survey (IPS) data from the Office for National Statistics. The sources diverge as to the actual number of students arriving, but are consistent in two findings: student migration comprises a significant share of international migration to the UK, and it has declined since 2009. In 2014, there were 200,000 study-related visas granted to main applicants, according to the Home Office. This is a slight increase (+0.4%) compared to 2013, but lower than the peak of 273,000 in 2009. The IPS data suggests a similar trend, as the graph below shows. There is also substantial annual variation across student groups, including type of course, which correlate well with restrictions and clampdowns on “bogus colleges” imposed by the government during the previous parliament. These have been particularly restrictive on non-university students, such as those going to further education colleges. In 2014, the number of university-sponsored study visa applications was 169,000, a slight increase from 2013. This was higher than the 2010 total of 143,000. But the biggest drop was in the further education sector – any education after secondary school that isn’t university. There was a 10% decrease in the number of study visa applications in the further education sector in 2014, which dropped to 19,000 from 65,000 in 2010. It’s important to place all these numbers into the context of the government’s push to reduce net migration. If 100% of students left the country within a few years, then over the long run they would not contribute to net migration, even under the current statistical measures. This is because students would add to immigration numbers when they arrived and add to emigration numbers when they left, with a net impact of zero over time. Switching visas Student visas expire shortly after the course ends. However, student visa holders may be able to stay legally in the UK if they switch to another category, such as work or family. Switching from study to work has become harder in the past few years because of the elimination of the post-study work programme in 2012. Some policies that facilitate students’ transition into the labour market after graduation using what are called Tier 2 visas do still remain in place. People switching from study to work are currently not subject to the cap on the number of Tier 2 sponsorships, which is set at 20,700 a year, divided monthly. This means they currently do not have to meet newly increased salary requirements that kick in if this monthly cap is met. In June 2015, the first time the monthly cap was met, and people earning less than £46,000 per year were refused visas. Employers who take on a student who has switched to a work visa are also exempt from the requirement to show they have looked for UK or EEA candidates. But the UK government has recently announced further restrictions on the rights of students to stay in the UK after finishing their studies. The number of people switching from study into other categories fell substantially between 2011-12 and 2013-14, as the graph below shows. In 2014, fewer than 12,000 people extended their stay in the UK by switching from study to another category. The majority (59%) switched into work, while 33% switched into the family category. The annual number of students granted entry visas to the UK (as main applicants) has fluctuated around 200,000 over the past few years. In other words, the vast majority of people who enter on student visas are not switching into other categories. Adding to the net migration target The IPS asks respondents why they are coming to the UK, allowing us to identify students on their way in. Since 2012, respondents who are surveyed on the way out of the UK are also asked why they originally came. This allows an estimate of the number of people who come as students and – eventually – the number of them that leave. The IPS suggests that 135,000 non-EU students entered the UK for study in 2014. The number of people who had previously arrived as students and who are estimated to have emigrated from the UK in 2014 was 44,000. Taken together, this suggests that in 2014, net migration of students according to the IPS was 91,000 – that is, 91,000 more new students arrived than former students left. This snapshot must be interpreted carefully, because the people arriving and leaving are part of different cohorts. We do not yet know how many of the 2014 student cohort will leave, as many are not expected to do so for a few years. Also, survey respondents must recall their initial reason for coming to the country a few years earlier. Since mixed motivations for migration are common, it is possible that respondents may have been systematically less likely to say they arrived as a student when leaving – especially if they also worked for a couple of years after graduation. However, if the current number of student inflows and outflows remained stable at these levels for several years, it would suggest that a majority of students were not going home. For the past three years the estimated inflows of students has been significantly higher than the number of self-reported former students estimated to be leaving, as the third graph below shows in the balance column. Those fighting the restrictions on student migration often argue that students bring economic benefits, are not seen as migrants by the public and only stay in the UK temporarily. There seems to be substantial evidence in favour of the first two points. However, data sources on the extent to which students remain in the UK after their studies point in different directions and students could be adding to the UK population. The next few years should provide more insights on this possibility.
German industrial workers win right to flexible hours BMW workers during a 24-hour strike by German industrial trade union IG Metall in Berlin Image copyright Reuters Image caption Workers staged warning strikes last week as part of their dispute Industrial workers in south-western Germany have won the right to reduced working hours as part of a deal that could benefit millions of employees across the country. Workers will be able to reduce their weekly hours from 35 to 28 for up to two years to look after their families. The deal covers almost one million workers in Baden-Württemberg state and also gives them a pay rise. It could be extended to the 3.9 million workers in Germany's industrial sector. What has been agreed? A reduced working week to care for children, the elderly or sick relatives was a key demand by IG Metall, the country's biggest trade union representing metal and engineering workers. But their demand that those workers were still paid the same even if they reduced their hours was rejected in their negotiations with the employers' federation, Südwestmetall. In return, the companies will have the possibility to increase to up to 40 hours the week of those willing to work more. The employees will also be given a 4.3% pay rise from April, against their demand of a 6% increase. The pay deal stretches over 27 months and also sees additional one-off payments. IG Metall leader Jörg Hofmann said: "The agreement is a milestone on the way to a modern, self-determined world of work." Meanwhile, Südwestmetall head Stefan Wolf called the compromise "bearable but painful". Is this a turning point for German workers? By Damien McGuinness, BBC News, Berlin After reunification, while Germany was struggling economically, flexibility was generally demanded of employees rather than companies. The 2003 labour market reforms, and the 2008 financial crisis, meant years of wage restraint for many workers. But over the past few years in Germany the power balance has shifted from bosses to employees. Since the financial crisis wages have been slowly rising in Germany - mainly because record low unemployment means that in many sectors firms are struggling to find workers. So an agreement that increases wages was not surprising. More unusual is the automatic right to work fewer hours, something which has been discussed in Germany for years, as people try to combine work and family life. If this goes down well with employees, we could see it spread to other sectors. As Germany's largest union IG Metall has in the past set standards across the country. The question is: how many workers will actually want to work less when that also means earning less? What is the context of the dispute? Germany's economy grew by 2.2% last year, its fastest rate in six years. And unemployment hit a new low in January - just 5.4% of people are out of work. After a 10-year period where wages have grown by an average of only 0.81% as the economy has picked up, the unions sensed it was their turn to make demands on employers. Thousands of IG Metall members staged one-day "warning strikes" last week, the union's first such strikes in 34 years. Among the companies affected were Porsche and Daimler, which produces Mercedes-Benz cars. Image copyright Reuters Image caption A pay rise for workers of 4.3% has been agreed, against a demand of 6% Both sides said they would recommend the adoption of the deal across Germany. The agreement could be used as an example for other sectors, such as construction, telecommunications and chemical industries, where workers have also demanded more flexible working hours. More on this story
School-Based Counseling The Lincoln Center serves students in various school districts throughout Montgomery County by placing counselors in public school districts to provide in-school, confidential counseling to students facing high levels of stress, poor mental health, and or substance abuse issues. Counselors adopt a diverse range of duties and mold their responsibilities to the needs of the school district. Counseling sessions can be held individually or in groups and aim to provide a supportive environment for students to improve their mental health and cope with a wide range of issues such as such as family conflict, loss, stress, relationship issues, and bullying. Lincoln Center counselors can conduct family counseling in relation to students’ mental health issues or familial situations and trauma-informed and crisis counseling to high risk students, which encompasses both counseling related to traumatic incidents and de-escalating agitated students. Counselors also work with special education students to fulfill the counseling requirements on individualized education plans (IEPs). In addition to providing direct support to students and families in need, counselors coordinate and manage delivery of individual service needs with school administrators, guidance personnel, teachers, and community agencies. Counselors act as a resource for school administrators and are a key member of the district’s Student Assistance Programs (SAP) teams by providing student screening and liaison services. They also develop and implement prevention programs related to alcohol and drug abuse and provide students and families with seamless transition from inpatient hospitalization, partial hospitalization, or residential settings as they return to a school setting. Because of their vast knowledge on mental health, they help districts develop mental health curricula and crisis response plans. Community involvement is a priority of our organization and for our counselors, who coordinate activities with parents and community groups to plan and implement programs designed to reduce substance abuse. Providing forums for parent and community participation in terms of alcohol and other drug education creates a link between community agencies, families, and students needing referrals to out-of-school programs, streamlining and easing the process of accessing resources. TLC Administration Office 820 Adams Ave. Ste 210 Audubon, PA 19403 P / 610-277-3715 TLC Leadership Academy 2600 Eisenhower Ave. Ste 100 Audubon, PA 19403 P / 610-277-3715 Pin It on Pinterest
Jonny Tran Jonny grew up in the Pacific Northwest admiring elements of nature while also absorbing the energy of inner cities as much as possible; both settings molded his identity and sense of discovery. His design style is defined as precarious, symbolic, and contemporary. He takes inspiration from current trends and the lives of counter-culture collectives. You’ll find him attending art functions, hanging out with skaters, or escaping somewhere unfamiliar. He enjoys learning from new experiences and making connections with others who also strive to elevate their craft.
