Can we still trust car stackers?
Having read a recent article in The Age that described the failure of a car stacker system, I was a little concerned. This wasn't a rogue system bought online. This was a Wohr system from one of the most reputable German car stacker manufacturers.
Stackers are a good thing for the development world, at least in this world where we still need car parking. Countless tight development sites have been 'unlocked' through the advent of car stackers and many sites wouldn't be viable without them. Stories about accidents like this one can erode the trust in stackers that has been built up over years with the public, developers, as well as with the decision makers at Council and VCAT.
Firstly, what happened here?
The article reported that non-genuine structural side rails had been installed in the system which were not up to the required steel grade strength and standard specified by Wohr and the Australian Standards (AS5124). It subsequently failed under load causing the accident to occur. How on earth did that happen?
Wohr Parking Systems Australia have advised that when the previous Australian distributor of the Wohr stacker systems, Car Parking Solutions went into liquidation, the Shmith's car stacker system that had been ordered was sold by the liquidator at auction to the highest bidder - the Shmith's builder. Unfortunately, the container load of equipment that was purchased at the auction did not contain the side rails that are critical to the strength of the stacker platforms.
Enquiries were reportedly then made directly to Wohr to purchase the missing rails but it was going to take too long for the rails to be shipped from Germany. It was also too costly for them to be freighted by air. Under pressure to finish the job, the builder decided to source the rails locally instead. Unfortunately, the rails that were sourced were reportedly not up to the required standard nor the drawings supplied. The inevitable disaster struck and the system failed under load. Thankfully, no one was hurt.
Whilst it is unlikely that this sequence of events would ever happen again, how can we have more certainty that car stacker systems are constructed and installed to the required standards set out in the applicable Australian Standards?
What about at the Planning Permit stage?
Some Councils are already requiring Car Stacker Management Plans to be prepared and endorsed as part of planning permits which ensure that systems are serviced and maintained for instance. These could easily be extended to require all systems to be designed and installed by approved installers in accordance with the Australian Standard.
What about the Building Permit stage?
Perhaps there is an opportunity for further checks or demonstrations of compliance to be required after installation and before a Certificate of Occupancy is granted?
The benefits of car stackers are far too great to let this isolated accident take them out of consideration. DEMAND compliance with the Australian Standard (AS5124). DEMAND that they be installed by approved installers of the manufacturer. Do this and we can be sure that accidents like this do not happen again and we can continue to enjoy their benefits.
Brett Young -
Image Source: The Age - August 13, 2017
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Program Goals & Objectives
The residency in Low Vision Rehabilitation is an intensive 52 or 54 week educational program at The Eye Institute.
The William Feinbloom Vision Rehabilitation Center provides low vision rehabilitation services to individuals with visual impairments at the Center and through its community outreach program. Through an interdisciplinary team, the Center provides comprehensive low vision evaluation and management services. These services may include the prescription of specialized optical devices and adaptive technology systems, as well as rehabilitative services to facilitate more efficient use of residual vision in vocational, educational, and home environments. The Center, with its hospital-based satellite clinics, also provides Low Vision evaluation services to individuals with multiple impairments as a result of head trauma, stroke, or developmental disabilities. The Center also provides low vision services to visually-impaired students through programs established with neighboring school districts. Counseling and support services are also available for patients and their families through the Center's social service department. Additional services include: evaluation of multiply-impaired individuals; pediatric low vision service; adaptive technology service; and neurovisual rehabilitation service.
The mission of the Low Vision Rehabilitation Residency at The Eye Institute of the Pennsylvania College of Optometry at Salus University is to recruit a qualified graduating or graduate optometrist; to train the entry level graduate optometrist to provide patient care, including advanced low vision rehabilitative care, to patients with a broad range of ophthalmic disorders and ocular diseases; to train the resident to evaluate and manage patients with visual impairment, multiple impairments, and developmental disabilities; to provide an orientation and didactic program throughout the year; to promote development of skills as an educator and self-learner; and to provide a suitable environment in which the resident can flourish.
The nature of the patient population at The Eye Institute provides the foundation for the resident to hone his/her entry level skills to an advanced level and to cultivate new skills and knowledge as well. The resident is able to achieve the objectives of the program through an appropriate level of supervision and support of a highly-trained clinical faculty of optometrists and general and subspecialty ophthalmologists leading to clinical independence.
The Low Vision Rehabilitation resident is typically assigned 40-44 hours per week, and an average of every other Saturday. A total of three to four days are spent in the Low Vision Service, and the remaining time is in other patient care services, as well as in various educational activities. Residents are also required to attend lectures and conferences which are scheduled outside of normal patient care responsibilities.
During the assigned low vision sessions, the resident is primarily in the William Feinbloom Vision Rehabilitation Center. The resident also participates in the care of patients in the Special Populations Assessment and Rehabilitation Center in The Eye Institute, as well as to the Vision Rehabilitation Clinic at Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital, to examine and supervise students in the examination of patients with vision impairment, ocular and systemic disease processes, brain damage secondary to head trauma, stroke, neurological disease, developmental disabilities, and multiple impairments. The resident also conducts examinations and screenings at low vision satellite program including Overbrook School for the Blind, Overbrook Educational Center, St. Lucy's School for the Blind and the Delaware County Intermediate Unit Low.
Emergency Eye Care - Under appropriate supervision, residents manage their own patients in the Emergency Service, where they see walk-in patients with ocular urgencies/emergencies. Patients may be referred to our ophthalmology subspecialists. In addition, each resident is on-call weekends and evenings four to five weeks per program year.
The resident is assigned to Vitreo-retinal Disease, Neuro-Ophthalmic Disease, and Specialty Glaucoma Services in The Eye Institute on a rotating basis.
The resident may also have the opportunity to participate in other services in The Eye Institute and other area eye care venues.
The resident attends and participates in an educational program throughout the year, which includes conference and lectures, and is typically assigned to teach in a laboratory. They also participate in Grand Rounds presentations to fourth year students, fellow residents, and faculty members. A conference/lecture schedule is distributed to the residents on a quarterly basis. Our low vision resident will typically be assigned to teach in a laboratory at some point throughout the program year.
Residents are occasionally asked to conduct vision screenings off-campus and to participate in other College activities. An additional stipend may be paid for these services.
Sample Low Vision Rehabilitation Resident Schedule (PDF)