App/Services "Killer Ideas" The problem: Currently, it's too difficult for homeowners to adopt alternative energy solutions in their household. While there's a wealth of information online about alternatives like solar cells and wind energy, it's often difficult to turn that into specific action items or specific next steps. Even harder is calling different companies and providers (e.g. solar panel installers) and getting quotes, which often times includes having these companies send technicians to the house to do measurements. All in all, it's a long process, and only a few people adopt renewable energy technologies in their household. In addition, many people who haven't done the research think that adopting alternative energy sources are expensive and there's a large up-front cost, which of course is no longer true as there are companies like SolarCity which are making it almost free to lease panels. The solution: My dream is to make it as easy to adopt renewables as it is to purchase Apple products. If purchasing solar panels was as easy as purchasing an iPad, I'm positive more homeowners would embrace them. I want to make a website (and mobile application as well) that allows homeowners to enter their address & electricity provider and immediately retrieves estimates & dates from local solar providers (to start, I want to focus on solar energy adoption) and even allows users to book appointments online. Combining Google Earth / satellite maps with private data sets that have measurements for the amount of sunlight that falls on every acre, every day of the year, would help me provide general estimates for how much sun falls on a house. Then, I would want to pass that data on to companies like Solar City & First Solar, who will return an estimate immediately to pass on to the user and they can decide to schedule an appointment or even a call to talk further with the various solar providers over pricing, maintenance, or other questions. The key tricky parts is getting access to the data that describes how much sunlight falls on a home and integrating into existing solar provider companies' software solutions and working with them. I think the latter is less difficult as they have an incentive to work with me if I'm bringing them more customers (which of course I'll take a commission so the business can be sustainable). This is my world changing idea! American homes are one of the largest users of grid energy, and I want to make it more accessible for homeowners to get off the grid and plug into alternative energy sources. Thankfully, almost every homeowner wants to save more money and even if they don't care about the environment per say, they will still be interested in my website as I am making it super easy for them to save more on their bills! 0 votes Idea No. 69
13 July 2011 Ungrateful Kimchis Ingratitude, thy Name is South Korea By Dennis Prager South Korea has joined with only two other countries in the world in dropping the name of the forthcoming film “Captain America” and using the subtitle, “The First Avenger.” The other two countries are Russia and Ukraine. According to the New York Times report, “Although that country (South Korea) is one of Hollywood’s top-performing territories, resentment about the continued presence of the United States military runs deep.” For years now, I have intended to write a column about the most glaring case of international ingratitude of which I am aware. The “Captain America” story has finally pushed me over the edge. Whenever I confront someone who claims that America’s wars abroad were fought for economic gain or to extend its alleged imperialist empire, I ask the person about the Korean War: What imperialist or economic reasons were there to fight in that country? The answer I most often receive is, “Frankly I don’t know too much about the Korean War.” And it’s a good thing for the critics of America’s wars that they don’t know much about the Korean War. If they did, they would either experience cognitive dissonance or have to severely modify their position on America’s wars. Just five years after a war-weary America celebrated the end of World War II, Americans were asked to fight the successor-evil to Nazism, communism, in Korea, a country most Americans could not identify on a map or did not know anything about. In an earlier version of what happened in Vietnam, the Soviet Union and China backed a communist attempt to take over the southern half of the Korean peninsula — the northern half had been communist since the end of World War II — and install a Stalinist tyranny over the non-communist southern half. Over 36,000 Americans died in America’s successful attempt to keep South Korea from becoming communist. And another 92,000 were wounded. Here is a suggestion: The South Korean government should conduct a national plebiscite on whether America should withdraw its troops from that country. Before the South Korean people vote, the United States should make it clear that if it withdraws its troops and North Korea later invades the South, we will send no troops to die again for South Korea — but we will vote to condemn North Korea’s aggression at the United Nations. No comments:
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Friday, January 19, 2007 The Well-Worried Well Psychiatric and psychological treatments are used to address a number of issues including, but perhaps not limited to: the symptoms of designated syndromes of mental illness (for example, schizophrenia, affective disorders, anxiety disorders, attentional problems, personality disorders), the behavioral consequences of symptoms of psychiatric disorders (such as crawling under the covers while depressed, promiscuity while manic, homicide while delusional), primary behavioral problems ( such as substance abuse, gambling), maladaptive patterns that may arise outside of a mental illness (Why do I always end up with creeps?), dissatisfaction with life circumstances (I haven't lived up to my potential), difficulties coping with life stressors which may or may not precipitate a psychiatric illness and sometimes are the focus of treatment even in the absence of illness (grief, adjustment disorders), or a desire to gain insight and understanding of one's self as a goal of its own ("The unexamined life is not worth living." Thank you, Socrates). That was a really long sentence. In short, and to use the lingo of my former chairman, Psychiatry looks at issues pertaining to mental life and behavior. If you hang around long enough, the term Worried Well gets thrown about. It refers, I think, to those folks using psychiatric treatment to broaden their insight, to maximize their functioning (so why am I still driving a cab when I have a graduate degree?), to lead richer lives. It may refer to people suffering from Anxiety Disorders, rather than the more "serious" illnesses such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder It refers to the stereotype of the neurotic, sometimes Jewish, New York, Woody Allen characters who obsess and worry --though I will point out that Woody makes criteria for many diagnoses very quickly. It sometimes refers to those suffering from Major Depression who should just pull themselves up by those blessed boot straps. Actually, I'm not really sure who exactly those Worried Well are. The Worried Well is a term used, even by or especially by, psychiatrists with a bit of disdain, especially by psychiatrists who treat severe, chronic, and persistent mental illnesses. The broader question embedded in the subtext of the term begs: Who Warrants Care? How do we allocate our resources? What is worthy of the psychiatrist's time and attention, and who should foot the cost? Most of the people who come into my office arrive while suffering. Suffering, it seems to me, warrants care, even though I'm occasionally left to say, "You don't have a mental illness." Suffering is sometimes just a part of life and life is often hard. Psychotherapy often helps, for reasons which remain a bit vague to me, sometimes medicine even helps in the absence of a mental illness (oh for a good night's sleep, or something to help that post-9/11 gotta-get-on-a-plane nervousness), but there are those who feel that psychiatric resources--especially those paid for by a third party-- should be limited to those with major mental illnesses. It's a nice idea, but the lines get blurry. The more common scenario is that someone arrives in the midst of an episode of mental illness. They get better, usually fairly quickly. No longer in the throes of acute, intense, and miserable symptoms, the patient often continues to come on some regular basis. They still need their medications monitored, but it's more than that. Sometimes patients are afraid to stop coming-- fearful their symptoms will recur. Often, they say they feel better after a session. Many have periodic mini-flares in their symptoms-- normal variations in mood perhaps because moods do afterall vary some, but once someone's had an awful episode, they can get very sensitive to even little changes. Sometimes, it's simply hard stuff to articulate. And honestly, I've followed a number of people who show up regularly to talk about the stuff-of-life, who come despite a lack of symptoms, who at some point later on develop raging symptoms. Sometimes it's about alleviating symptoms, sometimes it's about preventing relapse, sometimes it's about holding on for the ride. Sometimes, I don't even know what it's about. Does it need to be articulated? We take children to the pediatrician when their ears hurt. We don't say, oh it's probably viral, I won't waste the doc's precious time. How many unbroken arms get x-rayed, how many normal brains get scanned in patients with unremarkable neuro exams? And what about the zillions of screening mammograms and then diagnostic biopsies on all those women who will never get breast cancer? Or the all those PSA's for men over 50? Many conditions get better without treatment, but we don't begrudge anyone a medical evaluation to be on the safe side. I sometimes (-not a lot, the folks who wander into a psychiatrist's office are a self-selected crew) say "You don't have a mental illness." I've not yet said to anyone who's walked in while suffering, "Don't come for psychotherapy." P.S. If you have the answer, by all means, comment! DrivingMissMolly said... This is a thoughtful and provocative post, Dinah. I'm going to go out on a limb here and comment. You ask; "Who warrants care?" Anyone who seeks it. I don't think you could round up a group of people and find many that would voluntarily go to see a shrink for no reason. Our culture sustains an expectation that each of us will help ourselves with a minimum amount of disruption. That is, we take care of our problems ourselves. We pull up our own bootstraps. We rely on ourselves. There are people who say they have pain, but the docs can't find a reason. Does that mean they are not entitled to care either? So it is with psychological pain. Let's say a patient comes in and they aren't suffering, per se. Their reasons may not be legitimate to you, but they obviously are to the PT. So, because you can't find a DX or perhaps the DSM doesn't have one, that means they don't have an "official" illness, so their need doesn't count? We all know that the healthcare system is broken and nothing makes sense, or if it does, it makes little sense. For example, my life insurance, should I kill myself WILL pay my beneficiaries $100,000, but my medical insurance has a $2000 deductible for my out-of-network psychiatrist, so, basically, I am paying $190 a visit out of pocket. What does that say about the "value" of my life? I keep going to the shrink because I don't want to hurt my father and siblings, and now I have a baby niece, but if it were up to me, well, I think you know what I'd do. As to "what is worthy," I guess it depends of what kind of psychiatry you practice. Some people might think that Clink's patients aren't worthy. After all, they've committed crimes against society so, why should they get psych care? What about the sickest of the sick? Maybe, since their prognosis is poor, we shouldn't "waste" any resources on them at all. Obviously these are some things the profession has to work out, just like any profession that provides an expensive service such as law, accounting, etc. All I can say is that you better work it out as a profession because if someone else steps