Tag Archives: John Lennon
The Ultimate Christmas Playlist
Today is the day after Thanksgiving here in the United States of America. You're officially allowed to start listening to holiday music now. To get you started, I compiled a playlist of what I consider to be 100 of the best Christmas songs. Okay, 98 songs, a stand-up routine and a skit. It's a mix of standards, versions of standards with which you may not be familiar, and obscure but delightful tunes.
Tagged as "Weird Al" Yankovic, Aretha Franklin, Augie Rios, Band Aid, Billy Squier, Bing Crosby, blink-182, Bob Dylan, Bob Rivers, Bob Seger, Bobb B. Soxx and The Blue Jeans, Bobby "Boris" Pickett & The Crypt-Kickers, Bobby Helms, Boney M, Brenda Lee, Britney Spears, Bruce Springsteen, Carla Thomas, Cheyenne Jackson, Chuck Berry, Clarence Carter, Clyde McPhatter, Cowboy Timmy, CyHi the Prince, Darlene Love, David Bowie, Devo, Dolly Parton, Donny Hathaway, Dusty Springfield, Eagles, Elton John, Elvis Presley, Erasure, Eurythmics, Fishbone, Fountains of Wayne, Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, Jackson 5, James Brown, Jane Krakowski, John Denver, John Lennon, José Feliciano, Judy Garland, Kanye West, Kirsty MacColl, Kurtis Blow, Lady Gaga, Los Del Rio, Lou Rawls, Luther Vandross, Madonna, Marvin Gaye, Mary J. Blige, Mel Blanc, Mike Nichols and Elaine May, Miss Piggy, Monty Python, My Chemical Romance, Nat King Cole, No Doubt, Oasis, Otis Redding, Patton Oswalt, Pearl Jam, Pet Shop Boys, Pretenders, Prince, Ramones, Red Peters, Ricky Martin, Roy Orbison, Rufus Wainwright, Run-D.M.C., Sarah Silverman, Shonen Knife, Simon & Garfunkel, Smokey Robinson, Space Cowboy, Spike Jones and His City Slickers, Spongebob Squarepants, Stevie Wonder, Teyana Taylor, The Beach Boys, The Chipmunks, The Crystals, The Drifters, The Emotions, The Impressions, The Kinks, The Magnetic Fields, The Miracles, The Penguins, The Pogues, The Roches, The Ronettes, The Staple Singers, The Supremes, The Temptations, The Waitresses, The Weather Girls, Thurl Ravenscroft, Tom Petty, Wham!, Whitney Houston, Wild Man Fischer, Willie Nelson, Yoko Ono
In 1979, Giorgio Moroder, famous mostly for his production work on Donna Summer records, composed the score for the film American Gigolo. He asked Stevie Nicks to sing the movie's theme song, for which Moroder wrote the music, but she had to decline for contractual reasons. He next turned to Deborah Harry of Blondie.
Harry write the lyrics to the song that became "Call Me," the second #1 single for her band. Of her experience with Moroder, she told Billboard "He's very nice to work with, very easy, (but) I don't think he has a lot of patience with people who fool around or don't take what they do seriously. I think he's very serious about what he does and he's intense and he's a perfectionist and he's very talented, so I think that people who are less talented or less concentrated bore him quickly...you really have to pay attention."
Said Moroder of working with Blondie, "There were always fights. I was supposed to do an album with them after that. We went to the studio, and the guitarist was fighting with the keyboard player. I called their manager and quit."
Moroder did end up working with Deborah Harry again years later on another soundtrack song, producing "Rush Rush" from Scarface, and in 2004 remixed Blondie's single "Good Boys."
Tunes du Jour's Throwback Thursday playlist this week spotlights the best of 1980, kicking off with Blondie's "Call Me."
Tagged as AC/DC, Barbra Streisand, Blondie, Bob Marley & The Wailers, David Bowie, Deborah Harry, Devo, Diana Ross, Donna Summer, Giorgio Moroder, John Lennon, Joy Division, KC & the Sunshine Band, Kurtis Blow, Lipps Inc., Michael Jackson, Olivia Newton-John, Paul McCartney, Pink Floyd, Queen, Smokey Robinson, Stevie Nicks, Stevie Wonder, Teri DeSario, The Spinners, Throwback Thursday
The Story Of Eric Clapton And Layla
In the latter half of the 1960s, Eric Clapton and George Harrison developed a close friendship. Clapton also developed a crush on Harrison's wife, Pattie Boyd. The two started having an affair, but Pattie didn't want to leave her husband.
Clapton wrote a song about his feelings for Pattie. He called the song "Layla," after a title character in the book The Story of Layla and Majnun. The book told of a man, Majnun, who was madly in love with a woman, Layla, but was forbidden to marry her. His longing for her drove him mad.
Clapton's band Derek and the Dominos released "Layla" in 1971. Pattie and Eric started living together in 1974. They wed in 1979. George Harrison, along with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, played at the wedding. Clapton left Pattie for another woman in 1985.
Today Eric Clapton turns 71. Here are twenty tracks that feature the musician.
Tagged as Aretha Franklin, Blind Faith, Cream, Derek & The Dominos, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, John Lennon, Kate Bush, Mary J. Blige, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, The Beatles, The Yardbirds
It's Max Martin's Birthday And I Need To Dance!
As a songwriter, Max Martin has a credit on 21 number one singles on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. Only Paul McCartney and John Lennon have more. He has had 60 top tens as a writer. On top of that, he has had a hand in producing a slew of hits. Some of them are good.
Today, Max Martin turns 45 years old. Friday is dance day at Tunes du Jour. Our playlist consists of twenty songs Max Martin had a hand in writing and/or producing. Some of them are good.
Tagged as Ace of Base, Ariana Grande, Backstreet Boys, Britney Spears, Carly Rae Jepsen, Celine Dion, Cyndi Lauper, Demi Lovato, Ellie Goulding, Iggy Azalea, It's Friday and I Need To Dance!, Jessie J, John Lennon, Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Ke$ha, Kelly Clarkson, Nicki Minaj, NSYNC, P!nk, Paul McCartney, Robyn, Taio Cruz, The Weeknd, Usher
Blondie's hit single "Heart of Glass" was written by band members Debbie Harry and Chris Stein and had the working title of "The Disco Song." Drummer Clem Burke said his part was inspired by the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive."
Said Harry "When we did 'Heart of Glass' it wasn't too cool in our social set to play disco. But we did it because we wanted to be uncool," with the band's keyboardist Jimmy Destri adding "We used to do 'Heart of Glass' to upset people."
The song was included on Blondie's Parallel Lines LP "as a novelty item to put more diversity into the album," per Stein. The novelty song became the group's first charted single and first #1, in 1979. Its success prompted John Lennon to send Ringo Starr a postcard advising to write songs like "Heart of Glass."
Today's Throwback Thursday playlist spotlights twenty of the best tracks from 1979, kicking off with Blondie's upsetting disco novelty.
Tagged as Anita Ward, Bee Gees, Blondie, Chris Norman, Commodores, Deborah Harry, Donna Summer, Elvis Costello, Gloria Gaynor, John Lennon, Michael Jackson, Olivia Newton-John, Peaches & Herb, Pointer Sisters, Ringo Starr, Squeeze, Suzi Quatro, The Buggles, The Clash, The Doobie Brothers, The Knack, The Police, Throwback Thursday, Village People, XTC
On March 28, 1958, 19-year-old Eddie Cochran recorded a song he co-wrote with his manager, Jerry Capeheart, called "Summertime Blues." It was intended to be the b-side of a single whose a-side, "Love Again," was written by 17-year-old Sharon Steely, who soon became Cochran's girlfriend. Liberty Records released the 45 with "Summertime Blues" as the a-side. Five months after he recorded it, Cochran had his first U.S. top ten single. In the fall of 1958, the record became a hit in England.
Besides singing and co-writing the song, Cochran produced it. His talents didn't stop there. He could play piano, drums, bass and guitar, the latter of which he played on records by two dozen other acts.
Cochran's popularity overseas led to a hugely successful tour of England in the spring of 1960, culminating on April 16 with a performance at the Hippodrome Theater in Bristol. On his way to the airport after the show, Cochran got into a cab with Steely, who was now his fiancée, his tour manager, Patrick Thompkins, and fellow performer Gene Vincent. The taxi driver was speeding on a dark and winding street. The car blew a tire and the driver lost control of the vehicle, crashing it into a lamppost. Cochran put himself over his fiancée to protect her and ended up being thrown from the car. Suffering a severe head injury, he was brought to the hospital. The following afternoon he was pronounced dead. He was just 21 years old.
Eddie Cochran's time with us was far too short, but his legacy lives on. "Summertime Blues" is an undeniable rock and roll classic, covered by many artists of different genres, including The Who, Alan Jackson, Blue Cheer, The Beach Boys, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, and Olivia Newton-John. Cochran's "C'mon Everybody" was later recorded by Sex Pistols, and his "Twenty Flight Rock" was played by a teenage Paul McCartney at his audition for a teenage John Lennon to let McCartney join Lennon's band, The Quarreymen.
Today is Throwback Thursday, and Tunes du Jour revisits some of the hits of 1958, kicking off with Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues."
Tagged as Alan Jackson, Blue Cheer, Bobby Day, Bobby Freeman, Buddy Holly, Champs, Chuck Berry, Connie Francis, Duane Eddy, Eddie Cochran, Elvis Presley, Gene Vincent, Jerry Lee Lewis, Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, John Lennon, Little Anthony & The Imperials, Olivia Newton-John, Paul McCartney, Peggy Lee, Royal Teens, Sex Pistols, The Beach Boys, The Big Bopper, The Chipmunks, The Chordettes, The Coasters, The Everly Brothers, The Monotones, The Rays, The Who, Throwback Thursday
It's Ini Kamoze's Birthday And I Need To Dance!
I'm reading NLP: The Essential Guide to Neuro-Linguistic Programming, subtitled Creating the Person You Want to Be, by Tom Hoobyar and Tom Dotz with Susan Sanders. The book teaches one how to think, as opposed to what to think.
Of the many exercises in the book is one the authors call "Creating a Well-Formed Outcome." You list things you want and answer six questions related to each want. Within those six questions is an exploration of "meta-outcomes." To explore the meta-outcomes, one must keep asking what will happen if I achieve this goal.
For example, one of my goals is to have a leaner physique. Using this exercise, I say "When I am leaner, I'm more confident. When I am more confident, more guys will be attracted to me. If more guys are attracted to me, I'll date more often. If I date more often, I'll end up with a boyfriend. If I have a boyfriend, I'll have someone with whom to watch movies, dance, and share other activities I enjoy. If I do more activities I enjoy, I'll be "in the flow" more often. If I am in the flow more often, my happiness will increase.
Another goal I have is to work with more clients. If I work with more clients, I'll make more money. If I have more money, I can partake more often in the activities I enjoy. If I partake more often in the activities I enjoy, I'll be in the flow more often. If I am in the flow more often, my happiness will increase.
Now you try it. What is a goal you have? Keep asking yourself what will happen if you achieve each part. If you don't end with me being happier, you're doing it wrong. Start over!
Something that makes me happy is dancing. Friday is dance day at Tunes du Jour. Today happens to be the birthday of John Lennon. As he never hit the Billboard dance charts, we'll kick off this week's party with someone else whose birthday is today, Ini Kamoze. More accurately, today is the 58th birthday of Cecil Campbell, who later changed his name to Ini Kamoze. Here are twenty songs you can hotstep to.
Tagged as Cerrone, Change, Dr. Buzzard's Original Savannah Band, Eddy Grant, Evelyn "Champagne" King, First Choice, Ini Kamoze, Instant Funk, It's Friday and I Need To Dance!, John Lennon, Loleatta Holloway, Madness, Major Lazer, Malcolm McLaren, Musical Youth, Musique, Nina Sky, People's Choice, Peter Brown, Ricky Blaze, S.O.S. Band, Taana Gardner, Teena Marie, Third World


Bizarre News
Girlfriend: 'Miami Zombie' may have had voodoo spell that made him chew off a man's face
By Nadege Green, Miami Herald
Published May 31 2012
Updated May 31 2012
On the Saturday morning before he would make headlines for chewing off a man's face  -  before he would come to be known tragically as the "Miami Zombie"  -  Rudy Eugene held his Bible and kissed his girlfriend goodbye.
Eugene's on-again, off-again girlfriend said he woke her up at 5:30 a.m. to say he was going to meet with a "homeboy." She said she found it strange he was rummaging the closet so early in morning. He didn't name the friend or say where he was going.
He planted a kiss on her lips and said, "I love you."
Shortly after, he left the central Broward apartment he shared with her.
"I told him be safe and I love you too. When he walked out the door I closed it, locked it and went back to sleep," said the girlfriend, who spoke to the Miami Herald on Wednesday but asked that her name not be disclosed. She said that she thought it unusual that he was leaving the house so early, but didn't press him on it.
An hour after he left, Eugene called her cellphone. "He called me and told me his car broke down. He said, 'I'll be home, but I'm going to be a little late.' Then he said, 'I'm going to call you right back.' " That was the last time Eugene's girlfriend heard from him.
Around noon Saturday, she said she felt uneasy. She got into her car to search for Eugene, thinking he might still be stranded somewhere. She drove through North Miami and Miami Gardens, familiar neighborhoods Eugene frequented to visit with friends and family.
"I was worried. I couldn't do anything. I just kept calling the phone," she said. "I left messages saying, 'Rudy, call me, I'm really worried.' "
She said Eugene never told her where he was going that morning, and she was surprised to hear reports that he'd been in South Beach in the hours before he attacked a homeless man, Ronald Poppo.
As a matter of fact, she said, the previous day he told her he didn't want to go to South Beach because of the heavy police presence for Urban Beach Week. Eugene, who had been arrested in the past for possession of marijuana, told her he didn't want to get arrested.
By Saturday evening she still had not heard from the man she calls "my baby, my heart." She turned on the TV to watch the late-night news and heard an unreal story: A nude man near the Miami Herald building pounced on a homeless man, chewing off his face. The man with pieces of flesh hanging from his teeth was shot dead by police.
"I thought to myself, 'Oh my God, that's crazy,' she said. "I didn't know that it was Rudy."
All day Sunday she placed phone calls to friends asking if they'd seen Eugene and again she searched North Dade streets for her boyfriend.
At 11 a.m. Monday she got the call from a member of Eugene's family.
The caller shouted terrible news into the phone: "Rudy's dead, Rudy's dead."
"I immediately started to scream,'' she said. "I don't know when I hung up the phone, I was hysterical."
But it was not until the afternoon, when she left her home to grieve with the rest of Eugene's family in North Miami Beach, that she heard even worse news: The man everyone was calling the Miami Zombie was her boyfriend.
Her reaction: Utter disbelief. "That's not Rudy, that's not Rudy," she remembered saying aloud in shock.
"I'll never be the same," she said.
The man being depicted by the media as a "face eater" or a "monster" is not the man she knew, she said. He smoked marijuana often, though had recently said he wanted to quit, but he didn't use stronger recreational drugs and even refused to take over-the-counter medication for simple ailments like headaches, she said. He was sweet and well-mannered, she said.
Eugene's girlfriend has her own theory on what happened that day. She believes Eugene was drugged unknowingly. The only other explanation, she said, was supernatural  -  that someone put a voodoo curse on him. The girlfriend, who unlike Eugene is not Haitian, said she has never believed in voodoo, until now.
"I don't know how else to explain this," she said.
She and Eugene met in 2007. While in traffic on a Miami street, Eugene pulled up next to her car and motioned for her to roll down her window.
She did. "I thought he was cute. I shouted out my number to him and he called me right then. We clicked immediately."
Their five-year relationship hit rocky points over the years, and they would separate for months at a time, then reunite again. She said their problems were mostly "communication issues."
She said Eugene worked at a car wash and wanted to own his own business someday.
During their time together, she said, Eugene would sit on the bed or on the couch in the evenings with her to read from his Bible. He carried it with him just about everywhere he went, she said, and often cited verses to friends and family.
"If someone was lost or didn't know God, he would tell them about him,'' she said. "He was a believer of God."
She cries often, she said. Eugene's clothes and shoes are still in her closet.
"Something happened out of the ordinary that day. I don't want him to be labeled the 'Miami Zombie,' " she said. "He was a person. I don't want him to go down like that."
He was never violent around her, she said.
But according to police records, Eugene became violent at least once in his past and was arrested on battery charges. In 2004, he threatened his mother and smashed furniture during a domestic dispute, according to records from the North Miami Beach Police Department.
The police report says Eugene "took a fighting stand, balled his hands into a fist" and threatened one of the officers who responded.
Police had to use a Taser to subdue him. "Thank God you're here, he would have killed me," Eugene's mother, Ruth Charles, told officers, the police report says. She told the officers that before they arrived, her son had told her, "I'll put a gun to your head and kill you."
On Wednesday, Charles said that despite the incident, she and her son had a warm relationship.
"I'm his first love ... he's a nice kid ... he was not a delinquent," she told Miami Herald news partner CBS-4 at her Miami Gardens home.
Charles told the station she was speaking up for the first time to defend her dead son.
"Everybody says that he was a zombie, but I know he's not a zombie; he's my son," she said.
She said the man who ate another human being's face was just not the son she knew.
"I don't know what they injected in him to turn him into the person who did what he did," she said, making the motion of someone putting a syringe into the crook of her arm.
A friend of Eugene's since they were teenagers told the Herald on Wednesday that Eugene had been troubled in recent years.
Joe Aurelus said Eugene told him he wanted to stop smoking pot, and that friends were texting Eugene Bible verses.
"I was just with him two weeks ago,"' he said. They were at a friend's house watching a movie and Eugene had a Bible in his hand.
"He was going through a lot with his family," Aurelus said, and jumping from job to job.
"Rudy was battling the devil."
Miami Herald staff writers Elinor J. Brecher and Scott Hiaasen contributed to this report.
Ginormica is about 6-years-old is an excellent swimmer.
Florida mother arrested after filming daughter licking tongue depressor
Asked why she recorded the video, the woman said, "I was just being silly with my kids."
Rattlesnake, uranium, whiskey found during traffic stop
Police said they don't know why the uranium was in the vehicle or how it was obtained.
9 deer at famed park in Japan die after eating plastic bags
The Nara Deer Preservation Foundation says nine of the 14 deer that have died since March had plastic in their stomachs.
Video: Fearless dog chases bear from neighbor's yard
Riley's owner, Alan Tlusty, says his dog always chases the bear whenever he sees him in the yard.
Watch: Could T-Rex race become the new Midsummer Classic?
More than two-dozen people in inflatable Tyrannosaurus Rex costumes stumbled their way along a Washington race track. And it was fantastic.


"Hardened policemen were nearly moved to tears as they conducted a preliminary examination of the ravaged body and carried it away in a little bundle." It was a four month old baby-girl violated and murdered. The place of occurrence was Madhya Pradesh in 2018.
The little girl is one among the hundreds of thousands in the apparently never-ending series who are lost in the hands of the beasts among humans. Only a few fight back, but they are too few and the rest are buried underneath cruelty- indifference-even hatred of also humans who are variously placed in the corridors and rungs of power. These latter may be the police-military, the strong-arm criminals, socially powerful rich, even MLAs, ministers or their accomplices, or anybody in administration- even judiciary. And many times more are the hapless girls, mothers, even centenarian mother who are never reported suffer from life-long torment, if not murdered.
There may be thousand and one ways that make life hell for women of any age. It starts from the generally talked about rapes and gang-rapes that is sexual violence, acid attack, forced sex slavery, forced labour, dowry murders, domestic servitude, forced begging, forced drug peddling, forced prostitution, child pornography, female foeticide, female infanticide, humiliation and torture for girl child birth, torture for nil child birth, deaths from unsafe abortions, pressure for male child birth, least education for girls, honour killings, child bride, child marriage, greater exploitation of women workers. What more horror our daughters and mothers are to face? Is it a civilized society we live in?
A few palpable statistics are given below. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) states that in 2015, as many as 7,634 women died in the country due to dowry harassment. Either they were burnt alive or forced to commit suicide over dowry demand. For crimes against women overall, pending cases increased from 1,081,756 to 1,204,786. The horror of Kathua and Unnao rapes have once against brought into focus the safety of women in India, and especially that of children. Looking back at the latest data available, in 2016, India recorded 106 rapes a day and four out of every ten victims were minors. According to the NCRB, between 2014 and 2015 alone, the number of honour killings in India leapt by 798 per cent. States such as Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are leading in such extra-judicial killings. In a recent report it has been observed that in 2017 about 6, 00,000 infanticide have been perpetrated. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has acknowledged that illegal abortions still outnumber legal abortions. According to the Population Research Institute, at least 12,771,043 sex-selective abortions had taken place in India between 2000 and 2014. Human trafficking is on the rise and it is more "horrific" than ever, a United Nations agency found. In a new report on human trafficking, the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) found that the global trend has increased steadily since 2010 around the world. Women and girls are especially vulnerable, making up 70 per cent of detected victims worldwide. India, among a few countries can claim distinction in holding high rank in human trafficking in recent times. These are but a few statistics, the tip of a massive iceberg.
The point is why is it so? Why has there been such a spurt of atrocities against women particularly during the recent past. The data presented above speak of the trends between the years 2014 and 2016 or later. One cannot miss that during this period the country has been under the rule of the BJP led by the prime minister Narendra Modi. And one of the most favourite slogans of this government has been Beti Padhao, Beti Bachao (educate girls, save girls). And this is the condition how the girls are being saved. Not only that, in cases like Kathua and Unnao, among the accused, there were leaders- activists- associates of the BJP, even a BJP MLA. Coolly and calmly, they were not only not apprehended, even the party brought out procession in support of the accused to create pressure upon the administration that it does not take steps against them. BJP candidate Shobha Chauhan from Sojat seat in Pali district of Rajasthan openly promised voters that police will not interfere in child marriages if she wins. She was highly applauded by the assembled BJP workers. Is it then not a case of sheer hypocrisy?
But why is it that the BJP does not feel the least compunction at this exposure of the reality? Here it may not be irrelevant to bring back a piece of history. In the days of the renaissance, the democratic revolution, the bourgeoisie led for bringing the change in society issued the call for individual liberty and freedom, which also implied equality of man and woman. So call for women's liberation from abject patriarchal domination of the feudal society was an important issue at that time. But the capitalist society that was established in the process remained still a society based on exploitation and discrimination, not only in economic fields, but also in social-cultural fields and every-where. So patriarchal domination or misogynist attitude towards women persisted in the society along with exploitation of both toiling men and women in the hands of the capitalists, the owners, the rich. To add fuel to fire, in our country the democratic revolution was left in a half-baked, truncated manner. With independence, a sovereign capitalist country was established politically. But in the cultural-social -ethical fields the task of democratization remained unfulfilled. The past legacies not only remained, they gradually raised their heads, as the Indian capitalism as an inalienable part of the most decadent world capitalism assumed a moribund reactionary shape with each passing day. The governments which take up the charge of governance of the country, merely act as the political manager set to keep this exploitative, discriminatory decadent capitalist rule running. The BJP, as the trusted representative of the Indian monopolists, have proven in all aspects of social-political-economic activities, that they are efficient subservient agents of the ruling capitalist class. Hence all their pro-people slogans and gestures are mere jumlas (rhetoric), as their president has himself admitted with respect to their electoral pledges. And this is the reason why on one side, they call out Beti Padhao, Beti Bachao, on the other side they do not hesitate to stage demonstration to hammer out that the accused in the gang-rape of a poor child, is really innocent. It is for the people to note and judge this hypocritical face of the BJP, which once claimed to be a value-based party and the task is to organize themselves to develop strong movements against it.
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Why noble scientific ideology of Marxism-Leninism-Shibdas Ghosh Thought can only show the path of emancipation
Bicentennial birth anniversary of Great Karl Marx
"Secularism in no way means that government will lend its support equally to all religious faith. But to the credit of the Congress and the pseudo-communists and socialists a peculiar conception of secularism has developed in our country which implies equal encouragement for all religious faith. Under such circumstances, what else can we expect except whipping up of religious fanaticism ?" ~SHIBDAS GHOSHSource: A Scientific Approach to Our Educational-Cultural Problems, p.6