in, like a government official or some new policy, they wer're all f**ed. DrivingMissMolly said... PS Sorry for the typos, I swear I proofread, but my coworker came in with GS cookies so all bets were off as I wrote..... NeoNurseChic said... As long as people still commit suicide who aren't depressed, then anyone who seeks care should receive it, regardless of whether or not they lack a diagnosable mental illness. Take care, Carrie :) NeoNurseChic said... Oh and by "aren't depressed" I mean "aren't suffering from depression." There is certainly a difference! Everybody gets depressed from time to time - but not everybody gets depression. Know that I don't need to write that here, but still - wanted to clarify what I wrote - lest someone think that I believe that many suicides are committed by perfectly content people. LOL Sarebear said... It's a nice idea, but the lines get blurry. I strongly disagree that it's a nice idea, even. See, I've seen an attitude on various mental health blogs and stuff, that psychosis, shizophrenia, and such, are the really interesting things; the reason many go into psychiatry, even the only worthy things, like you are saying many think . . . THAT is hogwash. Not the part about them being interesting, but the rest . . . the attitude about them being fascinating, though, I think tends to elevate them to the other attitudes, at least I feel it contributes greatly. People are people, and suffering is suffering, and if someone is suffering enough to come in, hey, pay attention. Yeah, there's hypochondriacs, but hey, for psychiatrists, that's not got the "made up" issue that it would for a hypchondriac thinking they've got a zillion physical illnesses that they don't have, going to their family doc. Ie, it's a psychiatrically treatable problem. But that leads me into something else, that I've read about and seen on various mental health blogs and sources; the disdain for those with personality disorders. I guess some of them are hard to treat, or don't have many, if any, treatment therapies or options or whatnot. They aren't seen as mental illnesses (I guess since they are "disorders", problems of thought, personality, whatnot), but I say that these people DID NOT CHOOSE the crap that happened to them when young, that led to the development of such disorder(s) in them . . . . this stigma from the only people who could help them, I think is absolutely AWFUL. It's HORRIBLE!!! I think more should be done to fight that sort of thing, within the professions of mental health providers. There's more to mental "health" than fighting illness. Let me say that again. There's more to mental "health" than fighting illness. No matter how annoying or horrid someone's behavior seems from a personality disorder, or from having features of that disorder, that person did not CHOOSE to become that way, and in fact, may have wanted help their entire life but fought against the impulses and urges and stuff their entire life; may have fought to "keep a lid on" the negative aspects of their personality, and often run out of the mental energy to keep that lid on . . . and then get seen and judged as "bad". Anyway. I think even beyond who warrants care, those who come in, kinda thing, is a larger issue too of those who never come in, who really could use some help. Yes, this includes those with mental illnesses, but includes many others, too. But with stigma and prejudice inside the professions, I don't think it can ever be effectively begun to reach out to some of these who never come in . . . off my soap box now* Oh yeah what dmm says, about pulling up by our own bootstraps, which you also mentioned . . . when someone could really benefit from some help, this attitude really causes alot of damage, sometimes. I applaud you for your feeling and philosophy that if they come in to see you, they are probably/possibly/likely suffering "enough" to benefit from whatever you can do for them. THANK you for psychiatrists like you!!! Lily, thanks so much for your comments. And gimme some of those GS cookies, and no one gets hurt (tee hee!!) ClinkShrink said... DMM is right---we better work it out as a profession. Unfortunately, we're not so third parties are stepping in. I would never suggest that someone with suffering doesn't deserve care. The big question is---what do you do with the last group of folks that Dinah blogged about---the folks without symptoms who come in to talk about stuff-of-life things? How do we as a profession 'work it out' with these folks to protect the suffering ones from third party interference? Do you tactfully suggest they shouldn't come anymore unless there's a 'real' problem (and IS there a tactful way to suggest that? I don't think so.) And by the way, I want everyone to know what a wonderful friend Dinah is. She called every day for a fever-and-sputum report during my down time. It's good to be back on my feet---er, typing fingers---again. NeoNurseChic said... Reading some of the comments and the post again has led me to recall some things in my own life that I've always kind of puzzled over. I don't think adjustment disorders get a lot of press. I don't think I still, to this day, understand it. I mean - does that mean that somebody had something happen to them and they didn't adapt in a positive way? They became possibly anxious or depressed, but not to the point of having clinical depression or anxiety, but still in an abnormal response to things in life because they didn't adjust to something that happened? The reason I ask these questions is that the time I was able to go to a psychologist when I was in high school, I was diagnosed with an adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depression. I've somewhat recently read over parts of my diary that I kept during that time... In my own mind, what spurred me to feel so darn depressed and confused about life was having a tumor when I was 16. I hated that my parents would say to the doctor, "What if it's something more serious?" and mean "What if it's cancer?" but not say "cancer." And I was lucky, because it wasn't cancer. But then, within weeks of my having the tumor removed, my best friend's mom got diagnosed with cancer. So then I was all messed up - I would be up at night wondering why some people get cancer and some people don't...and trying to figure why I was lucky enough to get a benign tumor when my best friend's mom got a cancerous one. But it wasn't just that - 4 days before I had my tumor removed, my father was almost killed in a very serious car accident - and I was the last person to talk to him from our family before it happened. And what's more is that I didn't think anything of it when he wasn't home 2 hours after he said he'd be home - when he was only a half hour away at the time he called me. That's because my dad has traveled for work for my entire life. He never comes home at the same time every night. Not sure if I've carried around a lot of guilt from that or what - it's not like there was anything I could have ever done about it. I couldn't prevent someone from running a stop sign at 55mph and barreling into my dad's car. But the consequences were mighty. He had all kinds of stitches in his head and had a broken foot and knee. Then, 2 days after my surgery as I lay in my parents' water bed conked out with my face looking like a MACK truck hit it, my father fell down the stairs and broke his arm. I was the only one home at the time. I didn't even realize it really. My mom and brother came home and my dad's arm was the size of a football. They took him to the doc and he came home in a cast - with a wheelchair. His boss, who was a complete a$$ - later fired him and my dad was out of a job. And an ortho committed malpractice on my dad's foot after the accident, so in the end it took him an entire year to recover the foot instead of just a few months. We didn't sue - we have never sued for any of the things that have been done wrong and resulted in bad outcomes. (For the record, my best friend from high school still has no feeling in one finger that was broken by her sister slamming a door on her hand - and she went to the same doctor and again, bad practice resulted in her losing the feeling in the tip of the finger...the guy's terrible, IMHO...) And then 2 weeks after my dad's accident and my surgery, my brother broke his back playing soccer - for the 2nd time. (Stress fracture in L4-5, I think...) I remember how upset my dad was when my brother couldn't play. I remember feeling like my dad was more upset that my brother couldn't play soccer than he was about me having a tumor. I actually finally told my mom about how I felt when I was in the hospital for my knee surgeries in 2005....8 years after the fact. I think our family really got stronger from all this happening at once. But it sure was hard! All that happened when I was a sophomore in high school, and I didn't go see a psychologist until I was a senior. My guidance counselor recommended the name of a couple of adolescent therapists to my parents, and I forget how they ended up picking one. But anyway - I remember listening at the top of the basement steps as my dad was down in his office, telling the therapist about me and his version of the reasons for why I needed to talk to somebody. I remember him mentioning the car accident and my brother breaking his back, but he didn't even mention the surgery I went through. Surgery to my face... When I was 16. For a golf ball sized tumor. So after he got off the phone - later that night, I said that I'd heard what he said and I didn't understand why he wouldn't mention my having surgery for a tumor. And he then said to me, "You didn't have a tumor. I didn't believe the doctor when he said that." Huh?! I wish we could just not believe what doctors say sometimes when we don't want to accept bad news... Did I maladjust? Maybe... lol I'm sitting here in tears as I'm typing this story...shaking like a leaf. It's been a long time since I told it like this and thought of it this way. But what sticks in my mind is that how does one adjust to these things? Bad things happen to people, and unfortunately, when they happen when you're younger, you don't really know how to deal with them. Is there a right way to adjust? Should I have just grieved a few things and moved on? Why does this still bother me, 10 years later? Does it warrant psychotherapy even if it didn't mean I was clinically depressed or diagnosibly anxious? I would hope so.... For the record, when I went to college, I had the funniest mental health experience. I went to the student health center and met with this intake counselor. She pulled out the DSM-IV and found the criteria for GAD and read down the list and said, "Do you feel ___insert criteria here___" and when I had answered enough questions, she said, "OK. You have generalized anxiety disorder, and I think you need to see a psychiatrist and take medication." I refused to do that, so I saw a psychologist (student) instead. In my first appointment, he said to me, "What do you think in your life went wrong?" I just stared at him - trying to take in exactly what he meant by that question. I never went back. Saw another counselor a few years later, but she really was just so focused on having a goal - so I made a few goals, and when those goals were accomplished, I figured I didn't have a reason to keep going (because I couldn't establish clear enough goals), so I quit going again. Now that I see my current psychiatrist, my diagnoses are instead ADD - inattentive type and Depression, NOS - which I fondly refer to as my 314.00 and 311. Diagnoses - do they make a difference? Do they define me? Perhaps to the former, no to the latter. I'm a person - I have a collection of life experiences. Most of them great - some of them not so great. I might be talking about the not so great here, but mainly to illustrate the human picture of a "diagnosis." I am a life story...same as everybody. My experiences are unique to my life. While other people go through the exact same circumstances in various ways, my brain has me experience it in my own unique way. So how do you take the stories of someone's life and put it in a diagnosis? It's easy if they fit strict criteria from the DSM-IVtr or whatever the version is these days. In fact, it would be easier if I had presented with straight up clinical depression or some other very straight forward issue. It was easier for that nut-job intake counselor to read down the criteria for GAD than to ask me why I was there and to listen to my story. So we can diagnose and compartmentalize all we want - but I suspect that all of us have a story. We could probably put a diagnosis on all of us in some way, no? I still kinda wonder how I was supposed to adjust. lol I just think that even when I didn't fit the specific pathologies of something MAJOR wrong (and I'm very glad for that...) in the psychiatric department, I still needed help. I was still feeling alone, confused, scared, angry, happy (yes, even happy can be bizarre, at times!), mixed up, teary, etc when going through hard times. And I think it's okay to ask for help during hard times instead of just telling people they have to have some sort of "real" problem. After all - our problems are all real to us - just as pain is what the patient says it is. I thank you (all 3 of you, really!) for being a good psychiatrist - at least as far as I can tell from the blog, since I really don't know you in a clinical sense - but I think what you write says a lot about your character and philosophies. I don't particularly care for the phrase "worried well" because it is kinda like "hypochondriac" in the medical world...or whatever phrase ya wanna throw in there. It is supposed to label those who the doctors and nurses don't really want to work with - or maybe just the ones they don't know how to help - but nobody wants to admit defeat. I'm glad that you don't view anybody that way and that you are open to working with all people, if they ask for help. That reminds me a lot of my own psychiatrist. Many times I have said that I think my own problems are not that bad and that I'm whining a lot over nothing when I know plenty of other people have it way worse, and he has said to me many times, "But what if all that matters to me is what is on your mind and what happening in your life right now? It doesn't matter how it compares to other people." Nice... I wish we all had a psychiatrist/therapist/etc like that. Sorry for the long long long comment/rant/whatever. For some reason, I felt compelled to say that! Take care, Carrie :) NeoNurseChic said... One last thing (and then I'll shuddup - I promise!!) - can you enlarge that cartoon? I had to squint and put my nose to the screen to read it! It's quite funny!!! :) Take care! Carrie :) Alison Cummins said... Um, what about borderline personality disorder? I’m under the impression the standard treatment for that is to stand there with your hands on your hips and say patronisingly, “I can’t help you. Nobody can help you. You need to learn to deal with it yourself. Now if you don’t stop bothering me I’m going to call the cops.” Or something along those lines, but couched in shrink-speak. I mean, if that’s the treatment for someone you don’t think you can help, how do you distinguish between treating someone and not treating them? The Peanut Gallery said... Great post. Thank you for sharing issues within the profession. It's good for those of us who aspire to be a psychiatrist to know about them. jcat said... Good post, and really good response from DMM. From my perspective, current p-doc has such a queue that he pretty much tells patients roughly when he thinks he should see them again. So if I ever get to not feel like sea mud again... hey if that happens I can live with not seeing him. T-doc and prev p-doc, with both of them I developed a sort of routine. When it is really bad I see them anything from 2 to 5 times a week, depending on being in hospital or not. In between, by my choice and at my cost, I used to always see both about once every month to 6 weeks. Ex p-doc once asked me why, given that we basically sat and talked bull for an hour. Eventually I worked out that it was important to me that they both know me when I am not a total loser ahole, that maybe they see that in between I can be smart and funny and energetic sometimes. That sometimes I don't spend every day crying and cutting and other loser activities. And also, because as a bipolar MDD kind of recurrent loser, whether I like it or not, I have given up on believing in happy ever after. Ever after has been anything from 4 days to more than a year. But it always ends sometime, and when it does, it helps that p-doc/t-doc know roughly where I've been and what I've been doing. Cos sure as shit I can't express myself well enough then to explain it. There are so many things that I am excluded from potentially because I see/have seen a psychiatrist. I can't conceive that there would be many people who overcome the stigma of that just for fun. Tx for lots of good and challenging posts. Rach said... Very thought provoking post, Dinah. I think that most people don't think of going to see a psychiatrist as their first line of response after a major crisis. it seems to me that most people don't go to see a psychiatrist (or at least have an appointment in the community) until long after the acute psychiatric crisis is over. I guess I'm an example of this - started with my psychiatrist as an elementary school student - 2 1/2 years later, bang, had my first real episode of depression. I'm just thankful that I happened to be a patient of this psychiatrist, or else it would have been near-to impossible to get long-term care in the community. The last thing I'll say is that I don't think there's a cut and dry answer to this conundrum. I've taken my share of ethics courses, and have done a fair amount of reading, but I don't think the use of cost/benefit analysis would address this problem. Like someone already said, even if the psychiatrist doesn't perceive the patient to have a diagnosable mental illness, that doesn't minimize or change the amount and intensity of suffering or pain that a person feels. The answer to this question, in my opinion, lies in the bridging of services, so that people can seek care from other mental health professionals (such as psychologists, RNs, RPNs, MSWs, etc) but feel confident that should the situation escalate, the possibility of being supported by a psychiatrist is there. sophizo said... I agree that when someone comes in suffering, they should be treated, but your question is how to allocate resources. What I learned when I worked for a psychiatrist is that their time is very precious and many psychiatrists just don't have the time to sit 1 hour a week to give therapy to everyone. It's not that they don't want to help the people in need, there are just so many people in need of therapy and not enough psychiatrists to do both meds and full therapy. I noticed this is especially true for child psychiatrists (who I worked for) and even more so for those that specialize is very specific areas in psychiatry. I think it may be better to make comparisons to seeing a "specialist" rather than just a general practitioner for routine tests. I don't see an orthopedic every time I sprain my ankle, rip a muscle, or get some other bone injury (which is ALL the time!). I see my PCP until my issue(s) warrant a visit to a specialist and if indicated, all follow-up appointments are with my PCP. Psychiatrists are specialists and even if we don't like it, insurance companies understand this. Not everyone needs a psychiatrist. Maybe for meds, but not necessarily therapy. A qualified therapist should be just fine. Even with meds, the more simple problems (I'm not talking illnesses here) can be taken care of by a PCP after an initial consultation with a psychiatrist and then a therapist can take care of the therapy. To comment on Clink's comment...I truly think you can tactfully suggest that a patient doesn't need to be seen as often or just for therapy. Why can't you suggest that you're proud of how much they've progressed and feel that at this point in treatment, a team approach would be in their best interest? I don't mean just drop the person, but gradually transition them to a therapist for the continual/maintenance talk therapy. I can understand that might hurt at first, but wouldn't a gradual change lessen the initial blow? Maybe I'm not understanding how hard something like that might be for a person who doesn't have a "major" psychiatric illness and is now past their initial suffering. What I do understand is how desperate some people are to get into a psychiatrist, but can't because those who only come to talk about general life issues take up those appointments. I used to get (at minimum) 2-3 calls a day asking about getting an appointment (even though his machine specifically states he isn't taking new patients). They would beg and plead with me when I would call back with recommendations. Sometimes the guy I worked for would be their 4th, 5th, or even 6th try at finding someone to see. It was definitely an eye-opener for me! DrivingMissMolly said... This comment has been removed by a blog administrator. DrivingMissMolly said... This comment has been removed by a blog administrator. DrivingMissMolly said... This comment has been removed by a blog administrator. Gerbil said... I don't know how many times I've told clients that there's little use in saying "I don't deserve help because so many others' lives suck more than mine." Despite what managed care might say, you can't quantify suffering. Even malingering is suffering, though in a backwards sort of way. Managed care (in paying more for major mental illness than other conditions) also forgets that there is a difference between a diagnosis and a disorder. As my graduate advisor pounded into my head for four and a half years: The disorder is what you have; the diagnosis is what you call it. It's impossible to know what mental disorder someone actually has--but it's awfully easy to be misdiagnosed. (And because I am a math geek, I feel compelled to point out that there are 256 ways to meet criteria for borderline personality disorder. Awesome.) Dinah said... I'm still thinking about everyone's comments, there may be a second post, and I'm not thinking about Iowa (Clink is). The cartoon has already been blown up, it reads "It might help if you told Skippy he needs improvements instead of calling him a bad dog." I'm not sure how relevant, I just liked something about the pic. Mostly, I agree with everyone. Oh, and Suicidal Ideation is a symptom, a serious one, and once you have this particular symptom, no psychiatrist anywhere begrudges you getting treatment. Anyone who thinks about ending their own life is not in the category of The Worried Well. Finally, on my quick response here before I go off to watch Lost on DVD (what a great show), Sarebear, you are absolutely right about the stigma associated with Personality Disorders and your thoughts about this are touching and poignant. Thanks. I may have more to say another day. NeoNurseChic said... With regards to my first comment where I was mentioning suicide, I wasn't necessarily referring to people who admit to feeling suicidal or having suicidal thoughts. But there are plenty of people who go to therapy for stuff that maybe some would consider just the stuff-of-life...and while they might be seeking help to talk about these things which are truly bothering them, they might be feeling suicidal even if they don't admit it. I have family members who have done this very thing, and I myself did not tell ANY therapist how suicidal I felt until my current psychiatrist - even though I'd been feeling it for years. So that's why I think that anybody who asks for help should get it. Y'all (psychiatrists in general) aren't mind readers - and plenty of people say "no" to the question about suicidal thoughts....even when they're dying inside to talk about it. Just had to add that thought - I wouldn't think a psychiatrist would turn away someone who admits to having suicidal thoughts, depression or no, but since people without depression sometimes commit suicide and may not straight up admit they are suicidal, well - we should continue to help whoever asks for it, IMHO. Take care! Carrie :) Midwife with a Knife said... I've been thinking about this one, and I think there are some worthwhile analogies in the physical health sphere. I sprained my shoulder kind of badly a few weeks back (pulling a baby out). Had a bit of a nerve impingement and got a little physical therapy. If I had done nothing, would it have healed ok? Almost certainly. Did it get better faster because of the PT? Almost certainly. It's probably the orthopedic equivalent of the common cold. But the injury impaired my ability to