Tags: celebrity smiles braces orthodontic treatment
Mayim Bialik has spent a good part of her life in front of TV cameras: first as the child star of the hit comedy series Blossom, and more recently as Sheldon Cooper's love interest  -  a nerdy neuroscientist  -  on The Big Bang Theory. (In between, she actually earned a PhD in neuroscience from UCLA...but that's another story.) As a child, Bialik had a serious overbite  -  but with all her time on camera, braces were just not an option.
"I never had braces," she recently told Dear Doctor - Dentistry & Oral Health magazine. "I was on TV at the time, and there weren't a lot of creative solutions for kids who were on TV." Instead, her orthodontist managed to straighten her teeth using retainers and headgear worn only at night.
Today, there are several virtually invisible options available to fix orthodontic issues  -  and you don't have to be a child star to take advantage of them. In fact, both children and adults can benefit from these unobtrusive appliances.
Tooth colored braces are just like traditional metal braces, with one big difference: The brackets attached to teeth are made from a ceramic material that blends in with the natural color of teeth. All that's visible is the thin archwire that runs horizontally across the teeth  -  and from a distance it's hard to notice. Celebs like Tom Cruise and Faith Hill opted for this type of appliance.
Clear aligners are custom-made plastic trays that fit over the teeth. Each one, worn for about two weeks, moves the teeth just a bit; after several months, you'll see a big change for the better in your smile. Best of all, clear aligners are virtually impossible to notice while you're wearing them  -  which you'll need to do for 22 hours each day. But you can remove them to eat, or for special occasions. Zac Efron and Katherine Heigl, among others, chose to wear clear aligners.
Lingual braces really are invisible. That's because they go behind your teeth (on the tongue side), where they can't be seen; otherwise they are similar to traditional metal braces. Lingual braces are placed on teeth differently, and wearing them often takes some getting used to at first. But those trade-offs are worth it for plenty of people. Which celebs wore lingual braces? Rumor has it that the list includes some top models, a well-known pop singer, and at least one British royal.
So what's the best way to straighten your teeth and keep the orthodontic appliances unnoticeable? Just ask us! We'd be happy to help you choose the option that's just right for you. You'll get an individualized evaluation, a solution that fits your lifestyle  -  and a great-looking smile!
For more information about hard-to-see (or truly invisible) orthodontics, please contact our office or schedule a consultation. You can read more in the Dear Doctor magazine articles "Orthodontics for the Older Adult" and "Clear Aligners for Teenagers."


Jock Given
Jock Given teaches, researches and writes about media and communications law, policy, business and history. He previously worked as Director of the Communications Law Centre, Policy Advisor at the Australian Film Commission and Director, Legislation and Industry Economics in the federal Department of Transport and Communications.
He writes regularly for Swinburne University's Inside Story and has published academic work in journals like Australian Journalism Review, Telecommunications Policy, the Journal of Information Policy, Business History, Media History and Studies in Australasian Cinema. His radio documentaries 'Crawfords: Television for the People' and 'Empire State: Ernest Fisk and the World Wide Wireless' were first broadcast by ABC Radio National's Hindsight program in 2014 and 2012. Current and recent research projects include studies of audiovisual distribution (supported by the ABC and Screen Australia), radiofrequency spectrum management and post-war international telecommunications.


Kiwa: Pacific Connections
"You too can be a Māori"
"You too can be a Māori"
by Robert Jahnke
Medium: photo engraved acrylic
Size: 12 × 8 × 2 inches (framed)
Reference Code: KX30708
"You too can be a Maori" is a triptych that makes a statement about the globalization of cultural icons. The juxtaposition of British Pop Star, Robbie Williams, Maori Leader, Piri Sciascia (with an Italian surname), and Afro-American Pugilist, Mike Tyson, speaks volumes about the globalization of moko (Maori tattoo) as an icon of trans-global culture. Famous / infamous personalities, as globally accessible icons, are just a mouse-click away on the worldwide web.
In the spirit of Gayatri Spivak's process of 'strategic appropriation', the imprint of moko and 'tribal tattoo' is temporarily re-accessioned through cultural posturing that is real and imagined, physical and metaphysical. Simultaneously, a subtext of intellectual and cultural rights, peppered with appropriation, interrogates global access rights to cultural icons as pattern and image mined from the other side of the world.
Robert Jahnke
Te Whanau a Rakairoa o Ngāti Porou
Robert earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Industrial Design in 1976 and his first-class Master of Fine Arts in Graphic Design in 1978, both from Auckland University. In 1980, he graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in Experimental Animation from the California Institute of the Arts. He is currently professor and head of the School of Māori Studies/coordinator of Māori Visual Arts at Massey University in Palmerston North and a doctoral candidate there.