function, so I saw the appropriate doctors/therapists and got better faster. The same philosophy could be applied to mental health care. Maybe people's mild mental discomfort, etc, would all get better on their own, but it impairs their ability to function, so it should be treated! I periodicially (hah!) see patients with dysmenorrhea. Crampy periods. It can be quite disabling for some people, for others it's just annoying. For the vast majority of people it doesn't represent anything serious going on (and can be a suggestion that things are working as they should). But it's something that we have treatments for. If it bothers people we should treat it. So, once we had ways to treat it, we give it an ICD-9 code and start billing the insurance for it. That's kind of how I feel about mental health issues. Maybe (and I may be out of my depth here) the DSM IV is too limiting. It's just the major mental disorders, right? Well, maybe you guys (psychiatrists) should come up with diagnoses for these things that strictly speaking aren't disabling mental illnesses, give them ICD-9 codes and make them billable; at least for the stuff that you can make better. As far as I'm concerned, the people who just want therapy to examine their life more can pay for it out of pocket. Everything else, I think we should give diagnoses to and treat. DrivingMissMolly said... Alison, you wrote; HAHA. That's a good one. THEY DON'T EVEN TELL YOU THAT BORDERLINE IS YOUR DX!! Talk about leaving you in the dark. I found out by accident! gerbil wrote; Yup. I saw that on another site. If you guys haven't already, you should check out The Last Psychiatrist's take on borderlines at Talk about stereotyping! "like a 15 year old girl" Yeah, that's right....... Anonymous said... Anybody, "worried well" or not, should obviously have access to a psychiatrist for assessment purposes. It isn't reasonable to expect patients to be able to distinguish whether they are worried well or worried mentally ill. But if someone is not mentally ill, and wants a professional simply to discuss the "stuff of life" with, then I think that a psychologist and not a psychiatrist is the appropriate health care professional to see. Anybody who wants to pay for it certainly should have access to psychotherapy if they feel it enriches their life -- just like anybody has access to paying to go to the spa if it enriches their life. But medical care from a psychiatrist, on the other hand, should be for those who are mentally ill. I do not think it is appropriate to see a psychiatrist regularly to enrich the quality of your life any more than it would be appropriate to see your family doc every week to enrich the quality of your life. ... and then in the rest of the cases, where it just isn't clear who is worried well and who is mentally ill, then it's up to the discretion of the psychiatrist to decide whether or not it's appropriate. But this isn't because the worried well need psychiatric care, it's because mental illness can be hard to diagnose, and sometimes you want to be safe rather than sorry. Anonymous said... I think part of the problem is confusion - on everybody's part - on where exactly to go for guidance on the "stuff of life" problems. We've medicalized so much of life that we're trained to go to the "doctor" for everything - from what to eat to sexual issues to existential problems. The dark night of the soul isn't a spiritual moment anymore - it's something to see the doctor about, to screen for affective illness or to pick up some Ambien. That screening may not be a bad thing, but when there's no "disease" - what next? Because the context is medical, and because the medical model has subsumed so much of our self-understanding, we have the sense that if there's no medical illness, our difficulties are less real. When in fact, we may be confronting the most profound and painful problems of existence. Death, loneliness, love, meaning. And there's no obvious next step - no clear place to go - outside of psychotherapy - no matter how inappropriate or inadequate psychotherapy may be to the task. It's no one's fault. Cultural changes have left us with a yawning vacuum in this area, and people naturally turn to psychiatry when confronted with the existential challenges of life. And let's remember only a few decades ago, psychiatry really did see these problems as it's primary purview. Say what you will about psychoanalysis - but it was GOOD* at providing a place to explore and give meaning to "the stuff of life." It saw "personality" as it's fundamental task, and biological illness as a side issue, an inconvenience which got in the way of the main task of self-exploration. That attitude was terribly destructive to people with biological mental illness, but there was also something valuable in it that's been lost - an understanding that resolving biological illness is just the start. Once biological illness is managed, the most difficult and most profound work begins.
Let's see. Remember this? "The Egyptian government now has shut down the internet and telephone communication systems, mobile phones and that includes Facebook, Twitter and other forms of social networks to undermine the protesters." Now what was it that the British government said? Wasn't it something along the lines of: "Well, although we disagree with the Egyptian government and consider the protestors have the right to make themselves heard, shutting down social media is, of course, a perfectly legitimate step during periods of social unrest." Oops, sorry. That wasn't what we said at all. What we actually said was: Now there is, of course, a cosmetic difference between #protestintahrir and #smashstuffupintottenham. Indeed, those that have coordinated any violence during the London riots via social media may have made themselves vulnerable to a charge of "riot" – a serious offence that requires proof of common purpose amongst 12 or more persons (something that would ordinarily be very difficult to prove but to which evidence of use of social media for coordination would potentially be important). There is no objection, of course, to the police investigating social media for evidence of such coordination. Neither, obviously, is there any objection to the police inspecting social media to get advance notice of potential riots. But that is not what is being proposed now. The Prime Minister has said the government is reviewing whether social media should be shut down during social disturbances (indeed "suspected rioters" might be banned from using social media altogether, without even being convicted of anything!). Obviously that can't just be a matter of shutting down sites where people specifically discuss rioting. Otherwise people simply won't use that word on social media – they will simply talk of "protesting" or the like. So the choice is this: either shutting down social media during periods of social unrest is a legitimate tool. of government policy, to try to maintain order (as the government now maintains), or it is not (as the government maintained when Egypt did it). There is no "third way". The government is either wrong now or it was wrong then. Which is it? 29 comments for: Andrew Lilico: Should social media be shut down during social disturbances? Leave a Reply You must be logged in to post a comment.
Tuesday, March 27, 2018 U.S Military Base in Ghana: Basic Information Every Ghanaian Needs to Know Ghana Web Following the Recent outpour of rejection by peace-loving Ghanaians including myself about news of The Government of Ghana signing A military Cooperation agreement with United States of America, in conducting further research for possible reasons why the U.S is so bent on Ghana for a military agreement despite that fact that Ghana is acclaimed one of the most peaceful countries in Africa. As a global citizen and lover for Peace of the world, I took in to look deep by way of researching on the topic since the Words of the politicians are not only too technically to be understood but also excessively contradictory to be relayed on. Q1. What is a Military Base? A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. In general, a military base provides accommodations for one or more units, but it may also be used as a command center, a training ground, or a proving ground. In most cases, a military base relies on some outside help in order to operate. However, certain complex bases are able to endure by themselves for long periods because they are able to provide food, water, and other life support necessities for their inhabitants while under siege. Military bases for military aviation are called military air bases. Military bases for military ships are called naval bases. (thefreedictionary2018) A Brief Overview of Ghana – U.S relations for the start: “According to the Pew Research Global Attitudes Project, 83% of Ghanaians viewed the U.S. favorably in 2002, declining slightly down to 80% in 2007,[2] according to the 2012 U.S. Global Leadership Report, 79% of Ghanaians approve of U.S. leadership, with 12% disapproving and 10% uncertain,and in a 2013.BBC World Service Poll, 82% of Ghanaians view U.S. influence positively, the highest rating for any surveyed African country.” (Wikipedia 3/25/18) Tracking the U.S Presidential Visits to Ghana; Latest is the 11/07/2009 Historic President Obama’s visit to Africa which he started from Ghana, although the questions stills remain unanswered as to why Ghana and not his own Kenya, the country of his roots. Former. President’s Bush 19-21 February 2008 trip to Ghana got clouded by the speculation of him coming down to seal a deal for a U.S Military base in Ghana. However, the air was later cleared by Mr. Bush, denouncing and calling the rumor a ‘Balony’ a word used to describe a bull in Texas. As well Former President Bill Clinton’s March 23, 1998, trip to Ghana was similarly related to the issue of security hence all about meeting President Rawlings and the Peace Corps project. Aside from the relentless efforts by world organizations such as the United Nations to depolarize nuclear Weapons in the world, some countries are still adamant. In the advent of the Nuclear militarization of armies of not only the world’s powerful and robust nations but also nations that seem to poses the nuclear capabilities irrespective of their economic status. It is therefore imperative for any nation that seeks to dominate the world takes advantage of the slightest Military strategic position. There is absolutely no doubt that Ghana’s position from a view from space is the best strategic location on earth in any event of military adventure. From a satellite view of the planet earth, there is absolutely no doubt that from the terrestrial view that Ghana is more like to be the center or most strategic position on earth and any other nation will grave to maintain a significant position in geographically. As the saying goes U.S FIRST and so shall it always be forever. Be it what may, it’s a fact the U.S is very smart in transactions of this nature and before making any decision, all the odds had been calculated. It is therefore certain that the U.S has more to win than their Ghanaian counterparts. My interest is to find out what benefits it hold for the common Ghanaian whose life is affected by any decision taken by the Ghanaian politician whose seems of more politically motivated rather than considerate of National Interest like their U.S counterparts. Sadly From the news headlines, the average and only understandably items of benefit from this current Security Cooperation Agreement is $20 million dollars in exchange for unrestricted access to Ghanaian facilities which the oppositions forces of this agreement basically quantity as Ghana’s sovereignty. Not only does this amounts of money raises the anger of Ghanaians, it also baffles a host of Ghanaians who trusted the words of the president promising his flagship campaign for a Ghana beyond Aid on one hand and supervises a cabinet to endorse the ratification of such an agreement for an insignificant amount for a “Military Aid”. Ghana bearing a tag of U.S Military Base automatically qualifies Ghana as a target of any U.S adversary in the instance of military confrontations. It is my hope U.S will be ready to protect the innocent common Ghanaian at all instance, thus if they can? Because the U.S hasn’t been able to salvage its own innocent citizens from brutal terror attacks, regrettably. As a global citizen and a seeker for peace and progress of the world, I would be very delighted if the U.S convert their efforts and investments for a Military Base in Ghana to Construction of a Railway Line from the Southern Most to the Northern Most part of Ghana that could be of benefit to both Ghana and the U.S in both short and long-term. They could provide security training to the workers and operators of the railway line which indeed will generate income for both countries. That is more of a priority to Ghana’s economic advancement than a military enhancement. By: M. Anasir (NashTheGlobalCitizen) No comments:
1. What is 100 Strong? 100 Strong is a company that sees a need in the Black community for an organization to shift the paradigm. Self-empowerment, success, uniting of young boys with mentors is a mandate in order to correct the unspoken life curriculum and unearth the potential of our future leaders. 100 Strong is not looking for government handouts – we are prepared to hold ourselves accountable to generations to come. This begins we believe with a meaningful financial investment. 2. What is Strong Academy? Summer Program? All-Boys School? Strong Academy is a program designed to mobilize young black boys to attend a summer program. This program has been designed in order to provide the attendees with the tools necessary in order to achieve their maximum potential both in education as well as life skills. 3. What is Stand Up? 4. Mission Statement of 100 Strong/Strong Academy? “To create an environment that Fosters learning, Embraces community and Inspires excellence in every Boy.” – Donald McLeod (Co-Chair, 100 Strong Foundation) 5.Why young Black boys and not young Black girls? We believe that every young person deserves and has the ability to be successful. We know from data that young men of colour are at risk of not meeting the Ontario Standard at grades 7 and 8. Only 40% of students born in the English-speaking Caribbean and 45% of students born in East Africa achieve or exceed the provincial standard in all four subjects in grades 7 and 8.* These young men represent one of the largest groups of students at risk of failing the grade 10 literacy test and graduating from high school. They can sometimes feel powerless to navigate the barriers to their success. What the data demonstrates that crime is highly racialization and the group most impacted by that racialization is Black Boys. The fact that this group of boys has more access to the repercussion of the criminal justice system as opposed to the benefits of the educational system, speaks to the urgencies of prioritizing the effective engagement of Black boys. Brown, R., Sinay, E. (2008) “2006 Student Census: Linking Demographic Data with Student Achievement”, TDSB Research Department 6. Can I only contribute $500? The $500 should be seen as a benchmark for giving. The recommendation of 100 Strong is that each man should give according to his wherewithal, meaning that if a man is able to give more then our expectation, he can and he will. 7. Where do I send my donations (cheque)? Can I contribute by credit card? Cheques should be sent to the following address: 24 Church Street, Weston Village, ON, M9N 1M3: 100 Strong. They should be made out to: Toronto Foundation and in the memo line: 100 Strong Yes, we accept credit cards through Toronto Foundation. DONATE NOW 8. What is Toronto Foundation? Toronto Foundation connects philanthropy with community needs and opportunities in order to make Toronto the best place to live, work, learn, and grow. We are one of the largest of Canada’s more than 180 community foundations. Established in 1981, we have grown to hold over $250 million in assets and to work with hundreds of concerned Torontonians and high-impact community organizations. We are a registered, public, non-profit organization created for and by the people of Toronto. (http://www.torontofoundation.ca/) 9. Is this a charitable donation? Do I get a tax receipt? Yes, the funds provided by each donor is considered a charitable donation. A tax receipt will be provided. 9a. Can businesses make a donation? Yes, businesses may make a donation. A tax receipt will be provided. 10. What is the curriculum for the Strong Academy summer program? Built on empowering, valuing and appreciating the educational value that Black boys bring to society. The curriculum strives to marry the concepts of academic theory and experiential learning alongside real world experiences, while focusing on the holistic learner. 11. What are the goals of Strong Academy? Strong Academy aims to foster a love for learning and education in middle school aged boys; while pairing them with mentors in an effort to promote self-empowerment and success both in school and in their respective communities. The ultimate goal is to create a Black owned and operated K-12 school for Boys. Upon completion of their post-secondary education, these boys will pay their educational experience forward by returning to the Strong Academy as Alumni mentors 12. How can I be a mentor? After completing the online form, suitable mentors will be contacted http://100strong.ca/membership-form/ 13. Where are my contributions used? Funds are distributed throughout every student equally; the funding pays for book, trips, uniform, transportation, meals along with administrative costs attached to the organization. 14. Can I post my website or advertise services on the site? No, we are not at this time permitting website advertising and/or services on our site. We would prefer to have this site solely for the boys. It is our hope that we will set up a greater networking system for the men using social media, including but not limited to Facebook and LinkedIn. 15. How do I become a Board Member? The Board has been set, however, we do need volunteers for the advisory board. Please send in your information and indicate where you would like to help. Committees include: Membership, Special Projects, Operations and Finance 16. How can I contribute product/services in-kind? If you are interested in contributing product/services in-kind, please contact us via: [email protected] and we will be happy to work with you. 17. How are the students chosen? The students will be chosen from the city’s designated priority neighbourhoods. Recommendation will come from schools and community. 18. Where will the school sessions be held? George Brown College campuses (Toronto) 19. Who and where are the teachers from? Teachers are accredited and in good standing with the Ontario College of Teachers 20. How will the students progress be monitored (a) Pre-session; (b) During session; (c) Post-session? Student progress will be monitored by the evaluation of each incoming student’s academic progress throughout the school year – looking at their attendance, lates, grades, etc. During the course of the summer Academy, students’ attitudes toward learning, their understanding of self and the role that education plays in their lives will be tracked in an effort to evaluate any change(s) in their individual perceptions upon completion of the program. 21. Strong Academy – When will the school be open? The Summer Academy sessions are in July of each year. As we grow, we are looking to add Winter and Spring sessions. 22. Will there be partnerships with other private schools? The school is developing a program in conjunction with a private School in Toronto (Sterling Hall School). Sterling Hall is a K – 8 school. 23. Is 100 Strong/Strong Academy insured? Yes, as are the teachers. 24. Is there a Media Kit available? Promotional images and logos are available on the site under MEDIA. 25. How do I get a pin? A pin is provided to each man who donates to 100 Strong. The pin is to be worn with pride as it reflects each man’s personal dedication and sponsorship in the education of each young boy in the program. 26. What is the official Strong Academy uniform? Official uniform is a white polo shirt (with the Strong Academy Logo, khaki pants and/or shorts)
Here are a few tips that I've learned over the years that will hopefully help you on your next outdoor run: 1) LESS is MORE! I know that may seem like a big, fat lie; but you don't want to get out on a run only to find that you've over-dressed and are now overheating. While running, your body temperature will rise so a rule of thumb is that you want to be chilly when standing outside before you begin your run. Also, AVOID BULKY ATTIRE...leave your big, fluffy coat at home. Not only does it constrict your body's natural stride, it weighs you down. 2) DRY-WICK...Select running attire that is designed for runners. Yes, it is an investment; but it is SO worth it! I cannot stress this enough. Not only will this material pull the moisture away from your body, but it is light-weight and stream-lined so it fits snug. 3) LAYER, LAYER, LAYER...My running attire can pretty much be broken down into three or four outfits all based on the temperature outside. For the (15 degrees & Below Category) - which is where we were yesterday - my wardrobe is Two pairs of socks (my normal ankle running socks with a pair of compression socks over them so my calves have an extra layer), two pairs of pants (my compression tights with a pair of fleece-lined running pants over them), three tops (a thin, dry-wick shirt with a fleece-lined shirt, and then my hooded pull-over), a neck-warmer, a hat and gloves. I also take my glasses - even if it's not sunny - to protect my eyes from wind. 4) HANDWARMERS ARE AWESOME!!! Bless my running partner's heart...I thought I had my North Face gloves in my car yesterday, but I couldn't find them. When I got in to meet the group I was telling her my dilemma saying, "My fingers are gonna freeze in these thin gloves I have!!!!" She, thankfully, had a pair of glove warmers she wasn't planning to use. And they kept my hands toasty warm. (I tried to give them back to her when she was complaining of her own hands being cold, but it was her fingers that were bothering her so the glove warmers wouldn't have done her much good anyway.) The nice thing about glove warmers is they could easily be taken out and thrown away mid-run if you got over-heated. * On a side note - The above story is one of many reasons training with a running group is SO beneficial. 5) MY SECRET WEAPON (AND MY CHEAPEST PIECE OF RUNNING GEAR) - Are you ready to know one of the greatest, most under-rated pieces of running gear? It's probably in your kitchen right now... The lovely TRASH BAG :) I first found out about the blessed trash bag during my first marathon-training season because people wear them a lot to the start line of races, so they can then toss them once their body heats up. I then decided it might be a good idea to try on a rainy run...I mean they are waterproof, right? Well, my handy-dandy garbage bad is now my staple whether it's bitter cold, raining or race day. Do I look like a big goober - just like Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook? Why, yes I do! Do I care? Absolutely not! I'm warm! And if I get too warm, I can always rip that bad-boy off. Me in all my trash-bag glory! 6) A CHANGE OF CLOTHES - Here's another secret for those of you traveling to run at a destination away from your house. Once you're finished with your run, and your body is all warm from within, you are covered in sweat that is going to quickly turn to frozen torture once you stop running. And that ride home in that cold car is going to be pretty miserable. Take a warm, dry pair of socks, pants and a sweatshirt with you. There are usually public restrooms around where I run; but don't think I haven't climbed into the back seat of my car to get out of my running clothes! This is especially true after a run in the rain!!!! My running group ran an impressive 8 miles (with a pretty impressive incline) on the first run of this season!!! (It's normally around five flat miles, so I'm kinda nervous about what they have in store for us this year...) My running partner and I decided to play it safe and cut our run short considering neither of us had run since Thanksgiving. My Garmin stopped working mid-run, so I'm not sure how far we actually got - but I think it was somewhere around 5.5 miles. I'll take it for my first run back! Happy Trails :)