History of Washington
Origins of Washington state
Picture of Washington
Humans have lived in Washington for as long as 11,500 years. The first inhabitants of present-day Washington were descendants of the peoples who crossed the land bridge linking the northeastern part of Asia and North America at the Bering Sea. Archaeologists discovered a rich site in the southeastern part of the state near Palouse Falls, dating to about 10,000 years ago. This dig was filled with human bones, weapons, tools, elk remains, and bone needles.
The Native American population of Washington state belongs to two distinctive regional groups: those who live on the Pacific Coast west of the Cascade Range, and those who live on the Columbia Plateau, east of the range. Different environments and the mountain barrier resulted in two different cultures and lifestyles.
Some of the principal coastal groups include the Quileute, Quinault, Makah, Lummi, Chinook, and Snohomish. Since the area had a relatively mild climate and abundant food sources, the coastal peoples tended to live in permanent cedar houses. These structures, called longhouses, were sometimes about 30 m (100 ft) long and 12 m (40 ft) wide and often housed a number of families. Groups of longhouses were frequently built near the ocean or along a river.
From these locations, Native Americans collected fruits, nuts, and roots, gathered shellfish, and fished for salmon, halibut, and trout. Salmon was a significant part of the coastal people's diet, and many tribal people honored the fish by holding an annual ceremony for the first salmon catch of the season.
Native Americans developed many ways to catch the fish, including building fishing platforms, stretching nets across streams, and lancing harpoons at the fish. The Quinault and the Quileute, who lived on the coast, hunted fish in dugout cedar canoes. The Makah ventured out to sea to harpoon whales.
The coastal peoples had a rigid class system. Social status was often displayed at a potlatch, a ceremony held in honor of a special event such as a marriage or the birth of a child. Native American chiefs invited people from all around the region to come celebrate. Guests would come for several days to eat and dance. On the final day of the potlatch, chiefs would give gifts to their guest, offering proof of their great wealth.
Some of the principal Native American groups on the east side of the Cascade Mountains include the Okanogan, Spokane, Wenatchee, Yakama, Cayuse, Nez Perce, and Palouse. Although the Native American peoples of the Columbia Plateau had a diet similar to that of their coastal counterparts, they had to work much harder to procure their food. They lived in a harsh climate and had a semi-nomadic lifestyle. Often Native American peoples spent the summer months at fishing sites or in the mountains collecting roots and berries. They carried light, portable structures made of long poles and woven twigs and fibers to their summer camps and spent the cold season on the canyon floors. They built large, well-insulated pithouses that provided protection from the cold and the wind. These pithouses were 1.8 to 2 m (6 to 7 ft) underground, with skins and dirt forming a conical roof supported by poles.
Like the coastal peoples, the Columbia Plateau Native Americans consumed salmon and other fish that swam up the Columbia River. They also hunted deer, elk, bear, and small game. When the Plateau peoples, and in particular the Nez Perce, started to use and breed horses, they were able to travel farther to hunt. Trade among the Native American peoples of present-day Washington was common. Inland and coastal peoples met annually at a place on the Columbia River to the east of the Cascades (the present-day city of The Dalles, Oregon), where they exchanged goods, danced, and had feasts. Native Americans developed a common dialect, which was used when trading with people who spoke different languages. This trade language was loosely based on the Chinook language and had vocabulary from many other regional Native American languages. See also Native Americans of North America. "Washington" © Emmanuel BUCHOT, Encarta, Wikipedia.
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Places of interest in Alaska
Photographic book - USA - 3/03/19
Caribou in Alaska
Alaska is a state where the visitor can watch a mass migration of caribou across the arctic plains, see the tundra blossom overnight into a riot of color, and observe polar bears and walruses in their native habitat. It is the land of the midnight sun and the noontide moon. Few states offer such contrasts as the frozen ice fields and steaming volcanoes, the vast Interior and its towering peaks, the fjords of the Panhandle and the seemingly endless flatlands of the river deltas.
Alaska's national parks are home to the United States' tallest mountains and biggest glaciers and some of its most exotic wildlife. Alaska contains a number of the country's largest national parks, including Wrangell-Saint Elias, Gates of the Arctic, Denali, Lake Clark, Katmai, and Glacier Bay.
Of the 20 highest mountains in the United States, 17 are in Alaska. Mount McKinley, North America's largest mountain at 6,194 m (20,320 ft), is a defining highlight in Denali National Park and Preserve. The second tallest mountain, Mount Saint Elias (5,489 m/18,008 ft), is located in Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve, a park characterized by remote mountains, valleys, and wild rivers, all rich with wildlife.
Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve is just one of the areas in which visitors can find examples of active geological phenomena. Since it was first seen by British explorer George Vancouver in the 1790s, the wall of ice that shadows Glacier Bay has retreated about 100 km (about 60 mi). Harding Icefield and forested coastal fjords are the highlights of Kenai Fjords National Park.
Spectacular scenery stretches across the Lake Clark National Park and Preserve from the Cook Inlet to the Chigmit Mountains, which include two active volcanoes, Mount Redoubt and Mount Iliamna. More evidence of Alaska's natural history can be found at Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, where steam rises from a few active volcanic vents at Katmai National Park and Preserve. In the Aniakchak National Monument and Preserve, the Aniakchak River cascades through a gash 500 m (1,600 ft) long at the rim of a volcano crater.
Alaska's national parks
Alaska's national parks also preserve the state's rich cultural history. The Bering Land Bridge National Preserve is a remnant of the land bridge that once connected Asia with North America, the route the earliest residents took to the continent. Cape Krusenstern National Monument contains archaeological sites that illustrate Eskimo communities dating back some 4,000 years. Sitka National Historical Park commemorates the Battle of Sitka, the only armed conflict between Alaska Natives and Europeans. Relics of the 1898 gold rush are preserved at the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park and the Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve.
Several parks embody the state's nickname The Last Frontier because of their remote locations. They are generally accessible only by chartered planes and recommended only to those adventurers who are confident in their outdoor survival skills. Lying entirely north of the Arctic Circle, Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, the northernmost extension of the Rocky Mountains, is the second largest national park in the United States. The Great Kobuk Sand Dunes are located in the Kobuk Valley National Park. A rich array of Arctic wildlife can be found in this park and the neighboring Noatak National Preserve, including caribou, grizzly and black bear, wolf, and fox. "USA" © Emmanuel BUCHOT, Encarta, Wikipedia
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Royal Lyceum Announces David Greig's Inaugural Season
May 3, 2016 by News Team Leave a Comment
The Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh is delighted to announce David Greig's first season as Artistic Director of Scotland's largest producing theatre.
David Greig is an internationally acclaimed and award-winning playwright whose recent credits include The Lorax (Old Vic), The Events (Traverse, Scotland and Young Vic), Sam Mendes' West End hit, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Dunsinane (Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre of Scotland), and The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart (National Theatre of Scotland).
David Greig, New Artistic Director of the Royal Lyceum Theatre Edinburgh says,
"The Lyceum's 50th Anniversary has been an extraordinary year for the company and the success of Mark Thomson's final year has allowed me to put together this expansive and ambitious programme for my first season as Artistic Director.
We will be presenting more work with 11 main stage productions, 4 of which are world premieres, and many of the artists involved will be making work with The Lyceum for the very first time.
I'm keen to make new meaningful partnerships, such as our new exciting relationship with the Edinburgh Science Festival and build on existing relationships, such as our involvement with the Edinburgh International Festival, to ensure that we stay at the heart of this fantastic city and truly be a Civic Theatre for the people of Edinburgh and our visitors.
I want to put our citizens centre stage at The Lyceum to share this beautiful space and the amazing experience of making theatre - we need to cast at least 200 members of the public in this year's season so please come and join us!
I'm also keen that the citizens of Edinburgh have more opportunities to explore and appreciate the splendour of this Victorian building - we will be presenting regular Variety Nights featuring an ever-changing line-up of musicians, poets and theatre-makers.
I'd like us to collaborate more across the UK and the world to share our unique experiences and individual stories. This year Lyceum co-productions will visit Glasgow, Belfast and Newcastle, and our theatre will welcome Malthouse Theatre Melbourne and Black Swan State Theatre Company's production Picnic at Hanging Rock.
Last year, after a decade of standstill funding The Lyceum received news of public funding cuts of nearly £700,000 from Creative Scotland and the City of Edinburgh Council. Not enough to close our doors but enough to significantly narrow our horizons. Thankfully the legacy of the company's celebrated 50th anniversary and the fantastic appetite of our audiences and supporters have given me a year to be experimental - a one season window of opportunity.
I intend to use it to make the case for a producing theatre in Edinburgh's capital which is worthy of the city. A Theatre which engages and excites our citizens year round and is capable of taking Edinburgh to the world and bringing a world of theatre to Edinburgh - a Civic Theatre for the capital city of Scotland - The Lyceum. I'm looking forward to working with many talented artists, our fantastic staff, generous sponsors new and old and our partners and funders in Scotland and across the UK, to make this ambition a lasting success for Edinburgh."
In brief, the shows are as follows:
Wind Resistance - 4 August - 21 August 2016
David Greig's first production as Artistic Director (as Dramaturg) and the World Premiere of Scottish Singer/Songwriter Karine Polwart's debut into theatre. This new theatre gig will be performed in a bespoke performance space the Lyceum's Rehearsal Studio with direction by David's long-term collaborator, Wils Wilson.
The Cheviot, the Stag and the Black, Black Oil - 14 - 24 September 2016
Joe Douglas' widely acclaimed Dundee Rep production will mark his debut at The Lyceum and be the first time this iconic political play has been performed on The Lyceum stage since the original production in 1973.
The Suppliant Women - 1 October - 15 October 2016
David Greig's first play for The Lyceum main stage unites the creative team behind the 2013 international runaway hit The Events - David Greig, Ramin Gray and John Browne will create a new version of this Ancient Greek story about the flight of refugees and human rights that deeply resonates with our world today. One of the oldest surviving plays in existence -this story will be re-imagined with 50 citizens of Edinburgh playing the pivotal role - the "suppliant" women.
Jumpy - 27 October - 12 November 2016
BAFTA multi-award winning actor, Daniela Nardini returns to The Lyceum stage to play the lead role in this deliciously irreverent hit West End comedy of mid-life crisis, teenage rebellion and a mother-daughter relationship in meltdown. Olivier-award winning director Cora Bissett will bring a distinctively Scottish twist to this contemporary tale.
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - 26 November - 31 December 2016
The ever Inventive Edinburgh born theatre-maker Anthony Neilson will return to his home town to make a magical Victorian version of this classic family story by Lewis Carroll for Christmas.
Picnic at Hanging Rock - 13 January - 28 January 2017
The Lyceum will welcome its first international mainstage production outside of the Edinburgh Festivals in its 50 year history - hosting the UK premiere ofMalthouse Theatre Melbourne and Black Swan State Theatre Company'sacclaimed production of this haunting, iconic Australian bush tale. Directed by Australian artist Matthew Lutton.
The Winter's Tale - 9 February - 4 March 2017
Shakespeare's timeless tale of love, betrayal and magic will be directed by acclaimed artist Max Webster, who recently directed David's enchanting adaptation of The Lorax. Max will bring a distinctive Scottish flair with a cast of actor-musicians.
Hay Fever - 10 March - 1 April 2017
A new co-production with the Citizens Theatre Glasgow, the Citizens' award-winning Artistic Director Dominic Hill will direct Noël Coward's riotous farce charting the unconventional antics of a self-dubbed 'bohemian' family of four. Revelation, romance, and outright outlandish behaviour set the tone of this 1920's dark comedy.
A Number - April 2017
As part of an exciting new partnership with the Edinburgh International Science Festival, renowned Scottish director and playwright Zinnie Harriswill direct Caryl Churchill's acclaimed sci-fi story about cloning and its consequences. This eerie production will be performed in an intimate 'in the round' space created on The Lyceum's main stage.
Charlie Sonata - 29 April - 13 May 2017
An urban, funny, booze-soaked fairytale about redemption brings together the artistic talents of Scottish playwright Douglas Maxwell and internationally acclaimed director Matthew Lenton for this World Premiere.
Glory on Earth - 20 May - 10 June 2017
David Greig makes his directorial debut at The Lyceum with a new play by Scottish playwright Linda Maclean. Glory on Earth re-imagines the historic meetings between Mary Queen of Scots and John Knox charting the fatal relationship between a charming young queen and an uncompromising old zealot as they battle for the hearts and souls of 16th Century Scotland.
The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other - June 2017
The citizens of Edinburgh take centre stage again in the season finale, a large scale production directed by Wils Wilson. Written by Austrian playwrightPeter Handke, in a translation by Meredith Oakes the production will feature a 100 strong, all-Edinburgh cast and a soundtrack of entirely new music.
Additional strands include a series of Sunday Variety Nights to showcase musicians, poets and theatre-makers.
Filed Under: Featured, News Tagged With: David Grieg, Royal Lyceum, Scotland