It looks like you're using an Ad Blocker. Thank you. For anyone who is having disturbing apocalyptic dreams here is an answer for you page: 1 log in posted on Oct, 30 2009 @ 06:00 AM I have noticed a growing trend of people who are having extremely disturbing dreams on ATS and BTS. In particular I am speaking about people who are having these dreams after having comfortable dreams all their lives and this is normally one of the reasons people are finding them so disturbing. In particular if you have experienced vivid dreams such as this that are apocalyptic, prophetic etc then read on. I first began experiencing dreams that were vivid, disturbing and at first I thought they were prophetic dreams and while they still could be I was often finding that there was a metaphor in these dreams. Hypothetically speaking here to give an idea... If you dream that everyones homes are sinking into sand and everyone is dying around you. Rather than that being a prediction or some future event it is metaphorically saying that you and the people around you are build on falsehood (sand). Anyways I wanted to mention this and I know some people will not like it but that does not change the fact that it is written and it applied to me... Joel 2:28 I no longer have disturbing dreams as I no longer need them, I hope that this might offer an answer or at least an explanation to anyone who is lost as to why they are having a disturbed nights sleep. Take time to listen to them and you might understand what I am saying to you if you analyse the dreams without necessarily looking outward. If you think this is absolute nonsense then thats fine by me, just remember I am only trying to help. [edit on 30-10-2009 by XXXN3O] new topics log in
Meet a Doctor Who Picks Patients Over Insurance Companies: Podcast You may know what your co-payment for a doctor's appointment is, but do you have any idea what your caregiver actually charges your insurance company for a routine visit? Almost certainly not, which means the whole system in out of economic whack: Prices encode information and if you don't know what something costs, you can't really make smart decisions. Dr. Ryan Neuhofel is a maverick physician who is breaking from an insurance-based model and embracing "direct primary care," a growing movement of health care professionals who bypass insurers to provide better and cheaper care to their patients. In the latest Reason Podcast, Nick Gillespie speaks with the Lawrence, Kansas-based Neuhofel about how doctors are side-stepping the ridiculously byzantine U.S health care system. Neuhofel, who was featured in a recent Reason TV video, posts the costs of his services directly on his website, which is simpler to read than a Denny's menu. A monthly membership fee that covers most visits costs $55 for most adults, flu shots are free, and X-rays will set you back between $25 and $40. He doesn't accept insurance because when you cut out the middle man (either the government or your health insurance company), the price of routine care plummets from astronomical to reasonable. The presumption that basic health care is too expensive for people to buy without comprehensive insurance policies or government subsidies isn't actually true, at least when it's private citizens purchasing it for themselves. Gillespie talks with Neuhofel about how the current system is burning out primary care doctors, how market forces drive down costs, and what it will take for medical professionals to finally revolt against our hopelessly complex and bloated system. Don't miss a single Reason podcast! (Archive here.) Subscribe at iTunes. Follow us at SoundCloud. Subscribe at YouTube. Like us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter. Share the post Meet a Doctor Who Picks Patients Over Insurance Companies: Podcast Subscribe to Freedom Bunker: The Best Libertarian News And Chat Get updates delivered right to your inbox! Thank you for your subscription
Pokemon GO: How Pokemon Types Work By on Pokemon GO Similar to the main Pokemon games on the Nintendo handhelds, Niantic?s Pokemon GO ?also considers a Pokemon?s typing system to deal out damage weaknesses and resistance in the game?s Gym system. Fortunately, most of the original game?s Pokemon type system rules actually made it to the mobile game. However, this system may not be as effective due to the locked movesets in the game. Here?s what we know so far about the game?s typing system. For Pokemon newcomers, each Pokemon type will be weak, resistant, or take regular damage to certain attacks. The ?Water beats Fire, Fire beats Grass, and Grass beats Water? system still applies, so make sure to use your Water Gun move on Rock types and avoid using it on Grass types. However, don?t get cocky with this system as Pokemon level and stats will still play a larger role in Gym battles. Picking the right Pokemon Type counter will only ensure improved damage but not a match victory. Since Pokemon GO is still using the Generation 1 Pokemon, the Pokemon Type meta is still straightforward with a little advantage to Dragon, Psychic and Ghost types due to the lack of counters against them. Counters against these types were introduced in the game?s later generations. This counter problem may only be resolved once the game releases more Pokemon. Additionally, the Generation 1 Pokemon in the game are updated to their current version?s type, as Magnemite is Electric-Steel instead of just plain Electric. However, Pokemon GO?s locked movesets may prove to be a problem for players seeking the advantages of this system. Players will often have to use a different Pokemon to find the right moves to counter which makes the competitive system more specific. In the original game, players can teach the Pokemon some new moves with Technical Machines (TMs) and Hidden Machines (HMs) so they can adapt to specific battle situations. However, this is not possible in the mobile game as most Pokemon are limited to two attacks and a defensive dodge move. While the game?s system is more active, it lost most of the original game?s extensive battle tactics for a simpler, stiff, and semi-automated duel gameplay. Pokemon type knowledge can surely amplify your efficiency as a Gym attacker and make your Gym defenders tougher against certain opponents with their resistances. However, knowing Pokemon types only in competitive Pokemon GO can only get you so far. Stats and CP percentages actually matter more due to the game?s focus on attacking, dodging hits and switching up your active Pokemon to have an advantage against the Gym-defending Pokemon. Unless Niantic introduces a major patch for the game?s competitive system, Pokemon Types may not be as handy in Pokemon GO as it was in the main games. About the author To Top
Go See Diane – Anger, Rage 4 06, 2015 Resentment is Emotional Cancer Anyone who has heard me speak knows that I always start by telling people trying to heal that the first step is letting go. In the physical body that means that the first step toward healing involves detoxing any area of the body where there is a block in the flow system. The body is simply not designed to heal if the toxin is still present. The body will create some heat to push it out first. Think of a fever, a rash, a cough. All are expressions of the body pushing out toxins. If it does not have what it needs to create the force to drive the toxin from the body, then it will isolate it, encapsulate it, and essentially store it somewhere. If the toxin is left long enough in the body, it will begin to degenerate the area it is stored, damage tissue and eventually turn into something deadly like that ugly big C word. Emotional toxins work the same way! Think of the emotion of disappointment. Not much of an emotion itself but how do most people express disappointment? Instead of recognizing disappointment for what it is and simply expressing it, they hold it in and it comes out as anger or it shows up as sadness, loss of joy. Add enough unexpressed disappointments to any relationship or situation and you will see resentment building inside. Just like the body needs to detox from physical toxins, it also needs to detox from energetic toxins. Every wellness plan begins with a good cleaning! Out with the old to make room for the new! Start a Negativity DETOX today. To be thorough you want to detox • Negative Emotions • Negative Thought Patterns • Negative Behavioral Patterns The first step is awareness. As you look at the three areas listed above, does something immediately jump out at you? There is a reason one or more of these resonated with you. That is where you start because that is what you struggle with the most. Starting right now, when a negative emotion, thought, or behavior begins to show its ugly head I want you to stop right there. Next, verbally say aloud to yourself the exact opposite of what you were going to say or think. For example “I really need to lose weight!” as you walk by a mirror. Stop at that mirror and say to yourself ” I accept and love myself the way I am”. When the thought arises to assume a negative outcome ie: “Things don’t work out well for me in that area” replace that thought with verbally saying aloud to yourself “Things work out the way they are supposed to for my better good”. You get the idea. By actively replacing the negative with positive affirmative emotions, thoughts and actions you are gently detoxing yourself. Detoxing takes time and should be slightly uncomfortable but not painful. Be gentle on yourself……no scolding or criticism. It takes time to develop new habits. Comment and let me know how you do! 2 06, 2015 Suffering from brain-fog, depression, or irritability? How many of you are suffering from brain-fog, depression, or irritability? You could have heavy metal toxicity and not know it! In my practice I see people for many reasons. You’d be surprised to learn that heavy metal poisoning can be the source of many cognitive and emotional problems. Add Candida to the mix because that’s the body’s response to try to “absorb” metals that it cannot push out, and you’ve got double trouble. If you’re unfortunate enough to have heavy metal toxicity in the brain, it will not show up in conventional testing methods. Heavy metals can be found in contaminated food, industrial & medical waste, vaccines, antiperspirants, drinking water (in certain areas of the country) and beauty products as well as environmental pollutants. Here are just a few possible symptoms of Heavy Metal Toxicity • Recurring infections – Since heavy metals displace important vitamins and minerals in the body – especially zinc, the immune system weakens, which effectively sets the stage for infections, cancer and chronic disease. • Neurological disorders – Alzheimer’s, ADHD, autism, aggression, epilepsy, memory loss, developmental delays, depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, insomnia and migraines all can have roots in heavy metal toxicity. • Sensitivity to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) – If your cells contain even traces of heavy metals, your body will attract electrical frequencies like a lightning rod. In short, the more your body contains heavy metals, the more you’ll have health problems with EMFs. • Heart arrhythmia, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease – Research suggests high levels of lead in the blood contribute to artery-clogging plaque – leading to elevated blood pressure and heart disease, while airborne particulates of mercury encourage heart arrhythmia. • Other indicators of heavy metals in your body can include migraines and headaches, dark circles under the eyes, muscle tremors, sensitive teeth, inability to lose weight, acne, parasites, low body temperature, metallic taste in the mouth and chemical sensitivities to smells like smoke, paint fumes and perfumes. “Do you like the smell of Pinesol? gasoline?” These are questions I ask every client. The typical way you’ve probably heard about to test for heavy metals in the body is hair mineral analysis or urine analysis. If the heavy metals have crossed the blood brain barrier then their presence will not show up in conventional tests. This is why it is critical to have yourself tested with someone skilled in autonomic response testing. Why risk walking around with a time bomb inside of your cells? During the month of June 2015 I will be running a screening day every Wednesday of the month. For $99 you can come in and be screened for heavy metals, candida, and chemical toxins present in your cells. Appointments require advance booking. My office has a complete naturopathic pharmacy on site for your convenience.