Look Back in Hunger by Jo Brand
From TheBookbag
Buy Look Back in Hunger by Jo Brand at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Reviewer: John Van der Kiste
Summary: The memoirs of Jo Brand, a former psychiatric nurse who yearned for a showbusiness career and became one of the age's most popular stand-up comedians.
Buy? Maybe Borrow? Yes
Pages: 320 Date: October 2009
Publisher: Headline Review
Born in Hastings in May 1957, after leaving Brunel University with a degree in social sciences, Jo Brand unsuccessfully applied for a research job with Channel 4 on a series about racism, then worked for a time as a psychiatric nurse at the South London Bethlem and Maudsley Hospital. But the lure of showbiz proved too strong, and stardom in stand-up comedy soon beckoned.
Much of this memoir is about her early life, from a south-east London childhood, schooldays and rebellious adolescence to student and nursing days. There are plenty of amusing anecdotes about the usual brushes with parental authority, often related to staying out too late or going to the wrong places, and being chatted up by less than desirable young (and not so young) men. She emerges as a cheerfully shambolic character, quite philosophical about being asked to leave her job in the civil service, not unrelated to having had too many cheap beers at lunchtime one day and falling asleep and dribbling at her desk afterwards, matter-of-fact about her less than stellar exam results - let's just say the marks D and E were good friends of mine.
A self-confessed unashamed natural scruffbag, she tells us that her room was always a complete tip with overflowing ashtrays, records and CDs scattered everywhere, and old cups with mould in them. (If you're reading this over a hastily-grabbed breakfast or coffee break, I'm sorry). On the subject of dressing, she makes the very valid point that high heels may look elegant, but are useless for running in - and there is many an occasion when a woman may need to be swift on her feet. Her insights into life on the wards, naturally the most serious part of the book, make interesting and sometimes poignant reading.
It's probably fair to say that the majority of people picking up this book will be keen to know what makes her tick as a comic, and how 'the Sea Monster' started out as a stand-up comedian. That is crammed into the last two chapters, beginning with an appearance at a rather sleazy Soho nightclub in the summer of 1986. I get the feeling this is only 'Part One - to be continued', as the last page had finished a little abruptly almost before I knew it.
It's amusing enough, cheerfully self-deprecating and told in the deadpan style that anyone would expect after having seen her on the box. How, she asks in the first chapter after describing a typical appearance onstage at Loughborough University, did she ever get there when she could have been working in a library or pushing a pram around the park?
Although it makes a good light read, it didn't strike me as the funniest comedy memoir I've read. Fans of hers will certainly love it, but I felt there was something a little flat about the whole tone of these pages that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Dawn French's recent title had that kind of effervescent bubbly quality throughout that made it difficult to put down. That same quality, it struck me, somehow tended to be lacking here.
Our thanks to Headline Review for sending a copy to Bookbag.
If you enjoyed this, may we recommend the above-mentioned Dear Fatty by Dawn French, or Dawn French: The Unauthorised Biography by Alison Bowyer.
You can read more book reviews or buy Look Back in Hunger by Jo Brand at Amazon.co.uk
You can read more book reviews or buy Look Back in Hunger by Jo Brand at Amazon.com.
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Kendrick Lamar's "HUMBLE." Is The No. 1 Song In The Country
The Compton rapper's "DNA." single also reached the No. 4 position.
By Ben Dandridge-Lemco
Kendrick Lamar performs at the Coachella Valley Music And Arts Festival, April 16, 2017. Kevin Winter / Getty Images
Kendrick Lamar's "HUMBLE." single has risen to No. 1 on the Hot 100, Billboard reports. The song marks the Compton rapper's second time at the top spot and first as a solo artist.
"HUMBLE." has spent three weeks at the top of the Streaming Songs chart and tallied 67.4 million streams in the week ending April 20, becoming the second-most streamed song on a single week behind Baauer's "Harlem Shake." Kendrick also earned an additional top 10 hit, as "DNA." makes its debut on the chart at No. 4. His DAMN. album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, earning the biggest sales week for any album in 2017 with 603,000 equivalent album units.
Read Next: Listen to Revenge of the Dreamers III feat. Vince Staples, Kendrick Lamar, more
Elsewhere on the chart, Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's "Despacito" remix, featuring Justin Bieber, comes in at No. 9. The song is the first Spanish language track to reach the Hot 100's top 10 in over 20 years ("Macarena" spent 14 weeks at No. 1 in 1996).
Hip-Hop, Kendrick Lamar


Veteran Stories
The First World War
The Second World War
Veteran Stories:
Peter Godwin Chance
Peter Chance, 1951.
Peter Chance
Peter Chance on the bridge, HMS Liddesdale, Spring 1942.
Peter Chance's Medals (L-R): 1939-45 Star; Atlantic Star; Pacific Star; Defence Medal; Canadian Volunteer Service Medal; War Medal (1939-45); and Medals from Korea War.
Wedding Reception of Peter Chance and his Wife, in Skeena, British Columbia, September 1944.
Listen to this story
"There was a great call when the Japanese landed only 20 miles north of us for us to get back to the ship."
Handley Page Halifax
426 (Thunderbird) Squadron, RCAF...
427 (Lion) Squadron, RCAF
Canadians in South East Asia
In Malaya and Burma
The Canadian Encyclopedia
The Canadian Encyclopedia is your authoritative reference of all things Canadian.
Then after four months of sort of a crash course at Dartmouth, the Naval College, we were all assigned to various ships. And so my pal, Benny Benoit, a Canadian from my class, and I, were sent to a ship called HMS Mauritius, a colony class cruiser lying at anchor in Scapa Flow. So off we went. As soon as I got there, we were assigned to run ships' boats. Well, both of us had had plenty of experience driving boats of all sizes, and so this was great and we enjoyed that work, albeit it was foul weather and it was cold because it was January. And our ship forayed forth with, sallied forth I should say, with the remainder of the home fleet on two occasions to attempt to find the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau [German battle cruisers], that were reported in a breakout from their home ports. We didn't manage to meet them and it was just as well because we sure as hell weren't ready.
However, it wasn't very long before we were then sent to do convoy duty with liners. And they took us from Scotland to Gibraltar, Gibraltar to the Cape and from the Cape up to Aden and then we turned about and picked up returning ships with prisoners and wounded, to return them to the UK.
Well, this went on for a while and then we were detached from that duty and for several months thereafter, we worked out of Colombo to the islands of Mauritius, the Seychelles, Diego Garcia, Diego Suarez and to the Nicobar Islands and eventually to Singapore. We were there at the dry dock getting our fire main refitted because for some reason, this brand new ship had a fire main that was more like a sieve than a fire main. In any case, whilst we were there, we midshipmen again were sent off on exploration: come, let's learn a bit more about Malaya duties. We not only flew in the local aircraft and billeted with the local regiment, the [2nd Battalion] Argyll and Sutherlanders, and the Loyal [North] Lancashire Regiment, but we also stooged around the sky in a thing called Vickers Vincent, which were biplanes from the First World War and they were better than that. They were still operational throughout the thirties but they were pretty poor aircraft against the Japanese. And, indeed, all of them were destroyed when the Japanese landed.
We, Benny Benoit and I, were sent to a place called Kelantan Province and the town of Kota Bharu, which means new town in Malay, where we were entertained by the local people there and, indeed, the rubber plantations, of which there were many, were all managed by Scots for Dunlop Rubber. Yeah, and, in fact, on one evening, we had a rehearsal for St. Andrew's Ball. Don't forget, it's hotter than the hobs of hell and steam heat, and the bungalows where other people lived, these overseers, were very nice, raised off the ground to allow air beneath them, to help cooling and also be anti-snake protection.
In any case, as we arrived, everybody was in whites and there was a piper of course, why not, and we were all handed a mickey of Dimple Haig [whiskey] as we crossed the threshold. Well, that was great fun and we all drank and danced wildly. And, believe me, we were drenched because of the vigour of the endeavour. And everybody's clothes were clinging to them like as though they were naked, especially the ladies, who bobbed up and down, and it was all very startling for young boys like me and my friend, Benny.
Any case, there was a great call when the Japanese landed only 20 miles north of us for us to get back to the ship. But, anyway, we got back and sure enough, it wasn't very long thereafter that not only had the Japanese landed, but they were bombing Singapore. And so we midshipmen were detailed off in groups of 10 with a midshipman leading, to board police launches and to go out into the Singapore harbour to attack Japanese junks that were lying at anchor. We didn't realize it at the time, it had been thought that they were, of course, armed and ready to do business. But when, in point of fact, we lobbed some hand grenades into the quarters down below, why we eradicated some Japanese fishermen and found their cargos were Japanese-held ensigns to be given to the, by the conquered nations to the victorious Japanese coming in. And so we were detailed off to get back to our ship, put her back in the water and get her refueled, re-vittled, re-ammunitioned, everything, in 72 hours.
We did it and we slipped out during the night and got around from the south end of Singapore island and raced up the Malacca Strait, blacked out, because our electrics weren't connected; we couldn't have fired the guns even if we wanted to. So, eventually, we got back to Trincomalee on the northeast coast of Ceylon and then eventually back to Colombo Christmas and New Years, and then to Durbin and back to the Cape, and home by February of 1942.
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China protests over US warship sighting as trade talks start
In this Thursday, Jan. 3, 2019, photo, a woman and children play near an art installation at a shopping mall in Beijing. A U.S. delegation led by deputy U.S. trade representative, Jeffrey D. Gerrish arrived in the Chinese capital ahead of trade talks with China. China sounded a positive note ahead of trade talks this week with Washington, but the two sides face potentially lengthy wrangling over technology and the future of their economic relationship. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
By JOE McDONALD, AP Business Writer
BEIJING (AP)  -  Chinese and American officials began talks Monday aimed at ending a bruising tariffs battle between the world's two biggest economies, as Beijing complained over the sighting of a U.S. warship in what it said were Chinese waters.
It was unclear if the ruckus over the warship might disrupt the working level talks being held at the Chinese Commerce Ministry. The two sides have provided scant information about the discussions.
Both sides have expressed optimism over the potential for progress in settling their tariff fight over Beijing's technology ambitions. Yet neither has indicated its stance has changed since a Dec. 1 agreement by Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping to postpone further increases.
Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Monday during a routine briefing that Chinese military aircraft and naval vessels were dispatched to identify the U.S. vessel and warn it to leave the area near disputed islands in the South China Sea.
"We have made stern complaints with the U.S.," Lu said. He said the warship, which he said was the destroyer the USS McCampbell, had violated Chinese and international law, infringed on Chinese sovereignty and undermined peace and stability.
"As for whether this move has any impact to the ongoing China-U.S. trade consultations... to properly resolve existing issues of all kinds between China and the U.S. is good for the two countries and the world," Lu said
But he added, "The two sides both have responsibility to create necessary and good atmosphere to this end."
There was no immediate comment from the U.S. side about the Chinese complaint.
The American side in the trade talks is being led by a deputy U.S. trade representative, Jeffrey D. Gerrish, according to the U.S. government. The delegation includes agriculture, energy, commerce, treasury and State Department officials.
The talks went ahead despite tensions over the arrest of a Chinese tech executive in Canada on U.S. charges related to possible violations of trade sanctions against Iran.
Trump imposed tariff increases of up to 25 percent on $250 billion of Chinese imports over complaints Beijing steals or pressures companies to hand over technology. Beijing responded by imposing penalties on $110 billion of American goods, slowing customs clearance for U.S. companies and suspending issuing licenses in finance and other businesses.
Economists say the 90-day postponement of tariff increases that had been meant to take effect Jan. 1 may be too short to settle the disputes bedeviling U.S.-Chinese relations.
But cooling economic growth in both countries is raising pressure to reach a settlement.
Chinese growth fell to a post-global crisis low of 6.5 percent in the quarter ending in September. Auto sales tumbled 16 percent in November over a year earlier. Weak real estate sales are forcing developers to cut prices.
The U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 3.4 percent in the third quarter, and unemployment is at a five-decade low. But surveys show consumer confidence is weakening because of concern that growth will slow this year.
Washington, Europe and other trading partners complain Beijing's tactics violate its market-opening obligations.
The standoff also reflects American anxiety about China's rise as a potential competitor in telecommunications and other technology. Trump wants Beijing to roll back initiatives intended to create homegrown Chinese leaders in robotics and artificial intelligence.
China's leaders see such strategies as a path to greater prosperity and global influence and have tried to defuse complaints by emphasizing the country's potential as a huge consumer market.
They've also promised to allow more foreign access to its auto, finance and other industries.
Beijing has tried in vain to recruit France, Germany, South Korea and other governments as allies against Trump, but they have echoed U.S. complaints about Chinese industrial policy and market barriers.
The European Union filed its own challenge in the World Trade Organization in June against Chinese rules that the 28-nation trade bloc said hamper the ability of foreign companies to protect and profit from their own technology.
For their part, Chinese officials are unhappy with U.S. curbs on exports of "dual use" technology with possible military applications. They complain China's companies are treated unfairly in national security reviews of proposed corporate acquisitions, though almost all deals are approved unchanged.
Some manufacturers that serve the United States have shifted production to other countries to avoid Trump's tariffs.


Wanted man ditches three pounds of pot, $10K in Sullivan County
Rain Smith • Aug 23, 2018 at 1:15 PM
The blotter is derived from recent incident reports and central dispatch records of local police agencies.
Kingsport Police Department
 -  A resident of Stratford Road answered a knock on his door at 3 a.m., according to his account, to find an unknown man with a bandanna covering his face. The stranger forced entry into the home and took the resident's wallet and cell phone. A second intruder cut the man's neck and left arm. A detective was called to the scene for further investigation.
 -  A Ford pickup crashed into a legally parked car on Willow Street, and a witness followed the driver. A block away, the suspect exited his vehicle and ran, but a check of registration identified a suspect. Warrants were to be obtained.
 -  Police were alerted to a man with a gun seated next to vending machines at an urgent care facility. Police responded and spoke to the suspect, finding he was unarmed. The purported weapon was actually a flip-flop in his pocket.
 -  A woman drove into the bay of an oil change business on Fort Henry Drive, nearly striking a vehicle that was on a lift. She then exited her vehicle, "mumbled something" and walked to a nearby restaurant. That's where police found her sitting on a grease disposal, incoherent and unable to keep her balance. Ultimately, she was arrested for DUI, with a blood draw conducted to determine what intoxicants were in her system.
 -  A man wanted in Kingsport was arrested in Virginia. Six months prior, he had recklessly sped through the parking lot of Buffalo Wild Wings on a motorcycle  -  while not wearing a helmet  -  and crashed into a car. He sustained serious injuries and was hospitalized, while lab results later revealed he had alcohol and drugs in his system. This month, a Sullivan County grand jury returned indictments in the case for reckless endangerment and other charges. He is now scheduled for extradition back to Tennessee.
Sullivan County Sheriff's Office
 -  When police attempted to serve a warrant at a residence on Barnett Drive, the wanted man jumped on a motorcycle to flee and struck a deputy. The suspect then ditched the bike and ran from the scene, with a subsequent K-9 search by Kingsport police unable to locate him. Officers did find a discarded backpack the suspect had been toting. Its contents: 2.73 pounds of marijuana (vacuum packaged in "large quantities"), $9,647 in cash, a handgun and 22 rounds. Additional warrants were obtained on numerous charges, while the deputy hit by the motorcycle sustained cuts to his legs.


Apple Censors News Show 'China Uncensored' in Hong Kong and Taiwan
Category: Politics Tags: Censorship / China / News
By VISION TIMES, May 13, 2017
Satirical news show China Uncensored says that the Apple TV app store has blocked users from accessing it not only in Mainland China, but also in Hong Kong and Taiwan. Curated by Chris Chappell, the show was launched on YouTube in 2012, and is currently aired by New York-based New Tang Dynasty Television (NTD.TV).
The show mocks the Chinese Communist Party and its authoritarian rule by curating news about crackdowns on dissidents, persecution of religious minorities and state-sponsored hacking activities, and turning them into satirical reporting. Oftentimes, its stories are a mixture of jokes and facts that are built upon the stereotypical image of a totalitarian China.
In a press statement on April 5, 2017, Chris Chappell stressed:
"I totally understand why we're blocked in Mainland China. We're clearly disrupting the Communist Party's harmonious propaganda... but Hong Kong and Taiwan are not supposed to be under Chinese law."
Although Hong Kong is part of China, under the One Country Two Systems principle, the region has an independent legal system. As for Taiwan, it has been a de-facto self-governed entity since Kuomingtang of the Republic of China was defeated by the Chinese Communist Party and fled to the island in 1949.
In both regions, NTD.TV has reporters covering local news. In March 2017, Apple approved the China Uncensored Apple TV app for availability in most of the world, but removed it from app stores in Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.
Apple's legal team said its decision is in accordance with local laws:
"Apps must comply with all legal requirements in any location where you make them available (if you're not sure, check with a lawyer). We know this stuff is complicated, but it is your responsibility to understand and make sure your app conforms with all local laws [...].
"And of course, apps that solicit, promote, or encourage criminal or clearly reckless behavior will be rejected.
"While your app has been removed from the China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan App Stores, it is still available in the App Stores for the other territories you selected in iTunes Connect."
Chris Chappell responded with satirical questions in a press statement:
"Is Apple so scared of the Chinese Communist Party that it would censor China Uncensored in Hong Kong and Taiwan, just in case? [...] Or is Apple just confused about which places belong to China and this was all an accident? They should probably consult a lawyer, like we've done."
In a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook on April 3, Chappell urged Apple to unblock the China Uncensored in Hong Kong and Taiwan app stores, and vowed that he was prepared to take both legal and political action:
"...we have retained a public interest attorney who will represent us and is prepared to bring in a major law firm to take legal action, although we would prefer to resolve this matter quickly and without lawyers.
"If necessary, we are also prepared to discuss this issue with U.S. federal regulators, who, while having no jurisdiction over Hong Kong or Taiwan, are nonetheless concerned with Apple's business operations in general as Apple moves competitively into the television industry."
Since 2013, Apple has started taking down apps  -  including banned books and circumvention tools  -  from its China iTunes store in order to comply with local laws. In June 2016, China tightened its control over mobile applications with the introduction of Provisions on the Administration of Mobile Internet Application Information Service.
These regulations outlaw applications that spread rumors and information deemed harmful to national security. In January 2017, The New York Times was taken down from the Apple iTunes Store because of such provisions. However, the newspaper's app remains available in the Hong Kong and Taiwan versions of the store.
In the letter to Cook, Chappell stressed that while he is aware of the restrictions in China, the management of Apple's Hong Kong and Taiwan app stores should be different:
"No doubt, China Uncensored likely falls under some of Mainland China's dubious legal categories such as:
Undermining national unity
Spreading rumors
Disrupting social order"
There is no point in disputing your app store decision with respect to mainland China... but Hong Kong and Taiwan are not ruled by the Chinese Communist Party. They are regions that operate under independent legal systems.
China Uncensored launched a petition on April 4 urging its viewers and supporters to tell Apple to "uncensor" the China Uncensored app from its Hong Kong and Taiwan app stores. As at the time of this story's publication, more than 9,522 people had signed.
This article by Oiwan Lam originally appeared on Global Voices.
[Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.]
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The Secret of the Fern
Trails of Freedom > Articles > The Secret of the Fern
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Posted on October 25, 2010 in Articles
Upon brief examination, ferns would seem to differ little from most of the plants with which we are familiar. They grow in soil, they have stems and stalks, they produce green leaves; just a regular old plant, right?
But I'm going to ask you re-consider that assumption for a moment to ponder the following question: when have you ever seen a flower on the many varieties of fern that, as hikers, you've surely encountered throughout your journeys? I'll give you a minute to search your memory...
The simple fact of the matter is that ferns don't produce flowers, at all... a characteristic which distinguishes them from the dominant forms of plant life in the world today. The ordinary plants with which we are most familiar all develop flowers of one form or another. These flowers are basically the sex organs of the plant which are fertilized by pollen in order to produce seeds. Indeed, seeds are what we generally think of as the obvious vehicle by which plants reproduce.
But if ferns don't produce flowers, and thus don't produce seeds, how can they possibly persist? The answer to this paradox lies in a vehicle of reproduction which we have become accustomed to associate with an entirely different form of life: mushrooms. Mushrooms don't produce seeds either, but they too don't seem to have a problem persisting or spreading their species over large areas of their environment.
Ferns, like mushrooms, produce spores... incredibly tiny reproductive vessels that, unlike seeds, do not contain an embryo. Spores are released from ferns in incredibly large numbers and are generally released into the air in the hopes that they will travel elsewhere to establish new colonies in untapped terrain.
While it may seem strange, this method of reproduction has served ferns rather well over the course of prehistory. There was a time, roughly 300 million years ago, when ferns "ruled the world", so to speak. They were the most dominant form of leafy vegetation in existence at that time, with some species growing as tall as 100 feet and producing stalks that could measure as much as 5 feet in circumference.
As climate change re-shaped the Earth's environment, however, many ferns species began to die out and that's when flowering plants had their opportunity to take center stage. Not only did they take center stage, but over millions of years, they practically stole the show.
Nonetheless, ferns could hardly be called "rare" these days, even if they lost their dominant role to flowering plants millions of years ago. And perhaps this is because their strategy of producing spores, rather than seeds, offers them a few unique opportunities that flowering plants are content to due without.
Seeds are typically much larger than fern spores, which are nearly invisible to the naked eye. The bulk of a seed is comprised of two things: an embryo and a generous supply of food that can be called upon to aid the growth of seedlings. Spores, on the other hand, contain little or no stored food whatsoever. For this very reason, spores can be incredibly light, able to travel enormous distances upon little more than a light, persistent breeze. When Mount Saint Helens erupted, destroying most of the surrounding plant life, a fern native to Japan was amongst the first to re-colonize the area!
On one hand, flowering plants can try their luck in a wide range of environments. Seeds have enough stored fuel to give seedlings a fighting chance even in less than perfect conditions. On the other hand, seeds don't travel very easily by their lonesome. That's the reason that all manner of clever means of distribution are employed... clingy burrs, shells resistant to digestive systems, helicopter-like pods that can fly on the wind, or airy seeds covered with tiny filaments that may float long distances before being deposited.
Spores produced by ferns don't usually need to employ such complex means of distribution. Instead, the minute spores are produced by the millions and allowed to drift away with minimal help from animals or evolved aerodynamics. This simplicity comes with a price, however... spores lack the built-in food sources utilized by seeds. Because of this, truly ideal conditions are required for a spore to flourish, and the striking numbers in which spores are produced by ferns is a reflection of the crap shoot undertaken when sending these colonizers out into the world without supplies.
But spores can persist much longer in harsh or uninviting conditions than seeds, which have a comparatively limited range of viability. Fern spores can literally wait around for the right conditions to come to them, and so even though many spores ultimately strike out in the search for suitable habitat, others are rewarded for their patience.
While ferns may no longer be the "top dog" of the plant world, they have secured an enormously successful niche for themselves that is likely to see them persisting for millions and millions of years to come. Flowering plants, though incredibly efficient in their own right, cannot entirely out-compete the fern's unique ability to distribute such mass quantities of small, hardy colonists.
The next time you happen upon some ferns along the trail, take a moment to appreciate the intriguing means by which these ancient organisms have persisted throughout the history of life on Earth. Modern ferns are living and reproducing in much the same way that their ancestors did a couple hundred million years ago... long before anything even remotely like a mammal, much less a human, could be found in the world.
, plants, spores