What happens inside your body when you're flying in an airplane? Wellness Editor Yahoo Lifestyle More than 2.5 million passengers fly in and out of U.S. airports every day. But of those millions of travelers, how many of them know exactly what’s happening inside their bodies when they’re sky high? Flying in an airplane is nothing like being on the ground — all it takes is a peek out the window for your senses to be certain of that. But it’s not just your senses that can tell the difference between sea-level and cruising altitude, your organs can too. And a big part of the changes that happen in your body while flying are thanks to atmospheric pressure. Atmospheric pressure, or air pressure, is the pressure caused by the air all around us pressing against everything it touches. As you climb in altitude, atmospheric pressure decreases which can impact your body in many different ways. An airplane’s typical cruising altitude is somewhere between 36,000 and 40,000 feet. In order for people inside the plane to survive a high altitude like this, the inside of the plane is pressurized by conditioned air being pumped through the cabin. This simulates an environment that feels more like 6,000 to 8,000 feet — a similar altitude to what you might experience in mountainous areas. The high altitude can cause a smattering of symptoms and side effects. For one, your blood absorbs less oxygen at cruising altitude — this can make you feel sleepy or give you a headache. There’s also the fact that humidity levels at cruising altitude can be as low as 4%, which can in turn cause dehydration, dry skin, and combined with cabin pressure can even numb some of your tastebuds. Cabin pressure can also cause bloating and stomach pains, as the gas in your intestines expands as the plane climbs in altitude and cabin pressure drops. One often discussed potential ailment caused by air travel is deep vein thrombosis. DVT occurs when blood clots form in deep veins within the body, typically in the legs. They can develop if you stay seated for too long. A few ways to stay healthy and comfortable while flying: • Make sure to get up and move around. • Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated. • Use saline nasal spray to combat dry air. • Use a moisturizer to hydrate your skin. Air travel is still the safest form of travel, and if we know what’s happening inside our bodies it can be the most comfortable form of travel too. Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle: What to Read Next
Leo (Sign of Love, #1) Leo (Sign of Love, #1) - Mia Sheridan “And the thing about falling in love is that no matter where you are when it happens, you can't help but to color those moments with beauty, even if you're in a location of ugliness.”-------“I will prove to you that forever is not just a word, not just a measurement of unending time, but that forever is a place where I will treasure your heart.”-------“Everyone tells a story about themselves in their own head. That story makes you what you are, dictating all your actions and all your mistakes. If your own story is filled with guilt and fear and self-hatred, life can look pretty miserable.”--------“I think dazedly that falling, whether to the ground or in love, is always at least a little bit scary, even if you do it slowly.”
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Rhododendron Winter Damage and Prevention Growing Media pH Fertilizer Nutrient Elements A bag of fertilizer has three numbers prominently featured on the label...something like...5-2-0. It's important to know what those numbers mean because the wrong combination can do more harm than good. The numbers indicates the amount of three major plant nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, abbreviated NPK. One way to remember what those things do, and keep them straight is the phrase "up, down, and all around." Nitrogen is needed for green, leafy growth...the up. Phosphorus helps produce healthy roots...the down. Potassium is important for overall plant health and resistance to water or insect stresses, so it's...the all around. Plants need anywhere from 14 to 18 plant nutrients for best health and production. Magnesium and sulfur comprise the macronutrients along with NPK. The micronutrients include: iron, manganese, boron, zinc, copper, molybdenum, and maybe chlorine. Testing your soil is the way to determine what is needed. Growing Rhododendrons From Seed Rhododendrons and azaleas are easily grown from seed. Unless the parent plants are species from isolated areas, the resulting seedlings will exhibit much variability. Unless you are interested in hybridizing and selecting new cultivars, use of seeds as a means of propagation should thus be limited to species plants. Even then some physical differences will be evident. 1. Obtain clean seeds. 2. Prepare a sterile container at least three inches deep, with bottom drainage; size depending on how many seeds you wish to plant. 3. Fill the container to within ½ inch of the top with a mixture of 40% perlite and 60% fine sphagnum peat moss. This mixture should be moist...but not wet. 4. Level and firm the surface of the mix. 5. To control fungal disease, spray the soil surface with fungicide Captan. Read and follow product instructions. 6. Sprinkle seeds thinly on the surface...do not water again. 7. Put plastic or glass over the container to make it moisture tight. 8. Place in a warm dimly lit area until seeds germinate. 9. Put under fluorescent light for 18 hours a day at 70-75°F. 10. Anytime after true leaves have formed, harden the seedlings off by gradually opening the cover over the period of at least one week. Water carefully as needed to keep moist. Watering through drainage holes in the bottom is safest. 11. Transplant when ½ to 1 inch tall to flats using 50% sphagnum peat and 50% perlite. Lift under the roots and handle by a leaf. Plant at same depth. Water to settle in. 12. Water to keep moist, but not wet. Fertilize with azalea food or other acid fertilizer once a month using ½ half strength. Always water at least once between fertilizer applications. To slow growth and harden off, stop fertilizing and water less frequently. 13. Transplant when seedlings become crowded. Keep the growing area clean to prevent damping off, water properly, and...success is almost assured! Winter Protection For Rhododendrons If you haven't planted your rhododendrons in a protected location, you may have to consider providing them with some winter protection! Rhododendrons, particularly large-leafed forms, are sensitive to winter sun as well as winter winds, and if not protected properly, you may have serious damage or lose the plant by spring. Damage to plants is likely to happened if the plant did not receive ample moisture before in the Fall. During the winter, drying winds and frozen ground deprives plants of their natural moisture intake. The exposed portions of the leaf...usually the central portion when the leaf was curled...may become brown. This may also appear on the edges of some leaves. To prevent scorch, plants should be well watered in November, especially if rainfall has been sparse; protected from drying winds; mulched well, and given some shade. New plant growth may not have a sufficient amount of time to become woodsy and harden off for the winter. Also, flower buds are the least cold hardy part of the plant. Rhododendrons, boxwood, azaleas, hollies, and laurel will benefit from an application of an anti-desiccant, such as Wilt-Pruf. Read and follow all instructions. Spraying should occur in late Fall when temperatures are near 40 degrees F. Most anti-desiccants are composed of a "waxy" substance that can break down during winter's thaws necessitating a reapplication. If you do not get a chance to apply an anti-desiccant, you may want to provide a wind-shield, such as burlap to these shrubs as well as some mulch protection around the base of the shrub. Young plants can be enclosed with chicken wire or dog fencing, and packed loosely with oak leaves. Remove the protection in the spring as buds start expanding. Mature plants can be mulched with several inches of wood chips at the base. Evergreen boughs can be leaned or tied against plants to limit winter injury. A teepee-like structure constructed with three or four evergreen trees or branches with their points forced into the ground and tips tied together provides adequate protection...or use a burlap covering around individual plants. Snow fencing alone or with a polyethylene plastic sheeting attached to it also gives effective wind protection. Cover the plants just before freeze up in the Fall and uncover after all the frost is out of the ground in the spring. Pruning Rhododendrons Maintenance Pruning Rejuvenation Pruning

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