Stirring Up Ocean Floor Can Boost Fish Populations
Thread: Stirring Up Ocean Floor Can Boost Fish Populations

Fishing technique known as trawling can sometimes be productive.
Originally published:
Sep 9 2013 - 2:00pm
Amanda Alvarez, ISNS Contributor
(ISNS) -- High-intensity raking of the seabed, called trawling, is a very effective fishing method that can inflict significant collateral damage on sea life. However, it can sometimes help fish populations to grow, scientists have found.
In a study appropriately titled "When does fishing lead to more fish?" Dutch scientists pinpointed the circumstances under which destructive trawling can actually stimulate fish numbers and lead to greater catches.
As industry professionals and activists seek sustainable solutions for dwindling fish populations and legislators in the European Union debate regulations that would ban deep-sea trawling, this research could inform the management of seafood production.
According to fishermen's lore, trawling can actually foster conditions that are better for fish. Michel Kaiser, a professor of marine conservation ecology at Bangor University in the U.K., calls this an ecological cultivation effect.
"It was fishermen's hypothesis-setting that stimulated this piece of science," said Kaiser, who wasn't part of the study but has investigated the effects of trawling for more than 20 years. "Trawling can remove competing species, and fishermen observed this in coastal locations with natural seabed disturbances."
Bottom trawling is conducted in areas like the North Sea and off the coast of Newfoundland, from shallow areas along the continental shelf to depths of more than 200 meters (about 650 feet). Twenty-three percent of the world's fish catch comes from bottom trawling, according to a U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization estimate. Trawling targets flatfish species like yellowtail flounder, sole, and plaice, which feed on bottom-dwelling worms.
Daniel van Denderen, a fisheries researcher at Wageningen University in the Netherlands and his colleagues found that to really understand the impacts of trawling, the indirect food web interactions between fish and their prey need to be better studied. Their paper was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.
The new research put the fisherman's wisdom to the test by modeling the effects of trawling on the numbers of fish and their prey - larger seabed invertebrates like crabs or shrimp that may have hard shells, and soft-bodied worms and mollusks. The circumstances under which the trawling cultivation effect holds true and fish numbers increase depend crucially on these prey and their resilience to trawling. Larger non-fish species can be caught or crushed by the trawling process, while smaller ones may coast through the nets. The prey species that are more resistant to the effects of trawling - those that are soft-bodied, smaller, and able to reproduce more quickly - can proliferate, leading to more "fish food" and a jump in fish numbers. The mathematical model, which uses simplified ocean ecosystem dynamics to simulate prey and fish growth rates in response to various trawling intensities, explains how these factors can sometimes positively interact to boost fish yield.
"There may be a positive relationship between trawling and fish biomass," explained van Denderen, "but only at very limited trawling intensities." The sweet spot, where more frequent trawling leads to more fish, depends on the resistant prey species also being more energetically profitable for the fish - that is, preferable and tastier. This may not always be the case, said van Denderen; it depends on proximity to the coast, water depth, and the ocean floor ecosystem.
"How resistant and susceptible benthos [bottom-dwelling invertebrate prey species] interact and are eaten by fish is really important for understanding the impacts of trawling," he said. "The different responses of fish and benthos in our model could lead to more optimal management of systems being trawled."
In reality, van Denderen expects that a broader range of species, including ones not included in the model, may be sensitive to trawling, though some may be resilient and conversely benefit from trawling. Scientists need to develop a better understanding of the sea areas where this occurs, he said.
"We need to think about the impact of trawling on a case-by-case basis," said Kaiser. "This model can help us decide how best to harvest fish from a particular environment and ensure that we don't use inappropriate techniques that would reduce the potential production of food."
For example, certain fishing zones could benefit from trawling to cultivate prey species and maximize fish yield. On the other hand, "you can completely remove a habitat with trawling. We don't want to give the idea that you should find a sponge reef and turn it into a worm bed with trawling. The model is relevant to areas that are already modified by trawling," said Kaiser.


Tactical Failure of Turkish Policy on Mavi Marmara Crises
Published by Huffington Post UK Blog, 3 September 2011
No matter what angle one looks at, it is undeniable that Turkey has every right to continue to demand an apology for the killing of her citizens, just as every country in the world would and should do in such an incident. Yet, Turkey has committed a tactical mistake in the process of achieving an apology.
With hindsight, it is clear that the build up to the killing of Turkish citizens on board the doomed boat is not that black and white. Before the boat sailed, both Turkey and Israel could have found a way of stopping or handling it, but both parties failed to do so and allowed things to reach to their nadir.
While vast majority of the people on the boat were peace activists, there was a small group of mujahiddeen-wannabes ready to 'retaliate'. The Israeli forces not only failed dramatically in the operational sense, but their wrong approach of trying to stop the boat triggered retaliation and not surprisingly use of brutal military force.
Israel had a brief window of opportunity to stop escalation of the issue. It could have been enough to state that operation went wrong and that its sorry for loss of life but still insist that the boats should not have been there, which would have defused the situation. AKP had no chance but to stand boldly against Israel and demand an apology as the entire Turkish public demanded so. Both parties were then engulfed in copying each other in harsher and bolder stands with growing myopia of the implications of their mimetic bravado for the entire Middle East.
Turkey could have made an apology from Israel a lot more possible if the AKP government has not included the lifting of Gaza blockade to its three fold demand from Israel, two of which asked for apology and reparations for the murdered citizens. However, the issue of Gaza and the issue of dead citizens are not inherently linked. It would have been so if those murdered were Palestinian dwellers of Gaza who were killed during an attempt to bring banned supplies to Gaza.
While Turkey might have a stand on Gaza and over all Israel-Palestine issues, by combining it with its rightful demand for an apology for its citizens, it undermined its own cause. The Gaza blockade emerged from Israel's policy, backed by all of the major stakeholders, to isolate and weaken Hamas. Thus, a demand for the lifting of blockade bumps into a much more complicated and long term tension involving many powerful stakeholders and Israeli public.
Unwittingly, Turkey has made the loss of its citizens a political tool for a larger policy on Israel. This only caused the hardened voices in Israel to mute others that see friendship with Turkey to be too important to loose. That is why even though the UN report clearly states the military failures and serious human rights abuses committed by Israel, it's dubious claims on the legality of the blockade was seen as a victory and a reason to never apologize to Turkey. In contrast, Egypt was able to get a quick and swift apology from Israel for the killing of its troops.
In diplomacy, one has to develop a game plan for the desired achievement. Turkey seems to have miscalculated and gambled far more than would have been possible to achieve. As for Israel, it once again found joy in being singled out by the world and loosing one more friend in such a critical conjuncture without ever realizing the long term costs of a temporary sense of pride and martyrdom.
So the winner stands alone now; a discredited UN commissioned report and its politically charged writers, unsuccessful outcomes of the Turkish gamble, delusional arrogance of Israeli foreign ministry under the Netanyahu government. The dead are still dead, their families are still mourning and sadly, many more will join their ranks.
Tags: Middle East


"Insidious" Writer Leigh Whannell to Direct "Insidious: Chapter 3"
Posted: May 12th, 2014 by WorstPreviews.com Staff
James Wan had lots of success with horror films, such as "Saw," "The Conjuring" and "Insidious." All three became franchises, but the director recently announced that he's done with horror and is currently working on "Fast and Furious 7."
With "Insidious" becoming the most profitable film of 2011 by grossing $97 million on a budget of $1.5 million, and the sequel $162 million on a budget of $5 million, it's no surprise that a third installment is in the works. But who will direct?
Now comes word from Wan that "Insidious" writer and actor Leigh Whannell will take over the franchise and will direct "Insidious: Chapter 3," which is already set to hit theaters on April 3rd, 2015. Wan, meanwhile, will stay on as a producer.
Source: Focus Features, James Wan
cress writes:
on May 12th, 2014 at 7:00:09 AM
The first was decent until they went into "the Further", or whatever they called the astral plane, and became very dumb quickly. The sequel was absolutely terrible.
Tanman32123 writes:
Agreed^ But I wouldn't call the sequel Terrible. More simply 'bad' to me
on May 12th, 2014 at 10:44:07 AM
happy birthday tanman!
on May 12th, 2014 at 5:20:29 PM
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.
Max Rockatansky Junior writes:
This series (and many others like it) make PT Barnum a f*cking legend .... " There's a sucker born every minute ... "
Just like Dark8/D9rk's mum.
Situs Judi poker ace
on January 3rd, 2018 at 12:39:05 AM